Lovin DC this Saturday!

Today was a super fun day!! Sadly, Ryan had to work, in fact he is working this whole weekend because his new experience store is opening on Monday. Fortunately though, I was able to meet him for lunch at Clyde's in Chinatown, right down the street from his store. We had delicious calamari and I loved my salad! After lunch, he had to go back to work, but I got to have some fun!!

Today marks the beginning of the Cherry Blossom Festival, which is a really big deal out here and it started with a Kite Festival on the National Mall! I had no idea what a Kite Festival really was, but I like regular kites and was intrigued. There were probably thousands of people flying hundreds of kites all up and down the National Mall! It was amazing! Here are some photos I took with my cell phone:

This was my first glimpse.


This is the view toward the Washington Monument.


This is the view toward the Capitol Building.


Up in the sky.


The Washington Monument, my head, and some kites!


Next year, I'm getting a kite!

So after watching the kites and all the happy people for a few minutes, I continued across the Mall to the Smithsonian Castle and the Museum of African Art! I was on my own little piece of heaven today, surrounded by happy people, beautiful kites, and then amazing African art and artifacts!

These are a few notable pieces:

Some stunning masks.


Some pots and jugs made by Tekes (made me think of Ryan because his fraternity goes by Teke).


A man (on the left) and a woman (on the right). African art often honors fertility... guess who is more highly valued???


This mask was made with real human skin!


A depiction of Christ's crucifixion.


The art was absolutely amazing! I got a membership to the Smithsonian, so now we'll get the Smithsonian Magazine for a year, updates on special events, and 10% off food and gifts... sweet!! I know I'm going to be at the museums often!! There are so many and the exhibitions are constantly changing!! It's so exciting! I love culture!

Recipe for homemade croutons

When I lived in Rancho, I used to go to Henry's Market just for croutons (and their stuffed pork chops). When I worked at Caruso's in Philly, they made their own croutons. I hate boxed croutons! Homemade croutons have so much more flavor and there aren't any preservatives in them. Here's the recipe for Caruso's croutons:

Loaf of day-old bread (any flavor)
Olive oil
Garlic powder
Garlic salt
Onion powder
Oregano
Parsley
Black pepper

Slice the bread into one inch slices and cut the slices into one inch cubes. Put all the bread cubes in a bowl. Drizzle olive oil over the bread cubes. Mix with your hands until all of the cubes are evenly coated. Add more olive oil if necessary. Sprinkle a heavy coating of the garlic powder, garlic salt, onion powder, oregano, and parsley (I like them a little garlic-y so I sprinkle very heavily). Add pepper to your taste. Mix it all together with your hands until all cubes are evenly coated. Pour cubes into a single layer on a cookie sheet or two. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 325 degrees!!

Store in a plastic baggie to enjoy with salad, soup, etc!

An easy week so far!

This week has been much easier than last week! Tomorrow marks two weeks of being here! Can you believe it? Ryan seems to be getting used to work and it's really nice to have him home at a decent time. I was used to him leaving earlier and getting home much later as a store manager but at this level, he gets to be a normal person! I love it!

Now that things have settled down, I have been able to start looking for work. I updated my resume and sent it to the company that is helping with my search and I started to bookmark job opportunities on a couple of university websites. I also plan on looking into museum jobs in the next couple of days. As soon as I get my resume back with the critique, I will be able to actually apply for jobs! I have to admit though, it has been pretty fun being a "housegirlfriend" in the meantime!

Sneak preview photos!

We still can't find the camera charger and figure, by now, we will probably have to order a new one because we probably left it in CA or have lost it. We've taken a few pictures on our cell phones, so here are some pictures of our progress:

The day we got the keys! This is our HUGE balcony!


Here I am riding next to the cart, which is on the cart escalator, at Target.


The bedroom with furniture, no boxes yet!


The bedroom with a few boxes.


The movers unpacked and the bedroom exploded!


Then, I cleaned it up!


Here's the living room with the first few boxes.


Then, the living room exploded!


Can you see where I cleared a space to sit down?


Here's half the kitchen, with the view to the living room, in the middle of putting things away.


