Snowmobiling!

Ok, so this post may be a bit late in coming, but Nicolas and I trekked out to Main a couple of weeks ago and he surprised me with a weekend of snowmobiling and eating some really good seafood!

So first, before you hit Maine, you have to go through New Hampshire. Now, this state is interesting because its (let's just say) "adult beverages" are completely tax-free. So, you're driving down the highway, cross the state line, then all of a sudden you see these humongous barn looking buildings that house tons of "beverages." You'll find a lot of them on the road, and a lot of people supposedly will cross the border just to bring some back with them to MA...although it's kind of illegal from what I've heard (the police watch !)

Next stop, food! I love seafood, and especially fresh seafood, and Nicolas knew the perfect place.

I didn't think to take pictures of my meal, but it was amazing..i had lobster stuffed haddock & crab cakes for appetizers..which ended up serving for two meals bc it was so rich.

Some pictures from the road...

The next day, we ventured off for a day of snowmobiling! But not before taking some pictures of the beautiful scenery around.

This mountain is the highest mountain in Maine, Mount Katahdin. It was SO SO SO cold that day, I couldn't stay out longer to take more pictures. But if you look at the last picture of me on the dock, that's actually a lake, completely frozen over! There were some people snowmobiling on it, yikes it looked scary.

Afterwards, we arrived at the office to get into gear!

Well turns out, that my puny clothes that would normally be very warm in 20 degree weather, isn't warm when its 20 degree weather and you're going 30 mph on a snowmobile. After the lady kindly explained that its basically like driving in a car, windows down, when its 20 degrees outside, i accepted with oblige the ski pants, huge gloves, brightly colored jacket, and ski mask to wear under helmet, along with the pants, sweatshirt, sweater, socks, -40 degree boots that i already had on. And i STILL got cold! I'm obviously not acclimatized to the weather here yet (although it's not that cold in Boston!) It was very fun though, and we saw yet some more amazing scenery in Maine....

What's interesting, is that for people up here, snowmobiling is sort of just like having a small golf cart to get you around when a car isn't usable or available. I find the sign for snowmobiling kind of fun....

Maybe I'll get one someday? They're equivalent to the price of a jet ski, although I still think I like the idea of a jet ski a bit more, riding across water, not freezing outside, and it reminds you of summer!

Well the weeks after I got back from Maine, I've been going after jobs quite vigorously. I've had a few interviews, with nothing too promising, but it's really helping to be up here instead of Texas when looking for jobs. It really gives you the opportunity to network with people. I still have hope that I'll find something, I just hope it will be very soon!

Next weekend, we are venturing to New Hampshire again (no, not for the adult beverages!) to visit Hammor Hollow , which is.....yay! a Hedgehog House!

As some of you may know, I really want a hedgehog, and so I'm going to an open house to see if a hedgehog is the right pet for me. It might be hard walking away with a cute ball of spiny hair...note to self, leave the debit card at home! So be expecting some news on that and some other stuff soon! If i succumb to the cute hedgehog, I might post a lot of pictures of him or her!

As my Rosetta Stone is teaching me to say in French.... au revoir, a bientot!

Salsa Cures the Soul

Well a lot has happened in the past week....unfortunately the hoped -for snowfall still hasn't come! And due to my horrible packing skills, I can't find the cord connecting my camera to the computer...well so you'll have to wait on pictures!

I spent a bit of time searching for apartments..just to get a feel on what's "out there." Well, end result=not much. I journeyed a bit across down the street from where Nicolas lives to look at some apartments in the South End. If you're not familiar with Boston, it's a very hip and trendy part of town, full of unique cuisines. It used to be a rough part of town, but has since been redone, after it has become one of the gay districts in Boston. After hearing that five of the huge apartment complexes didn't even have on studio available, it began to look like finding a place to live might be a bit harder than originally thought...one studio starts at 900! So, looking for something else, say a one bedroom is definitely out of the question. ( and might I mention these are even project-based, and they still run that much!) So the quest continues for the apartment..

But, everyone knows that before you get an apartment a job is kinda good to have. Well, sadly to say, the job I interviewed for didn't work out. It wasn't until I signed with a local temp agency, that I learned that Boston is a unique job market; if you relocate here, the employer wants a good solid unfaltering case why the heck you moved here and prove you will stay. Well, i guess I didn't stress that enough in the interview...so just word of advice, if you move to Boston, be prepared to state your case fully! So yes, now I am currently signed to a temp agency...I'm not sure if I like this idea (they say they will put me on temp work that lasts like just a few days to a week....) bc I don't have enough experience to get a "real" job. Well, I think they're crazy, I have a year of experience and a college degree, but maybe it's just not enough here, who knows! But I'll keep looking! There's gotta be something....

Apart from job and apartments, there has been some funner stuff mixed in. Nicolas and I went to the Boston Opera House to see Shen Yun, which is a Chinese celebration of the New Year. The Opera House was completely beautiful and I wish I could put up the pics to show! It was a timeless building, so ornate and detailed in every piece of the architecture. The only bad part, the four year old kid that kicked my chair endlessly well into the second half of the show-not proper etiquette for an opera house for sure.

Also, Nicolas and I started taking free salsa lessons at a community center off the blue line. I can't believe they're completely free..they are taught by a professional salsa dancer and there are several other professional ballroom dancers in the group as well. It's so fun! I'm learning much more about salsa, and the details that make-up the dance. We also found a true gem in Boston last night..a place that has FREE salsa, is lively, and ok just had to throw this in, has $5 pitchers of sangria! Wow, I didn't know such cheap awesome places existed here! After dancing the night away, I woke up determined to see what other unique places I can find in the city. So with that said, I'm going to get dressed and get going!

PS. For all you girls out there, if you are looking for a good read, I just started a book, "Go Your Own Way: women travel the world solo, by Faith Conlon...it's a must read if you love travelling, check it out!

Boston!

Well, it's been almost two weeks since I've moved from Texas to Boston, and I'm loving it! I meant to write a post sooner, but got sidetracked as what usually happens to me. Nothing describes being in a city where you can get a train and in minutes you are on a totally different part of the city than where you began, and on that same train, you can be entertained by breakdancing rappers who "bust out some moves" with their jukebox right in front of you. I love the snow, and for the first time I feel like I saw a real snowfall, like you see in the movies. People here seemed to be tired of it, but I love it. It's not too cold, as long as the wind isn't too crazy (Ok first thing I learned, when there's snow on the ground and there's wind, then you get snow swirling at you and your hair gets drenched...that part i don't like). I found some pretty freakin sweet snow shoes and I found out walking on snow is kinda tricky heh, but I'm sure not as tricky as ice skating will be when I try it out in a week! Boston has a ice skating rink outside in a huge park, along with hills to to go sledding; it's quite interesting. I love the culture that is around; I am going to a Chinese New Year dance celebration at the Boston Opera House tomorrow, and am always finding interesting restaurant choices.

On a not so fun but necessary note, I still have no news about the job I applied to..so while waiting for news I will keep applying to others, and a few staffing agencies as well. I haven't decided where I want to live, there's so many choices and pros and cons of each. I want a dog too; Boston is a true "dog city!" There are cute dogs everywhere! Just a day ago, I walked by a salon and saw a woman getting her feet done with her dog on her lap; it was pretty cute. The only part I haven't learned how I would deal with yet is getting rid of the daily dog stuff if u know what i mean...lets just say if i get a dog i might become a really fast runner, hah.

Ok, well I'll be updating this soon with some pictures; I'm waiting for a big snowfall to catch some awesome pics!