As Told By Calynn M. Lawrence

Hey guys!  Thanks for reading. I hope everyone is doing well. I know it's been quite a while since I've updated this blog but I've been doing a lot of work and a lot of cool things since the last time I posted. I needed to focus my time on things other than blogging for a while so that I could get things in line for my future success.  I guess I'll go in order of how things happened. First of all, I'm Miss World America Nation 2020 ! Last time you heard from me, I had a regional title in a different pageant system. Now, I have a title in a new system (since December) with which I've pledged to do community service on a global scale! I've been able to do a nice amount of work so far but we'll see how things pan out at the end of my reign in March ;)  Second, I was blessed enough to be able to successfully host the second annual Fresh Faces Project Awards in early March right before the quarantine. It was a hit! We were able to honor over 40 individuals an...

I waited over 12 years for this day. As an avid Jonas Brothers fan, stemming back to my days in junior high school, I was beyond stoked to hear that not only were they reuniting but that they were going on tour! Faster than a speeding bullet, I SNATCHED the concert tickets the day that they went on sale and that was honestly some of the best money I've ever spent. Alongside my play sister, Nik, who's been with me at many events, we had the ultimate fangirl experience. Sitting there in the United Center seeing one of my favorite boybands of my youth in the flesh ROCKING OUT to some of the many hits that I'd blasted throughout my teen years was epic! The countless posters, CDs, and merch that I had as a kid could NEVER amount to what it was like seeing them perform live. Even seeing their televised concert with Demi Lovato at the movie theater when I was 13ish could not hold the smallest candle to this flame. "Shook" is the best way that I can describe i...

You read it right. I, Calynn M. Lawrence, decided to give the pageant life a go. After being encouraged to try it for over a year by a dear friend, La'Sonya Alexander , I finally was convinced that it was something I was worthy of. All this time, I had thought of myself as the girl who stood on the sidelines and cheered everyone else on, while I had my own successes behind the scenes. Given, I do get a lot of press from being a media personality, but I never quite thought of myself as the Barbie Doll, Perfect Patty, cookie-cutter stereotype who wins a pageant. And, guess what? I'm still not. I may be a new pageant queen, but I'm still just as real, just as fun, just as ME as I ever was, and that will change for nothing. I currently hold the regional title Ms. Northern US 2019 in the  American Elegance pageant system .  At the end of October, I'll be competing at Nationals for the national title, Ms. American Elegance 2020. This pageant system is very unique, so uni...

Hey Guys! I hope that everyone is doing amazing! As you know, I'm starting a new series on my blog called the "Living My Best Life Tour" and it chronicles all of my fun endeavors on my journey to healthiness and happiness. This is the third installment in that series, discussing my experience seeing my FAVORITE country band in concert, Rascal Flatts, with my play sister Ariel.  Image Credit: Billboard The key factors that attract me to Rascal Flatts are their diversified songs, strong vocals and their deep lyrics. They gave me all of that and more in their performance! I felt like I was in another world at the beautiful Hollywood Casino Amphitheater in Tinley Park. I'm not gonna lie. Tears definitely fell when they sang long-time favorites like "Bless the Broken Road," and "What Hurts The Most." I was already fairly emotional due to being in the process of healing from falling in love with a very toxic man, but to hear those songs be...

Hey Guys! I hope that everyone is doing amazing! As you know, I'm starting a new series on my blog called the "Living My Best Life Tour" and it chronicles all of my fun endeavors on my journey to healthiness and happiness. This is the second installment in that series, discussing my experience witnessing the live performance of my all-time favorite Indie-pop duo, Aly & AJ, with my play sister Ariel.   Image Credit: Music Existence First and foremost, I will say that the entire show was iconic, to say the least, and I would do it all over again 100 times if I could. I literally shouted the lyrics alongside them to almost every single song they played and was perfectly entertained! With standing room only, the House of Blues was PACKED to the point of being shoulder to shoulder with fellow fans jamming out alongside the killer sister duo. We were all enamored of the combination of edgy navy pants suits with black booties, flawless vocals and their ability t...

Hi Guys! I hope that you've all been doing awesome! Today, I will be uploading a backlog of blogs that I have been meaning to write for a while now. This is the first. I've been going through a heck of a lot these past two years between gut-wrenching heartbreak, becoming seriously ill, being laid off my day job thus suffering a big financial hit and going through growing pains as I approach my quarter-life crisis. As a result, I've decided that I am going to focus a little less on being "perfect" and more on being me and being HAPPY! That is why I've decided that I will call this chapter of my existence, "The Living My Best Life Tour." This "tour" includes traveling more, going out more and doing fun exciting things. In the past year alone, I've taken a week-long trip to Paris with one of my best friends, taken several mini-vaca's to different states, and seen so many of my long-time favorite artists in concert. This blog is ab...

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending an amazing, empowering event alongside my mother, at a location that holds immense memories for me. This was the Finding Ashley Stewart Tour Stop Chicago at Ford City Mall. I don't even quite know where to begin so I'll just start with a huge thank you to Ms. Stacey Hall-Williams, a Store Manager for the brand, for giving me the invitation to attend and cover the competition! She treated my mother and I so well and even gave us front row seats for optimal viewing. She is awesome! Also, thank you to Ashley Stewart for hosting the event because I believe the entire concept is fantastic, to say the least. The competition itself is a wonderful idea that gives curvy women the chance to strut their stuff and receive long-deserved recognition in the fashion industry. As both someone who has worked in fashion her entire career since my days of being a 15-year-old Nordstrom intern AND as a plus-size girl myself, I felt a...