Successful Saturday

I'd say yesterday was pretty successful. I woke up at 6 a.m., was on the road by 7:30 a.m., and in Woburn looking at a condo at 9 a.m. The condo is owned by a guy named Frank. He's 33, works in marketing, and is renting out one of the bedrooms. The house is literally 1.8 miles from Julia and Donny. He's cool with Rags, and since he works out of the house most days, he even said he'd be happy to let Rags out when I'm at work all day. The condo is immaculate - he keeps it really clean and is surprisingly good at decorating for a guy. There are three levels - upstairs where the bedrooms and a full bath are, downstairs where the living room, kitchen, dining room, and a half bathroom are, and a fully finished basement where the washer and dryer are. The yard is enormous and since this is part of a condo association, they take care of all the maintenance, including snow removal. Score!

After visiting the Woburn condo, we went in search of bridesmaid dresses. After trying on probably two dozen dresses, one big disappointment when the dress we all fell in love with turned out to be discontinued and thus not available, we finally said yes to a dress. It was actually not at all what we thought we wanted but Juls loves it and it looks great on our bodies and - the most important part - it comes in the colors Juls wants! We got it at Bella Bridesmaid on Newbury Street in Boston. I can't say enough about Britt, the owner. She didn't mind that we were late, sweaty, and smelly. The dress we chose was her idea, and we are so grateful that she thought to bring it out.

We need to order (i.e., pay for) the dresses by July 15 in order to have them by the end of November. Britt gave us a 10% discount so that helped a lot. Now we need to figure out how to "dress them up." The dress is elegant as is, made from chiffon, but Juls wants some sparkle so we'll either need to add a belt or just some beading. That's the fun part!

After a short picnic on Boston Common, we went and looked at another potential place for me. The apartment was cute but small and in a really rough-looking part of Boston known as Mission Hill, but it was really close to Roxbury. And my potential roommate admitted she smoked pot and that her boyfriend was "around a lot." No thanks.

In the car on the way home, my mind was made up. I talked to both of my parents and made my final decision. The only negative is that the condo isn't available until August 1 (his current roommate is a 22-year-old girl who is moving out to "grow up and be on her own") but my job starts July 15. Julia and Donny have graciously offered me "my bedroom" in their house for those two weeks. This means I can't bring Rags - he's a jerk to Buster - but it will give me flexibility with my schedule so I can get adjusted at work, go out for drinks afterward, and not worry about rushing home to Rags. I'll come back to Longmeadow on the weekends to spend time with him.

So, without further ado, here's my new home.

Exterior:

    Upstairs:
   

Downstairs:

Basement:

Boston, You're My Home

Well, almost. For those of you who know me personally, you know that last week I accepted a position at a Boston hospital. This has been my dream for a long time, pretty much ever since I finished grad school at UF, but even before that I always knew I wanted to settle down in Boston. When I took my current job, a big reason was to get me from Florida back to Massachusetts. My family and closest friends knew I considered it a stepping stone to get to my ultimate goal of doing PR for a Boston-area hospital.

My dream has finally come true. I will be doing media relations for a large Boston cancer hospital and their official charity. I started interviewing for the position in May, and accepted an offer on Wednesday. I start July 15, which means my last day at my current job will be July 10 so I can have a few days to wrap up my life in western Massachusetts, move and settle in.

I still haven't found a place to live yet. It was such a crazy week that by this weekend, I was physically and emotionally exhausted. I have spent hours looking online, calling and emailing about possible apartments, and even Skyping with a potential roommate. I'm going to be in the city this Saturday to try on bridesmaid dresses for Julia's wedding, but I have crack of dawn and late afternoon appointments to see a few places. One is a room in a 2br, 1ba apartment in a Mission Hill house with a girl in her mid 20s. The other is a room in 3br, 1.5ba condo in Woburn (yes, where my best friend Julia lives - right around the corner actually!) with a professional male in his early 30s. And then there's a potential room in a 5ba, 2ba apartment in Brighton. One of the roommates is a friend of a friend, but four girls is a lot of estrogen. I think Rags needs somewhere really mellow and quiet, because that's what we had when we lived alone in Florida and he was so well-behaved. His crankiness is either due to his age (he's almost 8) or - the more likely culprit - living with two male adults and another dog, so he really never has any personal space or down time. I think one roommate would be ideal, and no other pets.

Actually, living alone would be ideal but since I am working for a nonprofit and have not much in the way of savings, a roommate is a must at first. I'd also rather bunk up with someone before signing away my life on a year's lease when I may hate the person, the neighborhood, etc.

Julia has extended "my bedroom" to me in the event that July 15 arrives and I still don't have a place to live. Or if I find a place that isn't immediately available. The Mission Hill apartment is available before I am (July 1) and the Woburn condo is available Aug. 1, so either of those would work out.

Money was actually the only thing that caused me to hesitate on accepting the offer right away. I negotiated my salary for the first time and am happy with the offer, but then I started thinking about rent and buying a new wardrobe (they wear suits to work every day, it's business casual at the college until summer and then it's just summer casual - I don't own suits) and I started to freak out. My best guy friend Sean said, "You'd be doing something you enjoy and you'd be near people you like to spend time with, and I think that adds immeasurably to your happiness." He was right. At that point, my mind was made up.

It's no secret to most that I have been miserable at my job. I like my officemates, but people outside of our department are downright nasty. Working in higher education without a doctorate often means being looked down upon, and for people with as much experience as we have, that's just not OK. I have been made to cry in meetings, referred to as a line item on someone's budget, been told I have no experience, been embarrassed by a faculty member in front of a reporter for no reason other than said faculty member's power trip...it's just been too much. And also, I miss healthcare. Working in sports made me sure I didn't want to work in sports. Working in higher ed made me sure I don't want to work in higher ed. Working in an agency made me sure I didn't want to work in an agency. I have yet to deal with the corporate bs, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like it. Healthcare is where I'm meant to be.

I also don't love western Massachusetts. Nor do I love admitting that at 28, I live with my dad and brother. In my defense, I had two weeks to quit my job and move from Florida to Massachusetts to start my current job, so of course I just moved back home. And then, when I was ready to get my own place, I was scheduled for major surgery that could have very well left me on disability from work for six months or longer, and even if it didn't, I was going to need round-the-clock care for a week or two while recovering. So I stayed. And then I started seriously applying for jobs in Boston and knew it would be silly to move out during that process when I could be saving.

Except it all happened much more quickly than I was expecting and I didn't really get to save. Four weeks from today, I will be at my first day at my new job. My new office is not in the hospital (boo), but it's directly across the street from the Yawkey Way entrance to Fenway (um, awesome!).

I'm trying to be positive today, so I'll save my recent car troubles for another post, and also until I know how much the repairs are going to set me back. Because I don't want to think about until I have to.