First day at work!

So today was my first day of "real life", so to speak, and it was great. After months of doing whatever I want on a whim, I now finally have to conform to a schedule, and it's weird to have to spend an entire nine hours in one building. But because we start with training at a hotel, we at least ease into a whole work routine. I really like the people I've met so far and I am so excited about L.E.K. in general and being part of a company that truly makes a difference in a lot of very important businesses around the world.

The past week was definitely quite difficult - being at home dealing with family issues was stressful per usual, but now that some hard decisions have been made, hopefully the tension level is going to be dissipating at least a little. Plus, I got to make the majority of Thanksgiving dinner, including homemade stuffing, cornbread souffle, sweet potato rolls, two kinds of cranberry sauce, and of course several pies and other desserts. Despite the craziness of everything, I still felt that I was able to take a step back and realize just how much I am grateful for. This year has been absolutely incredible and I will probably write more about my thoughts on it at the end of December. But for now, suffice it to say that I think a dramatic shift in my attitude has had a lot to do with so many of my wishes and dreams coming true - a wonderful relationship, my trip around the world, and so many fulfilling trips to see my friends around the country. I am so, SO thankful for all the opportunities I have been afforded since graduation - it's really been a dream come true!

And now, it is time to move on to the next phase of my life, and I feel more than ready. I am so excited to see what the next few months have to bring! (and also will be pretty pleased to start getting those paychecks...)

NYC (In more detail the second time around)

So, since I had really only been passing through and the previous weekend had mostly been devoted to Connecticut, I decided to go back to NYC last Wednesday with Sam, because this would be my last opportunity to just randomly be able to travel in the middle of the week in the middle of a workday. (And I snagged the mythical 1 dollar bus fare...how awesome is that?!) Abandoning my poor roommate again (I have promised to spend more time with her in the future haha), I eagerly headed back to the city with a lot of plans in place with various people. Wednesday night, I had the pleasure of seeing two Baldwins who graduated in '08 who I hadn't seen in a year and a half and my friend who reminds me a little of a nicer version of Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl. Thus, he knows ALL the coolest places to go in the city and we ended up at a speakeasy called PDT (Please Don't Tell). The entrance is located in a little hot dog shop in a telephone booth. You have to pick up the telephone and then they will let you in, if you have a reservation of course. We managed to snag a corner table and spent a lovely couple hours sipping on extremely pretentious, expensive, and DELICIOUS cocktails while catching up on life. Seeing my Duke friends always results in the perfect mix of intellectual conversation and gossip, and I just had such a fantastic time.


On Thursday, I had plans to have lunch with my grandfather, who lives in the Upper West Side, so I ended up taking the train from Sam's place in Long Island City to Times Square and then just walking the 45 blocks from there because I felt like it, stopping in whatever cafes or stores caught my fancy along Broadway. For me, New York is no longer about doing the touristy stuff, but just walking around as much as possible and trying to uncover new adorable shops and eateries every time I go. I spent some nice time with my grandfather and then headed to the East Village for some gluttonous exploration. I had heard a lot about this genius chef David Chang and his amazing noodle bars and their offshoots, so I naturally had to go take a look at Milk Bar, which led to me logging some pretty serious cookie purchasing/eating time. Now, I have eaten a lot of cookies, but these cookies were honestly probably the best I have ever had. Their innovative combination of flavors (cornflakes, chocolate chips, and marshmallows? I THINK SO), utter freshness, and texture in general were just to die for. You know that saying that a lot of people live by and is pretty controversial: "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels?" Um, people, I respectfully disagree. Those cookies taste FAR better than skinny feels.

