Beantown

It feels like I haven't had a chance to write in the blog for a while now. It's been kind of hectic at work and I was explaining to DB earlier today how I think I've finally begun to cross this line where I'm actually delving more and more into my career. I'm beginning to understand my clients industries saving me on the frustration that comes with the confusing industry talk, I'm becoming more active and proactive with my job looking for projects to help with and dealing more on a one-on-one basis with my clients. It's actually pretty cool to have my responsibility gradually increase with time. I've even asked for a 3 month review because I'm really trying to focus on the direction I want to take over the next year. I imagine it shows a great deal of initative and drive-- plus I've always appreciated constructive criticism from people, so knowing how my supervisors perceive me will obviously help to work on my weaknesses and continue building my strengths. It's made me really happy to come to work and feel useful. It could also have something to do with the fact that I'm finally gaining some ground on the monetary side. I've been able to start saving or at least accumulating some money from my paychecks without having to worry about what I can and cannot afford. Everyone did say that it would take some time to adjust, but I had no idea it would take nearly 3 months.

On to more entertaining stuff-- I took a leap of faith, a spontaneous act of youthfulness this past weekend and decided last minute (after much internal debate) to visit yet another one of my London friends who lives in Boston-- RG. She has been living there for 2 months and is in the same boat as me as far as finances, starting a new job, renting an apartment, getting to know the city and new people etc. So, when she offered and invited me to come visit Boston-- I knew I'd be a fool not to check out the city having never been there.

One of the nice things about living up North is the mass transit available to you for an economical price. I booked a ticket on a greyhound bus for 30 bucks from New York directly to Boston-- a 4.5 hour trip. It just so happened I had an early summer friday, so I ran home, packed a bag and headed to the bus terminal without mentioning it to any of my friends or family until I had arrived in Boston. I felt like a backpacker again-- and it was a fantastic escape from the city. It was my first trip away from "home" since I'd been here and it made coming back home to Manhattan all the better. I realized how much I've grown accustom to New York and the lifestyle that I really appreciated it. That's not to say that Boston wasn't incredible.

I arrived around 9:45 p.m. to be greeted by CM, RG and a new friend BR. They had already begun their night at the bar, and I was eager to catch up. We started out be visiting what was described to me as the "Fifth Ave." of Boston--- Newbury. It was a more upscale part of town decorated in brownstown style buildings sporting high-end fashion names, expensive restaurants and fancy boutiques. We sat down and ate a Spanish tapas restaurant named Tapeo that served a descent version of a Spanish Sangria (nothing compares to the one I had in Barcelona though). We order a ton of tapas to share and knocked back two $21 jugs of Sangria.... this was clearly the beginning of a good night.

We headed out to the main bar area and checked out City Bar- a swanky bar inside an even swankier hotel. The crowd was unique in that there was a mix of middle-aged and young professionals in the dimly lit bar accented with neon lights behind the bar, club chairs and rich wooden furniture. It's never me scene to wait in line for a night out or stay too long where you can hardly hear yourself think...so we opted to head next door to a more low key bar named Sola. This was more my style in that it reminded me of a pub in England with its subtle yellow tint, wooden high tops and countless drafts on tap. In true celebration we began buying rounds, taking shots and enjoying eachother's conversation. It was really refreshing to be amongst friends that are capable of just relaxing, holding a conversation and making the best of the atmosphere without complaining, negativity or a puss on their face. My new friend BR was also a really great addition to our already tight clique of Londoners (CM, RG and I). There was no hesitation in her chummy demeanor nor did she ever make herself be the odd woman out-- on the contrary it was as though we had known her for years. Very sweet girl with a killer personality and incredibly witty sense of humor who also happens to look like Tina Fey.

Boston reminded me of a big city in a small town. There are something close to 50 universities and colleges within a 20 mile radius of the city, so during the fall semester the city swarms with college students. I can't decide if that would be fun or a huge disappointment. The clubs and bars close at 2 a.m. (with last call around 1:30 in true Gainesville tradition) and the subway shuts down at 12:30 a.m. with the streets completely desolate leaving you only to walk home or grab a taxi. After deciding to take a shot of jager with the faintest splash of red bull just before the bar closed and we somehow convinced half the patrons that remain to join us in our inebriated version of Journey's- Don't Stop Believein' we were welcomed by the rain. Now, whether it was the alcohol or the good vibe we had going the four of us (2 guys and 2 girls) decided to walk through the rain. Let me say that again...sprint through the rain down the streets of Boston. It's one of those moments you look back and realize how much fun it really was...almost liberating and not something that is or should be done every weekend. Plus hurdling over bags of trash on the sidewalks wouldn't be fun had we been running through the streets of New York. Boston is so much cleaner and sprawled out-- its beautiful. I had said that I could see myself living there when I got older if I wanted the feel of a big city but without the chaos and filth. All this and I had been in the city for only a couple of hours!

The remainder of the weekend consisted of a lot of leisurely walking with absolutely no destination in mind. I was the only one who had never seen the city, so we just walked in no particular direction stopping to play frisbee golf in the Boston Commons gardens, meeting more UF Alum that CM new, which I happen to have mutual friends with and even throwing back to my good old days of London by eating lunch at Wagamamas--- SO GOOD!

We dined in the North End saturday evening-- even meeting up with a UF acquaintence from Freshman year only proving again how small the world really is when you have attended the University of Florida. I couldn't tell you anything about the restuarant we ate at except that the streets that neighbored it reminded me of the tiny cobblestone streets of Europe and the house wine with gnocci (sp) was delictable.

All-in-all my trip to Boston was amazing and I am not the least bit worried about not having seen Fenway or visited a neighboring bar because I know that I'll be back to visit my friend RG. She's already agreed to it. Like I said... taking a holiday away from Manhattan because I can was perfect and I would have never imagined missing New York so much.

By the way...it's freezing and raining outside right now in New York...could it be fall and will I finally get to see snow? One can only hope, but it is only August-- which is insane considering I'd be drenched in sweat if I were still in Florida.

Cheers.