June 7, 2008
June 7th, 2008 – Saturday 88F/56F, sunny and hot!
It’s a bit late and I have lots to share so I’ll here promise to catch up on a few stories tomorrow. For those of you checking in, I uploaded some photos from the microbiology conference I attended this week as well as some photos from John and my “in town” adventure. John and I decided to play tourists in our own city and enjoyed exploring the North End of Boston…just click on the “In Boston June” link on the right hand side. More stories soon!
May 31, 2008
May 31st, 2008 – Saturday 74F/57F, clouds, rain, thunder
Wow…a lot has happened since my last post! At the end of April I finished up my internship at Microbia PE and returned to San Diego to submit and defend my dissertation. I was home for a little more than a week and a half before John flew out to San Diego to see me and support me prior to and during my defense. The defense went well and as a matter of fact, I actually had a lot of fun during my presentation. I had SUCH a great support team in the audience. John, my parents, Allison, family, family friends, old friends and friends from grad school packed the audience and cheered me on. After the defense, my advisors threw a lovely reception and then after that we headed over to the Karl Strauss Brewery for dinner. The week after the defense is a bit of a blur. I worked some but mostly hung out with John and Alli. Afternoons on the beach or laying in the grass in the backyard…it was excellent to relax and unwind together. That Friday, John’s cousin, Amanda hooked us up with tickets to SeaWorld and that was really a great day. Although John took off two days later, he was able to stick around for my defense party which was held at Paul’s house on Saturday night. It still hasn’t sunk in completely that I’m all through but I’m SO much more relaxed!
After John left, I headed back to work and have had to face all the little things I’d put on the back burners as I prepared for my defense. Things like graduation, the conference in Australia and other things like our October wedding! Slowly but surely I’m working my way through my VERY long ‘to do’ list. I’m almost all set to participate in the June commencement ceremony, I’ve bought my ticket to Australia, registered for the conference and made my appointment to get my passport (as I am now an Australian citizen!!! how great is that?!?). We’ve booked our wedding photographer, have plans to interview a number of florists and just this week, I found and bought my wedding dress. I’m actually making progress! There is still a lot to do this summer but I’m working on it.
On Tuesday, a large chunk of my lab took off for this year’s research expedition to the Bahamas and I decided that if they were in the Bahamas, they wouldn’t miss me if I was in Boston. I flew back here to Boston on Tuesday to be with John and to work at home for a couple of weeks and I’m LOVING it!!! What an amazing difference a month makes! Our neighborhood and yard looks so incredibly different. Everything is SO green!!!
Getting here was a pretty funny story. I took off on Tuesday morning and the flight was very easy. I slept quite a bit and with a very strong tail wind, we were to Boston in just over four and a half hours. Well, we may have arrived quickly but little did I know that getting here would be half my battle. =)! We arrived early and just after the big thunderstorms had swept through and so we had to circle the airport while they rearranged the arrival pattern/runway situation. That didn’t take too long but once we’d landed, there were so many planes delayed by the thunderstorms that we didn’t have a gate to pull into…so we sat on the tarmac…for about an hour and a half! It actually wasn’t too bad as my seat neighbors were very friendly and funny. Once off the plane, I grabbed my T ticket, picked up my bags and headed for the silver line. The funny thing here is what I was carrying. There wasn’t any need to bring clothes back to Boston…I have a closet full of clothes here already…but I had two big, cumbersome bags. Want to know why? Well, I bought a new computer last weekend and with it came a new printer. We need a printer in Boston so that was in one suitcase…and in the other suitcase was a vacuum cleaner. I had been silly not to ship the vacuum cleaner in January so I decided to schlep it home this time. So, printer and vacuum in hand, I clamored onto the silver line bus and headed for South Station. Everything would have been fine at this point…from South Station it is an easy four stops to Kendall/MIT where I was to meet John and the car. However, I arrived at South Station and it’s closed…why? Turned out there was a big fire downtown or something like that and so everyone was sent upstairs to find the shuttle buses. Well, that was a mess. Luckily, after several full shuttle buses went by, one opened its doors right in front of me and with my two big bags, struggled on the bus and into a seat. Mind you I caused quite the commotion but I was on the bus and headed very slowly towards home. We creeped along the downtown streets and eventually made it across the river. I was so close to home but the shuttle was bee lining it to Harvard. Luckily for me, someone requested a stop and when the doors opened, I threw my bags and myself off the bus. I landed right in front of MIT and after a quick call to John, was in the car and headed home. Seems funny that I spent almost as much time trying to get home as it took to fly to Boston from San Diego! All the drama aside though…it was actually not that big of a deal and people were SO incredibly helpful all along the way. Bus drivers helped me with my silly bags, as did people getting out of South Station and on and off the shuttles. I like Bostonians…they’re so helpful when you don’t ask for it. Ask for help and you won’t get it but need it and look like you’d make it on your own and they’re much obliged!
