#5 Visit a friend at a different school

So I go home Friday for Thanksgiving break (CAN'T WAIT) but I had been talking to one of my friends in my sorority about visiting Wash U in St. Louis together and we decided that this past weekend would be perfect. We basically decided that if we couldn't go home yet, we might as well get a little slice of home and see some people we miss (a friend of mine from jr. high/high school and her cousin both go there) and I'm so glad that we did.

Visiting old friends and seeing them in such a new environment is pretty weird, I'm not gonna lie. It's just weird hanging out with someone you spent so much time with back home, then spending so much time with them and their new group of friends. It's odd, but actually a really cool experience as well.

I guess I'm lucky that it was a positive experience for me because I loved all my friend Kaci's new friends, and was really happy to see how much fun she has with them. It just makes me happy when I know that my friends have found a school where they feel comfortable, and seeing first-hand how well of a fit Wash U is for Kaci made the visit that much more enjoyable.

Another plus was that Wash U, or WUSTL (Washington University St. Louis) is absolutely gorgeous. The buildings are breathtaking and they all have that old campus charm, and the architecture of the campus coupled with the amazing old mansions in the Clayton, MO neighborhood surrounding the school are super fun to stare at and dream of living in while driving by. And, to top it all off, I was told that the kids that live in these neighborhoods are very down to earth and don't act as if they live in million dollar homes. Now I don't actually know enough people from this town to know if that's true, but if they're all as cool and down to earth as Kaci's suite mate from Clayton, I'd say that it's a pretty accurate generalization.

Now, this was my first time in St. Louis and although I didn't get to see much of the city, I'm in love with the area that I was in and I would highly recommend a trip there to anyone who hasn't seen it before, especially if you're a college student at another school in Missouri.

On Friday we had dinner on "The Hill", and as a girl from the Chicago suburbs who knows nothing about St. Louis, I was given the comparison of Little Italy as an explanation of what the neighborhood is like, which I think was fairly accurate. We knew we were on The Hill once we were immediately greeted by Italian flags marking every light post, bearing the name of the neighborhood in big black letters, and as we got deeper into the area I started seeing restaurants mixed in among the little houses (one completely decked out in Christmas lights already). We soon pulled up to one called Cunetto House of Pasta, which my ride/friend Madison claimed, as a frequent visitor to St. Louis, is the best. I have to say, I wasn't really disappointed. We tried the Toasted Ravioli-a St. Louis classic-as an appetizer and I got the Fettuccine Alfredo as my main entree, which I figured was a safe bet. Although I was first introduced to "toasted rav" at school in our dining hall because of all the St. Louis kids that go here (I was such a t rav virgin that I didn't know you're supposed to eat it with your hands instead of a fork...I got laughed at for that one) this version definitely had more flavor and I know understand why so many of my peers are obsessed. My pasta was very good as well, but I felt like I had inhaled a small child after getting three quarters of the way through my plate-the portions were quite generous-so we had plenty of leftovers.

The rest of my weekend was spent hanging out on campus and exploring Clayton/University City's downtown area, which they call The Loop. For lunch on Saturday we went to Cheese-ology, which must have been made by God himself, just for me because it was literally a restaurant with only Mac and Cheese. Delicious. I had the four cheese and was in heaven.

After lunch, we did some shopping down the street from the restaurant, and my favorite store was a thrift store called Avalon. The best part of this place was that we couldn't even tell that it was a thrift store at first, but we were so intrigued by the bold outfits on the mannequins in the window that we decided we had to go in. While they had their share of wacky clothes that seemed only fit for a costume party, they also had enough steals that I wanted to buy more after I had already paid for my black $16 Forever 21 cocktail dress. Kaci got four sweaters and I had to convince her not to get more! I saw what looked like a brand new pair  of sheepskin lined moccasins for $15, a Juicy Couture jacket for $60 and a  whole wall of purses-many designer brand-of which I wouldn't allow myself to look at the price tags for fear of buying all of them.

To end my weekend, Kaci and I ate brunch at the "Bear's Den" dining hall right by her dorm, which they affectionately call DB. After stuffing my face with bacon, hash browns, an omelet, yogurt parfait and slice of "apple and cheddar breakfast pizza" (that was interesting), it was time to say good-bye, but it wasn't too hard knowing that I would see her in just a week and a half. It also helped that after meeting all her friends, I know that she's in good hands.