This is the other half of the kitchen, after I rushed to put things in places so we had room to put things on the counter.


Here's the bathroom- it has a little more in it now!


This is a photo of the White House, with the Air Force One helicopter in front of it on St. Patrick's Day! We were watching the parade between the White House and the Washington Monument when the helicopters flew over us!


And this is Ryan's favorite- a giant slice of pizza from Adams Morgan!


Once I clean, I'll take some pics of our apartment all set up!

Still can't find my camera charger!!

All of the (my) boxes are unpacked and put away, but Ryan has four left which he promises to unpack on his own... and I am now sure that my camera charger is in one of them! I took a bunch of pics on my cell phone when the movers dumped everything all over everything, so if you want to see the crazy mess, I can text those to you, but I don't have email so I can't send those to my compy! We've (mostly I've) made so much progress since then!! The living room is done, only one picture left to hang (well, and my sconces that Ryan doesn't think we should hang); the bathroom is done; the kitchen is done; the entryway is done; and the bedroom is 90% done! Well, everything is done with the exception of the few things we have left to buy (table, patio furniture, and now, an additional bookshelf). We just have to attach the mirror to my dresser so I can finish setting that up and Ryan has his last couple of boxes! Woo hoo!! Next week is job hunting time because I can finally not think about setting up our home!!

Ryan completed his first week of work today and I am soooo proud of him! It seems like it's a pretty tough position but I know it will become easier as he develops a routine and he becomes more accustomed to his new responsibilities. I'm excited he has weekends "off" because it means we have guaranteed time to hang out and do fun stuff!! Tomorrow we are shopping (I know, more fun for me than Ryan) and probably going to Adams Morgan for a huge slice of pizza. I'm excited for Sunday to make my first Easter meal! We're thinking of having roast chicken (Ryan's not a big ham eater and this will be totally new to me because I've never cooked meat on a bone, so I'll start with one of those little ones), deviled eggs (for Ryan and because my Mom says we have to have hard-boiled eggs), real macaroni and cheese, asparagus (you said to "blanch" it, right mom?), and some form of potato. I just need a dessert... suggestions?

I can't find my camera charger!

I know I promised pictures of the place but I can't find my camera charger!! A few things that are typically on my desk seem to still be in one of the few boxes left in the bedroom, so I will hopefully have it tomorrow!!

A week ago today, we arrived in Maryland. Can you believe it has been a whole week already? So much has changed for us in the last week!! We went from sleeping in a hotel, sleeping on an air mattress, and now we're in our own bed in our own place! Today, I finished the living room and the kitchen! All we have to do in these rooms is hang some stuff up, which Ryan promised he'll take care of tomorrow. My goal for tomorrow is to finish unpacking the bedroom and the last of the bathroom!! We should be completely done by Saturday, just as I predicted.

We had our first taste of crazy east coast weather last night: the wind was freaking crazy!!! Here there isn't any dust or fires, but it's cold and lasts forever! Ryan had a tough time walking around to his stores today because of the cold wind. It was also incredibly difficult to sleep last night because the wind seemed to be going through the building. I have no idea how this place makes so much noise!! I thought it was just in our apartment and that the people upstairs left their screen door open and their blinds were going crazy, but when I took the trash to the trash chute this afternoon, I realized that the wind was rushing through the whole building and pushing on everyone's doors!! Hopefully it will calm down tonight so we can get some good sleep.

Sunday we will be able to relax and enjoy our first Easter in Maryland. It's hard to believe that only 2 years ago, Mindy made her famous shrimp pasta for Amber and me in my apartment in Philly and later that day, we took the train to New York! Wow! Time sure flies!! I need some suggestions: I have never made Easter dinner before, any suggestions for what I should cook?

Our Stuff Is Here!!

