Go skating on the Frog Pond in the Boston Commons.  Open every day (except holidays) for the rest of the winter, $12 for admission and skates.  Take the T to Park Street or Boylston.  Après skating, you can hit up the café for some hot chocolate.  The café also has a great view of the rink and is the perfect place to take incriminating pictures of your friends while they skate.  Bostonfrogpond.com

Public Open Night at the BU Observatory.  Wednesday nights from 7:30-8:30 in the BU Observatory, 725 Commonwealth Avenue.  Play Galileo for a night and stare through some ridiculously expensive telescopes for free.  This would also make a great date—just don’t mention the free part.  Bu.edu/astronomy.

Make a gingerbread house at 75 Chestnut.  Scattered Fridays and Saturdays throughout December and November, you can head over to 75 Chestnut and fork out $25 to make a gingerbread house—supplies and a $5 charitable donation included.  Their regular menu is also available if all that gingerbread sparks an appetite.  75chestnut.com

Pajama Brunch at Tremont 647.  Every Sunday Tremont 647 has a pajama brunch, where diners and staff alike show up in their pajamas (or last night’s walk of shame ensemble).  It’s like Sunday morning at Dewick, only with things like ‘white chocolate cherry almond pancakes.’  Tremont647.com.

Take the MBTA Rockport commuter rail out to Salem.  The crowds are significantly smaller after Halloween, and the historical town offers a wide variety of events throughout the year, like a Ghost Stories film festival.  Salemweb.com.

Get dinner at Henrietta’s Table.  With all fresh, locally sourced ingredients, this cozy little restaurant is one of the best, most affordable restaurants in Harvard.  New England Pumpkin Indian Pudding?  Yes, please.  Henriettastable.com.

Hit up the Skywalk.  $10 a ticket gets you a spectacular with of Boston from the top of the Prudential building.  Wait until the first snow settles, and then come up here to see the city in a completely different light.  Topofthehub.net.

Go sledding.  Doing this on campus has gotten a little trickier since the sleds—I mean trays, have disappeared from the dining halls.  Grab yourself a trashcan lid or a toboggan, and make your way over to the Boston Commons to sled/roll down some hills.

Thanksgiving Dinner at the Omni Parker Hotel.  Your parents not flying you home for Thanksgiving?  Guilt trip them into giving you $52 for Thanksgiving Dinner at the Parker.  With dishes like roasted butternut squash soup, pumpkin ravioli with sage brown butter sauce, and apple cranberry crisp, you may not feel so homesick.  Omnihotels.com.