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Wild Fire

So, I know its been a hot minute since my last post and I totally had a different blog idea for this time around, but some things happen unexpectedly and this was too crazy to not share. Over this past weekend, I was out celebrating my sorority sister’s birthday in San Diego. We ended up renting this cute Airbnb with a bunch of friends in the downtown Gaslamp Quarter of S.D. We all made our way to Pacific Beach and hung out at some of the local rooftop bars, such as El Prez and Mavericks.

While I was out and about having drinks with friends, I had two missed facetime calls from my mom. She eventually facetimed my boyfriend Andrew and when he answered, my mom had her phone camera facing the canyon in our backyard and all you could see was SMOKE! I immediately jumped on the phone and my mom was freaking out telling us that a wildfire had started in the canyon. To give you a better mental image, our backyard backs up against a huge canyon, called Wood Canyon. It’s absolutely beautiful, but this canyon has perfect fire hazard conditions. There is a ton of dry brush and this day happened to be one of the first hot days we’ve had in a while… also the wind that day wasn’t helping at all.

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At this moment I was a little concerned but saw that the firefighters responded very quickly and were already strategizing to put out the fire. There were helicopters dropping fire retardant and water to contain the blaze. I was wanting to head home, but there was no possible way I could drive with alcohol in my system and all access points to my neighborhood were blocked off anyway. I had to rely on my family sending picture and video updates. I tried to not think too much about it and not damper the mood of the birthday celebration we were having. I definitely put on a happy face to not take away any attention from the birthday girl… I was fine until an hour or two passed by and I had a ton of friends and neighbors texting me if my home and family was okay.

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After receiving those texts and phone calls from friends, I tried getting ahold of my family members and no one was answering so it started to freak me out. The worst thing I could’ve done is check the news and sure enough, they were saying that the fire was rapidly spreading, and home and structures were threatened. There was 0% containment at this point. After an hour of not hearing from my family, I finally got a phone call from my mom and she said, “an officer came to our door, we have to evacuate now. What few things do you need me to grab from your room.” At that moment, I realized there was nothing of real value to me other than my family and animals being safe. I told her to grab my laptop, pillow I had from when I was a baby, and the dress that I’m wearing to an upcoming wedding.

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Once I got off the phone with her, I left everyone at the bar and ran into the restroom so I could give myself a minute or two to cry out all of my worries. I knew everyone was going to be safe, but it still made me sad to think that the home I’ve had all my memories in, could be gone forever and there was nothing I could do about it. Once I let it all out, I pulled myself together and continued on with the birthday celebration. I felt guilty being down in San Diego partying, but my mom reassured me that everything would be okay and to enjoy my time down there because they had everything handled at home.

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Long story short, after hours of the firefighters battling the fires, the evacuations were lifted and my family was able to return home. We are currently on day six of the fire and as of now, it is contained. I’m so beyond thankful and have a whole new respect for the men and women who saved the homes of many. I’ve always had a huge respect for our first responders, but until something happens to you personally then it completely changes your perspective and makes you even that much more grateful.

Facts about the Aliso Viejo Fire:
-Burned 175 acres
-No buildings were lost in the fire
-About 3,500 residents in Laguna Beach and Aliso Viejo were evacuated
-More than 500 personnel were working the Aliso Fire Department
-Three firefighters sustained non-life-threatening injuries
-Cause of the fire is still under investigation

Love Always,

Shell

Coachella & Stagecoach Tips

Well well well….It’s that time of year ladies and gents! Festival season is right around the corner and I wanted to give you some tips and tricks on what to wear, bring, and do while at my two favorite festivals… Coachella & Stagecoach! Wooooh!

This will be my second year going to Coachella and my 10th year going to Stagecoach, so I definitely have some great advice (especially for you ladies)! Since Coachella is coming up first, I’ll talk a little about that. First and foremost, Coachella has become more than a music festival. It has become more of a fashion show, showing off latest Boho trends and hopefully getting that million dollar Instagram photo you’ve been planning for. Although you definitely want to dress comfortably since there’s a lot of walking around and dancing in 100-degree weather, here is some Coachella fashion Inspo. And some of the outfits my friends and I wore last year!

Some Important Coachella tips include:

-Bring a backup phone charger or two… Your phone will die SO fast from taking so many pictures and Snapchats and with the service being awful, it’ll drain your battery even faster when trying to send texts.

