Staying Close With Your Big After Graduation

Going through recruitment as a potential new member, you meet a lot of girls. In my case, there was one girl who I effortlessly clicked with. She was the very first girl I met going through recruitment and is one of the biggest reasons that I accepted my bid. Being that I am a legacy, for as long as I can remember I had wanted to go Greek and get a Big. I spent a lot of time my freshman year of college going back and forth between wanting to transfer to a university with more Greek options and wanting to bite the bullet to go Greek. I went to a few recruitment events for my legacy sorority, but never seriously committed to anything. During the second semester of my sophomore year, I made the choice to go Greek and thus began my journey of a lifetime. 

As I mentioned, my Big, was the first girl I met at Kappa Tau Epsilon’s recruitment event. I was low-key obsessed with this girl and, to this day, I could not explain it to you. During the course of the week I met a ton of girls, but my mind always drifted back to Kappa Tau Epsilon and the women I met at their events. After being extended a bid from KTE I immediately accepted it. On the day of our Big/Little reveal, my Big knew I was her Little but I had absolutely no idea yet and I remember her asking me, “So, who do you think your big is? I wish I could have taken a little this semester it would have been so much fun!” I had a hard time telling if she was kidding or if she was being serious. During our reveal, my heart was racing in anticipation because we clicked so well that I just could not fathom having another person as my Big. When I opened my eyes to see who my Big was, I was overwhelmed with joy and it was honestly one of the happiest moments of my life. My Big and I were inseparable from the beginning. 

My first semester as a sister and the start of my junior year was the start of her senior year. Lucky for me, it took her an extra semester to graduate. We did everything together. We even won “best big/little” duo! Life was a field of sunshine and daisies until the day came when I got a phone call from Rebecca telling me she was on track for graduation and would be graduating the following semester. Summer came and went faster than a tornado in the mid-west and the fall semester did the same. My big is a huge part of my life and it was extremely difficult for me to cope with her graduating. A lot happened to me emotionally during her last semester making it even harder to deal with her leaving me. 

I was dealing with a whirlwind of emotions ranging from proud to sad to excited for her future and it was hard to find a common ground to stand on. Our relationship evolved from being together all the time no questions asked to having to make time to see each other. It was a change that neither of us prepared for. To say that our relationship is not different now would be a lie but the key is finding ways to make sure the relationship never fades away. I can’t tell you we haven’t hit a rough patch or two and I can’t say it was easy, but nothing that’s worth it is ever easy. It’s especially difficult because we both lead very busy lives, but I’m lucky enough that my Big relocated about an hour away from where I live and not half way across the country. 

The most important thing to remember is that life will go on and your relationship with your Big will change, but change isn't always a bad thing. Instead of being down the hall, in the same house, or in the same city you'll be a phone call, a car ride, or a flight away. She will always be your number one fan and your biggest supporter and you'll always be her Little. You'll probably even end up color coordinating on accident, just like old times. 

Here are my tips for staying connected with your big after graduation.

1. Make date plans:  Go out just you and your Big - have a drink, grab lunch, go shopping; things all girls love to do. Yes, this is a lot different than just barging into her room and eating macaroni and cheese in bed with her while watching Netflix, but so is the dynamic of your relationship.

2. Plan a vacation together: Go see your Grandbig, go to a lake house, or get a hotel in a hot spot city and just explore some place new together.

3. FaceTime or Skype: Take 20 minutes out of your day once or twice a week to catch up, sometimes it really helps just seeing the other person.

4. Invite her to sorority events: As an alumni of your organization she still cares about what’s going on and would love to be invited to events that alumni are able to go to.

5. Send her small gifts: Little things make a big difference – sometimes you both just    need a reminder that you’re inseparable even though there’s distance between you.

“Together forever never apart, maybe in distance but never in heart.”  

Summer Beauty

Summer is all about being carefree and having fun, about trying new things and seeing where life takes you, about experimenting with colors, styles, and products...most importantly, summer is about owning you! This summer, trends are very noticeable, easy to try and easy to make your own. Here's to hoping you find something new in this blog post that's worth a try!

*To the left I am sporting the Pop of Color and to the right mom is sporting the Peek-A-Boo. Also modeled is a version of the beachy waves featured in this article.


Make Up:

Seeing as I work at a makeup store, I am constantly seeing "this season's hottest trends" and learning new color combinations that are always a sure hit. This season's color to try for eyes is blue. My favorite thus far in my search for the perfect blue is Glacier by Merle Norman.

There are always so many different ways to apply eye shadow, especially with such a vibrant color. Here are a few tutorials for you to try:

The All Over Color
          The colors used here are Glacier and Cloud 9 by Merle Norman, but any brand in similar shades can be used. Apply Cloud 9 to the under part of the eye almost as an eyeliner, along the brow bone to highlight, and fading from the inner part of your eye to the middle. Next, apply Glacier by blending through the crease and outer corner of the eye into the middle, opposite of what was done with the Cloud 9. To finish, apply black eyeliner to only the upper lid (another popular trend right now) and two coats of black mascara.

