62. June 30th, 2011 Picture.

MOVING!  Day 1.  The thought of typing up all the details of our move is giving me slight anxiety, I don't think I'll ever be able to see a U-Haul ever again and not break out in hives.  There is no reason that I need to pour over the inane details of our move, and also I think that if I have to relive it again in such detail I might die right here on the spot.  So!  That being said, I will just give you the highlights!

Stop numero uno.  Sidewalk.  This is a Southie institution, famous for their coffee, and I needed to close out my 5 years as a Southie resident with a large snickerdoodle iced.  Seriously, you'd think I was dying.  I am moving LESS THAN A MILE.

Good bye Sidewalk!  So long, farewell...

Off to my next stop, the North End to pick up Ratty and then subsequently Somerville to get our U-Haul and then BACK to the North End to START moving.  Sheesh, I'm tired already and the day legit just began.

So, here is where it gets good, and by good I mean terrifying.  Ratty wasn't *totally* done packing, though he was in really good shape, promise!  Okay, not really, I had heart palpitations walking through his place, but I couldn't TELL him that.  The psyche of someone moving is very very fragile.  You say the wrong thing and the person absolutely breaks down and cannot perform a simple function.  Maybe I'm just talking about me here but I was NOT taking any chances.  I couldn't tell Ratty that we were in tough shape because I'm pretty sure it would send us both into that 'I'm so overwhelmed I'm going to sit here and do nothing' phase.  

So, I helped Ratty pack, cleaned up around his place while he and our friend Bill moved couches into the U-Haul.  This process took approximately 2 hours and was absolutely horrible, or at least it LOOKED horrible - I was just watching.  Our movers didn't move couches due to liabilities, so we were left with moving them out on our own.  Bill was inheriting them for his man cave, plus he works around the corner, so he came over to help load them in our truck.  Getting those babies down 5 flights of North End stairs proved to be difficult.  Very very difficult.

So, of course while the boys are working away, I continued cleaning [aka throwing everything away because I was sure Ratty wouldn't miss it, if he even knew he owned it in the first place].  I also walked around and took photos of all the rooms, documenting this apartment we'd spent so much time in.  Ratty lived there for 5 years!  And I knew him before he moved there, I can't believe how long it's been, I met Ratty when I was 22 and he was just 26, gah, we were just wee little ones.

Bedroom:

Living room/kitchen:

Aren't North End apartments so glamorous?!

We break for photo ops:

I also decided that the easiest way to get all the couch cushions into the truck was to throw them out the window.  Obviously when no one was around.  I might have also done this with bags of clothes.  Hey, you become resourceful when there are 100 vertical steps between you and the truck!  

One last look down the street:

I swear, I am really excited to move!  Though I will miss sitting in this window and watching all the drunk college kids come home at 2am.

Ugh, I will NOT miss this airplane style bathroom.  It was awful.

Ratty saying goodbye:

Then, we went to my place and loaded up the truck.  I took zero photos because we were working quick like a bunny, er bunnies.  Plus I'd only lived there for 1.5 years so I had zero attachment to the place, which sounds heartless but it's true.  This leg was quick and easy due to the fact that I had already stacked everything downstairs, by the door, ready to go.  We have A LOT of stuff.  Like a lot.  The U-Haul place bumped us up from a 14' truck to a 17' one because they ran out of inventory, and thank GOD they did!  We barely squeezed it all in the big one, plus some stuff in my car, we would have been up a creek with the smaller one.  God, have I mentioned that next time I'm hiring people to pack and move everything for me?  Moving is for the birds.

As if this doesn't seem stressful enough, there was still more work to be done when we got to my mom's house!  My niece Devon was taking my super awesome pillow top bed, mainly because it was a full and Ratty's was a queen, and we were also taking a few new pieces my mom had acquired for us.  That required calling our neighbor and cousin Timmy to come over and help.  Jeez Louise.

