Tis the season...not until I finish this apple caramel pie!

Thanksgiving; shopping, football, a holiday dedicated to over eating. What more could you ask for! I hope that everyone had the happiest and most wonderful Thanksgiving and are recovering from the food comas! Sadly I could not make it home to spend the holiday with my family, though I enjoyed turkey and all the fixins with some good friends here in the District. I had every intention in participating in midnight madness, crazy people shopping, though chickened out (turkeyed out?) when the clock struck midnight. I've been relaxing and watching some football today but I intend on making it out to Tysons Galleria mall for the opening of the newest Vineyard Vines store! If ya'll make it over to the shopping super center, bring this flier to enjoy a special savings!

It is brisk outside...a season for change!

Happy Thanksgiving, ya'll! First of all I would like to express my sincerest apologies for taking a sabbatical from this blog. As cliche as it sounds, sometimes life just gets in the way. The start of this blog coincided with a particularly painful break-up. I won't get into the nitty-gritty details of this one but sometimes you are faced with harsh realities that you simply can't live with. Lets just say that I thought that I was more okay with everything than I actually was and just needed that extra time to become more introspective and realize the many wonderful things that I am blessed with in my life.

I have many things to catch up with here in the blog world but during my little hiatus, I committed a major blogging faux pas! This is very belated but I wanted to thank Katie, from Let's Be Preppy!, for hosting the "blog makeover" give away by Posh Palm web design, which I won! Thanks to Katie, and Jennie from Posh Palm, I have a beautiful new blog header. Definitely stop by Katie's blog if you aren't already following. She is a an absolute doll, works with our favorite preppy retailer, LP, and is a USC Gamecock (go SEC!)! Her blog will certainly keep you current on classic, preppy fashion. Promise my next post will give full details of how easy and fun this was to design my blog header with Posh Palm.

Kappa's Unite for National Hazing Prevention Week

Hello blogosphere! I have returned from a wonderful weekend of old and new friends, incredibly inspiring experiences, and an overall re-energization (I know ya’ll, I just created a word) for my volunteerism with Kappa Kappa Gamma, the organization that I share such a deep bond and great love. With all of this being said, I will be chronicling my re-cap of Leadership Academy for ya’ll tomorrow!

Today I wanted to bring your attention to National Hazing Prevention Week (September 20-24) and the efforts that Kappa and other Universities and Greek organizations have released in fighting acts that undermine organizations and are dangerous for its members. The following article from WebGreek's blog, written by Spenser Tang-Smith highlights Kappa’s involvement against hazing.

WebGreek Salutes Kappa Kappa Gamma’s Hazing Prevention Efforts

This week (September 20-24) is National Hazing Prevention Week (NHPW). All across the country, activities are planned that bring hazing to light. Some schools will host guest speakers, others will have concerts, and many campuses will have interactive learning sessions. The goal, of course, is to get people talking about hazing, to inform people about what hazing is and how to respond to it, and ultimately, to eliminate hazing entirely.

There are myriad ways in which campuses and organizations participate. Many schools have scheduled showings of movies on the subject such as Response Ability and Haze. Discussions between professionals and leaders of student organizations, pledging campaigns, banners, and hosting guest speakers are all taking place as well. You can be sure that your campus has a host of various activities for you to learn all you need to know.

Hazing is pervasive and can happen in any group, and this is why education is the best weapon against it. Marching bands, sports teams, and student organizations have all been guilty, and that’s just in the scholastic setting. Hazing in the NFL, for example, was brought to light earlier this year due to an incident with Dallas Cowboys rookie Dez Bryant. Programs this week, then, will focus on what hazing is, why people haze, and what to do if you or someone in your organization experiences hazing.

Kappa Kappa Gamma vs. Hazing: A Full Court Press

Though hazing is not by any means restricted to the Greek community, many Greek organizations are taking the lead in tackling this tricky, ugly demon. I just spoke with Ashley Moyer from KKG’s headquarters, and came away with a lot of information about their comprehensive and very aggressive anti-hazing program.

For NHPW, Kappa is encouraging all of its over 15,000 active members to take some time to participate in three different interactive online learning modules. Personal login to Kappa’s E-learning center means that KKG can track how many girls do participate, and their numbers are impressive.

KKG Headquarters also sent out a physical kit to each of their 137 chapters, including a program guide for the week, posters with anti-hazing messages to hang around the house, and an anti-hazing button for every single active member (Ashley says they shipped 17,500 buttons!). In addition, Kappa sent an email to three officers from each chapter, encouraging them to get the word out. A social media blitz will round out the campaign, reaching alumni, active members, parents, and the university community.

Chapters are encouraged to participate as completely as possible, and to submit their stories and images. One chapter will be recognized for its efforts, and will win an award from headquarters. The overall goal is to “promote respect,” and it follows that if we all respect each other, things like hazing will disappear.

WebGreek applauds Kappa Kappa Gamma, and hopes that their full court press results in a sloppy turnover by Hazing, which KKG takes the other way for an easy lay-in. Happy Hazing Prevention Week!

For more information and resources on hazing, check out Hazingprevention.org!

You're invited...

It's a very preppy week here in the Washington,DC area! Tomorrow night Vineyard Vines in Georgetown will be hosting and honoring "True Prep" author Lisa Birnbach and on Saturday, September 18th, Sky Blue Events will be hosting the First Annual Oxfords and Oysters Party at Little Havana in Baltimore,MD dedicated to sustaining the Chesapeake Bay's oyster population. The swag bag for the O&O event looks absolutely divine with wonderful donations from some very preppy retailers.

Unfortunately I will not be able to attend either of the events due to my aforementioned trip to Ohio for Leadership Academy. If ya'll are local you should consider attending these two wonderfully preppy events (and take lots of photos!).

Gone to Leadership Academy...

My blog title pays homage to one of the most important and influential decisions I’ve made; joining Kappa Kappa Gamma, my sorority. I was very active as an undergraduate member and served in numerous officer positions. Now having been a number of years out of undergrad, I still find myself involved more than ever with the organization.

This coming Thursday (as I am barely able to conceal my excitement), I will put my Sorority letters back on and sport a matching grosgrain ribbon in my hair as I leave for Kappa Kappa Gamma’s Leadership Academy 2010. Leadership Academy is a generous gift from the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation where representatives from each of Kappa's 137 undergraduate chapters, along with 80 alumna members are invited to participate in what is promised to be a fun-filled four-day leadership retreat highlighted by outdoor leadership challenges, personal reflection and group interaction. The event is held near Kappa’s Fraternity headquarters in Columbus, OH. Needless to say, I cannot wait to hop on a jet plane and experience all of this hype for myself.

All of this excitement gives me the butterflies and nostalgic feelings of going off to summer camp. With that in mind, I’ll leave ya’ll with one of my favorite cookie recipes, cleverly coined “a cookie for your campfire” by the adorable Duchess of Fork (another blog post will be dedicated to the delightful eats that this Southern Belle cooks up!).

A New Season, A New Beginning...

Happy Weekend ya'll! After months of following, commenting, and meeting up with bloggers--and feeling very embarrassed having to explain why I don't actually write in my blog--I am finally ready to enter this wonderful social network. Follow me through my crazy "type A," overly organized life as I juggle my Junior League Provisional year, advise and volunteer with Kappa Kappa Gamma, and explore our beautiful Nation's capital, Washington, D.C..