Convention Recap - Part One

Did you really think you'd get away without a convention recap or two? Nope. for the 3 readers who're interested in the recap of a sorority convention, read on friends. And Mom, hi Mom. If this isn't your jam, come on back next week when I'll be back with awkward selfies and pictures of my cat.

On to the recap! My day started bright and early at 5am and I had to get ready and dressed for the day. I had a 7am flight and an 1130am meeting, in Orlando. I got up at 5am, planned to leave at 6am and catch my 7am flight. I'm sure to many of you, this seems like a really bad idea. BUT, at the RDU airport, this is TOTALLY doable. I really love our little airport I have checked my bag, gotten through security and at my gate within 20 minutes of being dropped off, No problem... Except this day. I have never seen so many people in that airport before. Seriously, the line for bag check was ridiculous. Thankfully I realized I could drop my bags outside with the skycap and get in line for security. I wouldn't have made it if not for the skycap.

Get in line for security and when I get to the front, the TSA agent starts complaining to no one in particular that "these people aren't lining up like they're supposed to". She was talking about me and some other people. That's when I spoke up and told her that  we'd happily go where she wanted if she just told us where to go. I got the biggest TSA stank eye. Crap. I'm going in the back room and she's going to touch my boob and now I miss my flight. 

Thankfully that didn't happen and I made it through security, ran to my gate and STILL had time to get my coffee. Hell Yeah.

I arrived on Friday along with most of the National Leadership Team. We advise chapters nationally as opposed to working with the local chapters. Really though, I still do both because I still work with the ladies at NC State. 

The first day was full of meetings and finally meeting the rest of the Chapter Accounting Specialist Team as well as my fellow Division 5 peeps.

Preach it Pandora.

 I got my special convention badge with the blue NLT ribbon. Snazzy.

One of the things that happens at convention are the business sessions. It's where roll is called, the chapters get to show off their flags, the delegates vote on new members of National Council and proposed amendment bylaws are voted on.

When those business sessions occur, we have to wear all white and white robes, we also sit with our divisions in our special seats. One of the cool things are these placards. The delegate signs the back each year and it's a cool way to see all those who've come before you.

After the last session, I think I finally made it to bed around midnight. It was a super long day, but it was the first of many. 

Saturday morning started bright and early with CAS training and then we had a NLT business session. One of the last things we did at that session was the dagger ceremony. Daggers are given to new NLT members to signify their service. They're worn behind the pin or incorporated into a piece of jewelry. It's how you can tell that someone has served on NLT. I knew that this was the tradition but it didn't really sink that I was getting one until right before the ceremony.

Seriously, so cool. I'm super excited to add that piece of hardware.

Of course there are pictures, so many pictures. And a glorious hotel carpet. 

It was another long day because the collegiates started arriving Saturday afternoon. Even though I wasn't there as the "official" Chapter Advisory Board person for NC State, they're still my girls and my advisees. I needed to make sure they all got in OK. 

We had the opening session, more meetings and again, back to bead at midnight-ish.

That night Kev was off playing poker and sent me this text.

Kev knows me. Some of my favorite things are gambling and money. Nothing like a nice stack of poker chips to end the day. BTW - he won.

On to Sunday! Day three of convention for me. We were in business sessions most of the morning but when we finished I needed to get a picture with me and the Xi Chapter flag.

Every convention, the chapter delegates walk down the aisle with their chapter's flag. It's pretty cool and the alumnae for that chapter are encouraged to stand to show their support. Last convention I got a picture with the NCSU flag but mine had already been taken down. Each chapter has a Greek letter designation based off their date of founding, The Kappa Delta chapter at the University of Pittsburgh was originally colonized in 1920 and disbanded in the 30's during the Great Depression. Luckily for me was re-colonized in 1979!

While I was getting my picture taken, a BUNCH of Xi collegiates and alumnae cam over and introduced themselves. I was SO excited that there were so many of us here. Xi chapter representing at convention!

So, you remember the GYPO Summer Challenge? Well, Amanda and I were both participants who weren't really able to play along during convention. HOWEVER, on Sunday the outfit was...you guessed it, a WHITE DRESS. We had to take a picture and post it on the GYPO Facebook page.

After a long day of meetings and business, it was time for dinner and the awards ceremony! That night it was cocktail attire.

This is the night when awards for the Alumnae Chapters, Chapter Advisory Boards, House Corporations and individual Chapters are announced.

