This Is How It Went Down - Part 2!!

I was so excited when I saw the girls that made up Class E. They had muscles!!! In my last two shows, everyone was a stick (or at least looked like a stick when big o' beastly me stood next to them!). The class was stacked and that made me a very happy girl!! While there were only 4 of us in the class, I think it was a very competitive one.

Two of the girls, Whitney (pink suit) & Jill (blue suit), have competed at a national level and I'm proud to say that I felt like I gave them some great competition! After our turn on stage, I grabbed my stuff and we headed out to lunch. Once we had eaten, we went back to the hotel where I took off my hair (lol), did a quick blog post, and then laid down until it was time to go back to the auditorium.

Figure was at the end of the schedule so I had a lot of time to hang out, talk with the other competitors, and watch the show (they provided a tv in the main hallway so we could watch what was taking place on stage - really cool!). The guest poser was Jay Cutler and I bumped into him, literally, while he was backstage. It was like bumping into a brick wall!!! Other folks that I recognized that were at the show include Sonia Gonzales (she's a tiny thing!), Felicia Romero (gorgeous!), and Gina Aliotti (shorter than I thought she would be but so frickin' built!!).

Since we had such a small class, we didn't leave the stage when we were done with our individual presentations. We lined up and they presented us with our trophies! Was I disappointed to get 4th? Let's be honest, I wanted that top spot but I was happy with who I competed against. You know your competition is good when the winner of your class wins overall!! My goal was to come home with a top 5 placing and technically, I did that :)

My post-show meal was New York Cheesecake pancakes from IHOP - so delicious! The next morning, we headed out to Los Angeles to visit my baby brother. On the way there, we stopped at a hamburger place called Goodfellas Hamburgers (thank you, Tom's Droid). The food was fan-fricking-tastic! We shared this dish called the D.U.I. It was french fries topped with chili, carne asada, pastrami, and cheese....yeah...tasty!!

I was so happy to see The Princess when we picked her up afterschool. She instantly grabbed my trophy and held onto it for the rest of the day. As we were driving home she said, "Mom, I crossed my fingers that you would come home with a trophy and you did!" - thank goodness I didn't let her down! :) I also came home to a care package from Genie containing some serious treats - cookies & peanut butter fudge - holla!!

I emailed the women's head judge for feedback and heard back from her within 24 hours. This was just another moment where Lindsay Productions & their staff proved they are serious about the business they're in. The feedback was all very positive. They loved my hair, suit, and presentation. I was told I had great poise and a stunning physique. HOWEVER, I'm too muscular for the direction that figure is going in right now so if I want to continue to compete in this division, I have to drop some overall size.

I took a couple of days to think about it and I've decided that I am willing to drop some of my muscle. Hear me out! I know that I'm blessed genetically with the ability to put on muscle easily (Tom hates me for it!) so I'm not worried about getting the muscle back. I want to be able to look back at this time in my life and say that I did everything I could (including sacrificing size & muscle) to be successful.

That's where I'm at right now. Monday marks the start of my prep for the July 16 NPC Terminator in Tucson. Chelsea and Ana will also be competing at this show. It's going to be a lot of fun but I know the weeks leading up to that day may not be so fun....but isn't that what prep is all about...lol....

I have more photos from the weekend on facebook. If we're not friends already, send me a request if you so desire!

Happy Saturday!