A custom I've got to get accustomed to

Since I've joined mommy groups and have taken my daughter to a quite a bit of playdates at mom's houses there is one thing that I noticed quick:  You need to take your shoes off at the door.  None of the hosts tell anyone to do it, but I guess a New Englander house rule is to walk around the house shoeless.  I have very, very rarely experienced this in Texas.  To be honest I don't even remember having the social pressure to do it even once there, but my memory is not the best and my husband claims that we have experienced this so I will go with what he says.  I do recall attending a couple of playdates in Texas before we moved and we all kept our shoes on.  Maybe with the mom's in the east coast it is just a common sense practice to not get the floor dirty with what our shoes drag in since we've all got small children that are playing on the floor.  I just don't know why we don't do it in the south.  I still forget sometimes, but when I look down and see everyone in socks I quickly go to the area where all the shoes are congregated.  Man, I don't know if I can walk around people's houses barefoot when summer comes.  I already have a little bit of an issue with only wearing my socks!

First Thanksgiving in New England

We were not able to go back to Texas to spend time with our families so we celebrated our first holiday here in New England.  I'm lucky that my brother happens to live in the Boston area as well so we had him along with us on Thanksgiving day.  We were invited by a couple of people to spend the day with them and decided to take one of them up on their offer, which was my husband's boss.  To make it feel it little more like home for me, my husband had my mother send tamales so it would be part of the feast we had with them.  It was the first time that I met everyone and they were all very nice and welcoming.  I enjoyed their company and conversation.

So a couple of things that I noticed about Thanksgiving in this area is that the high schools have a game on this holiday along with the professional and college football teams.  Also, if you don't get all your ingredients for your meal for the big day, then you are out of luck because according to the news all of the grocery stores were closed!  I'm still not used to the small town culture that is here in New England in regards to stores or restaurants.

On this holiday I was most thankful for the new addition to our lives, our daughter.  She, as I'm sure every child does, has completely changed our lives.  We love watching her grow every day.  She also makes our lives interesting like she did on this holiday with all her diaper mishaps that made her wear three outfits throughout the day.  Thank God I had the new Mommy wisdom of even packing her that many outfits!

Brazilians welcome!

I have only been here a short time and I already am aware that there are many different nationalities that live up here in the east coast.  I've heard languages spoken that I couldn't even figure what it was.  One group of people that seem to have settled and have the biggest presence here are the Brazilians.  My husband pointed it out to me as soon as we moved here and I gradually saw it for myself.  There are all different types of stores that announce that they are Brazilian or welcome them with it being part of their name or they hang the flag or have Portuguese writing on their window.  Churches also accomodate Brazilians with Portuguese services or when they have celebrations they make Brazilian barbeques.  Hmm, I wonder what that food tastes like.  Anyway, I guess this is the way people feel like in Texas who are not Mexican!  The thing is, at least I understand Mexicans in Texas since they border each other, but Brazil and the east coast...  Isn't that a long way?  I'm not complaining, I'm just envious that they have things here that help them feel like home which is what I miss sometimes.

Starting over

When you move to a completely new area you have to build your life and community again.  You need to make new friends, find new doctors, shop at new stores and more importantly find a new hairstylist!  Finding this person is a daunting task.  It is so hard to find good people that you trust, enjoy and that do their job well.  There is a lot of trial and error involved.  I finally started the search one day to replace my beloved hairstylist from Houston that I sorely miss.  I had not had my hair highlighted in quite a while, but my husband was going to treat me to something he knew I had been wanting for some time. I found a place that had good reviews on how this woman did a good job at coloring hair. So I went. She was big on letting me know that she knew what she was doing and how everyone leaves happy with their color.  She went on and on.  Well, when the highlights were finally done I wasn't happy.  I looked like a skunk!  As I was looking at my hair she asked how I liked it so I pointed out the complete saturation of color right down the middle of my head.  My hair had already been dried, but she said she'd fix it and put I don't know what on it, washed it again and dried it.  She even could tell it still looked bad so she said she'd put some lowlights on it.  After that was done, she washed my hair and dried it--again.  I still wasn't thrilled about it, but was tired of her trying and trying and she seemed done with it so I paid and left.  Ugh.  Like I said, trial and error.

A familiar taste of home

I know we didn't move to a different country so there are some of the same restaurants like I had at home that are right around the corner from me now.  Yet there are some in this state that are far out of reach and there are some that are completely missing.  For example, all the common burger joints like Wendy's, McDonald's and Burger King are all here.  There are even Chick Fil-A's that are available, but there are only a handful in the whole state!  (Unfortunately, there isn't one near me).  What's missing and what I surely do miss is Taco Cabana.  Man, I can think of several things that I liked to eat there.  The one in particular that I miss is the quarter chicken meal.  Mmmmm....  Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that there are IHOP's here.  The nearest one is a few towns over, but it is here.  It used to be a little tradition with my husband and me to eat there on one of the mornings during the weekend a time before the baby was born.  As thoughtful as my husband is, he offered to take me there one day for breakfast.  The one thing I can't deny is that they have the best pancakes ever and I was happy to have a familiar taste of home to be able to enjoy here in this new place.

