Week 1 of IMM

My first week of international minimalism month wasn't unsuccessful but I don't think I'd call it a success exactly. I ate tacos almost every day.. it was awesome because I LOVE tacos and they are technically an international dish, but they also came from food chains and places that I paid (too much) to eat at rather than eating clean from home. I also had margaritas at two separate happy hours. One was actually on a date with a great guy so I didn't mind. The other was with some lady friends and I definitely shouldn't have spent the extra cash, but they were on special. Sigh. My self control is so terrible.
I cooked ratatouille one night and tried a sip or two of a new beer.. couldn't tell you what it was, but I didn't hate it! Baby steps!

In other news, I got my splint taken off and my wrist is looking very perky after only a week and a half of healing. I can still play the ukulele! Joy joy joy.

thoughts on my mind

It is so incredibly hard to distance myself from "the world." There are many negative things constantly floating around me each day.. Issues I've been drowning in include being too connected, too digitally available, too many choices, corporate propaganda directed to me 24/7, temptation to see people the way society and media would have me see them instead of as unique souls wandering just like me.

I want so desperately to be IN the world but not OF it.

Meditating tonight.

Day 1 - Not a Fan of Beer

I'd say yesterday was a successful first day of International Minimalist Month!
At work, I actually worked for the most part. I resisted the 2 o'clock temptation of grabbing fast food on my way home from the office and instead stuck to my groceries at home. I spent a big chunk of my down time doing research for my European excursion in the summer and made myself spend a little time outside in the boiling Texas heat.

 

My favorite accomplishment was establishing a "Drink Around the World" beer tasting society with 27 girls (of legal age) from my sorority. We will be hosting beer tasting nights a couple times each month at various houses to learn characteristics of beer from different regions of the world, how to tell lagers from ales, and what our personal preferences are! Beer is not just a man's game, and we're committed to getting our "brewducation" before the fall is over. I'm also printing up little passports for everybody to record what they've sampled and how they liked it. Everybody is really excited to kick off our tastings in late August! Thank you to my wonderful Mom for giving me the inspiration through her "Eat Around the World" dinner club!

To kick start my research I mosied over to HEB, an awesome local grocery store, and used their "Build Your Own 6-Pack" feature to create my own beer sampler. Despite being 21 for a quarter of a year, this was my first beer purchase. Once home, I eeny-meeny-miney-moed my bottles and chose Blue Moon Belgian Pale Ale for my first drink. As a beer newbie, my conclusion is "It tastes like beer." I finished about 1/10 of the bottle and poured the rest down the sink. C'est la vie!
Hopefully our beer tasting society will give me an appreciation for this beverage that is so popular worldwide.

Prost, Skål, and Cheers!

International Minimalist Month

Wow!

It feels like it's been a long time since I've thought about this blog at all. The non-virtual world has been wild and too exciting to set aside.
This month I'd like to try something different. I'm going to participate in my very own "Minimalist Month" in order to save money, reduce waste, and better appreciate the things I already have. I'd like to spend five weeks focusing on cutting back in every aspect of my life. This inspiration comes from a Danish state of mind and my desperation to save money for my post-grad travels.
Hopefully I'll be cutting back on food (intake as well as cost), clothing (purchases and stretching my wardrobe), wasted time (Facebook, tumblr, lazy lounge time) and gaining a greater knowledge on what I really NEED versus what I WANT.
I'll also be entertaining myself by cooking or sampling a few European dishes. On the menu are rød grød med fløde (Denmark), Nutella Crepes (France), a 6-beer tour of HEB's best German beers, and kynuté ovocné knedlíky (Czech fruit dumplings), among other dishes.

On a side note, I turned my A/C completely off while I was gone home for a few days.. my house is a sauna.

Ah, Texas.

For now, auf wiedersehen or farvel!

a thought

It's really easy for me to get caught up in my anxiety right now. It seems like all my friends are accepting huge internships, getting killer job offers in exciting places, and spending semesters abroad. Sometimes I feel like my college degree is worthless and I made the wrong choice three years ago; to study what I love instead of what will get me a job.

I have to keep reminding myself that I am on a separate path into less familiar territory, but that doesn't mean I'm going nowhere. If I were in their shoes, pursuing jobs where I'd have to wear dress suits and shower everyday, I would feel very dissatisfied and contained. My goals and passions are different from my business, engineering, or medically-minded friends, and that takes me down a road less traveled.

I will be fine. I will be fine. I will be fine.

And so will you!

Greek Frustrations

So I am a member of a Panhellenic sorority at my university. We've got about 180 members currently active, a great reputation on campus, and a number of dedicated girls who love our chapter and each other.

This, to me, is what defines a "great" sorority: girls willing to put time into service, diversity and acceptance among members, sisters who care about each other beyond Monday night meetings, a home that encourages and supports the growth of honest, passionate, self-respecting young women, and, upon graduation, the overwhelming feeling that your membership shaped you for the better. I can honestly say that since pledging, I have found all of these things and more in my own membership.

As rush is quickly approaching, these are the things I want to desperately to communicate to potential new members, and I wish each of my sisters felt the same. Unfortunately, I get the vibe that communicating these awesome qualities comes second to a handful of girls. They forget about these enriching aspects and instead focus on the superficial for an entire week of rush:

"Guys love to hang out with us, we've all got expensive MATCHING jewelry, we're better than other sororities on campus because XYZ, we all wear specific MATCHING shoes, and we've all got MATCHING reasons why you should join."

It is heart breaking. Sometimes it is so bad that I leave recruitment meetings furious with our leaders for allowing this to happen. They (we) are oblivious to something so obviously missing from the recruitment process.

BEING GENUINE.

If a potential new member cares so much about my wedge heels being peeptoe instead of closed, I don't want her. If a girl judges my entire sorority based on whether or not we've all got $80 Kendra Scott earrings, I don't want her. If some superficial story about a crush party is enough to completely win over a girl, I don't want her.
 
I am all for having each member look her best during the recruitment process, and while very cult-ish, I understand that matching outfits can be important, but matching designer earrings? Wedges that MUST be wooden heeled instead of cork? Come ON. I want PNMs to know that regardless of what they're wearing or how much their necklace cost, we care about what is on the inside. I want them to know that I have tattoos and wobbly bits and I love cats too much, and I'm still loved by my sisters. I want them to know that when I have a panic attack about school, my sorority roommates sit in the tv room looking like hobos, eating pizza rolls, stressing out with me. And I want every current member know it is alright to share these things with PNMs. If it scares them away that we legitimately are there for each other, great! Their home is somewhere else.

This started out going somewhere, but it's trailed off into a rant. I don't want people to think my sorority is superficial. They're not at all, I just get frustrated with the things we focus on during recruitment. Sigh. Wednesdays.

"What leaves you feeling bad, do less of. What leaves you feeling good, do more of."