53RD NATIONAL PHI MU CONVENTION

Guess where I'm headed this week?!?!?!?! To my THIRD Phi Mu National Convention in Boca Raton, Florida! That's right, its my Trestrella year!!!!! I attended my first convention in 2010 in Phoenix, Arizona and my second in 2012 in San Antonio, Texas. I'm so excited for another exciting week!


Wanna read all about last convention?  Here:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4

And some random topics I wrote about:
Forever Faithful
The Aglaia
Phi Mu Foundation
 
Here's a sample of the schedule:

Wednesday, July 2
- Convention Attendees Arrive
- National and Area Officers Meetings
- Collegiate Delegate Meetings
- Alumnae Delegate Meetings
- Area Meetings
- Opening Dinner

Thursday, July 3
- Opening Business Session
- Memorial Service and Initiation
- Sisterhood Luncheon
- Fraternity Business Session
- Foundation Giving Level Receptions
- 1852 Society Dinner
- Pool and Beach Party

Friday, July 4
- Fraternity Business Session
- Alumnae Luncheon
- Collegiate Luncheon
- Workshops
- Yacht Cruise & Dinner

Saturday, July 5
- Foundation Business Session
- Fraternity Business Session
- Award Celebration
- Carnation Banquet
- Carnation Collection Midnight Madness

Sunday, July 6
- Foundation Trustee Meeting
- National Council Meeting
- Convention Attendees Depart

Muir Woods

A few weeks ago we decided to leave the concrete jungle and escape to the woods, Muir Woods to be exact!  Man, these trees are SO BIG! They've been growing for years and years and years! We got there early, but clearly not early enough....people are LEGIT and get there SUPER early!! We had to park on the dirt road down the street! The B man has a military US Parks pass and we (B, Brad and I) all got in free!! Woop woop!

Man, it was hot in the city, but as soon as we got up in the mountains it was super cold!! I of course dressed properly, but the boys did not. Silly boys, tricks aren't for kids...apparently neither are parks! There are plenty of hiking paths to explore, but since the boys weren't adequately prepared for the cold, they weren't happy campers and decided to be pouty princesses for the day and made us leave early.

JUST LOOK HOW BIG THE TREES ARE!!!

So many rings around the tree

Dolores Park

I spent a G-L-O-R-I-O-U-S afternoon at Dolores Park! This is mine and the B man's favorite place to hang out when the weather is warm.  Its a great place to bring a six pack, settle in, and do some major people watching!

Unfortunately, half the park is closed for construction, but that just means were all packed in like sardines and I get to overhear some glorious conversations!  Any time someone visits me and the weather is warm, we are coming here! Its so quintessential San Francisco.  I can't wait for us to make more friends and have everyone meet up in the park!

 

This day there wasn't even a cloud in the sky!

Just one little group of people.

Brekkie

I'm getting pretty good at this breakfast quiche thing!! I've had some pretty funny mistakes along the way (getting egg everywhere and even under the coils of the stovetop) but I'm having fun trying! Normally the B man cooks breakfast so I am glad I'm finally pulling my weight. Now pull out the champagne, I'm ready for brunch!

Marshall's Beach

After our excursion to The Melt, my friend Brad and I decided to explore a little of the city and hit up Marshall's Beach. Brad was from D.C. too and made the leap to SF about 2 weeks before I did! I'm so glad that he did because its nice to have a good friend in a new city!


We took a bus down to the Golden Gate Bridge to get to Marshall's Beach.

It was beautiful and warm, though extremely breezy!

There was a really weird photo shoot going on of some family.

Panorama shot!

Someone has OCD and it ain't me

This is what my fridge looks like! The B man might have some lingering OCD from when he worked at a grocery store way back in the day. All the labels facing the front and all beer in rows. Oh well, there could be worse things in life than having your beer neatly put in the fridge!

Grilled Cheese Happiness: The Melt

My friend Brad introduced me to The Melt and I must say I am in grilled cheese happiness.  I mean, how can you NOT like grilled cheese? Well, I mean if you were gluten intolerant (you can get gluten free bread!) or lactose intolerant, I guess you wouldn't like it. Thank goodness I am neither! Though, do yourself a favor and don't look at the calorie content. But all jokes aside, just LOOK at this yummy goodness below!

There are 16 locations all over California and there's a truck too!

Painted Ladies

You know, I was expecting A LOT more than this with the painted ladies. I mean, I guess I've always seen gorgeous shots of these houses but nothing really impressed me (I mean COME ON....FULL HOUSE ANYONE?!?!?!?). Maybe because one of the houses was missing (new one being built) and two of them were getting facial lifts with some construction.

According to Wikipedia:
"Painted ladies" is a term in American architecture used for Victorian and Edwardian houses and buildings painted in three or more colors that embellish or enhance their architectural details. The term was first used for San Francisco Victorian houses by writers Elizabeth Pomada and Michael Larsen in their 1978 book Painted Ladies - San Francisco's Resplendent Victorians. Since then the term has also been used to describe groups of colorful Victorian houses in other American cities, such as the Charles Village neighborhood in Baltimore, Lafayette Square in St. Louis, Missouri, the greater San Francisco and New Orleans areas, Columbia-Tusculum in Cincinnati, The Old West End in Toledo, Ohio, and the city of Cape May, New Jersey.