Dorm Move In & Alec's Dorm Photos

 Alec and I loaded up the car Wednesday morning. I was literally unable to sleep the night before thinking there was no way we were going to fit all his stuff (see yesterday's post!) into my car. But first try we got it all to fit! There wasn't really any room to spare but that's okay, we all fit and so did everything he wanted to bring with him. 


Since Alec is in the honors program he got to move in 2 days before the rest of the school (on Thursday).. which meant we didn't hear a whole lot from the school on what to expect for move in day. We were told to be there anywhere between 10 am and 7 pm so we decided to shoot for the 10 am and give ourselves plenty of time. His roommate wouldn't be moving in until Saturday and Alec will have a full day of activities and meetings today (on Friday).  We did label everything with Alec's name, dorm name, and room # just in case and printed out a parking pass (again, just in case)-- none of which we needed to do but were required for Saturday move-in.

Chilling out, laughing, and watching videos on his phone waiting for us to leave... plants at the ready!

We pulled up, dropped Alec and all his stuff on a literal street corner and went two blocks over to park the car, then we worked together to move his stuff onto the lawn with a few trips each. My husband stood with all his stuff while Alec and I went to check in & get his key. They had a few dollies around so we snagged one and loaded up; trying to make it all in one trip. 



 Once in his room we gave my husband the job of assembling the flat packed TV stand while I  got the bathroom set up and Alec worked on making up the bed. 

We hung up some shelves and a shaving mirror in the shower and some wall hooks for towels

We were pleased to find the mirror is a medicine cabinet with 4 shelves inside

The shower rod is so high there is a weird gap between the curtain and the floor but what can you do?


My husband also set up Alec's TV while Alec moved onto organizing his clothes into the drawers (which he decided to pull out slightly from under his bed) and I hung up the culinary uniforms, sweatshirts, etc. that were going in the closet. The drawer organizers were much too small for the extra deep drawers so I brought those back home (though we used one inside his desk drawer). We also elected not to use his clip light or clip fan since he does have air conditioning and so many other lights. 


He then sat down to get his desk all set up.

Did you notice his cute little baker/gnome statue? My sister in law found that and we thought it was perfect-- it even has a teal bow on it!

Finally we put the wall things up; or at least the sticky things to hold them in place then we took a walk around campus and to the Providence Place Mall to get some cheesecake for lunch (by then it was 1 o'clock).

around the quad:





around Providence



My meal: a house salad and lunch sized flat bread.



We walked back to campus; stopping at CVS along the way to buy some batteries for some of his lights. Once back in his room we set up the pictures, set up all his lights and made sure he could get online, got his TV working, and found the schedule of events for the rest of the day and all of Friday.

Looking into his 1/2 of the room from the doorway-- hopefully his plants enjoy living on the side of the TV; the window sill was not big enough to hold them. 




Since they had an honors meeting room/ Jeopardy game thing planned over near the parking garage we walked Alec up so he'd know where to go tomorrow too-- there's an honors lounge where most of the meetings and activities will take place. Then gave him a hug and said goodbye.




We were home by 5:30-- no tears, no fuss, all in all it was a really great and easy day. 

Linking up with: Spread the Kindness, 







Comments

  1. Nice room! Our experience was very different. It was 2020 so Covid and masks. We pulled up right in front of dorm (they turned sidewalks into drive lanes) and students unloaded everything for us into a big wheeled container. It was so much easier than I had thought it would be. I wonder how different the general move in day would be. It looks like you had the campus to yourselves! Is he adjusting? I hope so!

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    1. We pretty much felt like we had the campus to ourselves; general move in day each dorm and floor of the dorm is assigned their own time for drop off. I can't imagine having had a whole other family in that room with us while trying to set up!

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  2. Oh gosh! What a huge milestone. I'm so glad to hear all went well with the big move. All the best to Alec and sending a big hug to you xx
    Ruth@playworkeatrepeat

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  3. Good luck to your son! I dropped mine off on Wednesday and am feeling so empty inside without him here. Your son's room is a really nice size. My son's is really small. When we showed up, his roommate's family was there so we had to take turns setting up!

    https://www.kathrineeldridge.com

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    1. I think it really helped that I still have 2 at home (my oldest swears he's never moving out-- or at least not until after he starts his own business). I definitely think it would have been crowded with his roommates family there at the same time. I was bummed because I wanted to meet them/her but also relieved that we had plenty of time and space to get everything "just so."

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  4. What a nice looking space and how great that you got everything in your car and move in was seamless. I was shocked at how good ours was on a huge campus. It was a relief to have one less thing to stress about since the whole day was one full of big emotions. The city looks pretty! I hope Alec has a great year!

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    1. Thank you! Weirdly none of us seemed to have any big emotions about it at all. But I often take my cue from my kids and Alec was just so darn at ease and confident.

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  5. I'm so glad it went smoothly! I know he will love every minute that he spends there. What a beautiful campus and town! I think his room turned out great; it's perfectly him!

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  6. Oh wow! Well done for fitting everything into the car. I am glad the move went well and the dorm room looks fab.
    Good luck to Alec with his new adventure.

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    1. Thank you! It was such a relief; we really thought we were going to need two cars.

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  7. Very cool that he has his own bathroom! My son has to go the communal bathroom/showers lol! Looks like he is all settled in. No TV in my son's dorm room but he really doesn't spend much time in there apart from sleeping. They have many nice spots to do homework on campus, indoors and outdoors. Not sure if the lounge areas in his dorm building have TV's.
    www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com

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    1. Alec and his friend actually switched campuses just so they could have a private bath (really that just means they'll have to wake up and be ready 15 minutes earlier so they can bus over to the culinary classes/campus). I'm not sure Alec will be in his room much either-- and they have no power today so no TV watching either! LOL.