You never realize how much you miss your couch until it is gone!! When the movers arrived yesterday we were so excited at the thought of sitting on our couches! Not just because they are extremely comfortable to begin with, but because couches provide better support than the carpet and wall, counter top, or toilet lid (yes, our bathroom is clean and Ryan wanted to sit on a seat to eat his chicken bake after a hard day of work!). Yesterday was crazy though! Ryan left for work as the movers arrived so I had to take care of everything on my own. It started pretty slowly with the movers (Phil (the driver), Ronald, and Reggie) bringing in boxes, but I just watched for awhile because I wasn't supposed to actually open the boxes. Finally, they opened up a wardrobe box so I could have something to do. A few minutes later, Phil introduced me to Sarah who would be unpacking the kitchen. This little old lady was fast!! I swear ten minutes later Phil came in to tell me I needed to start putting things away in the kitchen because Sarah was running out of space. I was seriously running around in circles in the kitchen! I'd load one counter top into a cupboard and start on another and the one I had previously packed was already full again. Then the movers started bringing in more stuff and they had to keep asking me where I wanted the furniture placed, which boxes of books went into which rooms, and where to put stuff they were already unpacking. Then, while I was already going bananas, the crate people arrived to uncrate the tv. Then, while I was still going bananas and the crate people were uncrating the tv, the maintenance guy arrived to replace the light bulbs that were out in the bathroom and closet and fix our toilet seat problem (the counter above the toilet sits out too far, causing the lid and seat to fall at times when they should stay up... if you use your imagination, you can imagine what kind of mess that can create ;-)). It only took about three or four hours for the movers to get everything unloaded and unpacked. Then, all of a sudden, everyone was gone and so were the boxes. I was left with a small path to walk through and mounds of stuff on every surface! Our couches were here but there was so much stuff on it, I couldn't sit down!! Our bed had at least two feet of stuff on it!! I didn't even know where to begin! I just made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and sat down in the middle of it and tried to figure out where to begin. I don't think I even came up with a method and for awhile it just felt like I moved stuff from room to room, but it wasn't long before clothes were hung in the closet, a couch was revealed, and I got enough off of the bed to be able to wash all the linens and make sure we had a place to sleep last night!

Today, we had our internet, phone, and cable set up. We are so happy to have tv and an improved version!! We now have On Demand and DVR! Woo hoo!! While the cable guy was here, I shifted the furniture around in the living room to give it a more open feel and started to set up the kitchen the way I really wanted!! Our kitchen and closets are done and the living room is about 80%, the bathroom about 90%, bedroom about 70%, and I estimate we'll be 100% everywhere by Saturday and that includes having stuff up on the walls!! Woo hoo! We rock! Once we're done unpacking we can refocus on finding a dining table and some patio furniture. Our place finally feels like a home!

Wow! What a Weekend!!

We survived our first weekend in Maryland! And, we did it without furniture! Here's a summary of our weekend adventures:

