Another Boston Blog Update

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted! My blog titles are getting lame. I need to work on that.

February was kind of a whirlwind. We worked on getting settled here, and I think we're almost to that point. Scott's loving his job, Angelica's loving her daycare, and I just started a new job at a very busy search marketing agency and loving every second of it so far. We're starting to get used to the area. I'm finding I'm using my GPS less and less. I can get to and from work, to and from the grocery store and to and from a really awesome shopping center without using it. We've been church-hopping a bit, but once we pick a permanent church home (and I think we have), I'll have to make sure to learn the routes there.

We're all really loving living here. It's been a much smoother transition than expected. Angelica loves taking the train (and so do I -- I hate driving!) and the city itself is just a wonder. I had coffee with the recruiter who helped me land the job a couple weeks ago, and got lost in downtown Boston, and instead of getting frustrated (okay -- maybe I was a little frustrated) I was in awe of the city. The old buildings. The landscape. The fact that the roads are paved over horse trails so you know how our ancestors must have traveled. (And they must have been lost ALL THE TIME with the crazy roads around here!)

It's been a mild winter, which I think has helped the transition. We've only had two snowstorms since we got here. One was last week, and it was pretty heavy. I had to dig myself out of my parking space, but in true Andrea fashion, didn't account for the extra time that would take and of course it made me a little bit late for work. Angelica just loves the snow! I'm thinking she'll enjoy it even more next winter if/when we have even more of it. Temperature-wise, it hasn't been too bad. In fact, in a couple of days we'll have temps in the 60s!

Some of the things we've done since we've been here:
- Saw Disney on Ice's Dare to Dream at TD Garden (where the Bruins play)
- Visited four different shopping malls
- Had dinner at a few small, locally-owned restaurants
- Been to two different Unitarian Universalist churches. (Lucky us, there are about a million of them up here! We fit right in!)
- I got majorly lost in downtown Boston, as I mentioned before, which resulted in me driving past Northeastern University, Boston College, and some other college I can't remember the name of, plus seeing a trolley for the first time in my life.
- Took the train to Quincy Market. Don't call it Quin-see, by the way. It's Qwyn-zee. The locals will look at you funny if you pronounce it wrong.
- Saw an outdoor pay toilet.
- Found an indoor playground for Angelica.
- Went to a birthday party for one of Angelica's new daycare friends.
- Registered Angelica for K-1, which is something I didn't know Boston had. Up here, kids basically start Kindergarten at age 4, and then have two years of it. AND, you get your pick of schools, as long as you register early and beat the lottery system.
- I've now taken a train, a bus, and the subway. I love public transportation.

I'm sure there are some things I've forgotten. But I have rambled on a LOT. How about some cute pictures!

 

Playing "vacation" with her Toy Story toys

The next few are from an indoor kids playground that we went to on a snowy day

Angelica opening Valentines from her friends at school

Headed to our community playground