Even if it’s Just for this week….

I’d love a commute that’s anything less than an hour and a half.

I’d love to move on, not just be “the Intern”.

A sunrise before 7 a.m. would be great, so the gym isn’t my only option for a morning run.

I’ll take the rain, with a lot of sunshine to follow.

Meet me in the middle; I’m doing things your way and that’s not a lot to ask.

Put Pandora on my iPod. That’s be Aaaawesome!

Skip Wednesday and Thursday……and the traffic on Friday.

Easter candy will be consumed in copious amounts, since I have two baskets full of it. Yummm.

No frozen-meals, fresh is the way to go. Use up all that food in the pantry – you bought it at one point for some reason.

I mailed out two cards in a timely manner! Whew, feels goood.

Take just a minute (or two…or five…)  to step back and recognize the small things – good phone dates with the sis and mom that make me smiiiile, a Reese’s Peanut Butter Egg (oooh….), reading a good book for the first time in a whiiile, a night with PSU alumni, lots of jobs to search through (overwhelming – but good sign), and a roadtrip comin up soon enough.

a weekend with Me

For whatever reason, I was all into hanging out with “me” this weekend. Sometimes time with yourself is just needed. The weather was absolutely gorgeous – if you ignored the 40 mph winds on Saturday – and I was in Exploration mode.

My adventures started off a little rough. Ah, Saturday. Long story short – I drove in bumper-to-bumper traffic down to the Metro station around 1:00 and wondered “Holy F what is going on in DC today?!!”, because the parking lot looked the same as the highway. Cherry blossoms? Oooh yah. Apparently those are the crowd pleasers these days. Anyway. I parked, and walked all the way to the gate only to realize I had left my wallet sitting on my dresser. AWESOME.

I hopped back in the car, picked it up, and decided to drive up North to Baltimore instead. After a lot of trial and error with parking I ended up back in Fells Point, mainly because it would save me $15 for the day. All I wanted to do on Saturday was sit in a chair and Read. Seriously, thats it. My hopes were set on the HUGE Barnes & Noble in the Inner Harbor, but I did not have my hopes set on paying $20 to do that (i.e. parking cost).

Anyway. It all worked out, because I saw this sign and took full advantage.

It was a classy little place. There was room at the bar, it was 3 in the afternoon, and I thought “Perfect.”. So I plopped down for two hours, read my book, and sipped some OJ Bubbly.

Then I walked over to the Inner Harbor and did a liiiittle shopping. A flowy Spring dress from the LOFT capped off the afternoon. It’s lovely. And I have my Mom to Thank for that one. She’s awesome*

*********

Lesson learned, I woke up and headed out early on Sunday to soak up the 70 degree Sunshine in DC. With my wallet, double check. I got off at Chinatown – an area I’ve only been in once before, which was Friday – and just wandered. All day. I read on a bench along the Mall for about an hour, walked up to Dupont, read outside for about two hours, lunched and listened to live music at a deli (love), and wandered some more. It was a lot of time with just Me, and it was awesome.

I took 95 pictures. Which is, um, a Lot. Clearly this is no space for that many pictures. So, here are a few highlights.

Well. This could go on for a while. In short, I have a total crush on DC right now. And I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend with Me, my book, and my wandering feet.

Missed that memo

Apparently people in the office here wear jeans on Fridays.  Nobody told us, the “interns”.  I sit here in black pants, alone.

Ah, life.

I’m heading to “happy hour”  after work with a a few gals.  By 5:30 I’ll have a pitcher of Sangria on the table in front of me. And filling up the glass in my hand. Yumm. 

This morning it was raining, humid, and disgusting. Well, to me the first two words are psynonyms with ‘disgusting’, so that goes without saying.  I wore heels, because if I have flats on the bottom of my pants get soaked.

By lunch, the sun is out to play and it’s suddenly 70 degreees. Which is really how every day should be, obviously. It’s perfection. After a free Pizza lunch (also perfect) I decided to take a walk. Days here without a break are not happening – I take that hour break and use it to breathe in that ‘fresh’ city air. Also to saturate my eyes with window shopping.