I have really enjoyed being at the house these past few days and have been getting things sorted and organized. I took one afternoon off and made curtains for our living room. I’ve cleaned the house and John and I have been able to play a bit and catch up on missed Lost episodes. We’ve made dinners, played quiddler, hung out on our back deck and gone for long walks on successful searches for homemade ice cream. Last night we stopped by Trader Joe’s to pick up fixings for a picnic dinner. We found a park along the Charles River and had dinner while watching the rowing teams practice and the cars and trains move along busily across the river. Today we had a great day exploring Cape Ann. Wanting to take a day trip, John used Google Earth to scope out a good place to explore. He came up with Cape Ann and we had a FANtastic day.
Cape Ann is about 30 miles northeast of Boston. We took the 93N and then traveled the 128N all the way into Rockport. We spent the day driving up and down Cape Ann and had a wonderful time exploring. We started in Rockport and then wound our way up north past Pigeon Cove along Granite Street (aka 127N) and found the Halibut Point State Park. Although there was thunder and it was threatening to rain, we paid the $2 entrance fee to check out the park…it was SUCH a great decision. We hiked into the park and passed the now water logged granite quarry before heading down to the rocky beach to have lunch. After lunch, we walked along the beach and investigated the tide pools. Although it rained a little bit, it was remarkably warm. After lunch, we visited the outlook as well as the visitor’s center. After spending a lovely early afternoon in the park, we climbed back into the car and traveled south, back through Rockport and down along the 127A towards Gloucester. Although we felt a little guilty, we didn’t not go down toward the historic Sleeper-McCann house (which isn’t open yet for the summer and is on otherwise private property). We went past all the BIG beautiful homes on Eastern Point in search of a lighthouse for John. We found the lighthouse and at my insistence, hiked all the way out to the end of the Dog Bar Breakwater. Although windy and now cold, it was SUPER cool to walk out to the end of the granite breakwater and look back at the lighthouse and town. I love adventures like that! We practically had the entire end of Eastern Point to ourselves! After that, we drove around and through Gloucester, a really old and neat fishing village, before getting back on the road and heading home.
It has been a fantastic day and I look forward to more adventures and day trips like that. It’s really fun to be here and be able to take some time to explore…to not be chained to my computer and having to write my dissertation is SO refreshing!
I’m here for another two weeks so there’ll be more stories soon. hugs!
April 20, 2008
April 20th, 2008 – Sunday 54F/43F, mostly sunny
I have been tied up writing and editing my thesis this past month (while still working full time as an intern…hard to believe my three months is almost up!) but expect to hear more from me soon. I will defend my dissertation on the 12th of May and am looking forward to reclaiming some time for myself!
I have been pretty sick this week with an inner ear infection that has left me with vertigo, dizziness, fatigue and other unpleasantness but I’ve managed to sit still at the computer and continue my work on my thesis…I’m almost to the finish line!
Speaking of finish lines, I took my anti-vert medicine today and went with John to watch the women’s olympic marathon trials being held here in Boston. They ran four loops practically right through our neighborhood and so it was great fun to watch and cheer as the women vied for positions on the olympic team. It was very exciting! Check out the updated photos (Boston Photos April on the right) for some shots of the women who will represent us in China. Best wishes to all and I’ll be posting again soon. =)!
March 21, 2008
March 21st, 2008 – Friday 40F/30F, sunny and VERY windy!
