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!