home sweet (new) home- Chapel still has my heart though

Today I accomplished some cleaning I have been meaning to do for about 3-4 weeks. My apartment has felt like home but the clutter has been distracting and distressing me. I finally got into the mess and made sense of the 15 tiny notepads I have halfway filled with lists and reminders, the piles newspaper that I may or may not have been saving, (telling myself I will look through it all...eventually) and the poorly organized kitchen. Though I barely left the house (except to do laundry...kind of pitiful that's all I went out for). I moved a few things around and feel ready for a new week. Yesterday, despite the rain, I got out and about as I mentioned {book festival}, cozied up inside away from the rain last night (after biking through it to get groceries...) and watched movies, allowing the dreariness outside to put me to sleep. I woke up today motivated to tackle the piles (the ladies in my family are pile-makers), aided by coffee from my sweet. He also brought me beautiful zinnias from the market!! I needed a day at home like I had today, to recharge, focus and restore my energy for future outings on future weekends. It's amazing how some minor organizational changes have helped my new apartment feel even more like my new home. But as I said, Chapel Hill has my heart (a large portion of it anyway). **Disclaimer: you are about the read a nerdy sentence or two about cleaning...**
One of the best things I discovered today was the power of magic sponges (Mr. Clean is a well known brand, but I used the harris teeter brand). I got such pleasure as I watched stains disappear, stains, mind you that I was unable to remove with good old 7th generation cleaner). It's amazing! try it, I promise you won't be disappointed.
This post feels a bit disjointed. I think that's a sign I should stop writing. goodnight

Books!

I have just returned from the National Book Festival on the Mall. It consisted of many tents, authors, visitors and umbrellas. and some books, of course. Also, free totes, the new trend I guess. But I resisted, the bag lover that I am, because really, how many reusable grocery totes does one need. Anyway, I saw many authors in person (though I didn't have any of their books, and wouldn't have wanted to wait in line in the drizzle to get it signed) See the Author list and website here. I also poked around the Hirshorn with my friend before returning home to clean. It's a rainy Saturday and I am looking forward to spending time at home.

Here's to Autumn!

Making Apple crisp to celebrate Autumn as well as Tyler's birthday since I promised him a treat back in early September but didn't get around to doing it. Of course I knew we would have a friend whose parent's have an apple tree from which we would take apples to bake with. of course! It was all part of my plan

Dinners and Hiking and Friends, Oh my!

Time is passing quickly these days. Another full week. It's nice having people to do things with but at the same time, the introvert in me is craving some quiet alone time. Hopefully I can have some of that today. I guess it's time for another week/weekend wrap up.

Besides a wonderful week at work, I had the pleasure of trying out a yummy Mexican restaurant for happy hour, seeing a friend from SJS at her apartment, experiencing some of the bar scene in Adams Morgan neighborhood, cooking delicious couscous, going for a short jog, walking around the market, etc.

The weekend so far has been magnificent. I feel lucky to know so many different people with different interests. It always makes for interesting weekends, excursions, restaurant choices and general adventures.

Saturday morning was spent wandering around the market and enjoying the early morning cool that settled over DC Friday night. It got hotter but these slightly chilly mornings are beautiful. Tyler and I then met up with my friend and her Fiancée who was visiting (and therefore had a car) We drove to Great Falls Park MD. I believe that is goes through Virginia and Maryland but we entered from the Maryland side.

Here is what the National Park Services website has to say:
"At Great Falls, the Potomac River builds up speed and force as it falls over a series of steep, jagged rocks and flows through the narrow Mather Gorge. The Patowmack Canal offers a glimpse into the early history of this country. Great Falls Park has many opportunities to explore history and nature, all in a beautiful 800-acre park only 15 miles from the Nation’s Capital."
http://www.nps.gov/grfa/index.htm


Now the trail is full of rocks as seen in the photo, however the photo shows the steepest place we climbed. the rest of the trail is level compared to this but the "trail" consists of rocks, not dirt. We had a lovely picnic midway on a flat rock overlooking whichever body of water was flowing down below us. We got to watch rock climbers across the way as well as the park police helicopter. super exciting!

Saturday night we went to a friend of Tyler's house for a small dinner with just a few others, then Tyler had "mantime" with Palmer and I had some alone time at home.

This morning (Sunday) I met up with two high school friends and we wandered around the Dupont Farmer's market, had brunch at Kramer Books and Afterwords café/bookstore/restaurant/bar. It is an "institution" as they say, around the Dupont area. We wandered around the area for a bit then I met up with Tyler to get a few things at Target and try out the vegan Bakery up at Columbia Heights. It was pretty good! I had a s'more's cupcake- it was nice because it wasn't as sweet at the other cupcakes I've tried. Now we are off to bake apple pies ( I think) At a friend's parent's house. I will report back later

Weekend Wrap up

Busy busy bees we were.

