First Day Report
Hi, guys! Thanks for all of your well wishes this morning! It was so nice reading all of them once I got home this evening! 
So, my first day went well! 
I spent the morning doing the usual first day job stuff– introductions, org chart, setting up my email and voicemail, etc. Mid-morning, I was able to watch part of the Inauguration, which was awesome! I love our President! (I haven’t said that in years!) The afternoon was what I call information overload! I met with the Assistant Dean to discuss my responsibilities as well as some of the upcoming projects and a “wish list” of items that they want me to take on, including developing an electronic filing system for the Dean. I love that the office wants to move away from using so much paper. (Green is the new Crimson!) My old office insisted that we have a paper copy of everything, and it used to drive me nuts! I’m very excited to take on some new challenges and try new things, but my brain is totally spinning after my first day! It’s tough being the new kid!
Oh, another cool thing about my new position: the schedule! I’ll be working 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM, instead of the usual 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. I get so much more accomplished first thing in the morning, and the 8:30 AM start time jives better with the Dean’s schedule. I hope arriving at 8:30 AM will make my commute easier, too! Now, I just need to figure out my workout schedule! I’m not sure early morning workouts will work anymore. 
Anyway, the job is great so far! I’ll be going back tomorrow! 
Ok, onto the FOOD!
Dinner
I really hadn’t eaten any veggies today, so dinner was a big spinach salad.
In the mix: spinach, grape tomatoes, red peppers, cucumbers, red onion, clementine pieces, deli chicken breast, drizzled with balsamic vinegar.
For dessert: Barney Butter! My newest stash arrived in the mail today! I’m planning to spread a nice, thick layer on one of the Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins that I baked last night. Mmmmmm!
Lunch
I went to Au Bon Pain for lunch today. I ordered the Moroccan Lentil Stew with a Carmel Chip Cookie on the side. It was a lovely lunch, but boy was it expensive! I’ll be sticking to homemade lunches in the future!
For an afternoon snack, I had a Luna bar and a small cup of coffee with milk and sugar.
My New Hood
I’ve loved Harvard Square for as long as I can remember! In high school, I used to take the commuter rail into Harvard Square to visit, and many years later, it’s still one of my favorite areas of Boston. I’m sure you can imagine how psyched I am to work there now!
I work smack in the middle of Harvard Yard!
My building…
Mal and I are working out at the YMCA tonight. We visited on Sunday and liked it a lot. We may sign up! Workout time!
Tags: Harvard
Maggie — January 20, 2009 @ 7:30 pm
Sounds awesome!!! I would LOVE to have earlier hours – I am so much more productive in the mornings too. Though I would have to rearrange my yoga schedule
Becca A — January 20, 2009 @ 7:33 pm
Yay for a great first day!
Mel — January 20, 2009 @ 7:34 pm
Glad to hear that you had a great first day! Plus it looks like you are working in an awesome area!
Lauren — January 20, 2009 @ 7:35 pm
Sounds like you’re happy with you new position… that’s great! I have also struggled with employers who waste mounds of paper, so I can understand your excitement about “going green” in the new office.
I lived near Harvard Square during my first year of grad school – it’s such a fun part of Boston
Megan — January 20, 2009 @ 7:41 pm
I am so happy to hear you enjoyed your first day! That’s awesome
I work out at the YMCA annnnd my Barney Butter arrived in the mail today, too! Great day, for sure! Have a good workout and night!
Alexia — January 20, 2009 @ 7:44 pm
YAY! I am glad you had a great first day. I love how they have already given you a “to-do” list! That’s awesome!
Have fun at the Y!
Sarah (lovINmytummy) — January 20, 2009 @ 7:45 pm
Hopefully this is the first of many great days at your new job! I love the campus…it is so picturesque! So was your salad =)
Enjoy Barney!
tami — January 20, 2009 @ 7:50 pm
your work schedule sounds great-we use to skip school and hung out in havard square….acting all punk-ish! glad you have a great day.
Christina — January 20, 2009 @ 7:55 pm
If you’re working in the Holyoke center, Oggi gourmet is a great place of lunch. It’s a tad pricey, too, but worth the occasional splurge. They have an awesome salad which features pear and goat cheese and they have pizza by the slice (the daily special is usually amazing). One of my favorite things to order is the turkey burger sans bun. They’ll fix it up real nice for you on a bed of greens with smoked mozzarella and guacamole. Hope you like your new home.
Adi — January 20, 2009 @ 7:56 pm
The campus looks so pretty. Glad to hear your first day went well… here’s to a great first week!
