Last on the Row No More!

We have known for a while that we will be getting a new house, but it was not until Monday that we received the details of our renovation.  The head of the Housing Corporation joined us in our Chapter Meeting to tell us about our brand new house due to be ready for Fall of 2014!

Perhaps the most exciting news we received is that we will have the opportunity to stay in our current house during the rebuild because the Chi O house will be moving to a new spot—the faculty house lot two houses down. Our big move is bittersweet, as the Chi O house has been on the same lot since our chapter’s instatement almost 100 years ago.  Nevertheless, the entire chapter received the information with overwhelming joy!

Since I had the privilege of living in the house this year, I will be one of three people to have the opportunity to live in both the old house and the new house.  As a sophomore planning to live in the sorority house for the rest of my time at SMU, I am especially excited that I will never have to live in one of the musky Panhellenic houses like most sororities do when they are getting their houses redone. 

While there are many things I will miss about the old house, I will definitely miss the pit the most.  “The Pit,” as its fondly known by the girls who live in the house, is an area on the first floor with two conjoining rooms under the stairs in the Chi O house.  This is where I currently reside.  Even thought the windows are bared, the closet is small, and the shower doesn’t drain, it is by far my favorite place to be in the house.  Given, this is mostly because of the amazing group of girls who live there with me, but it is where I have the best late night conversation, naps, and memories.

I do get to live in the old house for another year, so I guess it is premature to start thinking about leaving it.  I still get another year to find a new favorite spot and have even more awesome times with the best girls around!  And that concludes my deep thoughts rant.

XO Love and Mine,

Kat

A Mama of Twins

As of last Thursday, I am a proud mama to two beautiful twin littles!  As happy as I am, when I agreed to take twins I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

SMU Chi O takes sorority big/little to the next level.  Each day of big/little week has a letter assigned to it.

• ·      C= candy; each big makes a poster board for their little with funny phrases and inserts different types of candy in place of a few words in the sentences
• ·      H= heirlooms; each big decorates a bin and passes down a hoard of owl knick-knacks and t-shirts that they got from their bin.   The bins are set up in the most visually appealing way possible as to show off the presents inside.
• ·      I= insignia; this is also known as dessert night.  Each big decorates a tray with the Chi O letters and then puts as much food or dessert on it that will possibly fit.   This is the night that gets the most out of control because each big makes their tower of food as tall as possible by stacking large glass vases and tying balloons for extra height.
• ·      O= owl; this night is reveal…. Also known as the ultimate relief after a busy week of crafting!  Each big is required to give their little something with an owl on it or an owl figurine. 

All of this takes at least 11 hours of work for ONE little.   Try having two.

Needless to say I did not sleep much during big/little week.  I was up making two candy boards, two bins, and setting up two dessert nights.  It is in my nature to put my best work out on display, so even though I had two littles, nobody would have ever been able to tell.  My bins were stuffed full, my candy towers were flying high, and my candy boards were cute and creative. 

One thing I struggled with throughout the week was making sure that each twin’s presents looked different.   I did not want them to know that they were twins, or that they had me, so I tried to throw each of them off my scent all week.  For one twin, I put the last name of someone else on a t-shirt in their bin to confuse them.  For the other twin, I told another girl in her PC to tell her that she had someone she had never met.  My sly tricks worked, and neither of them was expecting to have me as a big!

When Thursday rolled around and it was finally time for reveal, I was so excited I could hardly stand it.  The way we reveal is we put a photo of ourselves and our littles in a picture frame, wrap it, and then hide it at our reveal spot (which was Sol Irlandes this year).  The littles open the frame and then dash around the restaurant searching for their new big and are finally reunited with the one who has been spoiling them all week long.  I wrapped my two frames, and placed them next to each other and watched them open their pictures from the stairs of the restaurant.  It brought me so much joy to watch each of their joy when they opened their picture and saw my face, and then realized that they were twins. 

Reveal was such a great night, and even though the hours were long, it was all well worth it.  I am so blessed to have two amazing littles!

XO Love and Mine,

Kat

Chi Omega National Headquarters

After going to bed at 4 AM Thursday night, I did not cheerfully greet my 5:30 alarm.  It was time for me to catch a flight to Memphis, Tennessee, home of Chi Omega National Headquarters, to represent SMU Chi O along with Iota Alpha’s (SMU’s Chi Omega chapter) chapter president and chapter advisor for an informational convention called Firesides.  Going into the weekend, I expected to sit through countless meetings and take extensive notes, but instead I was able to participate in fun workshops and meet sisters from all over the country.

