Follow me as I Fulfill my Dream of a Lifetime...

2010-07-16T09:51:00.000-07:00

Traveling to Las Vegas was FANTASTIC! Being able to attend the Miss USA pageant live was such an honor. Ever since I was a little girl I use to watch the pageant from my home with my mother. I always looked up to every girl who made it on that stage and had the gift of representing their state. This time not only was I able to watch it live but I got to go as apart of the Miss USA family being a Teen titleholder! It was a time in my life I will never forget!

Besides being able to support all of the Miss contestants I also got to learn more and grow closers to the ladies I will be competing with at the Miss Teen USA pageant in July. The organization set up many events for us and made it so fun! Thank you to the Miss USA organization for truly treating us like queens. You made it a learning experience and so much fun, thank you.

To all my girls! It was such a pleasure meeting all of you and getting to know you a little bit better. You are all amazing and I know we will have a blast at Miss Teen USA! Though we are competitors we are friends and I learned that each of you have something special and unique and truly mean well. I am grateful to be surrounded by amazing young ladies like all of you! SEE YOU IN THE BAHAMAS!

Special Olympics Connecticut

2010-05-13T07:13:00.000-07:00

During the month of April I was asked to host the closing ceremonies for the Special Olympics Connecticut, 2010 Urban Youth Day. This was such a privilege, and one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. I got to recognize all of the participating schools throughout Connecticut and present the medals! Special Olympics is a wonderful cause.

"The Angel Fund"

2010-05-13T06:18:00.001-07:00

One of the most rewarding things you gain with being involved in pageants is the gift of learning about MANY charities you had not known about before and being able to volunteer with them. “The Angel Fund” for instance is a charity I was blind to before I was asked to participate in a fashion show fundraiser for this charity. I was anxious to find out about “The Angel Fund” and all that is stands for, it’s always great to learn about a new charity and ways you can do your part to help out.

“The Angel Fund” is a charity that raises money to help families who give birth to a still baby, or have lost their child immediately after birth. With every penny this organization receives, they use it to make treasure boxes for those families. Inside of these inspirational boxes are memories of that baby from the last nine months, and more. Also inside of the treasure boxes is the child’s footprint, handprint etc. With these boxes those families who have encountered such a tragic loss are allowed to always remember their child and what he looked like!

It was such an honor to be involved in the fashion show to help raise money for those who have lost a child. This is a charity I will continue to be active in! And I am grateful for the opportunities being Miss Connecticut Teen USA has to offer because with out the tit I may not have ever found out about this admirable organization.

"Let Your Inner Star Shine Far"

2010-05-13T06:12:00.000-07:00

I recently attended the “Let Your Inner Star Shine Far” Career Fair. Here, I had the opportunity to speak to the elementary students of Willimantic’s Natchaug School. I explained to underprivileged children that with determination, hard work, and a lot of effort they can become whatever they want in their future. I spoke to them about my experiences and what it has taken me to become who I am today, Miss Connecticut Teen USA 2010. This led me to introduce to them to the idea of community service, which I personally believe, is the most important aspect of growing up.

I left them that day with a quote often said by Eleanor Roosevelt. “The future belongs to those, who believe in the beauty of their dreams”. With time and more education, these children will soon be doing great things with their lives in pursuing whatever their hearts desire. Hopefully the quote I shared with them will be remembered as they too begin to do their part to make this world better.

Mother Earth Fashion Show

2010-05-13T05:58:00.000-07:00

On April 12th, I participated in the Mother Earth Fashion Show sponsored by “A New Beginning Salon” located in Bethel. The show took place in support of the “Clean Ocean” charity, with the intentions of making a cleaner environment, specifically our oceans and other water sources. For the fashion show the models and I wore vintage, retro clothing! To go along with this theme the hairdressers from “ A New Beginning Salon” threw my hair up into a “bob” style hair-do. It was strange to see myself go from long hair to short in a matter of minutes. The fashion show was a blast and it was great to be fashion forward and environmentally friendly at the same time! Thanks to everyone who is doing there part, either by coming to the fashion show, or just at home to do what they can to improve our environmental conditions.

