Fall is in the Air

It's turning cold, it's dark when I wake up in the morning and almost dark when I get home, and I'm wearing more black.

I busted out my boots for the first time yesterday and almost cried. Winter boots in September?! I guess this is what Boston is like, so I better get used to it - fast.

Leaves are starting to change color - the air is crisp in the morning and warm in the afternoon.

Yep, it's fall time.

Couch 1.0 - Day 1

Dear Couch 1.0,

I must say, despite only having half of you in my living room, I am in love. With your firm-but-comfy cushions and your sleek, stylish design, you make my living room look good. But with all good things come some bad. I don't like that you are individual pieces and you slide around our floor, but I hope that in time we'll remedy that situation and everyone will be happy.

Despite that minor hiccup, you are an amazing couch and well worth the 11 week wait, and I can't wait until the rest of you gets here.

Love,
your very grateful owner

Still a Tech Retard Blogging from Couch 1.0

It doesn't matter that my boyfriend is an engineer genius - I will likely never be that technologically savvy. But before I get into that I need to say that I'm blogging from couch 1.0. WTF does that mean? It means I got half my couch delivered today. hooray! We have half a couch for me to blog from. The other half should be here in two weeks, but at least now we have two corners and an ottoman, or even better, a place to sit down!

But I digress...

Why a tech retard? Because I went to Stop & Shop and tried the new scanner system, and because I FAILED. I couldn't figure out how to use my scanner at the check-out line and close out my ticket. It took about 5 minutes - and 2 frustrated customers behind me - to get it solved. Talk about a nightmare! But I'd like to think it's mostly the fault of Stop & Shop for their poorly explained instructions and not my aptitude - or lack thereof.

It's a New Dawn, It's a New Day, It's a New Life

and I'm feeling good. I love that song! If you haven't heard it, check out "Feeling Good" - the Michael Buble version or Nina Simone's amazing version. Anyway, I digress. I just wanted to say that things are going really well in life right now.

Stephen and I have been watching MSU football with the Boston Alumni and I've met some awesome girls. It's so nice to have girlfriends in a new city - especially ones who are so friendly.
Speaking of girlfriends, Lindsey and I are getting our girlfriends together for a wine party this Thursday at my house for the Grey's premiere. It's going to be great to watch McDreamy on 52 glorious inches of high definition.

I started my part-time job yesterday and I think it's going to be fun. I'm going to channel Kaileen and hopefully have some good stories coming out of working at the Bruins Pro Shop that I can post on my blog. I love good stories.

On my way out of work yesterday I came across a Bills watching party. The Boston Bills Backers are a large group of die-hard Bills fans! It will be so nice to have another opportunity to meet more people in Boston who share the same passions as me, especially the Bills.

So cheers to feeling good!

Back in the Saddle Again

Hooray! Volleyball season started again! This time around is a little different than before because I am the team captain of my BSSC league, and I'm a lot more confident playing. With the lessons I took in the spring and the play time I got during the summer league, my play has improved, and with that my confidence.

Last night was our first night and we've got a good team - I've played with all but two of the team members before. We're playing in a formation that I've never played before and we're all picking it up pretty quickly, so I think once we get it down we'll be a legitimate competitor in our league.

I'm also playing in Stephen's work league, which starts in October. We're playing on different teams and while we've never played against each other, I'm looking forward to the new opportunity. Hopefully we play against each other as well as we play together!

A Letter From Africa

Yesterday I received my first letter from Africa. As many of you know, my friend Kelly is pursuing her life-long dream of serving in the Peace Corps. She left in June and as hard as it was to say good bye to one of my dearest friends for the next two-and-a-half years, I couldn't help but be proud of what she was accomplishing and what she will have accomplished when she returns. But that's not what this post is about.

Yesterday I got my first letter from Africa. A letter. A simple piece of 8.5" x 11" loose-leaf notebook paper that had handwriting on it. MY letter. With the advent of the Internet, the written form has gone by the wayside. I think probably my last piece of written mail came from my Grandmother when I was still an undergrad. I miss those letters and it's the one thing I'll never forget about my Grandma.

There is nothing as exciting as getting something with your name scrawled on it - you KNOW that person was thinking about you. You know they cared enough to write you a letter, mistakes and all.

So thank you to Kelly for embracing the new and posting about her adventures in Africa, but also for sending me my first letter in years. I will hold on to that letter forever and I'll be writing you one in return soon!

A Day of Labor After All

Whoever decided to honor the labor and trade forces with a day off was crazy- no matter what you plan, you always end up working. Labor Day this year was not a day of brushing dirt off my shoulder and admiring the hard labor I've been doing for the past few years, but rather a day of actually getting dirty. It was a funny day and I can't resist sharing.

Molly asked me earlier in the previous week to help her move a futon her friend was getting rid of. For the mere task of transporting this thing in my SUV she'd buy me lunch - a deal no one could resist as it sounded easy as pie. Wrong.

Navigating through the Brighton streets on moving day for EVERY COLLEGE STUDENT in Boston was laborious enough, but that was just the start. The futon was down in the dusty basement and we had to disassemble the piece, which proved to be a challenge. Lucky for both Molly and me, I've had many years' practice of being a single gal and having to put together and take things apart on my own, so eventually we got the futon taken apart and shoved into my car.

Putting it together proved an easier task - sort of - and after enjoying some raspberry lemonade we were off to enjoy our lunch.

Molly decided to take me to a fabulous diner in Newton Center, Johnny's Diner. The drive was lovely - it IS Newton, after all - and the weather was perfect, so we had windows down and the music turned up. Upon entering the parking lot, Molly curb-checked her car pulling into a parking spot and suddenly we heard a very loud "pssssssssssst" - a blown tire. This baby was going down FAST. We decided to eat lunch first - we were starving after the 90-minutes of futon work - and then call AAA.

I know I'm a terrible friend, but the whole time Molly was stressing I just couldn't stop laughing. We were ladies who had places to be and things to do before Molly's BBQ a few hours away. I found everything incredibly funny, and found it funnier when I had to explain to Kaileen why I was bailing on helping her out because I was being held hostage at Molly's car. Molly had to make arrangements with her friend to let people into the BBQ in case we didn't get done in time too - again, a giggle-worthy moment for me.

After a brief 30-minute wait for AAA (we killed the time by eating JP Lick's) we were back to Molly's where we had just enough time to shower and change clothes for the BBQ.

It was a great day, and the BBQ was great, so I hope Molly doesn't mind me sharing my day of labor at her expense.