BFFs in Boston

I really love rainy days where I don't have to leave the house. Everything is quiet and clean and it seems okay to stay in bed reading and drinking tea.

Unfortunately, I had to leave the house today. It is pouring buckets in Boston and, frankly, my commute was less than stellar.

Thankfully, I have a space heater under my desk so I was dry and toasty within a matter of minutes of arriving at work.

I have a headache, but it doesn't seem to be too big of a deal. I mean, it's Friday. Isn't that reward and pleasure enough? I'm wearing my absolute favorite outfit of the moment: trouser jeans and this jacket I found in Old Navy clearance for next to no money that looks like a million bucks. Seriously--people who have never commented on my appearance EVER made a point to tell me I looked nice when I wore the jacket for the first time. Love it.

Last night after watching Christmas in Connecticut (a gem my parents and I stumbled upon last Christmas), I showed Nathan all of my home design inspiration pictures. Well, not all of them. He could only handle about 15 or so kitchen pictures before he gave up and told me to decorate absolutely however I wanted--for the rest of our lives! Nathan hates change and so resists whenever I try to bring some changes into our home decor. I think it finally clicked for him how this is one of my biggest passions, so he decided to let me do whatever I want. He becomes used to changes quickly. In fact, I'm not sure he could describe to you most of the things I've done in our apartment. He just lives there, you know. It's very different from me.

Compromise is such a funny thing. I used to be terrible at it. I know I sound like a broken record talking about how much I've changed since I was married last year (almost one year! whoa!), but it's true. I think I'm a much better person. Much easier to live with and be around. Marriage has most certainly changed me for the better. I'm actively investing in a relationship that I used to just let be. I give up a lot more. I actually agree to compromises and I'm a lot less passive aggressive. I'm happier about everything in my life more. I truly think that being married, more so than any other event in my life, has changed me for the better spiritually, mentally, physically and emotionally.

I think this might be one reason why I don't miss college the way other people do. I really don't miss the person I was in college. I was self-centered (to the max!), materialistic, petty, gossipy. Not that I don't fall prey to all of those things still, but I'm at such a better place now. The friends I talk to regularly (and the ones I don't talk to you regularly but still love with all my heart--that's you P and EC) are the ones who actually inspire me to not be so base. Leaving the country right after getting married helped a lot with this. I had almost no contact with anyone from school except for some emails between my Absolute BFF and the Princess. I learned a lot about rolling with the punches, being my own person and making do with what I have.

I've been missing Europe a lot lately, but I think we've done a pretty great job at retaining a lot of what we learned about ourselves in Bulgaria. For one thing, I never order a drink larger than 12 oz. at a coffee shop. Thank you, Bulgaria, for shaving thousands of calories out of my diet. We still don't have a car and, in fact, I think it would be a bigger hassle for us to have a car at this point in our lives. We live in a cozy little place with just enough space for us. We don't lose each other. I have about a 1/4 of the clothes I had at this time last year. I learned to live with walking in the rain, with public transit and with getting lost on foot.

Nathan and I always joke that are the best Christmas present that either of us have ever received, since we started dating in December, were engaged Christmas morning and were married New Year's Day. He's certainly the best gift I've ever received.