Peek-A-Boo Color
                The colors used are Glacier, Ebony and Ivory, and Oyster. Start by highlighting the brow bone with Oyster. Next, pack on the color by covering 3/4th's of your lid below the crease with Glacier. Blend Ebony and Ivory in your crease, be sure to blend well between the three colors until you reach the desired effect. Complete this look with black eyeliner and two coats of black mascara.

Pop of Color
           This is my personal favorite, and what I wear most of the time. The colors used are Oyster, Glacier, and Ebony and Ivory. Start by highlighting the brow bone with Oyster, then blend Oyster from the inner corner of your eye to the middle. Next, blend Ebony and Ivory into your crease and from the outer corner in toward the middle. Finally, for a pop of color, blend Glacier right above the crease toward the brow bone. I complete this look with Teal Soft Touch eyeliner by Merle Norman, but you can use any color you like. Follow through with two coats of your favorite mascara!

*If blue eye shadow is to far out of your comfort zone, you can always opt for a blue eyeliner or mascara for a more mild and subdued pop of color.

Eye make up is just the tip of the ice burg this season. To continue any of these looks, follow through with bright and colorful lip color. Some of my favorites include A Flare To Remember, Romance, and Bistro Berry by Merle Norman, and Diva by MAC.

Hair:

For summer, I tend to keep my hair light and flowy with beachy waves. The best part about light and loose beachy waves is that they can easily be dressed up with a headband or a little tease at the crown of your head. The best way I have found to obtain these high demand beachy waves are as follows:

1. Wash hair the day or night before you want to style it. If this is not possible, be sure to "dirty" your hair and give it texture with a mouse or dry shampoo.
2. Section hair into three layers.
3. Lightly hairspray each layer.
4. WRAP HAIR AROUND CURLING IRON BARREL. This step is crucial! By wrapping your hair around the curling iron you are getting more of a wave vs. a ringlet.
5. Only hold your hair around the curling iron for 10 seconds as anything longer is just burning your hair.
6. Brush out with finger tips and hairspray all over.
7. Complete the look by adding a head band or any other accessories if your heart desires.

For a different effect (such as what I sported in the picture at the top), make the bottom two layers bigger, and don't curl the top. The key is to just have fun with it and see what works best for you!

Good Luck My Lovelies!
Ashley

Relationships in the House

When you choose to live in the sorority, the only thing you're thinking about is who your roommate is going to be. Are we going to get a 2 person or a 3 person? I can say from my own experience that the only thing we were thinking about was which floor we wanted to live on and how we were going to get a room with a view of the lake! I never even thought about how I wasn't very close with most of the girls that were going to be living in the house with me.

Now that I have lived in the house for almost a whole semester, I can say I have better relationships with a ton more girls in my sorority. I did not know very many of the girls very well on my floor, but I've had some interesting experiences with all of them.

Here are some of the ways I've made some good friends:

Exchanges: Getting ready for exchanges was really where we got to know each other. We all had some crazy theme and a lot of girls got ready in the bathroom, so we could ask each other to borrow things. Just being in the same room was a way for us to start talking to each other.

The Morning Class Buddies: For me, I have a 9:30 class every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so I will go to the community bathroom to brush my teeth and whatnot. The other girls on the floor that also have a morning classes usually see each other in the bathroom. It's an unspoken bond that cannot be replaced.

TV Room: Living in the house makes it so much easier to just go downstairs to watch TV with other girls. There's rarely ever no one in the TV room, so y'all can laugh at whatever is on. Cough Cough SVU Tuesdays…

Meals: The meals at the house have also made getting to know other girls so much easier. We have big dining room tables that we can all sit around. Especially with having a common bond, loving our sorority, we obviously have something in common, so it's not hard to find something to talk about. Heck, talk about how good the food is! Fried Fridays are where it's at…

In the end, you cannot go wrong living in the house!!! It's like a big sleepover every night, and let's not forget how many closets you obtain when you move in!

How to Survive Midterms

It happens to everyone at some point.  You're going through school pretty smoothly when you realize that you have all of your midterms back to back.  I don't know about you, but that kind of situation really stresses me out.  I thought I would offer some tips about how to get through your midterms without stressing out too hard.

1. Take care of yourself.  Exercise, eat healthy, and get plenty of sleep.  If you don't take care of yourself, you won't perform as well as you potentially could.

2. Set goals.  Maybe spend a couple of hours a day on each subject if you have multiple exams coming up.  If you have time, you could dedicate a day to each chapter that will be on an exam.  Just do something that works best for you!

3. Take breaks.  It's important that you don't wear yourself out.  Meet a friend for coffee for an hour, take the time to paint your nails, or spoil yourself with an episode of Gossip Girl.  Just make sure you don't end up procrastinating!

How do y'all survive midterms?

Quote of the Week: September 19, 2013

"When sisters stand shoulder to shoulder, who stands a chance against us?"

Whether you are best friends with your entire chapter, or just a small group of girls, what matters the most is that you are all sisters, and you have each other.  This is something that no one can change and it is a bond no one can replicate.  College can be such a trying time for many girls, being away from home, difficult classes, and just general stress can easily get the best of you, and this is the time that you need your sisters the most.  They are your family away from home, a shoulder to lean on and a group of girls you can vent to about anything.  Your sisters are the ones that will be there for you when you need them most, so stand together and no one else will stand a chance.