Having had a very productive week at work, I decided to take today off to work on my thesis and my fellowship applications. I also decided that it was time to pamper myself a bit in order to relieve some stress and try to maintain some semblance of looking/feeling good about myself while freaking out. I decided to find a salon where I could get a haircut and a body wax…ok, so the latter is not at all relaxing but I’m trying to keep it together over here!
Last weekend during our walk down Newbury Street, I found a coupon book for students. In it was a salon called the Judy Jetson Salon and when I looked it up, it appeared to be just minutes from my house…the key word in that last sentence is “appeared.” I made an appointment for 2:45p and kept working. I was ready to go at 2:30p and took off walking towards Mass Ave. It took a little longer than I had anticipated and when I reached Mass Ave., I couldn’t locate the salon. With my cell phone threatening to run out of batteries, I called to let them know I was late and lost. It turns out that I must have typed “175″ instead of “1765″ when using google maps and was still miles from where I needed to be. The lady on the other end of the line thought I was totally mad but instead of cancelling my appointment, she pushed me back half an hour and told me to hurry over. I walked to the Kendall/MIT T station and jumped on the underground and had to go three stations north before getting off and actually finding the salon…boy, was I way off! By the time I got there, it was almost an hour since I’d left my house and I was way less relaxed since I’d started. I was all sweaty from walking fast and racing to get there late, had a runny nose from the cold, and my cheeks were all red from the wind…we’re talking wind that actually knocked you about as you walked down the street…it probably would have been pretty fun if I hadn’t been so harried.
Ok, so I get to the salon and walk in…and I am SO in the wrong place. There I stood in my clogs and red parka looking a total mess…in a salon where everyone’s hair color matches the color of a skittles candy and everyone is super trendy, hip and cool. I considered leaving as I felt my “2 inches straight across” request might get laughed at at a place like this. However, I’d come this far, so I decided to give it a shot. The receptionist I’d talked to ended up being super nice and in a total surprise move apologized for me having gotten lost…how nice is that?! The guy who was to cut my hair approached me to take my coat…now picture a red head with bottle caps in his ears lobes and only his face NOT covered in brightly colored tattoos. His name was Damon and when I pulled my hair out its bun and he asked me what I wanted, I seriously said “unfortunately, nothing as interesting or cool as what I’m seeing in the other chairs.” He smiled and said I was fine…when I said he could take three inches off, his eye’s lit up…obviously agreeing that after not being to a salon since last July, I was in serious need of a clean up. Damon turned out to be SUPER cool and really nice. We talked about his wife and his kid, his time living in Berkeley, his tattoos, his music likes and dislikes…turned out he likes a lot of the music John likes and so I had a few cool names to toss in here and there. It was a totally great experience and my hair looked fantastic when he was finished. It’s quite a bit shorter (although I think only I’d notice) and it is all jaggedy at the bottom with long layers in the front (I don’t think he could help himself…jaggedy is part of their mo)…I actually think it suits me really well and it’s fun ad makes me feel really pretty. It was a shame that John’s gone…it’s always fun to show off a new “do” when it’s all polished looking from the salon. I would definitely have Damon cut my hair again.
Next came the body waxing. This I was nervous about seeing as I’d had nothing done in months, because my skin is SO incredibly sensitive, and because I’ve had notoriously horrendous experiences in the past (I took two weeks to heal from my first bikini wax…and yes, those two weeks were the two weeks I spent with my family in Hawaii…and hair still doesn’t grow in spots were the skin was not so kindly ripped off…so NOT cool!). The following section is probably going to contain too much information (probably should have warned about that last sentence too…sorry) but I’m sharing this story because I think it’s funny and I’m SO stoked on the esthetician right now! So, I’m waiting for the esthetician and up (from the basement salon) comes this spiky blue haired girl with a ring in her a lip and a stud in her tongue looking all of about 18. I looked at her and tried to hide the surge of panic I felt as I realized I was planning to pay this girl for what I was sure was going to be a torture session. As it turned out, she was an absolute pro. Elli is 25 (with incredible skin!) and has been waxing and doing facials for four years…she is AWEsome. She is also one of the most chatty people I have ever met. I felt totally comfortable…not always easy when someone is staring right at your face or focusing their full attention on your bikini line. After being pretty afraid that it was going to be a painful experience, I was amazed that it hurt SO little. I asked her the secret and it turned out to be the wax she uses…seriously, I was floored at what a difference it makes. It should have hurt a TON based on previous experiences but it was so easy. I still managed to have a reaction to the waxing but NOTHING like I’ve had in the past. She has landed a repeat customer for sure! Next time I go I’ll find out the wax name so I can advise others to find a salon that uses it…seriously magic stuff!
