For EVERYONE who is going to ask, "SO! What happened in VEGAS!" "How WAS it?!" :)
This one's for you-Here 'goes.......
About a month ago I joined The Pink Fund at The International Women's Show at The Rock Financial Showplace in Novi, Mi. Where we met Johnathan Kayne, Project Runway season three 3rd runner up. When he found out about our organization he shared with us that his own mother is a 20 year plus survivor of breast cancer and that he really loved the SurThrivorTM collection. He had also informed us that he had a suite at The Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino in Vegas for The Miss USA Pageant and he invited us to join him. Although there were no real promises made, it was presented as a "you help me, I'll help you" type of opportunity and we were so enthusiastic about the possibilities. I even recall asking him, "So do you think I should bring both of my collections or do should I only bring the SurThrivorTM collection for The Pink Fund?" He replied with something close to the extent of, "Well it's better to have too much than too little......that way if there is no room in our suite, you can always make appointments for clients to see you stuff in your room...." So because I thought he knew what he was talking about, and surly he wouldn't just be talking directly out of his you know what, I shipped almost my ENTIRE INVENTORY-both collections, the brand new R U READY hairpiece collection and a small sample collection of a couple other designs that I am in the process of developing...... So I shipped 3 boxes of inventory, to Planet Hollywood (because I wanted the boxes to already be there when I arrived in Vegas so that I didn't have to worry about transporting them from our hotel......*****) I even had a really nice high quality "skin" of my logo custom made and shipped to Vegas so that my presentation would be ship shape for this possibly breakthrough event!
When we woke up the first morning in Vegas, Susan (from The Pink Fund) and I realized that we had made a mistake and that we were really scheduled to fly out a day earlier, missing the pageant, and so we were frantically trying to find flights out and figure out a way that we could all stay to see the pageant, etc. Well when we saw how expensive it was going to be, Susan thought we should find out from Johnathan Kayne how imperitive it was for us to actually attent the pageant because if it was more about the connections in the days ahead than we'd rather just eat the cost of the tickets, than spend a whole lot more changing flights and staying another night in Vegas. So I called to talk to "JK" on the phone and our last conversation went like, both of us laying out our expectations for the week, and that he thought it was really all about the days and relationships we made throughout the week and that it wouldn't be the end of the world to miss the pageant. The last thing he said to me was, "Ok well let me get checked in to my hotel and then I'll be meeting with my prom collection people/ checking out the situation and then going to set up the suite..." And I had said, "yeah ok we'll head to P. Hollywood to get the boxes I've shipped and we'll be in touch and we'll help you guys, etc........" Everything seemed to be well on its way. A few hours go by and I texted him when we got to PH, and just said, "Hey we're here let me know what your suite number is etc.." (NO REPLY) When we got to the business center of PH to get my shipped boxes, they informed me that they did not know where the boxes were and that they were probably with The Miss USA Production dept. I even heard a "Mike" in the mail room shrug it off and say, "Nope, doesn't ring a bell!...." when the girl in the business center asked him about the three boxes with the name Sarah Jane Regan on them. When I realized that this was going to be an ordeal I thought, ok well I will let Kayne know that we are having some issues, but in the meantime I'd still love to help him out and where we should meet up with him. I texted him...(NO REPLY) So we try to deal with the lost boxes a little while longer, but basically they told us that they would contact us if anything turned up.
S it now being around dinner time, Susan, the rep. from The Pink Fund that also came with me, were starving and went and had dinner to talk everything over. When we got back to our hotel I went on Facebook and commented on Kayne's wall "????????????????" Kind of like, "HELLO WHAT THE HE-EECK!?" I even called the hotel and asked them to transfer me to this supposed suite that they were supposedly in doing fittings and sales, etc. No answer. We then commented him saying, "Kayne we still havn't heard from you is everything ok?????"
So there we were boggled at how this trip had started off.... Well before I went to bed that (second) night I got restless and decided to call the front desk of P.H. to get a second opinion on the whole lost packages issue. The woman on the phone then proceeded to give me AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT STORY. She acted like I was retarded for thinking that the casino's go and pick up their packages. She said, "That would be like you going to get your mail at home from the post office, NO if it said delivered to the post office in Vegas, on your tracking details, than it's still at the post office, that's where you need to start first thing in the morning....." So not realizing that she was contradicting herself, because I had addressed it TO THE PLANET HOLLYWOOD..... I thought ok, I'll go to the post office and get my boxes that are sitting there..
The next morning I found out that there a FIVE HUNDRED KAGILLION post offices in Las Vegas, and I started to think, this is even more crazy than the casino's picking up their packages, at least they know which post office they pick up from!!! I abandoned that idea, and started on the three of the mystery of the shipped packages. When I went to Harrah's the casino that had just bought Paris and P. H. I started there. I was then told that the casino's do indeed have a carrier that go and pick up from the post office, and that I should go talk to the business center at Paris because that's who they go through.....I was then greeted by the most amazing customer service group of people ever. Chuck and Tyesha and the rest of the group were so amazing and they were not just going to stop at, 'Nope! Doesn't ring a bell!" After a half an hour of numerous phone calls, and web searches, and every other option they could think of, Chuck personally walked me over to the business center at Planet Hollywood. He told me that he would have driven to the post office himself if they could have located it. And they were all appalled at the fact that a guest had been running around Vegas trying to track down their packages..... within two seconds of u walking into Planet Hollywood, they had located our boxes, and said that they had been in The Miss USA pageant hospitality suite this whole time, and all we needed to do was go down the hall into the production office of the pageant. There we were met by a Kevin Pawn. He then explained, " I just sent someone up there right now, and we'll let you know when we get them down here." Well, obviously I came back with, " Ok no problem, we'll wait here..."
