Commencement this year was even more amazing than last year, which I didn't know was actually possible because E made last year's sooooooo awesome! And Arianna was graduating last year and it was so fun to do everything with her and sit together for the very end of our crazy college years together. Without doubt, the only thing that was missing from Commencement this year was her-everything else was way beyond the imagination.
First of all, my family was here which is always exciting but was especially so important to me since I would not be where I am today without their faith in me, encouragement and endless love and support. You all have shaped me into who I am and I cannot imagine going through life without you.
I am so lucky to have you all.
This was also the first time everyone had seen the new abode AND met the newest member of the fam, Tulip!
Second, E and A were able to sneak away from commencement prep to have dinner with my family on Friday night. It was wonderful to have all of the very most important people in my life at dinner! (Sorry you missed bonding with the VIP speaker for dinner, but I'm so glad you came!)
Dinner was at one of my favorite restaurants, Patois, which is a mere 2 blocks from the casa and totally delish. I wore my graduation bracelet and got a KitchenAid (chrome on chrome, just like I'd always wanted and christened with pink salad!), ice cream and cupcake cookbooks, an awesome book from a distant relative, and my diploma (which came a day early and filled with graduation confetti-does it get much better than that?!?!) among the many generous gifts! But by far the best gift of all was being there with my nearest and dearest.
Because I received my Master's degree this commencement, I was a part of two ceremonies, one on Friday morning; the advanced degree hooding and one on Saturday: the unified commencement. A was in charge of Friday's ceremony and it was a very intimate, inspiring ceremony.
I saw MK in our prep-room before the ceremony, which was very fun!
All of the caps of the Science and Engineering Master's graduates-my cap is the one with the fleur de lis! And the PhD's have green robes, which made me really want to keep going and earn that green robe. But my hood is pretty sassy from the Masters :) E came to the Friday morning ceremony even though he was supposed to be downtown prepping for the Saturday ceremony but it was awesome to have him there; thanks for coming E!
During the unified ceremony I was able to sit next to my XO baby, Charn. Little one, I am so proud of you: what you have overcome and what you have become. You are amazing and I am so glad I was able to share graduation day a little bit with you. You definitely made Ellen's dream of a dynasty come true and I love our huge and expanding family, but always remember, you are my one and only Rho baby. Hoot Hoot!
Last but not least, in case you haven't heard, Tulane's commencement speakers this year were Harry Connick Jr and Ellen Degeneres. And I met them both!
E-I know I say it all the time, but it is always so true: YOU ROCK!!!!
The rest of the weekend was filled with family fun and excitement-and a win by the filly!!!! Of course we had a job jar for our visitors, so everyone gamely pitched in and helped make our house a home. And now that everyone has been here it really does feel like a home!
We also took a trip through jazz history as we visited Preservation Hall and heard the sounds of early jazz in the spaces where it was first created.
We rounded out the weekend with a trip to Cafe du Monde-always a delicious time!
Thank you so much to everyone who was a part of the graduation festivities-you are amazing and have left an indelible mark on my life, I am so glad you were here and I was able to share this achievement with you.
PS-That was some champion strawberry scraping ;)