After this we all went inside, poured some wine and settled in for a relaxing night.  We need it, tomorrow we unload it all.  Yipee!

80. Run a 5k.

No, your eyes are not deceiving you, I, Miss I absolutely hate running with a passion but secretly wish I loved it in the same way that I wish I really loved yoga and did it all the time, ran a 5k!  Well, I walked/ran a 5k, but HEY! I'll take it what I can get!

For whatever reason, there seem to be quite a few runners in my family [not sure if it skipped me or if I have the recessive gene, but all I know is that in order for me to really REALLY run, I'm either running for a bus or from a knife wielding serial killer - capiche?]

Anywho, my cousin Maria decided to get a group together to either a) run in the Ras na hEireann U.S.A 5k in Davis Square, b) meet up after for beers, or in the case of myself and Ratty c) do both.  I was made aware of this event at a baby shower, after I'd had a few mimosas, and allowed myself to be talked into running by my two sisters in law...sister in laws?  By Sybil and Christine.

Ratty signed up, I dragged my feet, until I finally bit the bullet and registered.  There was no turning back after that!  I was paying $35, getting a t-shirt and you better believe I was going to earn that medal and free beer(s) at the sponsoring bars after.  PLUS, I would be able to scratch this goal off my list!  I am not a runner, not at all, and even when I do run, which is rare, it's inside, in a controlled environment and on a 0.0 incline.

Now, I am not sure why I dislike running so much, it's not all THAT bad.  I've done the couch to 5k training before, I've done bootcamp on the BEACH at 5 in the morning [that was an experience I am glad I did but will NEVER do again] and can run pretty well until I get bored.  That's my problem, I always get bored.  I've heard it takes about 30 minutes before you click into that feeling that you could run forever, and unfortunately I always end up stopping before then.  I have asthma and even with my inhaler, I sometimes wheeze and wheeze and wheeze until I am forced to stop.

Well, I figured that I needed to at least TRY to run a 5k, or at least walk/run a 5k, and what better race to try than the St. Paddy's Day on in Davis Square.  I've always heard really awesome things about this race, Irish music blaring, people dressed up, bagpipers AND beer, plus my entire family was going - I really was left with no excuse.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I didn't really 'train'.  I went to the gym, ran a few times and did Zumba weekly, but I am not sure that constitutes as training - I don't think it does and judging by the fact I thought my lungs were going to explode at the first mile marker, I guarantee you that doesn't count as training.  In the days leading up to the race, Ratty would see me drinking a glass of wine and eating a cupcake and he would say 'is this part of your 5k training?'  Yes smartypants, it is.

So, enough about the plight of a 5k runner, let's get to the good stuff!  Ratty and I took it easy on St. Paddy's Day [say WHAT?!] so we were ready to go for the 11am start time on Sunday morning.  We arrived about at about 10:45am, met up with my mom, brothers, nieces, nephew, cousins, Aunts, Uncles...okay you get the idea, and hopped in with the crowd at the 12 minute mile flag.  I am not a fast runner and I was terrified I would accidentally end up in a super fast group, so I wanted to hang back to make sure I wasn't literally killed by the masses.

Ratty and I planned on running the majority of it together, but he's run 5k's before and was really interested in beating his other times, so I knew I would at some point get left in the dust...in the sweetest way possible.  I grabbed my iphone and threw in my earbuds and cued up Ke$ha 'We R Who We R' and put that baby on repeat for the entire race.  Oh yes, that's right, REPEAT.  I love listening to the same song over and over again, and I feel like when I am running I need to keep myself pumped up and energized.  If I put on a playlist I am constantly wondering what the next song will be, which makes it impossible to zone out.  Keeping the same song on repeat actually helps me, it might not make sense to you, but it does to me!

