story for a sunday afternoon...

it's gorgeous out, so of course i woke up from sunbeams to the face at 9am. karen, best friend from a lifetime ago in spain, surprised me with a weekend visit and we spent the past couple of days catching up and celebrating friends birthdays and eating delicious things and drinking cups of tea upon cups of tea upon cups of tea. pretty heavenly. now, marcy and i are making thin mint/oreo brownies and watching clueless. yessss. sunday, it could be love.

i've been leaving this blog in the DUST because i've been so busy, so here's a brief recap of what's been keeping me away...

what hil's been up to lately:

+on a whim, i used up all of my remaining vacation days for 2009 and booked a last minute ticket to london on the cheap to go visit esme, a dear friend who i had worked with at an arts camp in maine a few summers ago. it literally feels like not a single day has passed since the last time we hung out and we're the definition of friends who can pick up where they leave off. esme has a beautiful flat in hackney [east london], so i spent about a week tagging along with her, shopping in shoreditch, making pizza while watching the x factor finale, getting lost/completely overwhelmed in top shop, scoping out the pop life exhibit at the tate and belting out amy winehouse's "valerie" in a rock-e-oke contest in covent garden. [i won said contest, prize being a £100 bartab, much to our friends' delight.] the trip was all i could've asked for and more and delivered exactly what i was looking for: a little jaunt out of boston, a little time away from what's happening in these parts, a lot of time to reevaluate some stuff going on/get my priorities and sanity in check. i'm looking into grad school in london and i can't wait to go back. londontown is officially another city to hit the "we get along famously and i could live here!" list, after buenos aires, chicago and lisbon.

+moved on from my post at TPB and am now an arts & entertainment contributing writer at the weekly dig, which is a move i couldn't be more thrilled about. i've been an avid reader of the dig for quite some time now, so to be a part of that editorial team is all walks of awesome. also, i wrote my first ever big paper feature, and i'll be covering SXSW in march for the dig which is kiiiiiind of a dream come true. (i mean, really. i'm gonna be all gonzo about it and i'm potentially going to be a band van stowaway.) here's a few of the pieces i've done so far -

-my feature on boston carnival rockers Mighty Tiny

-defend yourself! Q+As with Mystery Roar, Sidewalk Driver, the David Wax Museum, and my very own junior prom date Garett Hawe who just happens to be one of the featured ensemble members in the touring production of 101 Dalmatians: The Musical.

-a review on the DVD box set of Dawson's Creek. (guys, WB 90s teen dramas are totally emotional.)

-an exit poll or two, including one with my dad after thanksgiving dinner.

+ i turned 24, and had an absolutely wonderful day dancing, drinking and stuffing my face alongside my favorite people on the planet. look to the previous entry for the rundown.

+ i'm making music again. more on this development later, but it involves guitar and fishnets and 80s hair-dos and a debut at the lizard lounge early this spring.

+SXSW. I AM SO EXCITED. i can't wait to get my butt to texas.

those are the big things anyway. whenever i start writing these "oh hey hi it's met let's catch up lists" i always lose steam halfway through and forget important things. those are the biggies, though. it's nice to be back.

X HIL