Paperwhites

These paperwhites grew from bulbs given as a Christmas gift and they are really brightening up our snowy, kitchen window and are one of my favorite things to look at when I come home.

When we were at the aquarium last week I heard a mother talking to her 18 month old son who was busy massaging yogurt into his cheeks. 'Timothy, after we leave the aquarium we are going to the North End. The North End is a lovely neighborhood with many Italian bakeries.' While I'm not sure that Timothy was excited about the bakeries I sure was and so Friday we took the train down there to find one of my new favorite parts of the city. One of the best places was this small public library with a square fountain in the center that had been shut off leaving the water still so that I could see all the pennies and nickels at the bottom. So many wishes in the bottom of such a quiet fountain in the middle of such a quiet library in the middle of a neighborhood full of italian pastries. How could one not love the North End?

Breakfast?

Here are the snowy trees outside of our bedroom window.


Yesterday morning I was walking to work and cramming a strawberry cashew granola bar in my mouth when I crossed paths with a police officer dressed in a thermal police uniform. He looked down at my granola wrapper and said, "Breakfast?" and in that small moment I stopped feeling like a visitor of Boston. Instead of a person needing directions or help I was just another person eating breakfast on the run. At long last!

I think the other part of not feeling like a visitor anymore has to do with my new galoshes. When we moved here, and I noticed that all the other girls had waterproof boots to tuck their pants into I decided pretty quickly that I didn't really like the idea of scrunching my pants into rubbery shoes. Well, that all came to an abrupt change with the snowstorm that swept into the area on Monday morning. I woke up at 6am excited to greet the snow with a cup of hot chocolate sitting in front of the window. I'll skip the part about being on the other side of the the window in my cloth sneakers as well as the frostbite part and tell you that my new galoshes are shiny and navy blue and have saved my life with every step the past couple of days.

My new job is really nice and quiet. My boss graduated from college 1n 1944 and makes sure that I have a dessert with lunch every day. And, from the windows in my department, I can see the library, the building where my classes will be when they start next week, and the spot where I was inhaling the strawberry bar.

Settled In

. . .

The picture of me by the fridge is to give you an idea of the scale of the apartment. We are definitely grocery shopping in frequent, tiny batches!

I don't know when I've ever fallen in love with a city so quickly. I really adore the green line trains that pick us up and take us all over and the 1/4 size grocery carts at our Trader Joe's and Pino's Pizza down the street and the chocolatier where we went to celebrate my new job (I start Tuesday) and the sound that our radiator makes when the steam comes (umm, I particularly love that sound because it doesn't come quite often enough,) and how the lobby smells like whatever the lady in Apt. #1 is cooking (usually something fruity smelling like blueberry pancakes but sometimes hamburgers which is kind of gross for an apartment building) and how the black and white tiled shower in our apartment feels like my own little slice of the city when I take a steamy shower after being so so cold outside and I can look out of the window and see hundreds of other apartment lights. . . I've also learned a lot pretty quickly, like how, although some things are much easier in the city, Target runs are not one of them. We went last night to get some ice cube trays; three hours and three forms of public transportation later I was craving my own little slice of the city for sure. And I've learned about the extreme importance of washing my hands and or gloves after riding the T. Unless anyone is really curious, I won't go into big details on that one. . .

The move has aged me. . .

Here is me on the plane yesterday-anticipating our new life while listening to my new ipod.

And here is me, a tad overwhelmed by all of the boxes and wires that need connecting after being in our apartment for 12 hours. Can you see the bags under my eyes?!

Time to take down the decorations. . .

So, I think I've finally had a long enough break from reality, and I'm basing that on the fact that this morning I woke up and thought, "When we get back to Boston, I have got to take down our Christmas decorations." Oh, wait. . . not only are there no Christmas decorations up, there are no trash cans to put garbage in nor are there places to sit free of boxes, nor is there anything to eat or drink besides the two bottles remaining in the six pack of gatorade we bought the night of our move. . . Yeah, taking down seasonal decor will not be my top priority when we get back. For now, though, I am taking in the new year in the florida sun while drinking Dancing Goats coffee (a blend from Seattle that has the power to move continents) in my new aqua robe.

A week from tomorrow I have a job interview for an administrative position within the social work department at the school I'll be attending. Last week, Sumanth and my dad helped me shop for my first suit so that I'd have something good to wear. I feel like, for the same price and a lot more comfort, I could have draped myself in cashmere, but now I have a suit to wear. I hope the interviewers don't think there will be more where that came from.

I still haven't decided on a new year's resolution, but Sumanth says I have until the end of the night. . .