So, that was my crazy outing for the day. I came home with my beautiful hair and have spent the evening writing and doing my taxes. I feel good though…and I look good too. =)!
March 20, 2008
March 20th, 2008 – Thursday 42F/27F, partly cloudy & windy
I’ll start with two things…one, I do not only ever wear my red parka and two, I am really tired. I was just looking at the photos that John and I posted over the weekend and I swear that our stuff arrived and that I have different and sometimes new clothes underneath my standard red parka. No one has called me out on this yet but honestly, it looks kind of funny that I’m always wearing the same thing…for almost two months! I will try to take some photos in the future of me in something other than the parka…but it’s just so warm! It makes my life so GREAT! Being able to explore the city while comfortable and warm in what is pretty much a sleeping bag with sleeves is pretty much the best thing ever! ps. I don’t wear my parka in the house…we just took those pictures when the jackets first arrived…I only wear the parka outside…every time I’m outside!
I am super tired this week. I am burning the candle at both ends and then another candle right next to it. My life would be peachy if I could just focus on one thing but if I had to describe my life right now, I would have to describe my life right now as very dynamic and very exciting and totally exhausting. My internship at Microbia PE continues to be awesome and is in fact, getting even better. As I settle into being a member of the team and feel more confident about working independently, I am really finding my stride with respect to the research. I am helping advance the group’s goals while also working on an independent project. I feel totally comfortable and integrated into the group and will definitely be sorry to leave at the end of next month. I’m learning heaps on the research end and then I’m also getting a lot out of just being in the industrial environment. The perspective I am gaining by being there as a full time employee is absolutely invaluable…the experience is AWESOME!
So that’s one end of the candle…at the other end is my thesis. I am feeling good about my writing and how everything is coming together but I’m not quite there yet. I have another month and I’ll get there but it’s slow. I’m writing sometimes in the morning before I go to work, sometimes during breaks at work, and then always after work. When I’m not working on the thesis, I’m still at the computer…I have two important postdoc fellowships to turn in over the next couple of weeks and the applications require a lot of time and attention and thought. So, I’ve been getting up around 7a to run, then work for a bit on my thesis if I can before going to work, then work all day, and then come home and have a quick dinner before working in the office until between 12p and 1a. I’m not complaining…perhaps I’m just justifying my lack of correspondence with my friends and family. I’d also like to document this time in my life so that in the future when I think I can handle a ton of work, I don’t underestimate how little time I will have for myself and the other things in life that I enjoy…like hanging out with John, talking on the phone, exploring Boston, playing cards or being crafty. I have to admit I did know this was coming…at our family retreat this year I answered the prompt “if you could be anything else, you would be…” with the answer “I would still be me…just me in June.” It’s been a busy 2008 already and it’s only March! However, if I’m truly honest, I totally asked for this.
And all that said…I wouldn’t change right now for the world. Alright…I would be rich so I didn’t have to worry about funding my postdoc…but that might be the only thing I’d change. I am super glad that John and I moved to Boston together. It has been an adventure just getting here and then there’s setting up our house together, learning how to live with one another, and really enjoying the fact that I get to come home to my best friend every night. Well almost every night…tonight he’s on a plane to Las Vegas to celebrate his close friend’s birthday. It’ll be a quiet weekend here at home for me but I need it…and I don’t have to feel bad about leaving John alone so much. I know he doesn’t mind at all…in fact he keeps himself quite entertained and busy when I’m working…he checks in with work quite a bit (he’s really enjoying his postdoc and my feeling is that MIT is really going to be good for him), he’s been reading a lot (just bought a few new books), he watches the Colbert report and he makes sure my iPod has all the latest podcasts so when I run in the morning I have something to listen to/keep me awake on the treadmill!
