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.

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.

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

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

GOING GREEK

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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!

Mellow Yellow

Today was a very mellow, but happy day in this life of Rachelle Dupre. I woke up to my cute puppy, Zoe, jumping on my bed and licking me to death and knew today was going to be a good day. The sun was shining and not a cloud was in sight. There was even a slight breeze. I decided to drive to one of my favorite coffee shops in Laguna Beach, California that is called, Zinc Café and Market. It is the cutest little coffee shop/market that sells everything from lattes, Rose wine, waffles, pizza, burgers, and avocado toast. And on top of everything they sell… it’s actually GOOD. This café is almost always busy but is buzzin’ with peoples of all ages and walks of life. Every dish is aesthetically pleasing, which is one of the many reasons that this café draws such a large and artistic crowd. I stuck with my typical green tea matcha latte and sat outside on the shaded patio while I journaled my thoughts.  I had nowhere to be and was on my own time, which was so nice.

 

After taking a walk down to Main Beach and dipping my toes in the water, I decided to hop in my car and drive up to Lakewood, California and visit my sister. I was especially excited to get there because MY BABY NIECE WAS BORN! She was actually born on Tuesday 7/25/17, but I decided to wait to write a huge blog post about her until I had more pictures to document the new little baby named, Kaia Kay Von Dreyer. Kaia is the most mellow and precious little newborn. She only cries when it is absolutely necessary and is just smiling and observing life around her 24-7.

 

 

She’s the happiest when she’s in mamas arms and when daddy is talking to her. Grandma and Grandpa Dupre finally got to finally meet their first grandchild and were over the moon with happiness. They were just admiring the newest addition to our family and it was definitely a wonderful sight to see. It makes me wonder how I’ll be when I reach that chapter of my life and maybe I will be a little more prepared now that I have a baby niece to take care of. Although I didn’t do too much today, I had a quality kind of day and these are the moments I live for and love to document. Until next time…

Love Always,

Shell

 

Auntie, Coming Soon…

If there’s one thing I can tell you that I’m super excited about is… becoming an Aunt! My sister, Alexis, is carrying my family’s first grand baby. She’s due any day now. Actually… her due date was a couple days ago  (7/17/17), but baby Kaia likes her warm and cozy apartment in my sister’s belly, so she’s taking her sweet time to make her debut. But, I’ll be patient because I have a lifetime to give that precious little girl some Auntie lovin’!

Having this little girl come into all of our lives is HUGE. Our family has been through a lot this past year, including losing our beloved grandfather, Mitchell Krol. He was the bond that kept our family strong, so you can imagine how we all felt when he left us. The beautiful aspect of it all is the irony of one life leaving the planet and a new life entering. Whether you believe in a God or pure serendipity, I believe that the leaving and coming of new life happened for a reason. Grandpa Krol is definitely baby Kaia’s guardian angel and will be helping her through every step in life because that’s just the kind of man he was, an angel.

Speaking of angels, this angelic looking person (my sister) is hands down the cutest pregnant person I’ve ever seen! I know I’m a little bias, but she’s literally almost 10 months pregnant and still looks so good. She’s the kind of pregnant person who barely gains any weight and doesn’t look pregnant from behind. Given she’s naturally a tiny human, I wouldn’t have expected anything less. Knowing me, I’m going to blow up like a balloon and gain weight everywhere…even my finger nails. But, we’ll just have to wait and see when that day comes!

Until then, I get to love on and give my baby niece endless snuggles because I just know how amazing it is to become an aunt. I’ve been a nanny for most of my young teenage and adulthood because I enjoy guiding children in the right direction and watching them grow as a person. Being able to shape and positively influence children is so humbling to me. I hope I can be Kaia’s greatest influence and role model in the coming years, so I’m going to strive to be the person that Kaia will need me to be. Hopefully we’ll be meeting her within the next week or two, so prayers are always needed and welcome!

Love Always,

Shell