The end of summer is always a rough time for everyone. Once the school supplies are on display and the lawn furniture gets put away at retail stores, you soon realize how few of the carefree days of sleeping in till the early hours of the afternoon and relaxing by the pool you have left. You dread the idea of having to be stuck inside the musty aisles of the library again at odd hours of the night trying to fulfill a near impossible page-limit while questioning the meanings of life. While we may enjoy school and all of the friends and memories we have there, there is still a little part of us that dreads the idea of the word school.

While being ripped from the comforts of your pets and your mom’s cooking can be disheartening, there are quite a few ways to soften the blow. Here are some ways to make the last few weeks of summer worthwhile.

1. Bake Something Yummy

I have no doubt that almost everyone likes eating, and prepackaged snacks can get old, so what is no better than diving into the kitchen and spending an hour creating something that you will end up being able to feast on? Whenever I am bored in the summer, the first thing that I do is head into the kitchen with a plan and start sifting some flour, cracking some eggs, and mixing in other ingredients until I come up with something edible. Want to bake something with a summer-like flair? Make sure to check out these Citrus Butter Cookies or this Root Beer Pie if you want to savor the last remaining days of your freedom. You could even get really fancy and cook your family a nice dinner to go with your dessert you created!

2. Host A Movie Marathon

Are you feeling glum because the weather not working in your favor today? Have no fear, a movie-marathon is exactly what the doctor ordered. I personally have been working my way through all of the Harry Potter movies over the past couple of days, but you could theme your marathon into any genre your heart desires. Maybe a marathon of every Pixar movie sounds fun for you and your family, or maybe you and your girlfriends want to hole up and watch every great John Hughes movie known to man. You could even have a Christmas Movie Marathon if that floats your boat. Any who, grab the popcorn, a comfy blanket, a few friends, and be ready to enjoy the wonderful fun the art of film has to offer.

3. Start Making Plans For The School-Year

I know the last thing any of you want to do is start thinking about school when you are trying to enjoy every last drop of sunshine, but hear me out. While some planning for the school year is not exactly fun, planning out what decorations you want to put up and how you want to the layout of your room to look is quite satisfying. If you are living with roommates, get together with them and figure out who wants to bring what and how many sets of string lights you are going to want. After this, your nightmares of school stress will be replaced with the dreams of how Instagram picture worthy your room is going to look.

4. Read A Good Book

My friends and I always complain about how there is never time to read a good book during the school year with the mounds and mounds of other “school books” we must consume our time with. Given that you are going to be back spending all of your time reading (or skimming) pages of information you don’t really want to be reading in the first place really soon, why not consume your time now with a book you actually want to read? I highly suggest reading novels by Jodi Picoult and Mary Higgins Clark, but you can also go back to some of the old favorites from your childhood. You should cram the end of your summer with the world of Harry Potter, just saying.

5. Go On A Shopping Spree

A little retail therapy never hurt anyone, right? The end of summer is the perfect time to shop for anything with all of the back to school sales happening. Start shopping for clothes, furniture, decorations, or really anything that your heart desires, and don’t worry about breaking the bank too much. You could even make a day out of it and invite your friends along and go out for lunch too! Having to wake up for those early classes is going to be tough, but why not soften the blow with a cute pair of shoes and that tapestry that you have always wanted?

6. Get Crafty

Do you remember those DIY projects that you always pin to your Pinterest boards to create in the future but never actually get a start on? The end of summer is the perfect time to complete one of these creative crafts that are going to get your bedroom looking snazzy and maybe your life a little easier. I personally have been starting on some door decorations ( like the Harry Potter Weasley Clock inspired locator board) for my RA (or CF as Gustavus calls it) job at school, but you could always tackle that photo display board to highlight those cute pictures of you and your friends or paint a canvas for your wall or something.

7. Do Something Crazy

This statement can be taken in many different ways, but in the spirit of summer and all of its freedom, why not do something that you wouldn’t do at any other point in the year? Call up your friends and go on a last-minute road trip. Stay up until the wee hours of the morning binge watching half of a season of “Criminal Minds.” Paint an entire car with nail polish, and then go drive into town with it.Write fan-mail to your favorite celebrities, or even pretend to have a British accent for an entire day. Whatever your “crazy” task may be, make sure that you are having fun while doing it. You wouldn’t be able to do these things any time of the year, so take these remaining days of the summer to really go wild. You are forced to be stressed out and serious for 9 months of the year, so let yourself have a little fun.