Spot on Spotify

I know that I already posted a January playlist, but lately I've been loving some channels on Spotify and I thought that I would share!


Indie Chill Covers: A channel of Indie covers of some of the most popular songs. I love to listen to it to study! Here are some of my favorites on the channel:

Halo // Lotte Kestner

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) // Sleeping At Last

Love You Like A Love Song // Cats On Trees

I Shot the Sheriff (feat. Karen O) // N.A.S.A., Karen O

Totally Stress Free: Just as the title suggests, this playlist is filled with music to keep the stress at bay. Here are some of my favorites:

Send Me On My Way // Rusted Root

1234 // Feist

Wonderwall // Oasis

You've Got A Friend // James Taylor

Mood Booster: I always listen to this playlist during study breaks or while I'm getting ready! Some favorites are: 

Wait On Me // Rixton

All The Way // Timeflies

Elevate // St. Lucia

I'm currently hiding out in Starbucks (big surprise there) with a venti green tea to get back on track in all of my classes. This girl is so behind from using a dinosaur computer for a week! Also, if you're looking for a new computer, I am loving my new MacBook Pro Retina!

Also, does anyone else watch the Super Bowl for both the game and the commercials? And for those of you who haven't seen the Budweiser commercial yet, spoiler: here it is!

I just really love puppies, okay? Happy Thursday everyone!

Got a Long List of Starbucks Lovers

If you follow my blog Instagram, @hoosierstateofprep, you know that I always get Starbucks in between classes. So today I thought I would share some of my favorite Starbucks drinks because I run on caffeine and I know that I'm going to need at least one more drink to get me through today. 


My go-to drink: Venti Iced Skinny Caramel Macchiato. Hands down my favorite drink. Once I went iced on this, there is no way that I can go back to hot. 

Honorable mentions: Caramelized iced coffee with non fat milk,  mocha frappe, and peppermint mocha. 

Sometimes when I am feeling adventurous I will try stuff from the Secret Starbucks Menu (shhh, it's a secret). My favorites are the Cookies and Cream Frappuccino and the Snickers Frappuccino. I really want to try the Butterbeer Frappuccino because butterbeer is love. 

I apologize for any spelling errors because the caffeine has not hit my brain yet. 

Happy Monday everyone!

My Recruitment Story

With Recruitment officially over and Bid Week in full swing, it is time for a recap of my recruitment experience.  IU has 22 sororities, three of which are unhoused and it's known as a really unique rushing experience. Here is what the process looked like:

22 Party: Took place over two days with houses showing skits. Some houses also had house tours followed PNMs talking to multiple sisters. Outfit: PNM shirt given to us by Panhellenic. I paired with with jeans and J Crew vests! Also I had my parka because it was negative temperatures both days!

16 Party: Took place over two days. Philanthropy video followed by talking to more members. Outfit: Casual. I went with jeans and sweaters paired with J. Crew Vests each day. 

9 Party: This was the Sisterhood round followed with more talking. (I honestly almost started crying at a few of them.) Outfit: Business casual. I wore a skirt with a cute blouse. Start to form 

3 Party: Preference round. Each house has a different way of showing the PNMs parts of their sisterhood. I also talked to one girl this round at one house that I had already talked to! This is when I actually started crying at a house! Outfit: Dress with heels. 

Rho Gam Reveal: The night of preference round we gathered in the Union to find out what sorority our Rho Gam was in. I went to the event with seven other girls from my group that were also from my dorm and it was seriously one of the best nights of my life!

I will be completely honest and say that I was freaking out and stressed throughout the whole process. I was crushed when some of my favorite houses dropped me after 22 and 16 parties, but my Rho Gamma told me to keep going through the process. For preference round I went to my top pick and two unhoused sororities that I knew weren't for me. Preference round was on Sunday and Bid Night was Tuesday with Monday (MLK Day in between). I didn't have classes Monday or Tuesday so I was a nervous wreck all day until my Rho Gam came to give me my bid. 

Bid Night

I was seriously almost crying when my Rho Gam finally walked into my room on bid night. I was stressed and anxious and there was only one name that I wanted to see on my bid besides mine. Luckily, one of my friends was standing in the corner for support (S/O to Jaleecia for being there and seeing me freak out). I wish I had a video of when I got my bid because according Jaleecia, I jumped at least a foot off the ground. Opening my bid and seeing my number one house on the card was a dream come true! 

I am so happy to announce that I received a bid from Phi Mu!

 Throughout my whole recruitment process no house made me happier or made feel more welcomed than the Phi Mu sisters. I am so happy that I will get to call all of them my sisters! My pledge class is either 49 or 50 girls, and we've already gotten close over the past two nights! Not only is their philanthropy close to my heart, but also the girls are so genuine. So excited to call the girls of Phi Mu my sisters! 

Below are some pictures from bid night!

I was so happy to see this when I got off of the rush bus!

Meet my pledge class! Love my Phis!

Tea is for Humans, Not Macs

Begin random ramblings about things that none of you will find interesting: 

While many people are volunteering today for MLK and doing a day on instead of a day off, I'm sitting my dorm writing this post on my old laptop. I spilt some tea on my newer laptop and now it doesn't work. Luckily my parents are driving down to pick me up so we can go to the Apple store tomorrow and be back in time for Bid Night tomorrow night. I'll have to get a new laptop because warranty doesn't cover liquid damage so I'm not sure if want I want to get a new Macbook Air or a Macbook Pro Retina. 

I'm really nervous for Bid Night tomorrow night so I'm actually glad that I can go home for the night and sleep in a comfortable bed. Don't worry guys, I'm not skipping classes tomorrow because both of my classes are canceled. 