I wandered down to Dupont Circle and stopped in a book store. After a little browsing, I found something I wanted to read and took my shoes off. Because remember how I’m wearing heels and I walked to Dupont?! Oops.  I stood there in a  corner of the bookstore (no chairs?! whaaaat?), with my shoes next to my feet, and read for a while. It was a book by the same author who wrote “In Her Shoes”, I read  a chapter and enjoyed it, but now I can’t remember the title. Hmm.

Reluctantly I put my shoes back on and strutted over to the Circle (statue fountain thing in the middle, lots of trees and grass and benches…..it’s cute). For about 5 mintues I plopped down on a bench and took random pictures. Then I walked back and took more random pictures. Then my battery died, and I can’t look at any of said pictures.

Overall – if Ihad inquired about “Casual friday”, I’d be comfortable and sans feet pain with my jeans and flats. If I had received the “crappy morning will turn into a Gorgeous Spring afternoon” memo, I wouldn’t be carrying around my umbrella at the bar or sweating by the time I get there.

Ah well. It’s FRIDAY. I did get that memo.

target therapy

For whatever reason, I was really craving a fun, Spring, flowy skirt this week. I saw some in the Target Weekly-ad on Sunday that I’m in love with. Then I found more online. Oooh.

And yesterday was not really my day.

So, last night I went to Target, and found a skirt. That I really Really heart.

Little things make me happy.

This is the first time I’ve ever worn a skirt to work. The morning was a little iffy (it’s weird to sit in skirts, right?). Then I went for a walk during lunch, and I was all super-comfortable and felt like Spring and remember why I love skirts.

And that’s that, about skirts.

OH. It’s also Thursday. Lots of “T” things going on here. Yesssss!

UPDATE: With Pics, because you asked…….

On the Left is the skirt I wanted (still might buy) but really couldn’t decide what I color I would/wanted to wear with it (that I wouldn’t have to purchase separately. budget budget). On the Right is the skirt I bought, and love, because it’s plain and I can wear whatever I want with it! Oh, options.

aaaand, this is how I wore it…..

White V-neck Tee, purple ‘Summer’ scarf, light Gold hoops and light-gold metallic Flats.

Usually I’m a Big fan of Rollercoasters

Seriously, I Love them. Show me any crazy, looping, 100-ft dropping, twisting, turning Rollercoaster….and I’ll hit it up. And enjoy every second.

But this rollercoaster I’m on right now? Not a fan. At all.

The ride started in August, when I decided to jolt a 3 year Relationship at the same time I was moving to a new state and starting off the 10-month-unpaid-internship Life. Let’s add unparalleled levels of stress (so far….), adjusting to life on a Budget and trying to salvage the long-distance relationship into the mix. Sure, that sounds rational.

Between work, homework, training, traveling, adjusting, and trying to stay within the budget while still enjoying city-life…..I think I lost a few things. Like, um, my sanity. Honestly. Some days I feel like a completely insane version of myself.

Then, somewhere in the middle of all of that, I realized I love this field (good thing too; a Useful Degree is a happy degree).  I really love living in a city.  I love that there are Ridiculous amounts of Penn Staters around here, and I’m excited at the possiblities of New things (i.e….a job, apartment, happy hours….).

I miss having my best friends (i.e. my Roomies) around. When I do get to spend time with them, I dread going back to my new Reality. There are people around here I like too, but, I just want to feel “settled” somewhere.

I miss being 100% Sure (100% of the time) that the choice We, and then I, made was the right one. This comes and goes, in large waves. Sometimes they’re manageable, and sometimes I have no idea how to handle it. There are days when the whole being “single” concept is exciting and a little refreshing, and some days when I miss that happiness more than I know how to deal with. I guess three years of memories, friendship, and fun random adventures together will do that. And I guess being even a little bit patient with the whole situation would help immensely. I’m working on that.

On the up-side, I’m completely in love with working in downtown DC right now. We walked about a mile yesterday during lunch and were greeted with the White House and strings of blooming Cherry Blossoms. Then we walked half a mile in the opposite direction after work and met up with some people for Happy Hour in Dupont Circle. Ooooh city life. I heart you.

Oddly enough, the day is ending on a little high. It certainly didn’t start that way, but thats the excitement of a rollercoaster. You go up and down and never know when the turns are coming, but eventually you get to the end….and think ‘Ah, what a riiide.’