Living together has been both SUPER cool (I expect it to remain this way) and has forced me to do some self reflection. I don’t think I’m easy to live with. I’m hoping this is primarily a product of being stressed out and when I say I’m not easy to live with, I mean that I’m fairly particular about certain things. I knew this about myself and I knew I was different…but I’m having to face all my quirks head on for the first time. I like things a certain way and I am having to reevaluate the things that are important to me…and when important, I then have to practice bringing suggestions to the table without emotion and in such a way as not to sound like a TOTAL nag! Ready for some true confessions…I don’t like seeing things on the carpet (sock lint, wood chip, small rock, etc.) and I will pick up lots of these little items and throw them away (my dad really need to visit and bring the vacuum!), I love to recycle (in a total militaristic fashion…the community program here is awesome and it make me want to recycle everything!), I make sure the shower curtain is closed so that it dries completely and doesn’t mildew, I make the bed every day, I make sure my socks are not all balled up when I put them in the clothes hamper, I like the toilet paper and paper towels to roll off the top, I like the pillows on the couch to be put on either side at the end of the day, I like to put the trash and recycling out the night before, I like my hangers to all face out, and I like the stove top to be clean and the sponge to be wrung out after washing dishes (so that it dries out before the bacteria can start to grow…yes, I’m a microbiologist and you should wring out your sponges or wash them once a week in your dish washer to keep them clean…think about it). It’s in my honest moments like these that I’m really glad that John doesn’t read my blog! I would prefer that he not realize how wacky his girlfriend is…or rather, not see a long list of reasons other people might find her more than a bit uptight. But I prefer to think of myself as particular. I’m neat and tidy and have decided only to care about things that will affect our health or have been deemed important in the part of my irrational brain that won’t let go. And I do have to say that John’s fantastic about so many of my wants…he’s pretty good about recycling and the bins go out the night before; he helps me make the bed and has started un-balling his socks before throwing them in the laundry (he’s made slow but very steady progress in this area); he closes the shower curtain because he also doesn’t like mildew and he’s not a bacteria-in-the-sponge kind of guy and so he’s almost better than me at wringing it out at the end of doing dishes; I don’t look at his closet so I don’t know which way they point, he doesn’t care about the lint on the carpet (probably because he can’t really see it from that high up) and just doesn’t get the toilet paper and paper towel over the top thing…most don’t…so I just turn it over…mostly because it falls into the “not a big enough deal to mention/makes me sound mental” category. So after rereading all that, John’s pretty much perfect for me. He’s patient and so willing to work with me if my requests make sense. Note, they have to make sense or else they get put in the category of “you just want it that way because it’s your way.” It’s interesting putting together “mine” and “yours” and learning to call it “ours”. I’m not quite used to it but at the same time, it’s fun. It’s great that we moved out here together and in together at the same time. It’s cool because now we have our house, our couch, our dining room table, our dishes, our pots and pans. Yet, we also have our own spaces…I have my desk, my closet, my side of the bed…and I still call it my car…but I’ll have to give that one up soon. I’m transitioning…I now call it “the” car.
Cool things worth mentioning this week…I experienced my first sleet yesterday and can now recognize it (it’s not as bad as I had imagined…I think I was imagining freezing rain but it’s more like baby hail or tiny snow). Foods are packaged the same on the west coast and the east coast but the names on the packages are often different…Kraft mayo doesn’t exist here and is called Hellmann’s and Dryers ice cream is called Edy’s. Donut holes are pop’ems and don’t call anything a freeway…over here they’re all called highways. As crazy as things are for me right now…I think I’m going to keep trying my best to notice little things…learning new things is fun and I feel a bit like a sleuth figuring out which things are different in the the two pictures. Living in Boston is fun and I’m looking forward to more exploring and “living in Boston” in the future.
March 16, 2008
March 16th, 2008 – Sunday 39F/29F, cloudy and just a bit of rain
It’s been a long time since my last post and I apologize for that! My thesis deadline as well as my postdoc fellowship application deadlines started looming VERY large a couple of weeks back and I’ve been trying to keep my head down and sadly, the last thing I’ve felt like doing right before I go to bed is spend more time staring at my computer screen! That said however, I miss sharing stories! I will make a go of writing shorter posts…you probably don’t always need to know what John and I have for breakfast, lunch and dinner anyways.
