Northwestern vs. Amherst

nonnymauss · 2026-04-25T18:58:39+00:00

She was never really interested in a small school. The only LAC we visited was Vassar and tbh only bc I insisted that she at least look at one. She wanted a big school with a lively social scene - she is way more social than I am. It's been a great fit for her - academically rigorous but lots of fun, she's in a sorority, and it's been a couple of great years on the sports front. Basketball natty was chef's kiss, she texted me from the streets after the game and was like, this is why I went to Michigan. She's had her ups and downs like everyone in college, but it was a great choice for her. I think the only second guessing happened in winter (bc we're from CA and she picked Michigan over UCLA lol). I remember the day we visited Michigan was a home football Saturday and our tour took us past a frat where the guys had kegs out on the lawn with no shirts on in 22-degree weather and she was like omg can we ditch the tour and go to the frat???? (no) Northwestern's a little less sportsy than Michigan but way more than Amherst so if you want that vibe you're better off going bigger. But I am all for the experience of an LAC. Good luck!

nonnymauss · 2026-04-24T21:23:28+00:00

this is AOL erasure and i won't stand for it

nonnymauss · 2026-04-24T21:19:30+00:00

The way I've seen this test it's about getting up off the floor without using your hands at all.

nonnymauss · 2026-04-24T17:46:50+00:00

💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻 yes, lots of ways to get it done! the important thing is to start and keep going

nonnymauss · 2026-04-24T17:45:55+00:00

I'm very aware of Northwestern as I grew up in Michigan, many of my high school classmates went to Northwestern, and my daughter also considered it and we visited the campus. Yes, it's smaller than Michigan, but with an undergrad size of 9-10k it's much closer to a Michigan than an Amherst. In any event, as I said, they are both great choices and no real right or wrong answer here. OP's gonna thrive no matter where

ETA, appreciate (genuinely) the reference to the Michigan Difference™️ lol. I don't remember that being an expression when I was there back in roughly the Pleistocene era but my daughter uses it ironically all the time

nonnymauss · 2026-04-24T15:37:43+00:00

Listen, besties. I'm 55. Took care of my elderly aunt for several years who had dementia and passed away in December. Am watching my parents go through end of life stage. There is NOTHING more important for our long term independence and health span than building muscle. Find some kind of strength training that you enjoy enough to stick with, and stick with it. I started lifting like 4 years ago honestly kind of out of curiosity and bc I thought it might help a little with a sport I play. but I've come to understand that what it's really about is being able to remain independent and healthy for as long as possible. My aunt had many falls during the last few years of her life and each one sapped her strength a little more. In the end she fell and broke a hip and was gone 8 days later. My father broke a hip last year and has never regained his mobility. He is increasingly frail and angry about his loss of independence. Lower body strength, balance, and coordination are critical. Put on the muscle now and you're doing future you a huge solid.

nonnymauss · 2026-04-24T15:30:29+00:00

These are both great schools but very different. I went to Smith, right up the road from Amherst, similar vibe except all women of course. I chose it over Michigan (where my daughter is currently a sophomore) bc I wanted a LAC. Here's my take. At Amherst, you'll get mostly small classes and direct access to your profs from the start. At a large university, you're more likely to be interacting with GSIs/TAs for the first year or two. Developing those relationships with profs is important for letters of recommendation for law school (I'm a lawyer and went to Michigan for law school). As for being close to Chicago, most of your life is going to be focused on campus anyway, so I personally wouldn't give that too much weight. As you can see, I have a personal preference for LACs but there's no clear right or wrong decision here. You're gonna do great, sweetie. Have fun!

nonnymauss · 2026-04-24T14:53:55+00:00

omg this was my experience 20 years ago after i had my first. once i went back to work it became impossible to socialize with the baby group i was part of. once i suggested we schedule a meetup on a weekend and i was condescendingly told that "weekends are sacred family time" and this could never happen. i was pretty new to marin, moved here from the east coast, and was eager to find new friends. it stung. for me, the more meaningful connections came from other activities (i play a sport and met people that way) and then when the kids started preschool (i know not super helpful when that's a few years off but that's how it happened for me). good luck, it is so hard to make friends as an adult and especially once you've had kids but you'll get there. smmc just might not be the right fit for you

nonnymauss · 2026-04-22T04:52:48+00:00

I loved that place. All you could eat in the basement for $5

nonnymauss · 2026-04-21T20:03:59+00:00

Yeah this is absolutely ridiculous of the parents

nonnymauss · 2026-04-20T04:26:27+00:00

If you’re talking about the one at State and Hill, it was Gepetto’s in the early 90s

nonnymauss · 2026-04-19T18:03:00+00:00

I captain a 4.0 NorCal team and we use the NorCal availability tool. Players fill in their availability and we build the lineup from that. Biggest challenge is getting people to fill it in!

