Tuesday Bluesday

My week started out very well, until I was on my way to work Monday and got a speeding ticket for going 30 mph through the toll booth, which unbeknownst to me, has a speed limit of 15.  I don't think I helped matters when the officer asked how fast I was going and I said probably 40 - I didn't know the toll booth had a speed limit!  What is the point of having an EZ Pass if you have to slow down that much?  I also did not have my registration with me, which did not help matters. Then, on my way home from work, I was going through the toll booth and the worker ran out screaming at me. I didn't know what to do so I panicked and drove away.  Apparently, MA is not as tech-savvy as VA, and so not all of the booths have the EZ Pass sensors.  The one I went through that said "Cash Only" was in fact, cash only. Ooops. So we will see if I get a ticket in the mail for that one. FML.

In other news, here are some articles and links that have kept me entertained over the last few days.

Real Housewives of any city is my guiltiest pleasure, and I spent a good hour yesterday cracking up at this.  Although I probably shouldn't admit that.

This one will be relevant if the weather ever gets nicer. Although we do have a grill in our chef grade kitchen.
We looked at some of the apartments mentioned in this article.  It's crazy how real estate markets differ in every city and what exactly affects them. When we were apartment hunting here, it was fascinating to see the incentives that each building offered to stand out from the rest - in DC the apartments were much more standard and cookie cutter.  They featured amenities like a pool, gym, movie theatre, etc.  In Boston, we looked at one complex that had a gift-wrapping station on the main floor, another that had an entire bike storage, cleaning and maintenance area for your bike (totally wasted on me), ones that had entire art galleries in them, and another that offered to build an entire California closet for me, and lastly one that had a guest apartment in the complex that could be rented out for guests.

I thought this was an interesting article on women working in the Obama administration, particularly the public's opinion on his lack of women in the administration.  I thought that Ruemmler, Monaco and Rice made some interesting points on the gender dynamics of the West Wing, particularly Ruemmler's opinion that men get out front and in the spotlight more.  I definitely agree that a large part of the gender issue is that women do not take as strong of a stance or ask for what they want the way that men tend to do.  I read Lean In last year, which also did a good job discussing that perception.

Lastly, this quiz, since I am now an official New England resident.



Love this quote.

Random Catching Up

Happy Hump Day everyone!! We spent this weekend getting unpacked, and sadly did not participate in any sort of St. Patrick's Day shenanigans. We did take a break on Saturday to go to The Buttery for brunch and some delicious cocktails.  I was very happy to find a drink similar to my favorite in DC at the Brixton called the Riot Sling, which is made with Gin, Lemon, Honey, Earl Grey and Ginger Beer.  The Buttery's similar cocktail was made with vodka, but I definitely plan to order it next time with my liquor of choice.

I've learned through this moving process that I am definitely not a natural at any sort of home renovating or DIY - not that I ever really thought I was in the first place, but this move has definitely confirmed. Since we have a very open floor plan (ie our bedroom has no walls), we decided to get curtains to separate the living room and bedroom a little better. We have now been to Bed Bath & Beyond and Target multiple times to return wrong-sized rods, and one-sided curtains that clearly would not work.  We finally have the rod up, which was a task in itself, and now have one set of curtains purchased. Because of course Target was sold out of the ones we liked, so we have to order another one online. Overall, I feel like unpacking and settling in has taken much longer here than any of the other moves, but I think part of it is that a) we have a lot more stuff, b) we get distracted easily by things like going out to dinner and exploring our neighborhood and lastly c) I think we are being a lot more thoughtful about where we are putting things and trying to be as organized as possible in our smaller space.

Last night, Paul and I decided to go to a spinning class at Recycle Studio near our apartment. We both decided that we needed to get serious about getting into shape before Naples, and now we no longer have gym in our building.  That's not a big problem since I hate gyms, especially the ones that come in apartment complexes.  They are just beyond un-motivating to me. I need to be at a class where I am constantly moving so I don't get bored, and where someone is yelling at me so I don't get lazy.  I took a boxing class once last year and loved it, but I couldn't find any near our apartment.  I figured the best way for us to attend a class would be something that we could easily walk to, especially in the cold, so I thought spinning would be the next best thing.  I had no idea what to expect since neither of us had ever taken spinning before.  We looked at getting shoes before the class, but figured we should probably try it out a few times before really committing ourselves. Anyways, as most of you probably know (and I should have), spinning is HARD.  I don't really know what I expected but it was intense!  The girl leading the class was seriously the most in shape person I have ever seen - her butt didn't touch the seat at all and her legs moved so freaking fast, all while she yelled at us. Paul and I were definitely the slowest/most out of shape in the class - and there was a lady spinning whose due date was YESTERDAY. Even she was spinning like a maniac - that is serious commitment.  Thank God your feet get locked in or I most definitely would have flipped myself off that bicycle at least a million times.  There were multiple times where I would try really hard to keep up with everyone, and then I would slow myself down because, like, would I rather be the best newbie in the class, or accidentally knock out my front teeth when I crash face first into the handlebars. So, yeah, that was my experience with spinning. Despite the agony that my body is in today, I am definitely going to go back - I need an intense work out to kick me into shape before Naples! We'll see what happens after that...