While we spent most of today working on our computers, we did take a break in the afternoon to go for a walk. It was my first time outside in three days…I know, very sad…and we took the red line over to Park Street and then walked home. We wandered through Boston Common and then explored Newbury Street…a very trendy street lined with very trendy shops…we only dared enter a few. I introduced John to the most delicious ice cream I’ve found so far in Boston, J.P. Licks. John has found a new favorite ice cream, oreo cookie cake batter and I would have to recommend the chocolate brownie…yum!
We took quite a few photos today (check out Boston Photos March)…or rather I took quite a few photos today as John’s camera was sadly out of batteries…before heading back home across the Harvard Bridge.
In other fun news, we’ve taken up trying out new recipes. Thanks to a gift from my sister a few years ago, I have a bunch of ‘Everyday Food’ magazines. So far we’ve made a vegetable soup, a chinese chicken salad, chicken tostadas, spaghetti carbonara and a super yummy pork chop recipe…had that last one tonight and it was fantastic! I know I said I would stop mentioning what we have for dinner but hey, we made our own bread crumbs and that needs to be noted!
John’s busy at work and is excited about the prospect of heading down to Woods Hole this week for a few lectures and I’m really busy too with my internship and writing. I’ll have quite a bit of quiet time this weekend…John’s heading out to Vegas on Thursday to celebrate his friend Casey’s birthday. I’m all set to have a very productive weekend…not that John’s a distraction at all…in fact, he’s been great! Today I had my lunch brought to me and he’s volunteered to be on grocery duty until my thesis is written!
So, life’s good and I’m sorry for the long break…I’ll see if I can’t be a bit better about posting. My best to everyone and thanks for checking in!
March 3, 2008
March 3rd, 2008 – Monday 49F/26F, mostly cloudy
Today was the first day of actually driving to work. Microbia PE has officially moved to the ‘burbs and it now takes me about 40 minutes to get to the office (as opposed to the three minutes it took me before). Although it’s a bit of a bummer that I have to commute now, I will say that it was great to have a month of walking to work. I wasn’t forced to drive right away , which is a very good thing…driving around here is a bit treacherous (and when I say this I am referring to the other drivers, the potholes, the lack of street signs, the city’s strange use of cardinal directions, etc.). At this point, not only do I have a better sense of the area and feel more comfortable driving, but the lack of a commute saved me quite a bit of money. I got up at 7a and did my workout and after a quick email to SIO and breakfast, I jumped in the car and followed my little google map directions to the new building in Lexington. I tried to enter one building (which happened to be the wrong building…I was glad no one was around to look at me like I was half silly…but I will defend myself by saying that the buildings didn’t have addresses!) and then realized I needed to go next door…I only knew this because I recognized the moving trucks. The building looks like it will be great (the offices are huge and my little pod is awesome!) but it’ll take a bit of time before everything is up and running…the entire office/lab is just jam packed with crates and crates of office and lab supplies. As it turns out, the building will continue to be renovated for the next several weeks and so settling into the new facility is going to be quite a process. Today, I unpacked boxes, moved supplies and equipment, stocked cabinets and basically just tried to be as helpful as possible. It’s a tough situation as there’s lots to get done but with the building not quite ready for our arrival, its a bit slower going than everyone would like. Experiments are hold, people are kind of over the whole moving thing and want to get back to a situation where they’re comfortable and productive, and there’s simply lots to do. For me, it was nice to reconnect with the entire gang today after being home for most of last week…they are really nice people and they always make me feel so welcome. For example, this morning, I too had a new plant on my desk. The company had bought everyone a flowering plant (mine a violet) for their desk and I think it’s pretty cool that they included/thought of me, their intern, when handing out flowers…I’m easy to please sure but I always appreciate being thought of. People came by to ask if I was settling in well…there wasn’t much to do in terms of setting up my desk and my computer I had up and running in minutes…but it was nice to be checked in/up on and feel like one of the crew.