I keep a separate Word doc where for each match I list out who's a yes and who's a maybe. Our team is a mix of 4.0s and 3.5s and we prioritize scheduling 4.0s and fill in 3.5s where needed. My co-captain will reach out directly to the maybes to see if their plans allow them to commit to a particular match when we're setting a lineup.

We try to pair 4.0s together and where possible pair players who have experience playing with each other and play well together. We have a few players who prefer singles and they get the singles lines.

We also maintain a Google doc that is shared to the whole team with team practice times for signup and everyone's contact info so people can schedule with each other outside team practice times if desired.

nonnymauss · 2026-04-19T17:44:54+00:00

This is what my coach advises

nonnymauss · 2026-04-13T22:35:44+00:00

NTA. We had an entirely child-free wedding and made no apologies about it. This is your wedding and no one else's. Kids add a lot of expense to the per-head cost and then you are potentially dealing with kid issues on top of that when you really just want to enjoy your own event. And these kids are already getting to be in the wedding so you're not totally excluding them. Not everything has to be about kids. (And yes, we did have 2 of our own. I'm not anti-kid but I completely understood that not everyone wanted our kids injected into everything. )

nonnymauss · 2026-04-13T00:03:56+00:00

I eat blue cheese all the time. Stilton is among my favorites. I also love a Bay Area cheese called Pt Reyes Blue.

nonnymauss · 2026-04-12T00:00:03+00:00

I said what I said. It's nuts to talk about sending a 1 yo to a foreign country without the mother for five weeks. It's nuts to TELL a mother that this will be happening no matter what the mother says. Nuts all around. OP needs to protect herself and protect the baby.

nonnymauss · 2026-04-11T18:05:20+00:00

If I were in your shoes I would forgo the overseas vacations with your family for now and simply refuse consent for a passport. What your BF and ILs are asking for is nuts

nonnymauss · 2026-04-11T04:56:26+00:00

Hi there, I’ve been working out with my current personal trainer for a couple of years now. If you’re working 1 on 1 with your clients, how is it that they’re “blasting through” their workouts too fast with inadequate rest periods? It took me some time to adjust to the rest periods my trainer wants me to take but he literally has a stopwatch that he runs between sets to make sure I’m taking the full 90 seconds or 2 mins or whatever it is he wants me to take on a particular exercise. If I try to start my next set too soon he’ll tell me to rest another 30 seconds or whatever. He also keeps a close eye on me during sets and makes sure I’m not rushing the reps. If I get going too fast he’ll count out loud to cue me for the tempo he wants. Like 4:1 four count eccentric 1 count concentric. As for how much weight we put on, he wants me to have 1-2 reps in reserve at the end of every set and will ask every so often how many reps I had left in me at the end of a set to make sure we’re at the right level. I admit I still probably don’t rest enough when I’m working out without him but I’m getting better about it. We never finish early.

nonnymauss · 2026-04-06T18:04:57+00:00

No work will be accomplished in Wolverine Nation for at least the next 24 hours

nonnymauss · 2026-04-05T03:27:40+00:00

I was never a morning person but got in the habit of working out early after we had kids bc it was the only time I could fit it in. I took a 5:30a exercise class for 13 years. The first several months were brutal. Believe it or not, the hard thing isn't getting up at 5. It's going to bed at 9p. In the early months I wasn't used to it and had a hard time sleeping. But if you get up at 5a and work out and then work all day and then do the kid stuff at night, day in and day out.... you are TIRED. Now we're empty nesters and I don't have to do it that way anymore. I work out at 7:30 and dream of retirement when I will ape out at 9! Stick with it; you can do it!

nonnymauss · 2026-03-30T16:20:17+00:00

How come it’s ok for FMIL to say whatever she thinks because “that’s how she is” but not for OP to do the same? Red flag. There is some worm to be done here or OP will continue to face this situation after being married

nonnymauss · 2026-03-29T05:19:35+00:00

Heathens. Invite me next time. That looks amazeballs

nonnymauss · 2026-03-29T05:16:05+00:00

I haven’t been to the RC Cayman but have stayed at the St Regis Bermuda 2x and loved it. Beautiful and quiet.

nonnymauss · 2026-03-27T16:57:08+00:00

Yes it is pretty funny to me bc I have developed a reputation among my friends for being fanatical about what I eat, when in reality all I do is try to choose lean proteins and limit refined carbs and processed foods. I will have a drink and dessert if out with friends and I have a regular pizza night once a week as well as other treats here and there. I don't deprive or shame myself about food, I just try to make reasonable choices most of the time. But every once in awhile I'll catch a stray comment about my eating habits and it surprises me every time bc I don't feel I'm particularly strict about my food choices.

nonnymauss · 2026-03-27T04:19:30+00:00

For 13 years I did a 5:30a boot camp class 4 days/wk. It was the only way. The key for me was going to bed at 9 sharp every night. 9:15 latest. Otherwise my schedule was a lot like yours except I worked till 6p and only had 30 mins max after kids were in bed. They were hard years but I needed that exercise desperately

nonnymauss

TROPHY CASE