Twenty Years of KD

I've been thinking about writing this post for a while. Now that summer is winding down, school is starting up again and all the chapters are getting ready for recruitment, it seems like the perfect time. You see, 20 years ago this fall, I became a member of Kappa Delta Sorority. Back then I couldn't even begin to imagine what how that decision would change my life. It's been an amazing journey.

It was the fall of 1994 and I'd just transferred to the University of Pittsburgh from a small all-women's college in Virginia. I didn't know anyone there. Even though my hometown was only 40 minutes away across the West Virginia border, no one from my high school went to Pitt. I was by myself in a big city and had no idea how to make friends.

As is the case in so many schools, there's an activity fair before classes start and one of the events was the Watermelon Picnic on the lawn of the Cathedral of Learning. It was an opportunity to meet all the sororities on campus and maybe sign up for Formal Rush. After walking around and eating my watermelon, I figured, why not? What do I have to lose? I won't join a sorority but I'll just go through the process and see what it's like, who knows, maybe I'll meet a new friend or two.

(I can't believe I still have this)

There were 12 sororities on Pitt's campus and over the next few days we made out way through all of them. The first session was 12 rounds, then 8, 4 and 2 on the final night. After each round the sororities ranked their top choices and I ranked mine. I didn't have any clear contenders through the first few days, I liked a few but no one really stood out. I do remember ranking Kappa Delta #1 after 4 rounds but still wasn't committed to joining.

Finally it was time for the Preference Parties. This is the big night where sororities pull out all the stops. You'll often find them in black dresses, the house is decorated in twinkle lights, the treats are more formal and the emphasis is on sisterhood. For the first party of the night I went to another chapter and they were fine. It was fine, I didn't feel anything and I left there more convinced than ever that being in a sorority wasn't for me.

I walked over to Amos Hall, where the Kappa Deltas were on the 7th floor. I remember walking in and being greeted by Jessica who I'd spoken with at every party. We chatted some more, ate some sort of yummy treat and then we sat down to watch a Kappa Delta movie. We now refer to it as "the movie". That movie told you who was in and who wasn't. How could you tell? By who was sobbing hysterically at the end. Have you ever heard "Now and Forever" by Carole King? To this day I can't make it through that song without tearing up. Needless to say, I was one of the sobbers.

We then went into the formal side of the suite and everyone linked arms and went did the preference ceremony. I don't think there are many times in your life when you have moments of absolute certainty. Maybe it happened when you were deciding on a career path or when you met your significant other but at the young age of 18, it was a feeling I'd never experienced before. I remember standing in that circle knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was exactly where I needed to be.

The ceremony ended and it was time to go. On the way out we were given a white rose and asked to pluck a petal. We walked over to the fountain and were told, "Take a petal, make a wish, I know you'll make the right decision." I clutched that petal and thought "I want to be a KD, what ever it takes, I want to be a KD". 

I left the house, walked over to the Student Union and signed the card that committed me to accepting a bid. I knew that I wouldn't join the other chapter whose party I attended, it was Kappa Delta or nothing.

From there, I guess you can say the rest is history. I LOVED my collegiate experience. Those three and a half years went by in the blink of an eye.

(One of many date parties. WHY were velvet mock turtleneck dresses a good idea?)

(Before Pref Party)

(Roomies before Pref Party)

(Me and my littles)

(Another velvet dress. Good Lord Lara)

For most, that's where the story ends. You love your collegiate days and eventually you all grow up, move away, start careers and families. That's what I did too.

Fast forward to nine years ago. Kevin and I had just moved to Raleigh and didn't know a soul. He said, why don't you look and see if your sorority has an alumnae chapter? You can meet some people that way. 

Here in the Triangle we're extremely fortunate to have a strong alumnae chapter. Over the past nine years I've served as President, Membership, Public Relations and Programming of the Triangle KD Alumnae Chapter. I have met the most amazing women and I consider myself so, so fortunate to call them my friends. They've been there through the amazing highs and lowest of the lows. We've celebrated engagements, weddings, babies, new jobs, welcomed new comers and waved a sad goodbye to those who've moved away.

(Relay for Life)

(Baby shower!)

(Shamrock and Run 5K)

(More babies!)

