{"id":9120,"date":"2021-12-13T10:59:36","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T15:59:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.withjackandjim.com\/chr\/\/?p=9120"},"modified":"2023-09-19T00:48:20","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T04:48:20","slug":"instagram-chose-a-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.withjackandjim.com\/chr\/whats-up\/instagram-chose-a-winner\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s Up This Week: Instagram Chose a Winner, Frat Pledges are Hard Workers, and Charles Dickens Probably Built Our House (Or Something Like That)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We\u2019ve got holidays out the wazoo going on over here, and if there was ever a house built for Christmas decorations, it\u2019s this is old broad right here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditions \u00e0 la Delta Rho<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In honor of the holiday season, we asked all you Instagrammers for submissions and held a poll to decide the best Kappa-Sigma era annual tradition. Some of the suggestions were things we\u2019d heard about before, e.g. the annual haunted house; some were new to use, like the Carnation Ceremony where new pledges would introduce the newest members of their sister sorority, Chi Omega (think prom-meets-debutante ball, complete with an escort down the grand staircase and, we assume, actual carnations).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were also a handful of submissions that literally make no sense to us, although we\u2019re sure they meant a great deal to those inebriated individuals at the time. We know that hay, blue whales, and an Otis were all involved to some capacity, but that\u2019s about it (which is probably just the right amount for us to know anyway).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a series of polls, the top two contenders both involved an obscene amount of free labor from the pledges: the Bahama Mama party, which included a basement full of sand, and the Winter Wonderland party, where they instead filled the space with packing peanuts and lined the walls in foil. (Keep in mind, in addition to bringing all of this stuff in, they also had to get it all back out<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The voting was so<\/em> close that for a minute there, we really weren\u2019t sure if we were going to be able to declare a winner. This thing was neck-and-neck for hours, but in the end, Winter Wonderland<\/a><\/strong> pulled through by the length of about one packing peanut, and will hereby be considered the Greatest Tradition of All (Kappa Sigma Standard) Time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well done to all those who worked endlessly to ensure the walls were shiny, the shot luges were icy, and the styrofoam was a-plenty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Basement Before & After<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Winter Wonderland in full effect. The packing peanuts are real; the faces are not.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Still Merry & Bright, no longer drunk (or aren’t they?<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Decking the Halls Dickens-Style<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Jim has been working a ton and Jack is a full-time milkmaid these days, but we managed to carve out a little time (with a little help from our friends) to deck these halls and we must say, it was WELL worth the effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We weren\u2019t sure how well the holiday d\u00e9cor we brought over from our old house would work here at Charlotte House since the new place is much more ornate and architecturally “formal” than our previous digs, but we were pleasantly surprised at how it all turned out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It looks straight up like A Christmas Carol<\/em> in here, and it feels like we’re just waiting for the Ghost of Christmas Past to show up and bring us to a basement full of packing peanuts and cheap beer.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The Grand Staircase: The garland looks great and all, but what it’s really missing are the carnations and some sorority sisters.<\/em> \ud83d\udc83<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Fictional Christmas spirits aside, the key to a Dickens-level home seems to be loads and loads of greenery. We\u2019d prefer the fake stuff so it won\u2019t shed everywhere, and we could use it year after year. But unless Santa sends us a great clearance sale, nothing Jack likes is anywhere within budget, so live pine garland this year it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It looks (and smells!) pretty spectacular, if we do say so ourselves, although there is SO MUCH MORE Jack wants to decorate in here. Every doorway feels like it could be a show-stopper, and it\u2019s clear it will take us a few years of decoration accumulation to make the real magic happen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we made it NICE, and now that the fireplace is up and running, it truly does feel like a Victorian-era Christmas pageant up in here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out our Reel on Instagram<\/a><\/strong> or Facebook<\/a><\/strong> for a dramatic tour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Necessary(-ish) Things This Week<\/h3>\n\n\n\n