CA, Meet- Snow.

Today marks the first day of snow since coming back to Boston in August.  Being from CA, snow was obviously so foreign to me aside from our family trips to Utah.  Going to Utah is always more of a vacation so actually living in the snow was something completely new.  There is something so peaceful and beautiful about snowfall, especially when watching it through a window (slight sarcasm with understanding to follow).  When I woke up to the snow this morning, I could not help but be reminded of my first outing in the snow experience last year.

As many have probably heard me complain about before, running errands in the city is not the easiest of endeavors, especially when most of the places you need to go are outside the city and you have no vehicle.  Luckily, my roommates boyfriend comes equipped with a car so when he has days off he so generously let's us use it for errands.  On this day, our mission was Target.  This happens every couple months and when we go, we mean business.  I'm talking two carts full and a hole in our bank accounts kind of damage.  We got all bundled up and ready to walk to his car down the hill from where we live. Parking is a pain around our building so it is a bit of a trek.  

I start walking down the hill in the snow and at first I am so excited, stomping in the fresh powder and just thinking 'wow, I live in this!'  A few more steps and things get a little more icy... a few more and I am slippin' and slidin' all over the place.  This got sketchy quick!  My roommate, Katie, turns around to see why "ahhh's" and "woooah's" are coming out of my mouth, stops me and says, "Chelsey, do you really think UGG boots are a good idea in the snow?"  I mean, I thought so.  In CA of course they are the go-to shoes for cold weather, right?  Wrong.  Can we talk about the fact they have literally no grip on them and basically serve as built in mini sleds on the bottom of my feet?  I suppose I should have known, but never living in these weather conditions before, I moved here and packed what seemed to be a sufficient collection of cold weather necessities.  

After that, I definitely had to rethink my uniform for the rest of the winter months.  I am now the proud owner of some super flashy snow boots with rubber soles, good grips and laces that go up to just under my knee caps.  Along with those, I have since purchased a face mask resembling those of burglars, mittens that might as well be used in the kitchen and a huge coat with more down feathers than the comforter on my bed. 

Lesson learned.  Bring it on wind, rain and snow!!!   

Happy December!

On this 1st day of December, I could not help but wake up in the happiest of spirits with a huge smile on my face.  Today marks officially two more weeks until my review board which not only means my semester will be complete, but when I return in the spring I will be going into my senior year- something I never thought I would say! Along with that, I get to head back to CA soon for not just work this time around, but a few weeks of actual vacation time with my favorite people!

Since starting this crazy bicoastal journey of traveling coast to coast every 5 weeks, I have gone from feeling like it is a piece of cake to slowly understanding the meaning of being settled.  Granted, I am nowhere near that point yet, but I am starting to see it in my future.  I absolutely love this roller coaster I am on right now, however, it is A LOT of work.  A couple weeks ago I was debating spending Thanksgiving here in Boston to avoid travel costs and madness, or meeting up with my family in Utah.  For a minute I convinced myself that spending the day here with some good eats, wine and movies would be a delightful day, quickly saying to myself, yeah right!  At the end of the day, holidays should be spent with family and people you love and I never want to have a holiday memory anything short of that.

So, I booked flights!  I really missed my little brother and although I had seen my parents a week prior in CA, I still always love spending time with them.  My dad and brother were in on the surprise but my mom had no clue I was coming.  It was perfect.  My brother picked me up from the airport and when we got home he told my parents they had to see the moon because it was absolutely beautiful, all while I was hiding behind a trash can.  They came out and I snuck up behind my mom and said, "wow, it sure is pretty!".  And boom, que water works from mama Jules.  Mission accomplished.

After spending a short but wonderful Thanksgiving in Utah with the family, where I had hoped to completely disconnect from all things work and art school, I came back to Boston feeling like I had no break at all between long travel hours and endless activities (which I obviously did enjoy).  It really hit me that as much as I tell myself when I am in CA it's a break from art school and when I am in Boston it's a break from work life, the reality is, I need a break from it all!!!  I sat on the couch almost the entire day when I returned to Boston trying to figure out why I could not pull it together and I think it just comes down to EXHAUSTION! I am always one to believe I can do it all and I will be fine but I think the last few weeks have just been eye opening as far as accepting that me time is also part of doing it all.

That being said, you can now understand where the overwhelming amount of excitement comes into play with December's arrival.  On top of actual time away from work and school, all five of us Taylors will be under one roof, which hasn't happened in over 6 months!  I cannot wait to spend time with my brothers, Kyle and Cody, who I miss every day, along with their partners and my parents.  Not to mention enjoying a long list of Christmas activities and mini getaways with family and friends as well!

Ugh, 'tis the season people!!  Put a smile on, hang some lights, cozy up in front of the fire and consume puppy chow in massive amounts! (If you don't know what puppy chow is, you should)

Happy December! :)