Trying to meet new people

So I am a stay at home mom of a now 9 month old and I needed to start making mom friends for me and my daughter.  Good thing I live in an age where you can pretty easily find groups online.  I managed to join a couple of them so me and my little girl can meet new people and get out of the house.  Well, an obstacle I've just learned that I need to overcome is finding the perfect time of day to attend these things!  If you are a mom, then you know what I mean.  Right now my daughter naps twice a day and unfortunately most of these playdates are schedule right smack in the middle of her morning one which seems to be the most popular time!  Anyway, so far we've been able to finally get to one of them.  I met some new moms and found where there is a park near me.  Little by little I am getting acclimated to this new place.

The Malls around here

Well, i finally went to two of the nearest malls around the area.  The one nearest to me was a little disappointing, but I think it was because I was looking for something in particular that I did not find.  I was looking for curtains and a curtain rod for my little girl's room.  The only department stores that were in this mall were Macy's, Sears and JCPenney.  Unfortunately, they had a sad selection of home goods overall.  This is the reason I concluded that this mall was "small."  I don't think I've been back since, but I will give it another try in the future for shopping in general, especially since it is so close.  The other mall that is about 20 minutes away has recently been updated according to my husband.  It literally is a bigger mall and has more department store selections and even an "upscale" area of stores.  Besides the upscale part which is available in Houston (but not in every mall), this size and selection of mall is what I'm generally used to.  Needless to say, I really miss the selection of stores that I had available where I moved from.  Shopping is not the same anymore.=(

It's beautiful up here!

I'm usually oblivious to my surroundings so I'm not surprised that it's taken me this long to realize that it is so beautiful here.  There are so many trees!  My husband one day pointed out to me that they make up the horizon on our way home.  Anyway, one way I finally saw how nice it is here is when I was driving back from my first trip to Target here.  I went through an actual nice neighborhood where the houses where big, spaced out  with big yards and well kept like right out of a magazine.  This is when I first told myself that I really need to start taking pictures.  Another time was when I was driving back from another shopping trip and I saw this cute small beach with a playground.  Most of the way had nice houses and scenery also.  I wish I was able to describe how different it is here.  Anyway, I like driving down that street to go home.  I've taken some pics of the lakes around here which are almost as abundant as the trees.  They don't do this place justice, but it is so you can begin to get an idea.

DQ is that you?

One Saturday we headed out to go to shopping and realized we were hungry so we looked for somewhere to stop and eat on the way. I was sooo excited to see a Dairy Queen because I did not think there would be one here. We stopped. It was funny because for some reason my husband made a point to stress that they probably would not have the same selection on the menu like they do in Texas. He was preparing me... As he was giving me this lecture I was looking at the menu they had posted on their window and saw only desserts on it. I told him, "I think they only sell ice cream." He looked at the menu, then got out of the car to check "inside." I took a closer look and saw that there was not even any sitting room--no tables, no chairs. All I saw was one employee dispensing food from one wall of materials. There wasn't even a drive-thru. I finally realized that everyone that was coming to eat was getting out of their car and congregating to a walk up window. He came back to tell me what I had already figured out: Yup, they only sold ice cream! Man, and I was already looking forward to their food! Well, we had to move on. We drove to our first destination--Marshalls (they do not have Ross stores in this state and I'm still sad about it) in hopes of finding another burger place we would like to eat at. None. They have a whole lot of pizza selection here for some reason, though. Anyway, I had to wait to get through looking at the store for us to drive all the way back to our place so we could get some Wendy's! Oh, the hunger, and the irony.

My little girl's own space

Since my baby girl was born we had been living in a one bedroom apartment in Houston so I never had the joy of decorating a room for her. Well, now that we've moved she has her own room and we needed to buy furniture for her to put her clothes in. She already had a crib that her grandparents bought her so we just need to buy furniture in the matching color--white. We really didn't know where to begin since we are in a completely new city and state and there are not the same stores here that we would have gone to in Houston. We tried Burlington's and they had quite a bit of a selection that I was actually surprised about, but not in the color that we were looking for. Then we went to Babies 'R Us and I was very disappointed that they did not even sell baby furniture. I know they do in Houston. Anyway, as a last ditch effort we went to some furniture store that was by BRU and it was a reasonably priced place. They didn't have nursury furniture, but they did have children's furniture. I don't know if we were just tired of looking (I wouldn't have known where else to go honestly) or desperate because we just went ahead and bought her a white dresser with mirror and a chest. Now that it is in her room it actually looks nice and coordinated :) I haven't finished all the decorating, but this is what one of pieces looks like. My little girl has her own space!

I got a GPS and I'm using it!

