A Summer Note

Just in case some of you are still reading this...

I wanted to write a little note about my end of the summer highlight! I spent the summer in Madison (as last summer) working at Bleak House Books. Another awesome summer, was definitely the best place to be while dealing with readjustment and missing Scotland more than I thought possible. It is now already September and time to go back to Northwestern for my last year, CAN'T BELIEVE IT!

I had the very lucky fortune of having my boyfriend (yes i was totally cliche and found myself a scottish boyfriend while abroad... : p ) Malcolm - who i stayed with at the end of my time in Edinburgh if you all remember - come to visit for the last 2 weeks. He came on the 23rd of August and I've spent the last 2 weeks trying to show off my home as well as show him off to my friends and fam! We managed to drag him just about everywhere - La Crosse featured brewery tours, river adventures, hiking the bluffs, many fine meals hosted by friends, and a day trip to my summer home of Madison! We also flew out to the west coast to visit Sarah in Seattle. We experienced some great Seattle sights - salmon steps, pikes market, parks, etc. - and then went camping on a beautiful beach on the Olympic peninsula for a couple days. It was an amazing trip, so good to see Sarah as well as show Malcolm such a beautiful area! Upon return to Wisconsin, we managed a trip to Devils Lake to have a go at both our first American rock climbing. It felt so good to get back on the rock, even if it was a bit different from what we were used to - extreme heat, wasps in the rock cracks, and midnight racoon raids! Guess i should get used to it though, since it's the only good climbing in the area! (i'm hoping to get involved with the NU outdoor club, which takes many trips to Devils Lake apparently)

So, Malcolm headed out on the 6th (pictures of our adventures will be up on webshots soon! http://community.webshots.com/user/rachemarie ) and now its time for the inevitable packing to go back to school (the blog has come full circle). I'll be headed to my first apartment YAY on tuesday morning. I'm living with 2 of my best girl friends from gamma phi in a cute little apartment right near campus (909 Foster St, Apt 2W, Evanston, IL 60201). Hope everyone is doing well, and I'll keep the spirit of the blog going with any news on my future plans...

~R