Friday

We checked out of our hotel bright and early Friday morning because we just couldn't wait to pick up the keys to our new apartment! We arrived at the leasing office at about 9:30 just after they opened. After reading through the usual paperwork, we were given the keys to our apartment and mailbox and shuffled off to the management office to take a picture for security and get our parking space. We have a great spot in the parking garage- we're three floors below the building but only three spaces from the elevator! That's great because we're pretty lazy! After we learned where the movers would deliver our furniture we finally were able to go to our apartment!! It was even more fabulous than we remembered!! And, the balcony was even bigger than we remembered!! We could have hung out in our new place all day but couldn't for two main reasons: 1) we were starving and didn't have any food and 2) we didn't have any toilet paper (mom, where were you with the housewarming gift!?). We begrudgingly left our fabulous place and drove 30 seconds down the street to a diner- perfect place for a hearty breakfast! We're happy to have a place near us that's open late because most places in and around the city close early and this gem is in walking distance. Really, you're more likely to find places open for lunch than for dinner. After some awesome pecan french toast, we headed to the nearest dollar store to pick up absolutely everything we could for a dollar: plates, bowls, silverware, napkins, hangers, paper towels, and basic cleaning supplies. Now that we had eaten and found a few of the things we needed, we felt comfortable beginning our search for furniture. There are a few things we need: dining table (we didn't have one in the old place because we needed room for the desk and computer), tv stand (we felt ready to take the tv off of the end table we have been using as a tv stand (gotta love free hand-me-downs)), and patio furniture (for our awesome balcony!). We stopped at one or two places on the pike (the main street we live off of) and weren't having much success but were getting a few ideas. We realized that afternoon was creeping upon us and we still needed toilet paper, an air mattress, and towels! We thought it's be easy to spot a Target if we just continued up the pike- nope! So then we thought we'd drive back down toward our places on the next major street over, there was bound to be a Target, or even a Wal Mart on the way- nope! Argh! Panic quickly ensued! How can we live in a place nowhere near a Target or, if absolutely necessary, a Wal Mart?! Finally we decided to find a Target the old-fashioned way: by text messaging google and locating the nearest Target and then texting again for directions. Bingo! There's a Target less than two blocks from our building! How did we not notice that?? So, we make the next right turn to head back to the pike and, lo and behold, the second closest Target! Woo-hoo! We decided to shop at that one because we were already there. The Target was actually in a mall! And, it was two stories! I bet you California readers are thinking, "how do you get the shopping cart from one floor to another?" That's totally what I was thinking because if you're like me, you always need a cart at Target! They have an escalator for the people and in between the people escalators, there are escalators for your carts!! It's amazing! I think I might have to take a picture when the charger for my digital camera arrives with the rest of our stuff. I know, I know, what was I thinking not bringing the charger with me?! Thanks to Target and the fabulous gift cards we received from Ryan's parents, Jenn, and Jacque, we were able to get almost everything else we needed at very little cost to us! We still needed a few more things though. We went to The Container Store and got lots of ideas for the future, but didn't see the cheap and simple trash can we were looking for. Next stop, Bed Bath and Beyond preceeded by a sandwich for Ryan and some yummy chicken nuggets for me at the Congressional Deli, a hope in the wall under an apartment building. Bed Bath and Beyond was having a huge sale on towels and rugs!! Twenty minutes and our California Beach bathroom was done (except for a coordinating shower curtain)! By this time, most of our basic needs had been met except food!! We didn't want to head home to an empty kitchen so we found our nearest Costco, the best place to go to stock your pantry and freezer! For the first time, we had to pay for our own Costco membership, but we know we will earn back that $50 in no time! We finally made it home with everything we just bought in tow and thought, how do we get all this stuff from Costco up to our apartment?? Ryan's brilliance saved the day! We dumped out the suitcases and loaded them up with all of our groceries! Good job Ryan!! We put away all our new stuff and headed back out to the White Flint Mall to check out some furniture stores there. Everything furniture was a bit overpriced, so we just settled on eating a couple of slices of Sbarro pizza, contemplated seeing a movie, but decided just to head over to the Target closest to us (which also happens to be 2 stories) to buy something to watch. We got "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" (one of our favorite shows) and the boxed set of "Ocean's 11", "Ocean's 12", and "Ocean's 13" (3 of my all-time favorites), a lamp for the bedroom (there wasn't any light in there and the light bulb in our walk-in closet was out!), and, finally, a trash can! We also stopped by the new furniture store next to Target and found what I think is the greatest dining table ever (but I don't know if I'm going to win this one) before finally heading home. We finished putting our new stuff away, inflated our bed, popped an episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" into the laptop and fell asleep for the first time in our own placce. Friday was definitely a long and crazy day!!

Saturday

Can you believe that was all one day on Friday? Well, we pretty much do it again on Saturday!! However, our focus on Saturday is furniture! So, this is the jist of Saturday: we sit at dining tables all over Montgomery County, Maryland, and realize we want entirely different things in a table; my taste is typically a little more expensive; Ryan can't handle things with drawers or doors (unless it's under the table, which means he'll probably kick it); I'm not that patient when it comes to choosing furniture; I'm getting good at finding directions in a hurry; and, we love Ikea! Well, I love Ikea and Ryan is ok with Ikea. I love the new tv stand we finally agreed on and I love it especially because it is my favorite shade of brown (dark/espresso/black-brown) and it was only $70! Here's our new tv stand: It's nice and simple and gets the job done! There are so many things at Ikea that we can get to go with it and it is all so affordable!! We took home our new tv stand and continued our search for a dining table and patio furniture. We do not have a dining table or patio furniture, but we found options at World Market, Pier 1, Linens and Things, and a local place called Marlo. We finished our day on Saturday by having dinner at a place called Bennigan's, which is kind of an Irish-themed version of Friday's but the only Irish thing about it is that they make their food with Guinness instead of Jack Daniels. The fries were good. After dinner, we finally did some regular grocery shopping at Giant, picked up some oj and pb & j, pretty much all we could get considering we don't have anything to cook with, and realized the grocery stores don't serve alcohol... panic! Ryan was looking forward to enjoying a beer and I was looking forward to a nice glass of wine when we got home, but nope, Montgomery County makes you buy your liquor from them. We found a liquor store across the street, but nothing was refrigerated, it was way overpriced, and they didn't sell any form of bottle opener! Lame! Where's a BevMo when you need it?? We checked, only in California! BevMo please come here! So instead of beer and wine, we headed home to our inflatable bed to enjoy another episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and some Hit cookies and milk.

