San Luis Obispo Ohh

Beta Lambda, California Polytechnic State University

The evening I arrived in SLO, I was greeted by the chapter with balloons and this pretty sign. We all went to dinner to celebrate me being back at Cal Poly and it being my last visit as a TEC. It was a fun dinner and it was so sweet of them to all do!

During the couple days I spent on campus, I obviously spent most of my time in the University Union (the UU) again. It was a cloudy and chilly couple of days so I did most of my work and meetings inside. However, I couldn't help taking this picture below. Even with the cloudy skies, it is one of my favorite views in SLO. From the back steps of the UU, you can see past campus to the beautiful hills (one of my favorite parts of SLO/ the Central Coast)!

During my visit Greek Week was coming to an end so I was lucky enough to make it to the last two events. Friday evening I went to see Lipsync, which was just like UConn's Greek Sing. It was a lot of fun to see all the teams perform. AEPhi did a great job and came in 2nd!

On Saturday morning I went with a few sisters to try a new smoothie bar place in SLO. We all got acai bowls and the one I had was delicious! The smoothie part was made of yogurt and a mix of fruit and then it was topped with granola, fresh fruit and honey. Acai bowls are a huge trend in California and this was even better than the one I tried on my last visit!

We all spent Saturday at the beach for the last event of Greek Week, Beach Day. This was similar to UConn's Greek Games, just held on the beach. It was a chilly day with the coastal wind but it was so nice to finally see some sun.

There were lots of fun events, like sandcastle building, tug of war, hamster ball racing, limbo and beach volleyball. We stayed late because AEPhi's team made it to the championship. It was a great afternoon hanging out with my Cal Poly sisters and cheering on our teams.

Obviously I had to take one more good AEPhi picture as a TEC. I love California beaches so it was only proper that I go for a good beach picture. I was so happy to get to visit the Pacific Ocean one last time as a TEC. The view was beautiful with the pier and all the central coast hills around us.

I surprisingly did not get too emotional on my last TEC visit but I think it's because I still have so much to look forward to at the end of my TEC term. The countdown to convention began the day I flew home and now it's only a few short weeks away. To anyone that will be there, get ready for an amazing four days! And please don't judge me when I cry at the end.

LML from Atlantic to Pacific!

San Luis Obispo by Quiet Life

La Jolla Won't Annoy Ya

Beta Eta, University of California San Diego

I was very excited to visit California one last time before the end of my TEC term. I had visited UCSD twice before and stayed on campus, so staying off campus at the president's house was a fun change.

I spent a lot of time at the Price Center while on campus, meeting in FSL, getting meals and doing work. It is a great campus center! During the week of my visit was Sigma Chi's Derby Days so it was also fun to see sorority women chasing Sigma Chis through the Price Center each day.

On Cinco de Mayo the president, Raquel, took me to a great local Mexican restaurant near her house. I tried a California burrito for the first time (I didn't even know it was a thing before) and it was amazing. It came with the normal things you expect to find in a burrito, plus potatoes. She explained that some places do french fries and some do pieces of potatoes. The one I had was a great hybrid of seasoned and fired potatoes. 

California Suite by Mel Torme

Deep In The Heart Of Texas

Texas A&M Colony, Texas A&M University

I finally went to see the ring statue! It was high on my list of things to do this time around so I made sure to get out there on the first sunny day. As you can tell from the pictures, the Aggie Ring is no joke. This statute is at least twice my height and has a prime location behind the alumni center and near Kyle Field.

This visit I also wanted to see the George Bush Library & Museum. It turned into a visit to the gardens instead because it was so gorgeous outside! There is a pretty pond and gardens behind the museum where a lot of people take graduation photos. I'm so glad I went, even though I didn't walk through the museum.

One afternoon I got to volunteer with the colony at the Brazos Vally Food Bank. They had been volunteering there throughout the last year as ZBS so I am excited they can continue the partnership as AEPhi. It was a lot of fun to all work together! It would be awesome if more chapters could find fun ways like this to volunteer in their local communities.

That week I also went to Kosher Cooking Club at Chabad. On Thursday nights the rabbis wife hosts Kosher Cooking Club for students to come help begin Shabbat dinner preparations. I cut up a lot of vegetables but the highlight was making challah. We made a ton of different kinds of loaves (chocolate, cinnamon sugar, jalapeño, to name a few). We put the ingredients into the middle of the strands and then braided them to make sure the flavor really got into the bread. It was a lot of fun to bake with Chabad and some of the Phis! And of course I made sure to try a few kinds the next night at Shabbat dinner.