Fortunately, I had just had a few blissful bites and walked around the corner when I spotted 16 Handles, a frozen yogurt place that has 16 flavors of yogurt and you can make your own combination of yogurt flavors and put on as many toppings as you want, and then they weigh it and charge you by the ounce. (Take that, Pinkberry...this is SO much better.) So I put the cookies away for later and had some blissful frozen yogurt. By this time I was feeling kind of like a pig (albeit a happy one) so forced myself to keep walking even though I'd already walked for like 2 hours and went all the way to Chinatown in the drizzly rain to look around because I can never get enough of New York's Chinatown. Exhausted after all this walking, I finally headed back to Sam's in the early evening to change and rest for a bit and then went out for a late dinner with Tyla at Momofuku, which is the original David Chang noodle bar concept restaurant. It was absolutely fantastic and I was so excited she suggested it because it was the exact place I wanted to go! His version of pork buns is absolutely sublime...I have never tasted such a creative take on the pork bun, which is already one of my favorite Chinese/dim sum foods. YUM. So we had a lovely evening and then I headed back to Sam's for some quality pre-birthday time with him watching Modern Family, which he just got me into...such a funny show!

Friday was Sam's birthday, and I was so happy I could be with him on his 23rd. (I can not believe how old we are getting, by the way. Before we know it we will be 25...quarter life crisis time!) It was so beautiful in the morning that I was able to go running in a t-shirt and leggings, so that was delightful. Then I went out to lunch with my good Baldwin friends Ahsha and Liz, whom I absolutely adore seeing because the two of them are so different (involved in M&A and clinical psychology) but we all get along so well. I walked and talked with Liz for a while afterwards which was wonderful and then went to a yoga class with Sam in the East Village, which was pretty crazy. Firstly, it was the most crowded studio I have EVER seen - literally packed wall to wall with yoga mats. Secondly, this is a class full of NYU people and actors in general, so they all felt the need to express themselves quite frequently. Luckily Sam had warned me before that the class might be a little noisy, but I still could barely control my giggling when the moans and grunts (of pleasure? pain?) started. As I am used to doing yoga in silence and at most noisily exhaled breath, it was just a bit disconcerting...but certainly an amusing experience. I am totally obsessed with St. Marks Place and the East Village in general.

That night, we had a fantastic dinner and I got to meet all of Sam's theater friends over a lovely Italian meal, and then we went to a wine bar in the East Village where we sat under heat lamps outside and watched the world go by. Boston pretty much shuts down at 1 or 2 am, but in NYC, things are as busy at 1 in the morning as they are at 1 in the afternoon. It's pretty incredible. It was just a wonderful day and evening and per usual, it made me really happy to be with Sam.

And then today, I got to see Ian and Shea's spacious place in Jersey City and then have Dim Sum with them in Chinatown in a super busy restaurant full of hundreds of people and carts wheeling everywhere, which was so satisfying. (I love dim sum done BIG.) Then we wandered around Spring Street doing a little shopping and then stumbled across a miniature cupcake place called Baked by Melissa. This was no joke the cutest cupcakes I have ever seen in my ENTIRE life. This is why I am obsessed with New York. Where else can you find 80 different frozen yogurt places, speakeasies, about a gazillion wine bars, and a tiny place that can sell 9 different flavors of tiny filled cupcakes for a dollar each (and they are literally the size of a quarter)?


In case you can't tell, New York makes me really happy. Maybe it's the fact that I was born in Manhattan that makes me feel inexplicably tied to this city - every time I arrive I automatically feel filled with a kind of joyously hectic energy. I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out if I lived in NYC would I continue to feel the same joy that I feel pretty much every minute walking around the crowded streets. I know that I could not live the same way in NYC that I travel in NYC - I would become obese and broke (and the broke would probably happen before the obese, due to phenonemon like the cupakes described above). But I have SO much fun visiting there that it's hard for me to imagine becoming frustrated or overwhelmed while living there. I endlessly query my friends about the effect the city has had on them and reviews are mixed, so obviously, there is only one way to really find out if the city is for me, and for the time being at least, I am firmly tied to Boston. I was very sad to leave today, though. I do love that city, and it is like nowhere else in the world.


View of Manhattan from Ian and Shea's apartment!

Now it's back to NoVA for a while for a week filled of interesting issues, and then the job starts so soon! But at least I had yet another week full of fun, food, and fantastic friends!

