Well, I guess I've graduated! Penn Class of 2013
Personal Life
Live colorfully, live wonderfully /
Short post with just photos! Holi is an awesome Indian festival where everybody throws colored powder at each other. My friends and I have been trying to go for all four years at Penn, now, and somehow have missed it every single year! Finally, I was able to check another item off my Penn bucket list. And the best part about it? That underwater camera case protected my point-and-shoot camera perfectly well. Whether I'm sliding down waterfalls or in a colored cloud, it can handle it all! Too bad I don't have a giant version for my DSLR!
Here are some of my favorite images from today:
One of the coolest parts about Holi was how we all looked like one race of people by the end. I'm extremely impressed by the massive amounts of diversity in both these group photos too hahaha:
Immediately after, I headed over to Chi O Color Wars, our spring philanthropy to benefit the Make-A-Wish foundation! Since we didn't know the date Holi was this year, we had planned for a colored powder fight at the end too - but who will ever say no to more color?
Live colorfully, friends.
Sometimes you have to join a movement /
Yesterday was my birthday. It was wonderful and joyous, and I'll hopefully get a chance to write about it later. But one thing that really stuck out to me was my conversation in the morning with Natalie Franke. She was telling me that she got a letter from a stranger this past week, and it was exactly what she needed at the moment. By the time she was done reading it, she was moved so deeply and touched in every way. She told me the letter was from this girl who would write hundreds of love letters to strangers, leaving them in random mailboxes or slipping them into people's jackets on the subway. I couldn't get the idea out of my head. So after finding the link in Natalie's post, I found Hannah Brencher who started it all. I did even more clicking, and found out this was an entire movement called The World Needs More Love Letters. The entire idea is to mobilize people to just write letters - beautiful, beautiful love letters - to total and complete strangers. As I read through the site more and more, I was touched and mesmerized. Each letter I read was somehow so unique and personal and relatable to me. Since I often view my birthday as my own form of a "New Years" (full of changes and usually better followed resolutions), I felt called. The timing was too perfect! I have always had a deep love for hand written letters, and here I was, feeling abnormally joyous. Why shouldn't I share that love with others?
So I decided to write 22 letters for my 22 years of age.
Then I realized it was 1 AM, and that was a litttttle ambitious for me. So I settled on starting off with 3 for the month of March. Once my pen hit the paper, I couldn't stop. Somehow, I began writing to myself. I wrote the letters as what I needed to hear at my lowest points - those moments of confusion, self doubt, and utter loneliness. Those moments where I felt like nothing was going right, and I was barely keeping my head above water. I wrote them to myself and to someone else at the same time. I realized how universal some of these feelings were, but at the same time I felt that this was meant for a specific person in the world. Some might view it as fate or destiny, but I feel strongly that God is playing a role in this too. I haven't even decided where I want to place the cards yet, but I think I'll know when I see it.
Sometimes you have to join a movement when it's calling your name.
To learn more, check out http://www.moreloveletters.com/!
Big Little Week...or rather Big Big Big - Little Week /
I'm incredibly sad to say that I've wrapped up my last big-little week ever! Essentially, big little week is an entire week dedicated to loving your "little" anonymously by showering her with gifts, decorations, singing fraternity pledges, and more. The entire week, the Little has no idea (hahah or at least that's how it's supposed to be) who her Big is until Revelation at the end of the week. My phenomenal lineage, The Sweet Life Lineage, got an AWESOME new addition: Annie! She's way too cool for me. Ever since I got Amanda R as my little, our lineage has gotten progressively cooler and edgier. My poor Big, Lauren (see her awesome fashion blog here!), and I are total dweebs compared to them hahah. Even though seniors don't usually participate that much in Big Little Week, I couldn't resist and forced Hanna (my Little Little) to let me paint posters, buy gifts, and bake cinnamon rolls! Too much fun.
We've lost a lot of continuity and tradition in our lineage, but the one tradition that has persisted is doing a different theme for each day of the week! Study Day, Party Day, Our Favorite Things Day, Love Day (Valentine's Day), and Chi Omega Day! 
On Thursday, we have our "My Tie" Date Party where the Big sets up the Little with a date. She gives the Little the date's tie, and the Little wears her date's tie to the party! Eventually, her date will come find her by identifying his tie. #adorable
What's a party without a pre-party? Celebrating at Maddie & Alyssa's house:
Maddie and her date, Mark:
Julio was FINALLY able to attend one of our date parties! I think Maddie and I have asked him at least 4 times in the past year alone. Of course, it was insanely fun and we took over the dance floor like maniacs.
Revelation Night! Annie finds out the weirdos who are in her lineage!! I painted a sign just for the occasion. Hanna, Annie, Amanda R, and myself:
Already so much loving between the Big and Little!
And of course, as the matriarch of the lineage, I made them take this photo. Amanda R nicknamed me "Biggie Smalls" - can you guess why? 