Lenae M. Scott School of Hospitality

This year my parents both hit the milestone of turning 50 so I had the grand idea to throw them a little party. In August I pitched the idea to Leigh Anne and she ran with it. I knew she would do a great job at figuring out all of the details while I was in school. When we both arrived in Shreveport around 4:30 on the day of the party, we were not entirely sure how everything was going to come together. But somehow or another we pulled it off!

1. We got in town approximately 2 and a half hours before the guests were scheduled to arrive. Quite a short time frame to get everything together. I unloaded my car while waiting for Matt and Leigh Anne to arrive. Once we got everything set up at the church we headed out to pick up balloons while the boys went to pick up the taco meat, chips and salsa.

This is where it got interesting. It is now 30 minutes before the party and we are literally driving about a mile down the street. We are about to pull into the parking lot when I see a big...RED...toyota tundra pull up behind us. Me: "Leigh Anne...Dad just pulled up behind us." (insert 15 minutes of freaking out while in party city) Text from Matt: "Negative sighting. Pops is at the house. I repeat, Pops is at the house. I have a location confirmation from cdseagles. Subject was out running at the time of sighting." (insert collective sigh of relief!)

2. This segment of the evening required some intense skill: getting my dad out of the car...and actually to the party. For this task we enlisted Mrs. Linda and Mrs. Mary along with their husbands. We knew it would be pretty easy to get mom to the church: "We need to go pick up some supplies that the middle schoolers collected for our mission trip to Romania." But the catch is Dad need to be there too..."But they are in bags and will be really heavy." Success.

Let's just say they were shocked. Dad thought this was something Mom had cooked up but when he saw her reaction (plastered against the wall) he realized that it was for her too.

3. My friend Leah helped me make the cakes for the party. They turned out looking great and tasted pretty good too! We lucked out with having the perfect amount of cake.

4. We had two sombreros that Chad smuggled out of the house for a "school project" and considered using them as decoration...but then we had the genius idea to make our parents wear them. They were pretty good sports ;)

5. My mom's friends said it perfectly when she told Leigh Anne and I that we had clearly graduated from the Lenae M. Scott School of Hospitality. Mom trained us well! Everything went off without a hitch. I was very exhausted by the end of the party but I felt very grown up all at the same time. And I do believe that Mom has never been happier!

Tag! You're It!

So in the "blogworld" sometimes fun little posts get passed around and if you get "tagged" you keep it going, how fun! My sister Leigh Anne tagged me so I'll answer the 8 questions she asked me, then come up with 8 of my own and tag 8 of YOU to answer MY questions. Well....I don't think that I actually have 8 friends with blogs...but you can tag 8 people next time. ha.

Got it? Good! Here we go!

1. What is your most favorite thing about fall?

My favorite thing about fall BY FAR is being able to wear scarves! I have quite a extensive scarf collection. My favorite scarf my friend Stephanie brought it back to me from her travels in Prague!

2. How would you spend your perfect Saturday?

Ahhh....the perfect Saturday! Does that even exist?? Well let's see: There would most definitely not be ANY football. One of my least favorite part of Saturdays is LSU Game Day. Over 100,000 people invade campus and I am trapped at home because if I leave there won't be anywhere to park. The perfect saturday would definitely include sleeping very late and then laying in bed watching movies all day. I used to do this in high school (you know...back in the good ole days when I actually had free time.) So anytime that I have a day off without any school or work or responsibilities, this is how I would spend it! Oh and order a pizza from JOHNNY'S for lunch...now it's perfection.

3. What is something you've learned recently?

I have gotten a HUGE lessons in how to handle confrontation. It feels like every few days over the last few weeks something has come up, and normally I would just brush it off and ignore the problem. But in efforts to try and be a big girl...I have made a significant effort to learn how to deal with issues rather than brushing them under the rug.

4. Do you like the seasonal drinks at Starbucks or stick to your year-round favorite?

Yummm....Starbucks, this is my true weakness. My personal favorite treat on a cool fall day is a white chocolate mocha, no whip. My summer drink is a mocha frapp...no whip. (And Dad: If you are reading this, I will do everything in my power to overcome my addiction and stop spending so much money...ha)

5. What is your favorite meal to make?

Well seeing as I live in a sorority house...don't have a kitchen...and only know how to cook things that come in a box...I am going to go with my favorite meal that we have at the Zeta house is fried catfish, fried okra and hushpuppies! (heart attack on a plate...I know...but I love it!)

6. How do you spend your evenings?

Homework. Projects. Kinko's. Zeta events. Meetings. Sleep? (Maybe?)

7. Are you passionate about anything? Why?

I am passionate about of many things...ergo one of the reasons why I am so busy. I love my job at the LSU Foundation. I love my sorority and being on our Executive Council. I am passionate about missions and serving and loving the people around me. I think this is the one area that could definitely use more attention in my life. More than any of these things, I love my family and the amazing influence they have on my life and who I am.

8. If you were given $20 to spend on anything, what would you spend it on?

Coffee...reference #4. I, Elizabeth Scott am a coffee addict.

Now for my questions:

1. What musician have you recently discovered?

2. What is your favorite way to enjoy this beautiful time of the year?

3. What is one thing that everyone should do before graduating college?

4. What literary character do you most identify with? Why?

5. What is your favorite family tradition?

6. What is your favorite family recipe?

7. How did you meet one of your best friends?

8. What made you happy today?

Anna @ grahamandanna

Cristina @ Summer of the Uke

Valeria @ The Typewriter

Kariss @ karisslaree

Join the Fight!

Today is the beginning of National Breast Cancer Awareness month. This disease affects women all across the country everyday but we can do something about it!

Yoplait Yogurt pink lids are now available at your local grocery store and each and every lid makes a difference. For each lid collected, Yoplait will donate 10 cents to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, but for each lid collected by my sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha, and extra 5 cents will be donated to the Zeta Tau Alpha Foundation which supports Breast Cancer Awareness and Education. ZTA is a national partner with Susan G. Komen for the Cure and Yoplait among many other organizations that are working for a cure for breast cancer.

Now it is your turn to do you part:

Eat Yoplait.

Collect the lids.

Mail clean lids to:

Delta Kappa Chapter of ZTA

C/O Elizabeth Scott

P.O. Box 25102

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70894

You can even print out the picture at the top of this post to remind yourself of the huge impact that your contribution can make.

15 cents per lid can go a very long way in the fight against this terrible disease. Last year our chapter collected over 9,000 pink lids and this year our goal is 13,000 lids. Please help us reach our goal and join the fight!!

You can read more about the work ZTA is doing nationally by checking out our national website.