{O.M.G here we go!  I might not look it, but I was really nervous.  Like, butterflies in my tummy nervous.  God, why did I sign up for this again?} 

{I loved that this girl was wearing a Bridgewater t-shirt, she totally gets it.  And yes, in case you are wondering, the majority of people running were most definitely hungover.}

{Ratty is ready to rock, sweatband and all!}

The start of the race was on a gradual hill, I couldn't really tell when looking around, but I definitely FELT it.  It was unseasonable hot on Sunday, it broke the record and hit 75 - IN MARCH!  I was already starting to sweat and wheeze.  I'd used my inhaler before the race, but I irritated something and just couldn't catch my breath.  Passing the bagpipers was a definite boost to my morale!

We rounded up through Teele Square and headed towards Powder House Square [not like I expect any of you to know what I'm talking about] and I started to think that I might have to start walking.  Ratty told me later that he could hear me breathing heavily and he was hoping for my own sake that I had my music blaring so I wouldn't hear myself.  Nope, my music wasn't on yet, I could hear.  We came around the corner at Tufts and I was like, okay, we seriously must almost be done -right?  NOPE.  It was at that moment I saw the 1 mile marker sign.  A MILE!  That's it!  I immediately felt dejected and started walking.  That first mile was tougher than I expected and to learn that I'd only been running for 10 minutes and still had 20 minutes to go really did not sit well with me.  I decided to walk for a few minutes to catch my breath and get myself back into fighting shape. 

For the next mile or so I walked/ran, only walking for spurts of a minute or two.  The faster I run the faster I am done with this whole thing.  Might as well push myself through and get back to the bar!  I passed the water station, mentally scoffing at it but then immediately realizing I should have grabbed some, and turned the corner to head back towards Davis.  I never saw the second mile marker, which made me feel as if the race was going to last FOREVER, but I at least knew that Davis was close, meaning we had to be nearing the finish.  

There was one final hill before entering the home stretch and almost everyone chose to walk up it.  Man, it was a killer!  At the start of the hill there was this little kid with a sign that said GO AMY! [obviously meant for someone else, but hey, my name is Amy, GO ME!] so I tried to book it up the hill as fast as I could.  I made it about half way up before I decided to walk like the father pushing his twins in a stroller.  I mean, yes his walking was warranted, mine?...not so much.

BUT FINALLY, after making it to the top of the hill and turning the very last corner, I saw it. I saw the giant balloon arch and the finish line about 5 minutes down the road.  I was determined to run the rest of the way there, no matter how tired I was, no matter how much I wanted to walk, and trust me I WANTED TO WALK, but I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.

BOOM!  I finished in 37:49, which was a pace of 12:11.  Considering I pretty much walked the second mile, I am pretty proud of my time!  Ratty finished in 31:31!  Just a couple of runners, us two!

CHECK IT!

62. June 29th, 2011 Picture.

Even though it seems as if my life has been GO GO GO for the past 2 weeks, I was really working hard to get my room packed up and ready for the big move.  I'd been chipping away at parts of my room for the better part of the month, stacking boxes up against my wall and outside in the hallway, much to the dismay of my roommate Jamie.  Since our move is somewhat complicated, spanning 2 days and 3 apartments, I wanted to try and make my portion easy on everyone.  The plan was to move Ratty out first, then me, so in order to save time and sanity, I moved all my bags and boxes to the front hall by the door.  My room was on the second floor, of a spiral staircase, so the thought of having 4 people going up and down stairs trying to carry all of my things gave me anxiety.  I wanted to make this move as simple as possible for everyone, so I just carried it all downstairs myself, ensuring a hopefully quick and painless job the next day.  Plus, I could use the exercise!

Seriously, next time I am paying professional movers to pack up all my things and move them.  I don't care how much it costs.

62. June 28th, 2011 Picture.

So, if you haven't gotten the memo about this move, let me fill you in on a little secret, we are definitely not taking it easy in the days leading up to July 1st.  I mean, seriously, looking back, I'm not totally sure if I even slept.  I know I am always go go go, but for whatever reason this stretch seems particularly intense.  Don't believe me?

