We DARE you to talk to us...

A Formal Letter to Every Single Male Alive:

I would like to formally invite you to talk to a girl this week. Meaning, introduce yourself to someone you think is just soooo pretty and make. a. move. How cool would it be to talk to someone in person and just take a chance? Channel that old-fashioned courtship by at least getting our numbers from our real selves, rather than our Facebook alter egos or best friends.

Why is this a great idea? You’ll stand out. No one takes chances anymore and girls loooveee that stuff. Imagine any sorority house in America and your name spreading like wildfire as the “sweetest guy” she’s ever met. You know who else will appreciate your taking a chance? Moms. Our moms will instantly be your biggest fan when we recap our personal lives to them and there is never a downside to that.

It is also your opportunity to see our most honest selves. A lot of times we don’t know you’re flirting with us… We think you’re nice and an awesome guy, but if you’re not being the perfect amount of forward, you’re about to be friend zoned. (And you rarely come back from that…)

Your sure fire way to know if we would be at all interested would be our reaction to you, I don’t know, asking us to dinner…. Check our facials. Is there a crazy amount of excitement in our eyes? I’m not positive, but that could mean we’re thrilled, right?

The worst possible thing that could happen is that we could say “no.” What repercussions would that even have on your life? It would save you the price of a meal, which I am 100% sure would be greatly appreciated in your weekend fund. In which case I say, Please try asking a girl you like out to dinner. It’s just so easy.

Don’t want a girlfriend? Don’t act like you do. It’s mean. It’s just plain mean.

Oh so sincerely,

Anna Marie McConnell

Sophomore SLUMP

The sophomore slump is real, kids. So real that I have about 30 minutes of free time to finish a six-page paper, a magazine story, another story for class, and some readings and here I am, sitting on Janie’s uncomfortable futon telling you how unproductive I am.

First day of the semester -- when I still had hope.

Let me just say, that I am obsessed with my giant herd of friends and our chef and my sorority and all things Iowa State and my social life in every single way, but I will admit that I have zero interest in my academic life.

Playing dress-up with my roomie and heading off
to chapter is always fun because it's NOT my homework.

I still attend all my classes, do not fret, but I do spend my time in them making massive to-do lists, filling out applications, and responding to the handfuls of emails I get every day. It is really hard to keep up.

Basically, what I’m whining about is my school life and how much I currently hate it. (Hate to say hate, but I meant it…) I have one class I enjoy, but the other four so overshadow that one that I generalize them all as horrible.

An assignment from my only enjoyable class:
Testing a dozen shower products and writing reviews on them.

Why? I despise news stories. I want to cry every second that I spend writing completely unbiased, plain jane, AP-style sentences. All I want to do is write in my twitter voice and flood my pages with the girlspeak that overwhelms my brain. Get me to a magazine, ASAP!!!

Hope you agree?! And Happy Studying from Academic Anna!

My Spring Break > Yours

Hanging out on the sand bar!

I have one sentence written for my religion paper, which is due in three days. But here’s the thing? I don’t care enough to write it right now, because my mind is in Gulf Shores, Alabama with my 30 other friends on the beach. Did you catch that? I don’t care. (Sorry, Mom..)

For seven days I lived in the land of no worries with my amazing friends. It was the most fun time of my life. I was sad to be without the entire rest of my family, yes, but I honestly could not have asked for a better week. And here’s why…

DAD’S SUBURBAN.

Seven girls with a lot of belongings in one vehicle for 18 hours is a lot to handle. BUT holy cow it was fun and we took shifts to drive straight through. Lots of snacks, fleece blankets, iPod playlists, delirious stories, and the occasional shot of 5 Hour Energy proved to be a wonderful way of bonding.

Ready to leave Ames and head to Alabama! 

OUR COMPLEX.

We had a group of around 18 fraternity gentlemen and 14 sorority beauties head down south, which means we required a lot of beds (or blankets for the floor). Renting out two of the three houses 1.5 blocks from the ocean was a very good decision on our part. Our houses were crazy nice for college kids and included our own pool, sand volleyball court, 20 or so bicycles (on any given day), an outdoor living space, three hammocks, and three cabanas each equipped with a different gaming system. I mean, WHOAAAAA.

Our sand volleyball court! 

DELTA BAMA.

When we left Greekland in our vehicles, we had 9 Chi Omegas, 4 Sigma Kappas, and 1 beautiful Gamma Phi Beta. When we left Alabama, we had founded our own sorority complete with traditions, hand signs, and officers – Delta BAMA. :) I overheard one of the girls on the trip saying, “I left Ames with strangers and came back with best friends,” and I wholeheartedly agree. I have been without them for almost two nights and I feel like I’m going through sisterly withdrawal.

Missing two sisters, but these are my beautiful roomies!

Throwing up the first draft of our hand sign...

DON’T CARE.

The trip’s motto became “Don’t Care” very quickly. One of our SigEp men coined the term and soon our girls house became infatuated with the song “I Love It” by Icona Pop…lyrics are I don’t care, I love it! I. Don’t. Care. Can you blame us for loving that line? Anytime anyone said anything mildly negative, confrontational, or stressful it got an immediate shutdown by anyone nearby. We didn’t need any pressure/stress/school/obligations in Gulf Shores. We needed fun (and we got it).

 

We didn't care when we found our statue buried...

OUR COUCH.

