The Natchitoches Meat Pie Festival

This fabulous weekend started out on Friday, September 16, 2011 at noon when I had the opportunity to introduce Mrs. Louisiana Plus America (most of you know her as my mom, Kathy Lied) and the Woman Natchitoches Meat Pie Festival Queen, Amanda LaBorde, to Laughter Yoga. This is a wonderful, uplifting experience in which you use deliberate laughter to induce endorphins and basically put yourself in a positive mood. It was at Laughter Yoga that we adopted our official "cheer" for the weekend - "Very good, very good, yea!"

With smiles on our faces, laughter in our hearts, and enough clothes, makeup, and crowns loaded in the car for the weekend, we headed to Natchitoches. We could hear the music from the festival as we arrived in the historic district, and we couldn't help but laugh as Amanda grabbed that big crown and put it on in her truck and started waving at people on the streets. A Meat Pie Festival queen had arrived, and she was so excited! Mrs. Natchitoches Meat Pie, Lori Adams, joined us at our inn, and after a "quick freshening up"  (insert sarcasm here), we were festival bound. The music was great, the food smelled fantastic, but the laughter and friendship will be the long term memory. It was amazing to have people ask about the purple ribbon in my crown, and having the opportunity say, "I represent the American Cancer Society." We ended the night with dinner at The Landing, and some of the best boiled shrimp I've ever eaten. I shall skip the part where our room had no air conditioning, and we had to sleep with the doors open, but needless to say, I just knew I would be waking up with a a Cane River critter in the bed.

This was my first festival weekend as a member of the Rhinestone Sisterhood, and I can't wait for the next!

Louisiana Plus America Alumnae

Lori Adams, Kathy Lied, Amanda LaBorde & Tonya Lied Kidd

With Mom at the Festival

Visiting the Natchitoches Meat Pie Pageant

In the midst of Tropical Storm Lee, I made my second appearance as Ms. Louisiana Relay for Life at the Natchitoches Meat Pie Pageant on September 3rd. It's amazing how graciously the ladies of the Rhinestone Sisterhood have included me in their family. During the pageant, I had the pleasure of visiting with my dear friends, Lady Ray*la*ne IX, Heather Hickey Fox, and her sweet mom, Granny Ragley Heritage and Timber Festival, Rhonda Hickey. Any conversation with these two precious ladies will leave you in stitches - they know the pageant world so well, but have such an incredible sense of humor about it. I also had the opportunity to get to know the lovely and talented Miss Northwestern Lady of the Bracelet, Ruth Fruge (ChaCha enjoyed her evening nap in Ruth's lap). It was an honor to represent the American Cancer Society among so many beautiful, well-spoken women.

It was so exciting to see two of my dear friends crowned in their respective divisions. Lori Adams won Mrs. Natchitoches Meat Pie, and the greatest excitement to me of the evening was seeing the lovely Amanda LaBorde crowned Woman Natchitoches Meat Pie Queen. These are two incredible women, and I know they will do a fabulous job traveling to represent their festival over the next year.

After the pageant, we discovered that all the restaurants in Natchitoches that serve meat pies close at 10pm, so we had a lovely dinner at Raisin' Canes. On the drive back to Monroe, my Southern Miss Golden Eagles won their football season opener against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. All in all it was a fabulous Saturday!