"Oh are you sure, I mean it'll take about 5 or 10 minutes." he asked a little nervously.
"Oh yeah, it's fine, I'll wait." I replied totally innocently. Chuck had decided to wait with me. He said that he thought the Kevin guy was trying to blow us off again by saying that he'd get back to me, when really after we said we were going to wait he HIMSELF had to start running around trying to track down these stupid packages!! And sharp Ol' Chuck was right on! I saw Pawn about 15 minutes later, running down from the elevators, and then he FINALLY came back to tell Chuck and I this, " Ok so, when the packages arrived to us, we sent them up to the hospitality suite, in thought that Sarah Jane Regan was a contestant. When production realized that there was no contestant named Sarah Jane Regan, 'they got nervous' and opened the boxes. (Instead of calling the phone number clearly marked on every single bag) They sent them to Rima Fakih's room, because the return address said Michigan." "So, you can meet her tonight after their day has wrapped and you can get everything back."
So, good thing I had been in contact with her all week through text messages, and that she is The Pink Fund is her choice non-profit so it was going to be no big deal to meet up with her..... But it was still just a little irritating that I wasn't contacted whenever they were opened.... but I was so relieved to know that they were with her :)
Later on that night I met Rima on her floor and I finally had the bags and the things I shipped, in my possession!!! WOW!
Day four! By now the women from The Pink Fund, knew what happened and did not want to waste a flight so Molly, the president of TPF wrote Johnathan Kayne a really heart felt letter and canceled her flight. Susan, a director of TPF, had also schedule a switch to leave a day earlier...her nephew was in the hospital and with her treatment in full effect, she was just too exhausted at the whole trip and found no real reason to be there.
But, because I knew I had family less than twenty minutes away I knew that if I could get a ticket home for the same price as the pageant tickets, they could equal each other out and I could attend the pageant and try to make an attempt at turning the trip around. That's exactly what I did, I dressed myself up real nice each night and went to as many events, and handed out my card to as many people as I could. I tried to make Las Vegas as aware of The Pink Fund and Sarah Jane Sarah Jane as one lone little gal from Michigan could. The day of the pageant I did just that. (You should've seen the outfit) I saw Mr. Johnathan Kayne walking in to the pageant, and I just had the strongest feeling. A feeling of victory, a feeling of gratitude to God, for protecting me. Because that is how I feel... protected and really confident in myself- in a way that I don't need anyone else to get me where I'm going, and nothing is going to break my stride! It was so funny, I had asked all of the Official Miss USA pageant people about Johnathn Kayne and no one really had heard of him. They kept asing me if I was with Cherry Hill! I did find a woman who had seen him. Miss Ohio Teen's mother- YIPEEEEEEEEEEEE!
So as most of all of you know in one split second my entire trip was turned around. Rima Fakih- Miss MICHIGAN went on to TAKE IT ALL and is now our MISS USA 2010!!!!!
We were sooo excited!!! IT WAS SOOO AMAZING! If you go and look at the pictures I posted, you can see that along with her cousin and some aunts and uncle's, we almost got on stage at the end.
But we didn't have stage access passes and so I was able to meet up with her family and had the honor of hanging out in her amazing suite at Planet Hollywood where she was right after she won! I was at the most elite after party for only her family! Her State Director wasn't even in there, and there I was!! hahahaha
We had enough time to snap a few pics before she was swept away, and we all just talked and laughed and cried! Rima even introduced me to a post press video that was filing everything-she said, "THIS IS SARAH JANE FROM THE PINK FUND, She has a collection of one of a kind handbags......!!!! Truly I was so honored that her family took me in with open arms and we are excited about her homecoming and I can't wait to be a part of the details!!!! I joked that Sarah Jane Sarah Jane is the official couture accessory line of Miss USA 2010!!!!!! LOL
What an amazing blessing and without a doubt, she WAS THE ONE FOR THE TITLE!!! Having a first hand at the people and families around the pageant, Rima and the Fakih family were the most accepting and "real" people I've ever been around!!! Even though she will be in New York and jet-setting all over for the next year I know in my heart she is the real deal; a beautiful woman inside and out...... I can't wait for what this next year has in store!!
As the night grew later I prepared to leave Las Vegas and make a quick stop to visit to my family and finally head home to Detroit!
I had to stop and laugh when I realized that the last two women standing were Oklahoma and Michigan..... and look who ended out on top..... maybe a little foreshadowing of the situation with Oklahoma native Johnathn Kayne and myself! That is why I had to put under my pic with Rima in her robe after the win... "'NUFF SAID!" hahahahahah
A true testament of the verse, "If God is for you, than who can be against you!"
I will keep everyone posted on any events and news with Rima and I want to Thank everyone for praying and supporting me, on my adventure of "making it in the fashion industry"
:DDDD
peace & love,
Sarah Jane
ps. You guys are all going to fall over when I announce my next new venture! But I'm going to NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!!!! I'll be in touch!
