a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Contrary to what you may have heard, depending on whether you live in Maine or New York, I have settled in a fairly nice, quite decent apartment this summer. The neighborhood reminds me of Euclid Ave in Syracuse, but the houses are a bit bigger and a whole lot more Victorian, for the most part. (There's even a small store reminiscent of Lancaster Market!) I am in an area inhabitated by fairly permanent residents, but the closer one gets to the Tufts campus, the more dense the student population becomes. Most of the people in the neighborhood are young families. I was exploring the area a bit yesterday, however, and overheard two elderly neighbors commenting on their relief that the college students were finally gone. It really is a cute place; there is a street just a block or two away lined with cute shops, restaurants, and bakeries, while the other direction boasts a pond, park, and numerous athletic fields. A lot of the houses have really pretty yards, with shrubbery, flowers, and even huge, beautiful roses creeping up lattice.

As for my apartment specifically, I like it here. We live on the first floor; a couple of guys my roommate knows live upstairs and they are super friendly. My room is pretty well sized, there is a porch on the front of the house, and the kitchen and living room are more than decent. The entire place has beautiful hardwoord floors, we have a dishwasher, and best of all, the temperature inside the apartment is very comfortable. We get a lot of sun, but the place stays really cool; I think it has something to do with the greenery growing on the front of the porch? (Claire? Any ideas?) I have two closets, brand new furniture, and big windows. The bathroom is teeny-tiny, but the shower radio makes that okay.

Closet #1 in back right corner

Not actually a door.

Pretty wood floors.

Closet #2!

Closet #1...actually goes back pretty far.

Brand new bed.

Big laundry room.

More wood floors.

Porch! I watch a lot of "Greek" out here, haha.

Holler!

Plenty of O2.

So yeah, the place is really comfortable and cute. I don't know that Janielle will ever want to visit, or that my mother could handle it, but it suits me just fine. Laura- the tub could use a squeegee, if you've got a spare. We're even thinking about putting a trampoline in the backyard. Roommate is great; super friendly and makes great tea. The other girl who will be living here this summer arrives Thursday or Friday.

Noteworthy things I saw today:

• A family of ducks sitting on a bridge having their photo taken. A human family might have been involved, but I'm not exactly sure.
• Two Marshall Streets, an Auburn Street, and a little dog almost identical to Lady Kel.
• A GREAT picture BBM early, early, early this morning.

Shoutout to my Syracuse circles- some good things coming your way once I land my new MacBook.

Work starts tomorrow! I'll keep you posted, and as always, I'll be sure to keep it epic.