To the mitten and back again

I just slept for 12 hours.

So much was packed in the last week I hardly know where to begin. I traveled all over Michigan - from Detroit to Kalamazoo to Ann Arbor to East Lansing and back to Detroit. In just six days.

It was great to be home and see so many familiar faces. The whole "coming home" experience was a bundle of emotions. I was able to see a lot of friends and family, which was wonderful. But being home was also a reminder that my previous home is not really home anymore. It will never be quite like it used to - and that's ok - it is just confirmation that I am, in fact, growing up and moving on.

At certain points during my trip, I did find myself missing my roommates and my routine in Boston. (I'm actually not dreading going back to work tomorrow! It will be a shortened week for the new year - we close two hours early tomorrow and we're closed on Tuesday.)

But I definitely felt sad saying goodbye to Michigan. For some reason, leaving felt more permanent. The first three months I was in Boston, I always knew I'd be back to Michigan for Christmas. And now, there's more uncertainty - I have no idea when I'll be back in Michigan again.

Fortunately, I had a beautiful flight home. It was something I'd never experienced before: we flew just above endless fluffy, white clouds and they covered the entire sky so that it was a white horizon all around me. It looked like snow as far as the eye can see - without a single other element to disturb the vastness. The scene was so pure and infinite that it gave me feelings of hope and possibility.

Well, it was great seeing those of you who I was able to see and I'm sorry to anyone that I wasn't able to visit this time.

And thanks to those of you who are still reading this blog! Sometimes I wonder if I'm talking to myself, so it was a surprise to hear so many of you keep up with the entries. Now I have to unpack...

Happy New Year!

The holidaze are here

With all my car drama, I forgot to say anything about what I did over the weekend. The short version is that when I wasn't making car-related phone calls, I spent most of Sunday and Monday walking around downtown Boston and Cambridge. I also saw the movie "Atonement." It was good - very beautiful cinematography.

On Monday night, my roommates and I exchanged gifts. It was so cute. I really really enjoy them and will miss their company while we're scattered for the holidays. Tiffiney left for Montana yesterday and Vanessa will be going home (she's from Massachusetts) but not till after I leave.

Last night was our work holiday party. It was fun hanging out with EEers and their families. What a nutty bunch.

It's supposed to be rainy here on Sunday... but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my flight won't be too delayed or canceled. See you soon, I hope!

P.S. I still like cities

It has been an interesting few days. Let me start from the beginning.

As you know, we got a foot of snow on Thursday. As I left my house Friday morning, I glanced to make sure my car was still where I had left it parked on my street. I saw it - or I'm pretty sure that was my car - covered in a layer of snow. When I got home from work, there was no car there. I learned that parking was banned on my street all day due to the "snow emergency." I figured it had been towed so that the streets could be plowed.

I began calling area tow companies, the city of Boston, the police and the tow lots. No one had any record of my car being towed. They told me to report it stolen; however, this idea seemed ridiculous so I continued making my calls the next day. Again I was told to report it stolen. I took a break from the search on Sunday and then did one final call attempt on Monday morning before finally giving in and going to the police station to file my report. The police seem to think my car will be found. I am not so hopeful. I think it probably got stolen for its parts - Toyotas are good cars. Although I'm still not sure why someone would steal a 1996 Toyota Tercel. It was the opposite of luxury. It didn't even have mirrors on the overhead visors.

I am in surprisingly good spirits about the whole thing. It's obviously a bummer since the car was still worth a few thousand dollars. But it really doesn't inconvenience me - I take the van to work and I take the subway around Boston. And I have learned some valuable lessons: always know your license plate number; don't keep all your car records in the glove compartment; and insurance doesn't necessarily cover you after moving to another state.

At least now I don't have to worry about where to park when it snows.

