welcome to boston.

(if you aren't prepared for the longest post ever then just close out of it now)

now that i have blogged about the week leading up to boston we can officially begin boston blogging twenty twelve!!

i arrived at dusk and it was gorgeous. 

grace and dave were so sweet to pick me up and immediately show me around. within hours of me landing we were already on the subway (now remember this is my first time ever being on a subway and ever even being on the east coast so bear with me and my excitement for everything) heading to beacon hill to check out the upper crust, the bar cheers was based off of, and beautiful homes in the area. 

(later on in the week grace and i watched the pilot episode of cheers on 

netflix and it made it feel even cooler)

 then we headed to l.a. burdick which is apparently quite the hot spot. 

sadly it was way too rich for me so i took it back to their house to add some milk and was an idiot and spilled some of it on their computer as i was mixing it. dave came to the rescue though and don't worry everyone, the computer is going to be just fine. 

tuesday morning i felt like a real adult and took the bus to an interview in another part of town. i loved everyone on the bus and am THRILLED that there are so many chinese people here. bus rides really just mean eavesdropping on conversations in chinese. it is really my favorite new pastime. 

 so is loving all the homes and street names as i walk from various places. 

i get to pass this beauty every time i walk to grace's house. sadly it is a harvard building and i'm not a student so i don't have access to go in but the freshman eat in what i imagine to be the hogwarts dining hall. i mean from how the outside looks, it has to be right?

i also get to pass this house and many other beauties just like it

i'm subletting a place for two weeks that is about a mile away from grace and dave so every day we get together and get to walk to where ever our heart desires. they are helping me try new places to eat (mostly because familiar utah eating places are far away and no where in sight). i branched out and got some curry chicken mango something or other sandwich and i loved it! 

one step closer to becoming a real adult? check. 

i'm by myself a lot. 

wednesday i ventured to harvard square and loved this man with his shades and guitar. i sat and listened to him while i tried to just take in all the smells and sounds of this new place. it is hard not to love it. 

i really love this cemetery 

and loved walking around and looking at all of the different tomb stones. the history in this place is unreal. 

it seems like everywhere i look there is some sort of monument for someone who was really influential in the civil war or just in america/boston's history in general. i really like it. 

 i also really like this table i came across. just a large table of books with this box on it and absolutely no one in charge of it. 

grace really has been such a great friend and has kept me company throughout the week. i'm already sad that they will go back to new york in june!

i've spent a lot of time on google maps and it has become my very best friend. 

thursday it rained a lot and the wind was nuts so it gave me an excuse to stay inside all afternoon 

but eventually i got antsy and planned a trip to the boston public library and went on the subway all by myself! i love all the people playing music at subway stops.it helps me feel less stressed about being alone. at night. taking the subway. 

now mom. don't freak out. i have learned that boston is different than salt lake in the fact that everyone walks everywhere and most people don't even have a car so it is much safer and completely normal to be outside without anyone else walking places. now because i am your daughter i am very cautious and careful by nature so we can learn together not to feel nervous about this. granted i still won't do it after 10 pm, but before that i have been reassured it is completely safe and fine.  

my first instinct of feeling nervous about it being dark and cold and being alone quickly faded as i walked out of the subway station and saw beauty all around me. 

(and a lit christmas tree! so happy about that)

and i agree with the shirt. the BPL really is magical. see below for confirmation.

 i love EVERYTHING about it, especially my tour guide gretchen

 they wanted it to be a palace for the people, and i think they nailed it. 

i debated whether to take back these rain boots but they have actually come in handy and are definitely a must have which makes me feel better about purchasing them. guilt-free purchases are the best kind.

this is random but i enjoy boston's blue and gray fire hydrants

i have a lovely roommate at the moment named kelly. we went out to dinner the other night and had a great discussion about mormonism (my religion) and catholicism (her religion). i'm excited for the opportunity to learn more about people different than me. i thought i had that experience down from living in taiwan but being a missionary is very different than not being one it turns out. haha

every morning i sit at this table, eat oatmeal squares and enjoy all the little plants and pretty outside view

then eventually layer up and prepare to go outside. ryan/mongolians say that if you are cold it just means you aren't wearing the right clothing so i've been very conscientious of my wardrobe choices each day and the cold really hasn't been that bad! thank you ryan and mongolia for bringing this fact to my attention. it makes the cold weather seem less scary and completely conquerable.  

friday night we found a texas roadhouse! i was so happy to eat something that felt familiar and like home - even if we probably won't go again because i didn't get the vibe that grace and dave liked it. 

afterwards we drove to friend rachel's house all the way out in worcester, ma for her to cut and dye grace's hair. 

i thoroughly enjoyed their street signs and have no idea why they have a heart on them? but liked it nonetheless. 

saturday morning i checked out some housing options and realized my beanie could help my headphones stay in! truth moment = head phones never stay in my ears because my ears are too small and it actually gets really irritating so i never used my ipod and now never use my phone. BUT i walk a lot more here and possibly might have a fair amount of time on the subway each day so figuring out a solution to this problem is definitely becoming a priority. sorry if that was the most boring story ever. 

moving on.  

we went to costco. i bought wool socks and towels and other adult things. 

then grace made baby socks out of their old socks which i thought was a great idea. 

sunday i ventured to church by myself and was pleased to see this beauty across from the chapel

the church was recently renovated so it is gorgeous inside and out. 

everyone in my ward was so nice! and friendly. nice and friendly. i really liked it and i am excited to have a fresh start in a ward and be really awesome at attending things like fhe. ..which i forgot to do almost every week last year. i know..i'm the worst. 

i have had a rather hard time adjusting to the time/climate/elevation change. i'm really tired at the wrong times and really awake at like three am so one night i spent hours looking up nice things to do in boston and came across the museum of fine arts website and found out that mlk day is free! so grace, dave, and myself all piled in the subway and decided it was a good day to go because everything is better when it is free (don't tell my dad i said that because then he will lecture you on how nothing in life is free). because it was freeeeezing sunday the charles river froze which made the picture above look even more lovely than it normally would. 

there is so much neo-classical happening in boston and i love it 

 the mfa has a sense of humor! who knew.

baby bump!

semi-awkward

 we saw a million exhibits so here is a taste of a few of them 

"than you for your generosit" haha

sometimes i'm amazed at how nice phone pictures can be and then feel less bad that my phone has replaced my real camera(s). 

i loved seeing all the little kids sitting on the floor drawing and felt so impressed by that kid's train! 

aaaand of course i loved the asian exhibits. 

and that pretty much brings us to right now because my phone died shortly after that last picture was taken. so that was my first week in boston. it was a very long post and i'm proud of the three of you who got through it all. now that my computer got here safely (bless the heavens) my blogging wont be so spread out and out of control. also, i'm going to really try to make the most of these unemployed freetodowhateveriwant days so hopefully via this blog we can experience boston together. and sorry for those of you who have instagram and already saw most of these pictures..that was really boring i'm sure. 

ps this hipster tutorial made me laugh today. definitely guilty of a few of those things haha