Being in my final semester at the University of Connecticut, I have done a bunch of stuff these past four years. As a Type B person (sorry to all the Type A people out there — I would stress you out), I am always down for spontaneous hangouts. Luckily, I made an amazing friend at UConn with whom I go on random, last-minute quests.
Side Quest #1: Cumberland Farms
On a rainy evening during the last day of our junior year, my friend wanted to take me to Cumberland Farms. That was my first time stepping into a Cumberland Farms, though I always pass by it while coming back to campus. She had recently tried their chicken fajitas and wanted me to try them. We got the chicken fajitas and I got a Snickers F’real (basically a Snickers milkshake). Both of these items were mind-blowingly delicious. I was so amazed by the taste of the chicken fajitas, so savory and warm, perfect for the rainy evening we were having. The F’real was the perfect dessert after devouring these fajitas. I would highly recommend making a visit to Cumberland Farms if you have never been.
Side Quest #2: Doro Marketplace
My friend works in West Hartford, and I sometimes would accompany her to her shifts. She would drop me off at Doro Marketplace and I would do my work there until her shift is done. I know, very mom-child core, but if not for this, I would have never known about Doro and that would have been very unfortunate.
The vibes here are so impeccable and I’m always super productive when I am there. If you ever visit, please try their Mediterranean chicken bowl. It is so delicious. I will say, as a matcha lover, their matcha is not great, as it’s a bit too watery. Fun fact: the first time me and my friend went there, we got a free chocolate chip cookie — if you’ve been, you know that their cookies are humongous. The workers there are the sweetest, kindest souls.
Side Quest #3: Snow Cleaning
As I have mentioned before, my friend has a car on campus. During our sophomore year, her car was parked right behind my dorm building, Whitney. When it snowed heavily, we figured that we needed to clean her car one way or another. So we got up, got our snow cleaning tubes, and bundled up (we forgot our gloves). We cleaned her car and took the snow off as best as we could, scratched off all the frozen snow, played in the snow because we figured we might as well if we were out there, and took some cute pictures. It was nothing big, but we had a great time, even though our hands were fully frozen by the end!
Side Quest #4: Grocery Stores
I believe one of our favorite pastimes is going to random grocery stores, even if we have no intention of buying anything (but will end up leaving with something). On random nights, we would make the decision to go to Walmart and window shop and end up buying a dessert. We would go to Trader Joe’s, as their snack section is amazing. We made random trips to Sam’s Club, and she introduced me to their slushies which are amazing. We would go to Costco on random days, hoping there are samples we get to try. It would be super last minute but we know how to make it fun!
One time we were dilly-dallying at Costco and decided we wanted to try BJ’s pizookie since we are both sweet-tooths. And if you didn’t know, if you sign up for a BJ’s account you earn a free pizookie! So we ended up enjoying our delicious pizookie, and then stayed in the parking lot stressing about getting basketball tickets (spoiler alert: we ended up getting the tickets!).
Side Quest #5: Horsebarn Hill
My friend and I decided to go to look at the stars with some of our other friends on a random Tuesday night. Looking back at it, I will never do that again. Let me tell you how it went…
There were five of us. We parked my friend’s car near the Dairy Bar and started making our trek up Horsebarn Hill. It was going smooth at first. Once we got to the top of the hill, we were all pretty freaked out by its emptiness and the darkness. We tried staying (we really did), but in the end, we were so spooked that we ran down the hill and back to her car. Looking back at it, it is such a funny memory to recall (I have a huge smile while writing this) but at the moment it was quite spooky. If you visit Horsebarn Hill when it’s a little lighter out, though, it is quite special to watch the sunrise or sunset from there!
I could go on and on about the million other things we have done, such as random Taco Bell or Wendy’s trips (I have lost count on how many times we have ended up there), going to the Coventry Farmer’s Market, going to the mall, or going to random cafes. I hope my fellow Type B people meet their own spontaneous friends. Trust me, you will have an amazing time together. Â