Good morning

An early morning writing session calls for hot tea! I'll be back with more posts once I get some time to settle and write for myself a bit more. Happy Hump Day! 

An Update from Boston

We made it here Saturday afternoon after only a short struggle of trying to fit everything and everyone into the car. We then only had to make two trips from the car up to the apartment with all of our baggage. A little background info: my mom owns some properties in Boston that she rents out. The apartment we're staying in is one of hers that she leaves open and furnished so that friends, family, and herself, of course, have a little place to stay when visiting Boston. My family loves this area and we have some strong ties here—I was born in a town 20 minutes north of Boston! We did some reorganizing and cleaning out to make a littler more space for AJ and me and then grabbed a some quick take out from a cafe up the street (we ordered one sandwich, and when we got back home we found that they had given us two!). 

After a 20 minute nap, AJ and I headed to the North End for 5 o' clock mass and on the way home we stopped at Upper Crust on Charles Street to grab some pizza for us and my mom. Pizza, wine, and Dateline was our Saturday night. 

Yesterday, AJ and I made the trek to the South End where he'll be working the few weeks we're here. We took the T and then walked but the T to the bus would've been faster. Still, I don't know the South End well at all so it was fun to explore a new area! 

Some cousins are staying with us this week for their own vacation, but by the weekend it will be back to unpacking and finding room for all of our things! Stay posted for more fun from Boston and have a happy Monday!

A New Adventure

It was well over a year ago that AJ took the above photo of the Boston skyline. We stood on the roof of The Lincolnshire apartment building, nestled at the flat of Beacon Hill between Charles and River Streets. It was a few days after Christmas 2012. It was freezing, the wind was blowing, and the mugs of hot tea that we clutched did little to warm us. But we were warmed, excuse the sappiness that is coming, by our thoughts of our future together.

“Do you want to live here someday?” I asked, tentative of his answer and my own.

“Yeah. That’d be really fun,” he answered, or something along those lines.

I pictured us in a cozy apartment. Me, attending grad school for creative writing and working on the side. Him, working as a PTA and maybe taking classes on the side. I pictured long walks down the cobblestone streets of Beacon Hill in the Fall and walks along the Charles River in the Spring. Going to mass on Saturday nights at St. Leonard’s, followed by dinner in the North End and, once in a while, a Florentine cannoli with a cappuccino at Mike’s. My imaginings, while romantic and idealized, have always remained probable in my mind. Living in Boston with AJ has been a part of my daydreams for years now. I never knew for certain if it would happen, but I always hoped that one day we would do it. Little did I know, AJ had been making actual effort to make sure it happened.

A few months ago, maybe in October, AJ called me as I was pulling into work and told me that he had gotten his third internship placement for the year at an out patient facility in Boston. He’d been working with his professor all along to secure this internship, hoping to surprise me. And surprised I was! The timing was perfect;  his internship would start in the end of March and I had just found out that I would graduate in January leaving my Spring semester open and my final day at my internship was forecasted to be March 20^th, days before AJ’s new one would begin.

After a few conflicts, a cancellation, an engagement, a new contract, and a final signature we are moving to Boston tomorrow. My daydreams have come true and our conversation on the roof that night has been fulfilled. AJ’s internship will last 6-7 weeks, after which time we will come back to Connecticut with the intention of returning to Boston in the Fall…pending grad school acceptances or rejections. I am hoping to write, a lot, while we’re there. I am hoping to soak in as much Boston greatness as possible, too! I feel so fortunate that we have been given this opportunity. This is something that we talked about together and thought about independently. The fact that we are able to do this says leaps and bounds about what people can achieve when they really want something and really try hard to make it happen. I am beyond excited to have this little adventure with the man I love and I am very excited to continue to blog from Boston! 

#internproblems

I don't want to complain. Five months ago, I was lucky enough to land a paid internship 25 minutes from where I live. It was in the industry that I was looking into, part time so I could still take classes and write, and it was a small office with only three other ladies so it seemed like a good transition into the real world.

I've been happy off and on with my job. Some days I get to do really exciting things that use my creativity and abilities, other days I stare at the slow moving screen of the computer doing monotonous work that only requires I know how to copy and paste. Those days stink. Not to mention I HATE sitting in a chair without moving for hours on end. Recently, though, I've realized that it's not so much the work I'm disliking, it's the limitation of my position that are frustrating. As an intern, I do random tasks that my managers need assistance with or flat out don't want to do. There are other times that they don't have any work for me, so they give me an invented task that doesn't have a real purpose or necessity. Because I'm an intern, I don't get to feel completely invested in the tasks I perform because I'm only doing a small part of something. I don't get to follow through and I don't get the satisfaction of completing a project from start to finish because I'm only a small piece of the process. I don't like finishing an assignment only to sit at my desk and ask, "Does anyone need me to do anything?" I want to be able to jump into things! I want to have a long list of things that need to be done because I'm the only one who's job it is to do!