From the first day I joined the Triangle AC, there had been talk of KD coming to NC State. At the time, we supported the UNC-Chapel Hill chapter but knew that KD had already received a approval to colonize in 2010.

In the summer of 2010 I received an e-mail from National Kappa Delta looking for volunteers to serve on the Chapter Advisory Board at NCSU after colonization. This is a pretty standard request to when a chapter is getting ready to form. I thought it sounded fun and a great way to give back to the organization.

Shortly after I was asked to serve as CAB-Finance and support the Treasurer.

(Installation Day)

It's really hard to put into words, but as much as I loved and enjoyed my college experience, I love watching this new group of women grow and develop even more. I think when you advise a chapter for a while, they become "your chapter". Not like your initiating chapter, it's different. Different but you're invested in their success, you want to see them grow and succeed.  I've seen them progress from those rough early days into a strong vibrant chapter. Each year gets better and better and there's no doubt in my mind they'll become one of the top chapters in the organization.

In 2012 I was asked to become the Chairman of the Advisory Board and continue to hold that role today. I've been offered some amazing opportunities was a result of my involvement, such as traveling to Boston last year for convention. It was my first Kappa Delta Convention and such an unbelievable experience.

(Even advisors get loopy by the last day of recruitment)

Classes started this week and they're putting the final touches on the skit. In 2 short weeks the parties will start and they'll welcome the next new member class. So much has changed in the last 20 years but there are a few things that stay wonderfully the same. And hopefully, there will be at least one woman standing in the circle at the Preference party, who knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is exactly where she needs to be. She may not realize it, but her life will be forever changed. She'll meet her new sisters and start on this wonderful journey.

I can't wait to meet them.

A few years ago one of the collegiates asked my why I volunteered to be an advisor. It was simple, Kappa Delta has given me so much, it was my home away from home, a place where I met the most amazing women and had, and continue to have, some of the most amazing times of my life. If I can help in any way to see that you have a tenth of the experience I did, it's all worth it.

I think Carole King said it best,

We had a moment, just one moment, that will last beyond a dream, beyond a lifetime. We are the lucky ones, some people never get to do, all we got to do. Now and forever, I will always think of you.

I can't even begin to imagine what the next 20 holds.

Wednesday Confessions!

I swear, every Wednesday I sit down to type this post, (at least I'm not doing it at work today) I say, HOLY CRAP, it's Wednesday! Annnnnd today is no different. Monday was kind of a free day for me. I thought I had a training class but it was last Wednesday. Some how I put it on my calendar on the wrong day. Ooops. It's OK, I still have a crap-ton of compliance classes to take and yea, free day. but you know what, I still didn't take them.

So I decided to change up my confessions today and instead of confessions I'm going to write some open letters to a few people I encountered this weekend. Here goes,

Dear Lady behind me in the checkout line, please don't crawl up my ass. I'm still paying for my groceries, the closer you get, the slower I move. If time is of the essence, and you need to get out of the store in a certain number of minutes, don't go to Super Target on Sunday afternoon. Now I give you stank eye.

Dear family with the five year old at Costco, those carts are really big, even I have a hard time pushing it. Your child is too small to manage pushing that big of a cart, he's running into the displays, he's run into me twice and you're in EVERY aisle I'm in. I understand that he probably really wants to do it, but when it affects the other store patrons, tell him no. Now I give your child stank eye.

Dear ladies in line at Starbucks talking about getting a coffee. Your venti, double mocha crunch with extra whip isn't a coffee. Let's be real, it's a milkshake. 2 ounces of coffee in 800 calories of milk and sugar isn't coffee. I'm not hating on your drink choice but that's not coffee. Side rant, why are people so much more willing to consume 1200 calories of coffee beverage but not a milkshake? It's ice, milk and sugar, same thing... BTW, I didn't give stank eye here.

Dear people waiting for Body Pump Class, class starts at 2pm, you arrived at 1:30 and are waiting at the door, looking at your phone for 20 minutes. We are surrounded by a sea of cardio machines and weights. 20 minutes is a lot of time to get your additional sweat on. Hop on the elliptical, do a plank, pick up a weight, you're already at the gym! You can watch the door and jump off when the other class ends. I didn't give stank eye here because I was too busy sweating out an extra 150 calories on the ARC Trainer.