Stamford-NYC-Boston

Since the last time I posted, I have done quite a bit of traveling and my roommate has moved in! The weekend after I last posted, I began to feel both slightly bored and lonely, which are two feelings that I pretty much NEVER feel, so I planned a lot of travel to get myself out of my minuscule un-peppy time. Then that Sunday Chelsea moved in, and even though she actually had to start work the next day, which is crazy, we spent the evenings during the week getting to know each other and eating dinner together, which was great. The apartment really is far too big for just one person, and it's so nice to have company - after the whole roommate crisis, I am so relieved that everything has worked out so well and I am so happy with my situation now. We had our first major bonding experience when we went to IKEA in the middle of the week with a ZipCar pickup truck (yes, I drove a pickup truck haha), but we got there only about 40 minutes before it closed, so we basically had to do an utter mad dash through the store to grab the things we wanted. The apartment is now almost furnished though, although I would still say it is a work in progress because there are very few decorations in the main living area. It's amazing how much effort making an apartment looks nice takes...and it also takes such a long time! But now that I have been there for a whole month, it definitely feels like a wonderful home.

Anyway, on Friday the 13th, I began my semi-epic travel adventure which is only just ending now. I took a bus to NYC and then caught the train from Grand Central to Stamford, which ended up taking like 7 hours, but was a good 50 dollars cheaper than taking a train straight there, so since I am actually trying to be careful about what I spend, that was the better option. The somewhat annoyingly long trip was of course worth it, though, to see Alyssa and Dave and their super cute yuppie apartment in Connecticut! Alyssa and Dave are one of those couples that are so cute it just makes one happy to be in their presence. We made sweet potato gnocchi on Friday night, which were utterly delicious, and on Saturday they showed me the general cuteness of Connecticut. It is obviously pretty suburban, but there are some very cute streets and a lot of really high quality restaurants. Also, Connecticut has the greatest supermarket of ALL TIME. It is called Stew Leonards and it is actually hard to describe. It is utterly massive and has free samples of EVERYTHING. A lot of things are made right in front of you, from air popped rice cakes to popcorn to apple cider doughnuts. But the best part is definitely the animatronic animals and vegetables and dairy products that sing and dance as you make your way through the store. AMAZING. Seriously, we had the best time in this grocery store.



We also went to see 2012, which is the first movie I've seen in theaters for a really long time, and it was totally ridiculous but very entertaining a great rain to spend a rather drab and rainy afternoon. Then we went out to dinner at this place called Chocopologie which was obviously totally incredible. I am unabashedly passionate about my total addiction to chocolate, and the different truffles there were really fantastic and inventive. Their normal food was great too, but I mean, it was really all about the dessert. :) And also the company of course, which was wonderful. Alyssa and Dave were the first people to visit me in Boston so I was happy to be able to return the favor, and it's always wonderful to spend time with people who are so perfect for each other!

That Sunday, I took the train back to NYC, where I had brunch with Sasha and Irem, which was great. I love catching up with Duke people all over the city - it's so interesting to see where everyone is at six months after graduation. (You'd think I might feel bad/guilty that everyone else has been working super hard while I have been playing and traveling...and yet I do not at all. Oh well.) Also, the pure abundance of restaurants and excessiveness in general of the city never fails to bring a smile to my face and fill me with lots of energy. Then I spent the afternoon with Sam and went on a run with him because it was utterly gorgeous out (yay for winter not happening yet, by the way...that is totally awesome), and then we went to coffee with a friend from high school who I hadn't seen in ages so that was really fun, especially because the Washington Square area is impossibly full of cute coffee and tea places. Then I managed to have a quick dinner with Ian and Shea (soooo many people in NYC now, aahhh!) before I met up with Sam again and stole him away with me to go back to Boston!

