10 years

10 years ago right around this time of year, my life was in total flux. I was living in NYC and in the process of applying to 10 different phd programs all over the country, and had no idea where I would be living the next year, let alone in the long term. That was right around when me and my ex fiance, who I had been dating for 4 years, parted ways. I had just been laid off from what turned out to be the last non-academic job I would have, and had recently started working on my first paid research gig, while finishing up my last year of college. I was just starting to meet some of my hippie friends who I would turn out to spend a lot of my 20s hanging out with, and right around then was when I stopped keeping kosher altogether, after having only eaten kosher food my entire life. I also 'came out' as no longer being orthodox jewish to my family, and stopped attending orthodox services around that time.

Since then, I moved to Philly, lived in a some horrible apartments, had several questionable romantic entanglements, went to around 25 music festivals and probably around 150-200 shows, grew dreadlocks for a year, stopped being religious entirely, met my husband, moved in with him, got married, somehow accumulated 2 dogs and 3 cats, finished my phd, got a job as an assistant professor, moved to the South of all places, bought a sweet house, and a few years later had a baby girl.

What a long strange trip it's been...

 

Webcam Selfie in my dorm room in Manhattan, around 10 years ago

 Halloween 2004 with a friend from grad school,on a weekend trip to the NYC Halloween Parade

 

 Halloween 2013

Me with dreadlocks and my friends N and J at the Gathering of the Vibes music festival at around 3am after drinking several mojitos, NY, August 2006

Me and J after both being up at 3am the night before trying to put our kids (aged 3 months and 11 months) back to sleep, my place, October 2013