Fashion Show for Haiti

2010-05-13T05:51:00.000-07:00

On March 27th, Danbury High School students held a fashion show to raise money and awareness for the devastation to Haiti caused by the recent earthquake. It is so wonderful to see how many people, especially teenagers want to help and how active the surrounding community is in supporting the cause to help those in need, even those in different parts of the world. The fashion show was great and it was an honor to sit in the audience and to be a part of the fundraising efforts.

One of the ways that I have helped to raise awareness and money for Haiti was through the organization of a shoe drive within Cheshire High School. With the help of my good friend and classmate, Francesco Mazzella, this became a town-wide effort and soon enough, we raised more than 25,000 shoes! Nothing is more satisfying than to see my community join hands in working together to attack devastation. Whether it be a local issue or that of a global scale, I am glad that with the help of my community, I can do my part to help.

Thanks to everyone who helped to contribute either to the shoe drive or the Danbury Fashion Show in raising awareness and funds to help those in need in Haiti. God bless you all. Every effort counts and every cent goes to a great cause.

2010 Prom Fashion Show

2010-05-13T05:42:00.000-07:00

On January 31st, I participated in the 2010 Connecticut High School Prom Fashion Show at the Aquaturf in Southington, Connecticut. Here, I modeled the 2010 season’s most fashionable prom dresses. I was privileged to wear a few dresses sponsored by Natalie Testa’s wonderful, Ragtime Boutique. Thank you Natalie for making me feel like a celebrity and to everyone who came out and saw the show.

StandOut

2010-03-14T06:57:00.000-07:00

On the weekend of January 22nd I headed out to Virginia to be apart of a StandOut Production retreat. Here I got to spend my weekend with many of the Miss and Teen USA contestants. All of the girls were so welcoming and warm hearted right away, I knew we were going to have a fun filled weekend. Chelsea Cooley Altman a former Miss USA, and At Dunn a health and fitness guru were the two amazing people who held the retreat and would be in charge of everything that would happen for all of the girls that weekend. Both of them had so many activities planned for all of us that would help make us not only a better contestant at Miss and Teen USA, but also a better person as a whole. Besides the horse back riding, rock climbing, bon-fire,roller skating, fitness with At, and walking class with Chelsea, my absolute favorite activity was the leap of faith! For this activity you had to climb a very tall, wiggly telephone pole, once you finally made it to the top you had to stand on two feet holding on to absolutely nothing and jump off it! At first I was very hesitant about doing this but Chelsea finally convinced be to do it by telling me two things, one, it is not that bad and two, that I would feel amazing after doing it. Once I completed this activity I only agreed on one thing Chelsea said and that was that it made me feel amazing, but when it came to being not so bad I couldn’t disagree more! It was very scary and challenging and not the easiest for someone who isn’t fond of heights! Sadly the weekend flew by and before I knew it it was time to go home. I learned so much from both Chelsea and At but I also learned so much from all the girls. I am so happy that I got to meet many of the girls I will go to Miss Teen USA with, I can confidently say that we have an amazing , beautiful group of young ladies!

Miss Connecticut's Outstanding Teen & Miss Connecticut Teen USA

2010-02-10T16:22:00.000-08:00

Here I am with the beautiful Miss Connecticut's Outstanding Teen, Acacia Courtney!

Photo Shoots!

2010-02-10T15:45:00.000-08:00

On December 12th I had my first of two official photo shoots as Miss Connecticut Teen USA! My adventures that weekend began at Catherine Fiehn’s studio in Milford Connecticut. Since the age of thirteen I have been working with Catherine Fiehn and she has always done such beautiful work. I knew that this time would be no different, and she would continue to! While at Catherine’s studio Ashley my sister queen would also join me there to shoot with Catherine! Together we had so much fun and lots of laughs, we even got to take a holiday picture together in our matching snowmen pajamas! Thank you to Catherine Fiehn for always taking the best pictures and making everyone’s photo shoots so much fun!

Next on the list was Massachusetts! Here I met up with all the Clemente girls Ashley, Lacey, Nydelis, Brooke, and Shelby. Together we had our holiday photos done by Smith Maxfield, but first Neil had to work his magic! Thank you to Neil for doing our hair and make-up, Jeff Smith for taking the beautiful pictures, and Richard Berberian for allowing us to wear his magnificent jewelry!

Once the photo shoot was finished we all went to dinner with Laurie and Anthony ( the best directors ever). At the dinner table we all shared so many stories and got to learn a lot about one another. I left dinner with this quote in mind, “Friends are the Family we choose”. I can honestly say that Laurie, Anthony, Neil, my sister queens and their parents are all my family. I LOVE YOU GUYS!!