For those of you who don't know, Sam and I have known each other since the age of three and talk pretty much every day, but getting to actually spend this much time with him in person is a special rarity. We have so much fun together but also each had our own things to do and other friends to see in the other's city, so that was great too. When we first came back to Boston on Sunday night I have to say I was embarassed for my city because it was literally completely deserted, and to a New Yorker, that is just a poor showing. But I was so happy that Sam ended up really loving the city. It was only after I came back from NYC that I realized just how different the two cities are. After being in the utter craziness and enormity that is New York, Boston seems tiny and tame. NYC is the cool, glitzy, popular kid; Boston is the more nerdy but earnest kid, with a charm that grows on you. :) (But I will not deny that New York is the cooler city, of course.) I took him to some of the touristy places and Mike's Pastry of course, and also cooked for him.

The craziest thing we did in Boston, though, was go to see this show called Sleep No More. It is done by this British theater company and basically combines the story of Macbeth with Hitchcock-like techniques to form a interactive (and totally creepy/terrifying) theater experience. It took place in a four story abandoned schoolhouse that we were free to roam around. Everyone had to put on a creepy white mask and you weren't allowed to talk. None of the actors talked either; they just expressed themselves through dance. The idea was that you could explore all the rooms of the house (all of which were elaborately done - insanely good sets!) and then follow whichever characters interested you. Unfortunately, because I do not have the theater experience that Sam does, I ended up not following any of the main characters and thus had a rather boring experience compared to Sam's...haha. Still, it was utterly amazing and unlike anything I have ever seen before - so crazy and cool!

Okay this is getting super long, so the second part of this post, which is trip to NYC part two, I will put up later!

Counting Down, Classical Music, Calculations, and Cynicism

Counting down: I have 19 days left until my job begins. I can't believe how fast the time has passed! Obviously, I have to make the most of my time, so I'm spending it decorating and catching up with friends and going to the gym and just planned two trips to Connecticut and NYC...so excited! Each day doesn't seem to go by that fast, but as a whole I feel like life is just whizzing by and my days of "freedom", so to speak, are almost up. I know that I am now officially the last of all my friends to start a real job, but rather than feeling lazy or bored, I am just grateful for all this time I've had to discover more about myself and the world.

Classical Music: I went down to Virginia this past weekend for a fantastic night of classical music at Strathmore, one of my favorite venues (I got to go to the opening event way back in 2005...seems so long ago now). It was a Bach single concerto, a Brahms double concerto, and a Beethoven triple concerto, so a very cool and unique mix of music, with utterly fantastic soloists who I happened to be able to hang out with afterwards. :) It is such a joy for me to be able to talk with soloists who tour the world for a living, compare views on music and travel and life, and see what that kind of lifestyle is like. (As many of you know, I am endlessly fascinated by what a touring artist has to be capable of to travel so much...and although they are endlessly adored, when it comes down to it, it seems like it actually is just a lot of time alone in a hotel...although I still think it is way glamorous, haha.) It was an amazing evening and great also to be back in NoVA for a few days to see people like Lauren and Shea and hang out with my family as much as I could. Now I find myself practicing every day and listening to classical music all the time...I went to visit Will in Exeter, NH the other day (such a tiny cute town in the middle of nowhere!), and listened to classical music on the train ride there and back and happily admired the gorgeous fall foliage. It was so relaxing and fulfilling.

Calculations: This month marks the first month where I am officially tracking absolutely every dollar I spend and putting it into categories. This is an interesting yet sobering activity. I enjoy Excel so much that when I decided to plan these little trips to New York I then made a spreadsheet of all possible bus and train options and combinations, before realizing that the most I could gain from this activity was saving approximately 6 dollars. Even so, it's a good habit to get into, and it will be very interesting to see the categories that the most money goes to.

Cynicism: I have recently had a few thought-provoking conversations with close friends about the nature of long-term relationships in general that has led me to some confusing thoughts and questioning of love in general. We are at a time in our lives when we long to meet "the one", and yet when we do, many of us then regret it and wish we had 4-5 more years to look around and "just make sure". Everyone has a different outlook on whether humans are meant to be monogomous or not, or if someone cheats should he/she tell his/her partner, or if open relationships really can be okay. Sometimes it is disturbing to me, though, as someone who has gone from being very cynical to very open to the possibility of real love, that my friends can be so negative about romantic ideals, whether they are in serious relationships or not. If you want a relationship to work, and it is meant to be, then I believe both people will FIGHT to make it work. Love is not easy. Physical distance comes between people all the time, and in my opinion, geographic distance from someone is about a million times better than emotional distance. All that being said, though, I am still not convinced that there is just one "right" person for everyone - I easily could buy that each person could be happy with three or four different people for the rest of one's life.

