Ugly Snow

Remember how we talked about my beautiful winter wonderland the other day?

It looked kind of like this:

And it still does, until you look down.

Brown snow and slush... not so much. I just have to remember to look up!

More snow in the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm looking forward to a fresh dusting to make everything pristine again! :)

Project 365: 63/365

It's shaping up to be a very rainy week here in Boston. I'd love it if I didn't have to go outside in it!

The First Fortnight

Yesterday afternoon I had a fleeting thought: maybe I should set an alarm for tomorrow morning so I can get used to getting up early again? Better sense prevailed, however, and I decided to forgo the alarm in favor of enjoying my last morning of shameless sleeping in. And I did enjoy it... until the trash trucks came by at about 7:45 a.m., and again at 8:30 a.m.

Tomorrow I will have been in Boston two weeks. Two weeks! The time has just flown by. I've accomplished a lot in two weeks. I'm glad to say that I'm all moved in to my apartment, and not one thing I own is in a cardboard box (as of this morning). That will only stay true until the box that Dad just shipped me arrives later this week.... but let me bask in that angelic light for at least five minutes, mmkay?

So far I'm really loving Boston. I'm liking getting around using my own two feet, and I'm liking navigating my way around on the bus and T. There are so many things to see and do in my little corner of Brookline that I haven't had to travel too far out to explore.

So far I'm really not loving the humidity, but I'm also trying to not complain about it either! We had a stretch of about 4 humidity free days, but now it's right back up there. I'm almost used to climbing the three flights of stairs up to my apartment... though sometimes I do have to run straight up and stand in front of my a/c for a few minutes so I don't feel like I'm going to explode. Some of the native and longer-term Bostonians I've met have assured me I'll get used to it. Or I'll leave after graduation. 

I've gotten used to not having a dishwasher. There are times (like when we brought home a brand new set of dishes from Ikea on Saturday) that it would be really nice to have, but it's really not so big of a deal when you are just one person. Cooking for a family of four? Not so much. The one thing that HAS been really hard though is not having a garbage disposal. It's not really an appliance I've ever given too much thought to, but damn you sure miss it when it is gone.

My roommates are great, and so is the apartment. For taking a place sight unseen, I really think I lucked out. I've also started meeting a lot of the people in my program, and everyone is so nice and excited to be here it's really got me pumped for the semester ahead. 

So overall, I'd say so far, so good. Pre-Term starts tomorrow, so that's all subject to change. More on that later... 

Take a Walk With Me

So I can't entirely take credit for this post. It was my Dad's idea on his last day with me here in Boston. If you like it, you can tell him. :)

One of the most adventurous things I've ever done is take this apartment, sight unseen. I knew the general area of Brookline, but wasn't quite sure exactly where it was or what the street or building looked like. I'm glad to say that I lucked out. I'm on a really nice street in a quiet neighborhood just minutes from Coolidge Corner. Take a walk with me and let's check it out!

We start at my house, 25 Littell Road. 

We're on the third floor, so those windows up at the top are our living room/dining room. Now that we're outside, let's walk down Little Road to Stearns.

At the bottom of the street, we turn left on Stearns to get to Coolidge Corner. It's another quiet, tree-lined Brookline street.

We walk about a block and find ourselves on Harvard St. Up and down Harvard there are a lot of restaurants and shops (including Dad's new favorite the Corrib Pub). There's also a pretty stone church on the corner. Here's a view down Harvard St., looking in both directions. 

Now we turn right and walk up Harvard a couple of blocks to Beacon St., and to Coolidge Corner. 

My T stop is just out of the left hand side of the frame. Up Harvard St. there are more shops, a Walgreens and  a CVS. On both sides of Beacon St. there are lots of shops - Walgreens, CVS, Trader Joe's, Pier One - and more restaurants. 

So this is my new little corner of the world. You all have to come see it in person now! :)