Dear lady next to me in spin class, why don't you sweat? The class is full, it's hot and I've already sweated through my headband, like seriously, my headband reached maximum sweat capacity and couldn't hold anymore. And you, you lady aren't even glistening, I don't understand it I look like I was on a slip and slide. I'm fearful that your body isn't regulating heat properly and you're going to pass out from heat exhaustion. Or perhaps you turn up the resistance on the bike. I didn't give her stank eye, but I did give it to the lady behind me who kept screaming randomly during class.

 

That's all for me folks! Don't forget to head on over and check out these awesome ladies!

 

Confess! What's on your mind today??

Linky Linky with Fitness Blondie and Vodka and Soda!

Scenes from the Weekend

I realized I hadn't done a "Scenes from the Weekend" in a while. Lucky you. Guess what, now you get one. 

Friday I was slogging through a bunch of compliance courses at work. Not really a bunch, just one, but in my defense, it was a looooong one. And there wasn't any audio, seriously, I had to read through the whole dang thing. I was bored. Bored Lara = work selfies. 

Kev had a few things to do after work so I headed to Costco. Paritally to get some snacks for work, because during the compliance course I was thinking about snacks and how I should have something other than a jar of peanut butter in my office. I was also a little hungry and thought there might be samples. There were, bacon. I had bacon samples at Costco and bought 8 pounds of butter, a 78 pound bag of broccoli and some beef jerky. (I might be off on the weights.)

It was pretty tasty! Now I have 32 pounds of it for my office, and the zombie appoccaplise. Then we headed over to Tasu in Brier Creek for some sushi. Kev recently started eating sushi and it's opened a WHOLE NEW WORLD for us. 

He really likes the Merry Roll, which is my favorite roll too. It's a California roll topped with chunks of tuna mixed with spicy mayo. So good, he's even gone to get it on his own. Crazy. Tasu is awesome because bogo sushi. Sushi always tastes better when one of them is free.

I posted the pictures of sushi on Instagram, beacuse that's how I roll, and I don't really know the blog vs Instagram posting rules. Like, are people pissed when they see a picture on Insta and then again on the blog? But seriously, I don't think all 5 of you really care, right? Any who, shameless plug, check me out on Instagram, because I kinda love it alot and can't stop posting there.

After dinner we headed over to Staples beacuse I needed a padfolio. What, you may ask is a "padfolio"? Well, it's one of those leather folder thingies where you can put a pad, your pen and there's a space for business cards and stuff. I've been using a plain old notebook to take notes for years but I noticed that all of the other managers in the meetings have nice leather folder thingies and I have a composition notebook. I fell prey to the peer pressutre and had to get me one. At least I went with a snazzy silver one instead of the boring black. I still had to keep it real.

And we stopped at Dairy Queen and I got a swirl soft-serve, it was delicious.

Saturday Kev had a thing to do all day so it was just me and Cleo. I was going to go to Body Pump at 10:10 but I was up early and decided to head out for a 4 mile run instead. I thought I would beat the humidity, nope. I ran my normal route and on the way back, noticed that a church was having a yard sale, so I took a detour and did a little browsing. I didn't have any money and people were looking at me like I was some sort of sweaty freak so I left and finished the rest of my run.

One of the great thing about my nromal route is that I park at Whole Foods, which means that I can eat Whole Foods breakfast bar. Which I did as well as get some water and Vega recovery powder. I got home, showered and Cleo and I had eggs and bacon. Then I realized I FORGOT COFFEE! Seriously, how do I forget coffee???

I had to remedy that pretty quickly so Cleo and I headed to the dog park with a stop at Deja Brew first. I like flavored coffee. I don't drink coffee beverages because milk and soy make me said and there are only 2 places in the entire Triangle that have almond milk lattes. And I don't like the junk in the flavor pumps. So flavor coffee with half and half is the way this gal rolls.

We had a lovely time at the park, Cleo ran around then sat in front of me staring and panting. Then she'd stick her head in the water bucket, rub her face in the dirt and stare at me some more.

Fine, we'll go home. 

I dropped Cleo off and decided that while Kev was away, to the mall I'd go. :)

First stop at Teavana where I got a strawberry something iced tea. I also learned that they discontinued my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE TEA. Berry Almond Amatetto is no more and I might have shed a small tear. I'm definitely a little bitter.

