As we wind up to the beginning of the year, dorm decorating is on (almost) everyone’s minds. I went through an entire semester last year with no decorations up in my room and the place looked deserted. So this year I’ve been a lot more proactive about making my space more welcoming.

Wind chimes are both aestetically pleasing and lovely to hear, right? So I bought one. A light breeze is all it takes to experience that joy-enducing sound.

I also ordered two color-changing light cubes for my room which are now hanging from my ceiling. They add a nice ambiance but can be annoying to switch off when I’m tired and feeling lazy though. OH WELL! I still love them.

No dorm is truly complete without a little color to bring the space to life. And what better way to add life to a room than buying PLANTS to decorate it! Agway is a local lawn and garden supply store that students frequent as they arrive to the area.

We made the trip specifically so Tabitha could get some plants for her room and our little excursion was not in vain. Three people walked in, and three plants were carried out. Gus and Tabitha also looked quite the part in their gardening hats.

I decided to save this weekend update until today because for most of America, yesterday was still the weekend. However, for many families with rising seniors, Labor Day was spent visiting Middlebury, instead of boats and barbecues. Hence- their college visit vacation became my work day when I didn’t post about the weekend and to intrude on anyone checking this blog on their personal day off.

My quick weekend was great though, so I can’t complain. As promised, I went to Cafe Provence for dinner on Friday night with my family and got the most delicious swordfish followed by a scrumptious lemon cheesecake for dessert (seriously, this place is amazing, if you drop what you’re doing right now you could probably make it there for dinner tonight). On Saturday, I drove to Ludlow, VT, where my family was staying for the weekend. We went kayaking in Lake Ninevah and it was hot enough that in the middle of the lake we jumped out and had a quick swim before paddling back to shore.

On Sunday, inspired by our recent outdoor-activity success, my family decided to go on a hike on Little Rock Pond Trail. You guessed it- the four mile trail leads hikers to Little Rock Pond and back. This meant that the humid hike had a wonderful break in the middle where we stopped for lunch, relaxation and a swim.

Once we got back from our excursion, we ordered pizza for dinner and I got back on the road to head to Middlebury. Even though I got off campus for the weekend, I stayed in Vermont and can truly say from all the activities, there are so many hidden beauties this state has to offer. Just as I got in the car to head back to Middlebury, I snapped a pic of this sunset- a great way to end a great weekend. 

Mondays are not my favorite day of the week. After a nice long weekend, Monday is usually the last thing a college student looks forward to. Especially when it’s labor day weekend and you wanted to enjoy a three day weekend, but you still have to work. Such hard work happens here at Admissions. Today I had to sharpen about 40 pencils….. (actually not a hard job, that was a joke)

But sometimes, Mondays turn out to be not so bad after all. Today we had a lot of great families visit campus. We even had free BREAKFAST. An assortment of bagels, donuts, and cookies on a Monday morning is not bad at all. YUM!

More interesting news about what is going to be happening on campus: The freshman are coming! Move in day is just around the corner. Can’t wait to see all the confused new students :).

In more interesting news, BERNIE SANDERS (the presidential candidate and Senator of Vermont) will be here in Middlebury for a fundraiser called Bernie Palooza! (I mean how much cooler can this state get!) So if you’re around 4-7pm today and are feeling extremely liberal and maybe even a little socialist today, Go check it out! That’s it on my behalf, but this Monday is turning out a lot better than expected!!!

A summer intern’s work is never really finished. That is, not until we help the Dean of Admissions himself with a daunting task.

Greg Buckles is a very stylish person who likes to make sure his office is impeccable in all aspects. He often graces us with presence when descends from his lofty office on the second and the experience is always welcomed.

Yesterday was a fun time getting to help Greg keep his office up to current fashion code. The phone in his office is black but the original cord attaching the phone to the  base was a light shade of brown. So I located a black cord and aided him in installing it. I’m proud to write that he said I was “handier than a pocket on a shirt.”

Even though I am a rising junior and have moved in and out of two dorm rooms, I have never gone it alone. My parents have always been able to help me and, to be quiet honest, I don’t think I have ever done more than two trips from the car to my room. However, after my parents had already helped me move into my summer housing in the beginning of August, I insisted I could handle the move into my fall housing alone. The process started last Thursday night as I packed up my room and moved my belongings to my car so that on Friday morning (when I was able to get the keys to my new room) I could move as quickly as possible.

I was feeling pretty confident Thursday night after packing up my car. Almost everything was out of my room and it wasn’t too painful of a process because a Public Safety officer told me to drive up on the sidewalk next to the building so I wouldn’t have to walk as far (NOTE: not advisable for mass move in days or really any time without the express consent of Officer Paul). Kendall, on the other hand (former-coworker, remaining friend) was having some trouble as evidenced by the picture below.