Sunday

Sunday morning we woke up excited for our first day of not shopping frantically for furniture and being true DCites (?)/ Marylanders (?)/ Not quite tourists (?) and going to the Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade in DC! It was our frist time taking the Metro from our new home to the city! I'm glad we did it too because it helped Ryan feel a little more comfortable about taking it to work. When we arrived downtown we popped up right in front of one of Ryan's stores, closed because it was a Sunday and that part of the city was a virtual ghost town! The only people walking around were wearing green and were headed to the parade. We walked a couple of blocks to the parade route which crossed right between the Washington Monument and the White House. We watched bagpipers, social organizations, bands, Irish folk dancers, and old firetrucks, for about an hour before the Air Force One helicpoter flew over our heads to a flood of people waiting on the White House lawn! We quickly morphed from locals into tourists as we tried to move as close as we could to the White House to see if the President was coming or going. I'm betting he was going because security around the premises lightened up significantly the minute the chopper took off. It was really neat to be there right at the moment! We decided not to go back to the parade because, honestly, parades are pretty lame, but we had to do it once to say that we did! We went to the Air and Space Smithsonian instead to enjoy our favorite virtual ride, the simulated jet fighter!! We learned about this ride when I was in grad school at Temple and we went to DC for a weekend to visit. Once again, I laughed and screamed so hard I couldn't tell the difference! Ryan is an excellent pilot! I am a crappy gunner!! I was too busy screaming I forgot to shoot and only hit two targets! I was starving when the ride ended (I definitely wasn't up to eating the street hot dogs and Polish sausages Ryan ate during the parade) so we headed to Chinatown to check up on the progress of Ryan's new experience store and grab a late lunch. We found the best place for lunch: an Irish pub with a real Irish band, real Irish food, and no green beer!! It was crowded and dark, just like a pub should be! Ryan was totally making fun of me because I was the only person in the place with a pink shirt, but it was hot and I had to take my green coat off!! Ryan had shepard's pie and I had a DELICIOUS Guinness BBQ chicken sandwich with Irish bacon and thick fries. We even tried malt vinegar on our fries and some Irish sauce, but we both prefer ketchup. At least we tried though! It was a lot of fun there and the best food we've had so far. Ryan was really excited about it because he'll probably be in that area at least once a week and will be able to eat there on a regular basis for lunch! After lunch we headed back to our neighborhood so Ryan could get a hair cut and checked out a few more furniture places before having our first dinner at home: microwaved chicken bakes from Costco, Ryan's favorite microwaveable food.

Monday

So, now it's Monday, and Ryan's first day at work!! He met his new boss for Starbuck's early this morning for a meeting before heading over to his first store. Today, I picked up all the bits and pieces from building our new tv stand and lamp, did laundry, and got organized for tomorrow because our stuff will be here at 9am!! I feel bad because ordinarily I would have liked to have dinner waiting for Ryan on a day like this, but I don't have a kitchen yet!! So today has been a boring day but it was nice to be able to relax a bit before I the rest of the week gets busy with the movers coming tomorrow, the cable guy coming Wednesday, and unpacking the entire week!!

Last weekend was crazy and I'm looking forward to whatever will happen next!

We're in Maryland!