Oh my, 40% off at The Limited? WHAT???? (Calm down Kev) Super cute stuff for the fall but I just don't look good in button down shirts, I just don't. And I'm not getting them tailored. I just don't care enough.

Side note, I'm having a bit of a clothes crisis since starting the new job. I need to dress var more professionally than I have in the past and I have plenty of cute, one end of the business casual spectrum. In this job I need to be at the far other end. Meh. I want to be trendy but not dress like an old lady.

They just opened a Boston Proper and I kinda love that white lace tunic. It has gold and sparkles and I would wear it to Atlantic City and drink martinis and play slot machines.

I got home, Kev gor home and he wanted to watch the Steelers game. He called around to a few places and the Tilted Kilt said they had the game. For those of you who aren't familiar, the Tilted Kilt is Scottish Hooters. They just wear kilts instead of shorts. We get there and some random people greet us at the door and ask if we're here for the Lock and Key event, um, no. Inside the door is a billboard explaining that it's SPEED DATING. They give the guys keys and the ladies locks and something happens and maybe you get a date out of it. Kev thought I should sign up to talk to the single men so I would appreciate what a catch he is and how I should be thankful that I don't have to date anymore.

Anyway, they weren't playing the game but we learned that they apparently really want to be a Steelers bar. Le Sigh, it looks like there's more Scottish Hooters in my future if I want to watch a game this season. 

Since there wasn't any good football, we went on up to the Village Grill at Layfayette Village. I had some yummy Kinky vodka and Soda and the Mussels. Yum. I'd never had Kinky Vodka and it's some passion fruit infused boozy awesomeness.

Sunday was food prep, grocery and laundry day and I headed back to Deja Brew for my coffee since it's close to Trader Joes.

Hit the usual spots, Trader Joes, Fresh Market and Target, and made it home in time to change and get to Body Pump.

Got home, gave Cleo a bath and me a shower and it was off to NCSU to talk to the President and VP-Standards about their plans for mixers and date parties this semester. There were a few changes this year and we needed to start planning. We had a long talk about how freshmen couldn't control themselves at their first few parties and how they can mitigate the risk. Oh freshmen...

Back home and I decided to make PaleOMGs Italian meatloaf. So, as I was making the meatloaf, I had to chop up peppers and onions. I'm lazy and all my stuff is in big chunks. I kept thinking about Eddie Murphy Raw, where he wants a McDonalds hamburger and his mama says she isn't going to pay for McDonalds, she'll make a burger that's better than McDonalds. Get her the chopped meat, a green pepper, the onion and an egg. She chopped it all in big pieces, fried up the burger and put it on some Wonder Bread. He was crying beacause the kids were calling it a welfare green pepper burger.

I made a welfare green pepper burger, except it was an entire meatloaf, and it was delicious. If you like meatloaf, go make this and eat it.

That's pretty much it! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Where do you shop for work clothes?
Ever heard of Kinky vodka?
Eddie Murphy, Raw, tell me I'm not the only one who can quote it word for word.

Linking Up!

 

 

Spotlight Sunday - Hail Merry

For today's Spotlight Sunday I want to talk about Hail Merry. Hail Merry doesn't know me or that I exist but I love their treats and I want other people to know about their deliciousness. Hail Merry makes a few different kinds of treats, Miracle Tarts, Macaroons, Grawnola and Nuts and Seeds. I've eaten the tarts and Macaroons and am seriously in love. 

One of my favorite things about Hail Merry is their commitment to quality, junk-free products. You can read about their philosophy here. Everything is raw, non-GMO, gluten free and kosher. My favorite part is that they're free of corn, SOY and starches. Anytime I can find a treat that doesn't have soy hiding in it, you know I'm a fan.

Because they're raw and not full of preservatives, you can find the tarts and macaroons in the refrigerated section of a lot of natural and specialty retailers. I get mine at Whole Foods and Fresh Market.

My FAVORITE is the Coconut Vanilla Miracle Tart. I have part of one of these in my fridge right now. It's so dang good and the crust is made of unicorn tears and rainbows, it's that dang good.

I love how few ingredients there are as well. Coconut, coconut oil, maple syrup, raw almond flour, raw cashews, organic palm sugar, coconut water. All real ingredients. Love it.

This isn't a diet food, it's full of good, healthy oils and fats. Those healthy fats make it really filling and believe me, half a tart is plenty.

