I used to religiously watch the Miss America pageant when I was a little girl, and even though I outgrew that phase pretty quickly I still profess a guilty curiosity about beauty pageants - especially the Miss World and Miss Universe pageants (to be fair, the intellectual in me is intrigued by questions of culturally-defined aesthetics. And chicks in swimsuits are hot, even from a straight girl’s perspective).

I definitely don’t care enough though to figure out when they’re airing and scout out a TV to watch these pageants, but their websites are totally useless so I’m usually just reduced to reading news clips and watching random online vids instead.

Apparently that’s not the case anymore: Miss World is finally getting its manicured nails on Web 2.0 and making an interactive, audience-friendly website in time for the 2008 competition (to be aired in December)! They’ve partnered with Amuso, a New York based media platform that specializes in contests, to create a social network centered around the Miss World competitors. Users can send them messages, view photos, read about their interests, and vote on their favorite candidate. These votes will be tallied to determine the winner of the People’s Choice, automatically placing the candidate in the final pool of 7 nominees for the top prize.
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Tags: amuso, Beauty, contest, miss america, miss universe, miss world, pageant, people's choice, social network, techcrunch, web 2.0

I moved back to school today and spent the whole day sweating over getting a ridiculous amount of junk packed, loaded, unloaded, and put away. It’s a process I never liked because it makes me lament buying so much cute clothing I want to take with me, but there is something to say for the soothing effect of homemaking (nesting instincts kicking in much?)

I’ve seen many many dorm rooms in the last few years and anticipate I will continue seeing more. I’ve seen everything from the most neatly dolled-up and pinked-out sorority rooms (as pictured above) to the most ridiculously trashy and weedy-smelling dens. How you keep your space says a lot about you and it makes me curious what all of YOUR rooms are like.

So this is the deal: Send pics of your room (dorm room or not) to ming@girlybubble.com and I’ll post my favorite(s) in a week. Obvs I will respect your privacy and will not use pics submitted for any other purpose than this mini-contest and I will keep your name off at your request. Winner gets the opportunity to guest post about her interior design skillage and a free pass to the VIP area of the Fashion Shoot Party! (see my last post for details). And when my room finally stops looking like a clothes-bomb went off in it I’ll post pics of mine as well ;D

Tags: contest, dorm, girly, interior design, room, sorority