-With that being said, have a designated meeting spot if you get lost or separated from your group. A good spot is always in front of the infamous Ferris wheel!

-Reusable water bottle. It is SO hot at Coachella and is super easy to become dehydrated. Especially if you are drinking alcohol! They have free water filling stations, so it’s nice to have your water bottle with you at all times.

-Deodorant. Like I said before, It is HOT being in the middle of the desert, so bring a small travel size deodorant in your purse to freshen up since Coachella is an all day and night event.

-If you’re camping on the Polo Grounds, you know how impossible it is to shower, so I recommend baby wipes, baby wipes, and more baby wipes! It is so dusty out there and you’ll be so thankful you brought baby wipes to wipe down your entire body

– Like I said, its super easy to get lost so whenever you go to the restroom or anywhere else, bring a friend so if you get separated from the group you’re not alone! You think this would be a no-brainer, but there are so many people at this event and you’d be surprised how many times you get lost… it happened to me one too many times last year lol

–SUNSCREEN. There’s no worse pain than being sunburnt and having to continue being in the sun all day for 3 days! The sun out in the desert is way stronger, so don’t neglect your SPF protection!

-Write down where you park, send it to a friend, or drop a pin. The parking lots are HUGE and It sucks not being able to find your car after a long day/night when you’re exhausted!

As for Stagecoach, I have many pictures and fashion Inspo. that I can show you from over the years, but Stagecoach is less of a fashion show and is all about comfort. You can’t go wrong with a pair of daisy dukes, cowboy boots, and a tank top. My go-to outfit is shorts, boots, and a bathing suit top (if my body is in tip-top shape). If not, a cute country tank, shorts, and your favorite pair of boots is all you need. Day 1 and Day 2, I tend to wear my cutest outfits and wear a more casual one on day 3.

Important Stagecoach tips:

A lot of these will be pretty similar to the Coachella list including:
-Portable charger
-Designated meeting spot
-Reusable water bottle
-Deodorant
-Sunscreen
-Write down where you parked
-Sunglasses are V important

-Stagecoach involves A LOT of drinking, so my advice would be to PACE YOURSELF. People start partying and drinking as soon as the sun comes up, so If you want to make it to see your favorite artists at 10 pm, then start slow, eat yummy food, drink water, and you’ll be good to go!
-Last year I had one too many strawberry margaritas on an empty stomach and let’s just say that I had to go back to the hotel mid-day and missed some of my favorite artists ☹
-Wear thicker socks and bring band-aids for your cowboy boots. Because of all the dancing and walking, you might get a blister or two if your socks aren’t thick enough.
-If you’re staying in the RV area or can get your hands on an RV wristband, then PARTY IN THERE. The festival itself is super fun, but the RV area is where the party is at. Everyone is blasting music, playing beer pong, flip-cup, dancing, etc. and is super friendly. Some of my favorite memories of Stagecoach have been in the RV area. Its where everyone goes to party before the big artists come on stage and where they go after the concert is over and party all night.

Either way, if you’re attending or not, Coachella and Stagecoach are two weekends that i’ve mad unforgettable memories at and highly recommend attending both of them at least once in your lifetime!

Stay tuned for my Post-Coachella/Stagecoach blog post about my experiences this year!

Love Always,

Shell

Life Update

Hello Hello,

So I took a big break from blogging once the new year approached. Life happened really fast for me and a lot of big life changes took place during the past couple months. The good, the bad, the happy, and the sad. As many of you may already know, I recently graduated from Cal State Fullerton with my B.A. in Communications: P.R. With that being said, I also was offered a full-time job doing Marketing for a luxury real estate brokerage in Newport Beach! It has always been a dream of mine to work and live and Newport, so I’m really happy to be in the place that I am today.

Another big change happened and that was the end of my two-year relationship. We had been doing long distance our entire relationship, which made it really hard. We were also on two completely different pages in life, so that’s when I decided to make the decision to go separate ways.

At this point, I’m realizing it was the right decision. I kind of lost myself during that two-year span. I feel like I’m slowly but surely getting back to my old self and am happier than ever doing my own thing.

I feel like in your 20’s you’re still discovering who you are as a person, so If someone is holding you back or not growing with you I don’t really see a point in continuing to have a relationship or friendship with someone.