I've also had the chocolate and raw almond butter tart and it's amazing too. Those ones sell out pretty quickly at Whole Foods and you have to be quick to grab one.

A few weeks ago I saw the Caramel Sea Salt Macaroons at Fresh Market and had to pick some up. OMG, these are AMAZING. 2 macaroons makes the perfect after dinner treat.

On average the tarts are a little over $4 at Whole Foods and a little under $4 at Fresh Market. I think the macaroons are around $5. Not cheap treats but it's not about eating cheap, it's about good, nourishing, junk-free food.

If you happen to see Hail Merry treats while you're out shopping, do yourself a favor and pick some up! You won't regret it!

Five Thing Friday

Happy Friday!! I swear, this week has just flew by. I think that's what happens when you're super busy at work.

This week for Five thing Friday, I decided to talk about 4 Internet things I love and one thing that really annoys me. I figure this is a great way to complain about one thing while keeping everything light hearted.

I just want to preface this by saying, "My sense of humor might be considered 'inappropriate' by many." Just keeping it real. The things that a lot of people laugh at, I don't think are funny. I guess if I wanted to do a comparison, I'm more of a "Family Guy" sense of humor than a "Simpsons".

So what's really amusing me?

1. Sea Captain Date. If this isn't real, don't tell me. I want to believe that there's a website full of boat men looking for love. The best, BEST part of this is all the single entendres. "Hey girl, I need someone to scrub my barnacles, heh heh heh..."

I'm so sad that the best I can do is an iPhone screenshot. That first guy loves to cuddle. Further down there's a guy who will "totally control you like his ship". Bwah ha ha ha ha. I seriously love this site.

2. Amazing Amazon reviews. Who hasn't seen the reviews for the Mountain Three Wolf Moon Short Sleeve tee? But Damn, these reviews never cease to crack me up.

This item has wolves on it which makes it intrinsically sweet and worth 5 stars by itself, but once I tried it on, that's when the magic happened. After checking to ensure that the shirt would properly cover my girth, I walked from my trailer to Wal-mart with the shirt on and was immediately approached by women. The women knew from the wolves on my shirt that I, like a wolf, am a mysterious loner who knows how to 'howl at the moon' from time to time (if you catch my drift!). The women that approached me wanted to know if I would be their boyfriend and/or give them money for something they called meth. I told them no, because they didn't have enough teeth, and frankly a man with a wolf-shirt shouldn't settle for the first thing that comes to him.

I arrived at Wal-mart, mounted my courtesy-scooter (walking is such a drag!) sitting side saddle so that my wolves would show. While I was browsing tube socks, I could hear aroused asthmatic breathing behind me. I turned around to see a slightly sweaty dream in sweatpants and flip-flops standing there. She told me she liked the wolves on my shirt, I told her I wanted to howl at her moon. She offered me a swig from her mountain dew, and I drove my scooter, with her shuffling along side out the door and into the rest of our lives. Thank you wolf shirt.

3. Passive Aggressive Notes I hate passive Aggressive people but LOOOOOVVVEEEE their notes!

 

Just got there what you have some work down time and chuckle away.

 

 

4. Sh!t for the Kids! My brother posted this video yesterday and I was peeing my pants. Apparently Aunty Fee has been on Jimmy Kimmel and TMZ but I don't stay up late enough for Jimmy. I'm lame and have to go to bed at 11pm. 



 

I cry every time I watch one of her videos. Literally, tears rolling down my face.

 

 

5. And my rant. But I really think this might be a PSA.

 

OK folks, when you see those facebook pictures of puppies with 2 legs or kids with cancer or even the ones that tell you to "like" if you love the Lord and scroll down to let Satan win, or maybe to win a free iPad, THEY'RE ALL FAKE.

 

What happens is people create pages, post those pictures, try to get a crap-ton of likes, then the SELL the page to spammers. They sell it based on the number of likes and shares, then the marketers blast out spam messages promoting their products and services. No, FB doesn't condone this but it happens, it happens ALL THE TIME. The spammers can make money off you, perhaps as a link to an app they get a piece of, or a "recommendation" for a product on Amazon that they now receive a commission on. It's all fake. If you want to like something, like it from a reputable company. Want to support homeless animals, adopt from a shelter or volunteer at the SPCA, a facebook like won't help the puppies in your town.

