the luck of the Irish!

Per tradition, the 500 Festival Princesses were asked to participate in the St. Patrick's Day Parade on Monday, March 17th.

It never fails...it's always a cold, windy day! But these girls rocked it with smiles on their faces in their black and white and green!

Unfortuantely for us, St. Patrick's Day always falls during one of the two weeks we have Princesses on Spring Break--but the Princesses who showed up got their very first experience with waving to people in a parade! I think they are going to be ready for the IPL 500 Festival Parade in no time!!

The Princesses with WTHR-Channel 13 report AnneMarie Tiernon...also known as Princess Emma's mom!!

Sure. Becca and I did happen to ride in the very warm Timing Vehicle during the parade. I have no shame in admitting that. Also, this is typically my face when dealing with these 33 rugrats! (I joke. I joke.)

We started a new tradition last year of climbing on top one of the IFD's ladders for a picture. A dangerous moment, but what the heck?

This girl. Good grief. Love me some Becca!!

Becca playing Head's Up with the girls before the parade. Anything to keep warm.

The parade was followed by a fabulous lunch at our fabulous sponsor The Sanctuary on Penn!

Princess For A Day!

One of the most favorite and most anticipated events for the Princesses is the "Princess For A Day" event, benefiting Flashes of Hope! (Side note: if you haven't heard of Flashes of Hope....listen for them flashesofhope.org. But really.)

But really. The girls lovelovelove this event, and I always have a ton of girls who want to participate in this! Of course, this year the event was originally snowed out....typical of this HORRIBLE winter. But don't worry, they rescheduled it and it was still an amazing event!!

Gotta love this. My good friend Jovanna and her awesome cakes from The Cakehole were in attendance. So this girl is my favorite. She's amaze-balls. (Cake balls).

Why is this so perfect? Princess Patia's face is my favie!

Purdue WIB Conference!

Bucket List Item.....CHECK!

On March 8th, I was asked to be one of the keynote speakers at the Purdue University Women In Business conference.

Say what?? 

What the heck do I know about business? I mean, I do know a lot about Purdue (thankyouverymuch)...but business, not so much. Regardless, I agreed to give it my best shot.

And of course I turned it into an appearance for some of the Purdue Princesses (new and old). I loved every second of spending time at my beloved alma mater. I loved every second of spending time with my beloved Becca (2013 Princess). I loved every second of spending time with my beloved Princesses.

Oh and awkwardly enough, I loved every moment of speaking in front of people. Loved it. Would do it again in a heartbeat. Seriously. It was the MOST fun.

10K Training Series!

On Saturday, March 1st, the 500 Festival had their 10K Training Series presented by OrthoIndy. The Princesses, along with volunteers from the Hilton Hotel, worked a water/Gatorade station in between mile 3 and 4.

It was a super cold morning. It was an early morning.

But these little nuggets looked gorgeous and smiled and laughed their way through the whole morning. I can't imagine how much fun we're going to have at the Mini, if we had this much fun at the 10K!

corporate member event with Tony Kanaan!

On Monday, February 24, 2014, the 500 Festival hosted a Corporate Member event at Crane Bay! It was such a fun night, but the best part was that Tony Kanaan was there to unveil the 2014 Indianapolis 500 Ticket!

We had 4 Princesses there to serve as greeters--Calin, Chelsea, Danika and Miche! The girls did so stinking awesome at their FIRST 500 Festival Princess event--and the guests LOVED seeing them. Don't they look gorgeous in their tiaras and sashes!

princess orientation. 2.22.2014

It's one thing to select the 2014 Princesses...it's quite another to plan for Orientation and get all of these 33 fabulous ladies in one room together FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!

So much work goes in to Orientation, but it is totally a labor of love. I'm quite obsessed with these ladies and I lovelovelove when they are all together. Orientation is quite a "deer in headlights" kind of day...but I know everyone was so excited for this day to arrive!

It's also a fun day because it is the first time they are meeting each other. It's fun for me to see their personalities come out and how the group meshes together. 

We are officially on our way to May!!!