A Collegegirli Christmas Wish List

College girls (and boys) need a little extra for the holidays.  See my Top 20 Collegegirli Christmas gift ideas for the public school college student.

First, let's start with the obvious needs:
1. Money! We are broke! If you can't afford to send plain ol' cash, see my other ideas below.
2. Giftcards!  Think about sending gift cards from our local gas station or grocery store.  
3. Bills!  Pay off our electric bill or trash bill for a month.
4. Food.  Take us grocery shopping or send over a care package full of necessities.  Think perishables and canned/boxed/frozen items.  We need healthy food and food we can grab on the go.
5. Clothes.  We always need clothes because we wear them out quickly.  We need career clothes, school clothes, comfy clothes and WARM clothes!  Send us a gift card or take us shopping.  When it comes to paying our rent or buying food or buying clothes....well, clothes are the last thing on our list to purchase.  We are hungry!
6. Entertainment.  For the most part, we do manage to have this covered (cheers!).  However, sending us gift cards to movie theaters or tickets to an awesome Broadway play or sending us bottles of wine or other liquor is awesome. Maybe send us a gift card to a restaurant you know that we can't really afford to take ourselves to.  Laughing and having fun gets us through those tough finals and it's nice to go out and celebrate after working so hard in school.

Now let's look at some less obvious needs:
7.  Winter coat, hats and gloves.  If you do not see us wearing these, it isn't because we are disregarding your advice of dressing warm.  It is probably because we don't own these items any more.  
8.  Car window scraper.  Yes, us college students sometimes find random things to scrape off the ice when we don't have a windshield scraper.  
9. Snow boots.  We wear tennis shoes or we wear heels because of work.  Snow boots are a luxury.
10. Blankets, comforters and sheets.  We always need an extra set.
11. Towels and washcloths.  It is amazing how many times these items get lost.
12. Coffee and maybe a coffee pot.  Send us the cheap kind or make it extra special and send us a bag or two of a Starbucks blend.  We need caffeine and coffee is something we run out of quickly-especially during finals week.  
13.  Pet food or a pet store gift card.  Some of us have furry friends we brought with us to college or have rescued since starting.  Helping us to feed these critters goes such a long way!
14. Finals week care package: Help us take care of ourselves during crunch time.  Send ushealthy munchies like granola and protein bars as well as some not so healthy treats like cookies and goldfish. Throw in a $5 Starbucks gift card for getting coffee before our finals and add in a few $5 fast food gift cards so that we can eat on the go.  Make it extra special and add a note or two filled with your words of wisdom and encouragement.  
15.  Hair cut/style/nails.  We all need beauty  and style treatments, but we can't always afford to have regular hair cuts or manicures.  Send us a gift certificate to our favorite stylist or nail salon!  What a great treat for us college kids!
16.  Dorm room, apartment or house decorating gift card!  Send us a gift card so that we can invest in a few house decor items to make our college dorm look like less of a second hand furniture store.
17.  Toaster/Toaster oven or pots/pans. \ We may not have a microwave or toaster at our little home or pots and pans to cook with.  Send us something that we can use to heat frozen and boxed food.  Maybe add a few hot pads and cooking utensils.  
18.  Phone bill/phone.  Pay for our phone bill one month.  We rely on our phones for everything!  Our social life and our family life depend on them!  
19.  Internet bill.  Pay for our internet for a month or give us cable!  You can always get us a Netflix or HuluPlus gift card so that we can watch tv online.  
20. Ticket home.  This is my favorite gift idea.   <3  We want to come see you!  We miss you!  But, we can't always afford to come home for the holidays or a weekend because we can't afford to take the pay cut by taking the time off of work.  So, think about sending us money that enables us not only to come home, but that also covers us taking the time off of work.  This is a HUGE present that us college kids will forever be grateful for.  

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Fall!

This summer went by waaaaay too quickly.  I can’t believe it is already September.

I can feel the temperature changing.  I already found myself purchasing fall mums and new pansies for the flower bed.  I LOVE FALL!!!

Fall is the beginning of the holiday season and it takes my breath away and sweeps me off my feet every single year.

 A quick update for me:

 I officially started Practicum this fall!  This means that I am counseling real, live families. I can’t believe it.

 I moved back to a city closer to my family.  I live in a cute little house and can't wait to update Le Renee on my house decor and holiday decor!

Lots more to follow and lots more postings ahead!

Cheers!  xoxox

My New Fashion Story

One of my best friends told me to play Fashion Story with her.  I first downloaded the game and thought to myself “this looks like something an 8 year old would play” and that secretly made me very excited to try it out  !!  I  mean, who didn’t want to become a fashion designer or own a fashion store when they were younger?  I know that I drew out terrible sketches of “fashionable” designs and dreamt of runways and models.  While being a real life fashion designer is no longer my dream, I do have a very big goal of owning a closet of Louis Vuitton and Louboutin…one day!

This game, Fashion Story, helps people like us-who dream stylish dreams-act them out in a fantasy world.  There are no brand names but there are very cute clothes, avatars and boutiques to play in!

—

So I downloaded the game and finally opened it up this weekend to play.  I just started clicking things.  The 8 year old side of me took over and I lost all rationale or strategic gaming ideas. I bought everything I could and immediately dressed my avatar in the cutest red mini-skirt, french style boatneck sweater and black stilettos I could “afford”.  I was left with no impulse control.  Without realizing it, I spent my entire store investment, filled my store with a bunch of clothing racks that I didn’t yet need and started noticing broken heart symbols on the tops of my Sims like customers that meant they left unsatisfied.

…Good thing it is just a game or I would be in Trou-ble!  And hey, at least my avatar looks super cute!

I didn’t take a screen shot of my original store so you are just going to have to trust me that it was one hot mess!

Here is what it looked like after I gathered my senses and changed my avatar’s blonde hairstyle to brunette 

After a few hours and smart purchases, I was able to expand my store!  I also purchased an additional fitting room and mirror so that my customers have enough space to try on their items.  (The Pet Shop billboard is the game’s way of telling me to download that game too.  But I am not giving in!!!  Actually, as I just wrote that, I realized that they probably have really cute animals. hmmmmm).

This is what it looks like after the weekend.  I expanded my store again and now have 40 new neighbors which helps me to earn stars and coins in order to reach new levels. Plus, the game expects you to work towards goals (like challenges or quests) and it is necessary to have a network of “neighbors” in order to advance in the game.

And this is what I am striving for (courtesy of Michella Bella Boutique).

If you play Fashion Story or now want to follow your childhood/adolescent dream of owning a fashion store, add me as your neighbor!  My storm8ID is: lereneej.  (Your storm8id is your username and is how others can find you and add you into their network.)  My store is, of course, Le Renee!

As you can see, right now, I am at Level 4 and have less than $15,000 to spend.  But at least I earned $153 while writing this article!