I was super excited to pick this up for the Triangle Alumnae Chapter! I've been a member since I moved to NC and have served as President, Programming, PR and Membership. That group has a special place in my heart and I was thrilled to be able to pick up the award!

Honestly though, I was waiting to see what Eta Upsilon won. I knew they had done really well over the last biennium and I really, really wanted to see them win something.

AND THEY DID! They won a Recognition Award which is given to the top 25-35% of chapters in the country. I'm so proud of them, seriously, a LOT of time, effort and hard work went into that little bowl.

Me with 2 of my awesome advisees, the past and current chapter Presidents. These ladies earned this award! I told them that 20 years from now, when the shelves are full of crystal bowls and sliver platters, this bowl will have mints in it and no one will remember it's significance, but they will. 

AND Eta Upsilon's amazing House Corp won an Outstanding House Corp Award as well! Overall it was a great night and they're bringing home more silver to display in the house!

Phew, that was just the first 3 days of Convention, we still have two to go!

Linking Up!

What Do You Bring to Convention?

It's FRIDAY and I'm on my way to meet up with 100s of Kappa Deltas from all across the country for Convention!

I might have mentioned it a few times, so yeah, I'm a little excited. It's a great chance to reconnect with all the other National Advisors I only get to talk to on conference calls, I get actually meet my long distance advisees face to face, we get some great training and let's be honest, I can't wait for the awards ceremony. :)

I what better way to celebrate convention than to talk about some convention must-haves!

Clothes - Let's be honest, I might have done a little shopping for this trip, I wasn't a fan of the formal dress I wore last time and I "needed" some new outfits. :)

I ended up finding my formal dress at Ross. I swear, I'm going to have to do an entire post about shopping at Ross.

$15!

This dress made the cut too. I think it needs some pearls though.

So did this one

White Dress - We need to wear all white to all of the business sessions so a white dress is a must-have. Yes, I "needed" a new one. Again, found it at Ross.

 Spanx - With all these dresses and all the pictures I'm about to be in, I need some Spanx. Hell, I need a lot of Spanx. I might have bought more Spanx for the trip, so I'll be all sucked in and ready to go!

Pens / Notebook - There are a lot of meetings, a bunch of handouts and many notes to take. I have my handy dandy zebra fine point blue pens all packed and a new May Designs notebook. Well, it isn't new, but it is for KD notes.

Snacks - Bring snacks! Yes they feed you but I'm responsible for breakfast and any snacks. I have food issues and a giant morning muffin just brings pain and sadness. I have some new Vega protein bars that are delish and soy-free. I also grabbed some individual packs of almond butter, almonds and a few quest bars. I really should get some mints too. I just need to make it through the next few days without an awful stomach ache.

I'm totally bringing Skittles.

Water Bottle - those conference rooms are DRY and you'll get thirsty! Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! I'm bringing my coffee mug too. This gal needs lots of caffeine in the morning.

Chargers / phone / camera - There will be a LOT of pictures and you need to make sure your -ish is charged. Nothing worse than your phone dying in the middle of the awards ceremony.

First Aid - Bring band aids, tampons, aspirin, you never know when you'll need it!

Extra Space in your suitcase - At convention you get lots of swag, Save some room for your swag and souvenirs. I am already failing miserably at this. If I can't free up some room, I'm gonna look like Joey on the plane ride home.

Most of all bring yourself and get ready to have a blast! Oh, and don't forget your pin!

(Me and the fantastic ladies of Eta Upsilon 2 years ago in Boston!)

See you in a few days!

Linking up! Meet at the Barre

2014 Recap, July - September

I swear I will recap 2014 by the end of the year! The good thing is that I have a whole blog's worth of posts to remind me of what the heck I did. 

Before I get started I have to share my yesterday morning. Do you ever have one of those days when you couldn't even begin to predict what would happen that day? 

At about 8am I heard meowing outside my office. I assumed someone was watching a cat video or had some sort of phone app. About an hour later I see 2 of my employees trying to corner something under a shelf. I asked what they were doing and they said,

"We're trying to catch the cat. It escaped".

Why is there a cat in to office?

"Well, Michelle's cat died over the weekend and Stanley had an extra one so he brought it in as a surprise.

Why is it running around the office?

"We took it out of the crate because someone wanted to see it and it escaped.

