28: Sunshine, Ryan's Fantasy Football Draft Party, Renee's having dinner with Krystal and Devon
29: Sunshine and lots of friends visiting at the beach house
30: We extended the beach house and we don't have a car, so please visit!
31: Ryan in the sunshine and Renee at Glen Ivy with Katie, Ali, and Amb! (As long as I can figure out how to get there!)
September
1: Last full day at the beach house! Time to get those last freckles!!
2: Check out of the beach house... sadness
3: Hang out with Mom and Dani- YAY!
4: Disneyland with Amber and whoever else is available!
5: L.A. County Fair!
6: Gallery opening at Fringe
7: Fly back to Maryland... boo.
Free time available: Sept 2nd afternoon and evening, Sept 5th during the day, Sept 6th during the day... that's it!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Weekends
Last weekend was really nice. After work on Friday, I met Ryan in Chinatown and we joined my new friend Becky (ADPi Alum) for her birthday party at happy hour at RFD. It was nice to see some of the girls I met at our last event and to meet new people! After the party, we joined Hailey and Teddy, who were back in town for the weekend with some friends, at the Nationals game! I love live sports and Nationals games have an added bonus because they have Ben's Chili Bowl giant turkey dogs (delicious)! We started the game in the nosebleed seats, which really aren't bad seats there, and then moved down to the floor seats a few inning into the game. Of course, the moment we take our seats, it begins to sprinkle! The sprinke increased rapidly to a full-out rain!! Ryan noticed just how lucky all of the guys in our little group were because all four women brought umbrellas just in case! Girls are awesome! We kept our good seats and stayed relatively dry while the Nats played through. Unfortunately, they ended up losing (we don't expect wins, really) but it was still a good time! I miss Hailey already though!
Saturday, I finally was able to meet more of Ryan's colleagues!! We took advantage of the Restaurant Week specials and met with three other ARSM's and their wives at Indigo on the waterfront. The food was pretty good and the conversation was great! Ryan and I did a good job holding our own in the conversation, especially considering that I was at least ten years younger than everyone else at the table! It made me feel so proud of Ryan for moving up so fast in the company! Go, baby, go! We're looking forward to getting together with them again soon. The best part of the evening was going to our favorite memorial after dinner: the FDR Memorial. It's so peaceful and beautiful. It's definitely one of the most romantic places in DC.
So, now we are counting down the days til our California vacation!! We'll be flying in Friday night after work, landing nice and late (sorry to whoever iss picking us up!), and staying the night at Ryan's parents. Saturday morning, we're off to the beach house!! Woo hoo! Please come hang out with us in Newport! Ditch work for a day and come bask in the sunshine and swim! Or, if you can't ditch work for us, come down to have dinner during the week. The bbq will be going almost nonstop, we promise!! This is what our vacation looks like so far:
August
23: Check in to the beach house early in the afternoon, then sunshine!
24: Sunshine
25: Sunshine
26: Ryan- Sunshine, Renee- Restaurants with Amber!
27: Ryan- Fantasy Football Draft Party, Renee- Restaurants with Amber!
28: Sunshine
29: Sunshine until we check out of the beach house, then sadness
30: Ryan- might stay at the beach at Cotter's, Renee- Mom's house!
31: Ryan- who knows, Renee- Glen Ivy with KARMA girls!
September
1:
2:
3:
4:
5: L.A. County Fair!
6:
7: Fly back to Maryland
There are quite a few blanks on our schedule and lots of lazy days at the beach!! Help us fill our calendar!! We might not be back in Cali til Christmas so use us up while we're there!! There are a few things we definitely want to do while we're there on non-sunshine days, so if you want to enjoy them with us, pick a day: Disneyland, Wabi Sabi, and Buffalo Wild Wings!!
See you soon!
