Living On The Cheap

All summer long, my friends and I have been grilling out, inheriting leftover foodstuffs from people coming in and out of the residences with various programs, and generally eating anything we can find. We are summer workers and we are not on the food plan.

During the academic year, especially when I've got running, being on a meal plan is a no-brainer. It makes sense to cook for myself during the summer when I have time to be cheap and forge around Woodman's for the best deals, but this just isn't the case during the regular year. Besides, it's lovely to go to Commons at the end of a long day and sit down with all of my friends. Being on a meal plan is hardly all about food.

More than any other kind, I love free food. Admittedly, the photo at the top of this post (featuring Julia Leavengood Boxer '07 to my left) was taken at a Dairy Breakfast in Wallworth county where admission was five dollars. Such social events are well worth the cash in my book, but I won't say the syrup wouldn't have tasted sweeter if the grub had been gratis.

The point of this entry is to encourage all prospective/college students to go to the websites of their favorite chain eateries and join the birthday clubs. Now. Get on the mailing list, kiddos. Hoard the weekly promotional coupons. When you're paying tuition, these pieces of paper are the golden tickets to a world of luxury. Yes, there are certain establishments that will give you a free dish on your B-Day, but only if you've signed up on the site. My favorite carb-toting chain (born in Madison), will give you a regular sized dish of noodles for nada, if you're willing to put up with the rest of their junk e-mail. I recommend using an old e-mail account to collect the onslaught of coupons, but mostly I just recommend signing up.

And now, after giving out shameless advice in promotion of coupons, what can I have to say for myself? I'm kind of stingy, but I know how to eat well. Plus, if you're not taking advantage of Dairy Breakfasts and Free Cone Days, you're just plain missing out.

Catchphrases: Cooking is fun. Food is good, free food is better. Eat more kale. Cowabunga.

- Julia

The Final Countdown *cue music*

Hey guys. This is it. It's the end. It's been great, and I hope you've enjoyed my random comments on this blog. Tomorrow is my last day in the Admissions Office. Probably not forever of course, but as a paid employee, I'm shaking the dust of this office off my feet and moving on to...not bigger/better things, but different. RA training starts in about two weeks, so I'll be putting my skills to good use making the campus a better place to live. Yay.

Since I have no real news to report (other than the fact that the heat has officially escalated from stifling to soul-crushing), I thought I'd wrap my summer blog up with a little something that combines two of my favorite internet phenomenons: LOLCATS and Oscar, the nursing home cat who predicts residents' deaths by curling up next to them.


That's my last contribution to the Beloit Summer Blog. Enjoy the rest of your summers. For those of you who are incoming first-years, I might run into you in a couple of weeks (yeah, you're excited, admit it) and if you're prospective students, come visit campus! It's pretty sweet.

Kisses,
LDM

Things have been figured out... and broken

So I talked to Residential Life today and I will be moving back on campus. It's a relief to know that I will have somewhere to live in two weeks. Now I just have to go through all my stuff, pack more efficiently and take a bunch of stuff home.

I've also gotten a lot more excited about coming back to school. Maybe it's because I've made a lot of great friends this summer. Maybe it's because I watched the Devil Wears Prada and got really excited about going shopping for new school clothes. Or maybe it's because I'm excited about decorating my new room.

The downfall? I broke my toe last night. Well, actually, this morning. Around 1am my friends wanted to play ultimate frisbee so we did and I broke my toe because I was playing barefoot. Now I have to go in and see the trainer and explain this to my new coaches. It happens I guess.

*Brandi

Julia Goes To The City

This weekend I decided to go to Chicago and walk amoungst the rest of the world. Things are awefully quiet around here on the edge of August and the weekend train pass is awefully cheap. A trip into town was the perfect antidote for a weekend that I would otherwise have spent napping on the Effigy Mounds rereading Harry Potter's fate.

