Happy New Year/100 Year Delta Celebration!

This New Year is starting with a bang! Seeing the float as I described in my previous post was breathtaking.  When my sorors were out of site, and as the parade continued, I kept thinking about how blessed I was to witness this joyous occasion. Although it was cold outside, my heart was warm seeing our beautiful well-crafted float coming down the street. It seemed as if we were not the only ones excited! My phone started ringing off the hook, and I received a lot of texts from sorors and my close sistergreeks (My AKA friends and Zeta Phi Beta friends) who were just as excited as we were. I will share a few:


AKA friend #1- (Text) OMG  I am sitting here watching you guys on television, I am so excited for you and your sorors. You guys are doing it big.

AKA friend #2- (Text) This is ____ my husband and I are watching the Rose Bowl Parade, and we just saw you guy's float. Simply beautiful.

AKA friend #3- Now you know I always throw shade at you regarding DST but not today girl, You guys are making history as you know it. So proud! (but you know Alllpha Kappa Alllpha is still the best sorority right, lol) Love you!

Zeta friend #1- Chile You can thank your sorors for setting the bar SO HIGH for us to follow in 2020...Being the first BGLO to March in the US biggest parade, being on the Today Show, Good Morning America and the other talk shows is a massive act to follow! Congrats my friend!

Prospect #1- I am so excited! My heart is beating so fast; I can't wait to become a Delta and wish I was one now to experience this with you, call me back when you can.

And that my dear friends are just a "taste" of voice mail msgs, texts and people inboxing me on facebook that I received that day. It was a beautiful experience. When the parade was over, it took us FOREVER to get out of there. It reminded me of when I use to go downtown Chicago for the 3rd of July Fireworks. There were people everywhere! When we got back to our truck, it took us literally almost 2 hours to get out of the parking lot! Even with that obstacle, nothing could have stolen my joy away at that moment. I was hoping I would get home in time to rest up for our Hollywood Gala that evening.

3 1/2 hours later, we finally arrived back at our hotel, and I only had an hour to get some rest before getting dressed for our gala! I was excited and could not wait to be in the same room with these fantastic guests, such as Ledisi, Faith Hill, A'ngela Winbush, some FIONE Blair Underwood. The Gala was hosted by the one and only Soror Sheryl Lee Ralph (The Actress from Moesha)

After waking up from my hour nap and getting all dolled up, I was finally ready to board the "Delta Bus" to Nokia.  A funny thing happened on the way there, As I got on the bus I look over and the soror sitting right next to me is soror "Suzzanne Douglas (Actress, How Stella Got Her Groove, Jason Lyrics, and Mother on Parenthood). She is stunning in person, and I must admit, I was a bit star-struck! My husband mentioned a day earlier that he was alone with her in the hotel and he kept going on, and on, and on about how beautiful she was.

The event was incredible, I connected with a lot of sorors, and I felt I had the BEST seats in the house. Instead, of me telling you all about the event, I will post a couple of pictures so you can see what a fantastic time I had! This was the BEST way to bring in the New Year! Enjoy!

Soror Suzanne Douglas...Isn't she GORGE??

                                                  Soror Sheryl Lee Ralph

Soror Sheryl Lee Ralph, and the FIONE Blair Underwood (PBS)

A'ngela Winbush

Wife and Hubby- Tim Reid (AphiA) and Soror Daphne Reid

                         Soror Reid and James Avery (Uncle Phi, Aunt Viv Fresh Prince of Bel Air)

The beautiful Songstress, Ledisi

Faith Evans

                             
                                           Actor and Activist Danny Glover
                            
                                   Sorors Kym Whitley and Kiki Shepard

                           
                                    Soror AJ Johnson (Baby Boy, School Daze)
                   
                           
                      National President Cynthia MA Butler McIntire Lighting the Torch!
               
                            

The Torch is Lit!

                       

                          
                                      The Wall of Fame: Where it ALL Began

We danced the night away. I had so much fun kicking it with sorors, doing the Woble and just networking with sorors. I was exhausted and sad that it was all coming to and end. I am so grateful I was able to experience this with my sorors and my darling husband. Just think this is just he beginning.....This is going to be an exciting year. I can feel it.

DST Being Featured in the Rose Bowl Parade

                                



We just made history being the FIRST Black Greek Organization ever to have our own personalize float and March in the e.Rose Bowl Parad Quite impressive huh? If you haven't heard about this, then you are living under a rock because it's been plastered all over the news EVERYWHERE! I had the liberty and the honor of watching this historic event happen, LIVE! My husband and I decided to celebrate the new years in Los Angeles, so we could witness history while celebrating together. It was a beautiful experience! There were Crimson and Cream EVERYWHERE! I was so excited because I am finally able to test out my camera skills (My loving husband bought me a Canon T3i for Christmas since I caught the photography bug) to take pictures of the event. We were there for six GLORIOUS days.   I had so much fun running into familiar sorority sisters while connecting with new ones.

Registration ran smoothly, my sorors were all smiles, and the people at the hotel treated us so nicely. After getting all settled in, I was ready to take LA by the horns and explore. Thankfully I was also able to visit my BFF from high school AS WELL AS my Mother and Daddy in-love (law) during this trip as well.

New Year’s Eve was OFF DA CHAIN! Sorors and their hubbies were everywhere. We not only took over the restaurant (where we had a New Year’s Party Celebration) but we took over the lobby as well. It was great to see SO many of my sisters doing the "Delta Wobble" Stepping in the name of Love and throwing up their pyramids proudly! As my loving husband and I danced the night away, I thought about my many blessings of how far has brought me so far in life, more than I could ever imagine. Right before it was time for the clock to strike twelve, my husband and I made our way back up to our rooms. We have always made a tradition to start the New Year’s off on our knees, and this was no exception. After praying the New Year in, I couldn't help but my excitement about being able to witness history the very next day.

A few hours later,(4 am to be exact) I found myself getting dressed in Delta Paraphernalia from head to toe as if I was a neophyte just crossing over into Delta Land. The only thing I have been shocked with in regards to Los Angeles was how COLD it was here. (Well I guess cold is relative since I am from Chicago-Il). Thankfully the night before, we ran to the nearest Target to purchase some heavy coats. Sitting outside in the stands in the cold is NO fun if you don't have jackets.

We finally made it there, and after trying to figure out the parking frenzy, we were well on our way. Finally found our seats, and BOY was there a lot of people out there. The last parade that I have seen with this many people was the Macy's parade in New York a few years ago. There were sorors, everywhere. I smiled, threw up my pyramid, and returned a lot of "oop-oop" as several of my sorors serenaded me as we made our way to our seats. It was a beautiful thing. When the parade started, I grew very anxious, and about 30 mins later, I could see them from a distance. My heart grew warm, and I brought out my Canon Camera hoping that I would be able to take excellent pictures. Here are a few images that captured my exciting day!