It's a little snowfall, not the apocalypse

Yesterday, I got to experience my first heavy snowfall in New England. It started snowing around 12pm and didn't stop until 9 pm. I think we have about a foot of snow, and apparently New Englanders aren't used to this because everyone was in a frenzy. (In true news-hype fashion, the Boston Herald is calling the storm the "NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS.") Our work holiday party was postponed until next week. Equal Exchange closed at 2 pm so that everyone could get home. It still took the van 2 hours (it normally takes 40 min.) to get to JP. During the ride, we played "20 Questions." We lasted about an hour and a half before we got sick of the game.

Six of us decided to go straight to the bar to celebrate our partial snow day. We only had to walk a few blocks to get to our destination, but it was quite the walk with so much snow on the ground and at that point, none of the sidewalks were cleared. We went to this really cute and cozy pub in JP that has a fireplace. We had a few rounds of drinks and then I headed back outside to face the snow. I'm not sure how long it took me to walk home (maybe 30 minutes), but I actually quite enjoyed it. I almost fell a few times when I walked over some icy spots but I managed to stay balanced.

Apparently Boston declared a "snow emergency" yesterday. It's just funny that a foot of snow is an emergency. But in a city, it is a lot harder to keep everything functioning with that much snow - and there just isn't really anyplace for the snow to go.

We're supposed to get a rain/sleet mix on Sunday, so that's going to make things even more interesting.

Hope you're all staying warm in Michigan (or wherever you are)...I hear the Midwest has gotten quite the snow/ice storm as well.

I feel like I have a lot of errands to run this weekend... and I think I'm going to take Monday off as my compensation day, so yay for a three-day weekend :)

<3

It's a slushy Christmas so far

I had a busy weekend indeed. Tapas with the Equal Exchange women was fun on Thursday night. There were about 11 of us, ranging in age from 22 to 50ish.


On Saturday, I worked at the bazaar and then went out for dinner and drinks with the other two Equal Exchangers who were working the event. I enjoy hanging out with them, so it was a good time.


After that, I met up with a larger group of EEers for Summer's goodbye celebration in JP. (Summer is the redhead - she's moving to Italy.) I couldn't stay out too late, though, because I had to get up early and work again on Sunday morning. I got done with the event around 4pm and spent a while walking around downtown.


I did a little Christmas shopping and just enjoyed the holiday hustle and bustle in the city. It is seriously so cute with all the decorations. I love it.


We have our holiday work party this week (on Thursday), so that should be fun - the EErs like to party! I'm hoping to take Friday (or Monday) off as a compensation day for working over the weekend. I haven't been able to just relax over a weekend in a long time, so I am looking forward to that! I just bought the first book in The Golden Compass series - I want to try and finish it in time to catch the movie while it is still in the theater.


I've been spending more time hanging out with my roommates because they've been home more often lately. I really love them - they are hilarious.


Welllll, I think that's it for now!
x

The bells be ringin'

Hello all,

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I had a busy weekend showing my friend Jessica around Boston. I had Friday off (a compensation day for working the previous weekend), so we spent three days walking around various parts of the city. Boston is so cute at Christmastime - I love it!! There are a lot of decorations, from lit trees in the park to huge lit stars that stretch from one side of the street to the other.

We went to the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art) and they had a cool exhibit with some of the nation's most innovative designs in things like furniture, technology, science and fashion.

The weather here has been cooold. It snowed on Sunday and we still have a couple inches of snow/ice on the ground. On Sunday, my roommate got a Christmas tree for our apartment. We decorated it as a "family" on Sunday night. The tree is decorated very simply but it is so pretty! We didn't have a star or angel so we topped the tree with a fake flower we found in the house.

I am looking forward to coming home for Christmas. Only about 2.5 weeks! It will be here before I know it.

Work is going well - it's a busy time of year. I am working at the Cultural Survival Bazaar again this weekend. I actually really enjoy doing events. Plus, I'm becoming a pro at brewing coffee.

I have another busy weekend coming up... on Thursday, I'm going out with a bunch of women from work for tapas. On Saturday, we're going out for drinks because it's a co-worker's last day. I will miss her - she's been like a big sister since I moved here.

Well, that's it for now.

Hope you're all finding the magic of Christmas... :)