Video.

Last night Pablo and I screened the DVD of the 2008 Mrs. New Jersey America Pageant. Geri did an amazing job with the videographer - it captured all the excitement of not only that night, but all of pageant weekend. For Pablo, this was the first time he saw video of my win; unfortunately due to an unavoidable conflict, he was not with me the night I won (thanks again, Erik, for escorting me on stage!). It was so nice to see how excited and proud he was.

For me, watching the video was like the first time, too. When you're in the pageant, you miss a lot of the detail and hard work that go into the production. It was interesting to watch it from an "audience" perspective. However, my palms did sweat every time I saw myself on stage - and I knew that I had won! Instantaneous nervous reaction.

Watching it made me so excited and wistful about what's going to happen in June 2009 - I'm thrilled for all the wonderful contestants that they're going to have this amazing, fun, rewarding experience, but of course I'll be sad to give up the title. Two things came to mind to ease that wistfulness: make the most of every minute of this year, and Geri's reminder, "once a Mrs. New Jersey, always a Mrs. New Jersey."

DVDs are available for sale through the Mrs. New Jersey America website: http://www.mrsnewjerseyamerica.com/