Also, in honor of the Australian Open beginning yesterday, here is a throwback picture to the 2013 Western Southern Open in Cincy. I'm obviously a Roger Federer fan! 

Happy Monday everyone and remember: Tea is for Humans 

January Playlist

TGIF everyone! This month I have discovered some new music along with some old favorites and I'm happy to share them! I still have an obsession with Uptown Funk, and I love Heavy and Rolling, a slower song on the same album.  Also, I love all of the newest songs on Meghan Trainor's album! 

Take Me to Turks

Phew, isn't Syllabus Week supposed to be stress free? I'm already bogged down with assignments and quizzes and it's only the first week of classes! I thought that I would share some pictures from my vacation to Turks and Caicos to destress a little bit, so I hope that you enjoy!

NYE 

All pictures were taken with either my Nikon Coolpix or iPhone 5s.

Rushing in the Cold

I'm officially through 22 party and am in the middle of 16 party of recruitment and I thought that I would share what I have been putting in my tote to get me through the day. 

It's been so cold in Indiana the past few days, and walking around in negative degree weather is tough, but Recruitment has been so fun!

I recommend using a tote bag to carry around everything that you might need to survive rush.

1. Water bottle to stay hydrated. 
2. Gloves to keep hands warm between houses!
3. Small necessities such as Chapstick, Kleenex, and Advil.
4. Portable charger 
5. Wallet to buy that much needed coffee. (S/O to my friend Sarah who is finally back from Georgia and went to Noodles and Co and Starbucks with me during my break today! I'm so glad you're back in B-Town to enjoy the frozen tundra with me!)
6. Granola bars for fuel between houses.
7. Hand and Foot Warmers from HotHands to keep warm. My feet are much warmer now that I got my foot warmers in the mail!!
8. A scarf. To look cute and to keep warm. I love double uses!
9. Mints! My Rho Gamma strongly recommends that we strictly use mints instead of gum so that we can quickly freshen our breath without having to swallow gum

It has been a long few days, but I am so happy that I decided to go through Recruitment! 

Good luck to everyone rushing and I hope you survive the cold!

14 Things from 2014

Hey everyone! I'm finally home from Turks and Caicos and I'll be catching up on blog posts starting with this one. Here are fourteen things that I learned in 2014. 

1. Senior year matters. It's when you figure out who your best friends from high school really are. I'm happy to say that I have five true friends from high school that I can trust with anything. 

2. Enjoy your last summer at home and make the most of it! Go to concerts with friends, people watch at the fair (okay that's a small town thing, don't judge), go on road trips (I'd drive up to the train and ride into Chicago with my friends), and take shopping trips.

3. Make money. I had my first real job during the summer of 2014, it was just a summer job, but I loved it! 

4. Read. Read everything on your to read list because once you get to college, your time is limited. 

5. Buy LL Bean Boots early. I bought mine in may so I had them for school and I'm so happy I did! Do not wait until the last minute to order them!

6. Stationary is necessary. One of my best friends and I have gotten really into stationary and we send good, ole snail mail to each other at school! My favorite stationary places are May Designs and Paper Source.

7. Caffeine is life. Before college I drank some coffee, but now I drink a lot of coffee. If you ask me if I want coffee, the answer is probably yes. 

8. Confidence. Confidence is a big part of why I started this blog in October! Now that I'm in college I don't care what people think of me, especially people from my high school. 

9. Planners. A planner is necessary to keep everything organized. I personally use a Lilly Pulitzer one and I love it! It keeps me from being a procrastinator (kind of).

10. It's okay to wear different versions of the same thing! I wear a lot of flannels, pop overs, and sweaters at school because they are so easy!

11. Exercise. I definitely need to devote more time to exercising during the week and it helps with more than just maintaining fitness! 

12. College becomes home. It's where my bed is, where my friends are, and where my future awaits. However, my real home is three hours away from school with my family, my cat, and real food. 

13. Nights in are okay. It's okay to stay in, order food, and watch Netflix to unwind from the week. It's not mandatory to go out and drink. 

14. Positivity. Get a bad grade? Be more positive about what you can do differently for the next test. Gain some weight? Be positive. Do not let anyone tell you that you're ugly and fat. Stressed? Be positive and go hug some puppies.

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Who's excited for the Lilly sale tomorrow? I know I am!

Here is one of my last photos from Turks and Caicos courtesy of my dad (don't worry, I'm trying to work on his photography skills).

Inside My Beach Bag

I'm sorry that I haven't posted since last Friday, I've been enjoying family time!  I thought it would be perfect to show what I like to put in my beach bag since I've been spending week by the pool and beach! Here is what I put in my beach bag:

1. Bag: Large Longchamp Le Pliage Tote Bag in Red: I love this because it keeps water from getting into the contents of bag! 

2. Hat: I always have a hat in my bag just in case my forehead feels like it's about to burn! I brought three hats along to match the three bathing suits that I brought. I love this Vineyard Vines one! 

3. Sunnies: I always have sunglasses to protect my eyes from the sun!

4. iPod: Music is my constant companion through my day. I love listening to reggae on vacation!

5. Towel clips: These babies help me keep my towel connected to my chair through all of the wind! Doesn't hurt that they're cute either! 

6. Clip: Keeps hair out of my eyes.

7. Wallet: To buy iced coffee.

8. Kate Spade pouch: To keep small things such as my room key, camera, and hair tie together in my bag.

Not Pictured: Sunscreen (I use Sun Bum SPF 15 for body and Aruba Aloe Sunscreen SPF 30 for my face) and my current read, Anthropology of an American Girl. 

I hope everyone had a happy New Year, cheers to 2015!