One of the Best Days of College

One of my best buds (and sorority sister) is a sports FANATIC, whose birthday just so happens to come around the Superbowl each year. This lead us to have an annual Kayla/Superbowl party each year which was ALWAYS one the BEST parties of the year. We celebrated with my pledge class and the same group of frat boys, who always knew how to be great hosts.

The first party was definitely the best one, when in January, the weather was 60 degrees! We started the day out drinking, which lead to ALL people blacked out before the game even started! This occurred during the pregame show where we decided to play lots and lots of drinking games....one of which consisted of each person chugging their drink then taking a lap outside of the house. Then we decided it would be a good idea to put some meat on the grill. This was the biggest disaster as you can imagine we were all quite drunk by this time. Ground beef was being thrown at each other and onto the house, people falling over one another, the burgers going up in flames, the grill master not cooking the meat all the way leading some to bite into a raw piece of meat. Speaking of meat, our friend Jeffers chucked a raw burger (that Courtney pre-ketchup'd) at a girl who then took her white shirt off to wash the stain out in the kitchen sink. I came back the next day to pick up a few stragglers who had passed out there, only to find a flock of crows feasting on all the food we threw around outside.

Ahhhh the memories...or lack there of.

(Above photo is a perfect depiction of what was going on that day/night... BJ fighting the flames on the grill, Theo laughing - not helping - Kiley and Courtney who have fallen to the ground yet managed to keep their beers in their hands.)

"Gifts We Give Ourselves"

My friend Courtney passed along one of her daily oms, which gave me a smile on this dreary day. I know I blog about how awesome my friends are quite often, but I can't help it.

Gifts We Give Ourselves
Friends

Good friends enrich our lives in so many ways. Through a magical combination of similarities and differences, friends offer us the opportunity to know ourselves as we are and help us grow into who we want to be. Our similarities attract us to each other, comforting us with familiarity when we see ourselves in them. When we are drawn to those we admire, the same recognition is at work, unconsciously acknowledging that these people possess qualities that we ourselves possess. By acting as mirrors, friends help us define who we are by reflecting our selves back to us.

Friends also help us know ourselves through our differences. Differences allow us to see other options and make choices about who we want to be. Sometimes we are drawn to those who appear to be our opposites, and we learn to accept the parts of them we love and the parts of them that don’t resonate with us, thus allowing us a valuable learning experience. By expanding our understanding to include others’ experiences, friends help us accept others. By understanding when someone’s life differs from our own, we can learn about ourselves in contrast. There are times when we see in friends what we don’t like about ourselves. That mirror reflection may be hard to take, but a good friend helps us find ways we can change and supports us in that choice.

Part of the joy of friendship is the feeling that we are accepted just the way we are, with no need to change. It is a gift they give us, and one we can give back every day. Ultimately, we choose friends because they make us feel good about ourselves and life. Through tears and difficulties, friends help us find the laughter. When we find those special people who offer us that perfect combination of comfort and stimulus to grow, we are very fortunate. Friends, those wonderful companions that walk with us through life, help us define and refine who we are and who we choose to be every day.

(Above photo is from my Junior year at IU with a few of my pledge sisters)

Where Did You Come From Little Guy?

This will be my 3rd summer in NY and I'm thinking, "Where did the time go?" I moved in June of 2007, and within the first day, I noticed a little plant growing from the cement/brick wall of the patio at my old apartment in L.E.S. That little plant grew some leaves, got bigger, and became a tree! Well, that little guy is still there and still growing (at least I think it survived the winter....Courtney, Kat is it still there?) Nonetheless, it was such a great sight to see. Our own little piece of nature growing right out of the wall. I just hope we have him for yet another summer.

(Above photo taken last summer.)

Little 500

(Above: Just one dirty pool in the lawn of a frat house, with my friends happily swimming in the brown water.)
(Above: No biggie, just a duck and frog mowing the lawn and playing golf)
(Above: A photo from freshman year with my lovely Alpha Chi's on our first Little 500)

Little 500... "World's Best College Weekend".

This weekend is yet another year of the infamous men's and women's bike races deemed "The World's Best College Weekend" and is known as Little 500. To those of us who did not dedicate an entire year of intense training and hard work with the goal of winning the title; we drank and partied all week long. This is no joke people. Starting the Sunday before the race (which is always the following Saturday) we drank morning, noon, and night. If we even went to class that week, we went drunk or with intentions of drinking right after. There were large concerts in the lawns of frat houses, slip n slides at dorms, skipping class and having cookouts in the middle of the day, Swamp Water (Pi Kapps!!), themed parties, happy hours.....oh the memories.

I'm glad that I can look back at those 4 wonderful years at IU and say that I had a hell of a good time.

Sumo Wrestler

I remember how mean I used to be to my little brother when I would tell him he looked like Buddha and that people should rub his belly for good luck; or that he was going to be a sumo wrestler when he grew up (he was a bit plump as a youngin').

Don't criticize me, people. How many of you picked on your little siblings too? However mean I was to him in the past, you will be glad to know that Alastair and I get along very well with one another now.

(Image via dreamstime)

Social Memories

I was once Social Chair of my sorority in college where I was in charge of planning and executing social events for all my "sisters". These social events were both sober and non-sober events and you best believe themed parties were part of the plan; themes like "80's", Jersey Nights (and by jersey I mean the athletic top, not the guido boys from South Jersey), Hawaiian, or "WTF are you Wearing (of which you wear whatever the heazy you like)". My friend emailed this list she found, and her and my friends all laughed because they thought it was funny. I laughed because it looked like a list that was taken out of my trash can 2 years ago. Like the adult Halloween costumes, most theme parties revolved around the girls' sexy outfits (sexy 80's, sexy white trash, sexy cowboy), My favorite theme party on the list above is "Conquistadors and Latin Ho's - SWORDS"....man does this list make me LOL!

It's kind of embarrassing that I have attended and/or planned some of the parties listed above, but it brings back fond memories too.