Firsts

Today, I kissed the boyfriend goodbye as he left for his first class in grad school.

It's been...well, quite a journey up to this point.

All of 2010 was spent with us both being unemployed, but I was still "working" and pushing through a lot of the difficult stuff.  He took it as an extended vacation.

Come April and May, we were both sick of each other.  Living in a cluttered, tiny apartment together puts a lot of stress on the both of us.

These are times when you start really asking a lot of questions.  But, instead of keeping them internally, I wanted to keep communication lines open.  I asked him what he wanted to do with his life.  All the free time couldn't be just an extended vacation.  We both need money to keep living in Boston.  And truth be told, I don't know if I could keep living my life with someone who didn't have any dreams left.

After a lot of asking and a lot of frustration, he realized that he wanted to go to grad school and study library sciences.

He took the GRE's, and kicked its butt!  Then he applied to grad school, and we waited patiently for the acceptance letter.

Finally, January arrived.  For some reason, though, he kept thinking that it started much earlier than it did.  First he thought the first day was the 6th.  Then he learned it was the 19th.  Then he realized that it was a misprint, and it actually started on the 26th.

It kept feeling like there was a constant obstacle that kept popping up.  It was disappointing.

But finally this week arrived.

Yesterday, we took a walk around the neighborhood and did some Back To School Shopping.  We stopped by Staples and got him his very own notebook and pack of pens.  Then we walked over to a small hair salon and got his hair cut.

But I decided, you know, I should get my hair cut as well - considering the last time I got a hair cut was back in February.

First Haircut of 2011 - 3 inches lighter

So, I am extremely excited that he's off in his class.  Just thinking back to my first couple of weeks in classes, and how many friends I've made, I can't wait to hear all about his experience and I hope that he makes new friends.

I'm also hoping that I can convince the boyfriend to dress up as a "Sexy Librarian" for Halloween!

Sexy Manly Librarian by GreenestMermaid

Simple Pleasures Sundays - Delivery

In this crazy coldness, I have to say that I really appreciate that so many food vendors and restaurants deliver.

Once in a while, the boyfriend and I like to be extremely lazy and just order pizza for dinner (and it usually serves as a fairly decent lunch the following day).

We usually order from Presto Pizzaria in Cleveland Circle, where they have thick slices that are extremely filling.  The pizzaria was actually the location of our 3rd date, and he discovered that I usually eat the crust before the rest of the pizza.

I had to think about all the pizza I've ordered in my life.  In Los Angeles, I don't know of any pizzaria's that deliver that aren't Domino's, Pizza Hut, or Papa John's.  There might be some small pizza place in our neighborhood, but I couldn't even tell you.

I do feel like I usually get food delivered in L.A.  Perhaps because it's never too big a deal to go out to get your food, seeing that the weather doesn't go below zero.

But here in the Northeast, I love that I can get pizza, or Chinese, or Thai, or subs delivered right to my apartment's entrance.  Especially on a cold cold night like this.

Tosies of the Month - January 2011

Woot! First pedicure of the year!

I had my day all planned out today.  In the morning, I had a 2nd interview at one job I'm really interested in, and then I had another interview at 5pm.  Instead of going back home, I decided to just stay in the downtown area.

After my interview in the morning and grabbing some lunch, I ended up going to see Disney's Tangled, FINALLY!  Loved it!  Totally teared up, but tried not to mess up my interview makeup.

By the time the movie was over, I still had some time to kill before my interview.  As I walked around, I felt some wetness on my coat.  My water bottle had leaked!  My resume's and note paper were a bit damp in the corners!  How completely unprofessional!

Luckily, I was on my way to the nail salon, and I figured that being in a warm place would help to dry it out a bit.

As I was getting my nails done, I get a phone call from the person I would meet with at 5.  She wanted to reschedule!  Wow!  While I was eager to talk with her, I was happy to know that I wouldn't have to face embarrassment by showing up with a damp bag.

It's always a gamble to get a pedicure in the winter time.  Whenever I've gone to get a pedicure, it seems like I'm usually the only one, while the rest of the patrons come in for a manicure - and that was the case again today.  But, we all know how much I rely on them for my self-care.

So, the last time I was in the downtown area, I went to a new nail place.  But this time, I went to one that I had been to before.  And I wasn't disappointed.

Designed by Vi at Galaxy Nail & Spa, Boston, MA
Color:  OPI - Bikini Envy
Occasion: Feeling Positive and Wearing My Power Color!
January 2011

Here's a closeup of the design.

