The beginning of my favorite month!

It's officially my favorite month of the year! I always look forward to November... not only is it my birthday month AND Thanksgiving time, but it's usually when it starts to get a little chilly in Texas. I've had quite the comical start of November so far. I woke up to 29 degree weather this morning and by the time I left my apartment, it was 32 degrees but felt like 26. YIKES.  So I had to wear my heavy coat and uggs and a scarf this morning. It wasn't bad, but knowing that it's going to get around 20 degrees colder scares me.

I've also been feeling under the weather the past two days.  I had a pretty busy weekend, celebrating Halloween and shopping, so I just chalked it up to being exhausted.  It turns out that the achy feeling I've been having and the chills are not from exhaustion and the cold weather outside.  I came home from work this evening to discover my entire body covered in chicken pox... and yes, the aches and chills are a fever. My roommate, Kim, had them a few weeks ago but I didn't think I'd get them since I've been vaccinated.  I'm a little frustrated that I'm going to have to call in sick and most likely use all of my sick days for this, but what can I do?

Besides that I have lots of fall pictures! It's finally peak in Massachusetts and the colors are amazing!

 

These next few pictures are of the trails down the street where I go running

And finally... a few pictures from Halloween. I was an 80's aerobic girl

Hopefully I will be pox free in a few days! Until then I will be doing a lot of reading and sleeping!

fall pictures!

I'm wrapping up another great weekend! I got my first paycheck this week and definitely lived it up all weekend long.  I finally got to go shopping on Newbury Street and actually spent some money. It was awesome. Also, I HAVE A BED. FINALLY. I finally feel like a normal human being, and I'm definitely enjoying sleeping at a normal height.

The Trinity Church

Newbury St.

More Newbury

 

This is where I walk to get the T (subway)... my stop is right behind the trees on the right

 

My new bed! I love it!

 

 The tree outside of my window

Fall leaves :)

 

That's basically it. I'm a little disappointed with the amount of fall color in the city. There is a lot of yellows but not a lot of orange or red. We aren't at the peak yet so there should be a lot more closer to November. It's supposed to be really beautiful right now outside of the city.  Hopefully I'll be taking the train out of the city next weekend, so I will try to take a lot more pictures then!

life as a working girl...

So... I have finished my first full week of work. It's been interesting to say the least. I'm training with 3 other people and have enjoyed getting to know everyone. The office is really upbeat and has an extremely laid-back atmosphere. So I like it... it's just taking some time getting used to waking up at 6 every morning, leaving my apartment before 8, commuting into downtown on a jam-packed subway, and making it to work on time. I usually have time to stop into starbucks on my way, which is a must now that I'm a single girl working in the city.... right?!

Besides my boring work updates, I've been enjoying my time exploring a new city! I officially feel like I belong... I know my way around and I've even been able to give a handful of random people accurate directions.  I also finally experienced my first Red Sox game.  Dan was given two tickets so we got to enjoy a Monday night at the ball park. This was the only picture I was able to snap, but I feel like it does Fenway enough justice. It was definitely a much different experience than going to Minute Maid.

In the next few weeks I will be taking as many pictures as possible of my first New England fall.  The leaves are already starting to turn and I haven't experienced weather over 60 degrees in the last week or so.  I'm so excited because I can already wear boots, sweaters,  and scarves.  I've also been having a nightly cup of hot cocoa. My plan is to do as many fall things that I can. This is definitely my favorite season and will most likely consist of making lots of food and doing a lot of baking. I'm ready to gain a few extra pounds for the sake of fully enjoying fall. I will be living it up until the first snow... and then I will officially be in hybernation until March.

getting settled

I'm finally beginning to feel at home in my apartment. This week all of my furniture came, along with some of my bedding. It felt so good to sleep with my quilt again... I tend to have separation anxiety from that thing. I know, it's a problem. Anyway, I'm lucky to have a very sweet boyfriend who spent his entire Tuesday evening putting together my dresser with me. It took about 3 hours but we managed to have fun in the process. The rest of my furniture will have to wait until Dan comes back over since I'm not very handy with tools.  I went ahead and took some more pictures of the new place, despite the fact that it is still a work in progress.

I got all white furniture for my room, which I love. For my dresser I went to Anthropologie and got some fun knobs to give it a little color:

Our apartment has the cutest little accents, like the arched doorways:

Please excuse our living room! All of the boxes and JUNK in the alcove is my furniture. We also are in the process of getting a table and chairs for the alcove.

Our tiny, but cute little kitchen :)

That's basically it. I love it here and I'm so glad to finally feel at home :) 

I will be taking my Property and Casualty exam a week from Sunday, so please be keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. I've been studying for 8 hours every day, getting through about 2 chapters a day. The information is so dense and so specific that I'm starting to feel like my brain is going to explode, and I've only completed 10 chapters (there are 20 total that I have to study). So until then I will be drinking lots of coffee and basically going insane. And then I will be a working girl... can't wait!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Love and miss Y'ALL!

coolidge corner

I took a few more pictures of coolidge corner, but pictures really do no justice.

  

More of Longwood Ave. down the street from my apartment

 

More of Coolidge Corner

 

 

For the rest of the week I will be studying for my Property and Casualty exam, wish me luck!

my new life

So I'm finally getting settled in my new apartment. Our apartment is in an area called Coolidge Corner. Words cannot describe how incredibly quaint and perfect it is around here. Coolidge Corner is technically in Brookline, which is a town that borders Boston, but considering I am about two miles from downtown there is no notable difference.  Anyway our apartment is a gem. I'm paying less than $700 on rent while living in a very expensive area, yet our apartment is still very nice.  It's small, but has a lot of charm (considering it's probably close to 40 years old).  Since we are still in the midst of putting our apartment together, and considering the fact that all I have in my bedroom right now is a bed and some suitcases, I haven't really taken any pictures yet (I don't even have my own bedding yet). So consider this a tease until this next week when I actually have a decent room.

Longwood Ave, Our Street

Part of Harvard Ave. (the street we live off of)

My room

My favorite part about my room is my window. I have a great window sill and I love that it's so open and bright. Since we don't have air conditioning, my window is just open all day long so I get a nice breeze.  Speaking of that, we have had amazing weather so far! The high has been in the low 70's and it's been nice and sunny out.  Yesterday I went and got a pumpkin spice latte and read in the park. I took a few pictures too.

 Arlington Street Church, across from the Public Garden

 

The Public Garden

A view from the Common

 

Anyway, not a lot is going on. I did finally get a job. I'll be working for an insurance company in downtown Boston, selling auto insurance. Not my dream job but I will be getting paid well, including monthly bonuses and health & dental. I also get a special membership to Boston Sports Club, which is a really nice gym here. So I will be studying for the next two weeks for my licensing exam so that I will be a fully licensed insurance agent in Mass.  I start on October 1.

Hope everyone is having a happy friday!