How about a bar crawl through the North End on a Tuesday.  A TUESDAY.

Ratty and I had both wanted to do goodbye bar crawls in our respective neighborhoods, but with our Ithaca trip taking over the weekend prior to the move, we were left with limited options.  Enter: Tuesday Night North End Bar Crawl.  I mean, it IS summer, going into the 4th of July long weekend, so why NOT do a crawl to get this party started?  The plan was to meet on the Fiore roof deck after work, soak up some sun, enjoy a few cocktails, then head off to some of Ratty's old haunts in the neighborhood.

Honestly, what surprised me the most was the amount of people who were ready to get down, I mean seriously down.  We both thought the whole thing would wrap up around 10 or 11pm, but as we were making stops at all the bars, we were picking up more and more people that were ready to party.   Ratty had sent out an itinerary a few days prior, roughly outlining our stops and approximate arrival times and people really followed it!  At every stop there were people waiting for us, ready to celebrate Ratty and his 5 years as a NeBo resident.  I think we were both really impressed at the amount of people who wanted to come out and party with Ratty, either they really like him or had had really tough Mondays and Tuesdays that week.  I'm going with the former.

It probably would have been cool to get some pictures of Ratty at all these bars, like Corner Cafe, Living Room, Waterfront, etc etc etc, but we were too busy having fun.  I hate being that girl that whips out her camera and says 'GET TOGETHER EVERYONE!'  That is so not smooth.  Instead I took about 10 pictures on inanimate objects from around the bars, which I chose not to include.  You're welcome.

62. June 27th, 2011 Picture.

Now that I am back in Boston and a mere 2 days away from moving, I needed to get my butt in gear!  It was clean, pack, organize, repeat all night!

I try to be rational when I pack (I know, right?  ME?  Rational?!), I wipe everything down so that I'm not packing dusty or dirty things, and I wrap all my glass/fragile objects in shirts instead of dirty newspaper because, well, I OWN A LOT OF SHIRTS.  So since we're fresh off my weekend jaunt to Ithaca I figured I would use one of my 'Ithaca is Gorges' shirt (the one that Ratty bought for me 5 years ago and is a size 12 kids) to wrap up some of my silver starfish from Nantucket.  We've got starfish, Nantucket, Ratty, Ithaca, did know I could fit so many 'likes' into one thing!  Who knew packing could be so thoughtful?

62. June 26th, 2011 Picture.

On our last day in Ithaca we made the rounds to see some of the beautiful sites the city has to offer - there is more to do here than just eat and drink, though we did our fair share of that too!

First, we drove up the mountain, YES mountain, to check out both Cornell and Ithaca's campuses.

The campus was absolutely beautiful, gorgeous views, green lawns and really pretty, picturesque fountains!  We had a fountain at Bridgewater, but state college fountains are obviously a little bit different.  We called ours the toilet bowl....so yea, you get what I'm talking about. 

 We couldn't really walk the entire campus because it's on a massive hill, okay, we didn't WANT to walk around campus because it was on a massive hill, so we did a driving tour.  We passed the dorms where Ratty lived as a freshman, then the apartments that I heard so many stories about.  We walked through the student union building and even through one of their many cafeterias.  I always think it's so interesting to walk around someone else's college, I knew Bridgewater like the back of my hand, I still do, so I like seeing where others went, trying to imagine what it would have been like to be a student there.  I'm not partial or anything, but I'd pick Bridgewater every single time.


The campus WAS beautiful, though.  I couldn't imagine having views like that from all over campus.  I ALSO couldn't imagine walking up all those hills!  Some were so steep there were stairs built in - I am not sure what's worse, the hill or the stairs, it's pretty close but I'm saying stairs.  I thought my walk across campus at Bridgewater was a tough one, but it's got nothin' on Ithaca!

In case you were confused, this is another fountain.