We left our condo in Rancho early this morning after I rushed to clean our bathroom, finish packing, and throw our sheets and towels in the wash that we were leaving for Courtny... while Ryan enjoyed one last glass of Scotch with Dennis. We flew out of Long Beach, which seems to be more like a mobile home park than an airport (especially with the bird hopping around inside the terminal), but were so glad we did because we were able to fly Jet Blue! Ryan was more comfortable on this flight than he has probably been since childhood! He was actually able to extend his legs out in front of him rather than crowding my space (which he only did slightly this time just because he likes too). It was such a comfortable flight and I loved being able to catch up on some of my favorite shows on MTV and Bravo!

We took off a little late and ended up arriving a little late so we didn't have enough time to run to Target like we hoped, but we picked a really nice hotel again and our dinner in the restaurant here was delicious! Tomorrow will be a busy day! We're picking up our keys in the morning and will spend probably all day tomorrow shopping for stuff we will need until our furniture arrives: air mattress, bedding, towels, paper plates, toilet paper, soap, etc... Tomorrow will be FUN!! Our adventure has begun!

Tomorrow Is the BIG DAY!

This is it! Today was our last full day as residents of California!! It has been a crazy week!! I think we've each put on about 10 pounds going to lunches and dinners with our friends and families! It was fun to do all of this celebrating, but the end would always arrive and we'd have to say goodbye. I think Ryan has become tired of seeing me cry. Of course, he always does something cute and funny to make me smile and laugh because he's fabulous and hates to see my heart hurting. It's crazy to be this excited and this sad simultaneously! Tomorrow is our big moving day!! By tomorrow evening, we'll be in Maryland!

Approved for our Apartment!

This morning we were finally approved for our amazing apartment in Maryland! We were really beginning to worry because the movers are coming tomorrow morning at 8am! Thank goodness we can give them a destination address! So, today is my last day at work and it might also be Ryan's. The movers are coming tomorrow and we are so grateful we don't have to pack anything on our own. It should go so quickly and, hopefully, smoothly!

We are definitely looking forward to our busy busy weekend spending time with our family and friends!!

Last full week in CA!

Last week, Ryan and I flew out to DC for five days to find a new place to live. It was strange because we were so prepared! When we looked for my place in Philadelphia in 2005, we didn't even really look at places online before we went and I ended up with a lucky find but think I could have found something better. This time though, we researched neighborhoods, blogs, chats, crime reports, apartment hunting sites, and apartment rating sites! After all that research, we realized we wanted to focus on a few specific neighborhoods in Virginia, Maryland, and DC. About 15 minutes after finally getting "not lost" driving out of the airport car rental parking garage, we realized we didn't want to live directly in DC- it was just too city. The more we thought about it, the more we realized we didn't want to ever have to fight for parking, so the DC index cards were thrown out.

We stayed in a great hotel in Arlington, the Palomar Hotel. It was so modern but still very affordable and comfortable. It was in the middle of a remodel, but we only noticed if we were there mid-day. It was also directly across the Key Bridge from Georgetown, one of our favorite neighborhoods that happens to be ridiculously out of our price range.

Wednesday morning started off with me going to workout in a gym that shares a building with ABC 7 news because our hotel was still remodeling their gym and a yummy breakfast from Cosi. We set out to see our list of possible apartments in Maryland. We checked out a few places in Rockville, King Farm, Bethesda, and North Bethesda (1st was definitely affordable but had no pizzazz; 2nd had all the amenities we wanted, was close to necessary shopping, and had amazing bathrooms, but was just overpriced; it snowed a little on the way to the 3rd which made the three story walk-up seem even more unappealing; 4th had a parking garage with a clearance shorter than Ryan so there was no way the Explorer was fitting in there; 5th place said they had stuff available over the phone, but didn't really have anything available until next month, but it was lame anyway; 6th place was FABULOUS; finally, 7th place had wonderful closet space, was in a great location with a Chipotle and Panera attached to the building and a Saks, Tiffany's, and Jimmy Choo across the street, but seemed a bit too geriatric. Our top choices for the day were 6 and 7: The Grand in North Bethesda and Highland House West in Bethesda.

