Let's hear it for toast!

So my family came for Family Weekend and we went shopping at the Target in Janesville (you will understand the significance of this if you come to Beloit) and they bought me a toaster for my dorm kitchen! This is very exciting since I have been without toast for nigh on five weeks. And let me tell you, a bagel can be disappointing and even limpid without the benefit of toasting. I tried my new toaster out for the first time this morning and it worked like a charm though with the hot plastic smell of appliances fresh from the factory. I'm sure that will fade in time.

All in all it was a beautiful weekend and a wonderful time spent with the people I love best. My parents came on Friday night and I served them soup in my dorm. Unfortunately there was a little mishap where the overheated lid of my saucepan exploded in my hand though luckily far away from my food. That's Wal-Mart quality for you. I cut my thumbs and it was a dastardly mess to clean up but otherwise everything turned out. My soup was appreciated (everyone loves a Krista-cooked meal) and it was good to be eating with my family again!

Saturday we went to the farmer's market in downtown Beloit and my dad bought me a little sunrise squash to try. They had bought one at the farmer's market back home and really liked it and thought I would like it too. Afterwards we went to the Turtle Creek bookstore where my dad browsed for a Beloit t-shirt and my mom snuggled up with some books. We ran into my friend from Virginia and her mother and ended up talking with them for over an hour in the bookstore's "conference room". I took my parents to see my weaving once we headed back to campus and then spent the afternoon shopping in Janesville and enjoying Happy Hour at the hotel. We tried out some new restaurants this weekend which is always fun. Beloit recently opened up an Atlantic Bread Co. that was pretty good--sort of like the illegitimate offspring of Panera Bread and Dunn Brothers. We also stopped at a favorite local pizza place called Tilly's. It was nice--cute atmosphere, friendly staff, and good pizza for cheap. Not too far from campus either...

Sunday morning we stopped at the Apple Hut for some donuts, apples, and cider (all fabulous, let me assure you). It was a lovely drive down country roads with trees turning various hues of gold and red. Uber fall-ish. Then my parents dropped me off at my dorm and began the long drive back to southern Minnesota. I was very lucky this weekend and didn't have a ton of schoolwork and so I spent the rest of my Sunday hanging out with my friends, eating homegrown watermelon, and watching trashy television. Since I'm such a homebody it's always hard to say good-bye to my family, but midterm break is only ten days away and then I will be back in Minnesota with my cat!