Everyone has that special place that they go to when they’ve had a bad day. The one place where, no matter how terrible of a mood you’re in, just going there makes you feel better.

At home, that place for me is Borders. I can spend hours in their café reading while drinking hot chocolate that’s made just right.

Since coming to Oswego though, it took me a little bit longer to find that feel-good place. But, I did manage to find someplace that reminds me of home without making me feel homesick.

A few weeks ago I stopped at Price Chopper. I hadn’t been to a supermarket since leaving my home in New Jersey, and the moment I got there I knew I had found my favorite place in Oswego. The first thing I noticed about Price Chopper was the smell of bagels. Real bagels, not the saucers of dough that the dining hall tries to pass off. Next, I went to the salad bar. There is no competition when it comes to the Price Chopper salad bar. It was the closest I could get to picking vegetables from my Dad’s garden at home and putting together a salad myself.

At home, it seems like someone in my family is always cooking something. Whether it be a pot of sauce that sits on the stove all day or even my little brother making cinnamon toast, the smell of food always lingers in the air. In the dining halls, it’s easy to tell that food is being made there, but it misses the small smells that make my kitchen different from the rest, like fresh basil or a pinch of garlic.

I ended up leaving Price Chopper that day with an "everything bagel," and was sure to sign up for a Price Chopper card as well. Now it’s the place I go to when I need to be reminded of home, and all the cooking I’ll get to do when I get back.