What Came Home With Me From Convention

I don't know about you but I love seeing the favors that people get at a convention / conference. I like seeing all the things and evaluating them. People LOVE to get free stuff. Love, love, love it and we'll take things we won't ever use just because it's free. Then we'll hang onto it for a while because we feel bad throwing it away because what if we need it one day??? Kev and I have been purging things that we don't want to take to the new house. Basically, if we don't love it, it isn't coming with us.

THANKFULLY, that doesn't apply to any of the things I brought home from Convention. :)

Let's take a look at what I brought home. 

Every Convention attendee has to have a some sort of name badge. How else will you know who's who? I added this one to my collection. 

This year you had the option to purchase the Convention T-shirt, I think it was $20. I pre-ordered mine when I registered for the event. Between Conventions, Shamrock Projects and other assorted events, I'm re-amassing a giant collection of Kappa Delta t-shirts, I had a crap-ton from college and they slowly wore out or were ruined. Between KD shirts and race tees, I could clothe a small school. 

If you think I just bought one shirt, you're sadly mistaken, I have a seemingly limitless love of long sleeved shirts and added a new one to my collection. I love the color and this is the back of the shirt. I also scored a new car decal and some super cute notepads.

Every conference has its own bag. A good bag is crucial when attending these events. Everyone needs a place to put their programs, snacks, water bottles, a coffee thermos, powder, chapstick, skittles. Wait, that's my bag. But you get the picture. 

This year's bag was really large and it was made of a waterproof material. It's great for the summer and I could see myself taking it to the beach or the pool. I did think it was a bit large to carry thought the halls and I resorted to carrying my purse or a little tote bag I happened to pack. I was also bummed because the bags the NLT people got didn't have the convention patch. I guess they'd received complaints that the volunteers preferred plain bags since they'd gotten so many in the past. Eh, I would have liked a patch but it's still a nice bag. 

At the first meal this graphic print was our favor. I think it would make a great addition to my cr2f prints that are in my office. Now to find a matching white frame. 

This year I joined the KD chorus. I joined it 2 years ago also, it's always a lot of fun and you get to find out where NCTA and the next Convention will be before anyone else does. Really though, it's a lot of fun to get up there and sing in front of everyone. 

You generally get an extra something as a chorus prop and this year it was a KD visor. I'm super stoked about this. I had been contemplating getting a visor for running for a while but hadn't found one I liked. This one is perfect! I get to show off my KD pride and keep the sun out of my eyes. It's a win win Yo.

When we got to our CAS meetings, our CAS director gave us a present of a Disney gift card, which was super nice and unexpected. I mentioned before that I'm not all that big of a Disney fan. Except for one thing, Beauty and the Beast. Hands down, my all time favorite Disney movie. It was my favorite fairy tale as a kid and I remember being so excited when it was released in the theater. I might have seen it many, many times in the theater and can recite it word for word. 

If I'm getting anything Disney, it's going to be Beauty and the Beast. 

This mug was perfect. And it holds plenty of coffee. :)

Only convention related because I bought it in Orlando. Beaker is awesome. He currently lives in my office and when a member of my team comes in to tell me something "shocking" I hold up Beaker.

This might be one of the best favors ever. It's a portable power charger and works really, really well. My phone is in a constant state of death and I never seem to have a way to charge it. Throw this in my bag, boom, instant power source.

At one of the lunches we received this makeup / pencil bag. I can't decide what I want to use it for yet but it's a great bag.

You can also see the gold rose pendant. At NCTA last year we received a similar gold pendant, but it was a nautilus shell. The collegiates loved them and wore them all the time. This year we got another one of our symbols, a rose. I've worn my nautilus pendant several times and I'm sure I'll get plenty of use out of this one as well.

I love this bracelet. We received it as a favor at the Foundation lunch. Pearls are another one of our symbols and this bracelet is so versatile, They did a great job picking out jewelry that spoke to all ages and that you'd actually wear.

At our first NLT dinner, these books were on our chairs. They've been around for a while but I've never bought one. I'd contemplated several times but never pulled the trigger, now I don't have to!

I already showed this picture but one of the best things I brought home was my National Leadership Team dagger. It's really special and signifies a lot. I'm just really thrilled to be able to serve at the National level.

I looked over my treasures trying to decide what my favorite thing was. I love all of the things we received and I know I'll get a lot of use out of them all, which for convention swag is a huge deal.

One of the things I received that was so very special to me was this.

One of the Xi Chapter Alums gave me this postcard with a super sweet note congratulating me on my NLT appointment and a taste of home. For those of you who don't know, Sarris is the best chocolate on the planet. Hands down, no question, don't argue. If you're in Pittsburgh, get some Sarris chocolate covered pretzels. Life changing.

I'd never met her before but she knew about me. I was so, so touched to receive it and it reminded me that no matter how many years I've been away, how many years I've been with Eta Upsilon or how many chapters I work with, Xi is still "my" chapter and Xi alum will always have a special connection. Thank you for reminding me where I came from and why I continue to serve.

