Asheville

Asheville, North Carolina is the most magical town. I completely enjoyed every minute of my trip. There was so much to see and do and everything was so unique and beautiful. My sorority sister and I drove down to visit another sister who is getting married in May! It was so good to catch up and the drive was easy. 

Friday night we walked around downtown Asheville, saw the infamous drum circle, had some great beers then boarded the LaZoom tour bus and got to see all the "haunted" places in Asheville. We did almost get into a fight because of these older drunk ladies who sat behind us. Later that night the tour guide said they were the most obnoxious people he's ever dealt with. Figures. We had my fav, Mellow Mushroom--I wish we had some up north! I also learned why Asheville is "Beer City USA."

Saturday was filled with shopping and relaxing in and eating P.F. Changs. Sunday we went to see the wedding site at Lake Lure, bridesmaid dress shopping, wine tasting at The Biltmore, and had dinner at the Bier Garden. We found the most perfect dress, I bought four bottles of wine, and beat 3 boys in the basketball shoot out game with a high score of 74! So, I'd say it was a successful night. 

The weekend went too fast, but it was filled with lots of laughs, amazing street music, smiles, good drinks, great food and lots of storytelling and memory re-living. It was perfect. See you in May, Asheville!

Downtown Asheville drum circle

LaZoom Haunted Comedy Tour

Ash, me and Court!

Our tour guide was the best!

Mellow Mushroom

This guy.

Pretty house--and the "L" I made them!

At L.O.F.T.

At L.O.F.T.

At L.O.F.T.

At L.O.F.T.

Vinyl

Beautiful day.

These guys were amazing.

Lake Lure

Bride and bridesmaids!

Wine tasting at the Biltmore

Autumn Leaf Festival

I think everyone in the world knows how much I love Clarion--the town, the university, the scenery, it's all completely perfect to me. I spent four amazing years there and I still think about all the memories, friends I made and skills I learned. The Autumn Leaf Festival has been going on forever (I'm not going to even try and guess the year it started). My family used to take me up when I was younger--one year Chris Kirkpatrick from N'SYNC, a Clarion local, was in the parade--I obviously attended while I was in school, and now I've gone back the past 3 years as an alumni.

It's become something that I look forward to every year. My roommates and best friends from college and I get a hotel room, go up Friday to walk around the craft show, eat at our favorite places, enjoy a few or maybe more than a few beers at our favorite bars, and wake up anxious to talk about the night before--something that we always loved doing when we were in college.

Since so many of my family members attended Clarion, and almost all of them were Greek, it's always exciting for us to go back and visit with sorority sisters and fraternity brothers, meet the new people in the chapter, and see the floats in the parade! Seeing all the beautiful new members and hearing all the amazing things the chapter is doing always makes me so proud of my Zeta Tau Alpha sisters! Three Zeta's were on Homecoming Court this year and of course a Zeta was crowned Queen!

Seriously though, even if you didn't go to Clarion, ALF is definitely worth a visit. Actually the drive alone is worth it--all the leaves are changing and it's just so peaceful. And make sure you get a Poorman's Caramel Apple, Vinny's Buck-A-Slice, a beer at the Loomis, wings at Toby, and maybe a coozie from the school store. Ahhh I'm already counting down the days until next year :)

Photo by Clarion University 

Photo by Clarion University - ZTA and TKE Float

Photo by Clarion University

Roommates! Excuse the hotel room-haha!

Drive to Clarion.

Outside of our "home," 518 South.

My handsome cousin Caden!

The Loomis.

iPhone photo-Kev.

My mom and Uncle Rich--founder of KDR at Clarion!

Being silly with my cousin Richie!

More great pictures on the Clarion University Facebook page.

What's Happening.

Basket I made for ZTA's fashion show fundraiser at Clarion.

Birthday girl being weird.

Some amazing sorority sisters!

One of my favorite meals--kielbasa, potatoes and onions!

Believe it or not, I actually don't have too much happening right now.

Work is getting busier, but I'm happy about that. 

I definitely work better when I have multiple things going on--

the crazy organizer in me starts writing all sorts of to-do lists.

My sorority had a fashion show fundraiser this past Sunday up in Clarion.

I wasn't able to make it, but I donated a little Gardner Ann's basket for the auction!

We celebrated my cousin Samantha's 15th birthday last night at the new bar/restaurant Uncle Buckles. 

Pizza, wings and birthday cake--doesn't get much better! 

She was being silly and not wanting to wear her birthday cake hat, 

I only had 30 seconds to get my phone out and take a picture.

I made one of my favorite dinners the other night, kielbasa, potatoes and onions. 

It is seriously so easy to make and just has so much flavor for three simple ingredients 

(plus oil, salt & pepper of course). I like to heat up some oil first and cook the potatoes and onions. 

The potatoes get a little crispy on the outside--the burnt ones are the best!

I've been crossing my fingers that the weather starts to get nice again--

I shouldn't be compaining because for Pittsburgh we have had an amazing "winter." 

Anyway, Happy "Hump" Day : )

"To Be True to Ourselves and to those Within and Without Our Circle..."

I am a proud Zeta Tau Alpha.

Being that I spent the past year of my life traveling the country visiting ZTA chapters and assisting the young women with rectuitment, leadership growth, officer training among many other things--I think it proves my first statement correct.

Looking back, that year of experiences make up some of the best of my 23 years.

I knew I would love the "job," but it hasn't been until recent months that I truly realized the impact it had on my life. Sure there were times when I thought about giving up, when I was so exhausted and overwhelmed I wanted to break down and cry. But there were more times when I smiled, laughed, learned, made an impact. I can tell you there are few things less fulfilling than having members from chapters I visited to this day still tell me thank-you. 

Thank-you for being their friend, listening, giving honest advice, encouragement and that extra push you sometimes need. There are few jobs where you can find that, and man, do I miss it.

It gets me to thinking, am I really being "true to myself," am I happy and content with what I'm doing with my life right now. When I look back and the memories and think about how I grew as a person during my time as a TLC, I immediately think no.

So what does this mean for me. I'm not sure. Do I want to go to grad school--student affairs possibly? I could work in Greek Life--something I know I have a passion for. Decisions like these take courage and hope. Support from friends and family wouldn't be too bad either. 

All I know is that I want to be true to myself from here on out. I want to be true to the people around me--be honest and help them as much as I can. I've realized and accepted that thank-you's, appreciation and making an impact are much better than money and material things.  After all that, I believe I have some serious thinking to do.