There are a multitude of things that when you have extra, are acceptable to bring to work and leave in the break room. A delicious cake, left over cookies, even plant clippings but not a cat. Never a cat. 

Eventually someone in the office decided to adopt the cat which does nothing to keep people from bringing in more cats in the future. 

Alright, on to the recap.

July - I started my new job as Manager of Telephone Sales at First Citizen's Bank. I was super excited not to be in training any longer and to have my own team again. 

When I got there I had this strange tall desk. That didn't take long to change.

I also got my first Influenster box of goodies to try out. Getting free stuff is always fun but I'm realizing that I'm really picky about stuff and just because it's free doesn't meant that I'm going to say it's awesome. I actually have another unopened box from them that I need to dig into.  

I went to a bunch of Body Pump classes and kept running into this guy who drops his weights like he's deadlifting. He creeps me out in general and I see him ALL THE TIME.

Keeping my with my tradition of posing with anything in a costume, I ran into some furries at the Farmer's Market and had to take a picture.

Kev's sister and her family came to visit in July and we took an overnight trip to the beach!

We stopped at the NC Aquarium on the way back home and I finally got to see some jellyfish. It wasn't the squid I was hoping for but I'll take a jellyfish.

Kev and I also went to the Kiss / Def Leppard concert. It made me wish I'd seen Def Leppard 15 years ago when I had the chance. They didn't age well....

August - We went to the beer and bourbon festival in and I spent a LOT of time at the moonshine sample. Butterscotch moonshine is stupid amazing.

We also saw Chicago and REO Speedwagon which was one of the best concerts I've seen in YEARS. Seriously, REO Speedwagon was so much better than I thought they'd be and Chicago was amazing.

In August I wrote a post that's very important to me, 20 years of KD. I can't believe I've been in a sorority for more than half of my life and I had no idea what a life changing experience it would be.

Unbelievably the editor of the Angelos (our magazine) saw the post and asked me to re-tool it for an article! My story is going to appear in the Winter edition of the Magazine where I'll be a featured sister. I still can't believe it and I can't wait to see it in print! 

September - More running, it finally started to cool off a little bit and I was able to get in a few decent runs.

I wrote a few review and pretty much spent most of my time getting acclimated to my new job.

September was apparently pretty anti-climatic.

That's it for my recap! I'm bound and determined to get the last 3 months up tomorrow!

Linking up!

Protein Powder Review and Faux- Mac and Cheese

This post is kind of a hodgepodge of things but hey, I'm pretty random too. 

Last week I got some pretty exciting KD news that I can't share quite yet but I'm super excited about it! Also I found out that I'm up for the Outstanding Greek Advisor award at NC State. The awards ceremony is October the 20th and even though I'm thrilled to be nominated, I still want to win. :)

A few weeks ago I received a tweet from Protein Milk Shake Bar asking if I would be interested in trying their protein powder. I'm always looking for a good protein source that doesn't bring sadness, and after I say it didn't have any soy, I was on board to give it a shot. There were a ton of delicious flavors like cupcake batter and ice cream sandwich. I decided to go with the Rocky Road.

I really liked that it didn't have any soy, the carb count was pretty low and it had a good bit of protein.

I mixed it with a cup and a half of unsweetened vanilla almond milk. I took a sip and I was immediately struck buy how much it tasted like rocky road, I could definitely taste the marshmallow and the nutty goodness. The other thing was how sweet it was. I don't add sweetener to anything any more. I drink my coffee and tea black and only have unsweetened seltzer. I think that's part of the reason why it was so sweet to me. If you like a protein powder that tastes like candy, this is for you!

So, something completely different. A few weeks ago I made a cheesy spaghetti squash casserole recipe I found here. Hands down, this recipe changed my life. I'm not even exaggerating, and I am prone to exaggeration... This is stupid good and you have to buy one of the 5000 spaghetti squashes that are out there right now and make this.

Ingredients

• Olive oil cooking spray
• 2½ cups (1 lb., 450 grams) cooked spaghetti squash
• ½ plain Greek yogurt
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly spray a 1.5-quart baking dish with olive oil cooking spray.
2. If you need to cook the spaghetti squash, follow instructions 1-5 here: spaghetti squash recipe.
3. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Bake until browned, 40-45 minutes (it will smell wonderful!).
4. Allow to cool 10 minutes, then carefully cut into squares

Just eat it now.

That's all for me! I'm spending the day cruising around NYC, check out my Instagram for all the details!

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.