Two of my all time favorite books (I guess I have a dark side)
A beautiful sunset over my neighborhood in NYC. It’s truly heaven in Hell’s Kitchen!
A chandelier painting given to me by my mother – I love it because it totally matches my logo
The custom DIY turban I designed at a Fashion Fights Cancer event with IFB
My Pi Beta Phi sorority pin from college – Pi Phi for life!
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Saturday afternoon, after a glorious morning of sleeping in, I met my Pi Beta Phi sorority sisters for a long overdue reunion at Revel in NYC’s Meatpacking District. Revel has long been one of my favorite brunch spots for it’s pitchers of bottomless mimosas and chic decor making it the perfect place for a Pi Phi reunion. It was wonderful to see my Pi Phi girls again and to hear what everyone has been up to since we formed ties of wine and silver blue so long ago at 210 Walnut Place under the veil of Syracuse Orange.
Bottomless morning cocktails
Scotch Eggs…Yum!
Cheers from me and my little, Tracy!
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When entering a New Year, it’s just as important to look back at the years gone by and reflect on the world as time moves forward. As you may already know, it’s a small world that we live in and this is more than just a fashion blog. A couple of weeks ago, I was honored to receive an invitation to The Alexia Foundation‘s exclusive gallery event, Alexia: Images & Issues. When I looked closer at the invitation, I immediately realized the personal connection I had to Alexia Tsairis for whom the foundation was founded in memory of. On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by terrorists and went down over Lockerbie, Scotland leaving no survivors. Among the victims of this horrible attack were 35 Syracuse University students returning home from a semester abroad. Emerging photojournalist, Alexia Tsairis, was one of them.
I too attended Syracuse University where I pledged Pi Beta Phi, the same sorority Alexia was a member of. I can still remember how four of her photos hung prominently in the Pi Phi house as a memorial to Alexia and two other sisters we lost to the Lockerbie bombing. I even met her parents once when I attended the annual memorial service at the Remembrance Garden on campus with my Pi Phi sisters. Upon seeing our letters, Mr. and Mrs. Tsairis came up to us to thank us for coming and to tell us how proud Alexia had been to be a Pi Phi. In memory of their daughter’s tragic death, Alexia’s parents founded the The Alexia Foundation, to continue Alexia’s legacy and love for photography by promoting the power of visual journalism as a means of exposing social injustices worldwide.
The Foundation has been working ever since to provide major grants and funding of up to $50,000 a year for photojournalists documenting humanitarian and social justice issues. The Alexia Foundation showcase I will be attending later this month will feature the work of their award-winning photojournalists and will include approximately 35 images from the Alexia Foundation Archives, featuring recent winners Justin Maxon and Katie Orlinsky. I so look forward to honoring the legacy of my sorority sister and her passion for photojournalism that still lives on. Click here to find out more about how you can support The Alexia Foundation.
Over the weekend, I made a pilgrimage upstate to my Alma Mater, Syracuse University. I can’t believe it’s been almost four years since I graduated in May of 2009 and came to New York to begin life in the real world. Though I feel kind of old now walking around the SU campus, a part of me will always miss the four carefree years I spent in college.
My college BFF, Tory, and I at the Homecoming game we won unexpectedly against the University of Louisville. So glad we could spend the weekend together since we now live so far away with me in New York and her in Cincinnati.
Visited the Pi Beta Phi sorority house and found my composite photo from senior year.
Generation Orange!
I don’t think any of you will be surprised when I tell you that I was once a sorority girl. Back in the spring of 2006, I pledged the New York Alpha Chapter of Pi Beta Phi (Pi Phi for short) at Syracuse University. Lilly Pulitzer fashion is huge on the sorority scene so it’s no wonder that they’ve come out with a series of sorority prints. Sadly, they have yet to introduce a Pi Phi print. However, I did vote for Pi Phi to be part of the next sorority print class on the Lilly Pulitzer Facebook page and I encourage all other Pi Phis to do the same.
I miss sorority life for obvious reasons such as formals and date nights, but I also miss the little things about being a member of a chapter such as late night movie marathons, Friday morning brunch, and tanning outside the house. College life was a much simpler time. Sure there was drama (tons of drama at times,) but in the end, that’s not what I remember. I still get super excited whenever I meet another Pi Phi and I will be even more excited when Lilly Pulitzer introduces a Pi Phi print full of arrows (our official symbol) and angles (our unofficial symbol.)
My sorority sister and BFF, Tory, and I outside the Pi Phi Chapter House back at Syracuse.
Me and my little, Tracy, with the Syracuse University mascot, Otto the Orange, at the Homecoming Parade.
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