top spots: part 2

I’m back with the second post of “top spots” around Burlington! (See the first post here).

To kick things off, MLC Bakeshop in Winooski is my new go-to for coffee and a quick breakfast to-go on my way to the WellWed office for my internship. This week I grabbed a ham & cheese croissant with my typical large cup of coffee (pictured below), and it was perfection. If you haven’t been, or are just looking for a new cafe/bakeshop to frequent, I would definitely recommend it!

This past Friday night, I went into town with my housemates Cara, Emma and Galya (below) for the opening of a new gallery exhibit at Burlington City Arts (right on Church Street)! This is a great option for getting downtown and doing something a little different (aside from the usual shopping and dinner routine)…

However, there’s always a need to grab great food while we’re in town! Radio Bean/Duino Duende (they’re connected) is my absolute favorite spot around. Duino Duende features a menu of international street food (my favorite is the Cubano sandwich), while the connected Radio Bean (pictured below) is a small, live music venue with local drinks (21+!) and a really cool, eccentric vibe. Check it out next time you’re in town – you’ll probably see me there! 🙂

I definitely mentioned Our House Bistro in my last “top spots” post, but it’s completely worth another mention. I mean, let’s talk about this chicken parm mac + cheese (pictured below)…

Unreal.

Cara and I topped off this past weekend with an afternoon of skating at Cairns (where the hockey teams play). This public skating was completely paid for by St. Mike’s – such a great extra little opportunity to get off campus, AND this crosses figure skating again off my 2015 bucket list! Even if you don’t really skate, it’s a must-do winter weekend activity.

Enjoy!

bits of the 2015 bucket list

Hey all!

For this year, I created a “52 in ’15” bucket list, inspired by one of my professor’s blogs of the same idea (Prof. Siplon – you must take a class with her!)

Since I’m graduating in May, there are quite a few that will be completed after leaving Vermont. However, there are SO many things I have left to do before saying goodbye to beautiful Burlington! I’ve compiled the best of my list that partially involves or relates to Vermont for you to read + maybe pull your own inspiration from…

 

Have an article published locally/nationally

Participate in a protest

(Successfully) cook a meal for friends

Read 25 new books

Take a photo at the whale tails

Try Heady Topper (21+!)

Go vegan again for a month (lots of vegan restaurant options in the area)

Dust off the old figure skates and spend an afternoon at the rink (going this week, actually)

Work on not procrastinating (haha…)

Participate in the naked mile before graduating (no shame)

Learn west coast swing (+ do social dancing at Duino Duende on Honky Tonk Tuesdays – one of my favorite restaurants/venues in Burlington)

Re-learn film photography + darkroom developing (taking the film photography class this semester)

Learn to meditate

Take kickboxing classes

Do aerial yoga

Volunteer in Tanzania (ok, this is obviously not something to do specifically with Vermont. HOWEVER, I am going to Tanzania this summer through the Health & Development in East Africa course, led by Prof. Siplon, that I’m currently taking. There are so many opportunities at St. Mike’s to get out into the world – take advantage of it!)

Go for a bike ride on the Burlington causeway

Go hiking + camping in Vermont

Photograph every worthy moment (and Vermont is quite photogenic, anyways!)

Complete a bit of the VT Brew Trail (21+!)

Visit every coffee shop in Burlington

Al’s French Fries — still haven’t been. Definitely not ok.

Snowy season

Hi all!

If you don’t already know, I’m not much of a winter person. (I know, why go to school in Vermont, right?) I enjoy the snow-covered ground for about 5 minutes and then it’s numbingly unpleasant. But, hey, to each their own.

However, I will say that with snow comes a lot of holiday cheer here on campus. My housemates in particular are rather festive this year, and we have a winter wonderland-esque window display in our living room. (Which makes the season a whole lot more enjoyable!)

This is really what the season is about. Great friends, hot chocolate (while watching Frozen, of course) and trying not to freak out too much over finals.

Also, I suppose it is quite pretty with just a sparkly dusting of snow covering our already beautiful campus. Vermont is spectacular any time of the year, really.

Here are a few snaps of the season thus far. Hope you’re all enjoying the winter weather – stay warm!

Did you know that the iconic LL Bean duck boots now have a 100,000 person waiting list until 2015? Apparently, Vermonters are quite on-trend and practical with our favorite winter-wear. I actually posted about them on my other blog, too – click here.

My housemate Emma is a snowflake genius. I mean, look at these! Gorgeous!

Just last week, I discovered that you can get the chai latte at Einstein’s (on campus) with a shot of espresso, which is called a “dirty hippie” – the perfect drink for a tasty jumpstart on a cold day.

Our magical winter wonderland window. Just more reasons why I love it here – fantastic people and so much season spirit.

Our last Defender layout day of the semester just happened this weekend – very bittersweet! Producing the paper is always such a rewarding feeling, but I’m also very excited for winter break, naturally…

This snowfall happened a week or so ago, and I’ll admit, the first real snowfall is always rather stunning. (I just can’t stand the cold, but oh well!)

Two top spots – on & off campus

The following two spots are definitely my top go-to’s; if you like coffee & fantastic gourmet food, this is for you!

First I’ll admit, I’m a coffee fanatic (and my friends might even say that’s putting it lightly). Burlington boasts some awesome local coffee shops, my favorite being Speeder & Earl’s. They have their main location down on Pine Street, a smaller shop (pictured below) on Church Street & we even have Speeder & Earl’s coffee at Cafe Cheray right on campus!

