this frame of mind.: bewitched.

Okay so I have been the most absent blogger EVER this week! I'm so sorry!! The week has been kinda hectic--Gillian is here visiting, I had my first full week working the two new jobs, we had a paper due for my med class, regular class to attend, and the stress of Halloween-costume creating--so my brain's been a little scattered. But now I think I'm back in the swing of things and ready to tell you all about our fun bewitched adventures today in Salem, MA!

Our day started off interestingly--neither Gillian nor I heard EITHER of our alarms go off this morning so we were 30 minutes behind schedule as I ran to work and she ran to her conference. We both miraculously made it on time and were able to be a little productive before an afternoon of fun! Since I was rushing out the door this morning, however, I put on a horrible/not warm pair of socks, so after work we made an emergency (and quite enjoyable) stop at Macy's for socks + winter gloves! The afternoon was obviously off to a great start!

We then met up with Jocelyn and Emily (another sweet gal from our program) at the train station, and we took a thirty-minute ride to Salem. For those who know me well, you know that I'm not super-obsessed with Halloween/witches/scary haunted houses....so I'll be honest and tell you my true motivation for a $10 train ride out to eastern Mass: CHICK-FIL-A! That's right, folks, they've got one, too! PRAISE DA LORD! Getting there was quite another adventure in itself...

We had to take a taxi to Peabody, MA (aka the folks who split off from Salem because they didn't want to be associated with the witch trials) to the North Shore Mall. Taxis were hard to come by--since it was Halloween in the most Halloween'y place known to man/ghouls--so we waited around a lot....on a lot of different corners...making a lot of different disgruntled/CFA-hungry faces. But we finally hitched a ride with Dan the Taxi Driving Man and got our CFA on!!

Jocelyn has NEVER had CFA so I was so nervous for her to taste it for the first time! I wanted her to love it (but I also didn't want to look like an idiot who made some fast-food joint seem like Heaven unnecessarily). Well good news: she liked it!! I was stoked!! ....the rest of us obviously killed/enjoyed our portions....and some of us (not naming names) even took a few sandwiches home to enjoy later....

After stocking up on CFA and Taco Bell (<<that's Jocelyn's own fast-food love), we grabbed another taxi (with a much more boring driver) and headed back to Salem! The place was crazy! There were dogs/cats/children/grandparents/moms dressed up as the good, the bad, and the ugly....and everything in between. The vendors sold caramel apples, fried dough, adorable t-shirts, mohawk ski hats, magical beads, magical jewelry, magical EVERYTHING! It was quite a magical day as we explored the cobble stone streets, around cemeteries, among spooky tourists and through a little bit of history. It was Halloween on steroids and I (surprisingly) loved it!

The train ride back was a quiet one, as we were all exhausted (at only 7 o'clock at night)!! Gillian and I grabbed dinner at Zaftig's, a Jewish diner near my house, and we're settling in to watch Glee's Rocky Horror Picture Show now (I know, I can't believe I actually missed it and that it's taken me this long to see it)!!

Tomorrow my body + mind will be in Boston with my favorite gal Gillian, but my heart will be in Jacksonville cheering on my bulldawgs, missing my best friends, and desperately wanting to be barking with my Catherine! More pics and details on all the wonderful adventures to come soon!! MWAH!!