Thank You

2010-02-10T11:58:00.000-08:00

I think it is very important to mention and thank everyone who has helped me get to this phenomenal point in my life. There are so many people who have shared many things with me along the way to help me better myself and grow into a mature young woman.

Tracy and Pam - Where do I begin, words cannot expresses the gratitude I have for you both. You have been there for me through it all! You literally have have watched me grow up. I can't believe I was just thirteen years old when we met. You have helped me with my interview skills, overall confidence, and always made sure I have a top notch wardrobe! I am so thankful to have met the both of you and have you in my life. You are not only friends but role models,women who show such poise and class and offer the many qualities I hope to have myself as I grow older.

Robbie, Marianne, and Jeff - You guys truly are the BEST dance teachers anyone could ever ask for. You have known me since I was just four years old. You have taught me much more then just how to be the best dancer I can be. You always attend everything of mine and support me all the way. Thank you for everything, I LOVE YOU !

Debbie- There are not enough thank you's I can give to you that will truly show how thankful I am for everything you have done for me! You are such a wonderful, kind woman and always put a smile on my face with your fun loving persona. Without you I would not be where I am today! Thank you for everything, I truly believe in the saying friends are the family we choose!

Kristi Rizzo and Ashley Abate- You are my girls! We always have so much fun together no matter what we are doing! Thank you for always supporting me with everything and always being there to talk to. You both have been such wonderful role models in my life and I know we will be forever friends.

Andrew- Thank you for supporting me in everything I do. It means so much to see you in the audience at every dance competition and pageant. Thank you for the many roses you have bought for me to show how well I have done. I love you!xox

Nicholas- Thank you for being such a great brother! You have been to every pageant of mine and that means so much! All though you couldn't be at the Miss Connecticut Teen USA pageant, I know you were thinking of me the whole time you were away. The personalized photo album you bought me for Christmas is gorgeous and I cant wait to fill it with the many pictures I take throughout this exciting year!

Peter- You are such a great Dad to me! It always means to much to hear you say how beautiful I look for every event I go to. Thank you for always supporting me with everything I do. I love you so much!

Mom- I don't know where to begin. I am so blessed to have you as my mother. You are a beautiful, strong, successful woman whom I am proud to call my mother. I am so grateful to have you. The thing I am most grateful to have is your support. Though you always lead me in the right direction, you always trust and support me with the choices I make. You are more to me then just my mom, you are my best friend. I love you around the world and back again!!!!!

Lastly, I'd like to thank all my other friends and family that came to the Miss CT USA Pageant,especially Gramma Roxanne, Auntie Allyson, Maya, Megan, Chris, Jason, Jackie, Kimmie, Ashley, Alyssa, Robin, Taylor,Jeana, Louise, Linda, Nakiya,Peyton, Mrs. Reid, Ashley,Deb, Morgan and my special friend Emmie.

Thank you everyone I love you all!

My sister queen !

2010-01-10T16:13:00.000-08:00

I am so excited to get to know my new sister queen Ashley Bickford this year! I know we are going to have a wonderful year filled with many opportunities. She is going to do awesome at Miss USA and I can not wait to cheer her on!

My Crowning Moment

2010-01-10T15:47:00.000-08:00

On Sunday November 29th 2009 my life changed forever. Though I am still Alyssa Taglia a sixteen year old junior at Cheshire High school, I am also so much more. I am Alyssa Taglia Miss Connecticut Teen USA 2010. It was just six weeks ago that I was crowned Miss Connecticut Teen USA 2010. I have been given a once in a lifetime opportunity and will be forever grateful. As they announced contestant number twenty one Alyssa Taglia as the winner my legs gave out from under me, and my heart was pounding full of excitement. As Tiffany Teixeira the former Miss Connecticut Teen USA crowned me, much more was placed upon me then just a crown and sash. Not only did I have huge shoes to fill of Tiffany's but I now had the chance to represent Connecticut throughout our state and at Miss Teen USA. I will be the best Miss Connecticut Teen USA that I can be. I will set many goals for myself and make Connecticut proud. Thank you to everyone who helped make this dream come true, it is now my time to live this dream and remember every moment.

Love,

Alyssa