Lauren Goes To College!

After reading Connie's post, I was inspired to blog about going off to college too! It's sort of the perfect thing to write about, I decided. At this time, school is coming to a rapid close. I only have four more "real" days of school left, and after that I will be completely done with high school. Forever. It's weird just thinking about it.

I'll be going to school 3000 miles away, in this big place called New York City. I've always thought San Francisco was a city, but when I recently flew over New York at night, I also flew over the most lights I'd ever seen in my life. Suddenly, San Francisco seemed as small as it actually is. New York is bigger, livelier, and totally different from everything that I'm used to. So, with all this change, I've compiled a mini-list of some things that are on my mind.

College things that worry me(In no particular order):
1) The weather: Yes, it can get really, really cold over there. At least for a California girl. I mean, 50 Degrees is bitterly cold to me. How am I supposed to handle 20? And snow? I wear sandals.

2) The hardcore art kids: I don't want to turn into an art snob who only makes friends with other art snobs! I'm not that kid who's always known what she's wanted to do when she grows up. I'm that kid who was like, "Hey, I like art. Maybe I should do something with that."

3) The horrible, horrible feeling of missing everything: I guess it hasn't really hit me yet, but I'm going to be leaving all of my friends and family in three months. Yeah, I know, sappy stuff goes here. But it really will be weird, and probably not in a good way.

College things that make me go "YAY!"(also in no particular order):
1) The roommate survey: As odd as it is, I've always been extremely excited for THE ROOMMATE SURVEY. The one where you answer a series of questions and get assigned to a roommate with similar answers to yours. It's kinda like a personality quiz, only you don't get to see the result until September.

2) The city off campus: When I visited New York just a couple months ago, I already discovered a couple neat places near my school that I'll be visiting very, very often. For a quick bite, Bleeker Street Pizza is pretty amazing, as is Saint's Alp's Tea House.

3) Meeting new people: While this could also be a scary part of college, it's also one of the most exciting. Right now, there are so many people I haven't met who Future Me will say that she can't imagine living without. It's knowing that a bunch of your best friends are across the country, and you are finally going to visit them now.

A Shot At Love

Among the other trashy shows on MTV and VH1, such as Rock of Love, NEXT, Flavor of Love, and more, A Shot at Love truly is one of a kind.

Here's a mini-description: A multi-seasoned reality show starring Tila Tequila(I'm not sure if that's her real name) -- a bisexual woman looking for love. Sixteen girls and Sixteen boys are selected to compete against each other for the one bisexual woman. That's the premise of the show. And if you've ever watched MTV before, you pretty much know that you're going to get a lot of drama and a lot of skankiness.

But even though A Shot At Love is 100% trash(I tried typing 99% trash and 1% substance, but couldn't think of anything for the 1%), I have to admit that I absolutely love watching it. Not because I'm emotionally attached to Tila's fake tears at the end of Season 1 or her "battle" over whether she wants a woman or a man, but just because watching a show so trashy is just hilarious. I mean, they have all these ridiculous challenges, like eating pig intestines to supposedly "win over" Tila's love, or melt a block of ice to get to the center of Tila's "heart." But of course, this just ended up being an excuse to take off clothes and use body heat instead.

It's kinda funny and entertaining, until I realize that some people actually take this seriously, and then it stops being kinda funny and entertaining.

Homemade Brownies vs. Brownies From The Box

Although this is probably a common trait that all teenagers share, I'm ashamed to say that I never cook. I would say "rarely," but I don't think boiling instant ramen or stirring a packet of cheese into macaroni counts as "cooking." I do, however, really like to bake. I bake all sorts of sweet things(taken out of a recipe book, of course). Cookies, cakes, pastries...basically whatever I feel like eating at the moment. But the thing I crave most often would have to be brownies -- the dense and chewy, but not too fudgy kind. I've made lots and lots of batches, trying to achieve this perfect taste. I've gone through countless recipe books, hoping to find the one recipe that would completely satisfy me. But for some reason, the taste was never spot-on, and I was often left sad with a tray full of so-so brownies.

One day, when I entered my Ceramics class, someone brought in brownies and set them on the table. Out of curiosity, I took a bite of one. It was amazing. I think I ate five in total, not even bothering to be polite about it. After recovering from taste shock, I asked the girl for the recipe. She laughed, gave me the weirdest look, and said, "It's from the box."

And so began my love of pre-made brownie mix and Betty Crocker.



Ever since I discovered this little box, I've been a strong supporter of brownie mix(and probably other boxed desserts that I have yet to try). It's kind of funny, because I've always thought that homemade goods were better than pre-made ones. Obviously, I had no idea what I was talking about. Not even a baking snob can say that pre-made desserts are not amazingly delicious. It's impossible!

To test this theory, and to convert one homemade brownie supporter, I made a batch of Betty Crocker's(in only a half an hour!) as a taste test. Of course, the taste-tester was speechless at first. But when I prodded him for a direct quote that I could include in this blog post, he said, "Fine. Brownies made from the box taste better than brownies made from scratch."

I told him that was too dry of a quote, and that I needed a more interesting one. So here was his revised opinion:

"I once insisted staunchly that brownies made from scratch were tastier than those made from the box. However, since then I have seen the error in my ways. No amount of traditional home-made goodness can match the sheer gastronomical assault of high fructose corn syrup and saturated fat."