This sums up how I feel right now:

I'm baaaaack

Hello everyone! I'm back!!  It's been a few months, and life has been crazy.  I've decided to bring this blog back to life, so hopefully that means you'll be seeing many more posts from me. 

Now, where to begin with my updates?  I suppose that the most important thing to start with is that this blog is no longer DC-based.  That's right, I am no longer writing to you from our nation's capital.  Instead, I've moved north to Boston (or rather, Bahhhstaaan as they seem to say here).  It all happened crazy fast too.  

Here's how it happened:

Back track to a mere 6 weeks ago, when shortly after the holidays, Paul attended his usual quarterly training in Dallas.  Now, we knew that promotions were often made at this training of the year, and we knew the chance of Paul getting promoted was high.  December and January were definitely a "limbo" time period for us where we held off planning ski trips with friends and things of that nature in case of any move.  We knew the rumors of the cities that would be available, and out of the options, Boston seemed the most likely, as well as the one we'd like the most - but nothing was guaranteed.  We held our breath for what seemed like months, as his co-workers, supervisors, and our family and friends all asked us if we were moving, how we felt about it, and so on.  Paul and I tried not to talk about it because we didn't want to jinx anything, and we had no idea what would happen!  Moving forward to the last week in January - Paul's mom and brother visited us for MLK Jr. weekend, and then Paul left for training on Wednesday (which gave us little time to discuss anything that might happen over the next few days!).  Paul interviewed on Thursday AM and at 4pm on Thursday, he called me while I was at work.  I stepped into the hallway and listened to him say, "We are moving to Boston!".  The very next day I put my two weeks notice in at work - so crazy!! Paul came home that Friday night, and then flew to Boston that Sunday! 

In between then and now, there has been all sorts of craziness from apartment hunting, to my celebrating my birthday (eek hello 24!) to moves being delayed by snowstorms. We thought that apartment hunting in Boston would be much easier than in DC, and we stood corrected.  Searching in January meant a terrible selection, and our desire to live in the heart of Boston meant sky high prices and not very much space.  Throw in being a pet owner (yes, we got a dog! more on that later..) and we were basically screwed. After spending Saturday look at some awful places that would never work for us (no parking, no washer or dryer, 5 floor walkups), we ended up deciding to take over the loft- style apartment from the girl who's position Paul was taking over.  Even that wasn't a guarantee as the owner of the condo was thinking about selling.  

To make a long story short, we ended up getting the loft (with an increased rent of course).  Next came the process of the movers.  Because of a big snowstorm on the East Coast, our move was delayed and we couldn't get into our new apartment until March 1 - two weeks from when  we already had our movers scheduled.  We decided to go ahead and have the movers come as planned and keep our things in storage while we stayed in a hotel.  Looking back, that might not have been our best plan.  It was very difficult to find a pet-friendly, extended stay hotel to stay in for two weeks!  I went a little stir crazy and ended up on an impromptu trip home to MI to clear my head and spend time with family and friends. To add to the stress, our building does not let people move in on Saturdays, so our move was delayed another two days!

Now, flash forward to today and we are living in our new apartment and loving it!  We still have boxes and things everywhere, but we're hoping to get those all unpacked this weekend.  We love our new neighborhood, and I even have a part-time, temporary job.  I'll share more on those things later - I am pretty sure I am getting carpal tunnel from all this typing.

Happy Friday everyone!!

Hair Cut

I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow at a new salon - Smitten that is attached to my apartment building.  I haven't been before and I am super nervous.  I didn't like the last salon I tried in Tyson's, so hopefully I'll like this better.  The last hair salon (which shall remain nameless) wasn't bad per-say- like she didn't f*** up my hair or anything, but she just wasn't friendly. She hated Arlington and Virginia and DC, which was kind of a buzz kill to someone new to the area, and she also never had anything nice to say about my hair- not that I have amazing hair or anything, but my stylist back in MI, Julie K, used to always compliment my hair and bring over other stylists to look at it too - such a sweetheart.  So fingers crossed tomorrow is better! My hair is insanely long right now, so I am hoping to cut some inches off- it will be a big change!  Here are some looks I love:

   

I'll have pictures afterwards tomorrow!

Fall Favorites

Happy almost Friday!!!

