Special Edition

Carla Reports On
Her
Atlantic City
Pro Show

Tazzie Columb	There weren't many competitors around that day but I did get a chance to talk with Matt Duvall (what a nice guy) and introduce myself to Tazzie Columb . Luke Wood needed assistance with his color so he stopped by. He had just flown all the way from Down Under to surprise his girlfriend, Kim Perez! She was floored when she saw him!	Luke Wood

Friday:

Friday before the show was a very lazy day. The amateur part of the show was held on this day but I stayed in the room the entire time and so did mom. I felt bad she was probably bored but she said she didn't care. Our room was not right on the boardwalk but we could see the ocean waves from our window. It was pretty cool.   The lights of the boardwalk hotels were like Vegas but once you really looked around you knew you weren't there. The people just weren't fabulous enough for Vegas!!! Caesar's, Tropicana, Bally's were all in front of us blaring their neon sings and huge facilities!

Atlantic City Boardwalk

Tim and Brandy got there first, around 6 and then Nicki came in around 9. Once they all arrived we gathered in my room and they ate snacks and drank wine. Then we went to see Marcus and he was in his room with his friend and Phil Heath.

We all went to dinner in the hotel. The traditional "last supper"; steak dinner. The wine tasted real good!

I wasn't feeling as crisp in the physique department as I would have liked but I did keep filling and Tim said I needed to keep eating. I really didn't mind that since I had been soooo hungry this time around!

Saturday 9/23:

I woke up and started getting ready and felt like I was better but not perfectly on! Tim agreed and decided to fill me some more. Thank God Nicki had arrived because until then I was wheeling my mom around and now I didn't want to have to leave her alone to go backstage but Nick took over. I don't know what I would have done without her there…it just wouldn't have been right!

I went backstage and didn't know what to do with myself. Usually I just start working on the athletes, taking care of their every need. Today.,it wasn't my role…it felt very strange to say the least.

After I checked out the facility and met up with Lisa Aukland and Vicki Nixon and Colette Nelson I decided I better just get off my feet so I laid down with my feet on a chair and when I looked next to me there was Darrem Charles doing the same thing. How weird is that…Darrem Charles…getting ready just like me!? I had this moment of "where am I" and "whose life is this anyway?", thoughts!

	I really just couldn't stay still (what's new, right) cause I felt the overwhelming urge to help the people…so I started pumping up and looking at myself. The lighting in my room was awful and it was no better backstage but I noticed that I was losing the lines in my legs. I asked Nicki and Elaina Sieple but they said it was the lights…I knew better. So I decided not to look at myself anymore…why stress about it…nothing I could do about it now? It seemed like it took forever to get on stage cause I was second to last. I watched Lisa Aukland to get an idea of how to pose like a pro! Well once I got out there I rushed through my mandatories but didn't realize it until it was too late…1st rookie mistake!

I didn't feel scared or nervous. It was weird how calm I felt but I didn't feel like I owned that stage either! Note to self for the night show!

Once prejudging was over I drilled Tim about the lack of separation in my legs. He agreed they were not as cut as usual but stated that in order to fill out my glutes he sacrificed some of the lines. That is when I confirmed for myself that I was not as "ON" as I wanted to be. If I had been it wouldn't have mattered what I ate in the morning cause I would have already been "ON". No Simples for me either!!

Back to the room to try to relax. Lisa and her husband Tom hung out with me as they got kicked out of their room early. There really was no relaxing as I had to go over my routine. We were told that only top 15 may do their routine and I wasn't sure I had made the cut but I wanted to be prepared just in case.   Nicki and Mom and Tim and Brandie went to lunch so I had clearance to use my props without Mom seeing. Once it was time to go to the show I was stoked. I felt ready and confident and new this was my place to shine easily! I got backstage and who was there but Maggie and Dave! They had jumped in the car and driven all the way down just to see my pro debut! I was really psyched since everyone had been loving my suits so I wanted them to meet Maggie so she could network. My suits were just perfect and I loved wearing them! As I went backstage and looked around I took notice of the different 'groups" that sat together and those who sat alone. I decided since I wouldn't been winning any pro shows at this stage I might as well make as many friends as possible and be the "good time" girl backstage. So I opened my wine and began sharing. We had a blast.

Lisa Aukland

All the European women loved the wine idea and the women sitting alone I just approached and introduced myself to. We took pictures and practiced our routines and chatted it up with the guys! I had an absolute blast. When it came time for my routine..I rocked it! It was spot on and the dedication to my Mom was spoken by Bev Francis the MC. She introduced me as the mighty lightweight…I was stoked! I didn't fall off my heels or drop my hat or trip over my chair! It went great! I performed to Big Spender from Sweet Charity with Bob Fosse choreography in mind as a special tribute to Mom!!! (you can see a clip of it on www.figuregirlz.com/acpro.html)
Lisa Aukland took the show for the women and Darrem Charles took it for the men. Both were well on their way to the Olympia the next weekend! True champions!

After the show I hit the wall hard…we went to dinner with Tim and Brandie..a couple Cosmos later and me and Nicki tucked Mom into bed and went out. She had a 5 am shuttle and it was already 1 am. We figured she might be up all night? Oh well. We went to where we were told the after party would be but came across Marcus and his crew who forbid us to go into the club saying it was just too ghetto! So we hopped into a cab and went with them to the Borgota (newest big Vegas style hotel in Atlantic City) and were totally entertained by Marcus the whole time. He was just cracking jokes and acting silly. We were in the club and at the tables and finally finished off the night eating breakfast. We got Nicki back in time to catch her shuttle and I crashed!

Sunday:

On Sunday I had to get up for a photo shoot on the beach with Paco Gutierrz. I think there will be some awesome shots. He shoots with a real artistic flair…very creative. I never even have to really flex for him. He just captures the beauty of the muscle in a natural way.
I am glad we shot!

He loved mom. Actually ALL THE BIG GUYS LOVED MOM!

She was the hit of the weekend. Marcus was posing for her in the posedown and Matt Duvall was kissing her hand, Luke hung out in the lobby with her (and slipped her some money to get me flowers for helping him out!), they were wheeling her around in the chair and flirting with her. She had a ball. It made me sooo happy to have had her there. It was really very exciting.
On the way home we revisited the events of the weekend and all the new friends she had made!! We stopped for a very nice dinner and finally rolled into Agawam around 9. A long day!!

All in al I am very pleased with my pro debut experience. I ended up 15th out of 27 (was able to do my whole routine). I was very happy with this placing especially given that I was not totally satisfied with my physique. I made a couple rookie mistakes and did not bring the package I wanted. This is a good earning experience so I can improve on things and bring a better me to the stage for next year.

I only compare myself to myself so I have to be at least as good if not better than my best which so far has been Nationals 2005!

Besides the link above where you can see a video clip of my routine here are a couple other free sites for pics: LohreCreative.com and superbodypart.net. and fgphotography.com

QUESTIONS COMMENTS?
CONTACT ME AT
Carla@carlasalotti.com

You can get a more detailed account of the shows on
my blog if you are interested!
((((((C))))))

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