Greetings from the land of the Phillies, World Series 2008 Champs.
Never fear - still a Twins fan.
Nate and I arrived in Philadelphia days, if not hours before the momentous World Series game that broke the Philadelphia curse. To emphasize my point about arriving just in time, the movers that we hired to help us move in to our apartment were so highly motivated to get our stuff in and take off that they sent 2 extra guys (free) and did it in half the time because.............. they wanted to go tailgating before the BIG game (THE game, that is, the last one). Good and cheap for us. All I can say is: thank goodness we do not live closer to downtown or moving in would have been horrendous.
All in all, our new place is actually nicer than we expected, particularly the neighborhood. It is certainly one of those nice, niche neighborhoods that kinda feel like you are away from the city, but with all the conveniences of the city (e.g. train to work, walkable area for scouting out dinner--- not that we're doing much of that until the finances build up a bit...heh). We live right next the regional rail line, which takes me directly to work at the University of Pennsylvania campus, which is on the west side of downtown. VERY convenient and hella cheaper than driving + parking..........whoa baby!
Our apartment is HUGE, but all that space seems kind of ironic when you can't fill it. We are mostly filling up the open square footage for now with un- or half-opend boxes. The is by far the biggest move I've ever done; where did we get all this stuff?? How does it accumulate?? Nevertheless, every day looking for something helps us slowly find "the place" something goes and where it will remain in our new abode. We bought a couch, having brought none, and are working on finding a dining table (IKEA sale on Tuesday??...). Not that this information is all that interesting, but I think I truly understand now why people who want their home furnished and "done" as soon as they move in go broke. These things take time, people. On a truly positive note, we will have NO problem accomodating overnight guests with all this space, especially once we get a few more pieces of furniture. Not to mention our second (!!) bathroom (yes I will rant and rave about this feature forever) is pretty fabulous too. So come and visit folks! Philadelphia has lots to offer as well as being ridiculously easy/close to NYC, Baltimore, and DC.
So, I haven't even started my Thank-You's for our wedding.......... I know you have 3 months by traditional standards, but it would be nice to finish them before they become Christmas cards as well.... haha.... The biggest thing, really, is that accomplishing anything while we were in Minnesota was next to impossible (except wedding stuff) because we were half-packed away the entire time. It definitely is nice to FINALLLLLLLLLY unpack and STAY that way for a while. Seeing a favorite spatula or coffee mug or sets of sheets is like pure joy. Try it sometime -- pack all your stuff away except for bare essentials (including clothes!!!) and when you reopen everything 3-4 months later, it'll be like early Christmas!! For us, too, there were wedding present added into the mix that we couldn't play with and test out until we got here. So, that just added to the immense satisfaction of unpacking for an indefinite period of time.
My internship/job, which I started this past Monday (Nov. 3rd), has so far gone swimmingly. I got all the introductions (including those to living human staffers as well as mummies undergoing research), did paperwork, got my office (!!) organized and ancient computer updated, wandered the museum trying to get oriented and not lost, took many tours of the maze of artefact storage rooms with which I will be working intimately, did some reading to get me caught up on the archaeological site I will be working on, and well, sat on my ass looking out the nice window waiting to be told what to do next (because my supervisor is still getting used to the fact that I am around). I'm told I will be "busy soon," so I am enjoying the slow pace while it still lingers.
Nate and I are intending to go to a local arboretum tomorrow (it has been raining non-stop this week and it is finally supposed to be sunny then), and hopefully we can capture some of the last colors of New England fall and post them.
Speaking of New England, I can definitely understand why New Englanders can be so snotty about Midwestern architecture now. The history, landscape, and architecture of regular, residential homes around here is amazing. It would be like going to the land of cookie-cutter subdivisions on crack for them. The was certainly a striking observation I had right away.
Well, that's my post-move update and hopefully more to follow now that the settling in process has taken root.
