Sorry I've been MIA, but I've been busy with midterms and doing things for Big Little Reveal Week! On to the news, I'M A BIG! I picked up an amazing set of twins and I am so happy that they are the newest additions to my Greek fam.
For Big Little Reveal, every family in our chapter has their own shirt theme. This year there were several Drake themed shirts, and other popular shirt designs from Pinterest. I actually designed our shirts this year after all of my ideas were taken, but I love how they turned out! My littles, Brooklyn and Alanna were both two of my bid buddies from the new pledge class and I'm so glad that I'm able to call them my daughts.
Bid Night 2016 was January 19, but I have been so bogged down with school work that this post has been sitting half written along with other drafts. Phi Mu's theme for this year's bid night was Candy Land complete with a candy bar modeled under Dylan's Candy Bar and Candy Land themed photo props.
So excited to get to know the new members for the rest of the semester!
After a few weeks with no football games in town, the Iowa Hawkeyes rolled into town this weekend along with my parents for Phi Mu's Dad's Weekend. I am so glad that I got to spend two days with my parents after not seeing them for about a month!
Friday afternoon my parents and I ventured to Brown County, the neighboring county to the one in which Bloomington is located, and explored. We ended up in Nashville, Indiana where there is an abundance of quaint shops in old houses. Going to Nashville and Brown County is definitely something that I would recommend to anyone that attends IU!
Saturday we spent the day at our Dad's Weekend tailgate followed by the football game. Sadly, IU lost, but the team did give the Hawkeyes, who are ranked 9th in the nation, a run for their money. The final score was 35-27. Also, let's not forget that ESPN called out the IU fans for being horrible for leaving at or before halftime at every single game! All I can say to ESPN is: "Don't you know IU is a tailgate school?".
Also, it's safe to say that I'm obsessed with our Dad's Weekend theme, which was similar to the Reagan/Bush campaign in 1984.
Well, I was having the time of my life at IUDM 2015. For those of you that are unfamiliar with IUDM, it's Indiana University Dance Marathon. IUDM celebrated it's 25th anniversary year this past weekend. That's 25 dance marathons celebrating FTK (For the Kids), for Ryan White, and for Ashley Crouse. IUDM benefits Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, specifically Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis and has raised over $20 million FTK since 1991.
In the past, IUDM had been 36 hours long with two shifts of 18 hours. However, this year there were three shifts of 12 hours within the 36 hours. To even dance 12 hours, dancers had to raise $500 FTK. To dance 24 hours, dancers had to raise $740. This ended up being the top 11%-25% of fundraisers. To dance 36 hours, dancers had to raise approximately $1030+. These dancers were the amazing top 10% of dancers!! All committee members danced for 36 hours, those guys were amazing!
I am so proud and excited to say that I was able to dance 24 hours, Friday night to Saturday night FTK! I danced with some of my Phi Mu pledge class sisters and in the end, four of us danced for 24 hours while one amazing sister made it to 36 hours. Yay Bailey, you rock!! Huge shoutout to the sisters that were on committees, you guys were so passionate and really pumped us up when we needed it! I am so glad that I got to spend 24 hours at IUDM dancing, walking around, listening to Riley Kid Stories, and making memories that I will never forget. To my friend Camille that shared her story after I went home, I know that you did amazing and don't forgot that you and your family rock!
Phi Mu Total as of today: $26,135.89
My First Personal Goal: $500
My Second Personal Goal: $650
My Ending Total Before IUDM: $791.50 After IDUM: $891.50
Some Phi Mu sisters with our Riley Kid, Sneha
Morgan and Abby holding up our 36 hour dancer, Bailey!
Two of my fellow 24 hour dancers: Katelyn and Sarah
Experience what I experienced:
And the final total is....
IUDM definitely made an impact and I hope to continue dancing there until I graduate. Congrats everyone, we stood for those who can't, and raised money for the ones who need it most.
I love painting canvases on rainy days and at night. It has been one of my favorite ways to relax this summer. Here are some canvases that I've painted this summer. Can you tell there's a color theme?
On to my next project: painting Phi Mu letters! I'm thinking either Lilly prints or something more understated. What do you guys think?
I had a very busy weekend so here's another weekend round up for Mainly Monday! 1. Quals Quals, it's the precursor to the best college weekend in the country: Little 500. Greek houses gather to cheer on our teams as they cycle for a qualification for the big race (Little 500) that is later in April. With a loud wake up call at 5:30 am(!!!!) on Saturday morning my sisters and I were up and at it to celebrate the day to to the full extent. Full disclosure, I got on top of a roof way too much Saturday. Meet some of my wonderful sisters!
OOTD: Quals shirt with an Indy 500 theme
LuluLemon yogas
Urban Outfitters flannel
Phi Mu fanny pack
Bean Boots
A guy asked me why we were all wearing flannels because it wasn't Friday and I asked him why all of the guys were wearing hockey jerseys. That shut him up really quick.
2. Initiation It's official: I'm finally a sister of Phi Mu! My weeks as a provisional member are over and I'm so glad that I'm part of such a fantastic house. I didn't get an pictures with my friends, but below are some pictures with my Greek family!
OOTD: ASOS dress (may or not be the same one from NYE...okay yes it is// unavailable)
3. Miss Greek IU Delta Chi Fraternity at IU has been hosting Miss Greek IU for the last four years to raise money for their philanthropy, The V Foundation. Last night they unveiled a check for over $60,000!! I attended to watch a fellow sister who was Miss Phi Mu and another friend that was there representing another house. I'm so proud to be part of a Greek community that is so philanthropic!
Last week was my sorority's big/little week ending with the reveal on Friday. I will be completely honest and say that I had no idea who my big was from the clues she gave me during the week. I got clues everyday, delivered to my dorm by a "minion" at various times. On Thursday, we received shirts to wear on reveal night. Each "Greek family" had different shirts. Friday night we all waited anxiously to meet our families armed with quotes given to us by our bigs. I had only met my big once previously, but I was still so happy to see her on the other side of the door along with my gbig and ggbig. Just from the interactions we had had on the Facebook page that she had created I knew that we would get along so well. Without further ado, meet my Greek family! We're the sickest (literally my ggbig, gbig, and I were sick on reveal night) tall fam on the block (our shirts said "new 'little' on the block').
Maroon 5 Concert in Indy
If you have a chance to snag a ticket to one of the remaining concerts on Maroon 5's 2015 tour, please do! It was an amazing concert, and what I could tell, completely live. Adam and the rest of the band even began singing Payphone a cappella! My parents treated my friend Sarah and I to dinner and the concert this weekend as a get away from campus (sleeping in a hotel for a night was such a relief). Our seats were two rows from the floor and reminded my of seats from the Bruno Mars concert last year! It was really interesting to see a preforming artist ask the audience to put away all phones and enjoy his performance for just one song. Adam asked the arena to put away all phones while he sang an acoustic version of She Will Be Loved (swoon). I began taking pictures and videos on my phone, but my trusty iPhone 5s ran out of storage so I snagged my dad's iPhone 6 and took all of these photos.
As seen on my personal Instagram
And that's my weekend, unless you want to know about my Sunday full of shopping, homework, and laundry.
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!
Hi friends! I'm Mallory, and I am a twenty-one year old college senior from Northern Indiana. Follow along as I share my ramblings on travel, style, and lifestyle.
