Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Five items you might underestimate

The purpose of this post is to identify some items in my dorm room that are small and non-essential, but really nice to have. Might be useful in August...

 

First, my thermos. It's insulated for hot liquids and super stylish! One of the great things about St. Mike's is that we have unlimited meal plans (except for seniors who live in townhouses with kitchens). That means you can go to Alliot seventeen times a day -if you want- but no one really does. I eat three meals a day there, but I also run in quickly sometimes to fill this mug with coffee before a meeting or grab a sandwich on the way to skiing. Quick options like this save me time and money, and the caffeine keeps me going.
*Fun fact: The necklaces in the background are hand made from recycled trash. Once a month I volunteer with MOVE at a men's independent living shelter- we go to a grocery store, cook dinner, and just chill with the guys. They're so appreciative, and one of the men makes these for us every time we go. I have a collection.


Next: Vitamins (in bottles and lotion). Vermont winter is nasty and really sucks the life out of my skin. A pump bottle of lotion is easily accessible and more affordable.  I also take the vitamins every morning at breakfast. I need them especially because I don't always eat a balanced diet in the dining hall, plus- I gave up meat for lent, which means I'm not getting any iron. Last week we had a blood drive on campus and these iron supplements saved me.
*Fun fact: Yes, that is my window screen behind this stuff. I took it out because my neighbors and I like to communicate by sticking our heads out the window. My room faces into the quad so there are always exciting people to shout at below.


My Brita Pitcher is the best (my fridge, not so much). Vermont tap water is probably some of the best stuff out there, but it's nice to have cold filtered water in my room when I'm thirsty instead of buying bottled water.
*Note to the future fridge purchaser: Don't buy this fridge. It's from Target, by Emerson- it has a whiteboard on the front and costs about $80. It runs perfectly fine but the setup is terrible. The door shelving is awkward, and it's so short that I had to take the middle rack out as well as the lid off of my pitcher off just to fit it inside. It can only fit on the middle shelf because if I put it on the bottom the door won't close. Terrible design!


This picture was intended to be of my reed diffuser, but my nightlight snuck in there too. I can't really complain because my room is awesome, but dorms can get a little stuffy in the winter when we can't open our windows. The diffuser isn't too strong but keeps things fresh.
*Another suggestion to keep your room fresh is to buy a standing fan rather than a window fan- in the winter you can prop open your door and turn on the fan, which helps with ventilation (and visitors!).


My whiteboard = my life. I'm really really organized but also really busy. I need to see what I'm doing or I get overwhelmed. My whiteboard lets me visualize the week and keeps me from stressing. This one is a calendar board (from Target). I also have a second whiteboard on my door for messages.
*Fun fact: The item with the star next to it says "Study Arabic." The IT department set me up with network access to the Rosetta Stone program to learn Arabic on my Macbook, which we get for FREE through the Language Learning Resource Center. It's something worth taking advantage of and is a nice break from homework (just like blogging)!

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