pumpkin patch.

Florida is NOT well known for it's change of season, snow, or cold weather, but sometimes it's okay to pretend right?

That is NOT a rhetorical question... it is ALWAYS okay to pretend because fall is one of the prettiest times of the year & just because we are in Florida doesn't mean we have to suffer, right?  I mean with the ocean of red & yellow leaves, the contrast in color between the blue sky & the gourds & pumpkins, & the beautiful pre-winter clothes, it just doesn't get much better.

There is nothing better than feeling & looking pretty with a slight chill in the air... smells like fall to me & tastes like smiles.

Today was a pumpkin patch kind of day.  The Gainesville weather took a break from the muggy heat & gave us a little fall shiver.  Behind the bars & clubs, there are some beautiful natural parts of Gainesville... Paynes Prairie, The Devil's Millhopper, the farmland in old Alachua, the corn fields that turn into mazes during October,  Ichetucknee Springs, & the pumpkin patches that dot the city in orange when fall rolls around.  Sometimes you get so involved with campus that you forget how beautiful the surrounding area is.   

Dressing all cutesy, us roommates went out on a bit of an adventure... ending up at an awkward pumpkin patch on the side of the road & rolling up in our fancy outfits to a random farm for young kids with bouncy houses & "spooky trails..." Houston, we have a problem.  We were getting pretty desperate at this point in our travels... the classic graduation "railroad picture" even became an option since we couldn't find an adequate pumpkin patch & we all looked so nice in our shades of orange & blue.  But we eventually prevailed & found Trinity Church where we set up camp, the tripods, the light reflectors, the models... JOKING!  But we did set up camp for a long time.  We may or may not have overstayed our welcome.

But I bought a tiny pumpkin to make up for it... Squilliam. 

Just call us super models... yeah, we know how to work it.

Anyway, overall it was a very successful day & weekend.  Initiated 67 new sisters into Kappa Kappa Gamma & relished our beautiful ritual & celebrated Kappa's 143rd birthday today with some amazing alumnae from chapters all over the country.  There was even an alumna from our founding school, Monmouth College, which is very cool.

The extent of sisterhood once again extends outside what you know.  Thousands of other amazing women share the ritual you live & are considered your sisters.  Makes the world, once again, a whole lot smaller when you have sisters all over the country singing the same songs, wearing their keys, & loving their sisters.  "We will always remember our dear Kappa days."

But I would like to take a special aside for my sister & roommate, Rebecca, on her recent engagement to her boyfriend of 5 years!  So incredibly happy for her & her fiance!

It has been really cool getting to know you better over this fall semester.  You are a great friend & I am lucky to call you my sister; therefore, our friendship is not just for four years, it is for life!  So... you are stuck with me & Colbie.

(And your owl knit cap is so age appropriate.)

  Ciao Bella!