This week, my best friend from home came to visit! She arrived Tuesday night and left very early this morning (as in, actually at the crack of dawn), and I’m so happy about her stay. For obvious reasons, I’ve been feeling blue the past few weeks, so it was really comforting to have a distraction from all of that. She’d never been to Boston before, so I was preoccupied with showing her a great time (mission: accomplished, by the way—she’s now a Boston stan)!

Her stay also overlapped with another big change: I got a major haircut! The last haircut I’d gotten was at a Great Clips in Seattle, almost a year ago, so this was long overdue. I’d 100% intended to just cut it to shoulder-length. (I run a lot, so the ability to put my hair into a ponytail is pretty important to me.)

However, when I was in the chair, I thought a lot about that last haircut, which of course made me think about the recent changes in my life. There’s something really healing about switching up your appearance, and when the barber asked whether the length was good after that first pass, I couldn’t help but want more. I remember pondering my reflection for a second before saying, “Even…shorter.” I did this a couple of times.

Anyways, here’s the before and after!

I really like it! Exercising with the new hair has been slightly annoying, as expected, but otherwise I’m pretty happy with it. It’s felt sort of like a reset.

Anyways, the week with my friend was a lot of fun. I showed her around the North End, Seaport, Newbury Street, and Esplanade, and we ate SO. MUCH. FOOD. (I’m actually looking forward to only eating home-cooked meals for the next few days—my stomach needs a break.) She got to meet some of my Boston friends during the Wednesday and Thursday night dinners, and on Friday we went out with one of her friends who’d driven into the city from Rhode Island.

That night in particular was a fun change from my typical Friday night! I’m not super into the bar scene, and I’m usually in bed pretty early. My friend’s friend is the complete opposite, though, so that night we went to a wine bar (which had really good cheese, by the way), followed by a stop at Beehive, a nearby jazz bar. I was SO into the latter—even though I didn’t order any drinks, the live band and ambiance were incredible. I really wanna go back, actually.

Besides going out, my friend and I did a lot relaxing too. I’d recently redecorated my balcony, so we spent several afternoons hanging out on it. She even caught a few moments of me attempting to read, but honestly, I didn’t get through more than a page or so of my book. When there’s company, I’d rather just chat!

(On a side note: I really want to include photos of my friend in this post, but I don’t do that for privacy purposes. The same policy applies to names, hence the repeat of “my friend.” Plus, most folks—including her—don’t know about the blog, so it’d feel weird to publish that info! Though maybe I’m just a prude 💁🏻‍♀️)

We also watched an entire season of The Bachelor during her stay, and it was the first time either of us had seen the show. In short, it is absolutely ridiculous. I have no trouble believing that the producers manufacture 99% of the drama, but also, I can understand why the contestants would act crazily. They’ve got no phone, books, or contact with outside friends/family for as long as they’re competing (up to 6 weeks!), so literally all they can do is obsess over the Bachelor. It’s really, really messed up—I wouldn’t watch another season, but I can definitely understand people’s fascination with the show.

This post is getting pretty long, and I’ve still gotta walk Coconut and go on a bike ride, so I’ll just end with a photo dump. Overall, I’m really grateful for my friend’s stay, and I’m excited to see her again when I go home.

Until next time! 👋