done.

i feel like it's about time for a proper, update-y post. not really for anyone else, but for myself, so i can one day look back at this post and be reminded of the past month. but it would be impossible to do the past month justice in a blog post, and i find it hard to imagine ever forgetting the past month anyway.

italy was great. i literally subsisted only on pizza, pasta and gelato... and sunshine. lots and lots of sunshine. and churches. lots and lots of churches. each place i visited had its own charm - assisi and its cobbled streets and steps, rome with history at every corner, rimini and its beach.

and when i was in rimini i found out i got a full scholarship from the cambridge trusts to do my phd here, which made me jump around in my hostel room for a bit. in the same wave of emails, i also found out that i got rejected by king's college london, and that i have a chance at graduating with distinction for my master's degree.

i had a lot of time to think while i was in italy. and not just think, but also to feel, and to feel intensely.

i thought my time in italy was great, but in some ways the time since, back in cambridge, has been even better. never has so much time passed more quickly and more serenely. my birthday started with socks, continued with breakfast in bed, a quiet morning, brilliant sunshine, a pleasant walk, tea and scones in an apple orchard, dinner with friends, champagne, sparkling wine, and chocolate cake, and ended with my room decorated in roses, tulips, and a potted plant (i still don't know what it is exactly... but it looks good!).

i haven't quite started work yet, but am easing myself into it. in the meantime, i'm collecting memories. like from earlier today, when i climbed through a window to have pasta in the sunshine (dressed in a tank top and shorts - and i felt warm!), climbed back through to get a pineapple, and then proceeded to eat half of it (which made my mouth hurt).

everything has been so amazing (read: a-mai-zing) that it's hard not to look for the catch, to brace myself for the fall. but for now, i'm just being.
and doing a pretty good job, if i may say so myself. =)

"well maybe you should just drink a lot less coffee,
and never ever watch the ten o'clock news,
maybe you should kiss someone nice,
or lick a rock,
or both.

maybe you should cut your own hair
'cause that can be so funny
it doesn't cost any money
and it always grows back
hair grows even after you're dead."

- ghost of corporate future, regina spektor.