Just some musings from a Thursday night...going to bed now. Or maybe to curl up in my super sweet Lovesac with a book while listening to Beethoven sonatas!

Happiness in Independence

I have had a really fantastic past few days, and I can't express how good it feels to be living here on my own in Boston! This past weekend was amazing. Alyssa and Dave came to visit, and it was so wonderful to get to see her after such a long time. They are also probably one of the cutest couples I have ever known and so perfectly suited to be with each other, so it always makes me really happy to see them together and now that they live in Connecticut, I am going to be able to see them fairly frequently! I showed them all around the North End on Saturday and we got tons of pastries (yessss...every time a friend visits is an excuse for me to get cookies at Mike's Pastry, which has the most divine pistachio macaroons I have ever had in my entire life.) We went out to an adorable little restaurant on Newbury Street in Back Bay in the evening, and an AMAZING brunch at this place called North Street Grille in the morning on Sunday. Seriously, I am taking every single person who ever comes to visit me on the weekend to this place...it is that good.

So all that was wonderful, and then my weekend was made even better by the fact that by the end of the day, I had worked things out with the roommate situation! Her name is Chelsea, she went to Dartmouth, and we found each other on Craigslist, which is proof that yes, Craigslist actually can work. (And I got the best furniture off it too, so there, all you CL haters and harbingers of CL death and doom.) She moves in in a few days, and I am soooo relieved that I was able to get the situation resolved in the nick of time. But at the same time, it is been unbelievably great to totally have the apartment to myself these past couple of weeks. I forgot how happy being alone makes me.

That being said, though, I have been way more social this week and it has been so much fun...I got to see Alec and Caitlin (basically my only Duke friends here) on Monday, which was awesome, and my good friend Andrea from Duke is visiting right now. I love showing people the apartment and Boston in general, because I already feel extremely connected to the city. Last night, Andrea and I went out and had a great time - I always end up in fun situations and meeting all sorts of people and talking to strangers when I am with her! It's interesting how being in a relationship affects my behavior now when I go out. I have never been a partier and always felt awkward with male/female games and flirtation...it's just never been my area of expertise. Now that I am in a relationship and feel so comfortable with it and myself, I find chatting with people to be easier, I suppose almost because I am not worried about "messing up" or being awkward...haha.

I won't lie, I feel like I am living the dream right now...the whole city feels like it is right at my fingertips, and I love being able to explore on my own and with friends. Today, I went to a spin class with Andrea at yet another gym, and then went to the Haymarket "farmers" market where I got 8 apples, 4 oranges, 4 peppers, raspberries, scallions, butternut squash, tomatoes, lettuce, baby carrots, broccoli, and green beans for 10 dollars. Yes, that's right. Then I danced around listening to the Beatles in my kitchen while making some pumpkin bread to bring to Virginia this weekend, and the smell filled the apartment and made me think of fall and cinnamon and happy things...not to be too cliche here but this is really how I feel. :)

Want to feel like this too? Come visit me here! I still have a month before the job starts!

Beautiful Boston

So, looking back on my last post, I have to say that I am pretty damn proud of the fact that I have accomplished or am in the process of accomplishing most of the things on that overwhelming list I frantically came up with about a week ago! Life has definitely moved at a pretty fast pace recently. The first night back from Australia was pretty hard...I missed Andrew so much and was so incredibly jet-lagged and confused that I went to bed at 3 and then woke up at 7. Not being able to go back to sleep at all, I frantically began packing for several hours, fell back asleep for one, and then decided it would be a good idea to do a class at the gym. After seeing spots and feeling faint once I got home from that, I just sat for a while and reflected on how ridiculous I can be. Then I gathered myself and packed for the rest of the day, taking breaks only to watch Top Chef. :)

On Friday, Danaan was an amazing friend and helped me pack the entire car, which took several hours. His packing skills are quite impressive and I would like to think mine improved exponentially by the end of the day, as I stuffed more and more jackets and clothes and pillows into teeny little cracks between boxes until literally nothing else could even fit in the car. Then on Saturday, my mom was generous enough to accompany me on the long drive up, which took about eight hours (with stops and some traffic though), and was almost entirely in pouring rain. So it was good I had company since the weather was terrible!