We definitely received some great things. I had to pull some things out of my checked luggage to stay within the weight limits but it was worth stuffing in my carry on!

Linking up!

Convention Recap pt 2

Le Sigh, I totally meant to have this posted and up last week. The good news is that I actually think things might slow down a little bit at work, but that's probably wishful thinking, lol. After I got back from convention I rolled straight into 3 days of Sales Training that I facilitated. It was actually pretty fun to return to my trainer roots, especially since it was only for a few days.

Alright, on to the last 2 days of convention! Monday morning started off with the final business session where we installed the new National Council. We also gathered most of the Xi Chapter alum in for a picture in front of our flag.

Really, this was super cool. It's been a really long time since I interacted with alum from my chapter. I've been away for a long time and have been with Eta Upsilon for 5 years, longer than I was in college (thankfully). Seeing so many women from "my chapter" really helped to remind me of my roots. It was awesome to see so many people from the University of Pittsburgh.

After the final session and lunch it was time for our free half day. Some of the other CAS and I had dinner reservations at Todd English's restaurant over at the Dolphin but I still had several hours to kill and didn't have anything planned. I knew a bunch of people were going to Magic Kingdom but I didn't have enough time to go there and have dinner.

Instead I took the boat over to Hollywood Studios where apparently it's nothing but Frozen. Mo' Frozen, Mo' Money.

Honestly, the main reason why I went to Universal Studios was to go to Muppet Land! Honestly, I've never really been a Disney fan. I know people who love Disney movies, Mickey and Minnie and that's just never been me. What I do love are Muppets!

I was super excited to go to the Muppets 3D show. Beaker is my fav.

Statler and Waldorf were there to heckle the show, as they should be.

Definitely a cute show, I was just excited to be at a Muppet Show. After it was over, I headed to the gift shop.

So many feels. On one hand, I'm really glad this book exists so that people will know the awesomeness of Jim Henson. On the other hand, I'm so sad that someone had to write this.

Beaker came home with me.

Soon it was time for dinner. One of the beverages I enjoyed was this Swedish Fish martini, complete with Swedish Fish foam. It was pretty sweet but really yummy.

I had an amazing piece of salmon with some crazy crab sauce on the side.

We had a lot of adult beverages and it was a blast hanging out with new friends.

Tuesday morning and afternoon we had break out training sessions and before we knew it, it was time for the White Rose Ball!

All of the Chapter Accounting Specialists gathered for our final picture of the Convention!

Eta Upsilon CAB representing!

Me and the fabu Eta Upsilon Pres. We talk lots, that's the joy of me being your advisor. :)

I was super excited to finally meet this lady in person! Nancy was on of the founding members of the Xi chapter colonization back in the day and I remember looking at the face on the composite for 3.5 years. She's the CAB-Finance for one of the chapters I work with and I get to work with her too. She's the bomb.

For one of the last pictures of the night, the La(u)ra's had to get together. Laura is my House Corp counterpart at Eta Upsilon and she's fantastic. The chapter gets us confused all the time, which we totally perpetuate. We've thought about having a "Know your La(u)ra's" presentation so they'd finally be able to tell us apart. 5 years later, that still hasn't happened.

PHEW! THAT was the 2015 Kappa Delta Convention! As always it was an amazing time and I left with a new infusion of green and white!

Scenes From The Weekend

Do the weekends get shorter? I swear it was Friday I blinked and here it is Sunday night. Ugh. I need a vacation. Sadly, I just had a "vacation", actually 2, and now I need to save the rest of my PTO for the end of the year when we're planning our re-booked Europe trip. Meh...

Okie Dokie, on to our weekend! Friday night Kev wanted steak. Really though, Kev always wants steak so this night was no different than the rest. We had reservations at Ruth's Chris via Open Table but Kev isn't a fan of their steak so when a spot at Vinnie's opened at 7pm, we headed there instead. 

I've mentioned before Vinnie's is hands down the best Cosmo in town. Their steak is pretty awesome too, so there's something for both of us. Marriage is about finding things you both like and doing them together. 

We generally split a steak because I'm just not going to put away 8 ounces of meat, booze and a side dish. You gotta have priorities. We went with the Strip Steak, Pittsburgh Rare. I personally thought it was closer to Rare that Pittsburgh Rare and therefore, a little overdone for my taste, but then again, I noshed on a pile of raw steak tartare last weekend. Kev said I was insane and he ended up eating most of my food too. It was fine though, I had 2 Cosmos to fill my belly.

After dinner, we stopped at Whole Foods to get some movie theater candy BTW, that's a bad idea because Whole Foods candy is more expensive than movie candy.

We went to see San Andreas which I thought was AWESOME. It might be because I had 2 Cosmos coursing though my system but I still thought it was fantastic. 

heh heh heh.....

The one major thing for me was that I actually believed the movie could happen. Let me explain. 

