You Know You're a Good Fit for the CIL if....

St. Catherine has been having the time of her life on Spring Break, and it got me thinking, what are some signs for the high schoolers out there to indicate a CIL school would be a good fit? If this was you in high school, or is you currently, please refer to my earlier posts to pick the best CIL school for you:

- You went to the Atlantis for spring break your senior year. If not, you went to Disney World. Either way, you traveled somewhere warm and fun.

-You had two weeks for Spring Break in March, not one. If not, you had some form of an Easter break.

-One of your parents or uncles or aunts attended a CIL school. Probably, more than one family member went to the same CIL school.

-You own a Vineyard Vines bag with custom trim for your high school. (The CIL has their own custom versions for each school, you can upgrade, don't worry!)

-There's just something about neon colored sneakers, t-shirts, shorts, whatever! NEON!

-One of your parents, or both, went to Catholic high schools.

-You live north of the Mason-Dixon line.

-You know you DON'T want to attend college south of the Mason-Dixon line. Except for Georgetown, that's okay.

More to come..this list is by no means exhaustive! Stay tuned!

Wishing I was on Spring Break, St. Claire

Waiting on Pins and Needles

My poor baby sister (St. Catherine) is anxiously awaiting her admission letters. When will they come? It amazes me that Georgetown still sends admission letters by mail, while every other school pretty much has some type of electronic system figured out. It should all be known by April 1st!

What will she choose? A CIL school...or one of those OTHER Ivy League places?

Stay tuned to find out...

Pray for St. Catherine!

Waiting by the mail shoot, St. Claire

So Much For the Sweet Sixteen

Hello to my fellow Catholic Ivy Leaguers, I'm sure you are all as disappointed as St. Claire that our one remaining team suffered a pitiful loss yesterday and failed to advance in the NCAA tournament. Not to dwell on the past...

I discovered a CD in my car today that was from circa 2007, naturally I played it immediately, and let me tell you, St. Claire wasn't listening to church music back then! Tenacious D is the standout track from the album.

An amazing song, like a good friend, is something you may not always have on your mind, or listen to every day, but when you reconnect, its like no time has passed. Every lyric is instantly recalled and all of a sudden you're belting out "I'm not going to cook it but I'll order it from Zanabar!" at the top of your lungs.

What songs really get you going?

Sweet dreams, St. Claire

Dancing in the Streets

O.M.G.

Catholic Ivy League did NOT show up for game time this week. Not. At. All.

Well maybe Notre Dame did, thank GOD!

My bracket is a hot mess. I don't even want to TALK about Georgetown's performance last night. Villanova losing to George Mason is at least a bit more understandable as they were picks #9 and #8, respectively, in the East bracket.

I am officially shifting all of my support to the Irish! What else can a fan do?

Stay tuned, faithful fans! Meanwhile...enjoy your Saturday night! I know I will ;) Yours, St. Claire

The Bracket According to St. Claire

If you're like me, you love March Madness. So much basketball, so many upsets, the glory of sports, ESPN on all the time....what's not to love? I can't say I spend my time studying the teams, however, or really caring about any schools other than the members of the Catholic Ivy League. Let's look at which schools made it to the Big Dance:

(unfortunately this is a short list)

#2 seed Notre Dame is playing in the Southwest section

#6 seed Georgetown is in the Southeast

#9 seed Villanova is in the East

For me, filling out a bracket is easy. I simply pick a school to win based off of how many people I know that have attended the school (and if I think of them as friends). If I don't know anyone who attended either school I'll base my preference off geographic desirability- for example with Kansas v. Illinois, Illinois was the clear choice because hello! Chicago!

Sadly this Catholic Ivy Leaguer found herself in a pickle...Notre Dame v. Georgetown in my Sweet Sixteen!! I had to go with Notre Dame ultimately (and yes, that does violate my aforementioned rules) but Georgetown's pathetic showing at the Big East tournament swung my vote. We'll see how it all plays out!

Yours in Catholic solidarity, St. Claire

The Big Dance

March Madness has arrived! Its been a truly mad march...if you didn't catch my drift from my last post. More to follow on basketball tomorrow...but today I've got to share the playlist I've been blasting non-stop since yesterday. The more music I listen to, the quieter my thoughts become. Try it! On the train, walking, on the subway, at work, in the car, working out, E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E my iPod and I travel together. Here's my March Madness soundtrack:

Rolling in the Deep- Adele

She's Gone- Hall & Oates

Baby I'm Yours (feat. Irfane) - BreakBot

Pretty Girl Rock- Keri Hilson

Make You Mine- BreakBot

I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time- Mariah Carey

The One That Got Away- Katy Perry

The Show Goes On- Lupe Fiasco

A Whole New World- Brad Kane & Lea Salonga

Get Ready- The Temptations

Goodbye Stranger- Supertramp

Today's most relevant lyric to the madness:

"If I never look behind me, my troubles will be few..." - Supertramp

Can't stop the beat!

Be sure to be on the lookout for irrelevant March Madness posts this week...because what's a good Catholic Ivy Leaguer without their bracket!

Yours in the madness, St. Claire

Rolling in the Deep

St. Claire will be shifting her focus a bit for the next few posts...without getting in too deep, my life's taken a different direction. Its hard to describe how it feels to completely fall off the rails. Luckily, one of the best coping mechanisms I've discovered is blasting out my eardrums. My iPod has saved me these past couple days, specifically Rolling in the Deep. I had honestly forgotten all about Adele but caught her on Chelsea Lately the other night, and immediately knew she was going to be on repeat indefinitely. My main focus right now is to "turn my sorrow into treasured gold."

I am in no position to give anyone advice, but here's some things I wish I had done earlier...

1. Be honest. Be honest with everyone you meet, everyone you speak to, but most importantly, be honest with yourself. The corny saying is completely true...the truth will set you free.

2. Even when you feel like your life is over, hold on. Reach out to your friends, you'll never know the value of a friend until you let them in. Open your heart, and you'll never regret it. True friends know how you're feeling regardless of what you're actually saying.

3. It's ok to feel fragile, hurt, sad, lonely. Its not ok to lose hope. Never lose hope. Because when you lose hope, you've lost it all.

I promise I'll be back to my usual snarky self soon, but until then, please bear with me. Be sure to keep up with Big East Basketball this week, I know I'll be keeping track!

And happy Mardi Gras! Be on the lookout for a Lent related post soon.

Down but not out, St. Claire

I'm Back!

Sorry for my lack of posts, but I'm back!

St. Claire has had a rough go of it lately. Despite being equipped with a Catholic Ivy League degree, there's still plenty of stuff I need to learn.

Things I've learned (or re-learned) over the past week:

-True friends, the ones that will stand by you no matter what, the ones that will always make you laugh, the ones that will triumph with you when you're winning and cry with you when you're down, those are the kind of friends to never give up. Always keep them in your life no matter what. Everyone deserves a second chance at some point, give it to them. But that's it. Hang on to your true friends, they are the greatest gifts you will ever receive.

-Day drinking is a marathon, not a sprint. Pace yourself to be in it for the long haul. Try to avoid an afternoon nap if you can, Starbucks can do the trick for a second wind just as well. More time to enjoy a Super Saturday!

-You can come home again.

What are the life lessons you've learned lately?

Love, St. Claire