Luckily for me, I live in the most amazing building EVER and the second we got there, there was a doorman who was able to get us luggage carts and access to an elevator in the back to move everything in. It was far easier than I expected and now I don't think I'm ever going to be able to live in a walk-up building...problem. I then of course had the inevitable stunned moment when you are first inside an unfurnished apartment with boxes and bags galore and you just have to stare at it all for a minute:


One of the great things about this building, though, is that it is so gorgeous that it makes me want to live up to its standard and have a gorgeous apartment, so after a quick dinner at Wagamama (awesome noodle place that is like across the street from me!), I immediately started getting to work on unpacking everything that I could. By the end of the night, the kitchen and bathroom were ready to go, the TV and TV stand were set up, and all DVDs and books were unpacked. The next day, my mom had to leave, but in the pouring FREEZING rain (that eventually turned into snow, I might add), I was able to purchase a bed and get it delivered, thus actually having a legitimate place to sleep on only my second night here. And also, I did a massive grocery shopping trip (and when I say massive I really mean of epic proportions) before having to return the rental van. I also set up the living room so I could hang out there without having to have a couch...note the suave air mattress bed...


The whole week has really taken on a pattern of me getting something major accomplished every day and also having one or two major frustrations but moving past them! Here is a short and non-cohesive summary:

Monday: figuring out internet, realizing I did not have a wireless router, having ethernet not work, successfully getting Zipcar membership, finding good furniture on Craigslist to check out, finally getting internet to work by stretching huge ethernet cable across living room (very ugly)...
Tuesday: printer not working, figuring out how to use Zipcar successfully, making a Zipcar friend (Efram the SUV!), getting hopelessly lost and then found going to Quincy and Norwood to look at furniture and purchase it, bringing back coffee table successfully but then scratching it in bumpy car ride, flirting with various extremely expensive gyms and obtaining free trial memberships...
Wednesday: interviewing potential roommate, finding someone to hire to pick up huge bookcase and desk found on Craigslist, unsuccessfully trying to solve printer problem, getting stuck in MASSIVE traffic going to Norwood to pick up dresser and nightstands, successfully moving huge dresser into apartment all by myself!
Thursday: picking up wireless router and figuring out how to install wireless in my apartment (eventually to great success, yay!), picking up various odds and ends, getting desk and bookcase into apartment with help of moving dude


So now, my room looks very cosy and is almost entirely furnished and just awaiting decoration! The shared living space is still not furnished and probably won't be until I find a roommate, which hopefully will happen very soon (but I don't want to jinx it so I won't say anything yet). Despite the frustrations, I could not be happier to be here, and particularly to be in this utterly incredible building. I seriously feel like I am living the dream right now. I have wanted to live in the center of a city for so long, and I feel like the second I step foot out of my building, I am in the middle of everything, and it brings a smile to my face every time. I know that after people live in a city for a while they tend to get kind of jaded and bored with it, and I hope that doesn't happen to me anytime soon.

I walk one way and get to a Macy's and multiple huge stores, another way and get to multiple gyms, another way to multiple T-stops and tourist attractions, and so on and so forth. I just found out the famous Boston Massacre occurred outside of my apartment building. (!!!!) I love the sense of history here. I love the view from my apartment. I love the farmers markets with the seasonal produce that are minutes away from me. I feel like the whole city is at my fingertips and I am so grateful for the opportunity to explore it before my job starts. Most of all, I love being on my own. It feels so great to know that even though I am in a serious relationship, I can settle into a place by myself and figure out how to create a living totally by myself. I go to new classes at various gyms every day, cook every night and chill out watching TV and chatting with people, and wake up in the morning to gorgeous views of the city from my bedroom window. I feel like a real adult (almost)!!!