It's been a while since I posted again - Paul and I went to his family's hometown near Buffalo for his cousin's wedding, and this past weekend my best friend from home came to visit.  We had so much fun partying nonstop both weekends, but it was exhausting!! Now Paul is in Dallas for work, so I've spent the evening giving myself a mani/pedi, a face mask and catching up on the Real Housewives. We're looking forward to relaxing this weekend!

Even though I swore I wouldn't go shopping again - I just can't help myself. The weather might be heating up again, but I am ready for fall fashion! I get that way every year.  It's the end of summer and I am ready to wear jeans and sweaters- and then as soon as it's freezing cold I miss my summer dresses. Oh well. Here's what's on my current fall favorites list.


  
These Dolce Vita boots from Piperlime    and this blouse from J Crew


 
I'm obsessed with this Rebecca Taylor blazer.  and these J crew track pants

 
Love these J Crew shoes. And also, I would sell my first born for this Burberry coat.

So many clothes, so little time. And money. I always forget about that...

Happy Friday!

I love this quote. It always makes me just excited for the future.

 Last weekend I went to Chicago and my flight was delayed 6 hours! Six! It was terrible, but I did make some new friends while stuck at the airport.  I had a good time visiting my college friends, but it was great to go home and relax after all of the travelling I have been doing lately.  I don't know how people do this for a living constantly.  All I can think about is all the airport germs I am picking up and I just want to take a purrell bath.

I'm going to Virginia Beach with Paul this weekend to celebrate our 2 year anniversary.  I can't believe it's already been two years! We're seeing Dave Matthews Band tonight (for those of you that don't know- Paul is obsessed. He's been to like 30 DMB concerts and I've been to 4 in the last two years). Then we're spending the rest of the weekend at the beach in front of our Oceanview hotel.  I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend.  Hope you all have a great weekend!

Finally catching up

So I know I have not posted in a while - it has been an insanely busy summer.  I think the last time I wrote, Paul's mom was visiting from New York.  I happened to catch some sort of horrible summer cold/virus that weekend that left me coughing for a solid month.  It was horrible.  The next weekend I went to Urgent Care, where I was told I had coughed so hard that I bruised my ribs and burst blood vessels in my ears.  Wonderful.  They gave me a codeine prescription, which left me passed out every single night, making the next few weeks slightly blurry.  Codeine cough syrup is probably the most disgusting thing I have ever tasted by the way.

We've been loving our new apartment (I'll post pictures soon).  We've had a few barbecues on our rooftop terrace and it's been great. I am definitely loving living in Clarendon.

We also went to Charlottesville a few weeks ago to visit my Granny with my parents.  We had a great time with them Saturday, and then Sunday Paul and I spent the day checking out some vineyards in Charlottesvile.  First, we went to Dave Matthews' vineyard, Blenheim, since Paul is obsessed. It was very cute and quaint.  The winery has a gorgeous view looking out over the Blueridge (?) mountains.  The woman doing our tasting told us that Dave Matthews just purchased the surrounding 300 acres because they were going to be developed into houses, and he did not want the area to be developed and ruin the scenery. Next we went to Trump vineyards, which I did not think I was going to like - I thought it would be very tacky and over the top.  We actually found out that Donald Trump bought the winery from the Kluge family, a family that has been in the Charlottesville area for years and that my granny and mother had talked about a few times while we were visiting.  I was pleasantly surprised by the Trump winery, which is run by Donald Trump's son Eric.  Although the Trump logo was on everything possible, including a plethora of merchandise to buy that was probably unnecessary to sell at a winery, the winery still had an overall elegant vibe - not tacky like I thought.  Their wine was very good - we ended up buying three bottles.  The Trump/ Kluge winery is known for their sparkling wines, as well as a wine that is aged in a bourbon barrel. Lastly, we went to Jefferson Vineyards.  That vineyard was nice as well, but not anything special.

The following weekend, Paul went to Pittsburgh for a bachelor party, and I spent my weekend poolside.  I also went out with some friends from back home, which was really fun.  Then I spent Saturday with my aunt and uncle.

This past weekend, I went home to Michigan to go to the Nordstrom pre-sale with my mom.  It was wonderful.  I bought way too much, and probably cannot go shopping again until 2014. But I made some great purchases at fantastic prices.  More on that later....

Paul and I attended the Best of Washington event put on by Washingtonian magazine on Wednesday night at the National Building Museum  We had such a great time!  We definitely ate way too much food, but everything was so delicious! My favorite was the corn and crab salad from Blue Duck Tavern.

This weekend I am going to Chicago to visit all my college friends.  I am super excited to see everyone! I definitely need a weekend to just relax soon though...

Hope you are all surviving this crazy heat wave!  Woohoo summertime in the DC swampland.