Escape from Boston

For Christmas Michael gave me an experience to remember: a day at the Mandarin Oriental Spa. Lunch, relaxation, and two hours of treatments. It was a fantastic way to spend New Years Eve Day followed by a homemade dinner of porcini encrusted filets with all the extras.

DAY 1

We spent three days in New York and we had experience after experience. We arrived in the city, dropped our bags and headed to Katz's Deli. Everyone had so much attitude, was yelling, and it seemed a little grungy and I opted to try the corned beef sandwich (with a Pepsi). Ever since Michael read Anthony Bourdain's book, No Reservations, I've made a mindful effort to try new things, even if it's a little outside of my comfort zone. The sandwich was good, but I paid for it the rest of the day with a gurgling and uncomfortable tummy ache.

We explored vintage shops and unique little stores from Katz's, Chinatown, to SoHo, to the West Village. I was warned how expensive vintage is in New York, but I was still a wee bit surprised that a no name sweater was $350. It was fun to look and it was free.

Boy, was it cold! The wind was blowing so hard my skin really got whipped and I had to use oil in addition to a cream moisturizer to heal my face when we got home. However, finally being able to experience the Prada store in SoHo on day 1 was great! I knew it was amazing, but it was even better than that! Everything else was pretty blah...nothing more than what I expected but glad I got to go around and poke my head in here and there.

We walked all the way to the West Village to stand in line at the Magnolia Bakery at 401 Bleecker Street. I am glad I had the experience of having a cupcake from their bakery and got to stand in line with everyone else, but really...did I miss something? During this cupcake craze that's been on peak trend, I've made the effort to try as many cupcakes as I can find...mostly in Kansas City. Baby Cakes in the River Market was good, Cupcake a la Mode in West Plaza does great things with their icing flavors, and Sweet (here in Boston) has a super duper butterscotch cupcake and a heck of a gingerbread cupcake.

Magnolia was fine (maybe I was there on a dud of a day) but I really think the best cupcake I've had came from the Roasterie Cafe in Brookside.

*Note to self: I still need to try Sprinkles in L.A.

We relaxed and eventually thawed out at our hotel, Hudson (which was pretty swanky) and then had dinner at Mesa Grill, Bobby Flay's restaurant. The flavors were quite interesting and mysterious. All the spice and kick was there, but somehow it was completely balanced, tolerable, and never became overwhelming.

We ended our first night with meeting friends at the bar at Hudson for drinks to do some catching up...miss them.

Decade

2009 is coming to a close and I recently heard that somewhere in the NY Times Magazine, it's claimed that this past decade has been a terrible one. Thinking back over the years it's been a tough one but it's been endured. I remember in school thinking about the people who lived through other tough years and wondered how they did it...or, how lucky am I not to have lived then? I may not always realize the gravity of our situations as we live in the moment, but hindsight is 20/20. In the past ten years I've had a lot of good times: being in the marching band at SMS, getting my driver's license and becoming more independent, fun concerts and school activities with friends, great vacations with my family, going off to college and really gaining independence, traveling with my horn and making new friends, becoming closer with my grandparents, graduating college, getting some really special time with Mom, meeting Michael, redirecting my career goals, becoming financially independent, moving across the country to a new city, spending my first Christmas away from home.

These past ten years I've gotten to know myself and I'm pretty happy. I've learned what awareness is and the hard work that goes along with it. In another ten years I'll know even more about myself...until then, I'll do my best to live presently.

Tourists

I can't decide how I feel about living in a city with tourists.  On one hand, it's neat to be living in a city that people from all corners come to visit.  On the other hand, I wonder how authentic of an experience I'm getting living here.  Today was pretty rainy and after rehearsal, we headed up to the North End.  The North End is a very old neighborhood of Boston and full of Italians.  Walking around narrow little streets is like being in Europe.  However, there are tourists everywhere.  We ate lunch at a little sandwich place that's only open for lunch.  I am not a sandwich person, but Michael assured me that I'd like it.  I had roasted Portobello sandwich with spinach, roasted bell pepper, fresh mozzarella, basil, and basil mayonnaise.  Yum!  We sat at the window, watched the rain, and watched all the tourists look in at us.  None of them stopped in to have an amazing lunch.  I don't know where Michael found out about this place, but I need more hidden gems for the locals...since I am one now.

Adjusting

Adjusting to a new city such as Boston, has been trickier than I thought.  I thought living with someone would be the hard part, but no.  Moving to a brand new place that has a different culture than I already know, starting a new job, and having no friends is what's tough.  I can feel inspired (sometimes) to be outgoing and social, but since I've been here I feel lost.  It's totally bizarre that I did my best to prepare myself (in as many ways as I could think and research) for the turmoils of living with a boyfriend---something I'd never ever done before.  Turns out, that's all gravy compared to everything else.  What to do, what to do...

Moving again..

Oh my gosh.  So after packing up my apartment in KC and moving to Boston, I moved again.  We moved into a bigger place up a floor and I'm finally unpacking everything I brought with me.  When I packed up my place in KC, I downsized a lot.  Now that I'm unpacking my things here, I'm having to downsize by repacking some items and making new donation piles.  This has been a slow, tiring, and frustrating process.  I remind myself to admire what I've accomplished, and that once it's all done, I will be happy, comfortable, and able to focus on more stimulating things!

