moving

New apartment, originally uploaded by zannect.

The last three weeks have been pretty busy. I interviewed for, was offered, and accepted a new job, based in Washington, DC. I went back down to DC to find an apartment, via a family weekend in New Jersey and NYC. I came back to Massachusetts and packed up all my stuff, and shipped it off today via FedEx Ground and USPS Media Mail. Wednesday, very early, I get on a train and relocate to DC! I'll start my new job on February 1, which should give me just enough time to get my stuff, go to Ikea and buy a bunch of furniture, and unpack and set up my new place. It's all been a whirlwind, and I can't quite believe that in 48 hours, I'll be living in my new apartment in a brand new city. I'll miss Massachusetts, but I'm sure I'll be back here some day. In the meantime, it's very exciting!

Ah, my poor neglected blog! The last few weeks have been a rush of seeing friends and finishing my job and packing up my apartment and handling all those last details involved in moving to a different state. As a friend said recently, I've been a little too busy living my life to write anything about it. I've got some photos up on Flickr of the last few weeks.

Today is my last day in New York; tomorrow morning I pack up the truck and head north. I've tried several times over the last few weeks to come up with a post on leaving New York...but it's been difficult. I started making lists, as I like to do; but got stumped. How do you sum up six years here? It's been fun, it's been challenging, it's been difficult, it's been frustrating, it's been full of amazing little moments and art exhibits and adventures, and all that says nothing at all about what it's really like to live here every day. Six years feels like forever and feels like it went by pretty fast. I'm excited to move somewhere quieter and greener and much more spacious. With a porch and a yard and air that doesn't make you choke while running on summer mornings. I'm very excited to have a washer and a dryer in my apartment, in a way that only someone who has spent the last several years lugging their laundry a quarter mile to the laundromat every couple weeks can understand. I'm thrilled to no longer be paying 40% of my income in rent. I will have windows on all four sides of my living space--something I haven't had since I last lived in Boston.

I'm hoping all that will make up for the loss of having all my favorite restaurants within walking distance (or even right downstairs); Prospect Park; coming across random parades; 24-hour subways; the daily contrasts of life here (from the incredible kindnesses I've seen to the incredible cruelties or the multimillionaires walking by the homeless veterans); a 24-hour gourmet bodega across the street; my gym across the street; and all the other little things that we get used to here in NYC. New York has made me jaded and callous, but it's also made me expect diversity and stimulation and openness in a way you don't get somewhere less crowded. One of the things I will miss the most is the amazing diversity of this city--hearing many languages a day, seeing people from everywhere in the world, the huge range of art and music and fashion, and the food! Oh, I will miss the food. Most of all, of course, I will miss my friends; and while I know I will be back to visit, it just won't be quite as easy as making plans for dinner next week or a run tomorrow morning. I guess I should up my cell phone minutes!

I've been ready for a change for awhile now. It's just now that it's here, it's a little harder than it seemed before it was happening tomorrow!

Yes, it's true. I'm leaving New York.

I've been offered a very exciting new job in Cambridge, MA, and since that guy I kind of like also lives up there, I'm relocating. It's very exciting; I've been wanting to leave New York for awhile now, and this new job is pretty much exactly what I would be doing if I had sat down and written my dream job description. On the other hand, now that my move to Somerville is just a month away (exactly), I'm realizing all the things I will miss here, not the least of which is my wonderful friends and the community we've created over the last six years. Of course, over time that community has scattered to Germany and Thailand and Scotland and San Francisco and North Carolina and Washington, DC, so really all I'm doing is pushing it north a bit. And there's email, and skype, and cell phones with free long distance, so as much as I will miss hanging out in person all the time, I'm confident we'll remain in touch. And now I have (even more) reasons to travel.

I have lots to say on the topic of leaving New York, and will undoubtably post on it, but I'm also pretty sure new content on this site will be limited for the next month as I try to cram in finishing up at my current job, seeing all my friends as many times as I can manage, doing a few last only-in-New York things, packing up everything I own, selling a few things, and finding a sublettor, all in the next 30 days!