Greetings from Paradise Island and Teen USA 2008!!!

So, as you've guessed by now, I survived the New York bar exam, which was every bit as horrible as imagined, but...at the end of the storm comes the sunshine, and boy is the sun shining! I am in Paradise Island, Bahamas for Miss Teen USA 2008 and I am loving every bit of it! Five Miss USA contestants and I traveled all the way to the Bahamas to support our teen titleholders in this year's Miss Teen USA 2008 and so far it's been awesome!

First, Miss Minnesota USA, Kaylee, and I flew in on the same flight from Atlanta, and the party began as soon as we ran into Miss Florida (a.k.a. Flo Rida in my book!) USA 2008, Jessica (who is now retired after crowning a new Miss Florida USA 2009 in July) in the airport and grabbed a cab to our villa which sits on the ocean front. The place is absolutely gorgeous, has four beds, a full kitchen and living room, a fantastic pool, and an incredible view of the ocean and palm trees.

On day one Minnesota, Flo Rida and I arrived at our villa, immediately changed clothes and headed to the most beautiful beach I've ever seen for some much needed R&R. The water is crystal clear and you can see straight to the bottom of it! And I mean literally straight to the bottom...it looks like something off of a postcard! We laid out for a few hours, soaking up the sun, and worked on our beauty queen tans.

The beach was followed by dinner at the Dune Club, a relaxing lounge at the One & Only Ocean Club, overlooking the water. Then we headed back to the villa to change for the first day of visitation with our girls. As we headed to visitation, we were sadly disappointed to find out that we only had 30 minutes with our girls, but that was long enough to make sure that my teen, Ivana Grace, had everything she needed to do her best on stage the next night for the preliminary pageant. When I saw her, she looked amazing and I couldn't be more proud of my baby! I know that she will represent DC well!