SISTERHOOD IDEA

The holidays are a great time of the year to host sisterhood events. One of my favorite ideas is an ornament exchange. It would be so easy to coordinate and the possibilities are endless. All you would have to do is let each Sister know that she needs to bring an ornament. I was browsing Twitter yesterday and someone mentioned that she had seen so many sorority-esque ornaments at Hobby Lobby.

One of my favorite exchanges was the Christmas social we had with one of the fraternities. We would have a gingerbread house building contest, decorate cookies, and have Christmas carol karaoke. Everyone also wore tacky sweaters so it was an all-encompassing Christmas social.

How does your chapter celebrate the holidays?

5 THINGS TO DO THIS MONTH

One of my favorite series on the Interwebs is Glitter Guide's 5 Things to Try This Weekend. I decided to try my own version for you all. Instead of doing these things alone, I encourage you to round up some Sisters and do the following in the name of sisterhood:

+ Go on a hayride. My chapter went to a pumpkin patch one year and they have a hayride all setup for us. It was so much fun to let go of the fact that we were all college students and embrace our inner-child.

+ Go shopping. Black Friday is at the end of the month! Round up some Sisters and go to your favorite stores. It will be a lot more fun than going alone.

+ Watch Love Actually. Nothing says Christmas time like Christmas movies with friends. Love Actually is celebrating its 10 year anniversary this year. Grab some hot chocolate and candy to make it the perfect movie night.

+ Bake something. These adorable pumpkin pie cookies keep popping up on my Pinterest feed so I think they would be great, but really you could bake just about anything!

+ Have Thanksgiving Dinner. Of course you are thankful for your Sisters, but there is just something about gathering around the dinner table together. Give thanks by hosting a Thanksgiving Sisterhood event!

SISTERHOOD IDEA

We know I have been counting down the months until fall recruitment forever now and I am excited to finally say that recruitments will begin in a month! With that comes work week and a lot of time to be spent with your Sisters. Before you jump into full work mode, take a minute to catch up with each other from the summer months when you were away.

I recommend going for ice cream or gelato as a treat from the chapter! Everyone will love it and an ice cream social hour is a great way to facilitate conversation without them being forced. It will also give everyone a chance to relax between moving back to school and recruitment practice.

Here is last year's idea. You can definitely incorporate both into the work week!

SISTERHOOD IDEA

This may seem like a strange post considering summer has just begun and you are not around your Sisters 24/7. Well... that is exactly why I am writing this post. Summer is a great time to take a break from your normal school routine, but it is so much fun to hang out with your Sisters too. During the summer you don't have to worry about class the next day, turning in an assignment, preparing for your next big event, or actually planning anything. It is the perfect time to just relax. Here are some ideas for a summer sisterhood!

Go to a concert

Spend the day at the beach (or the pool)

Geocaching

Take a roadtrip

Have a spa day

Do you and your Sisters have any big (or small) plans over the summer to stay connected?

STAND UP

At AFLV I attended a lot of Panhellenic-oriented sessions. These sessions give students the opportunity to hear from fraternity and sorority professionals about current trends and to voice concerns of issues happening on their campus. One of the things I heard over and over was that sorority leaders were sick and tired of fraternities hosting parties with inappropriate names. To be honest, I am not at all surprised that the gentlemen that comprise our fraternities are hosting parties with names like (please excuse my language) "Golf Pros and Tennis Hoes," "Tops or Bottoms," and, my personal favorite (read: sarcasm) "Joggers and Rapists."

Are you kidding me?

Yes, I understand that you are mad and offended because I literally felt my stomach turning as I heard the names of these parties. Guys (because frankly they do not deserve to be called gentlemen with behavior like this) think it is cool to host parties with names like these because they see this behavior displayed on TFM. But the biggest revelation of all came while I was attending a fraternity session.

I was sitting next to the sweetest fraternity man you have ever met. He is telling me about all the great things his fraternity does and then we begin talking about parties. He rattles off some mildy offensive party names. I advise him that these names are probably not a good idea because they perpetuate negative stereotypes among our organizations. This sweet young man looks at me and says...

"We keep having them because the girls come."

Ladies, I am going to spell this out for you right now. Men are simple. If you talk about hockey, they will think you like hockey. If you go to an inappropriately named party, they will think you like the inappropriate name of the party. They have your buy-in. You may have received a t-shirt that you wear occasionally. You probably posed for some pictures that you were tagged in on Facebook that you future Little will see and she will go to the same party next year because adores you and has been looking forward to it since she creeped on you last semester.

The sweet fraternity man then looks at me and says, "If the girls didn't come, we wouldn't have the parties."

It is that simple.