To say the least, Friday slightly dampened my confidence that I would ever again insist I was okay moving alone. It was definitely hotter and, no longer without a friendly pub-safe officer guiding me, I had to park pretty far from the building I was moving into (Painter Hall- oldest college dorm in Vermont!). This being said, after finally moving into my room and sending pictures to my room mate of our future home, I felt extremely accomplished and treated myself to a lovely dinner at Flatbread- my favorite restaurant in Middlebury.

Undecorated but (almost) unpacked!

So yesterday was the big day. All the students here on campus moved into their fall housing assignments. I got to move to Gifford and it is fantasmablastic here!!  Packing everything up over the course of the week was surprisingly simple. Moving it all was more tiring than expected but still an adventure. Thankfully Gifford has an elevator.

My room doesn’t look like a wonderful palace yet, but it will soon. I’ve got plans to install a waterfall and a centrally located geode coffee table. It should look quite lovely.

But really, moving in is such a fun time. you get to make a space your own and figure out everything that works for you. It’s also a nice growing experience since you try to get rid of whatever you can. Moving as little as possible is the optimal goal.

Disclaimer: even though today is my last day at the office for the summer (still giving a tour tomorrow though!), this post is not going to be a proper reflection or goodbye. Sorry friends.

All summer long, two close friends of mine, Charlie and Emma, have been working as the Chief Administrative Officers of a Middlebury College start-up nonprofit called Middlebury Foods. The idea behind this project is that they buy produce and meats in bulk to reduce overall cost, so then the food can be packaged as grocery boxes at lower costs. After hearing detail after detail of the workings of taking over this project, I had a free weekend to help out and volunteer at the delivery. My work actually started a few weeks ago when I helped Emma make phone calls to past customers to ask how they enjoyed their orders and help them with this month’s order. On Sunday, I traveled to the very exciting Vermont Refrigerated Storage to help pack up the food boxes to deliver to families. We lined up produce crates in an assembly line fashion and added a mix of potatoes, yams, broccoli, tomatoes, corn, mangoes, kale, plums, etc. etc. etc. to each depending on the specific orders. They offer three different types of produce boxes, and two types of meat packages, so we assembled according to those. The real challenge came when we had to fit about 150 different “boxes” (some were boxed meat, some where bagged produce, and some had both) into a Subaru and a 7-passenger College van over the course of two days. Have no fear, we did it successfully, and it was exciting to meet all the people who were actually receiving these groceries. Right after the packaging process, we drove to Ferrisburgh and Vergennes to the pickup sites to bring them to customers’ cars. We repeated the process on Monday afternoon, and then traveled to the Brandon and Middlebury sites to finish the month’s deliveries. MiddFoods reached a record number of orders this August, and will be expanding to a new delivery site in Bristol for September, making a more convenient spot for many, and drawing in more new customers too. I’m really excited to be a part of this project now, and looking forward to future deliveries. *thumbs-up emoji*

Finally I have a successful food story to share! With dining halls almost ready to open I knew I was running out of time to make myself proud, so last night my friend Ella and I decided we should make a pizza. We didn’t have very many cooking supplies (lacking a knife, rolling pin, oven mitt, tinfoil, a plates) but we managed to make it work. I actually did not expect the results to be very impressive at all, humbled by my recent cooking experiences. It turns out that pizza is just too simple and delicious to mess up. I will brag slightly and say that we cooked the crust to perfection and the addition of arugula was a pretty novel idea. Here is a picture of the masterpieces. Just look at that melted cheese!

When you live on campus for months on end, the dogs that you interact with on a regular basis are few. So, if I’ve learned anything over this past year, it’s that college students love (read: freak out when they see) dogs. When my advisor asked if I would dogsit for him a few days ago, I did not hesitate to accept. It was a pretty low-key event, as I ate soup on the front porch while Louie moved from one spot on the grass to another. As I mentioned in a previous post, the garden is the biggest and most beautiful I’ve ever seen. I saw more hummingbirds in one sitting here than anywhere else. Basically, what I realized is that my professor’s house is my dream home. I spent more time looking around outside than I did actually reading my textbook. When I did make the bold move to lie on the grass right next to where Louie was lounging, as soon as I took a seat, he moved away…I see how it is. But other than that, hanging out alone with a dog is the best way to spend an evening. Even if I do consider myself more of a cat person.

Speaking of cats, last weekend I spent a few days in Montreal, where we spent one morning at the most interestingly themed cafe I’ve ever seen: Les Café des Chats (trans. The Cat Cafe!). So yes, you can buy coffee, espresso, and baked sweets, while PLAYING WITH CATS. They just lounge around in their cushions and cat trees for you to pet and admire. Goals.

Because a close friend of mine is living in the sustainable food house all summer, I’ve spent quite a few days hanging out there too. We cooked dinner together there Sunday night, and someone who lived there previously kept their pet bunny in the house for the summer. While I did get kicked in the face once or twice, it was still the cutest and softest little floppy eared animal, and I want to adopt one. So as you can see, even if the furthest extent I’ll go in my own dorm room as far as owning an animal is with a fish tank, there are still plenty of furry pals around. Maybe I’ll adopt a turtle next.