Rainy Sunday Musings

Update on my life status:

1. Did not get an interview for the first job I applied for/actually wanted. Disappointing.
   
2. Have since sent in two more applications, and have notes on another half dozen job postings of interest to get started on. Let's cross fingers and toes for at least an interview sometime in the next month. [as I was writing this, one of the places I applied emailed to say they just filled the position. Sweet....]
   
3. Signed my lease in Coolidge Corner! Bon and I (and Toomey for the summer) will be in Brookline until August 2010 as it currently stands. We have plans for lovely home design, good lighting, big bookshelves, and maybe a cat! Lots of updates on apartment-related things to come--I've never lived off-campus except for a sublet, and I have myriad ideas.
   
4. Lots and lots of "Oh good, I'm not the only crazy one" conversations. We're all at bizarre places in life right now, and it's good to know I have plenty of solid company in overanalysis and procrastination.
5. People are getting engaged and getting pregnant (separate people, no shotgun weddings in my crowd yet). I still think of everyone I know as approximately 16 and therefore not in any sort of position for those things. But babies are cute, even if it freaks me out watching people I know holding them (I would post the picture of Leif with the baby Nikki nannies for if it didn't make me laugh so hard. I might still.)
   
6. I am having the strongest travel urges lately. Part of me hopes I DON'T get a job right away, and would then have an excuse to just buy a plane ticket and a nice camera and disappear for a little while. Sites like The Big Picture make me want to take the kinds of photos that inspire emotion and a different way of understanding things.
7. Trying to solve my constant indecision/grass-is-always-greener problem. I can see the pros and cons of almost anything, and I need to find a few anchoring principles to try and cut the internal haggling down a little.
8. Getting off of campus more often. Sam and I went to see Arusi Persian Wedding at the Boston Public Library yesterday, and also picked up information for some events going on for International Women's Day in March. When I worked at the Women and Public Policy Program at the Kennedy School, they put on some great programming, and I'd love to check out some of it there and around the city this year.

Off to a United Nations Association executive board meeting...it'll be strange to end my involvement on campus when I graduate, but also freeing after putting hours and hours of time into it for five years...

Exciting Grownup Things!

In procrastinating on the job hunt, I've resorted to apartment searching! (I will pay for my new cute apartment with my non-existent paycheck! Yay!)

Bonnie and I settled on Coolidge Corner for our area, and we saw three apartments last week, and have appointments to see three more Thursday night/tomorrow. Bonnie was my freshman/middler year roommate, and one of the only people I could live with again (a few of my former roommates also make that shortlist <3). We've got the same goals for an apartment, and the patience with each other to make living with each other a fairly good idea.

Top characteristics our dream apartment will have: (We've had decent luck thus far)

• 2 spacious bedrooms: enough room for queen beds
• closet space! Both in and out of the bedrooms--we both have a lot of STUFF, but like all of the stuff to have specific living places
• open, airy kitchen. We both like to cook and entertain, and a kitchen that connects with the living space and allows interaction with guests is a huge plus
• natural light, and lots of it
• NOT a million-floor walk-up. Elevator, or 1st/2nd floor, por favor
• close to Coolidge Corner, and well as a C and/or D-line T-stop: need places nearby for when we don't want to be in our beautiful new apartment, or need to run errands.

We'd also love the option to paint our space, and a balcony or patio would be a lovely bonus. It's the first time either of us has really lived off-campus other than a short sublet though. We're trying to not jump the gun and take the first cute place we see, and ask lots of questions, take photos, and scope out potential flaws in any place we check out. A learning process.

I've also been scanning lots of home/design websites...I know I want a queen sized bed. I know I want fabulous bookshelves and lighting--both of those are funky European examples of things I will hopefully be able to afford in the future. I want to be able to hang my colorful jewelry and scarves on the wall as decoration, and have plenty of wall space to tack up the hundreds of magazine clippings, postcards, scribbled notes, and photos that inspire me and get me going. The space to fold and organize my ludicrous amount of clothing would be unbelievable.

After 5 years in fairly homogeneous spaces at NU, and living with random roommates for a year or two, I'm looking forward to really making my own space. Graduating and starting fresh in a new place at the same time will be a little shock to the system, but doing both at once will help make the shift seem more concrete. (And a new bed! A big bed!!)

Big Fish, Shrinking Pond?

Either the world's shrinking or we're getting bigger. Maybe both.

My roommate from freshman year, Bonnie, and I are apartment-hunting for post-grad. Our primary area for a place is Coolidge Corner. We both remember thinking how far away Mission Hill was from our freshman dorm 5 years ago, and now it seems like a quick walk. Coolidge Corner is sort of the same phenomenon. We still have lots of friends who see it as distant from our Back Bay/Fenway area, but since it was so clear/fairly warm today, we walked home down Longwood. The walk took less than half an hour.

Coolidge Corner, the Harvard Ave/Allston area, Brookline Village---all much closer than we realize, especially when walking or bussing. Taking the Green line inbound to go outbound, or walking to Hynes, makes the distances seem irrationally long. We all have a tendency to get caged in by the weather, but over the past few years in warm seasons here, it's interesting to find out how small and dense a city we live in. None of the distances are great, you can walk home from Harvard Square or the North End if you're feeling ambitious, and there's lots of great neighborhoods dotting the city. With the advent of GoogleMaps and IPhones, etc, there's no excuse not to wander and find all the great new places in your area, whether

It's not just a small physical world though. I stopped in at a friend's apartment the other night, and spotted a vaguely familiar face. Turns out it's a kid who was in a class I had dropped. We start talking, and I figure out another way I knew of him: another friend had suggested I get in touch with him last semester to work on a Model UN-related project. We exchanged contact info, and are planning to coordinate. Lots of my networks overlap, I run into people I know in odd places all over the city, and I'm hoping the networking pays off as the job search continues.

6 degrees of separation? It's been more like 1.5 lately. Maybe we just know all the right people, so they all know each other.

I like that my world is expanding, physically and personally, especially as I'm getting ready to graduate. I'm poised to get out of the college bubble and see the city and my network and my goals in an alternate light. I'm not content to stay in the same neighborhood. I'm loving meeting new people left and right. I'm starting to find job opportunities that speak to me. I'm figuring out how to present myself as the best person for the job. I don't want to leave my smaller world behind--I want to put it in my pocket and take it with me.