*1287 - small world

What are the odds that childhood best friends (my first real best friend--we were the original 6 y/o versions of the mean girls, true terrors, ask anyone in our class) date (or marry, in her case) boys who graduated from the same college and class at UVA, and manage to somehow cross paths at a moment's notice in a little deli in Charlottesville because we happened to all be within hours of each other one Monday in December?  Slim, we venture.  The world is getting smaller and smaller, and I for one think that's fabulous.

*1286 - nocciola

In Italy, whenever my tummy managed to free up space amid the constant flow of pasta, pizza, cheese, meats, and wine, we would get gelato's from little corner stores.  I tried many flavors but my favorite was the classic nocciola, hazelnut.  I tried sharing at first but eventually realised that I needed a cone to myself each time.  Which as everyone knows is okay because even though it's all creamy and rich (because little air is incorporated), it has lower fat content than its fluffy American counterpart.  Yep.

*1285 - two observations from rogers, arkansas

1. A key difference, among many, between grocery shopping in SF vs. grocery shopping in Arkansas is that not producing a reusable bag (bright orange, covered with little paler orange kitties no less) in the former would induce the death stare and result in great embarrassment, while producing a reusable bag in the latter results in great confusion ("You wha...? You mean you want me to put your eggs in that ...?").

2. I have somehow accummulated close to 30 pairs of shoes here, and I don't even live here for reals and it's been only three months tops.  I can't remember how that happened, but I'm not sure how I'm going to move all this stuff back to SF.

*1284 - boston

Back in Boston for my annual holiday party pilgrimage.  Can you believe that this would be my FOURTH?  The number of people I actually know has dwindled dramatically since I moved from Boston to SF, and much less the number of people I consider to be a close buddy outside of work.  People here come and go so much; if you can imagine it, I would consider myself one of a handful of oldies remaining from the good ole days. 

Sitting in the cab and watching familiar streets and restaurants and gas stations whiz by; felt a pang of nostalgia as this one year in Boston was formative in my life.  My first days in the first job out of college, my first project and my first awesome project team, my first actual apartment, my first car and my first time getting stuck on ice, my first days of true financial independence--no turning back, bring on the bills, it feels so good, not sarcastic--my first hello to D--okay, I actually don't remember it at all, I was too overwhelmed with meeting 80 new people in half an hour--but my first date with D--that one I remember.  A recent cabbie helped me figure out why it is I still feel like I was in Boston much longer than I've had been in SF though the reverse is true.  It's because Boston represented a gigantic milestone in my life consisting of many important big life milestones.  Sure, many milestones were formed in SF too but at that point, life situations were more stable and things were less like night and day.  And of course SF is so super cool that you never finish exploring it or fully get to know it.

Tomorrow's going to be an interesting day, meeting people I work with/yell at/sob to virtually all the time but have never met in person.  Such is the life of a person who works in a satellite office.

And the day after tomorrow will be an interesting day as well because our holiday parties are generally epic and I can't wait to see what unfolds this year.