So I used my GPS that my lovely husband was kind enough to purchase for me for the first time recently. He took his car in to the dealership for repair and I knew he would probably be there for a good while so I volunteered to go pick him up. I hadn't the faintest idea where he was. In fact, I hadn't driven around the area at all myself yet so I had to use the GPS. It wasn't super easy to use and I turned into the wrong street once or twice (it doesn't tell me the name of the street to turn on), but it got me there. I complained to him about it and he finally gave me a little lesson on how to use and read the darn thing. Then, he suggested we go to Wal-Mart (aren't we there all the time?!) and had me find it in the gadget and drive there all on my own. I didn't go to the nearest one (something we needed to fix on it), but at least I learned that to get to the nice further one I don't have to pay any tolls. The way he made it sound about driving around here you would have to pay a toll on every road. I realized that the main one I would pay a toll on is the highway that takes me into the city.

Checking out another one

No, not another man. I'm talking about visiting another Wal-Mart. By this time I have visited the second one around here and this one was a little better. It seemed more updated. It looks like a nice house from the outside with its roof, little windows and panel siding. But again, no groceries :( Also, it seems that the Wal-Marts around here have Subways instead of McDonald's. Weird, but I guess it's fine with me. I never ate much at the McDonald's inside the store anyway. This location might be the preferred one to go to since there are a lot of other shopping stores around it--it's even called Shopper's World for goodness sakes, but it is somewhat of a drive. When you sometimes have a screaming baby in her carseat you just try to get somewhere quick!

Holy driving, Batman!

My brother just began attending Harvard this summer for his master's so it is pretty cool that we are now living in the same city! I am still learning about the transportation around here so I will not have any specific names, but all that I know is that one day my brother and his wife took a train to meet up with us about halfway. We live about 30-45 minutes apart. We picked them up in Framingham. This was the first time that I saw this city/town and also the way people drive around here. I must say, it is scary! I mean, first of all, I have to tell you that they do NOT have middle lanes up here in the east coast so you have to be very agressive if you need to get acrss the road! Second of all, some of these roads do not have lines painted on them so the drivers just make their own lanes!! It's not this bad in our town, but I guess in the bigger cities or the closer you get to Boston it gets this crazy. Anyway, we ate at a restaurant that my husband says is a must to go to if you are visiting Boston--Legal Seafood. After dinner we drove my brother and his wife back to Cambridge so I got to see some of the Harvard campus (and more of the bad driving)! I was able to see their apartment/loft and we walked a little to get there after parking so I got to experience some of the area. I didn't get to walk around the campus, but I plan to do that soon! :)

I made it! Now, where my stores at?

Ok, I made it a week ago, but I have been a little behind in my posts. Sorry! I have been taking notes, though, on what I plan to blog about. I do want to point out that we as a family driving up here did not pan out so I do not have stories or pictures of how beautiful the country is, but hopefully one day that drive will happen. Anyway, I'm starting from my first experiences of being here... Well, the area around my place is decent, but it seems that I've landed in a small town! Argh. Case in point: my husband and I went to the nearest Wal-Mart. This is when I knew. It was an old, small store that you Texans might remember back in the 80's. They even still put sticker prices on every item in the store. Now that takes me back decades--lol! Needless to say, it was not a Super Wal-Mart! No groceries? I really was in shock! Where would we go?? Fortunately, right down the street from us is a store and it will now be where we buy our food. Hannaford is my new friend (begrudgingly). I mean, it's not the biggest store and the prices are high (like a Randall's or maybe a Kroger). Also, the Hispanic population is not as prominent here so I will not readily find chorizo or a tortilleria in the store. Sigh.

Talk about out of touch!

Sorry it has been so long since I've posted! Well, with my Mom visiting I got a LOT of packing done! Then, unfortunately, when I was in my hometown I had limited internet access (my Mother has dial-up(!) AND there were issues with the computer--Grrr!). Needless to say, I felt out of touch with everything. But the reason I was there was to spend time with my family and my daughter and I had a good time. She went to the beach for the first time:) Then, when I got back to Houston I ended up staying with my In-Laws for about two and a half weeks. I didn't know that was the plan, but it did make sense since everything was packed up and there was no food in our apartment. The only thing the apt had that my In-Laws didn't was internet! Arrgghh! After over a month living out of a suitcase I was sooo anxious just to get to Boston and get settled...

Slowly, but surely

It's the end of the week and unfortunately I have not finished packing up my clothes from my closet! Hey, I have a baby that can be entertained by her toys in only 15 to 30 minute increments, then she either needs attention, to eat, sleep or get her diaper changed! My Mom comes into town tomorrow so hopefully she can entertain my little girl while I continue to pack. We will drive to my hometown on Sunday and the baby and I will stay for a while to visit my family since I will not see them again for who knows how long. Anyway, I have to come back home to finish packing and we will soon go on our drive from Houston to Boston! Until then, I will try to post anything new or interesting from my hometown!

The Big Move

It's the end of June. My husband got offered the job a week ago and time has already flown by and stood still at the same time. In about a month or even less we should be driving up to our new home in the Boston area. I say Boston area because we most likely will not choose to live in the city of Boston exactly. We are considering Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island to find our new home. Unfortunately, we are moving to an area with a higher cost of living so we will probably not get much more with the better paying job as we could have if we stayed in Houston. Well, we will see what we get in about a month when hubby flies to Boston and looks and hopefully finds where we will soon live. For now I have to keep packing while taking care of our 6 month old daughter!