We can be classy

as a nice contrast from the normal, flair filled college lifestyle, friends of mine threw a really classy party the other day. Like actually classy and formal. Girls in dresses, guys in suits. In potluck style, we all chowed good food, drank, enjoyed each other company and had some really interesting conversation.

Then around 8PM, the music turned the corner, and it dissolved into a dance party. By ten, we had gone back to telling stories around the campfire. I would say that it ranked as one of the most perfectly timed parties ever. Much better than the 12AM party start that happens all too often here at school.

puddle climbing

Sometimes Hanover is like one big cabin, and because it has been raining a lot I have cabin fever, Bad! So I decided to go to Rumney for some puddle climbing. We started off climbing through wet puddles. After it dried out we were able to get on other stuff. Overall, it ended up being a really really nice day. AWESOME!

Finally

A real meal in the pebble! With my parents around, we pulled in all the available chairs, cooked up a storm and picked the last veggies from the garden. With my roommate Jyotsna, we finally christened the inside of the off campus house with a full blown dinner. Thank god, because it is sure getting cold for sitting outside!

The Fall

My god I can't tell you how amazing fall colors are. After sitting in Thayer School of Engineering looking at computers and doing bridge analysis, real life colors are AMAZING. Actually anything outside is amazing. That and sleep, so the weekend that my parents came up I did just that. We checked out the town of Quechee, Vermont said hello to some friends at Ibex, had a wonderful lazy long breakfast morning, raked leaves (I didn't want to lead you too astray), and hiked Mount Cardigan! I love sunny weekends in NH!

Alaskan Salmon!

Last night we had a great barbeque! Everyone either chipped for groceries or brought some food. Hilary, one of my school friends who commercial salmon fishes in Alaska every summer brought some fish. No joke, Alaskan salmon is the best I have EVER tasted.

Rope cleaner

After a long summer of use, my rope was getting pretty dirty looking, so I decided to figure out how the heck to clean the thing. Option number one included soaking the rope in a bathtub, but I don’t have a tub, so I nixed that. The next option was the washing machine, but it sounded like it would leave my rope in a tangled mess. Finally I came upon the pressure wash idea. The design is a ‘T’ joint for a pipe, a hose adapter and a home depot sample of astro turf. When you put the rope into the ‘T’ with the turf and turn on the hose, the rope get simultaneously scrubbed and cleaned…. Sweet!

Typical Rumney day

With the leaves turning and a chill in the air we went to Rumney after classes to get a little climbing because school can’t be all work. With all the fall colors, we couldn’t help but have some fun with it. Of course the day ended at whippi dip with some ice cream.

Best Concert Ever!

Those of you that know me know that I will obsess over my favorite song. Back in middle school I sang the song Boondocks by Little Bigtown so often that my brother tried bribing me to stop. Last year, I happened upon a Grace Potter and the Nocturnals song and have been trying to find a concert to go to ever since. This year I found one; a concert happening in Burlington, Vermont. I immediately bought tickets!

It was an amazing show. Not only did I see Grace Potter, but the opening act was a great surprise! As soon as the Carolina Chocolate Drops took the stage I knew they were going to be awesome. They had no backup singers, but the lead singer’s voice felt bigger than a prewar big band. They played a combination of New Orleans bluesgrass, hip hop and even celtic jigs. In the middle of one of their best songs, the lead singer turned around and pulled out a kazoo and played it like a sax! It was a really fun band to see and might even become my next musical obsession.

After an amazing opener, Grace Potter came out under the setting sky. It was as good as I could have hoped, and after 5 songs or so, the wind started picking up. By the time of their finale, Paris, a full blown storm had arrived. Grace Potter said, “I’m not on anything right now, but this is psychedelic!”

Rock on!

HGTV worthy!

At this point you guys would probably be really surprised if I said that my parents came to visit and something conventional happened, like showing them around or even a normal hike. So far during their visits, we have helped plant an orchard; built a garage partition, built all of the beds in my off campus house and now I have the next visit. This visit was different in a special way – we had a deadline. School was starting in two days flat, and my room had absolutely no shelving, nor did it have room for an armoire, so we did the next best thing – built some custom shelves.

no storage - uh oh!

casual chill time in the bathroom doing some finishing touches

yep - even my friends got handy!

some awkward wood stove handling

We hit the hardware store, then the shelving, then the hardware store again and repeated a few times over, with the help of friends. I felt like I was a part of some home design show when at 10:30pm we were all still working, drilling away. By lunch time on the second day, we were damn near complete, and after one last push, the room was complete, from start to finish it was another whirlwind visit, but I swear the next one will at least include a hike!

look!

so much storage! 

hoorah!