The Rock had to save his daughter through a natural disaster. We've all seen these sorts of movies before. That John Cusack movie where he drives a limo though the apocalypse, and that other one where Dennis Quaid walks from Philly to NYC in a storm that freezes most people to death immediately. I didn't believe them for a minute. In this one the Rock flies a helicopter, steals a truck, gets a plane, parachutes out of the plane, drives a boat, then takes the boat OVER a giant tsunami wave, ALL to save his daughter. Fricking awesome. I feel if anyone was physically up to the challenge, it's him. There were some fantastic cheesy lines and it was pretty much nothing but iconic landmarks getting destroyed.

There was one part I didn't understand. How was The Rock not eating throughout the movie? I read that he eats something like 170 ounces of cod every day.

Fine, it was 36oz of cod but that's still insane.

After the movie Kev wanted dessert and we ironically ended up at Ruth's Chris where he got some bread pudding.

Saturday morning I got a much needed manicure. I might be breaking up with my nail guy. They're super nice and do a good job but take foreeeeevvvveeerr. I'm normally there for 90 minutes for a gel manicure and have been there 2 hours before. I had a gel mani and a regular pedicure last time I was there and it was almost 3 hours. I just can't spend that much time there. 

It's a bit of a hike to Cameron Village but they always do a great job at the salon there. Same price as my guy and 45 minutes start to finish. 

I came home, got Kev, we went to get groceries then debated pizza for dinner.

I have a confession to make. I don't love pizza. I just don't, never have. I know people who pizza is their favorite food and would eat it all the time (Kev). I just don't get it. 

When I tell Kev I'm in the mood for pizza, it's a special day and he has to take advantage of the opportunity.

We went to Paparazzi and I went with the chicken pesto pizza and Kev got something covered in meat and cheese. I think their pizzas are yum and perfect for the every 3 months I want a piece.

Sunday morning rolled around and decided to make use of the blueberries Kev picked the other day, We have an enormous blueberry bush in the back yard and it's blueberry season! I;m gonna miss that bush when we move.

I ended up making a blueberry protein pancake with protein powder and cottage cheese. They were surprisingly good and packed with protein. I think I have a winner! I'll post the recipe in a few days because it's good enough to share!

I went to Body Pump, showered and now time for a little blogging and catching up on e-mails.

What did you do this weekend??

Linking up with BLoved Boston!

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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!

Scenes from the Weekend

I'm baaaack! Well, I wasn't really gone, I was off doing all things KD convention. The last few weeks have been pretty crazy, the three days before I left, I was in three days of Leadership Training at work. It was good stuff but left me 0 time to get everything in order before leaving. 

On Monday, well, I guess that's today, I'm facilitating a 3 day sales training for half my team, so I head to get ready for that as well. I was off for 4 business days, back for one, we have  3 day weekend then 3 days of training. It's all good but I noticed on Thursday that my team seemed a little distracted and just really un-focused. Part of that might have been due to the day's festivities and lie eating competition and but the rest might have been from me not really being around for the last 2 weeks. I think I'm going to have to re-focus them this month, after I finish training.

Alright, on to the weekend! I was off Friday and it was glorious. I did get up early and head to 930 Body Pump class since I skipped Thursday night. Then Kev and I headed to breakfast. We ended up at IHOP because everywhere else had a stupid long line. 

The rest of the day was spent getting groceries and binge watching X-Files. On a side note, I bet that Mudler and Skully would make out by the end of the 3rd season. We're almost there and they STILL haven't done it. Grrrrr.

Saturday morning I woke up and it was 75 degrees! I don't know that it's been that cool in at least 2 months. Since it was so nice I HAD to go for a run.

No really, if I have any hope of doing a triathlon, my ass needs to do some running. And swimming. And bike riding. Really, all of the things.

After I got home and watched some more X-Files, Kev and I headed over to Chapel Hill for the 4th of July celebration. 

One of the groups Kev represents was performing that night and we needed to work the merch table. If you get a minute, definitely check out Transit's website. They put on an awesome show!

I was bored waiting for the gates to open, and it was hot, my ass was sweaty but my selfie game was strong.

There were close to 40,000 people at the arena, it was CRAZY full.

The city put on a great show, the fireworks were amazing and really well done. Kudos to the city of Chapel Hill.

As we were packing to head home I found this in Kev's car.

I KNEW I lost moonshine. Believe, me, booze is never lost in my car. In case you're wondering, it's delicious. It has a vanilla cookie taste with a hint of marshmallow. I have no idea what to mix it with, or if I even need to. I think it might be nice in a shake with almond milk and ice. But it'd be pretty tasty just in a cup with ice. Mmmmm..

Sunday was glorious, I slept in like a boss. When I woke up I was struck with the urge to chop off my hair. Actually, I was struck last night and it carried over into the morning. I called around since my regular salon is closed on Sunday. I want to be clear, this is usually a really bad idea. Want to cut off all your hair and your salon is closed?? That's usually a sign to wait.

I'm not very good at listening to signs.

Thankfully my gamble paid off!

It;'s going to take me a while to get used to it. At least I like it today. Knowing me, I'll hate it in 3 days and spend the next 2 years growing it out... 

The rest of the day I need to fold some laundry and get ready to train tomorrow! Good times.

Hope you all had an amazing Fourth of July!

Linking up with BLoved Boston!

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