To be honest with you, we napped a lot on spring break because why wouldn’t we? We laid in the sun, we ate lunch, and then we napped inside. Not only was our couch wonderful for napping, but also for chatty cathy sessions. In case you’re not aware, all girls do is talk…and our couch could hold enough of us to have hours worth of conversation. J AND of course a “Bad Girls Club” marathon, which I don’t recommend unless you’re with a dozen other fun twenty-somethings.

A little TV time with my Delta Bama sisters! 

ALTER EGOS.

I became “Cassie” to anyone from other schools, which meant all but 30 people in the whole area. Our neighbors from Kansas State called me “Cass” when I climbed into the suburban at the end of the trip… SUCCESS!!! I lasted a week as the carefree, sassy, alternative Anna named Cassie and my goodness do I miss her already. Other names included Brad, Cinnamon, Dom, Hazel, Lance, Travis, Brittany, etc. It’s a challenge to remember other names for people you already have both real names and nicknames for…

Cinnamon with her Mac 'N Cheese, naturally.

WAFFLE HOUSE.

I don’t know if you guys know this, but I am absolutely obsessed with anything edible that’s both cheap and greasy. It’s a rough life, I know. The great thing about Gulf Shores (besides it’s people, weather, beach, etc.) is that it accommodates tourists with a local Waffle House complete with grits and southern hospitality. I made my sisters go multiple times. And I never regretted letting the grease drip off my delicious strips of bacon. ;)

The Friday morning Waffle House crew!

THE WEDDING.

To change things up a bit, we put together a wedding between one handsome SigEp gentleman and one gorgeous Delta Bama sister. Festivities included a candle passing, bachelor/bachelorette parties, a ceremony complete with sentimental vows and rings made out of plastic straws, and a reception featuring the song “Wagon Wheel” by Old Crow Medicine Show (of course). Needless to say, it was a huge success.            **Did I mention those two people aren’t even dating? #YOLO

The happy newlyweds!

Wait… WHY did we come back to Iowa and snow again? I don’t have a logical answer besides that our parents told us to start driving to beat the “giant snowstorm” tearing through the Midwest…. Riiiiiighhtt. Until next year, Gulf Shores! XOXO We’ll miss you dearly!

**If you’re looking for some entertainment, search #Bubba on twitter to live through our Gulf Shores fun from the last week. ;) 

SUCH a fun weekend in Ames!

I had the greatest weekend. And I feel like there’s caffeine in my veins I am just so happy! It’s always fun in this here town of Ames. J

On Friday night, I got to spend my time with my two favorite college freshmen – my littles! Those two pretty little things told me all about their lives and interrogated me about every male I’ve ever made contact with. It was awesome. And Applebee’s flavored lemonades really hit the spot! (Tip: Ask for Kiwi Strawberry) After dinner, little Anna and I found ourselves drinking coffee and swaying to a David Gray song at 9:30PM on a Friday night. When I realized how pathetic we were, I laughed because Anna never complained once. Soulmates?

My littles, Anna and Jamie, at Applebee's. 

I got the chance to see “Argo” for free at Cyclone Cinema Friday night, as well! I bought my sleepy little Hannie some popcorn and proceeded to squirm uncomfortably for the next two hours (Very stressful film). At one particularly tense point, Anna, Hannah, and myself were all in contorted in different positions and a guy in front of us turned around and started laughing… At least we entertained someone? I, as always, attempted the round of applause when the credits began to roll and as always only about three people joined in on the fun.

Waiting for Argo to start on campus! 

When Hannah and I returned home to the Chi, she halfheartedly mentioned building a snowman. After much persuasion, the two of us headed to the fraternity across the street (at midnight) only to find that it definitely was not packing snow. The next hour of our lives was spent in an intense snow fight with some friends and a significant amount of snowballs. SO FUN.

Saturday was bound to be stressful from the start. I had to be up early and at the MU, so I got my day started off at about 8:30AM. By 10:45 I had two loads of laundry going (#productive). My partner-in-life Kyle and I spent the day going from Starbucks to WalMart to Target to WalMart to JoAnn’s Fabric to Hobby Lobby and finally to HyVee in search of Varieties costumes and coffee/food, of course. Although it was stressful, I love getting to spend every waking moment with my girl, Kyle. J Especially when I’m introducing her to HyVee Chinese!

My dear friend Kyle and I. :)

Saturday night was the most fun night everrrr. I went to a bus party called Saddle ‘n Gun with my hilarious friend and had a blast. We were proud when people called us the “Alcohol Bandits” and when we showed up all the other couples with our sweet dance moves. I went to sleep with visions of Taylor Swift and plastic rifles dancing around in my head. Isn’t life fun in cowgirl boots? (Until the morning, when you find blisters….ouch)

My TSwift-obsessed date!

This morning, I pulled myself together and went to church with Hannah and her entertaining dad. All the praise songs were amazing and it was nice, like always, to get my week started off on the right foot. After church we picked up Hannah’s sister and headed off to brunch at The Café. It was fun pretending to be a Wilson for a few hours. AND I learned about the history of the book of Exodus, some background information on the Mormon values, and where Hannah got her strong jaw and bursts of laughter from, all from her father.

My weekend is ending with my thinking about starting my homework, but really just wanting to nap after a two hour Varieties practice. I am feeling so blessed and upbeat, yet I realize I’m in need of some sleep. Staying up and having fun can wear a cowgirl out, ya hear?

Hope your weekend was as exceptionally stellar as mine was and thanks for checking in!