For those 21+, Magic Hat released its (limited time) Hop Drip IPA this fall, made with Speeder & Earl’s coffee beans! Perfect for coffee + craft beer lovers.

Second on the top two, Our House Bistro in the Winooski Circle. Located only about 5 minutes from campus (if that), Our House has a mouth-watering menu of gourmet comfort food-inspired eats, which they call “twisted comfort food.” There was even a “The Bite” column in the last issue of The Defender featuring Our House! One of my new all-time favorites was what I ordered this past Sunday, their chicken pot pie mac + cheese (pictured below). Everything that makes up a pot pie PLUS creamy mac – so good. I’d definitely recommend it!

One of the many reasons I love Burlington so much – there are so many awesome places around the area to eat & get that coffee fix – check back soon for more of my favorites & suggestions!

-Juliana

photos of fall

Where has the time gone?

It’s almost the middle of November already, and winter is fast approaching. As much as I can’t wait to spend next semester studying abroad in South Africa to avoid the Vermont wintery season, I’m so happy that I got to spend another beautiful fall here on campus/in Burlington, etc. From unbeatable sunsets to watching medieval trebuchets launch pumpkins for a prize (yes, that actually happened. Check out the multimedia we did about it here), I’ve had a wonderfully memorable fall semester so far, and there’s only more fun to come. Here are some photos I’ve taken along the way…

Pumpkin flying through the air during the Pumpkin Chuckin’ Festival

Above perspective of downtown Burlington

Playing with perspective and motion

Fell in love with this horse at Shelburne Farms

Mom & me – apple picking

Who doesn’t love a good flea market? We didn’t get to stop there, but I love the idea of going

One of the pumpkin chuckin’ contestants readying his trebuchet

Beautiful fall foliage before all of the leaves fell (sorry for the poor quality Instagram photo…whoops)

We have the most beautiful sunsets in Vermont

Fall calls for fun shoes! Lauren Carter rocks it once again

Pumpkin everything!

Wandering in fields for the sake of beautiful photos 🙂

-Juliana

Inspired by alums

Hey guys!

As you might know, St. Mike’s has some really cool alums – from Tom Freston (one of the founders of MTV) to Jonah Kessel, a NY Times visual journalist.

Jonah has spoken to two of my classes here at St. Mike’s, and just recently I came across some of his work that really sparked my interest in capturing style…

(Check out the video here)

As an MJD major, but with a concentration in print journalism, I’ve always been interesting in writing about fashion and style, but never took it to the point of capturing it visually. Just this summer, I started a style blog to document my own personal style, and then pitched my own style column to run in every issue of The Defender.

I love the fact that St. Mike’s alums are so inspiring and have really had an impact on me and what I do here on campus…

Make sure to check out my “SMC Style Files” column in The Defender if you get a chance – here, here, here and here.

And, I strongly recommend looking into the work that alums are doing, or even contacting them if they’re doing work that you’re interested in…you never know how they can help you, whether with just inspiration or actual job connections, after we leave our pretty little campus up here in Colchester.

Also, here are a few pictures I’ve taken for my style column!

Catherine Vu – modeling the pastel trend:

Lauren Carter – modeling the velvet trend:

Melissa Osgood – modeling the leather trend

-Juliana

apple picking – the post I forgot to post

Hey guys!

I awkwardly wrote this post about 3 weeks ago and completely forgot to post it. So, here’s a long-overdue look at my trip to Shelburne Orchards with my parents to go apple picking back in September. Cider & donuts, apples right off the tree, and beautiful Vermont weather…I can’t think of a better fall day.

Can you spot my little brother? He’s in this tree…

I’d say this is probably one of my all-time favorite fall activities..and how can you go wrong with a warm cider donut?

-Juliana

A Trip to Shelburne Farms

Hey everyone!

 This past Saturday, we (me & a group of friends) had a spur of the moment idea to take a few hours out of our studying to venture off campus and explore. The result was better than I could have ever predicted…we traveled about 20 minutes to Shelburne Farms where we were greeted with cider donuts, stunning views, and even a few horses to play with (and by play, I mean pet…but close enough). Here’s a look at what the afternoon brought…and really, it was even more beautiful in person!

Plenty of laughs, lots of photos, even some tree climbing…a very successful afternoon out in the fabulous (and short-lived) Vermont fall weather!

-Juliana

Birthday in Burlington!

Hey everyone!

My 20th birthday was this past saturday and I was lucky enough to have my family come up and visit for the day. It was absolutely beautiful out so we ended up sitting outside for lunch on Church Street and taking advantage of the rare sunshine (it’s been pretty rainy here lately)…

my mom & me

blowing out candles!

A beautiful view of Burlington

My mom & the Red Onion cafe – where we ate lunch

how perfect is this weather?

amazing ham sandwich on honey oat bread from the Red Onion cafe – I’d definitely recommend going there if you’re down on Church Street!

mini pumpkin cupcake from My Little Cupcake

Inside of My Little Cupcake – how cute are those flags?

Later in the day after my family had left, I went back into town with two of my good friends – Kristen and Mary – and we got frozen yogurt at Orange Leaf (the somewhat new froyo place off of Church Street). So many sweets and so much great company made for a fabulous 20th birthday! Thanks to all who made it amazing 🙂

-Juliana