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  8. Big leaps of change, for everyone! Looking forward to all the new avenues that will be taken.

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  9. We'll be doing this on Monday! It's a little harder since we have to fly there, but it's also her second year...she has some things stored at a house near campus too. It's funny how dorms everywhere seem to look the same. Also, I'm a big fan of early move in!

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    1. Evan really wants to go far away to college and I told him he had to stay within driving distance because I can't wrap my head around it otherwise! LOL. Good luck with the move.

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  10. Aw, what a bittersweet day! I'm so glad you had no tears, though! I will probably be a mess when this day comes. Good luck to him on this next chapter of life!

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    1. Thank you! I'm kind of amazed I've made it through graduation and college drop off with zero tears!

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  11. This brings back so many memories of moving our girls into their college places. It's so bittersweet! He's got a really nice room and it looks like a lovely campus. We would stop in Providence sometimes on our drive to/from Boston and really liked the city. Good luck to Alec! How are you coping with it all?

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    1. I'm doing really well so far! I think it helps that he seems to happy and relaxed and just ready for it all.

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  12. Very nice! I hope he has a wonderful first year!

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  13. Y'all did a great job on the room! It's so hard to know what will work until you get there, and you took a lot less stuff back home with you than some parents do :)

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    Replies
    1. Very true! I loved that the school gave us some basic floor plans/layouts to go by but without measurements it was still a guess (and we guessed well!).

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  14. Wow - such a big day! His room looks great. Here's to a great year ahead. Hope you are doing ok, Mom:) I know you must be proud!!

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    1. Thank you! I am holding up real well (I did talk to him today though and he sounds quite happy).

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  15. Aww! Such a big day! His room looks so nice! Sending you a hug. 😘❤️

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  16. We didn't have dorm rooms to worry about when our one daughter went to college. My only experience with them is through my nieces. Graduation day they moved her out so I was with them since I went to graduation. One lived in a dorm room and one in a sorority house, a small one though. Did you have to provide the furniture or did they provide that? The rooom looks nice.

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    1. They provide the bed (with mattress), desk, chair, closet & chest of drawers.

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  17. Jodie's Touch of StyleAugust 23, 2024 at 3:21 PM

    Wow. The room seems positively humongous and to have your own bathroom is so wonderful. I bet this was so exciting for you all.
    XOOX
    Jodie

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    1. They were so thrilled and relieved to get their own bathroom; even if they do have to clean it themselves.

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  18. Wow! What a beautiful campus and what a great dorm room! It looks like he/his roommate/you thought of most everything he'd need! Wishing you all a wonderful school year ahead!

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  19. What a beautiful campus! It looks like everything went off without a hitch thanks to all your organization. His room looks very spacious. I just heard from a cousin going to a west coast large university, and they have squeezed 3 girls in a room built for 2. She is on the top bunk and can't really even sit up in bed due to the ceiling height. It looked very crowded!!

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    1. I have heard of that happening at a few schools this year; lots of dorm/space issues. One of our local universities was offering to send freshman on study abroad so they could have more time to figure out housing issues!

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  20. How nice that Alec was able to move in a few days early to avoid the big rush ! I remember those days of moving the kids in.. it was a lot of work. His side of the room looks good. Here's wishing a good year at school!

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    1. Thank you so much! I loved how easy it was to move him in without the big rush of everyone else around.

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  21. Wow I have to say, this is a pretty good size dorm compared to other dorms I've seen.

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  22. A new episode in his life, and yours! He has a lovely space there. And isn't it actually fabulous that you can do this with your son!

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    1. It really is quite fabulous to see him off.

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  23. What a smooth move-in day for Alec! It’s great to hear everything fit perfectly and the setup went well. The baker/gnome statue is adorable! Sounds like you ended the day on a sweet note with cheesecake. Best wishes to Alec for his new adventures!

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  24. Aw, glad that everything went well. Wishing Alec all the very best on his new chapter! Hope mom is OK too. :)

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    1. Thank you! I am doing okay so far but it is weird when I realize he's not just at work or something and he's not going to be home for at least a month.

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  25. A cool space and hoping that he enjoys and does well on this chapter in his life.

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  26. My son is starting college on Monday and this weekend he's been busy at the school with various activities. He is commuting, so there was no big move in day, but he does have the option to live on campus. His room looks so nice and I love that you brought a couple of plants, but what a bummer that they didn't fit in the window. Your lunch looks delicious! I wish him the best!

    Carrie
    curlycraftymom.com

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    1. Thanks! He researched and picked out his plants then picked his dorm room according to what direction the windows face hoping they'll have enough/the right light! I commuted and my oldest son has taken just about all his college courses online from home so this is all new to us!

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  27. Looks really comfy and I hope he has a great year!

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  28. He set up the room so nicely and love the baker gnome!!

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  29. What an exciting time for Alec and your family. You're all so organized. His room and the campus look great. The baker gnome is perfect. I hope he has a fantastic year. Thank you for your weekend coffee share.

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  30. How awesome! And having his own bathroom is awesome! What a fun setup. And a beautiful campus. Best of luck to him!

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    1. He is so thrilled to not have a communal bathroom!

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  31. Is that backpack in the dolly picture an Ikea bag?????? If so, how did you seal the open part so that stuff doesn't fall out? If it's not one, I hope you're not offended by the question.

    The room looks great and it sounds like it pays to be an honors student!

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    1. He definitely feels like there are lots of great perks to being an honors student.

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  32. How exciting!!! I'm sure he's going to learn some amazing things.

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