confetti kindness

This week has completely flown by… as do most weeks of the year, it seems like. Someone mentioned to me the other day that this quarter is over halfway done and I was shocked. It seems as if it were only yesterday that I was packing up my bags to come back to Evanston. Nevertheless, the weather is getting colder and classes are in full force.

Maybe the weeks go by so much more quickly in university because there is always so much happening. This week was my sorority’s formal, I had lots of meetings, snuggled with my roomies, did homework, and today, I carved a pumpkin (see photo above… isn’t he a beaut?). Needless to say, it was a lovely + eventful week.

And now, onto my weekly three… 

1. Justin and Adele Killing the Game
   “Sorry” and “Hello” came out this week and I think those two songs are all I’ve listened to since. I’m sure you’ve heard them already (it seems like everyone is just as obsessed as I am), but if you haven’t, do so right now. I mean. Drop everything that you are doing and put them on repeat. “Sorry” is so catchy and “Hello” is just incredibly beautiful. I’ve always been a quite the fan of both and they certainly did not disappoint.
2. Tania Neild
   By invitation from my lovely academic adviser, I had lunch with Dr. Tania Neild and a few other women in engineering at Northwestern today. It was so cool to hear from such an incredible and successful woman. She had great advice on what it takes to be a woman in the engineering field, the most interesting of which was to “ask for help.” I’m not one to readily ask for help and she pointed out how much harder it is for women to do so, especially in the technology world. We feel as though we have to prove ourselves and asking for help is just like admitting that we aren’t “good enough.” However, as she reminded us today, there is nothing wrong with asking for help in order to get things done. Ask for advice, get help, and get it done.
3. Party Animals
   Halloween is this weekend and I am totally in love with Lauren Conrad’s costume DIY. It is super cute and is easy too. The best part about it? It’s a pun! And everyone loves puns. Halloween is much different when you aren’t little and going out trick or treating, but it is still just as much fun to get dressed up (and eat some candy corn while you’re at it).

xoxo

Renée

When I first started my blog, I came up with a goal to post at least once every week. At first, I thought this would be easy. Especially over the summer and before midterms/student org meetings/life got crazy, it was. However, I’ve felt much busier lately, pushing my blog to the back of my list of priorities. Obviously classes should come first, but I don’t think it’s right to just let this little project of mine go away. That is why I am going to start a Wednesday tradition [the weekly wednesday word]. I think Wednesdays are a wonderful day of the week (guess what day it is), so it seems like the perfect day for a weekly post.

What will I be posting about every single week? Well, my favorite number is 3, so I will be posting three things that are relevant in my life: fun things that I am interested in, exciting news, funky things happening in the world, neat articles, cute videos. You name it. These three things will be a way for me to keep up the writing and keep you updated on the wonderful and wild world of Renée (I’m very into w’s apparently today).

1. Declared Major
      This didn’t happen in the past week, but I realized yesterday that many people in my life don’t know that this actually happened, thus it is my first update! For my entire first year of college, I was an undecided engineering major. I knew that I wanted to do some kind of engineering, but had no idea what kind. A lot of students are undeclared coming into college, but I always felt so silly not knowing what I wanted to do with my life. It seemed like everyone else had their life so much more together because they had a “real major.” So, it is with great excitement that I announce that I am officially and industrial engineering major. Yay! I still don’t know exactly what that means or what I want to be in 5 years time, but for now, I’ve got a bit more direction.
2. Canada’s Got a New PM
      For being half Canadian, I don’t keep up with Canadian politics as much as I should. However, I was very excited to hear the news that Justin Trudeau won the election this week (hence the subtle Canadian leaf above). My cousin has been working on his campaign for a few years and so it is big news in the family! I also can’t wait to see what new things this change will bring to Canada and to the rest of the world.
3. The Return of the Gilmores
       Grab a cup of coffee… Gilmore Girls is coming back!! At least that is what the rumor mill is churning out. I’m sure most of you have heard about this already, but in case you haven’t… well I guess that’s what these posts are for. It likely won’t be the same format as the previous 7 seasons and not all of the cast members will be returning, but nevertheless, I am over the moon/jumping for joy/on cloud nine.

That’s all for this week…
may the rest of your week be filled with happiness + smiles

xoxo

Renée

I live in the quad in my sorority house which means that I have 3 roommates (always an adventure + always fun) and yesterday morning, one of my them got up and said she was headed out for a stroll. Naturally, the rest of us hopped on board (some more enthusiastically than others… it was early for a Sunday!) and it became a cute little outing. We changed, and off we went. It was an incredibly beautiful morning, uncharacteristically warm for the beginning of October. However, the light breeze and sunny day was not the best part, in the slightest. My favorite part was purely being with some of my closest friends.

My mom has gone on walks with her friends for as long as I can remember and now I understand why. It’s a good way to get in a light bit of exercise (always a bonus), but there are simply no other distractions. It’s more difficult to be staring at the screen on your phone and walking at the same time (running into a tree = bad). There isn’t the distraction of studying or eating. You are spending time with people that you love + that is all.

We talked about life’s highs and lows of late, goals for the week, and everything in between. Yeah I know, we’re a pretty adorable set of roomies [insert flipping hair emoji here that’s actually an info desk person].

It was so needed. Sometimes life catches up to you. Sometimes you realize that you are tired, stressed out, overwhelmed by the enormity of life. And in times like that, it is so important to have your true friends by your side, whether it be on a path by a lake, or somewhere else, taking a break from the stress of it all with people that care about you is something no one should do without. 

This is one of my all time favorite quotes. “do your squats, eat your vegetables, wear red lipstick, and don’t let boys be mean to you.” Okay, so maybe it’s not a quote, more of a motto, but either way, I love it. Especially the last one. Don’t let boys be mean to you.

Don’t let anyone be mean to you, really, a rule I think everyone should live by. And I could write extensively on how boys shouldn’t put up with the games that girls will sometimes play or how servers should not have to deal with rude customers, but this one is just for the ladies. Yes you, beautiful/powerful/magnificent you, I’m talking to you.

I’ve always noticed this theme in girl chats, but for some reason, it’s seemed to come up more and more lately. If you didn’t know, girls talk about boys. A lot. And I’ll just use one convo as an example. One of my good friends was telling me all about this boy that she liked and all I could think of was “you may like him, but by golly I don’t.” He is stringing her along and does not treat her like the incredible, unique, young woman that she is.  She deserves better and so do you.

I’m honestly not positive as to why girls put up with it, but maybe it’s because we get so caught up in this fairytale fantasy. Then, when we find a boy that is cute and is occasionally nice, we put up with the bad. We put up with the times when he ignores us or is rude or just generally does not treat us right. We can’t see that we can do better. It is so tough too because, as Taylor Swift explained in a way only Tswizzle can, “You realize the bad guy is not wearing a black cape and he’s not easy to spot; he’s really funny, and he makes you laugh, and he has perfect hair.” (!!!) Too true.

And even strong, confident women put up with mean boys because, according to pop culture, girls should be nice (read this article and then go see Trainwreck because Amy Schumer rocks). As Amy proves, likability should not be equated to niceness. Even then, being nice is not on a black and white scale. You can be a nice person and not put up with people’s s***.

You are lovely, an incredible female who deserves the moon + the stars. And the people around you should make you feel that way. So don’t let boys be mean to you, just don’t.