I had the best time this weekend. I got to catch up with so many old, dear friends and my little heart felt like it was going to just burst from happiness the entire time. Many of you might not know this, but I was in a sorority throughout all four of my undergrad college years. I lived in the house/wing and loved every single second of the experience. When people meet me now, based off appearances they're sometimes surprised I was a "sorority girl," and I don't talk about it unless I'm with my sisters or if it comes up, so it's funny for me at times when people find out and it kind of bends stereotypes and preconceived notions. I love it. In case you're curious, I'm a Pi Phi alumni (Pi Beta Phi), which is actually the oldest sorority in the United States, we were founded in 1867 and there is more than likely a chapter in any major university you visit. Pi Phi is a huge, huge part of my life and it's a really special thing to me. I feel like it really shaped me into a wonderful woman, as cheesy as it sounds, and I met many of my very, very best friends through it. I know a lot of people have negative feelings towards Greek life, but for the most part those are people who probably haven't ever experienced it themselves. I am a huge proponent of "girl power" (haha), and a total girl's girl...so sorority life was made for someone like me. A big part of Homecoming is meeting up with all of the Pi Phis, and the active chapter will do a luncheon or banquet on the last day. This year we went out Friday night, Saturday morning for a late-start Tequila Sunrise, and Saturday night. Sunday was the luncheon. Overall the weekend was awesome. We ate yummy food, walked all over downtown, danced our butts off, and laughed 'til we cried. It's such a wonderful thing to be able to make new memories with old friends. Like I said earlier, my heart is so full of love and so happy, and I am so grateful for all of these amazing women in my life.
Now, pictures!
our room at the historic Monte Vista Hotel right in the heart of downtown Flagstaff. I LOVE this hotel so much, and the salon/spa Autumn and I worked at all through college is attached to this, so I would often have to go into the scary basement to get fresh towels. I am positive the place is haunted and Erin, Jenna and I swear we had a strange experience with the "Bellman Ghost." haha.
Jenna, Erin, and Shirley
dinner! We enjoyed a delicious Thai meal.
After dinner we headed down to Maloney's, which is a bar we used to frequent while in college. It is definitely not my kind of place now, but it was fun for awhile and we ran into a million people! I ended up seeing Kelli, my sister's best friend and one of my favorite people. Her boyfriend Mike attended NAU so they came up for the weekend and it was a pleasant surprise to see her. :)
Alana and me, squinty because the flash was way too bright for a dark bar!
more squints! ;)
outside, it was so cold. I swear I'm not that short, just crouching!
Katie and Terra, Autumn and my little sisters in Pi Phi and dear friends! I love them.
Big sis/little sis! Terra is one of the most important people to me in the whole, wide world. We've been through a lot together and now that she is back in the country I am so excited to spend as much time as possible with her. She is coming up this next weekend to stay with me, and I'm literally counting down the minutes. She is such a doll.
We spent Friday night bar hopping and ended the night at the Monte V, dancing to a fun band and being silly. Alana, Erin and I decided to eat pizza at 3am (NOT my style and I felt so gross the next day- although it was so delicious at the time), and went to sleep around 4am or so. The next morning was Tequila Sunrise, which is an NAU tradition where the bars open at 6am and it's just an all-around insane time. We thought about doing it/not going to sleep...but sleep won and we didn't wake up until around 8am and then headed downtown, still insanely tired!
Here we are! Alana does not look happy. ;)
heading down in the elevator
Here's Shirley, sitting on the patio at Charly's/Hotel Weatherford and enjoying brunch. We were incessantly entertained by the wasted, wasted people stumbling around!
beautiful day
tired faces...shortly after this I went back up to the room and napped my heart out with Jenna!
That night we decided to do Beaver St. Brewery for dinner and then go out once again to see friends and enjoy our last night in town! Dinner was okay, Shirley and I split a pizza (bad choice...pizza again?!) and a salad.
Jenna and Alana at dinner
Afterwards we went over to The Green Room.
Don't even ask what those drinks are...and yes, that is a Red Bull can floating in the pitcher.
Now this is a horrid picture of me, but the real gem is cute Shirley in the background. Her face makes me laugh every time and I'm leaving this up for Autumn's benefit!
Leah!
I stopped taking photos at this point because the night got a little crazy and I forgot to, but it was really fun time! :)
The next morning we slept in as late as possible and headed over to the Pi Phi luncheon I mentioned at the beginning of the entry! One of the neatest things about this afternoon was that one of my very special students, Anna, is a Pi Phi pledge now, so I'm taking part in her experience with her...I'm just so excited that she decided to do it and it's awesome that she's a part of something so special to me.
Jenna and Shirls downstairs in the conference room
Alumni photo!
Anna and me!
up in the chapter room- Michelle is in the middle and she is basically the chapter's "Mom." Her class was the founding Pi Phi class at NAU, and she's now the advisor. It's very neat to know her as an adult now, rather than the way it was before.
Here are some of the baby Pi Phis that rushed when I was a junior...they're all grown up and it's adorable.
more of the little ones
And finally, one more in the hallway!
So, that was my weekend! I definitely need to get to sleep now but I hope all of you had a beautiful past two days. I have a few things I want to blog about this week outside of day to day stuff, so I will be tackling that tomorrow night. Goodnight all! xo
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