Exhausted & Excited

These last few weeks have been spent seeing friends, visiting favorite spots, packing, and sorting out our lives. We've gone out to dinner so many times I can barely count them, and I'm so happy I got to spend some quality time with some of my most favorite people. I couldn't have asked for a better last few weeks on the east coast.

Boating with Jon down the Jersey Shore

Despite all of this happiness, it's been bittersweet. Our cat, Mr. Clemens, has noticed the air of temporariness and has been crying almost every night, and Jon and I have both become exasperated with the endless packing and preparing with such a short time span. It feels weird to know that we're leaving in three short days while being in an area that I've known and lived almost my whole life. I've barely begun to process that I won't see my twin sister and her husband for a year and a half, except via Skype. They're moving to England for a year only a month after Jon and I leave, so even if we do get to go home for the winter holidays, they're not going to be there.

With so many exciting, nerve-wracking things to be handled, I feel simultaneously exhausted and excited. But right now more exhausted than anything. We're having our going away picnic/reception tomorrow (will it rain?) and then will be packing the car up on Sunday and leaving Monday. A part of me wants that time to be now so we can start the biggest adventure of our lives, but another part wants this time in limbo to never end.

Out to lunch with Karen

Dana's birthday vegan dim sum in Philly

The ladies at dim sum

Alex reading her vows to Matt near Boston

Some of my favorite Boston ladies

My sister Kate eating raspberries like Amelie

I guess this could be seen as a type of milestone in maturity. I was up in Boston for about three weeks before I made my first impromptu 8 hour bus trip back home, but I won't have that luxury now. We'll be on our own, supporting and relying on one another through the thick and thin, and I'm looking forward to that new stage of intimacy with Jon. I know whatever the future will bring will be saturated in great stories, happiness, and heartbreak-- all for a new life.

Ode to: Old Cambridge Apartment

The place Jon and I left in Cambridge was our first place together, and while it was neither big nor fancy, it was ours. This was the first place that we got to call our own and we started what felt was like a family unit. Getting this place was imperative to the growth of our relationship and really tested and played with what we knew our relationship to be. I loved this place and our time spent here, and I'm really going to miss it. 

Ode to: Boston

The skyline on a recent kayak trip

I'll admit it: when I moved here I did not love Boston. Every time I looked at the skyline I remember always thinking, "Where's the rest of it?" I thought it was a small town with a big-town attitude, and I did not care for it. I was, for the most part, bored, sad, and lonely. Every (seemingly) desperate attempt I made to make friends seemed to be shallow and not in earnest, and I missed my friends and family back home so much it hurt. I cried almost every day.

Eventually the coldness I had for Boston warmed over and I began to make friends with my classmates, coworkers, and acquaintances. I began to love Boston's quirks and gems, and I soon began to find a circle of friends that I admired, respected, and had tons of fun with. I feel like there's always something going on in this city, whether it be brunch, a DJ night, a poetry reading, book signings, guest speakers, or friend's band playing. Now that we're leaving after my two years here, I'm feeling a sincere and despairing sadness. I love Boston. Well, Cambridge. ;)

At a friend's DJ night

Ice skating on Frog Pond for Valentine's Day

The Red Sox playing last year

The Boston Commons

The harbor seen during a sunset cruise 

A view of Harvard building

From Walden Pond, outside the city

From Spectacle Island

Hello and Welcome

General Statement of Intent: I'm starting this blog to document my progress moving from Boston to Philadelphia, and then Philadelphia to Victoria, BC. Along the way, I will post some of my favorite recipes (vegetarian, mostly vegan, largely gluten-free), cute outfits, adventures, travelling, feminist issues, photography, and whatever else I might find aesthetically pleasing or interesting. While I don't imagine this blog to be too much like a diary, I hope it to be a creative outlet during a time that I consider to be the most emotionally fraught and exciting time of my life.

Why Boston? Why Philly? Why Victoria?: I moved up from the Philadelphia area to Boston back in 2011 to start a graduate program in English composition. My boyfriend, now husband, eventually followed and moved up from South Carolina. We eloped back in March (2013), shortly after he found out he was accepted to a PhD program in Victoria, BC. We'll be road tripping from Philly to Victoria during the last week in July and intend on hitting up some cool spots. I'm thrilled and nervous to start this big adventure with the love of my life and best friend. We have yet to find an apartment and I have yet to find a job, so I might post some ups and downs during that process here.

Your interests seem a bit scattered. Why write about all of them? I'm not sure if I'll end up touching on every single thing that I mentioned in my statement of purpose, but these are things that interest me. I imagine I'll be reposting things that I've found via Reddit, Pinterest, and Feministing, and also some original content. To put it simply, this will be a lifestyle blog to encompass my lifestyle and possibly (hopefully!) the lifestyle of others.