It was a fairly exhausting day and my hard run this morning didn’t help my energy level come 5p. I drove home in relatively light traffic and hit up our local bakery, target and the supermarket before coming home and making spaghetti. I prepared a really nice meat sauce and it was a great dinner with fresh ciabatta bread rolls on the side. John and I had a chance to catch up over dinner and while he didn’t feel that productive today he sounded productive to me…swimming, researching a problem he’s currently tackling, and making trips to the post office and payroll office…yea for his first paycheck!
I’m pretty worn out tonight and so with the dishes washed and after a dessert of raspberry jello, I’m in my pjs, sitting up in bed (using my new, awesome pillow!) writing before I go to bed. While they will be more unpacking tomorrow, I am definitely going to start taking my computer with me to work. It’s super quiet in the evening at the office and my thought right now is to work on my thesis during my down time and also in the evening…I will get work done and avoid traffic! I will just have to remember to pack a snack because I was pretty grouchy by the time I returned home tonight…definitely will need to take a snack so I don’t end up a voracious predator by the time I get home…I know I’m not particularly nice nor am I particularly patient when I’m hungry.
Anyways, life’s good and moving forward…moving forward fast! It’s amazing to me that we’ve already been here for over a month. I am SO enjoying Boston, our house, my internship and creating a life here with John…it’s super fantastic! Best wishes to everyone and thank you to those of you who have been thinking of me and of John! Good night =)!
March 2, 2008
March 2nd, 2008 – Sunday 42F/28F, mostly sunny
Another busy day here! Well, kind of. John and I worked for a bit in the morning before heading off around lunch time to do a bit more shopping…this time to spend my gift card at my favorite store…the container store! We both agree it’s awesome to have the care here. We don’t use it much but it makes a huge difference when you want to run errands and it’s a great way to see the city. The underground travel and map can be a bit confusing and give you a bit of false sense of the city’s layout…but by driving around (especially on the weekends when the traffic is lighter and the other drivers a bit more relaxed) we are able to connect the pieces and really get a good sense of the city and how to get from point A to point B. I’m definitely feeling much more comfortable behind the wheel now than I was in early February…even getting pretty good at maneuvering around all the double parked cars! (I will need to keep that up as I head into my two months of commuting tomorrow.) The container store was out in Chestnut Hill and the drive was really fun…we drove through Back Bay (I love that area with all the brick and copper), by Northeastern and the Museum of Art, past the Longwood medical area (where I’ll be working in the fall), through the beautiful and expensive neighborhoods of Brookline and then on out to Chestnut Hill. I LOVE the container store and we quickly spent my christmas money…sweater and clothes boxes, desk organizers, blanket and pillow bags…we had a very good time. On the way home, I did drive John by the Harvard Medical School so he could see where I’ll be working as a postdoc and we also stopped by John’s office to drop off some work items. It was cool because we drove right up/under John’s building, parked with the hazard lights on (I felt very Boston doing this…), and I had an opportunity to see his office and check out the spectacular view he has every day of the river and downtown! We had a late lunch before I had to go to my “laser” appointment in Arlington…I got such a good sense of the city today! After that, I picked up John (now sporting very short hair) and we ran to Macy’s to buy wine and drinking glasses. While there, we also fell in love with two red, SUPER soft blankets…those now adorn our chairs down stairs. We definitely sound like a couple of shopaholics but with all our running around today…we only spent $14. Now that we’re here and have room for nice things, we’re using our gift cards from the engagement party to make our new house awesome!
For dinner this evening we cooked up one of our favorites…the orange chicken with vegetables over rice…in our super awesome, new pan and played a round of quiddler before working a bit more this evening. Let me tell you…John was saying something the other day about not being that good at the game…well, he was not telling the truth…the guy has found his strategy and worked me over the coals both last night and tonight! That game is great however and I will make my come back…you’ll see! =)!
ps: we were able to upload a few more photos tonight…the photos are from my mom’s camera and are mixed in with the Boston photos from February…enjoy!
pps: we cracked ourselves up today…we walked out to the car today and both commented on how warm it felt…turned out to be 31F…are we acclimatizing or what?! I wore my down jacket today but not once put on my hat or gloves…can you tell I’m proud of myself? =)!