During this first day of searching we learned that our "Amazing Race trying to navigate a map while driving skills" aren't quite yet tuned but we are a great team when it comes to asking questions to make sure we get what we really want in an apartment. That night, we decided to venture out in the 18 degree, thanks to the wind chill, weather and walk a few blocks to get some sushi and some bottles of water from the hotel. I was reminded how tough it is to walk up hill in freezing cold wind when you are starving! It was well worth it though because our sushi was delicious!! We already have a favorite place so far in Arlington, Va! Best part for Ryan: his favorite Japanese beer was only $2! I have a feeling we'll be there again!

Thursday morning was Virginia apartment day. The 1st place was near our hotel and claimed to have a river view, but none of the available apartments did, plus it had wood floors and we don't want to buy that many rugs; 2nd place was in a great location but was a bit overpriced compared to the places we'd visited in Maryland with the same amenities; 3rd place had no availability until fall; 4th place couldn't fit us in as a walk-in but we could tell it had crappy parking anyway; 5th place had a GREAT kitchen and was in a fun location; 6th place was too expensive for it's small size; 7th place was gorgeous and had a sunroom balcony but was freaking expensive; 8th place was practically the size of a house with the best closets ever and was attached to an underground shopping center attached to the Metro, but was surrounded by just hotels. On this day, the 6th and 8th places were our favorite: Richmond Square in Ballston and Crystal Plaza in Crystal City.

That night, learned that the cities really shut down early. We had a late lunch in Ballston so weren't hungry for a heavy dinner that night. We finally headed out at about 9:30 to grab a bite and could not find any place that was open, we even got kicked out of a regular grocery store at 10pm before I could decide what to eat! Thank goodness for McDonald's serving delicious chicken nuggets 'til midnight!

Friday was supposed to be decision day, but it did not start out so well! I went to the gym again, picked up Cosi again (I freaking love Cosi and it was just across the street!), but Ryan got stuck actually having to work over the phone until early in the afternoon. So after I was done getting ready, I just walked down to Starbuck's and read a book for awhile. It actually felt pretty nice to just relax in the middle of all this chaos! That afternoon we decided to drive by our top places again to see more of the neighborhoods and see what the rush hour commutes looked like just in case Ryan decided to drive the car to work. We learned that driving from North Bethesda into the city at 5pm on a Friday night is not wise and we also learned that Indonesia has a way better looking Embassy than Egypt, who seriously looked like they were being evicted. After checking out the neighborhoods and traffic, we headed back to out hotel and narrowed it down to two.

Friday night we took our first Metro trip together into China Town so Ryan could show me the brand new "Experience Store" he will get to open there in April and to find a bite to eat. We learned that the next time we decide to eat in China Town we need to check the Wizard's schedule first so we aren't fighting the fans to get a seat at a restaurant. We walked a few block from the stadium/center and after a half hour wait got seats at a brick-oven pizza place called Ella's. Our food was alright but the dessert was amazing! I can't wait to take Katie there to have the best tiramisu I have ever had! After dinner we went back to the hotel to reread the apartment reviews, compare prices and amenities, check Metro travel times.... anything to help us make a decision. Ryan was pro-Maryland and I was pro-Virginia, but both places were great! Ryan finally fell asleep at 2am, still doing research!

Saturday morning it was do or die! Our flight was at 2:20pm which meant we had to decide on a place and do paperwork by about 12:30, keeping in mind that the leasing offices didn't open until 10:00am! So we decided on a place just in the nick of time and were so lucky to be the first people at the leasing office because another couple came in and looked just like us! We knew that if we had hesitated another moment, the apartment we couldn't get out of our heads might have been gone! We realized we just couldn't pass up the amenities, best balcony we had ever seen and two months free!

Want to see the place we picked??? Just copy and paste:

www.TheGrandApartments.com

We're at the bottom of the top baby!! This will really be grand living! We will know tomorrow for sure if we are approved for our favorite apartment!!

Searching was stressful, but now that we have found a place, we just want to know if we are approved and are actually beginning to feel excited about the move!

Success!

We found a place!

I'll write all about our mini-adventure tomorrow, when I am capable of functioning.

Now, I'm going to bed!