Life Updates

I thought I would give you all a quick run-down of everything that has been going on lately in the District:

• Spring is *ACTUALLY* here! It is due to get into the 80s today, which suits me just fine.  However, it is amazing that Washingtonians get excited for weather like this, knowing full well that those hot-as-Hades days are just around the corner...DC just seems to have had new life breathed in to it, though, because everyone is outside, whether exercising, chatting with friends or socializing at a happy hour, and it just gives you the warm fuzzies!
• The cherry blossoms are sort of out! We went to see them this weekend {Dan, ever the boy, had never seen them in his 8 years of living in DC, so I told him that he wouldn't be considered a true Washingtonian until he had seen them} and there were very few buds.  Dan's description of them as "twigs" wasn't too far off the mark, because cooler days have kept those babies from blooming.  The next few days are supposed to be great in terms of blossoms, though!
• This gluten-free thing is totally kicking my ass.  I am starving all.the.time.  However, we're going hiking this weekend, so I'm picking up some certified gluten-free oats, honey, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries and chocolate to make some homemade nut-free, gluten-free granola, and I'm excited to try it! I also bought some rice flour, so may try to do some baking and see how well gluten-free flour works as a substitute.  If I end up liking the recipe, I will post it!
• Speaking of hiking, this weekend is when I get to redeem my birthday present from Dan: a stay in what looks to be an adorable little inn and a waterfall-filled hike.  The forecast for Saturday looks great at this point, so I'm crossing my fingers for warm-ish temperatures and no rain! Hiking is one of my very favorite activities, so I'm so grateful that Dan enjoys it as well!
• Following my first outdoor brunch of the year over Easter weekend, my friend Lindsay and I did our first outdoor happy hour at Commissary.  People, I'm telling you, if you have not tried it, their veggie burger {which has a quinoa base} is TO DIE FOR.  Yes, it did hurt slightly to have to order it without the bun, but the awesomeness of the burger outweighed any sadness I felt.
• Oh, and, one last thing: WE HAVE AN APARTMENT!!!!!!!!! We went to visit two places on Sunday that I had already looked at, and, luckily, Dan and I liked the same one.  We I already can't wait to decorate, have an apartment-warming party, and spend lazy summer afternoons using the grills in the courtyard and lazing by the amazing pool, Daisy Buchanan-style.  We are moving in towards the end of May, and we are just giddy with excitement {okay, giddy is maybe not an emotion that I would attribute to guys, but let's just leave it at the fact that Dan is really excited too}.  The fact that we have an apartment and a move-in date makes it all the more real, and I can't wait to have him as my roommate in less than two months! Also, fun fact: as an adult, I will now have lived in DC, Maryland AND Virginia.  

I'm definitely in busy mode at work and in my personal life right now, but the weather is getting better, I only have 5 weeks left of this pesky gluten-free diet, and I'm moving in with the love of my life.  I'm not about to complain! 

Spring Has Sprung!!!

Happy first day of spring, darlings!!!! I hope it's a beautiful day wherever all of you are (it's kind of gray here in D.C. today, and we had a freak thunderstorm at 6:30 this morning- I guess spring started with a bang, literally?)!  Sorry for being such a delinquent blogger, but I have had ZERO free time recently to churn out a post, so congrats, you get one of my signature long posts! ;)

This was definitely an eventful St. Patty's Day weekend, with lots of basketball and time with friends- literally, whenever I wasn't firmly planted on the couch watching March Madness, I was running all over creation!  Dan and I both got off of work early on Friday, and, after I met him at work, we metroed home and proceeded to watch 7 straight hours of basketball (which included a second-round win by our Hoyas...I don't want to talk about Sunday's third-round game).  Ah, March, ain't it grand!

On Saturday, I met up with Dan and his friends at around 3 for a St. Patty's pregame, after which we went to Dupont for a bit.  I have to say, I am not the hugest fan of the holiday (I have recently developed an intolerance to beer- really painful stomachaches means it's not worth it to have even one- and, due to a bad experience with Bailey's on my 21st, I refuse to touch it), partly because I am not a huge drinker, but sometimes you just have to suck it up and be festive haha.  I had a really great time with that group (one of his friends had been in Ireland for work for the past six months, so it was so nice to see him again), and then I met up with my friends for a bit afterward (for a lot of that time, I was shoving a veggie burger in my mouth- so ladylike) and then hit the sack at oh, about 10:30.  I'm not even ashamed of the fact that I'm a 90 year-old woman at heart!  Sunday was a thoroughly awful, Murphy's Law kind of day, and, after chalking it up in the loss column, I moved on, determined that the next day would be better, which it was. 

As usual, this week is turning out to be really hectic.  Don't get me wrong, I am loving my FemEx class, but having that at the beginning of the week and then knowing that I won't get back until late (thanks to Metro, I haven't gotten home much before 11 after either of the previous two classes) means that I'll be running on fumes for the rest of the week, especially with that 5a.m. gym routine.  Any rational person would say that I should skip the gym for a day, but anyone who knows me is well aware that that is not an option for me.  So, after tonight, I will simply soldier on for 12 more weeks.  While I definitely like staying busy, I have felt really overwhelmed, on those other days, by how many things I want to do and how many people (Dan, my family, friends in DC, friends from afar who I want to Skype with) I want to spend time with.  If anyone has any tips on how best to manage your time so that you don't constantly feel like you're shortchanging someone in your life.

Something fun that I have to look forward to this week is going to see the cherry blossoms with a friend later on in the week!  If you have never been to D.C. or simply have never gone over to the Tidal Basin when the blossoms are in full bloom, I would highly recommend it.  Since the Festival tends to be a mob scene on the weekends (read: annoying tourists), we're hoping to avoid that somewhat by going on a weeknight after work.  We'll see how it goes!  In any case, I know the blossoms will be stunningly beautiful, so I'm looking forward to that!

And then...Saturday is my birthday!!! I'm definitely really looking forward to the celebrations this year, but it will not be the same as when all of my closest girlfriends were in town on the same weekend as my birthday for a mini-reunion.  I was spoiled last year! I know, though, that everyone will be there in spirit, and, in fact, I learned that Kate, my Birthday Week buddy, will also be going out for karaoke with friends on Saturday night! However, despite missing out-of-town friends, this is the first year that Dan will get to witness our birthday antics (we had only been dating for a few weeks when my birthday rolled around last year, and we both thought it best not to subject him to the gaggle of girls so early on), and yes, I am forcing him to go dancing :) Or maybe he's doing it willingly haha.  In any case, I am looking forward to a nice dinner at an AMAZING Italian restaurant with Dan, my parents and Tim on Friday, followed by birthday festivities on Saturday (including breaking Lent for CAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you tell how excited I am? I have been STARVING for weeks without my sweets!).  I think it should be pretty low-key, which I so desperately need given how hectic my life has been recently.