Once we walked/drove around campus, we decided to stop off at one of the gorges on the way back into town.  It had been raining on and off throughout the weekend, so the water was rushing and the ground was somewhat muddy, I might have been ill prepared re: my flip flops, but the trail was so pretty and when we reached the waterfall it was totally worth it!

After hiking out to the waterfall - it was just about a mile and half both in and out & MAN, it was crowded - we headed off for my inaugural visit to Wegmans.  Now, I've known Ratty for 6 years, SIX, and he talks about Wegmans as if it were similar to us winning the lottery, buying a home on Nantucket and just living out our lives next to the beach.  Okay, that analogy might be a touch roundabout, but what I am trying to say is that HE LOVES WEGMANS.  He thinks it is one of the greatest places on the planet, ever, I mean ever ever.  Now, okay, I will fully admit in the spirit of full disclosure here that I totally didn't get it.  How can you love a supermarket?  I mean, I LIKE Trader Joes & Whole Foods, but would I take someone there on a tour while on vacation?  Probably not.  But, with Wegmans, a tour was totally necessary.

And I'll admit, this place was awesome.  It's unlike any supermarket I've ever been to before, ever.  I can't explain it, you  just need to immediately.

WEGMANS!

Pretzel Bread for Miss Shelby.  I wanted to eat it allllllllllllllllll.

All weekend I was talking about what 'Ithaca is Gorges' shirt I was going to buy, I was in desperate need of a new one.  Ratty had bought me one many moons ago, and that sweet, sweet, naive boy thought I was a size 12 kids.  KIDS.  So sweet, but so so wrong.  I tried it on when he first gave it to me and the sleeves were so tight around my arms and the neckline made me feel as if I was about to suffocate - so yea, time for a new one!

Per the usual, I got it in my head that I needed a tye dye shirt, something that I'd never seen and somehow convinced myself that it had to exist and I needed to find it.  I do this all the time, think about something I'd like to own, only to go on wild goose chases for things that may or may not even exist.  I did this in high school with a pair of khaki cords that had flaps over the back pockets - seems relatively easy enough, except the flaps couldn't have buttons. Say what?  Where the heck did I get this idea from?  I was furthermore convinced that The Gap just HAD to make them, so I spent the next 2 years looking for them.  I mean, whyyyyy?  I don't even LIKE cords.  

Anywho, I spent the whole weekend looking through every gift shop for a tye dye Ithaca is Gorges shirt only to come up empty handed.  I knew deep down that Wegmans would take care of me.  I mean, just LOOK at that wall of shirts, you could bet your bottom dollar that they'd have them, which they did, SCORE!  See, I totally didn't make it up!

And finally, before we hit the road for the 6+ hour trek back to Boston, I mean, hi, didn't we JUST do that? We made one last, disgusting food stop on our way out of town.  DP DOUGH!!!

I am pretty sure that any person under 35 should know what DP Dough is, but just in case you all don't, it is a calzone chain that exists in pretty much every college town in America.  They have over 50 types of calzones, all for $5, and it's literally the best.thing.ever.

I have so many college DP Dough stories that I COULD tell, like the time they refused to let Annie and I order one in the store (they claimed they were only doing deliveries) so we stood outside the glass door while we called them and placed our order.  Okay honestly it's much funnier when I tell this story in person - promise.  My personal favorite is the Roni Zoni, which is just a whole bunch of cheese and pepperoni, dear lord I want one right now.  The DP Dough in Bridgewater was unfortunately seized by the IRS for failure to pay taxes (I am so not joking), so it's been a LONG time since my last indulgence.  Ratty and I each ordered 2, one to eat now and one to take home.  We're such fat kids.

Pure heaven.  Please note that I am drinking a DIET ginger ale, which totally counters all of the greasy fat calories I just consumed.  Obviously.

And, that's a wrap folks!  We hopped in the car and made it back to Boston in, barely, one piece.  Such a fun roadtrip!