Part of the reason we decided to book our flight so early in the morning was so that we would have time before the convention started to take a tour of Chi Omega National Headquarters.  After dropping off our luggage at our hotel, we boarded a bus and were shuttled to the beautiful headquarters.  The outside of the building looked a lot like the SMU Chi O house; it was a Georgian style deep red brick building with tall white columns.  We entered through a grand entrance where an older Chi O alumnus was there to greet us with her deep Mississippi accent.  She told us that there were no organized tours, and that we were free to roam the building where there would be ladies around to answer any questions we had.

Taking a tour gave me a much greater appreciation for Chi Omega.  I was able to see some incredible pieces of history such as the original Chi Omega badge made by our fraternity’s founder Charles Richardson over 110 years ago.  Also on display were several of the original items that we use in ritual and for initiation.  It was amazing to see these items in person after learning about them extensively in chapter meetings over the past year.  Perhaps one of my favorite things I saw at headquarters was the Iota Alpha Archives book.  Inside it was several photos, articles, and letters from SMU Chi Omegas dating back almost 100 years.  It was interesting to see the women that made up my chapter in its earliest years.  

Once the tour was over, we returned to the hotel for our first Firesides session.  We got into badge attire and gathered in a huge ballroom for a dinner banquet where we the conference was officially started with a compelling keynote speech about leadership through Chi Omega.  Immediately following this serious speech, the Sprit Team came to the stage and introduced us to “Flat Jean,” which was a photo of the new Panhellenic president glued to a popsicle stick that was a play off of the popular children’s book “Flat Stanley”.  They played a hilarious video of “Flat Jean” photo shopped onto several famous paintings and pictures.  It was a pleasant surprise that helped to start off the weekend on a light- hearted note.

We spent all of Saturday and early Sunday morning in various workshops to help support the weekend’s theme of “Panhellenic and Chi Omega: A Shared Sisterhood”.  There were a few meetings for everyone where we listened to speakers from other sororities and fraternities talk about the importance of Panhellenic unity, and other meetings where the Panhellenic Delegate and Chapter Presidents split up for separate workshops.  Since I am my chapter’s Panhellenic Delegate, most of the separate workshops I attended focused on Panhellenic relations, Chi Omega pride, and tips about how to market Chi Omega in a positive light.  I learned a lot of valuable information that I can take back to my chapter at SMU to make Iota Alpha the best it can be.

I am looking forward to relaying what I learned to my chapter.

XO Love and Mine,

Kat

BIG/little

This post is coming to you from a blogging newb.  Bear with me seasoned bloggers, I’m still learning.

Here we are, only two weeks after Bid Day, scrambling to find that big/little love connection.  If I have learned one thing from searching for my future little, it’s that big/little is basically dating.  Each sophomore goes on numerous fro-yo dates and Umph lunches with the hopes of finding that special girl who will be the next addition to their Chi O family.  It starts getting weird when you think about it that way, so most of us pretend that this comparison has never crossed our minds and that it’s a perfectly normal process.

Because the Big/Little revelation week beings on Monday, the extreme amount of crafting has begun. Everyone competes in an unspoken competition of “Who Can Spoil Their Little the Most” and the stakes are high.  After spending most of my free time decorating bins, painting canvases, and embellishing dessert night trays, my hand is steadier than ever with a paintbrush and my creative mind is on a roll. 

Throughout the semester, both my mom and I have been collecting whatever owl items we could find.  Most of it is random filler to make the bin more stuffed-looking than it is, but the babies don't need to know that.  In the end, the little picks all of the best items of clothing and decorations out and leaves the rest of it to sit in their bin for a year until they have a little of their own.  A majority of the things in the bin end up becoming insignificant heirlooms, but that's what it's all about.

When I ran to the Chi O house on bid day last year, I didn't recognize anyone I saw.  The first person that greeted me when I arrived at the front steps was my future big.  She made me feel more at home than anyone else could have.  I knew I was at the right house because of her, and I look up to her as a role model (as cliche as that sounds).  I can only hope that I had that type of effect on a new member of Chi O.  

Aside from the gifts and friendly competition, big/little is most importantly about finding a girl who in a way replaces you when you graduate.  A big/little relationship is unique and while we are all sisters in Chi Omega, your big is just that much closer to family.

XO Love and Mine,

Kat