Boston, The First Few Weeks: Getting Settled In
Andrew’s Birthday – 9.9.09
Out for Andrew's Birthday
Waiting for the T
Andrew’s 23rd birthday was the 9th of September which was unfortunately right after we first moved into our new place. We had an apartment that was in the just-moved-in state, practically no money and we had both recently started new jobs. Andrew has frequently commented on how his past birthdays were usually nothing special and even though we didn’t have many resources to spare, I was hell-bent on making sure he had a good one this time around. Due to our new situation I couldn’t return the favor of throwing together a big elaborate party like he did for me back in April, so instead I spent days preparing handmade goodies at home. I started his day off with his favorite breakfast before work, French toast! Once he was off to work I spent the rest of the day running around town getting supplies and then in the house like a master chef throwing together a two-layered Pineapple Carrot Cake, a batch of Madeleines and Pumpkin Sausage Linguine for dinner after the movies. A few of his presents were handmade as well, one being an origami Tato box full of freebies such as “5 minute back massage,” and a balloon centerpiece. I somehow managed to get this all done and still meet him downtown when he got out of work so we could go to the movies to see District 9. We got home really late and were full of popcorn but we still managed to have a light dinner and some cake (after he made a wish and blew out the candles!). Happy Birthday babe, I hope it was a good one!
Make a Wish!
Natalia’s Visit
The weekend after Andrew’s birthday he was in for another surprise, Natalia’s visit from NYC! We had kept it a secret so when Andrew arrived home from work on Friday night, Natalia greeted him at the door! Natalia was our first visitor ever to our apartment! We were still struggling to settle into our apartment and our finances so Natalia’s visit was overall a lazy, relaxed one. Next time we’ll get out and see more of the city and nightlife, we swear! It was so great to have her here with us for the weekend, I hope she can make it out again sometime soon!
Alex’s visit
The very next weekend we were greeted by another out-of-town visitor, Alex! He could only come out for one night, Sunday night, since he flew out of the country the following Wednesday. We picked him up in the afternoon on Sunday, brought him back to our place, relaxed for a minute then spent the afternoon at MIT with a new friend, Jeremy. We explored the campus and the wonders available at the MIT Museum and then went out to hit up some of the bars near our house. Monday I ran some errands and went to meet Andrew for lunch downtown while Alex had lunch lunch with Amalia. Afterward Alex met me downtown where he was meeting up with another friend. We both helped Alex shop for new walking shoes for his upcoming travels in Europe and California but eventually abandoned the project for a sunny patch of grass and some good conversation on the Boston Commons. After Andrew got out of work we had to take Alex back to the station and say our farewells since we probably won’t see each other again for at least 6 months or so. Best of luck in your travels, Alex, I know you’ll have a blast!
Xochi and Maggie
Baby Xochi
Maggie in a tire
It didn’t take us long to decide that it was a good time to finally get some kitties! The first week we arrived in our neighborhood we noticed a sign for free kittens a few blocks from us. We inquired only to find that the last kitten had been claimed by two different people. We put our name on the list anyway and continued our search on craigslist. A few weeks later we heard back from two people within a couple of days of each other. The free kitten in our neighborhood had never been picked up so although we were third on the list, we got to go pick up our baby kitten that very day! We had little Xochipili (Z0-chee-pee-lee), Xochi for short, for only two days before I went out to get the older cat, Maggie from her owner. It was rough for the first week and a half because we had to take it very slowly with the two of them since we wanted their transitions to go smoothly. Maggie had never lived with other cats and Xochi was so little that I was worried about how they would get along. For the first week I kept them completely separated from each other, allowing them to explore their new surroundings on their own time. Once I felt they were comfortable in the apartment (and with us!) I started introducing them to each other. First they smelled each other through the our bedroom door (where Xochi was living), then I caged Maggie and brought her in the bedroom so they could see each other without any chance of violence. I did that for a few days, a few hours at a time and then finally took the leap of letting them both free in the living room. There was definitely a lot of hissing on Maggie’s part, but remarkably after just two days we could leave them both alone together with no worries. It turns out that Xochi is definitely quite a bully to Maggie and since he’s a kitten he wants to play ALL THE TIME (except when he’s napping). It’s really cute to watch them play together and now we’re all comfortable in our new surroundings! Andrew is in absolute love with his little kitten since it’s his first kitten and his first very own pet! (He’s had dogs before but they were never just HIS.) I’m so glad to have my own cats in my own house again! I haven’t been able to do this since I left my cats behind with my mother when I left for college in 2002.
Andrew and Xochipili
Shelby and Xochi
Topic: Boston, Kitties, Maggie, Miscellaneous, The Move, Xochipili, family Tags: birthday, Boston Commons, cake, campus, candles, carrot cake. balloon, cat, chef, downtown, goodies, handmade, kitten, Kitties, lazy, MIT, movies, museum, pineapple, pumpkin, relaxed, secret, september, shoes, surprise, transition, Travel, weekend, Xochipili
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:13 pm
I request a video of Xochi and Maggie playing.
Great staying with you guys, turns out I got sick the next few days and proceeded to get the rest of my crew sick over time. Oh well, everyone is better now (mostly).
Be awesome and hope to see you two soon!
October 24th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Maggie’s very camera shy and runs away and hides when she sees me coming with it. The few pictures we have of her were stealth and luck, but I’m still going to try, it hilarious when they fight (unless its in the middle of the night)!