A few weeks ago while speaking with my mom on the phone, she asked me what type of cake I’d like to have for my 20th birthday (count it down, everyone– my birthday is in fourteen days!). I pondered it for a moment– Chocolate? Vanilla? Pumpkin Spice (it is Fall, right)? But I had only one flavor on my mind.
“You know, mom,” I began, “Could I just skip a cake for this year?”
“Sure, if that’s what you’d like,” she replied. “But you know your friends can always eat it if you don’t want it.”
“True,” I said. “But I’m thinking of something else. Could I skip the cake and have the Sesame Ginger Quinoa salad you made for me during last summer instead?”
FOOD. The one thing that seems to accompany every event, action, and situation I encounter in college.
Last night, my Entrepreneurship class Sales Pitch Practice was accompanied with cookies. I have coffee dates with my besties to catch up and talk about life. Snack breaks while completing long hours of homework. Three meals per day.
Here’s the problem I face, however: Food can be expensive. Or repetitive. Or straight-up-not-the-type-of-food-I-want-to-eat.
Don’t get me wrong, here. Phelps Dining Hall food is not that bad, regardless of what you may have heard. Cook Dining Hall food, primarily for upperclassmen, is good too. The gluten free chicken fingers from the Kletz are prime.
Sometimes, though, I’d love to have an unlimited supply of sushi and pumpkin spice lattes and the opportunity to open my fridge and actually see food (I’m currently sitting with a carton of milk, a container of lemon-lime Jell-O and a cheese stick, which feels less than acceptable to me.)
So, one can only imagine my excitement when I arrived home for Fall Break last Friday night at 1am to find a fridge overflowing with food of all shapes, sizes, and flavors. Never in my life had leftover pizza looked and sounded so good to me. I was so excited, in fact, that I slammed the doors shut and embraced my fridge, thanking it for being stocked full of so many delicious items.
I was in love. I spend the weekend eating all of my favorites that I can’t always find at school– steak, asparagus, and chocolate brownie hot fudge cake for my Dad’s birthday– chowing on an endless supply of yogurt, fresh raspberries, microwave popcorn, and vanilla ice cream.
The saddest part of leaving home (other than saying goodbye to my dog… and my family) is thinking of all the food I was leaving back in the fridge. Unfortunately, the 7-hour drive isn’t cut out for bringing back cold items, and flying to and from Hope doesn’t exactly create an opportunity for space for food.
Not to sound desperate or anything, but, THANKSGIVING, PLEASE COME SOONER.
What was the best part about your Fall Break? Let me know by tagging me in your tweet @hopesophie17. Shoot me an email at sophie.guetzko@hope.edu or comment below with any questions you may have. Have a great rest of your week!