Quarterly playlists

These songs comprise my musical identity and the personal journey I’ve taken during my time at Northwestern. The songs I screamed and danced along to at concerts, listened to on my 30-minute walk to class, woke up to in my morning Snapchats (if you know, you know)…Making these playlists is one of my favorite traditions. Although the tracks don’t coordinate with the seasons at all, the playlists bring me back to all of the great times I’ve had so far.

Some favorites:
Fall 2015
Summer 2016
Winter 2016
Spring 2016
(Winter 2017 is linked at the bottom)

My makeup habits

I’ve gone from wearing makeup everyday (freshman year) to wearing it maybe once or twice a week, when I go out. Frankly, I’m too lazy to wear it more than that. I’ve realized that no one really cares what I look like in class – at least, I sure as hell don’t. I used to think about specific products and looks a lot, but these days I barely give it a thought. I still love getting ready to go out, though. I see makeup as a special routine for when the occasion is right.

The evolution of my blog(s)

When I was in high school, Never Stationary was a machine that churned out regular blog posts multiple times a week. I strove to boost stats, maintain traditions like Monthly Favorites, Maddy’s Mr. Moist Presents, This Kid I Know (I recently stopped doing these a few months ago) and regular reflections of my college experiences.

These days, my writing is a lot more experimental and project-based. I only really post when I actually have something to say. I’ve ventured into more musical content, published interviews and created resources like the EDM calendar.

I seem to have prioritized everything else – class, relationships, and my professional life – over my blogs, but it’s still a part of me. I don’t see myself giving up on it at this point. In fact, I’m just waiting until I have an actual job to act on any of this, but I still have so many ideas in my head about different things I want to try out with my blogs.

Cat the Critic has also stagnated, but when my schedule has more free time, I promise I will throw myself back into it!

My interests and hobbies

Things that have stayed constant:

• cooking/eating out
• music
• writing

Things that have popped up randomly:

• mixing
• video editing
• marketing for alcohol brands (what?)

Myself

Especially when I talk to people who have known me for a really long time (like Eileen, or Navin), I ask others, and others ask me: Do you feel like you’ve changed a lot since coming to college?

I went from the super outgoing freshman girl – eager to meet everyone, up for anything, wanting to try new things – to the more frugal, more reserved person that I am today. I still like to go out, but I like to pick my battles.

Thinking back, I had no clue how sucked into the Chicago music scene I would become. I’m also not as naive as I used to be, and I know how to have better conversations with myself, my friends and strangers. Even these days, I still meet some super cool people in my community, mostly friends of friends (hi Joanna and Eunice).

I’m still pretty addicted to coffee, but I don’t wear cat shirts everyday like I used to.