Friday: Small dinner near the apartment with Tyler and our friend Kirk.
Also, relaxation and early to bed

Saturday: Adventure up to Carrboro MD, I mean Takoma Park. Not nearly as charming and beautiful and tree-y as Carrboro NC but definitely has a similar vibe. At a snack at a café, browsed, meandered, and bought a cute vintage jacket at Polly Sue's vintage for only 15 bucks! I will be so classy looking come fall.

Next stop: ZOO!!!! We visited the animals hailing mostly from Asia, including the red and regular pandas and some nice felines. Also caught a glimpse of some elephants in the African area: Can't wait to go back and visit again!!

Dinner in the hood- yummy Mexican/El Salvodoran (Disclaimer: we don't eat out very much, just hadn't gone to the grocery in a week as of Saturday)

Attempted to go to a rooftop party but it was not great because we were invited by someone who wasn't yet there when we arrived thus creating an awkward situation- decided to call it a night rather than wait.

Sunday morning-attempted to meet up with Rachel but someone decided to end their life on the redline metro tracks, sadly. Considering this, the meet up didn't happen.

Sunday mid-day: GREAT WALL Chinese Grocery- courtesy of a friend who likes to go get cheap but good produce and strange candies just like us! Also, she is Chinese.

Sunday Night: Dinner party at a friend of a friend. Menu: every dish featured corn and or tomatoes: tamales made from something, mushed inside a corn husk, corn salsa, cornbread with sugared tomatoes atop. We ate delicious food and met nice people

Now, my weekend wrap up is complete... too bad it's practically Wednesday

Babies do Funny Things

Things I have learned about babies this week

1. you can make the silliest noises and they laugh
2. they are wobbly
3. they are warm and squishy
4. they like to eat, sleep, bounce, sway and babble
5. I LOVE them!

Biking Adventures and Culture!

I forgot to mention 2 exciting points from Saturday.
a. going to the National Gallery of Art (despite it being free, it isn't part of the Smithsonian Institution- just a fact I thought I would share). It was great- we mostly looked at some exhibits that are only around for a few more weeks. I can't wait to go back and see some of the permanent collection as well as the East wing since we didn't make it there this time

b. finding the one and only (that I know of ) BRUEGGERS BAGELS!!!!!! also, eating there. It was a nice reminder of home! soft, chewy, pumpernickle-y cream cheesey bagels, I have missed you!

now, on to today. Labor day.

It had been a very relaxing day. I got to sleep in a bit, eat lunch out with Tyler and Palmer, clean (still working on it...) go grocery shopping , bike ride around the mall, see Julia Child's kitchen(again!) at American History, do laundry- pretty good start to the week. I am ready for work tomorrow. I can't wait! Soon I hope I will get in a good routine. It's been a slow transition but I think it worked out nicely that way.

I am getting more used to biking in the city. You really just have to be completely aware of where the cars are coming and going. Also, ride on the sidewalk when it gets scary. It seems like some people respect bikers (there are quite a few around here) while others get annoyed and zoom around you. it always surprises me when I see bikers without helmets- shame on you. I got Tyler a book on DIY bike maintenance...hopefully between the two of us we can learn some things and complete some small repairs ourselves!

We also stumbled upon a nice mini supermarket really close to the apartment. It is perfect for picking up a box of pasta or a soda pop or gummy bears, or really any basic food item.

The National Mall was full of people this afternoon. It was cool and gray but I love this kind of weather so it didn't bother me.

I am rambling quite a bit so I am going to sign off

Autumn....Is that you??

Well when I started this post last week I was inspired by the cooler temperatures I felt in the mornings. September first felt the way it should. I know summer will linger for some time in the form of warm temperatures but you can't deny the transition occurring between summer and fall. I see it in fading evening light and a rustle of drier leaves on the trees. but ENOUGH of my poetry. On to the events of this past week. I had a week of staff development which convinced me that my job/the overall community is the place for me. I am SO excited to be working where I am (I don't need to name names, y'all know where I work and people I don't know don't need to know). I felt inspired everyday by the people around me and I look forward to learning from others and figuring out more specifically what I want to do with life. It has been a low key week aside from the birthday celebration for Tyler last night. We had a great dinner and great friends over and went out to a bar and it was lovely. Today has felt like a beautiful celebration of the summer, the move to DC, the new life adventures- all of which was achieved by simple meandering around our neighborhood. The fresh fruits and veggies (and mini doughnuts), the live music, the sun, the crafts, the people, reading the newspaper-these are the elements of my day. As is napping. More posts to come soon...