1. A plumber has fixed the leak in the apartment above ours, therefore cutting down on the bathroom mold's ability to thrive. A dehumidifier has been brought in and has been running almost 24/7, which has significantly decreased the dampness throughout our whole flat. And, I worked up the courage to tackle the surface mildew with diluted bleach spray while wearing yellow rubber gloves, Matthew's long john "man tights," one of his white undershirts, and my slippers. It was a sight, to say the least. A painter should be coming to aesthetically fix everything in the bathroom while we are traveling over Christmas. = IMPROVEMENT FOR OUR LUNGS, MY MOTHER'S BLOOD PRESSURE LEVEL, AND THE AMOUNT OF DISDAIN I HARBOR TOWARD OUR BATHROOM.
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| Not perfect, but better! |
2. Our friend, Reuben, bought an awesome map for me at a poster sale in London. (I think he bought it out of exasperation because he heard me whining too much about not finding the antique map man at the Cambridge market. Or out of pity. Either way, it is much appreciated.) I have finally hung it in our living room, and it makes our space feel so much more homey. Amazing how personalizing one wall can make an entire room more cozy. = IMPROVEMENT IN THE PORTION OF MY SOUL DEDICATED TO NESTING AND IN THE LIVES OF THOSE AROUND ME WHO NO LONGER HAVE TO HEAR ABOUT MY OBSESSION REGARDING MAPS.
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| Thanks again, Reuben! |
3. Today I officially conformed to the fashion ways of the British young women by wearing the following: tights under shorts, oxford shoes, and an over-sized sweater. My clean, somewhat styled head of hair and understated makeup show that I have not fully committed to the Euro-look, but there is still time. = IMPROVEMENT IN MY ABILITY TO BLEND IN AS A LOCAL.
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| Sadly, I don't think I'll have a career in modeling. Haha. Ignore from the neck up. |
4. My wonderfully tech-savvy husband has worked miracles with my 5 year-old laptop and added at least another couple years to its lifespan. He has done some surgery on it using a fancy screwdriver set and has upgraded my RAM from 1GB to 4GB. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what all he has done or is going to do to my beloved MacBook, but I do know this = IMPROVEMENT IN MY COMPUTER'S PERFORMANCE, AND THUS, IMPROVEMENT IN MY BLOOD PRESSURE LEVEL AND A REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF TIMES I AM TEMPTED TO CURSE ON A DAILY BASIS.
5. I stitched up a couple of holes in the armpits of my favorite cardigans, including the gray one from my European style conversion. For the life of me I cannot figure out why holes keep popping up in the armpits of my garments, but fixing them = IMPROVEMENT IN MY SELF CONFIDENCE AS A SEAMSTRESS AND IMPROVEMENT IN OUR POCKETBOOK BECAUSE I COULDN'T USE HOLEY ARMPITS AS AN EXCUSE TO BUY MORE CARDIGANS.
6. My tissue paper Christmas tree, crafted using an idea from Pinterest, is complete!!! (Cue the carols.) There is now a nice little area of our living room dedicated solely to Christmas cheer and gifts. I will post pictures of the tree tomorrow. One of Matthew's cardinal rules is "No Christmas related revelry before December 1st." Although I strongly disagree with his stance on this issue, I will respect his wishes in the blogosphere. But you better believe I have already started listening to some Bing Crosby "White Christmas" while Matthew has been in class. Also, the city center of Cambridge has transformed into a winter wonderland. I could sit on a corner for hours, feeling nothing but merry and bright. The streets are draped with festive lights, and the shop windows have been dressed in their finest holiday regalia. When the sun sets and the chill arrives in the air, the jovial atmosphere seems complete, and in a way, the centuries-old buildings lining the cobblestone streets appear to be in their element. = IMPROVEMENT IN THE VALIDITY OF THE STATEMENT "IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK AT LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS."
7. Paola and I met up at the Michaelhouse Cafe this afternoon for some tea and a lovely chat. Today was another unseasonably sunny day. I learned that the "Hope Chest" I received from my Mimi when I got married would have been called a "Bottom Drawer" here. Apparently, back in the day, girls used to tuck items away in the bottom drawer of their dressers to save them until the day they got married. Same concept as a the chest, just a different name. We also discussed holidays that they don't celebrate in England. For instance, I talked about Thanksgiving. Then Paola told me about Epiphany, an Italian holiday celebrated on January 6th. On this day Befana, an old witchy lady, delivers gifts to children much like Santa Claus does. Fascinating! So anyway, the weather + time spent with my favorite Italian lady + a nice warm drink = IMPROVEMENT IN OVERALL OUTLOOK ON LIFE.
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| Inside the Michaelhouse Cafe. It's a church. It's a restaurant. I like it. |
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| Paola!!! Hooray! We finally got a picture together. Pardon my mostly closed eyes. Guess I squint a little when I smile. |
Oh, and I almost forgot:
8. Only 18 more days until we are meeting up with my family in Paris!!! Where has the time gone? = IMPROVEMENT IN MY COMPREHENSION OF HOW MUCH I LOVE MY MOM, DAD, AND SISTER (and Jeff, Jordan's boyfriend/my unofficial brother)! Should I start counting down the hours? Maybe not yet.
Kelsey!! You look so cute in your outfit!! I love it!
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