Dear SOS,
After being on Facebook.com all day, I just realized that my new college BFF's birthday is in two days. Unfortunately, between squash practice and TUPAC club meetings, I will probably not have time to get off campus before that. If I were back at home, I would have baked her a cake and collaborated with her mom to throw her an insane surprise party. But now that I'm in college, I feel at a loss for the proper celebratory techniques. How does one honor a birthday in college? What should I get her (and where can I get it?) to show her how much I absolutely looooove her?!
Sincerely,B-Day Bestie
Dear B-Day Bestie,
School birthdays can be so fun. As a Cancer, I was always extremely jealous of the kids who had their lockers decorated with ?ber-cool wrapping paper and polka-dotted ribbons. I was always left chillin' with my fam for my birthday, because all of my friends were off on foreign vacations "without cell phone service," or "sans postage stamps."
Birthdays at college, however, seem to play out a little differently than they did in high school. When not at home, friends take the place of family, and newspaper often takes the place of wrapping paper. Celebrating birthdays in college entails a little more creativity; the same supplies that were readily available back at home (i.e. tissue paper, ribbon and cupcake pans) are no longer so easy to find amidst your dorm room beset with Easy Mac, Red Bull cans and voter registration forms.
First of all, baked goods are a pretty common necessity for birthdays. Unfortunately, although Hodgdon cake is pretty amazing (I recommend either the carrot cake or chocolate with chocolate frosting), it has become a little too clich?© as a birthday treat. Trust me, your BFF will know not only that you used the Dewick-Hodgdon trick and actually didn't end up spending any money on her, but also that you bought one slice of cake and used the rest of your points to stock your minifridge with Sbux Frappucinos.
A more sincere move, if you're willing to lay down some cash, is the birthday cake delivery service through Tufts Student Resources, namely because: a) it's all done over the Internet (oh, no! That means you'll HAVE to use your credit card), and b) it's delivered straight to your BFF's dorm. (Btw, I believe they come with balloons. I love balloons).
If you're on a budget, you can turn to Jumbo Express for a few different options. If you're one of those kids who randomly brought a cake pan, bowl, mixing spoon and non-stick cooking spray with you to college (you put Rachael Ray to shame), you can pick up some cake mix there. Or, for all of you cooking-illiterate, you can always buy a bunch of your friend's favorite candy bars (or Odwalla bars if she's a hardcore health freak), and mash them up into some sort of cake-like shape (or just ask one of your engineering friends to build something out of them).
The next step is finding a present. Unfortunately, since you won't be able to get off campus in the near future, Jumbo Express, the campus bookstore and your dorm room seem to be your best options for shopping. I would like to make it clear that when I reference the campus bookstore, I do not mean you should buy your BFF any form of Tufts apparel. Those purchases are reserved for non-Jumbo friends who want to display their diversity of collegiate friends.
Necessity gifts are always much appreciated (think: fondue pots, shot glasses, dorm rugs), however, they tend to be a little less personal than something that would involve a more creative thought process. In my opinion, a mixed bag of sentimentally-based random objects would make an optimal present. For example, you could include a magazine with her fave celeb on the cover, a bag of Chex mix (to remind her of that 4 a.m. "bold party mix" eating competition you had last month), a Burt's Bee's toiletry set (to remind her of your matching bumble-bee Halloween costumes), and a pair of purple convertible mitten/gloves (just because they're crazy cool: mittens and fingerless gloves ... in one!). Another perfect addition is a mix CD of either: a) Romanian techno, b) Reggaeton dance songs, or c) songs of sentimental value to your friendship (although I personally would opt for an assortment of the three).
Lastly, you need to consider your wrapping technique. A bag with tissue paper is always an easy way to fit a cornucopia of objects into a small space. If you wish to employ this technique, however, you need to actually buy the bag and tissue paper, rather than opt to scrounge around your dorm for the proper supplies (trust me, she will not be impressed when her gift arrives in a Chinese takeout bag with napkins acting as the surrogate tissue paper). If you wish to wrap the present, I would go with magazine cutouts and colored paper rather than the business section of the New York Times - it just makes for a more aesthetically pleasing look.
P.S.: Don't forget to "wall" your BFF on her special day - it was Facebook that informed you of her birthday, after all.
Contact Charlotte to get advice for all your problems at Charlotte.Steinway@tufts.edu.
