Settling in to working girl life

No drastic changes have really occurred in my life since the last time I wrote (which, I admit, was entirely too long ago), but I wanted to include a few updates on how my life has changed (or remained the same!) as I continue to settle in to life in DC post-grad. I must say, I have become more aware than ever of the fact that I NEVER LEFT GEORGETOWN as an undergrad. Of course, I try to justify it to myself by saying that I really had everything I needed in Georgetown. As a consequence, I can say that, other than the Verizon Center, my Washington did not extend beyond Dupont Circle. I'm kind of kicking myself now for not embracing all that the city had to offer when I was an undergrad, but, on the other hand, my recent ventures into the city have led to me falling in love with D.C. all over again (and not just the quaint, at times cobblestone, streets of Georgetown).


"My DC" pre-graduation

I definitely still appreciate everything Georgetown has to offer as a neighborhood. For example, I went to Taste of Georgetown a few weekends ago, which, strangely, I had never taken advantage of as an undergrad. Rows and rows of booths lined Wisconsin Ave. between M and K, and a number of Georgetown restaurants (a few of which I had never even heard of!), and a ticket (or a pack of five, which I split with the guy I was with- that proved to be a smart decision, because I could not have eaten all of five dishes by myself! Some of those portions were pretty hefty!) got you a dish from the restaurant of your choice (each restaurant had 2 featured choices). We settled on falafel, butternut squash gnocchi with currants, wings (for him, obviously), and, drumroll please, PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE from Filomena. That ranks up there with the best of desserts that I've ever tried (and, as we all know, given my sweet tooth, I've tried many a dessert!). It was so light and airy and ohsodelicious. The whole event was a fantastic marketing strategy, when you think about it, because they entice you, with these little teasers, to come to their restaurant for more where that came from. Hey, if it works...

But, anyway, that was off-track, but what I meant by it was that Georgetown really DOES have a lot to offer if you're willing to look for it. And, don't get me wrong, I was giddy at the opportunity to revisit old Georgetown haunts (okay, namely Tombs...we went there on both Friday and Saturday nights and then on Sunday for brunch), but, on the other hand, I'm so grateful that I live in another part of the city now, because, if for no other reason, being on the red line has forced me to get out and see other parts of the city. Some favorites? Well, Dupont still ranks up there. But Adams Morgan and U St. are my new favorites, and, of course, I always love going back to the Chinatown and Eastern Market areas. I feel like I'm being given a second chance to get to know this city and make it my own, and I couldn't be happier. Sure, I still haven't tried out quite as many new places as some, but I've found the ones that I love- who knows, maybe I could pull a page out of my own book and become, as the Spanish would say, "conocida" at some of them (a la Tombs)...le sigh. A girl can dream, right? I may get laughed at for failure to "cut the cord" (the Georgetown cord, that is), but I think I've done a pretty good job of it (aside from the occasional Tombs trip, claro).

Some other fun things that I've done in the city recently? At the top of the list is the Ingrid Michaelson concert I went to last week. It was late on a rainy Thursday and I was exhausted after my habitual rise-at-5 day (nope, I still haven't fallen off the 5am workout wagon!) and just wanted to go to sleep, but when I left the 9:30 club at close to 10 (my bedtime during the week, mind you), the last thing I wanted to do was go to sleep. I have been an Ingrid fan for years, and was actually offered, and turned down, a ticket to go to one of her concerts sophomore year, a decision I have kicked myself for for the past 2+ years. But I FINALLY got to go!!!! I saw an ad in the Express one morning, and I knew I had to have a ticket. Luckily, Lauren was on board, so we bought tickets. The concert was, in a word, incredible (I seldom go to concerts, and, since this one was so mind-blowingly amazing, I don't see why I should even bother going to any more!), and I left feeling exhilarated, with a newfound skip in my step and the perpetual soundtrack in my head set to Ingrid. Her band played all of my favorite songs (also, just have to say, she did her own version of Britney Spears' "Toxic". An indie version of Toxic. A combination that you would never envision, but, nonetheless, one that worked.), so I was a happy camper. Not surprisingly, I am one of those concertgoers that sings along and dances; I wasn't able to do this as much as some other people because I was feeling a little bit claustrophobic (not really, I just didn't have much space), but I swayed back and forth in time to the music and softly sang the lyrics that I knew. That was easily one of my best nights in DC.



I had been meaning to go to karaoke for some time, and was finally presented with the opportunity in late September. A few hours before we went, I started to fear that I would chicken out, that I wouldn't go through with something I had wanted to do for years. But in the end, I just couldn't subdue my inner performer! I gave an intense (and incredibly cathartic) rendition of Your Love...CLARO, and for the rest of the night, our little group just danced, sang, and was merry. It also ranked among my favorite nights in DC.

After 4 months of physical therapy, I'm finally running again! Not very often (it usually only happens on long weekends haha!), but I would love to get back into a routine. Because of when I get up during the week, it would be kind of difficult to run outside, but if I could run at least once a weekend,I would be one happy girl. The biggest hindrance to my desire to run alot is that I go on REALLY long runs when I do go, just because, when it's a beautiful day, I'm outside and I have a ton to look as I make my way downtown from my apartment, I just want to keep going. As long as I'm stimulated enough that I'm not dying from boredom, I keep running.

My roommates had a friend visiting this week, and one of his priorities was doing the monuments by night. When he suggested it as a post-work outing for all of us, I realized that, while I have been on the Mall and to the monuments more times than I can count, I have never gone at night for the sole purpose of going to the monuments. I've always been walking back from somewhere else or have watched the 4th of July fireworks there. We started the night off with some delicious Indian food (side note: one other benefit to living in the city? LOTS of opportunities to refine my palette! I now consistently crave Indian food, have come to love Ethiopian, and am warming up to Thai, picked up a nice bottle of wine and made our way over to the Mall, after my roommate's friend handed out Silly Bands and proclaimed it "Silly Night." As it turns out, we just keep topping ourselves in terms of fun things to do in the city. The monuments are, not surprisingly, GORGEOUS at night, and the generally silly atmosphere (alternating sips of white zin with singalongs and flitting about gleefully)was sufficient enough to melt all of my troubles away (I would imagine it did the same for everyone else, too). The photographic results of the night are, as expected, hilarious. Not that we really did botellones when we were abroad, but there always existed the POSSIBILITY of a botellon. I MISS EUROPE, have I mentioned that lately?!?





As is typical with me, I always intend to make these posts short, but my wordiness always seems to get in the way! Oh well, considering how eventful these last few months have been, I think this post is not at all unreasonable (but maybe I'm just kidding myself). Until the next post, I'll probably be spending my days breathing in the crisp fall air, breaking out the fall (and maybe winter?) coat, and embracing all that the city has to offer. Because I often imagine my life as a movie (possibly an ill effect of my 12 year-long celebrity fascination/obsession?), I've come up with an overly romanticized fall fantasy, with this wonderful city as a backdrop and something like "Claire de Lune" or "La vie en rose" playing softly in the background. I'm not out of touch with reality or anything...