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One of my favorite quotes of all time is,

“Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So, love the people who treat you right, Forgive the ones who don’t and believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, Let it. Nobody said It’d be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.”

This quote is so beyond true. Life is too short to be anything but happy, so keep your chin up and try to see the silver lining in everything you do.

I’ve met some really amazing people this year and I have high hopes for 2018. Rachelle is back and ready to get on the blogging train again. Stay tuned for my next post regarding Coachella and Stagecoach! April is going to be one fun month!

Love Always,

Shell

Random Facts About Shell

1) I sleep with a sound machine so I can sleep through the night.

2) I am the worst morning person and depend way too much on coffee to wake me up.

3) The scariest thing I’ve ever done was bungee jumping in Mexico (I cried the whole time).

4) My weekend plans usually consist of the beach, and going out with friends in Newport/Laguna.

5) I’m French(hence my last name), Italian, polish, and Spanish.

6) I work in Newport Beach as a Marketing Production Coordinator.

7) I’d describe myself as someone who has quiet confidence and loves joking around/not taking life too seriously.

8) A lot of people tell me I have R.B.F. (Resting bitch face) but I promise you I’m nice!!

9)I have a big heart but am very picky about who I give my time and attention to.

10) The beach is my safe haven.

11) I’m a tomboy in the sense that I hate doing my hair and makeup and like to hang with the boyzzz.

12) I’m originally from Northern California (Monterey) but love living in Orange County.

13) I’m done 🙂

Palm Springs

Living in Southern California gives you the ability to easily travel to one geographic region to another. Whether you want to take a trip to the beach, mountains, or desert; these options only take about an hour and half to get there! My best friend and I decided we wanted a change of scenery and drove out to the desert in Palm Springs.

Palm Springs is full of hidden gems that take inspiration from local artists and their laid back culture. I have seen many aesthetically pleasing photo spots all over Instagram, but never had the time to go explore myself. Seeing all these spots had sparked my interest, which is what made me take a spontaneous day-cation to this rat pack/Hollywood stars vacation spot.

The first place we stopped was the Moorten Botanical Garden and Cacterium. This was one of the coolest Gardens I’ve ever been to. You feel like you’re walking through a desert cactus jungle with giant Cacti everywhere you turn!

The next spot we visited wasn’t on our to-do list, but The Parker hotel has been a hotel I’ve been wanting to stay at for years, so I checked it out just for fun! Their moroccan inspired interior decorating was to die for and I enjoyed every second of it.

After the hotel, we decided to visit the infamous Pink Door. This door belongs to a private resident of Palm Springs, so I don’t recommend trespassing. The residents were exiting their home when we arrived, so we asked for permission to take a photo and they graciously said, “yes.” This door gives me MAJOR Barbie doll house vibes.

As we were on our way out to head back to SoCal, we spotted one last photo op and this was at The Saguaro hotel. This cute hotel was painted every color of the rainbow and was impossible for us to not stop and take some pictures!

Overall, It was an awesome day trip and I highly suggest you add these place to your bucket list when visiting Palm Springs! I’m planning on taking more day-cations in the near future, so stay tuned for my next destination. Until then… Enjoy 🙂

Love Always,

Shell

Summertime Sadness?

Hey Readers,

I know it has been a little bit since my last blog post, but I’m back and ready to write! This past month has been crazy busy with my last semester of college starting back up, getting ready for sorority recruitment, and working so I can afford life. I’ve barely had any time to myself, but here I am!

So today, I totally just realized that summer is actually over for me. According to meteorologists, the last day of summer for the northern hemisphere is August 31^st and for the southern hemisphere, it is February 28^th! This makes me so sad because my summer break completely flew by. Writing this post made me want to reminisce and look back on all the adventures I had this summer. Because I didn’t travel as much as I did last summer, it felt like I didn’t do a whole lot. BUT, looking back on the millions of photos I took, I realized that I had a summer like no other.

First and foremost, I spent the first two and a half months of summer 2017 in Alabama. As it is no surprise to many that I have a wonderful boyfriend by the name of Shane who lives there! As for some of you who don’t know me too well… I have a boyfriend! We’ve been doing long distance since the day we met and have been together for a little over a year. The most amount of time we had spent together was about 2-3 weeks max; so we wanted to take advantage of our last school break and have me live out there for a couple months.