I am so thankful for the knowledge that this internship has granted me. I'm not positive this is an industry I would like to remain with but I learned a lot of research and office skills that can be used elsewhere. I learned a lot of things that I would never have learned otherwise. This was a necessary step in my life and my career but I am very eager to move up and forward to an advanced position that I can throw myself into.

Today was my last full day and I'm working too more half days this week before my hours as an intern are up. The five months have gone by fast but slowly at the same time. I'm excited to have some time off before I am able to start job searching again!

Sunday Journal Prompt #1

In a post about journaling from last week, I promised to post a journal prompt to guide those hoping to get started or get inspired for their personal writings. I think that Sundays are a great day for writing. It's a calm day, for most, and it's a day where you can carve out a chunk of time dedicated to yourself. This is a perfect time to write, to get out the thoughts and feelings that have been cluttering your brain all week. Then you will be able to start afresh on Monday with a clear mind and the satisfaction that writing gives. 

For Journal Prompt #1, I want you to do just that. Reflect on the past week. What was your favorite moment of the week and why? How were you feeling in that moment? Was there a particularly difficult obstacle or conflict that you endured? Was there anything that you had been worried about, but it turned out you didn't really need to be so stressed? Happens to me all the time! Finally, was there a time this week that you were able to slow down and take in the small joys of life: the nice weather, a good book, a moment with loved ones? Write about these moments and reflect on how they affect your life! If you're comfortable with sharing, leave a comment! 

Shakespeare Saturdays: L'estatua di Giulietta

This statue of Shakespeare's famed Juliet has stood in the courtyard of Juliet's House in Verona, Italy since the 70's. I first read about her in the book, Letters to Juliet, which inspired the movie of the same name starring Amanda Seyfried. But this Juliet is getting a new home.  
The statue's breast is often touched by tourists which has caused damage over the years. 
My sister's good friend, Sarah Scheffer, recently wrote an article on this statue for PBS. She discusses how the statue's breast is often touched by tourists which has caused damage over the years. In order to preserve it, the statue has been moved to a museum where it can be restored and protected from wandering hands. 
I love the idea that tourists, love-seekers, and hopeless romantics can visit the supposed House of Juliet. You can leave her notes, stand at her balcony, and view her supposed tomb. You can even mail her letters if you can't catch a flight to Italy! (You can mail letters to this address: Club di Giulietta via Galilei 3 - 37133 Verona ITALY).  It's all very romantic and I would LOVE to go to Verona one day, and maybe even leave a letter for the eternal and loving Juliet. 


Shakespeare's immortalized character is one of the most famous names in literature and emotions of love, sadness, and bravery are conjured upon hearing her name. It is only fitting that she be remembered with a statue and a courtyard for many to honor her. 

You can read more about Juliet's statue here!

Wedding Stress and Should There Be Such a Thing?

Thankfully, my wedding planning has been pretty stress-free so far. This is largely in part to my Mom, who is the most amazing and helpful woman on this planet. She kindly, but not in a controlling way, took the reigns a few weeks after we got engaged and began looking for a venue, photographer, and florist—all the basics. She didn’t pick anything, but she wanted to give me options and guide me towards what needed to be planned and when. I honestly could not plan our wedding without her! I’d end up at the end of the aisle in a nightgown with fake flowers and no bridesmaids. Again, THANKFULLY, I have her. The other day, when our Save The Dates arrived, she addressed them ALL. I had barely even realized they got here!

Another reason that there has been little stress is that neither AJ nor myself view our wedding as MINE or HIS. It’s OURS. We both want the other to be happy with all aspects of the planning. If he feels strongly about something, I go with it. It goes both ways. This has made it much easier when making decisions.

           

I did have my first little bout of wedding related stress, regarding the amount of guests we can have. It was NOT fun but thankfully it did not last too long. I was thinking and stressing for most of the workday yesterday and as I sat at my desk, I realized how many different movie scenes in romantic comedies depict a similar scene. And that made me come to an epiphany: How can I be upset about something like this? I’m planning a wedding in which I will marry the love of my life and I’m going to let this little, tiny detail get me upset for even one minute of this fun, exciting, and short experience of being engaged? I don’t think so. So I stopped worrying. Every time a negative thought came into my head, making my heart rate rise, I reminded myself how petty I was being. Here I am, lucky enough to have found my soul mate and to be marrying him, and I am moping.

So from here on out, no more stress! Weddings are happy and amazing and should only be surrounded with happiness. Regardless of who’s there, what kind of flowers we have, and what music plays, in a few short months AJ and I will be getting married. The details are just details, they do not determine the fact that we will be joined together forever. In 50 years, we’ll remember our I do’s and the butterflies in our stomachs we had that day, but we won’t remember the details. I don’t want to waste a minute of this experience on frivolous worries.