March 1st, 2008 – Saturday 42F/27F, snowing & raining
With the weather a bit gloomy in the a.m., we opted to stay at home and work/workout in the morning. Our big outing for the day was an afternoon trip to bed, bath and beyond to pick up a few more household items/repurchase the household items I had returned in San Diego. We picked up a bamboo drying rack, a tea infuser, a ladle, the nine piece corningware cooking set I had returned, a frying pan, a set of stemless red and white wine glasses (I love these!) and a pair of awesome pillows so we can sit upstairs and watch Lost while reclining comfortably…we are living the high life over here! In the afternoon, I continued to work while John went out for a walk and to run a few other errands. It was a pretty quiet, nice day altogether and yet the highlight came in the evening when John’s friends Morris and Matt came over. John and I had made peanut butter cookies and tea and the four of us sat around the dining room table for a couple of hours chatting…I really enjoyed having people at the house and it’s something we’ll have to do much more often.
ps: if you like podcasts, check out Chicago Public Radio’s “This American Life.” John and I both really enjoy the weekly show…we also love “The Science Show” produced by the Australians…give them a listen if you are so inclined. =)!
February 29, 2008
February 29th, 2008 – Friday 24F/16F, mostly sunny but COLD!
I totally enjoyed another quiet and productive day at home today. The day was cold but really sunny and so the office upstairs was nice and warm. My work was only punctuated by a workout in the morning and an afternoon trip to the grocery store. We have plans to have friends over tomorrow night for dessert and so in addition to groceries, I picked up ice cream and the ingredients for cookies…now that our belongings are here I can return to baking!
John came home around 7:30p and we hung out for a while before making crispy tacos for dinner…super delicious! While sipping hot chocolate we played a round of Quiddler…quickly becoming one of my favorite games…and enjoyed a quiet night at home (I read a bunch of Lost diaries too…haven’t yet seen last nights but I’ve heard it’s good…can’t wait!). There’s a lot on the agenda this weekend…tomorrow we’re going to try and find both the container store and bed, bath and beyond in order to “re-buy” a few things. You might think it a bit strange but I took a bunch of breakable items back to the store deciding it would be better to return them and repurchase them here than to pay to ship them and risk having them broken…I thought my idea was fairly clever! However, now we need to go find those returned items…but it’ll be fun to shop with our gift cards in hand. =)!
For my random note today, you know it’s cold when you can see your breath the entire time you’re in your car driving to and from the store. I also figured out today that it warmer in my fridge than outside but not quite as cold as my freezer….perhaps the first time in my life when the ice cream could be left in the car and be just fine for days! Also learned today, I should clean the snow off my car as soon as possible to avoid the nasty situation I had today. With the sun out yesterday and today, much of the snow on my car melted…but in the afternoon and at night the water refreezes encasing the car in ice…makes opening doors and the trunk very interesting and also leads to much time being spent scraping ice off the windows and wind screen…no wonder everyone else cleans their car every morning…makes a BIG difference!
February 28, 2008
February 28th, 2008 – Thursday 28F/17F, partly cloudy
With the office packing again today and moving tomorrow, I requested today and tomorrow off to work on my thesis (I also have to admit that I’ve had my fill of packing boxes and moving for a while!). It feels so good to be at home focused on my dissertation and I have been able to just sit and focus on my writing and editing. I have also been able to address some emails that had fallen by the wayside with the craziness that has been my last week. In other not so exciting news, I had a great workout this morning and did the laundry (which kept the office upstairs nice and warm all day!). When John came home tonight, we opted to get dinner from our local favorite, the Snack Bar. While walking to pick up our house calzone and veggie pizza with pepperoni (we’re already in a rut at that place!), John shared the coolest news of the day. His graduate advisor, Sutanu, is nominating him for a national dissertation award. In John’s field, every year, one dissertation is selected to receive national recognition. While the award is a long shot for anyone who is nominated, John agreed that it was pretty cool to even be thought of as a candidate for such an honor. He will have to do a bit of leg work to get the application ready and will need a couple of letter writers but that will be easy enough to do by the application deadline in May. Yea for John! It looks like his work here is already going really well and it’s great that his hard work at UCSD is continuing to be recognized.
We watched last week’s Lost episode tonight and it’s getting even wackier and harder to explain…I LOVE that show! It’s fun to spend time thinking about what in the heck could be going on and it continues to raise more questions than it answers. That’s all for today!
