Today every tree in Boston declared, "It's Fall!"

And I responded, "Why, thank you!"

For the past 48 hours I have been solo in Boston. My mom was to arrive tonight, but her flight was canceled, and she will now arrive tomorrow late-morning. I have spent a lot of time living in my own head. Good thing I am an introvert at heart, so I take the solitude as a deep, refreshing gift.

Tuesday:

Yesterday, I felt a little timid as I ventured out of my hostel. My throat was sore, I had no firm agenda, and I felt gun-shy about hopping into the new Boston terrain. Once out and about, my iPhone's walking GPS made navigating around downtown quite easy. I puttered around a public garden, found a lovely used bookstore, ate a whole carton of strawberries (as they contain the most vitamin C per ounce and were delicious and cheap from a produce stand) read in Boston Common while listening to Arcade Fire's new album, window shopped in Faneuil Hall Marketplace and Chinatown, lounged in Starbucks, got the top of my right ear pierced, and went to AMC and watched The Social Network. After the movie, it was growing dark, so I found a mom and pop pizza joint and realized that the man taking my order was Mediterranean. I quickly changed my order to a Mediterranean veggie dish that came with a side salad, rice, and hummus. Delicious! I had sauteed mushrooms, broccoli, fried eggplant, lots of onions and green peppers, which I used to scoop up the rice. During both lunch and dinner friends happened to call me. Both times, I realized that I was having my first real dialogue of the day when I was chatting with them. Prior to lunch, the extent of my language use had been, "No I do not have a CVS card with me" when buying vitamin C for my scratchy throat. Here are a few photos of documentation.

My day ended in my hostel lobby, where I was befriended by a British man named Christian who had tattooed sleeves and had been in several bands and is more well traveled within the US than I am. He invited me to join he and his friend for dinner or drinks, which I politely declined, and I retired to my room for a phone date with Leigh. Then, it was another 10 hours of slumber.

Wednesday:

Today was a dreary day outside, so I decided to visit the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. While walking the 2 miles there, I realized that the dreary day was absolutely beautiful too. Every tree was losing leaves by the dozen, sidewalks were covered in hues of gold, and I had a blast with my new camera. Once finally inside the MFA, I enjoyed the music instrument exhibit, the Nicholas Nixon photography exhibit, and an exhibit following the fashion industry through the lens of Vogue's Richard Avedon the most. After this, I enjoyed the surrounding campuses of the Boston Conservatory of Music, North Eastern, and the walk back to my hostel. I stopped into Starbucks for some more time with Jesus, ate at a charming cafe, comparable to Hopkins but not nearly as bustling, and then prepared to move from my hostel to a B&B in Cambridge, right outside of Harvard. Whew. It was a feat moving through the city with two 50 lb bags. 100 lbs, you may ask? Why, yes. 7 books, a laptop, a journal, and a camera accounted for a lot of that weight. I need to learn to limit myself on books, but a girl must have her options. I felt accomplished when I arrived to Cambridge, after switching trains and huffing and puffing up many flights of subway stairs. And I fell in love with Cambridge instantly. The Whole Foods market across from my hostel helped my affections grow, as did a quaint bakery, lunch, and dessert restaurant where I now sit blogging.

Please pardon my wordiness. I have lived alone in my mind for most of the day. Perhaps, it is about time to say goodbye.