New Beginnings

Ah, finally, I have returned to my baby of a blog; it's only been what, a four month hiatus? No biggie. I am back and ready to blog away in the blogosphere. Not to mention, the timing of this couldn't be more perfect. I have moved around the last few months, and lots has been happening, but now I am situated in a new apartment, in a new city. I wish I could put into words how I have been feeling. Wait, I can: I am SO happy and excited! After graduating college and working for a bit, it is nice to settle into a completely new place and essentially have a fresh beginning. At 22-years old, I feel like this is the ideal situation for me to be in! There is so much for me to explore and do - now the fun really begins...

Here are some things to note:

1) The sheer amount of Amazon boxes that occupied much square footage in my apartment when I initially moved in was bewildering. I ordered the bare necessities for apartment standards (trust me, my furniture consists of a twin bed, a desk, a chair, and a shelf... aka almost akin to dorm days), but come on, cardboard on cardboard. I have never seen so much cardboard in my life. Now the boxes are cleared out, but since I am a responsible tenant and cut/folded each one so they were all flat before I put them in recycling, boy did that take some time. Looking back, I definitely should have invited my neighbors over for a "Ohemgee, I promise it'll be, like, sooo fun" party, in which I would sit in my chair holding iced water in a champagne flute - pinkies up - and instruct them to dutifully and efficiently deconstruct the boxes for me. Yes, deep down I harbor a wild imagination, but regretfully I did not come up with this genius idea earlier. You now know how I'll approach this Amazon cardboard invasion next time though. Feel free to join, open invitation.

2) Having the convenience of being within less than a few minutes of walking distance to a Duane Reade, Trader Joe's*, a $1 Pizza place, among other food places (ahem, sushi, ahem) is both a blessing and a curse. I know I can walk to Trader Joe's at 9:45pm on a Monday evening, no problem, great, and buy my week's worth of groceries (TJ's closes at 10pm at virtually every location and I know this because... dot dot dot... this should be a Jeopardy Daily Double prompt... Alex/Jeopardy producers, are you reading this??). I also know that I can walk to Trader Joe's at 9:45pm every single night just to pick up a bag of popcorn because I didn't have the forethought to purchase multiple bags of popcorn the night before... and of course finished the entire bag the night of purchase. These are hypotheticals since I generally sleep early (nor would I ever eat an entire bag of popcorn in one sitting...... what kind of popcorn maniac does that?) but you get the gist. Same thing goes for convenience store snacks, pizza, sushi. I can easily get them whenever I want and that is frightening to think about; this can negatively impact my waistline, my wallet, and the nice workers who would have to see my fiery I-am-hangry-feed-me-now state multiple times in one week. Yikes. Cautiousness plays a role here.

3) On the plus side, I live incredibly close to a water runway area. What is the specific terminology for "a water runway" that doesn't give me away for not usually being around larger bodies of water? Hey, I, get your act together, this is NOT ok. Gosh. It's a running/walking path by the water. The scenic views of the city skyline filled with high rise buildings bring me such joy, which is especially appreciated when I am near death while I run. Plus, the short trip over to this little water runway area partially combats note #2 above... should I ever overindulge, it will be rather easy for me to head on over for a nice run to burn some calories and get the endorphins going. I injured my knee a little while back though so unfortunately I haven't been able to run. This week I am finally able to walk normally... before, since I could barely move my knee, I had to stay in bed and do a whole ice-packing routine. Longer, moderately-paced walks are now my go-to for exercise. Hopefully I will be able to do full runs soon!

*I now have this ingenious theory that wherever I live from here on out, the address will most likely be located within a lazy smart/methodical/productive girl's walking distance to a Trader Joe's. My first apartment that I rented, straight out of college, was 5 minutes away from a TJ's. Now, my new apartment is fewer than 10 minutes away. Of course, the nature of distance being dependent upon how quickly I walk... or my urgency to get to my beloved TJ's. Who's that weirdo girl sprinting in her heels?? (Not me, running to grab her Cookie Butter at 5:23pm, nope.) Did I plan my apartment hunting based off the number one criteria of "MUST BE IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO A TJ's"? No. I mean, maybe. No, no, I'm still rather sane. But, did it happen? Yes. Coincidentally or not, it is what it is. I'm not complaining, and I wouldn't be surprised if my next apartment a few years down the road will literally be a studio in the frozen mango aisle of a TJ's. Dreams can come true...

xo, I