I told the lady to do whatever she wanted.
It's like a wallpaper design!

I wasn't sure how the color would look on me.  But I like how bright it is.  And it actually kind of matches my new coat!

I'm definitely liking the colorful outlook.  I'm hoping my toes will remind me of it when I'm not feeling so colorful.

Snow-Related Terms

Being that I'm from Los Angeles, there were so many things I didn't know about snow.  Most of what I didn't know was the different types of snow.

In the past month, there's been 3 storms that have made quite an impact on the city.  So, I wanted to point out 3 new snow occurrences that I didn't know existed before moving here.

Flurries
When I first heard about flurries, I kind of fell in love with the word.  It's the type of snow that's really light, and gets easily blown around.

Obviously, the name for this type of snow makes sense when you think of the phrase "a flurry of activity."  But I like the lightness and the airiness of the word.

Thundersnow
Whoa.  I mean, Whoa.

First of all, that's a really cool band name!

Secondly, it's an honest to goodness thing!  It's basically a thunderstorm while it's snowing.  I didn't actually witness it during the big storm this month, but a lot of folks did.  Here's how it works:

Science is cool.

Bigger Flakes are Generally a Precursor to Rain
Today, I was sitting in my little area, and I realized that the flakes were suddenly getting extremely large!

Look at how big the flakes are!

I was seriously having a double rainbow moment while watching the snow fall from the sky.  It looked like some little winged being was throwing clumps of snow while sitting on its cloud.  But I had to just ask, "What does it mean??"

Luckily, some native New Englanders answered my question, and told me that this will happen when the snow is about to turn into rain.  But still, it was gorgeous.

Gorgeously Ginormous

 

Simple Pleasures Sundays - Being Sure (Astrologically)

I know it's been a while.  I don't really know where my mind has been.  Well, I do know that my body has been particularly busy.  So busy that I haven't had time to sit and write a blog post on Sundays!

I'm not really complaining, though.  But onto this Sunday's post!

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In the past week, people have been flipping out about their horoscopes.  At first, I thought it was another silly quiz on Facebook, but apparently it's because the news was blowing a story about astrology all out of proportion (No! The news never does that!).

I'm not really going to go into why people are so wrong.

Except to say that I don't know why the Earth's wobble is new.  Hasn't this been happening for, well, ever?

If you really want to understand what's happening, I really honestly suggest going to About.com's Astrology page.  She has interesting blog posts about what's happening in the world and in the stars, and breaks down the idea that there is a tropical zodiac (which follows the seasons) and the sidereal zodiac (which follows the star charts).

Again, why is this such a new idea?  There's the Gregorian calendar, the Chinese calendar, the Jewish calendar, the Muslim calendar, the Mayan calendar...I could go on, really.  All these ideas somehow are "understandable" to most people, and yet it would be ridiculous to think of there being variations on the zodiac.

Can you spot Ophiuchus?

Honestly, my favorite part about people who are freaking out is the fact that they barely believe in astrology in the first place, and yet they are extremely adamant that their sign isn't changing (for some silly made up reason, such as "it only affects people born after a certain year," or "I've been a [insert sign here] all my life! I'm not anything else!"

Sure, one can't claim that astrology is necessarily a science.  But then, I would feel wrong about discounting Traditional Chinese Medicine (which I've seen work better for some folks with strange ailments).

Now, I've been interested in astrology from a very early age (I'm going to blame that on my Aquarius Rising Sign).  So, I've done some reading and I've even know what my chart looks like (which, you should know what yours looks like as well! Click here to get it done for free!)

I've known that I'm on the Aries-Taurus Cusp, and I'm quite proud of that as is evident by my tattoo.

Tattoos are probably another reason why people freaked out!

I am not only proud, but I am not feeling any nervousness about being the "wrong" sign.  Sure, my chart my read differently if it were created through a sidereal perspective, and I would be a straight up Aries.  But, the sidereal perspective would probably interpret the signs in a different way as well.

And that doesn't change who I am and who I was as a person.

Our signs don't rule over us.  They can be for entertainment, and they can be some guidelines for understanding yourself a little bit more.

We all carry bits and pieces from the other signs, as we carry bits and pieces of our experiences with us.  There's more to it than just the Sun sign (which is what everyone is freaking out about).  There's a whole sky's worth of information about us that we've yet to discover.

But, it does help to have your feet on the ground and feel sure about your footing, especially while your mind is exploring the stars.