This weekend I had to work. But it doesn’t really feel like work when it’s a party atmosphere. Specifically, one of our programs at the Health Department put on a Quinceanera Fair complete with two fashion shows! The target audience was teenage Latina girls and their family to help them both plan their big party but also to learn the meaning behind a quinceanera and make healthy choices. In Weld County, Latina girls still have the highest rates of teen pregnancy, so a big part of the event was in intervening in changing this statistic.

My new program, Ama Tu Vida, was present as one of the booths on another topic of healthy choices: showing how you can have healthy food options even in a party atmosphere.

Comparing a traditional meal to a healthier version

The traditional meal of fried pork in chile rojo with Mexican rice and beans refried in lard with a soda as compared to a healthier alternative of brown rice, black beans, grilled chicken and a salad with agua de jamaica (hibiscus tea). The traditional meal has over 1,200 calories while the healthier version is closer to 400! We also showed how you can showcase fruits and vegetables as centerpieces and even do decorative cutting and designs.

Fruit as an edible decoration and flavor for water

Other booths included vendors for limos, cakes, makeup and more to help in the planning of a big party.

But my main job at the event wasn’t at the booth; it was as MC for the Quinceanera fashion show! We had 15 local, non-professional girls plus two guys as models in the show. My co-worker, Marjorie, wrote up the descriptions of the dresses in English and I translated them to Spanish. During the event, I read the English descriptions and the DJ from a local Spanish-language radio station, Tigre, read the Spanish descriptions. Last year I was the MC for the Spanish version, so I wasn’t too nervous. It was pretty fun and the girls looked awesome! The Greeley Tribune (our local newspaper) even did a write up on it. (In the picture for the Trib I am the blurry spot to the left 🙂 )

I was Co-MC during the fashion show (Desfile de modas)

All the girls together at the end!

What was really cool was that I recruited my former neighbor, Lizzy, to be a model as well, and she was a wonderful model in her Quinceanera dress (2nd to the left)! Thanks to her inviting me to her own Quince party, I knew she would do great!