shipped back up to boston.

so on february 1st, aaron and i emptied out the apartment, stuffed what was left into the car, and took off on another journey: back to boston.

after two days of driving approximately ten hours each (day and person), we're back in beantown. we stopped briefly in pittsburgh, for the sake of having somewhere to rest up and crash, and to see some friends, attend our respectively practices as creepy alums and give puppy a break from the stress of sitting in her cage crammed into the backseat of an 03 camry.

tobyfair, she actually took to the drive a lot better this time (the last time being the pittsburgh-madison drive), and this one was twice as long. she's now sitting in my room adjusting to a) being out of the car, b) being in a different place altogether and c) hardwood floors. let's just say her first time taking a leap out of the cage and onto the floor was somewhat comical, in a sprawling, scrambling fashion. she has figured out that the hallway outside is carpeted though, and that she can use my suitcase to gain enough traction to jump up onto the bed, where she can quite easily wander around as she pleases (as long as nibbling on random things she finds is kept to a minimum).

considering this was my first time driving long distance, it wasn't too bad. i took my fair share of approximately half the hours, and i don't think i did too bad (except for one minor incident when the cruise control went creepy weird on me and temporarily wouldn't go off).

some photos from along the way:

sad, empty apartment once again...

rd leaving wilson bay apartments for the last time...

rd in pittsburgh with the cathedral of learning! 

for old times with the money mellons, rd at a sheetz.

puppybutt taking a nap in the backseat.

on another note, being sick seems to have waited until i got back to boston to appear. i'm now somewhat sniffly and sneezy. gross. though i will admit that i'm glad i didn't have to deal with this while driving. that would've made things significantly worse. 


future plans
+ superbowl sunday at brayden's new place out in worcester!
+ continue writing more urbdezine articles.
+ successfully find a job.
+ find a new apartment.
+ move into said apartment.
+ finally adopt my adorable graduation puppy.
+ finally live the life i had been hoping for post graduating from college with an unfortunately-specific, though professional degree.
+ be happy.
+ call up them madison friends and have them come out for a visit (clambake!).


sounds reasonable, right? :)

turn the lights out on this city.

the state capitol

so it's almost the end of week one in our new home in madison, wi (which reminds me...i should change puppy's cage today). there are still a couple boxes lying around the apartment, but otherwise, it looks significantly more lived than when i first got here.

our apartment complex

its definitely chillier here than i thought it might be/than i would've liked, but otherwise, the weather's been pretty nice. save one day of downpour.

the city is super walkable, and if not walkable, then bikeable. the five bajillion bike paths that network around the city certainly help. i haven't tried biking anywhere yet, but i figure i'm going to get a hang of not getting lost on foot first before i try biking on the roads of this new city.

btw. i just let puppy out of her cage today since she's been stuck in her cage for awhile (read: since the move from pittsburgh) while i've been unpacking. she seems to be having a good time exploring and, in general, being adorable. hmm...now she's hiding. oh well.

in general, madison so far reminds me of the ville (wellesley), but multiplied a few times over in a directional, somewhat gridded network. everything is still pretty small scale. only two starbucks that i know of. one cvs. couple of walgreen's. other than that, mostly small, independent stores. definitely a few fun looking places. a bunch of different food places i want to try out.

an old theater downtown

in other news, still job searching. i may end up doing some volunteer positions before a proper, full-time job comes along, but that's okay. because so far, the volunteer stuff i could end up doing for a bit actually sounds pretty fun and interesting.

also, got to jump right into a mad udderburn practice on sunday. man, i am out of shape. at least, for the most part, that seemed to the only thing that was wrong with my game. seems like i'll be primarily be playing a handler role with this team. haven't decided if i like that or not yet. otherwise, they don't seem to have a huge, if any, contingency of female handlers.

elsewhere on the ultimate radar, jess put me in touch with tyke, who seems to be part of a group looking to start a women's team in the area, which i might be super interested in. it might give me a chance to play a more versatile role, whereas, with udderburn, i'd more likely be filling whatever role they need at the moment since they have already have quite a large roster. hopefully, the women's team will be having a scrimmage or something soon so i can try both sides out before i make a solid decision. clearly, the series is also going to make a difference. i want to make to sarasota. i want to go to nationals. both groups sound hopeful. this ultimate scene is all new. so here's to making the most of a blank slate. :)