Do not support fraternities who have these parties. You do not go. Do not let your Sisters go. Do not let your Little go. If you are in a position of leadership, encourage your chapters members to not attend. Tell your Panhellenic Sisters that you think this is a bad idea and ask them to ask their Sisters not to go.

Don't go and maybe that fraternity will stop having that party and eventually giving their other parties inappropriate names. And your campus and community will stop perceiving sorority women as uneducated and highly sexually active because you finally took a stand.

This post has come across more as a rant, but the actions needed to change the stereotypes associated with our organizations begin with us, not the public. We have to stand up and do something or no one else will.

P.S. I realize this is not the most Valentinesy post. Here is something a little better to soothe your heart.

SISTERHOOD IDEA

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My favorite thing about a new semester is that it is a new beginning. Despite how things went the semester before, you have the opportunity to start completely over. Maybe you weren't as studious as you should have been last semester. You recognize that and can now make the necessary effort to raise your GPA. Maybe you haven't been as involved with your sorority as you would have liked to have been as a new member. It's a new semester and now you can resolve to make this a priority.

Sisterhood events are definitely the best venue to re-involve yourself with your sorority. Make plans with your friends to attend the events, actually go, and have fun! Get involved in the activities that are being sponsored at the sisterhood event or make a goal to get to know one Sister who haven't had the chance to yet.

Activity Idea

Since it is a new semester I think a quick and easy activity for a sisterhood event is new crafts. I am always looking to spruce up my living area with something new and fun. Have everyone bring a canvas and their favorite paint colors, glitter, etc. Be sure to provide the food with some cookies, lemonade, and something of substance but a little healthier. Play music in the background to set the mood and keep everyone energized! Maybe a dance party will break out!

SISTERHOOD IDEA

With a new year right around the corner I have been thinking of some new ideas to incorporate into the blog that will make your sorority experience more valuable. One of those ideas is to create a sort of international sisterhood connection. It is amazing to think that this little blog has reached sorority women on an international level and I honestly do not understand it. However, you are here and I am here to serve you.

Last week I wrote about my winter break reading selections and you really gave me a great response. I love reading and you love reading so why not come together to create a book club?! Our chapters and Panhellenic communities (I'm talking to you, Sisterhood Chairs and VPs of Ed) are the perfect venue to facilitate discussion over books. You don't even have to create a book club within your chapter or community to participate. You can read along and participate in conversation on the blog! There will be a page devoted to the book club on the blog to leave your comments and questions to other sisters about what they thought of the monthly selection.

Each month I will send out an exclusive update to those of you that are interested. Be sure to sign up here if you want to participate! I will be sending out the first selection on December 20th. I want everyone to have plenty of time to purchase the book to read along. 

I hope this is something you will participate in! I look forward to reading with you!!

SISTERHOOD IDEA

I was browsing Pinterest and came across the most creative idea I have seen in a while. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to share with you because it would be such a fun sisterhood idea!

Introducing...

Outdoor Scrabble

How neat is that? 

Here is the link to the blog that did it originally with all of the information.

SISTERHOOD IDEA

I found this really great recipe for candy apples and thought about how much fun it would be to have a Halloween sisterhood. The Halloween sisterhoods were always my favorite. My Sisters and I would get together and watch a scary movie at the house and eat our weight in candy and snacks. Of course not much movie watching was done because we were all talking to each other, but it was always so much fun. 

What do your do with your Sisters for Halloween?

WEEKLY SISTERHOOD

I love the idea of incorporating a sisterhood event into something that is already happening. That is why I think that TV Night Sisterhoods are the best idea! Gather Sisters together who like the same tv shows and watch them together at the house or at another location. 

Be sure to bring snacks! Spice it up with a food theme for each week (Mexican dishes, junk food, movie snacks, breakfast, desserts). This will keep your Sisters coming back for more and more!

To get you started here is a recipe for pumpkin doughnuts! How amazing do those look?

My Sisters and I used to have sisterhoods like this all the time. They were so much fun and so simple!

WORK WEEK SISTERHOOD IDEA

Whether we want to believe it or not, Recruitment 2012 is well on its way! It is July and for many of us that means Recruitment is a month or two away. However, before Recruitment is Work Week. Work Week is a lot of work, but it can also be a lot of fun, especially if you incorporate the right types of events. It is important to stop and realize that this week is the first time you and your Sisters will all be together for the new school year. Have a little mixer with your Sisters to catch up on the summer before Work Week begins or schedule it for the first night. 

My idea? A s'mores night!

S'mores are the perfect summer snack and so easy! If it is against house rules for you to have an open flame in the house, get a small pit to go in the backyard for an alumna to control. 

Voila! Instant sisterhood event and time to catch up after a long summer away!

photo credit: Style Me Pretty