Beginnings

Beginnings are always a little awkward. A moment of chaos really. Out of an infinite number of details, one must choose just a few on which to concentrate. As a result, I can't exactly sum up the last couple months of my life right now...but if you check back, I promise to allude to them occasionally...so, you should totally think of this as the newest form of the Nancy Drew mysteries. I have total confidence that you will piece it all together--eventually.

I'm going to begin with this past weekend, so let me briefly outline a cast of characters. The Borders crew will encapsulate a large number of individuals, but I'll try to only drop those names in context. More importantly, however, you must be familiar with Madonna (the fantastic lady from whom I'm renting my place), Karen and Hope (class buddies), and Sara and Tim (social buddies).

After many initial weeks of shock and loneliness, this weekend helped make Philadelphia (or at least Bryn Mawr and the surrounding suburbs) feel like home. I got to do a few of my most favorite things--eat, shop, be outdoors, and drink. Even better, I got to do so with a fabulous new friend of mine...Sara. Sara hails from the Midwest (originally North Dakota, later Iowa), but she thankfully settled here in Philly at the same time as I chose to. And we met as a result of our hirings at Borders--I'm a bookseller and she works on the inventory team. We have both decided that we have got to be two of the most awesome in the store, but I guess we're a little bias in our observations.

Anyhow...Friday was a late night of Borders work, so it was pretty uneventful. Saturday, however, was a completely different story. I just have to mention that I have not been out of bed before 8:30-9:00 on hardly any occasions since my move. So, I think it was such a good effort on my part to get up at the absurd hour of 7am in order to get ready, make an emergency CVS run, call Mom, and prepare for the departure. Sara and I left, headed for Joe's Restaurant, a very popular breakfast place in Wayne. But, between Sara's aversion to feelings of claustrophobia and mine to the aroma of stinky person, we migrated down the road to Minella's Diner. After a delicious breakfast and great conversation, we left for Target on a mission to clean up the responsibility area. Once through with that, we headed for Valley Forge in order to take advantage of the nature/walking trails on a beautiful October day. Between the sunshine and the wildlife (mainly deer, but I'm convinced there had to be some eight-legged freaks surrounding us), the "hike" was a success. Some would totally not call it a hike...I, however, am very proud to do so.

After that, we went to a coffeehouse in Wayne, called Gryphon. What wonderful food and coffee was hiding there!!! I indulged in some triple mousse cake and a Sumatra blend coffee, and I've never experienced quite the same sensation in my mouth before. Chocolate and coffee has a way with me. In any case, minus a few other stops, we ended up back at Sara and her husband, Tim's, apartment, which is a wonderfully cozy place to hang out. After a brief rest, checking into the details of blood pudding, we set to work making the exploded chicken pizza and buffalo chicken pizza that would be dinner. The latter ended up a little too spicy for Sara and I, but the former was excellent, especially with the Yuengling beer that we chose as the evening's beverage. We spent the rest of the evening playing Scrabble (what a great time) and faux karaoke-ing. We have big plans to blitz Philadelphia with our (well, only Sara's are confirmed, but I think there may be an inkling of it in me) karaoke skills. Life is so much better when there are great people around to share it with.

I must close for now because I feel as though this blog is already too long. But, now that I can update day-to-day, you will no longer be subjected to such long entries. Thank Sara for the blog suggestion! More later...