Busy Bee

I'm back at work after being away for three weeks and I have a major project on my plate. It's good because my awesome boss is giving me more and more important work to do, but bad because it's a wee bit stressful. Ah well. I probably won't be updating more than once a day for a little while, so I wanted to let you guys know why. Also, Boule was awesome.

Centennial Boule + Centennial Barbie

I'm heading to DC on Saturday for Alpha Kappa Alpha's Centennial Boule. First off, Boule is always a huge event (it only happens every other year) and on top of that, this is our hundredth year, so... you get the picture. And since the Centennial Boule will be my very first one, I'm super-excited. Also, I haven't been back to DC since October for Howard Homecoming. In other words, I've been bouncing all week. Numbers vary, but there are something like 20,000 members of the org who are registered for the conference, plus innumerable unregistered members... and that number doesn't include our fans. Many greek men I know who live on the Eastern seaboard will be making their way to DC for as my Sigma co-worker put it: "AKA heaven!" And, um, we have a Barbie doll. It was announced earlier this year, but the pics have just surfaced. I love her features, though I wish she were a little darker (so she could be representative of more women in the sorority, while avoiding the brown paper bag stereotype), but eh... it's one of those things where you're damned if you do, damned if you don't. Isn't she purty? [Photo courtesy the Chicago Sun-Times] The other thing I love: her dress is actually in our colors, SALMON pink and APPLE green (not magenta and forest green, not hot pink and kelly green).

Once a Neo...

Today is my anniversary, or AKAversary, if you will. Technically, I'm no longer a neo. "Neo" is a shortening of "neophyte" which means a beginner, or one newly converted (to Christianity, originally). For new converts to Alpha Kappa Alpha, or any other Greek Letter Organization (GLO), there's a certain fervor or excitement. There are even "superneos," those young people who are about their GLO and little else (you can distinguish them by the triple 'nalia they wear everywhere). I called this blog "The Neo" because that's the frame of mind I was in when I started blogging again. It felt new. Even though I'm no longer a neo in AKA, I'm keeping the title, because I'm still a neophyte in adulthood, in life. There is so much to see and do, and I feel truly thrilled by all that awaits me on my journey.

Deep in my heart, I love my AKA...

** Lest you think I've fallen off the face of the earth, allow me to offer my apologies for spending 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 days away from you all.** I was in Philadelphia (now dubbed "The City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection") from the March 6-9 for the Centennial North Atlantic Regional Conference of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Aaaand, my birthday was on the 9th! (Side note: my mother, very thoughtfully, sent me a pink and green birthday card in which she inscribed: "Happy 24th!" To those of you who don't know, I actually just turned 23. Am I wrong to think that maybe, just maybe, the one person who should always know how old I am is my mother?) I usually don't post a lot of pics on this-here blog, but I'll share one of my favorites with you all. Marvel at my fine-ness. (I'm rocking the "Barack the Vote" shirt.) I finally got a chance to see our Centennial Regional Director Evelyn Sample-Oates in person (no pics with her though) and I was blown away. She is the consummate Alpha Kappa Alpha woman: a wife, a mother, beautiful, incredibly fly, smart, friendly, genuine-seeming, and about business. I have a small crush. My birthday party continues this weekend in NYC... I don't think anyone who reads this blog is in the area, but if you are, hit me up in the comments. (And to celebrate the impending return of Gossip Girl, I leave you with...) You know you love me. XOXO.

Moment of Obamaphilia

Bask in it's warm glow of salmon pink and apple green. Bask, I say!

one hundred

I drove down to D.C. yesterday with my lovely sorority sister. We probably spent more time on the road than in the city, but it was worth it. Just being on the site where a group of women decided to reclaim the concept of black femininity was amazing. We stopped at the chapel to see the gorgeous Alpha Kappa Alpha window, looked at the exhibits in Founder's Library, and watched the Alpha Chapter neophytes sing, chant, and celebrate 100 years. Click on the picture for a larger view. Even though I attended Howard for four years, I felt like I was coming home in a whole different way.