[about] one year ago.

i landed in boston.
i traded the space needle for the citgo sign.
the rain for the snow.
the overcast skies... for hopefully brighter ones.

i remember it like it was yesterday. i remember the smell of the rental car, the feeling of being turned around but not completely lost as i was trying to find my hotel along the charles river... i remember the warm chocolate chip cookie (compliments of every double tree hotel) that i ate after finally getting to my room on January 22nd minutes before it would be midnight, and i remember the i had a sesame bagel with cream cheese at finagle-a-bagel the next morning while i browsed the internet, waiting to get into my temporary housing. i remember it like it was yesterday, and its now been a year (and a week) since.

about one year ago, i joined a brand with an level of integrity that is so real you can feel it, and a brand that i could really leave my mark on. i joined an organization at a time where i could be a part of something really really big and because i was given the rare opportunity where someone who i'd only  heard stories about, needed and wanted me to join them. i took a job with a brand because location wise, it was on the right side of the map (both literally and figuratively), and because i know myself and what's important to me... and that includes time zones and flight durations to the one's i want to be able to get to the fastest.

about a year ago, i became an east coast girl again.

this weekend last year was easy to remember for me, and for a lot of reasons, maybe a few i'll skip over. i'd just finished up my first week of work at New Balance. i was five days into navigating myself around a gigantic company compared to where i'd come from. i was readjusting to running in the freezing temps, and learning new highways and exploring new neighborhoods. i played cranium and taboo over laughter and copious amounts of wine at my friend kay's house that saturday night with a big group of people. the sunday morning began with an easy 10-miler through brookline, where i told kay i thought i was finally out of the woods with all of the nagging left leg injuries, (i was wrong). i would go to my first beacon hill bar for the Superbowl and sit at a cozy corner table, (the same table i've sat at the only three times i've been there), and i would drive back in my over-sized vehicle (but really medium sized in Dave Wood's opinion), to my temporary housing, lying in bed having mini-inner-panics at all the noises in this 3-bedroom, 2-level condo that is way too big for one girl..... but knowing i'm here, in boston, and its absolutely right.

i'm not too good with directions, with tip calculations or balancing checkbooks. sometimes my tears win out over things i'd wish i'd said, and i go back up the elevator in my building almost twice a week because i think i've left my straightener on. but... one thing... one thing i'm proud to say i'm pretty good with are my instincts. i trust them. they rarely fail me. i've had people tell me this; that my instincts are quite dialed in. so i put weight into them and i listen to my gut. my gut knew it was right to move to boston from seattle, despite the difficulties, despite the challenges of being a single girl moving to a city and carving out a foundation, shaping a life, and finding my people, (for the second time). amongst the nerves, and the angst one year ago, were my instincts... knowing it was right to be landing on that runway in beantown.

going into year two in this amazing city, i'm so glad for the things i've learned, the experiences i've had, and the people i've met. to those who've entered my life and left an impression on me, you've only helped further prove this is where i'm supposed to be.

dear boston.
i think you're great. thanks for taking me in.
now let's just figure out the other stuff, okay?
with love,
cw

*pictured is Gas Works Park at the bottom of my street in Seattle.  i sat here with my thoughts and my ipod playing Green Gloves by the National... and i decided to go east.