Barbie & Teresa Take NY

Today is the day. My fabulous roommate Brittany gets her own blog post!

Brittany and I have known "of" each other for years, with every mutual friend telling us that we'd be great friends if we spent time together...um, YES. We first spent a little time around each other at the Miss Virginia 2011 annual workshop for contestants in April at the fancy Hotel Roanoke. Brit (Miss Greater Richmond), Elizabeth (Miss Arlington and now the current Miss VA!), Lindsay (Miss Roanoke Valley), and myself (Miss Greater Hampton Roads) stayed up until 2 or 3am being absolutely ridiculous in Elizabeth's hotel room. That night, I caught a glimpse of Brittany's weirdness...one of my favorite qualities someone can have...and her genuinely kind spirit. The four of us were all Miss VA veterans with a true desire to win this year, but we were able to see the other ladies in the room as friends rather than competitors. The three of them went to JMU and had developed friendships while at school, but Elizabeth and I have become very close friends over the years in the Miss Virginia Organization, so that's how I ended up being a part of that little sleepover. Brittany and Lindsay immediately made me feel comfortable and included when Elizabeth was in the shower and such. After those few hours together, I knew Miss Virginia week in June would be an amazing bonding experience with those ladies. [Picture: Brittany and me at orientation the first morning of Miss Virginia week]

Boy was I right. Since Brittany and I both had titles starting with "Miss Greater," we ended up being next to each other at virtually every event and in all of the production dances. We made as many ridiculous faces as possible on stage without the judges seeing and spent the whole week making each other laugh. On the final night, we were both called into the top 5, along with Elizabeth and Lindsay! What a special moment to share with the girls who had experienced that memorable sleepover at workshop during the beginning of our Miss VA 2011 journey. And I loved the fifth member of the top 5, Courtney, too! At the end of the night, Brit was 4th runner up, I was 3rd runner up, Lindsay was 2nd runner up, and Elizabeth walked away with the crown! The ending was bittersweet for both Brittany and myself, but as our friendship has developed in the past few months, we're able to look back on that poignant moment and see the purpose in the outcome. Watching one of my best friends within the Miss Virginia Organization, Elizabeth, get crowned by one of my other best friends within the Miss Virginia Organization, Miss Virginia 2010 Katie Uze, was an extraordinary moment. Topping it off was knowing that my new close friend, Brittany, was standing right beside me. [Top picture: Brit and I walking onto the stage on the final night of competition, Bottom picture: Top 5 from left to right- me, Elizabeth, Lindsay, Brittany, and Courtney]

Before competing, Elizabeth and I had decided to move to New York to pursue singing if neither of us won. When she had that shiny hat on her head at the end of the night, I realized I'd lost my future roommate! Throughout that week, though, Brittany had mentioned her interest in pursuing music in the big City, as well. So when I received an email from my cousin a week after the pageant telling me about a Broadway audition coming up, I immediately called Brit and asked if she wanted to fly to New York for 24 hours to attend a one in a thousand chance audition. Brittany spontaneously left her family vaca and spent eight hours with me sitting on newspapers on the streets of NYC in the sweltering summer heat. After only a few hours of sleep at my brother's apartment the night before (due to our midnight exploration of Brooklyn in search of food), you can imagine eight hours in the sun was stress-inducing. That whole experience revealed our ability to be compatible in the most uncomfortable of conditions. It also revealed that our strange personalities mesh when we get loopy. She started making weird breathing/squealing sounds and I started talking an accent of sorts. Our new friends in line thought we were headcases, but we stayed in our happy bubble without hesitation or fear of judgement. [Picture: Brit and I waiting for the audition in NYC]

Just a week and a half later, Brittany and I were joined by fellow Miss VA contestant, Amanda, on a road trip to Pittsburgh, PA for the American Idol auditions. This time, we spent four full days in impossibly close conditions. The actual day of auditions was one of more waiting (14 HOURS!!), heat, exhaustion, and stress that resulted in no issues among any of us. I don't normally have issues with my friends, so I wasn't surprised or anything. Even still, I found it impressive that in moments of impatience and mental breakdowns, Brittany and I always found a way to be understanding of the other person. Instead of getting offended if one of us was cranky, we both realized what the other person was feeling and just let it roll off our backs. When we returned from PA, the two of us spent the Saturday night out in Richmond and solidified our decision to move to New York. [Picture above: Brit and I standing in front of the Pittsburgh skyline, Picture below: Amanda, Brit, and I waiting for the American Idol audition]

With her uncanny ability to mock any female singer (my personal favorite being Cher, though her Jessica Simpson and Alanis Morissette are right up there), innocent and natural good looks (did I mention she was one of two swimsuit winners at Miss Virginia? Yeah. So hot. The other winner was my roommate during pageant week...experiencing waking up next to both of the best bods in Virginia doesn't do much for your self-confidence. Haha just kidding! Kind of..), and expressive personality, Brittany is one of the most lovable people you'll ever come across. More people in the world need to emulate her open-book policy. She's always honest, wears her heart on her sleeve, and evaluates her attitude to adjust and become an even better friend/daughter/girlfriend (lucky Matt!)/mentor. I'm SO excited to share this new journey with such a unique, talented, and newly-devoted friend.[Picture: Our night out in Richmond after American Idol]

And check out our amazingly large room that can fit two giant beds! Can you believe we live here???