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With that being said, I found an internship at a marketing agency called Inner Spark Creative in Auburn, Alabama so I could get some professional experience while testing out the whole living together thing with my boyfriend. That was my first internship and I was as nervous as could be because I didn’t exactly know what my day to day job would be like as a public relations major. After getting over my nerves and interning at this agency, I learned A LOT. The main thing that I learned was that I 100%/absolutely/positively want to work with social media upon graduation.

As a millennial, we grew up with social media from the beginning of its developing stages and have watched it evolve and grow alongside with us. Although I know how to use every social media outlet, there was a lot more to it when it came to the business side of marketing. And concluding with that, this internship got me hooked and eager to start my professional career.

Now onto the relationship part of this post… Before I left to live in Alabama for the summer, I really did a lot of self-reflecting and analyzing of mine and Shane’s relationship. I told myself that living with him for 3 months is going to tell a lot about our relationship.

#1 Neither of us had ever lived with a significant other before

#2 We had never spent more than 3 weeks with each other, so 3 months together will tell a lot

#3 In the end, I told myself that this is either going to make us or break us

Fortunately, everything went as smooth as can be and made us a lot closer to each other in the end. He was the best roommate I could have ever asked for and is such an amazing guy to me. Whenever I felt homesick, he made sure I was okay and made me forget that I was two-thousand miles away.

I’m not sure where I’ll end up living after graduation, but all I know is that a long-distance relationship can work for anyone as long as both parties can give 200% into their relationship.

Love Always,

Shell

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GOING GREEK

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Definition of Sorority: A group of women bound together by common principles, goals, and experiences.

If you would’ve asked me three years ago if I would’ve ever been in a sorority, I would’ve rolled my eyes and laughed in your face. The cliché thought of “sorority girls” that I created in my head from movies, T.V. shows, and social media was that they were stupid and annoying girls who paid for their friends. I’m sure this idea doesn’t sound too far off from the one you have in your head, but my food for thought is that things aren’t always what they seem.

Last fall 2016, I transferred to Cal State Fullerton as a junior and really wanted to get involved with the school. I considered clubs, sports, and student government, but never considered going Greek. During the first week of school, there were a bunch of sororities tabling all over campus and Panhellenic members handing out flyers to rush.

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Panhellenic: This council serves as the governing body for all NPC chapters on campus and organizes the recruitment process. Each chapter chooses a delegate to sit on its College Panhellenic council.

Rush: A series of social events and gatherings that allow prospective and current sorority members to get to know each other.

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After talking to one of the girls about rushing and what Greek life is all about, I decided “why not?” I thought to myself, “If I don’t like it then I can always drop and find something else to join.” So then, I went through with it. I went through rush and narrowed it down to the final sorority I wanted to be in and accepted my invitation on bid day to the Delta Delta chapter of Gamma Phi Beta.

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Bid Day: The last day of recruitment, when potential new members receive bids to join chapters and become new members. Each chapter will usually host a Bid Day activity to help the new members get to know each other and the rest of the chapter.

After a year of being in a sorority and sticking through it, I can actually say that my experience in Gamma Phi Beta has been nothing short of amazing. Aside from all the fun social events, I have made SO MANY new friends and became a part of a community that supports you in every way, shape, and form. My “sisters” are so supportive and encouraging whenever it comes to anything regarding myself. As a female, it’s hard to make new girlfriends because many of them fall into the “catty” and “fake” category. These girls are all so insanely genuine and will always be there for you whether you need a shoulder to cry on, venting session, or just want to go grab a coffee.

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Sorority life is not how the media makes it out to be and to fully understand the benefit of being a part of one; you’ll have to join one yourself or take my word for it. Everyone has their own experiences and encounters during their time as a collegiate sorority member, but mine has been so worth it. I have one more semester before I graduate, so I’m going to make the most out of my time being a member of Gamma Phi.

My advice for anyone thinking about joining a sorority is that you’ll get so much more out of it when you attend events and really indulge yourself in everything your chapter has to offer. The only thing I would change is to have more time in Gamma Phi before I graduate… but my bank account is looking a little low, so I’ll just take my degree and skedaddle!

Love Always,

Shell

*Also, shout out to my perfect sisters for allowing me to use their photos!