Jenny — January 20, 2009 @ 8:03 pm
Glad the first day went well! That sounds like such a busy, yet fulfilling job, I can’t wait to hear more and more!
Good luck on getting your schedule figured out soon, I’m doing a little readjusting myself, so I know how it goes
Have a great night!
HangryPants — January 20, 2009 @ 8:06 pm
Everything looks so collegiate! I loved where I student taught because even though it wasn’t as beautiful as Harvard, it still had that college energy, ya know.
If you’re getting out at 4:30 you could probably get to your gym right before the after work crowd.
Enjoy your Barney Butter. I highly recommend the cookies I made w/ the banans and BB.
Lee (seelivelee) — January 20, 2009 @ 8:07 pm
Tina….WHOA! okay, i am so so so happy for you. your dinner looks so pleasant, and that dessert sounds *FAB*!!!! pleaseee please PLEASE check out this restaurant right near harvard square, my aunt Didi (Didi emmons) owns the place: http://www.veggieplanet.net/. “We are located at Club Passim, 47 Palmer Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA 02138.
Open 11:30 A.M. to 10:30 P.M.,7 days a week. Phone: 617-661-1513″
“Welcome to Veggie Planet, where Vegetarian Planet cookbook author Didi Emmons and co-owner Adam Penn serve inventive and healthy meat-free pizzas and meals on rice in the heart of Harvard Square. Also made on premises are salads, soups, and desserts. It is a restaurant by day, and a top flight restaurant/folk music club by night (Club Passim). However, there is also seating available for non-club diners to eat during evening performances. Take-out is popular, as the food is cooked in a speedy ecological oven. The dough is completely organic and is made by the Haley House, a non-profit bakery in Boston’s South End. Veggie Planet donates 2% of its food profits and 100% of its t-shirt profits to Food For Free, a non-profit organization helping to feed the hungry in Cambridge and surrounding areas”
the place is DELISH. if u ever go there, PLEASE let me know, and i will contact her aunt and let her know her restaurant was featured on your blog!! She is an amazing chef, and has 2 cookbooks!!
elise — January 20, 2009 @ 8:12 pm
hooray for a great first day! glad all is going well, and the green policy is like the icing on the (carrot)cake
hungryhungryhippie.com
Sarah — January 20, 2009 @ 8:16 pm
sounds like your new job is going to be awesome! i’m glad your first day went so well! mmm the soup sounded yum! i hate forking over so much money for soup out when I can make a HUGE batch that will last me a week for just a wee bit more $$ lol
Christy — January 20, 2009 @ 8:17 pm
Congrats on your first day! I love early schedules, but I also wake up naturally at 5am so it works for me. The company I just got laid off from was very *green* and it felt really good working for a company that cared about the environment.
But I HAVE to know…how did you post the pumpkin muffin recipe during the day? Or did you do it before you left for work?
Amanda (Two Boos Who Eat) — January 20, 2009 @ 8:21 pm
Good to hear the new job went well!
VeggieGirl — January 20, 2009 @ 8:22 pm
hooray!!!!!!
ashley (sweet & natural) — January 20, 2009 @ 8:32 pm
Congrats on a successful first day!
Jen — January 20, 2009 @ 8:36 pm
It was so nice to read about your first day! Sounds like the perfect fit job for you! exciting! and the schedule totally rocks!!
macduff — January 20, 2009 @ 8:55 pm
You’re in my hood now!!! SUCH great food. A little expensive, yes, but so good.
Chloe — January 20, 2009 @ 8:57 pm
Lauren- Harvard sq is not Boston…:) just saying!
Anyways Tina your working in my hood now haha! I live about 10 min walk from Harvard sq. Hope you enjoy the new job
BridgetP — January 20, 2009 @ 9:05 pm
Yay for a great first day! Harvard Square is so pretty!
stephanie — January 20, 2009 @ 9:07 pm
congratulations on your new job. i just left the corporate world to work in university administration at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and the hours are great – you can’t beat a 7:30 – 4:00 work day! I get home with plenty of time to workout in the afternoon.
Danielle — January 20, 2009 @ 9:09 pm
8:30 to 4:30 is awesome, but I’m a little jealous because I work 8 to 5!
Glad to hear your first day went well! We’re in the process of going paperless at my office as well, it’s a huge undertaking but I’m sure you’ll be able to handle it! Good Luck in the coming days at your new job I hope you love it!
Shelby — January 20, 2009 @ 9:13 pm
Awesome first day!
Great salad, soup, and butters!