So, early Saturday morning, my friend Lucy and I took the Metra line into Chicago and wandered around the Lincoln Park Zoo. We strolled the waterfront and Michigan Ave and did the touristy thing all the way from the Garden District to the steps of the Art Institute. There, we met a couple Beloiters for dinner and made our way to Grant Park to see the boat parade for Venetian Night. The boats "dressed up" as Chicago's greatest moments this year. There were a wide variety of blues brothers, Cubs fans, and dancing cows holding lanterns on deck as the yachts passed. We even saw Poseidon the Parade Master (pictured in the background, sorry about the photo quality):



On Sunday, I returned to Chicago by myself to be brave and stuff in the presence of large buildings. My new favorite is the Chicago Public Library-- eight stories of BOOKS!!



In any case, the library was closed when I got there and I have yet to go inside. It's big though, right? Several blocks east of the library, it was a gorgeous sunny day and I was thrilled to be out of Beloit for a taste of that smoggy, city air. I spent the day picnic-lunching on apples and brie, reading from park bench to park bench. I have to confess that I ate dinner at nowhere special (just the usual, Panera), but I am deeply in love their Tomato Mozzarella Salad.

At the risk of painting the wrong picture of Beloit's finest, please see Karen Baumann '10 (below) being intimidating in Panera. She was trying to scare me into giving up a tomato or two, but it was my birthday. I don't share tomatoes.



AND for the benefit of those of you who have been reading all summer, I have posted the following photo of a large fountain a couple blocks off of VanBuren. Thanks for sticking it out! Look for a best-of-midwestern fountains entry to appear in this blog in the near future.



In addition taking this weekend as an opportunity to get out of town, I was also able to pose with Ceres (below)-- my favorite summertime gal. While all this travel was a great diversion to plan and execute, I am most excited about the return of, well, everyone. Tomorrow is the start of August. Ceres and I are ready for the next adventure.



- Julia

Hey All!

Just wanted to share with you some of the exciting things I've been doing recently. This past weekend was a blast. My girlfriend's mother flew into Milwaukee and we picked her up on our way to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. My girlfriend's mom's father's brother (confusing I know) owns a summer house up there with his wife and they love to go boating and fishing out on Lake Michigan and Green Bay.

We got in to Sturgeon Bay around midnight on Friday and slept in a really cool loft bedroom in their trailer seasonal home. The next morning we got up and hopped on a couple little red mo-peds and scootered around Potowomac State Park. It was my first experience riding such a contraption and has instilled in me a deep appreciation for these fun little toys.

Afterwards, we hopped in my girlfriend's mom's father's brother's boat (again confusing) and hit the water, greeted with bumpy waves and blistering sun. Regardless of excessively thorough sunscreening, we couldn't escape the ultraviolet bombardment of a gloriously sunny day. With swimming, tubing, observing and relaxing (complete with a sighting of a wide circling B2 stealth bomber) it was a wonderful day on the water.

Upon returning to shore, we showered dressed and headed out to view the hilarious musical antics of the American Folklore Theater about 45 minutes north of Sturgeon Bay. The show that night featured "Belgians in Heaven," that proudly ordained cheese curds, buoillon and beer as the three most important staples of a happy existence with love taking second place in the pecking order of the heavenly plan. Extremely enjoyable on the whole with talking chickens and French painters turned hics.

On Sunday, I decided I'd be all macho and run a bit. What I anticipated was a nice jog around the Potowamac State Park, a picturesque escepade along the shining blue water. Well, I got all that along with 8.5 miles of slow burn. My legs ended up like jelly and me like a sloth upon my return to the house. Nice scenic run though.

That afternoon, we headed to the the Door County Natural Museum to see some interesting exhibits of stuffed deer, tweeting bears, old fashioned roller skates, and minature ice huts for those possessed Wisconsin winter fishermen. Nice exhibit though it lack a bit of flow and order, most of the pieces being donated and kind of thrown hapharzardly among related items in display boxes placed next to anything but related displays. Anyway, it was entertaining to perch in the drivers seat of a 1940s firetruck and sing along to the "Door County Serenade" but not necessarily something to write home about (wait a second...).

This morning we hopped in the car and drove the 4 hours or so it took to get back to Beloit so I could work this afternoon. Oh happy weekends...

Cheers!!!
Travis...