First off, a big congratulations to Lauren Howe, the winner of the 2011 Miss Teen Canada – World title! I wish you the best of luck in the World competition and to enjoy every moment of this exciting year.

My Toronto experience was an unforgettable one, and I am so thankful I was able to be a part of it. Here’s what our brief day-to-day itinerary looked like:

Day 1: Sunday, July 10

After our first night staying at the Fairmont Royal York, it was finally time for the week to really begin! On the first day we stayed at the hotel where we had our hair & makeup done for the photoshoot, interviews, and video shoot. It was a busy first day, however it felt good to get part of the judging over with, instead of having everything on the day of the show.

Afterwards we had a seminar with author Andrea Dana who shared some of her stories

as an on-set teacher and how she’s incorporated these experiences into her two books, Starsitter and Starsitter: Thank God for You. We also got to meet one of her students, upcoming star Torri Webster who will be starring in a new tv show called Life with Boys.

Day 2: Monday, July 11

Day two we got up early to have breakfast and the beautiful Grenadier, which was absolutely delicious! Then e-Talk joined us as we went on a land/boat tour with Hippo Tours – It felt like my heart dropped when we splashed into the water! Next we went to the CN tower, which had a magnificent view. Even though I’ve been to Toronto before, I had never actually been inside the CN tower before this trip so I was glad to have finally checked it out.

For lunch we went to The Ballroom which is a large sports restaurant/bar with bowling alleys (each lane has it’s own large screen tv) and pool tables for entertainment. We had a delicious salad and grilled cheese (one of my favourite foods) for lunch and went bowling together!

Then we had dinner at a very cute Greek restaurant in honor of Miss Teen World 2010, Anastasia Sidiropoulou, who is from Greece. This was my second time trying Greek food and I must say I have definitely become a fan!

Day 3: Tuesday, July 12

The majority of the day we were rehearsing for Saturday’s show, but then we went to see the musical Billy Elliot. I was so impressed! Especially with the two younger main actors in the cast who were also amazing dancers, especially for their age. After the show we actually got to meet 12 year old Julian Era (who played Billy Elliot), 14 year old Dillion Stevens (who played Michael), and Jake Epstein (who played Tony).

Later we went to The Time Zone for some dinner and karaoke! We had such a blast singing and dancing to hits such as Dancing Queen, Barbie Girl, and a couple Spice Girls songs!

Day 4: Wednesday, July 13

I woke up early to start my day off with some breakfast at the Grenadier again! Then when we got back to the hotel we had to rehearse some more. In the afternoon we got to go to the opening of StylexChange on Queens St. where we were joined by ET Canada. It’s a trendy store catered towards young adults that carries a lot of well known brands. What’s more is they were generous to give all of us Miss Teens a 50% discount! Imagine all 74 of us running around the store on a big shopping spree! But you can’t blame us – a girl can’t help a good sale. Where else could we find such a good deal on leather jackets and True Religion jeans?

While we were there we also received gift bags from Rimmel London. I’ve already tried out the nail polish, the lipstick, and the quad and single eyeshadows, and I absolutely love them! I will try to post some swatches soon  and pictures of me wearing the products we received.

Afterwards, we returned to the hotel where we got to meet Luke Bilyk, one of the stars from the show Degrassi: The Next Generation, who would be hosting the final show with costar Alicia Josipovic on Saturday. He was so sweet and funny, running around the room to greet each of us.

Then we began learning our opening dance routine with choreographer Omar to the hit song Beautiful People by Chris Brown.

Day 5: Thursday, July 14

This was the big day! I went for breakfast once again and then we had rehearsal for a while. At around 3:00 we began getting hair and makeup done for the preliminary show. It was so exciting! Not only does it feel great to be pampered but I absolutely love the feeling of being on stage. Even though I’ve performed on stage countless times with dance recitals and school plays, I still get a bit nervous (in a good way). It’s not really a “stage fright” nervous it’s just sort of a feeling of butterflies and adrenaline to push me to do my best.

Day 6: Friday, July 15

Friday we finished learning the choreography to the opening dance. Later that night was the Talent Gala where we all got dressed up for a lovely buffet dinner and got to watch the performances of our fellow delegates. The talent portion of the competition was optional but the top two highest scores were selected to perform at the final show, which were Tiffarah Gosman and Alexandra Hannasz, where they would compete for a cash prize.

Day 7: Satuday, July 16th

Once again this was another big day! We left early to arrive at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre for rehearsals and to have hair and makeup done. The theatre was beautiful! I also loved the stage decorations and lighting. Anyway, before I knew it the show began. Even though I wasn’t one of the finalists, I got to be in the swimwear and evening gown presentations, and then cheer on the girls who were competing for the Miss teen Canada – World title, which was then awarded to Miss Teen Ontario, Lauren Howe. After the show we had our last bus ride back to the hotel, and gave our final farewells to the other girls before going up to our rooms to pack up and get some sleep.

Luckily for me, my vacation hasn’t ended yet! Sunday morning I met with my parents and grandma and we drove to Montreal, where I’ll be staying for 2 weeks! Stay tuned for some updates from here!