September and October 2011

Wow, I haven't written for two months...seems like I have some explaining to do! So, on a more intimate note, I think September was a hard month for me. I think Month 1 in Philly was all exciting and new and full of constant new discoveries and going going going. A month in, things settled into a little more of "real life." Meaning, other than work, gym, and Matt, I didn't have too much of my own life here. Not that that should be any surprise, but I began to realize the challenges of a move and a new city. It's funny, because in September, my weekends were pretty busy!
One weekend I went to Baltimore for a wedding shower and got to visit with some of my college girlfriends, especially Jackie and Lisa, and truly enjoyed the time we spent chatting for hours, drinking wine, and spending time together. During Restaurant Week one night Matt and I went to an Israeli restaurant, and another night Caitlin and I checked out a nice Italian place. The following weekend, my Dad visited. And while he complained about every aspect of my Philly life, from the stairs, to the narrow and windy roads, to the brick pattern on houses, we had a nice visit! We visited my Grammy Laura in Jersey City too, which was nice. Another weekend Matt and I stayed local and did a little walk at Wissahickon Trail, and went bowling at North Bowl.

The challenging time was during the week. I'm very fortunate to have a very nice work schedule, where I normally finish my day around 330pm. Now, it's great if your life is all hunky dory and such, but if I simply went home to my apartment and had 6 hours of free time ahead of me, at times it felt lonely and a bit dismal! Some tears were shed, some homesickness ensued, and then I realized I needed to get out there!

So, on October 5 I went to volunteer orientation at PAWS (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society) in Old City in Philly. It was nice to have something to do that was all mine and was also a good thing for others (the animals) than just me! I think this was a great turnaround point for me. I volunteer with the animals just a few hours each week, but what's great is, they are quite flexible and pretty open to volunteers whenever they can get some help. So at times I was feeling a little lonely, I'd call up and ask if I could come by and help you, and alas, I felt better! The shelter I volunteer at has 2 dogs in big rooms, and then probably maybe about 40 cats in individual "cages", and two bigger cat rooms where maybe 5 or so cats hang out in each room. It is really enjoyable and I feel like while I'm helping the animals, they're helping me too!

On October 10, Matt left for 5.5 weeks of training for work. We knew this was coming for a while, and I knew I needed to feel "okay" in Philly on my own for this time period to not be a lonely one for me, in a new city and all. Since he has left, I have gone to NYC for a wedding and got to spend time with a lot of UD friends (and Matt flew in, so nice!). On a week night, Caitlin and I went to Sex and the City Quizzo one night through a meetup.com event which was a fun time! My Mom came and visited for 5 nights, and we had a great time and also visited my grandmother in Jersey for her birthday weekend.

Oh also, did I mention I won a 2012 Vespa???!! I won it by signing up online for "green updates" which also appeared to have entered me into a contest to win a Vespa as well!

Here are a few photos from Sept and October!