Cinnamon, nooks, potato - 7/52 :)

Do you ever have those moments when you feel sad for no reason? There seem to be more of them this week. They come and go. I write myself little notes throughout the week to remind me of all the happy things and what I've been up to so that I can write these weekly recap posts. I know I have everything to be happy about. It was a pretty good week. Maybe I just need to get more sleep.


  1. Ever since Thanksgiving at Georgina's, I've been quite taken with apple cider. It was just store bought apple cider, but it was warmed on a stove and garnished with a stick of cinnamon. Which was a big deal because I don't think I've ever had a drink with an actual stick of cinnamon in it prior. To me, it was the kind of thing I always saw in cookbooks and online, but never in my practical everyday life. Anyways, what are the chances that the weekend I bought a half gallon of apple cider from Trader Joe's, someone put a whole bag of premium Vietnamese cinnamon sticks in the dorm's free pantry?
  2. Vanessa (assistant dean) and Jason (professor) remember me from last year! I met Vanessa a week before my freshman year of college at the Tri-Co program. I had Jason for my Intro to Linguistics class during the Spring 2015 semester. I didn't speak up much in either of those settings, so I'm surprised that they remember who I am, but I've always silently admired and appreciated them from afar. Whenever I run into them, I always give a smile or nod of acknowledgement and they usually reciprocate, but I was never sure if it was out of politeness, or because they actually remembered me too. Based on recent interactions, I can confirm that they remember who I am.
  3. Passing notes in class is one of those childish things I look back upon nostalgically. In seventh grade, my homeroom table group passed around my mini notebook, and we'd scrawl notes and illustrations to each other in class. MSN was a big thing back then, so we even gave ourselves screen names, and would preface each one of our notes or illustrations with our code name and a colon. You know, just in case we couldn't tell the difference between the handwriting or multicoloured pens. In ninth grade Biology, I'd pass notes with the two people sitting next to me. We'd randomly bullet point our sentences to make them seem more like class notes, and even randomly drew chromosomes all over them. Passing notes in class is discouraged because it's distracting, but I can't help but find pleasure in it. It's like we've got our own little secret. I haven't done this in awhile because I don't have that kind of relationship with my classmates in college anymore, but now that I'm seeing more of the same people in my classes (thanks to majors), I can feel it beginning--casting knowing glances at each other when that kid in the class asks another nonsense hypothetical question, passing notes to each other over instant messenger because it's the modern age.
  4. Last year I'd only had a cancelled class once. That day I was supposed to have had an in-class exam, but a snow storm hit. Did the exam get postponed? Nah, it became a take-home exam instead and so I needed to take it anyway despite not having school, so I didn't really have the day off. #HonorCodeStruggles. I actually much prefer take-home exams though, so I'm glad it turned out that way. It's just a fun thing to complain about. This year we had another snow storm, but it occurred over the weekend so we didn't miss any classes. What's the point of a snow storm if not to miss classes? Snow storm wasted! So this semester I was so excited to see a cancelled class scheduled into my Discrete Math syllabus due to the professor being away for a conference, and that cancellation took place this Tuesday.
  5. To maximize this extra time, I decided to skip my only other class that afternoon to completely free it up, but only because it was a PE class, for which we're allowed a total of two absences. Kat, Georgina, Rose, and I spent a productive afternoon at Green Engine Coffee, which I've been to twice now, and that you will see on the blog eventually, so I won't be writing anymore about that here ;) If you follow me on Snapchat @auderoylin, you'll have seen a preview!
  6. How to Get Away with Murder is back on! Reunited with the HTGAWM [watching] crew after too many Thursdays apart. It's so much fun watching shows like this with friends. I also much prefer watching TV shows week by week rather than binge watching them online. It's a forced way to moderate your TV-watching habits so that your life doesn't go tumbling in a downward spiral. And also, the suspense! When you watch with more people, all the reactions amplify. #WhoIsChristophe?!
  7. This nook in Magill (over at Haverford College, where 3/4 of my classes are this semester) is my new favourite place to study. Is it lame that I spent most of my Friday afternoon in the library, and probably would have stayed for longer if not I had a meeting? I honestly would have stayed there until the evening and then slept through the night. It was so hard to get up maaan... (If you follow me on Snapchat @auderoylin, you'll have seen how cosy I was.)
  8. Working on a group project for Phonetics and Phology, and we got some bloopers while voice recording. Usually I despise group work, but this is kinda fun. Language is so weird and cool. Hi Kevin I know you read this. Pototo :3 
  9. Visited Chinatown two days in a row, which made for a delicious weekend of bubble tea, egg waffles, and 叉烧包. I also bought a new pair of pants that I can add to my collection of four, which means I can delay my laundry cycle for an extra day or two.
  10. After having such a great time at their concert last fall semester, I've newly joined the Bryn Mawr Concert Series (two weeks strong). The planning for Tri-Co Battle of the Bands is underway, and I'm really excited to be a part of this process and for the concert in April. My specific role is outreach to the rest of the consortium (Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges).
  11. Currently listening to Spirits by The Strumbellas.

I want to make an effort to remember the little joys in life, so my 52 week challenge for 2016 is to write weekly Happy Lists.

PS: 654321.

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