A sign of spring

Snow Crocus

A weekend of amigos y amigas

This past weekend was a snowy weekend (hopefully it's the last one, though I bought a sled before the storm so that I could make the most of it), and it was also an awesome weekend because I intentionally/unintentionally saw a lot of old faces in this new place!


Met up with Ethan & friends for karokee! Picture taken at one of the divest bars I've been to.


Met up with Rewon (#Ray's new entrepreneur flame)for a picture with a creepy bear lurking behind us.


Bumped into Maddie, one of my Freshmen on the T!

Dinner parties

Pretty much what I want to say is that dinner parties rock. They are engaging, good opportunities to meet new people, cost-effective, and super delicious. It's the perfect combo-fecta that I wish all social activity would achieve. This past week, I had Lily and her boyfriend over to make dumplings, Jake over for a 3 course meal (I 'learned' how to make steak.), and then last night, I went to a friend's house for a potluck. I guess what I'm trying to say is I like making eating a social event and I like having a diverse array of options at my meals which can become difficult when I'm cooking for one. I even made some crunchie and salsa friends! (Not separate crunchie friends and salsa friends, but salsa dancing crunchie friends!).

March Goal

Another month, another opportunity to set a new skill goal! Life since moving to Boston hasn't been the crazy social fun time that I secretly hoped that it would be. Nor has my job been the incredible learning experience (at least not in this first month) that I also secretly hoped that it would be. My days are spent sitting in my office with Excel and Access, and it's been hard to feel connected to my work and consequently devote myself 110% to it. Because my supervisor and the other guy working on my project are remote/traveling, there's a very difficult lack of structure and because I just started, I'm frequently at a loss as to what my next step should be once I've completed a task. Thinking and reflecting on my personal goals, however, has given me a sense of structure. For example, because I made learning Excel and Access my February Skill-to-Learn, all that time on Access and Excel has not been wasted. For March, I'm going to set a skill goal for both my personal life and my professional life.

Personal
Learn Salsa: I started taking weekly classes at a local dance studio. My first time going was the best time that I've had in a long time! The studio that I'm going to, Salsa Matei also hosts a Friday night dance lesson at a local club. I'm hoping that between lessons and the dance club, I'll become a salsa pro in no time!

Professional
Learn SQL: I started learning SQL last month because a small portion of my project requires it. SQL is a query language that allows the user to dissect and analyze large data sets. Sounds useful!

Skiing in Vermont

SO MUCH SNOW!

TextHack

I spent this morning trying to figure out free alternatives to my current texting plan, which is at&t's unlimited plan at $30/month. The other option is to not have a texting plan, but be charged $.20/text message received or sent, but this would only make sense if I receive fewer than 150 texts per month! I didn't have a text plan till 2010, and now that I have one, it seems like I could never live without it...which is totally UNTRUE! Fortunately, I have an iphone, which covers free texting between me and like 80% of my contacts. Things that aren't covered:

1)Group Messaging with GroupMe
Solution: Just download the app!

2)Friends without iphones
Solution: Google's SMS function which allows you to text other people from your computer as well as receive SMS when they text you back. But What if you're not online?In case someone texts you while you're offline, it stores the text like it would an offline chat message (I tested it this morning--you just have to be OK with a slight time lag). What if there is an emergency?In case of emergencies, they should call, not text. I also downloaded the gmail app to my phone (testing it out, but I can see how it could get annoying if my phone buzzed every time I got an email) so if I miss an SMS because I'm offline, I'll be notified immediately on my phone.

Amy Poehler

Parks and REc, starring Amy Poehler (aka Tina Fey's best friend/girl crush), has been my last hurrah before delving back into structured real-people responsibility life. And it has been AWESOME! I think I might find Amy Poehler funnier than Tina Fey...I don't know what I'm saying, but I'm pretty sure it's the truth. Something about Amy Poehler's well-intention-ed, over-achieving, idealistic, stubborn steam-roller character resonates with me. I'm also having a hard time writing this post because I'm moving to Boston tomorrow! HOLY CRAP!

I just remembered why I started writing this post. It's because she's in the process of writing a book and I'm really excited about it! Someone get it for me for my birthday in 2014!