In summary, I LOVE THIS!

Back To America

I am currently sitting in the airport in San Francisco, somewhat woozy and disoriented, but mostly extremely annoyed at the two hour delay of my flight back to the East coast. I am not exactly the kind of traveler who likes to waste time, and seeing that I am now back in the US and away from fairytale Australia, I really want to get home and start packing to move to Boston ASAP!

I can’t believe that I had to leave Australia, and I am certainly feeling numb about it right now, especially considering that I don’t know when I am going to be able to get back there again. Despite the fact that Andrew had to work on his thesis an absurd amount (and it is now insanely good, actually), it was so incredibly wonderful to settle back into that comfortable rhythm of living with him again that we had this past summer. I got to spend so much time with his mom and sister, which was wonderful, and cook and bake to my heart’s content. Andrew and I celebrated our nine month anniversary over the weekend by going to a really fancy restaurant in the city on Saturday and another beautiful restaurant on King Street the night before I left. Both evenings were absolutely wonderful and made me so happy and grateful for the relationship we have developed over the course of this year.


Having an international relationship definitely has some huge perks, as demonstrated by my play time in Australia and London, but obviously there are some rather large drawbacks too. I now constantly feel pulled between Australia and America. Although I have some great friends in Australia, there is no doubt that my best and closest friends are in America, and I can’t imagine my life without them. But unlike Andrew, my identity is not really based on my nationality at all. And out of all the cities I have been to, I still think that I may like Sydney most of all. This past weekend, I was walking down Oxford Street and exploring the Paddington Markets, and I just couldn’t get over how funky and eclectic each part of the city is and how I enjoy the atmosphere of the city so much. I love the way that the baristas in coffee shops will talk to me in such a friendly manner, and I love the smells and the sights and the displays in the windows. I love New York too, a lot, and I know I will grow to love Boston. (And I really love London too!) But I absolutely could see myself very happy in Sydney.

And as my job start draws even nearer, I find it completely overwhelming to think not only about my future and career, but also the future of my relationship and where it can physically be located in the world. It’s exciting but so daunting at the same time to think about how much is going to happen and how much is going to change over the next year or two.

Another thing that I did in the past couple weeks was take a bunch of yoga classes (there is an adorable studio just across the street from Andrew’s apartment), and I was amazed by how complete it made me feel. I so enjoy hardcore, high-energy workouts that I didn’t think I could really garner complete appreciation for yogic practices, but I consider myself a total convert now. Yoga is not only a workout (it can be HARD!), but truly replenishing to the mind and soul. I feel that in the past couple of weeks I have learned to hold a very uncomfortable pose and distance myself from the discomfort by breathing through it. I think I could really help myself by applying this attitude towards the stressful situations in my life – acknowledging their existence, and then breathing and working through it. I definitely need to find a gym in Boston that has yoga classes so I can hopefully work some of that into my schedule!

So, speaking of gyms, the search for a gym is almost as hard as the search for a roommate. In the next week, here is what I hope to accomplish:
- Moving into my apartment (thus, renting a van, driving eight hours, and moving all boxes…UGH)
- Getting cable and internet installed
- Finding a roommate
- Finding a gym (I have a spreadsheet of possibilities, and GEEZ are gyms expensive…ugh!)
- Getting IKEA furniture
- Beginning lengthy (but hopefully fun?) process of building furniture and setting up apartment
- Getting new work clothes, plus extremely warm winter clothes
- On that note, figuring out some more budget stuff…eeeks.

It’s a lot to do, but it will keep me busy, and hopefully that will keep my separation anxiety at bay. This uber long distance relationship thing is extremely difficult, but now that I know I can do it for about two months at a time, I know I can do it again, and the next time we see each other we will be celebrating Christmas and New Year’s in London!