XOXO- Taylor S

You Don't Have to be PRVP to do Public Relations

So many women think that they have to be their Vice President of Public Relations to actively represent their sorority, FALSE! Anyone can, and technically everyone is always representing their chapter.

"You are always wearing your letters." 

If you are your respective chapter's Public Relations Chair like I am, I have some useful information for you to think about and potentially implement on your campus. SOCIAL MEDIA! Use it, it can be your best friend and it is a quick and easy way to keep the world up to date on what is happening, and doing it in real time. It is great for big events on campus like homecoming! Check out how I have been keeping our campus up to date on our chapter's successes during homecoming!

Members of our Battle of the Brains team right before the event! 

Here is a tip that I have learned, if you are managing multiple pages, make sure that you are posting to the desired page you want your information on, and not your personal page. Being a PRVP is definitely in need of a someone who is paying attention to the details! I have flubbed a few times where I have posted to my personal page, which is great because I am promoting my chapter, but then I have to go back and fix that post and send it to our page! Here is the most recent flub I had the other morning!

The post after our team won 1st Place in the Battle of the Brains Competition.

If you are using social media from a chapter stand point make sure that you are following up on what you have posted before, especially if it is a series of events, i.e. Homecoming or Greek Week.

Like I said earlier, you don't have to be your chapter's Public Relations Vice President to promote your chapter positively. You can talk up your chapter, post videos that inter/national headquarters provides, talk about events, successes, and just how awesome your sisterhood is! Social Media will get what you want out to the world quick but you know that saying "actions are louder than words" it is so true, even more so in the sorority world.

As members of sororities we are under such scrutiny from the public and those who do not know how awesome and special Greek Life is. Show your campus how awesome Greek Life is through you actions. Create a service project for around campus, volunteer in your local community, sit in the front of the class, get to know your teachers, be prompt on all assignments, and easiest of all WEAR YOUR LETTERS! You paid good money for them, why not flaunt them, I know that they are all adorable so why are you hiding them!

I love all of my letters! 

You are always wearing your letters, they are forever imprinted on your heart, make sure that the world knows that, and you as an individual have to remember that you don't have to run your chapter's public relations to help promote your chapter, for true success it has to be a chapter wide effort. I hope that this post has empowered you to get out, promote your chapter, and truly your letters and the organization that you are a part of.

Time Management 101: Dealing with Schedule Constraints

Being in a sorority is hard work. Amid sorority meetings, intramurals, socials, and library hours there is a ton of other things. You have the obvious--school, the not so obvious like a job or other extra-curriculars, and you have that pesky thing called sleep that you have to pencil in from time to time. It can be difficult, painstaking, and generally not a lot of fun. You have to learn time-management skills and I am here to give you a crash course in Time Management 101.

1. Use a planner: A sorority girls number one accessory besides her favorite pearl bracelet should be her planner. Planners are absolutely essential in college. Buy a Lilly Pulitzer one, or one out of the dollar bin--it doesn't matter. As long as there is a nice place, with a calendar, that can help you see into the future it's perfect. Once you buy the planner, be sure to use the planner. That may be a dumb thing to emphasize, but planners are nothing if you don't use them.

2. Start the year off organized: One of the biggest things is to start the year off in an organized fashion. Courses are usually back-loaded (meaning most assignments are due at the end), if you are organized from the beginning it becomes a habit and habits help you stay focused throughout the year.

3. Remember to prioritize: Pick a night (usually Sunday night) to sit down and take a serious look at the week ahead. See what's coming up in school, work, and with your student organizations and plan around that. Also take some time to look at the next week and really see what is happening long term as well as short term. That way if you have a test you need to start preparing for now you know this and can start doing what you need to do to get great grades.

4. Remember you are a student first: The scholarships you receive aren't going to evaluate your involvement and dedication to Greek life in order to be renewed. Remember that good grades are important to school life as well as Greek life. You need a certain GPA to stay in school and in your sorority.

5. Exercise your right to say no: Even during the new member process you have a right to say no to things. Taking on responsibilities is wonderful but be aware of how much responsibility you are taking on. Someone may be able to do the job better because they don't have as many responsibilities so make sure you take only what you can handle.

I hope this time management lesson was helpful for all the people who are just joining college and Greek life. For all the older sorority member what is your favorite time management tip?

Quote of the Week: September 5, 2013

"Because class isn't just something we attend"

This weeks quote is something that I feel is important for everyone, Greek, or non Greek alike to remember.  Particularly as ladies in the Greek system we always have to remember we not only represent ourselves but our entire chapter, every single day.  It's important to portray yourself in a positive light and to be the best person you can be.  Believe me, it sounds dumb and I'm sure everyone has heard it a million times, but if you wouldn't want your grandma to read the things you post on social media, don't post it.  When you are looking for a job after college you will be thankful you didn't.  Not only does this apply to pictures you post or things you say it applies to how you live your life. 

So you stay classy ladies! 

XOXO- Taylor S