What would my blog be without a food section. I was so happy to return to all my favorite College Station staples; here are a few of the highlights.

I tried Antonio's Pizza in Northgate. It's open really late so it's a popular place to go after the bars. I got their famous barbecue chicken bacon ranch pizza. It was quite the combination and so worth trying. A fun fact about Antonio's is that they also have a location in Amherst, MA at UMass. So random, what are the chances!

Of course I had to go back to Hullaballoo and this time I went with the pancake. Yes, a singular pancake. Look at how big it is! I can usually eat a good amount and I could only eat half of it. But it was great and so worth another visit to the cute diner.

On my last night in town I finally tried Bahama Bucks. It's a shaved ice place with tons of flavors but you can also get vanilla ice cream in it. They carry Blue Bell Ice Cream so I refused to go throughout my whole visit but by the time I went they had voluntarily recalled Blue Bell and were using a different brand. Per recommendation of my server, I tried the Hurricane. It's probably good I didn't try this until the end or I would have ended up a frequent customer.

I also had fun in the kitchen making a couple AEPhi treats. I made these green chocolate lollypops with a giraffe mold. I also had fun baking cupcakes and decorating them with green sprinkles and phis. So much #greenandwhite.

Formal happened to fall towards the end of my visit so I was super excited to attend with them all. I joined some of the gals to take photos beforehand and had a nice little solo photo shoot.

The event was casino themed and they had four different casino tables going the whole night. I spent a lot of time at the blackjack table hanging out with people and gambling away my fake money. I also learned how roulette works, but am still very confused by craps. It was a really fun night and the professional photo booth pictures came out so great!

On Sunday, April 26 I had the honor of initiating these twenty wonderful women into Alpha Epsilon Phi. It was such an amazing and unique culminating experience. It was my first time leading initiation and it was so special to have the opportunity after starting the colony and working with them for four weeks.

It was a great morning and was no nice to see a few alumnae in attendance. Huge shout out to Lisa Miller for coming in from Houston and helping me perform initiation! We also had a few mothers, and even the mayor of College Station, in attendance!

That afternoon, the colony hosted a luncheon for friends and family to celebrate a successful semester. It was a very nice celebration and the food catered in from Dallas was great. It was so nice to have to opportunity to recognize all their hard work towards becoming AEPhi. And of course there were lots of photo ops!

That evening was also Progressing Panhellenic, Panhellenic's awards ceremony. Texas A&M Panhellenic has a charm bracelet that gets passed down each year and it holds a charm for each sorority on campus. We chose a heart and giraffe charm to represent AEPhi coming to campus and I got to present it to the current Panhellenic president on stage. I was proud of my very AEPhi outfit for the occasion!

It was so weird having to say goodbye to everyone because we got so close over my four weeks in College Station. The opportunity to start a colony does not come often and I am so happy that I got to work with these amazing women! I am so thankful for this experience and the many things I learned from it. I know the Texas A&M Colony is going to thrive and I cannot wait to go back and visit!

Deep In The Heart Of Texas by George Strait

Farther Below Lake Ontario

Phi Nu, SUNY Oswego

My trip up to Oswego was a quick one again but this time actually go to see Lake Ontario! I knew the town and school were right on the lake and I had seen the dam near downtown since there are bridges that go over it. Even though it was too cold and windy to go down to the water, I was glad I could at least see it. The pictures below were taken from inside Lakeside Dining Hall on the west side of campus. They told me the sunsets over the lake are gorgeous and that the lake is beautiful in the summer when they come up to visit. I think if I saw the city in the summer I would have a whole new view on it!

Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot

Sally From Syracuse

Iota, Syracuse University

I was excited to return to Syracuse after meeting so many great women there last semester! I also love their house and their chef. It was not the most pleasant weather for my visit to upstate New York, so I decided I didn't really need to leave the house. I'm not proud to say that I literally did not go outside from the time I arrived late afternoon on Monday until the end of my visit of Thursday afternoon. However, I accomplished a lot of work and had some great officer meetings.

Even though it was Passover, I was hoping the chef would be cooking some great meals. I have to say that I was not disappointed. (The only thing that would have made the meals better would have been some bread.) Even though they had matzo available, I didn't eat it once because there were much better options. And I was so excited when they had matzo ball soup on my last day!

Sally From Syracuse by Stu Nunnery