Goodwill and Westminster Fun

In honor of my birthday, my sister came up (from D.C.) to spend the weekend with me. We kept the Friday night calm, going to the campus showing of Sky Fall. James Bond will always have a special place in my heart, especially those played by Sean Connery. I grew up on these movies (along with millions of other people) and will never tire of the brand. We kept the night quiet though, going to sleep early. But Saturday was an entirely different story. My sister hasn’t spent much time at McDaniel, and to be honest, I don’t venture forth into Westminster and the surrounding area much either. We started with the local mall, which offers a couple key stores including Rue 21 and their chocolate shop.

Also neatly tucked in there is the local Regal movie theater. Identity Thief was playing, and if you get the time, I would highly recommend it. Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy are a hilarious duo that had my sister and me laughing until the end. McCarthy plays the misfit Diana who goes through life ripping off people’s identities and moving on with no strings attached. Bateman plays the mild-mannered businessman who is her victim, but who eventually grounds her as they both find middle ground. I’m not even exaggerating about its comedic value. After the movie was over, the lady in front of us stood up and let my sister know that she had an adorable laugh.

We went back down 140 to the Goodwill, which is most definitely my favorite place to shop. There are treasures untold there if you’re willing to comb through the racks and racks of clothes. I’ve always wanted to do a personal rendition of Macklemore’s song “Thrift Shop” in our Goodwill, but that will have to wait for another weekend. Ultimately, my sister and I both found cute blazers. Blazers are necessary for any young woman, for interviewing, for dressing up a cute outfit, for adding a little class to your day, and for preparing to join the working world women. With less than 100 days left of school, my summer internship is approaching way too fast. But Goodwill will certainly have me prepared for it at a quarter of the retail price.

To round out my day with my sister, I brought her back to campus after stopping for food (it’s Subway’s five dollar foot long month and there is really no sane way to turn that down). In typical fashion, we spent the last night cuddled up under blankets in my room watching episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and Nashville. That’s always how we spend our last night together. Even though D.C. isn’t far (especially thanks to the new transportation line that gets you there lickety-split from campus), I’ve never quite gotten used to saying goodbye and I don’t think I ever will. It just means she’ll have to keep visiting.

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Last Friday Night…

…was nothing like the Katy Perry song of that name, but I truly had a blast!

Westminster’s annual Fallfest took place last weekend and though it started last Thursday evening, things really kicked off last Friday night with Westminster’s annual Midnight Madness. As a freshman last year, I managed to miss hearing about Midnight Madness, but when it entered my radar this year, I knew I had to go! From 6 p.m. to midnight, local Westminster shops and restaurants are open, offering great deals and samples. Parts of Main Street are blocked off and are filled with a variety of musicians.

I visited a few stores and the Westminster Public Library, which was also open late for the occasion. This library seems like a cozy place, and I learned that McDaniel students are welcome to check out books and other materials here using their student ID cards. (You can also reserve materials to be sent to McDaniel’s own Hoover Library if you don’t want to make the walk.)

I would have loved to have gone to a lot more stores, but my friends had reserved spots on a free ghost tour so we had to get to that by 11:00. Luckily, it was sponsored by Birdie’s Cafe, a local coffee shop on Main Street, so I was able to get a tasty peppermint mocha beforehand. (It was delicious!) I had never been to Birdie’s before, and I would love to go back. (If only it weren’t such a long walk from campus!)

The ghost tour was awesome. The guide was pretty funny, and she was a great storyteller. The tour was less about trying to see ghosts and experience paranormal activity and more about hearing some of the area’s more bizarre and macabre history, which was really interesting and fun.

I have to be honest though: my favorite part of the tour was visiting inside a place called Cockey House, a place now occupied by some sort of historical society. They were serving some absolutely delicious chicken noodle soup in honor of Midnight Madness. (I wish I could have taken the whole crock pot with me!) And outside of Cockey House, I got to meet a corgi!!! She was super sweet and reminded me of my own corgi at home!

I got to see a lot of historic Westminster that I hadn’t seen before, and I’d love to explore it some more in daylight with some friends. There are a lot of intricacies and beauty to be seen on the local buildings and landmarks.

Last Friday night was among the best I’ve had at McDaniel, and next fall, I definitely want to go to Midnight Madness again!

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My Fun Family Weekend

It’s been a pretty good week so far, but I can’t help but think back to how awesome this past weekend was for me. On Friday night, I went to the Family Weekend pep rally and watched six episodes of Monty Python’s Flying Circus with my friends.

My parents came on Saturday for Family Weekend, an annual weekend for family and friends to visit campus and have a good time.

The first half of my day with my parents was centered largely around the fact that I was getting inducted into Alpha Lambda Delta, a national honor society for first year students, in the afternoon. As a result, my time with them when they first got here was a little limited, but we were still able to squeeze in a trip to Panera Bread for lunch and a trip to Baugher’s, a local orchard store and restaurant in walking distance from campus, for some desserts to last me through the week.

The induction ceremony lasted around an hour, so we were able to go catch some of the football game. Because it rained though, we only stayed for half of the third quarter.

I had my parents take me to Target on 140 for some snacks and needed items before going to dinner at Full Moon Pub and Grill in nearby Reisterstown—my parents’ excellent choice of restaurant. Full Moon has some of the best cream of crab soup I’ve ever tasted. It’s not too sour, not too spicy, and full of chunky crab meat. I highly recommend it! (The chocolate cake was also pretty good!)

After dinner, we went to Westminster’s Town Mall to hang out some more and do some recreational shopping, before they brought me back to McDaniel to hang out some more before returning home.

After they left, I had one of the most memorable evenings with my friends and suitemates ever. One of my suite mate’s parents brought pizza for all of us, which was very kind and wonderful. Once they left, things got very fun. (Somehow, we managed to sing Christmas carols for at least 20 minutes.)

As you might imagine, on Sunday, I had to catch up on my homework since Saturday was devoted to Family Weekend. But it was still a good day, since I got a lot done and was in the company of my friends. And I have to tell you, the best part about the day after a visit from family is the leftovers!

I’d have to say that this was one of the best weekends I’ve had on campus for a long time. I was surrounded by great fun, great family, great friends, and great food! As I work through this week, thinking about this past weekend and the fun weekends to come is something that’s keeping me smiling!

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