confetti kindness

the (sometimes) weekly wednesday word

Me last year: “I’m going to post 3 cool things every week! It’s going to be AWESOME”

Me 3 weeks later: “…. oops.”

Needless to say, I was not consistent with my weekly posts. New year, new me? Maybe 2016 will be the year of consistency.

Getting back into the swing of school has been tough. For some reason, I am still not ready for classes. Probably because I’m still wishing I was still on break and in Europe… if only.

Best part of the week though, was baking cookies with my good friend Lauren! The other day, we made some delicious oreo-stuffed chocolate chip cookies to sell to raise money for Northwestern’s Dance Marathon. They were a hit! (see photo above as proof)

There have been lots of neat things shared with me recently, so I will get straight to sharing those…

How to Change a Tire
A skill that everyone should know how to do… and a fun video nevertheless! God bless Amy Poehler.
Parks and Rec
Speaking of Amy… too many people that have told me I need to start watching Parks and Rec, and my sister finally convinced me. I started watching over winter break and have been hooked ever since! If you, like me, live under a rock and have yet to experience the hilarity that is this show, go watch it this minute. You will not regret it.
Sorel’s Out-N-About Boots
My parents got me these boots for Christmas and I think I’ve worn them almost every day since. With the cold weather that’s blown in this past week, they’ve gotten tons of use. They are so comfortable and have been keeping my feet warm in the single digits.

stay warm and may your sunsets always be this pink

xoxo

“the end of small talk”

A few days ago, one of my friends shared this article on Facebook. I opened, intrigued by the title, read the first few lines, got distracted (probably by someone poking me on Facebook), and never finished it.

Today, it showed up on my newsfeed again and I knew that I just had to finish reading it. It was fate. This article and I were clearly destined to be united.

I dislike small talk, but more often than not, I find myself bringing up the weather in casual conversation. So much so, that last year one of my New Year’s resolutions was to stop talking about weather. That lasted maybe 30 minutes. Why? Small talk is perfectly in the middle of my comfort zone. It’s easy and I never have to worry about a person really disagreeing with me or offending someone (unless they’ve got some major beef with snowy days, but that’s a whole different issue).

Reading this piece reminded me of how lovely my conversations during formal recruitment were. I decided that I didn’t want to talk about majors, winter break, or hometowns (the go-to topics for all sorority members). I made a conscious decision to skip the small chat and it was fun. I had some of the best times with strangers that I have ever had.

Those kind of convos shouldn’t be restricted to an effort in making long days filled with forced discussion more interesting. As Tim Boomer points out… best case scenario “every date [will turn] into a real connection, or at worst, a funny story.” There is no downside to big talk. It may be uncomfortable and require more effort, but now, it is back on my list of resolutions and I truly want to work on it.

The next time I’m tempted to say “oh my this weather is craazyyy”, maybe I’ll talk about art or travel or ask “if you could make a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, what would you put in it?”

If you have any favorite big talk conversation starters, let me know! xoxo

to the women about to go through sorority recruitment:

Do not define your worth by sorority recruitment (read again please)

First off, let me get this out there… I hated rush. Phew glad that’s out in the open. I’m pretty sure I cried every single night (I have become more of a crier in my older age though so not too surprising). I would get dressed up everyday. I put on my cute outfit, the outfit I had planned weeks in advance (haha kidding… not). And then I would go spend hours trying to prove my worth in 15 minute convos. It didn’t help that I don’t love small chat and was insanely nervous.

It was all because I cared SO MUCH.

I have always wanted to be in a sorority. Ever since I watched Legally Blonde. I wanted that group of girlfriends, a bunch of girls who give you life advice, like all of your instas, hug you goodbye as you leave for break, bring you cake on your birthday, and share all their cute clothes with you. I wanted that.

So I was nervous (like the pee your pants kind of nervous) and then I would go to house after house having what I thought were great conversations. The next day, every girl receives a list of houses that they will be attending. Missing from my list were typically most of the houses I had loved the day before.

I ended up blaming it all on myself. What if I was cooler? Funnier? More outgoing? The more I got into it, the worse it became. It took a huge toll on my self esteem. I assumed that if I was better, a better version of Renée, every sorority would have wanted me. I assumed that there was something wrong with me.

It didn’t help that a majority of my close friends really enjoyed recruitment. I’m so sorry that you had to choose between all the houses that wanted you, that must have been so tough. Oops too much sass (still bitter?).

Well. That became a long rant about my rough process… but do not be discouraged! There is a morale to this sad tale! Please, do not do what I did. I blamed every bit of myself for a process that is flawed. I defined my self worth based on the first impression of girls who knew nothing about me other than my major and hometown. Which isn’t right. There is a computer algorithm and a voting system that differs for every single house. There are a million factors involved in whom a sorority picks and only a minuscule handful actually have to do with you.

I do have to say though that I am so thankful to have ended up in the sorority I’m in, I love (LOVE) it. The process did indeed work out, as everyone promises that it will. I become the little heart eye emoji whenever I think about the girls I get to call my sisters. They have become best friends and I wouldn’t want it any other way. I would never want the end result to change, but if I could go back in time (it is 2016 after all) I would tell sweet naive Renée not to stress so much because it’s not you, it’s the process.

Be yourself. Smile. Rock your favorite outfit. Talk about your puppy. Smile some more. Give your best friend a hug. Get some rest. Tell a joke. It may not be easy few days, trust me, but it is beyond worth it.

xoxo,

Renée

she believed she could [make it through recruitment] so she did.

(script by the talented Kal barteski)

new year’s resolutions

happy new year!

2015, you were great.

I am honestly blown away by this year. I was looking through my Instagram (an excellent account of my year shout out to double posting am I right?) and I couldn’t believe all that has happened in the past 12 months.
I am super duper excited for all that 2016 will bring. Every year, I make a list of resolutions (like most people). Unlike the majority though, since resolutions can seem pointless and short lived, I love making this list. There is so much positivity and hope in resolutions, which gets me that much more excited for the year to come.

Read for pleasure
Be spontaneous
Think less, do more (similar to complain less, do more)
Be a friend, even to those you don’t see everyday (or even every week)
Be present

a new look

~~I like change~~. Hmm scratch that… I like to change my mind. Yep, that sounds more like it. Being the indecisive person that I am, I find myself changing mindsets all too often. Not with the important things of course, (i.e. the fact that Adele is queen and family comes first), but I have a hard time sticking to some things. At restaurants I always end up picking at the last possible second, switching between multiple options as the rest of the table orders. I decided it was time for confetti kindness to have a fresh style, a new look. Working on my blog is one of my new year’s resolutions (full list to come.. ooh suspense) and I want to do so with a blog that I love. I was happy with how it looked before, but was ready for something else. With this change brings a refreshed Renée, renewed after a lovely family vacation in Europe, filled with a zeal to continue sprinkling kindness around the world wide inter webs.