I got to go back to Kansas City Wednesday evening and felt really happy to visit.  Thursday my new company had a trunk show at Halls and I got to work it and the big bonus was seeing all of my friends.  Friday, my friend Angie got married and months and months ago she asked if I would coordinate her vendors the day of her wedding.  I set up the ceremony and reception sites and compared to things I have to do for my job, this was a breeze of a juggling act!  I really enjoyed doing it for her and for Gary, and then was able to enjoy the dinner.  I was lucky enough to stay with a different friend each night which was prime opportunity for catching up.  The trip was go, go, go!, a lot of fun, but very tiring.  I'm glad to be back with my 2M's: Michael and Molly.

Notice: I have moved.

I did it! I made the move to Boston and I start my new job tomorrow. I've been getting some rest squeezed in here and there, but mostly it's: go, go, go!

Our driver from Kansas City to Boston was full of adventure, starting at the very beginning! Our rental mini van freaked me out by it's lack of cargo room. The third row of seats folded flat into the floor, but not the second. Michael took them out and strapped them to the roof and we squeezed in all of my belongings. I guess it's good to know that I was able to downsize so much, but even still, I felt kind of embarrassed to have so much stuff! Once we got close to our cruising speed, we started to hear this loud buzzing hum. All it was, was the wind hitting the chairs on the roof and I knew I'd be able to block out a sound like that, but Michael wasn't so sure about his ability to do the same. It did it the whole way.

We drove to Cincinnati to visit our fun friends, Ben and Liz. They matched us up years ago and it was a treat to visit them at their new home and have a break. We ate lots of great food, caught up quite a bit, and went canoeing! I hadn't been canoeing since my float trip days with my church and I had such a great time. We left them on Friday morning and drove from 9am to midnight and then unloaded the car for an hour or so that night. We were totally exhausted.

Yesterday morning, Michael and I went for a long walk. We started by heading north on Mass Ave, past Commonwealth, to the Charles River. We walked east along the Charles River, headed southwest through Beacon Hill, the Boston Commons, west down Commonwealth, and finally south on Mass Ave to home. The walk along the river was beautifully picturesque. There are groups of people who practice yoga on little docks that stretch out onto the water (I must find out when I can attend one!). We passed two elderly gentlemen who were walking together and one held a small radio that was playing music from their hey day. In contrast, later that day we saw two guys riding with a boom box strapped to one of their bikes, blasting some thing.

Yesterday evening, Molly got her first pedicure. She has her hind claws and I found claw covers so she won't risk snagging the fabric on Michael's furniture. Holding her down was Michael's job and I had to clip her nails and then attach the nails with glue. It reminded me of the days when I tried to wear artificial nails, and even for kitties, the glue still reeks. Molly faugh and faugh, but Michael and I sang to her and now she's back to normal but with bright pink toenails.

Settling in is pretty much what I expected: tricky and exhausting. I am not looking forward to doing another move October 3, but we'll be in a bigger place and I'll get to unpack all of my stuff. I start my new job tomorrow and I feel like it's the first day of school all over again.

Last day of August...Last Monday in KC

I'm moving. I am starting a new job in Boston and am excited, anxious, and a little nervous. I will be working for a Boston-based women's clothing line, Sara Campbell. My position is officially titled, "Customer Service Rep., Sales and Merchandise Buying Assistant." From what I understand this title is a big umbrella with a lot of different responsibilities. I like that there will be variety of things for me to take care of. I start my new job a week from tomorrow and am hoping by next Tuesday rolls around, I will have had some quality rest.

My junior year at Eastman I had my first apartment and since then I've been accumulating and accumulating. This moved has provided a perfect opportunity to "purge!" I have sold all of my furnishings on Craigslist and pretty easily at that. Last Wednesday a couple picked up my bed and since then I've been on the floor or occasionally on my wee sofa. Sofa's gone now and all I have is my desk, two table lamps. The corner of my living room that is the home base for packed boxes isn't as huge a pile as I had though. Over the past three weeks, I have had anxiety fits that I won't be able to fit my last belongings in the van, but I think I'll be okay. Either way, Michael assures me over and over that they will get to Boston some way or another.

Molly Cat is doing pretty well. She follows me around a little more than average, and she's also taken to a specific box that I've turned on it's side for her to have as a little den. She may prefer to ride to Boston in that than her carrier!

I knew my friends from work were really special, but I didn't ever realize that they might feel the same about me. Two going away parties were given outside of work and were so much fun. My Helga gave one at her amazing apartment up the street from mine. I LOVE her place. It's the perfect balance of modern and comfort. So much is clean and white and then she has special accents like her Bertoia chairs. I think she has 13 white side chairs, two diamond and a bird chair upholstered in dark blue (with ottomans). Also, she has at least two Saarinen side tables. If it hadn't been for Michael and his brother's uber successful furniture store, I would not have a clue what these pieces were and how special they are.

Saturday I was treated to my first pedicure in I don't know how long! I met Jennifer and Angie at a really nice West Plaza place and Jennifer handed out coffee cups and surprise: champange! To be pampered: how nice! Later that night there was another party at Jim's and it was fun to see so many fun people there with great food and drinks. I hope that I get to see the pictures that everyone else took someday. Wow is all I can say. I felt really, really special.

I plan to finish up the packing today with breaks for lunch and dinner with friends. Michael arrives tomorrow to help finalize anything I've overlooked and then we hit the road for a new adventure.