As you can see, he is no longer a homemade brownie supporter. Because at the end of the day, pre-made mixes have something that homemade goods can never compare to. I honestly believe that if you go with the pre-made mixes, you'll always be satisfied. So long as you don't look at the nutrition facts.

Anti-Dance Away!

High School Dances are just one of those things that people always look back on. Whether they're remembered fondly or with disgust, everyone's supposed to go to and experience them at some point. In movies, high school dances are shown as extremely dramaful. It's the ultimate opportunity for X boy to ask out X girl! The night that the main character's dream will finally come true! Or in the case of Prom Night, it's the event that spirals into a hotel murder scene. All very exciting. But in reality, high school dances are nothing like that at all. To me, they've always been pretty... I don't want to say boring, but pretty not that fun. Not unenjoyable, but just alright(sorry to offend anyone who does like them).

Since it's Senior Year and most of my friends have also gotten over the High School Dance phase, we decided to start a little something. It started out as a joke, but I guess the name has stuck: "Anti-Dance" parties. On the night of every school dance, my friends and I get together at someone's house to be as loud and ridiculous as we want. We do it in part because it's 100 times more fun than a night spent at the dance, but also because we'd feel pretty lame staying home on a Friday night. The Anti-Dance parties are for all the things we can't do during the busy school week. So when the opportunity comes up, it's all about the movies, card games, hot-tubbing, and DDR... And of course, snacks are always provided.

Christine on Guitar Hero!

Dance Dance Revolution! (None of us are very good at it though...)

An intense game of Wii Duck Hunting.

Lazing around...

And sure, you can share sleeping bags, too.

Powell's Sweet Shoppe

On the corner of Burlingame Avenue, Powell's Sweet Shoppe opened up relatively recently. It's not just any candy store, not the usual set-up of stacked candy containers and bins of taffy. It's more like a candy store, a toy store, and a Gelato parlor rolled into one. But the thing I like most about Powell's Sweet Shoppe is that it doesn't take itself too seriously. There are potential joke presents everywhere you turn: Joke mints, Plastic moustaches, Blow-up boyfriend/girlfriends, The Guide to Dating... Even though only 1/4 of those are actually candy, they all fit in with the general theme of Powell's Sweet Shoppe. It's a Fun Store. It sells fun.

Another amazing thing: They keep Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory on repeat, with a row of movie theater seats in front of the TV for the "experience." I remember seeing that movie when I was little and being really scared by the Oompa Loompas, but in awe of Wonka's chocolate river. So even though there are kids running all around me, loud and sugar-crazy, I can still get into the movie since it's one of my favorites. So at least for me, visiting Powell's Sweet Shoppe is just a small reminder of things from my past.

Vacant Lot

Outside my house there's this vacant lot across the street. Or actually, it's not really a vacant lot. There are trees -- lots of them, and tall grass that's slightly itchy when you walk through it. When I moved to my house in Burlingame, I thought it was weird that there was this pathetic little forest growing in the middle of a residential area. But over time, I've become glad that it's there. Sometimes you have to relocate yourself around the growth on the trees, or adjust where you're sitting so pointy bits of wood aren't poking you in the leg. But once you've gotten comfortable, it's very relaxing. Just enough light peeks through the trees, and unlike certain places in the city, you can actually see the sky when it's blue.

I go there when I want to get out of my room, when I'm frustrated, or whenever I could use some time for myself. I consider it to be my own personal space, even though technically, I'm standing on someone else's property. Whose, I'm still not sure yet(it might be the next door neighbor, who is apparently the grandson of some famous movie director). But whoever owns the lot either hasn't noticed or is very nice, because so far no one's come to kick me out. Now though, I'm dreading the day when someone will come and take it all away, and replace the trees and grass with a big fat swimming pool. Well, a swimming pool wouldn't be so bad, actually. Only I feel it'd be a little more obvious when I'm "borrowing" it.

Red Mango in the city of Newly Wed and Nearly Dead

Red Mango is trendy. It has a clean, modern interior, and a logo that any Frozen Yogurt fan would be able to recognize. Even though I'd think frozen yogurt would be too cold in the middle of winter or after dark, I still find myself waiting my turn in line in January. That's how popular it is. I guess you could say that Red Mango has become a trendy hang-out spot for teenagers and college students. Therefore, it made absolutely no sense that there would be one in San Carlos.

"Newly wed and Nearly dead," we call it. A small suburban city that's about an hour south of San Francisco, San Carlos is the place where I spent my first thirteen years. Growing up there, I never had anything unique to say about the city. But looking back now, I can't help but notice all of its funny quirks. For one, I can't go downtown without running into my old elementary school teacher or my neighbor from across the street. The Middle schoolers still loiter outside Diddam's Party store because they think it makes them cool. And if I happen to be in San Carlos at 11:00 PM, I can practically dance down the middle of the road because no cars will be coming until morning.

That's the San Carlos that I've always known, sort of like the dorky side of your best friend. So when Trendy Red Mango opened up in San Carlos' downtown(which is more like a semi-long road with side streets here and there), I was shocked. But in a good way, of course, because I love Red Mango. Some people say that they hate frozen yogurt, usually with the reasoning that it's like inferior Ice Cream or that it tastes like spoiled milk. And okay, I can understand that. I thought that the first time I had frozen yogurt too. But somehow, frozen yogurt has a taste that you can't just have once. It's not overly sweet like ice cream, but not a healthy breakfast snack like yogurt. It's a perfect, balanced, somewhere in between. So if this is all new to you, get to Red Mango or any other frozen yogurt store as soon as you can.