 



I'm pretty sure scrolling past this doesn't renounce my faith.

Well, this post totally covered all ends of the spectrum. I'm generally a pretty happy gal but the whole "like this or you're a bad person" really gets my panties in a bunch.

Have a great Friday!

Linking up with:

             

Wendesday Convessions - I sneek food into the movie theater

Happy Wednesday everyone! It's Wednesday so you know what that means, confession time! I keep thinking that I'll run out o things to confess. Well, that hasn't happened yet so we're gonna  keep rolling.

Linky Linky with Fitness Blondie and Vodka and Soda!

 

Last night Kev and I went to see Guardians of the Galaxy. I wanted to take a day off from the gym and Kev wanted to see a movie. Perfect. The movie started at 7:20pm and I was running a little late from work. I needed to stop and hopefully get my car washed and grab some dinner. Due to the impending storm, the car wash was closed, bummer because I have to take someone to dinner tonight and my car is embarrassingly dirty. Anywho, I headed over to Sassool. Raleigh friends, it's Neomonde. They opened one in North Raleigh, it was Neomonde for a minute and changed it to Sassool. Same delicious food.

I placed my order and waited for my kabobs. While I was waiting I started talking to the magician who was making balloon animals. I might be in the market for a balloon guy to come to my department during Customer Service week and was asking if he did corporate events. Here's how the convo went.

Me: Hey, balloon man, do you do corporate events?

BM: Yes, I do, I do, adults love my magic

Me: Well, I need someone to come make balloon hats for my people in October

BM: Yes, I can make hats, but let me show you my magic

Me: I'm good thanks.

BM: Adults love my David Blane style magic

Me: Yeah, It's a call center. I don't need you sitting in a freezer for 3 days. I just want someone to come make some balloon hats.

By the time I catted with Balloon man and got my food, I was running pretty late. So I packed my kabob, some hummus and a little broccoli into a Tupperware container, and headed to the movie.

Kev said bringing Kabob into the theater was borderline ridiculous but it got me thinking about all the things we've smuggled and eaten in the theater.

1. Popcorn. This is Kev's story, not mine. When they were kids, his dad would make popcorn at home, out it in a giant paper bag and stuff it into their coat sleeves.

2. Candy. Who DOESN'T smuggle candy into the movies? It's like $8 for a carton of Skittles and I can get 75lbs of Skittles at Costco for $8.

3. Bottles of water. A Bottle of water is $4!!!! I shove one in my bag every time we go.

4. Soda / Sparkling water. When I used to drink soda, that's what I smuggled. Now it's a can of sparkling water. You have to wait for a loud noise or explosion to pop the can open, but it's worth it.

5. Apple Pocket from Cheesecake Factory. That was all Kev. He got it to go and forced me to smuggle it in. I think he did ask them to hold the ice cream.

 

 

6. Sandwiches - I've gone in at least once with a Subway sandwich and another time with a wrap from Whole Foods.

 

7. Bag of meat and cheese - In my defense, I was on the 21 day detox and knew there wouldn't be anything there to eat. So I ate a bag of meat and cheese in the middle of Book of Mormon. I'm sure I had some nuts as well.

 

8. Carrots and Baba Ganouj - While I was on the purification cleanse, it was one of the few portable things I could eat.

 

9. Kabobs - This really was a great one. I really feel that I moved to the next level of food smuggling. :)

 

Obviously this is a light hearted post but there's a moral to the story. Just because you're going out, it doesn't have to affect your eating plan for the day. Yes I missed dinner and it would have been easy just to eat a vat of buttery popcorn, but that won't help me reach my goals.

 

I've never seen anyone get kicked out of the movies for eating their own food. It could happen, but the majority of theaters I go to are manned by 17 year olds. They don't care if I have a ham sandwich in my purse. Don't worry abut what others may or may not think, stay true to you!

 

 

Confess, what have you smuggled into the movies?

Guest Post at Lean and Clean Brie!

Happy Tuesday!!

Today I'm guest posting over at Lean, Clean and Brie. Brie's on vacation this week and I was more than happy to help her out with a guest post. I'm talking about obscure but awesome running songs and I know you're dying to know which I chose. :)

So head on over and check it out!