Michelle — January 20, 2009 @ 9:23 pm
So glad you had a great first day! I workout at the YMCA and love it! They have so much to offer. Have a wonderful night!
Tina — January 20, 2009 @ 9:26 pm
@Christina: THANK YOU! I will definitely check it out! Sounds like my type of place!
Tina — January 20, 2009 @ 9:27 pm
@Lee (seelivelee): That’s SO COOL! I will definitely stop by sometime! Thanks, Lee!
Tina — January 20, 2009 @ 9:28 pm
@Christy: Yep. I wrote it last night then scheduled it to publish this afternoon.
Victoria — January 20, 2009 @ 9:28 pm
Enjoy the Y. I love ours! SO glad to hear you liked your first day! I love the earlier schedule too! I’m way more productive before noon.
K — January 20, 2009 @ 9:32 pm
Thanks for the pictures – everything looks so quaint! Glad to hear the first day went well and hooray for a greener office
allijag — January 20, 2009 @ 9:52 pm
YAY! I’m so glad to hear your first day went well! Sounds like you have a pretty sweet set-up! Thanks for sharing the pics of the campus – such pretty buildings!
Meg — January 20, 2009 @ 10:06 pm
The campus looks so pretty! Glad you enjoyed your first day!
Nicole — January 20, 2009 @ 10:06 pm
I’m so glad you had a good day! It sounds like a good match!
Ashley — January 20, 2009 @ 10:43 pm
yay sounds like you had a great day! love th epics of the campus, its beautiful
Melinda — January 20, 2009 @ 10:45 pm
aw, i’m so glad your first day went well!! i haven’t tried barney butter yet (the horror!)
melissa (fitnessnyc) — January 20, 2009 @ 10:46 pm
BTW can’t wait to try the muffins! Great pics, one of my best friends lived in cambridge for a few years, and we used to run near harvard and around the charles in the morning on visits, such a gorg. campus.
Heather McD (Heather Eats Almond Butter) — January 20, 2009 @ 11:01 pm
Tina, I’m so glad your first day went well and that you plan to go back.
Your dinner salad looks beautiful and I’m happy to know that your Barney Butter stash has been replenished…and that you got crunchy. The smooth just doesn’t do much for me.
Yay for the Y. I LOVE my Y!
Tina — January 20, 2009 @ 11:23 pm
Yay! I’m so glad you had a great first day…and hope you’ll have many, many wonderful days ahead!
hk — January 20, 2009 @ 11:54 pm
yes!!! SO glad the first day went well, CONGRATS!!
swooon, I love harvard square
Pearl — January 21, 2009 @ 1:03 am
i’m so glad you had a lovely first day! may it be indicative of all future days to come
Katie — January 21, 2009 @ 1:04 am
As a long time silent reader (and former Cambridge-dweller) I just thought I’d drop in to say hi, and congratulations on the new job! A couple of Harvard tips: the cafe Gata Rojo, in the basement of Dudley house, has really good–and really cheap–coffee (and very nice students behind the counter). If you’re looking for a healthy big salad for lunch, there’s a good (not self service) bar in the science center, which is probably pretty close to your office. You should also walk over to Harvard law school for lunch one day–very fancy now, with a sushi chef!
Hope you have an equally good second day.
onehealthyapple — January 21, 2009 @ 1:59 am
Being the new kid is awesome! I love the feeling of being excited for work…I hope you have a great experience. I love the architecture around you- sure beats my generic office park!
Ellie — January 21, 2009 @ 4:13 am
Congratulations on a successful first day! My dad teaches at Harvard . . . your pictures are making me homesick. The Yard always looks so pretty in the snow. I love the Square too.
Tina — January 21, 2009 @ 6:06 am
@Katie: Thank you!!!!!!!
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Dori — January 21, 2009 @ 9:34 am
Congrats on the new job! I am curious about how the caramel chip cookie was – it looks great!
brandi — January 21, 2009 @ 9:44 am
I love Au Bon Pain’s soups, too. They have some really good ones!
Your building is beautiful! Looks like a cool place to work
Jess — January 21, 2009 @ 12:06 pm
So glad to hear that your first day went well!!
lauren — January 21, 2009 @ 2:53 pm
such a beautiful place where you get to work. my schedule is 8:30 – 4:30pm too. morning workouts are really tough.
and the caramel chip cookie sounds SO good.
Courtney — January 29, 2009 @ 12:10 pm
I’m just watching WBZ news, and they were talking about the Out of Town News shop, and showed pretty much the exact same picture that you’ve got here! I thought of you immediately and had to come and pass those thoughts along!
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