Saturday, I finally was able to meet more of Ryan's colleagues!! We took advantage of the Restaurant Week specials and met with three other ARSM's and their wives at Indigo on the waterfront. The food was pretty good and the conversation was great! Ryan and I did a good job holding our own in the conversation, especially considering that I was at least ten years younger than everyone else at the table! It made me feel so proud of Ryan for moving up so fast in the company! Go, baby, go! We're looking forward to getting together with them again soon. The best part of the evening was going to our favorite memorial after dinner: the FDR Memorial. It's so peaceful and beautiful. It's definitely one of the most romantic places in DC.
So, now we are counting down the days til our California vacation!! We'll be flying in Friday night after work, landing nice and late (sorry to whoever iss picking us up!), and staying the night at Ryan's parents. Saturday morning, we're off to the beach house!! Woo hoo! Please come hang out with us in Newport! Ditch work for a day and come bask in the sunshine and swim! Or, if you can't ditch work for us, come down to have dinner during the week. The bbq will be going almost nonstop, we promise!! This is what our vacation looks like so far:
August
23: Check in to the beach house early in the afternoon, then sunshine!
24: Sunshine
25: Sunshine
26: Ryan- Sunshine, Renee- Restaurants with Amber!
27: Ryan- Fantasy Football Draft Party, Renee- Restaurants with Amber!
28: Sunshine
29: Sunshine until we check out of the beach house, then sadness
30: Ryan- might stay at the beach at Cotter's, Renee- Mom's house!
31: Ryan- who knows, Renee- Glen Ivy with KARMA girls!
September
1:
2:
3:
4:
5: L.A. County Fair!
6:
7: Fly back to Maryland
There are quite a few blanks on our schedule and lots of lazy days at the beach!! Help us fill our calendar!! We might not be back in Cali til Christmas so use us up while we're there!! There are a few things we definitely want to do while we're there on non-sunshine days, so if you want to enjoy them with us, pick a day: Disneyland, Wabi Sabi, and Buffalo Wild Wings!!
See you soon!
Friday, August 15, 2008
Job Hunting
The toughest transition I have had to make since moving here is looking for a real job. It's been tough for Ryan too because he has to support me and all my crazy credit/medical/student loan bills.
I absolutely love my internship, don't get me wrong; it's been an amazing opportunity and I am thrilled to be learning so much! Politics was so unimportant to me until last month and now I think about my position on politics all of the time and the news actually matters! Unfortunately, my internship just does not pay the bills! My student loan bills alone are $550 a month!
I used March to settle us in to our new place and new life and then started applying for jobs like crazy in April. I have literally applied for 92 jobs between April 1st and August 12th. The toughest part about it has been not receiving a response after applying until this week, finally!
Yesterday, I had my first real hill interview. I interviewed for a Legislative Correspondent position on Senator Bob Casey's (Pennsylvania) staff. I was shocked to hear that over 200 people applied for the position and impressed to hear that I was 1 of 10 to be interviewed. They liked my writing sample, the simple resolution I wrote to honor the anniversary of StoryCorps and the contributions of the West African griot. It will be a few weeks before I know definitely because after the interviews they will choose the top 2 or 3 for a writing test (no problem!), and then, based on that, there will be a second meeting with the legislative director and another staffer. Surrounding the lengthy process is the fact that it's recess and everyone is on alternating vacations, including Ryan and me (in a week, for two weeks), so it really will take awhile. This was my first bite though, and I feel really good about it. It gave my confidence the boost it was craving. Ryan phrased it perfectly when he said I applied for 100 jobs and got a 1% chance, but that 1% turned into 10%. So, we'll see if I can get that to 33% or 50%, then 100%!
The more I learn about working on the hill, the more I want to be here. I love what I'm learning, and you all know I love to learn. Being part of the political process has been much more gratifying than I assumed it would be.
In addition, I desire the benefits: top notch medical and dental (especially after learning yesterday I will need a deep cleaning, 4 fillings, and 2 root canals), metro benefits (so I won't have to pay $4.05 each day each way to get to work), and help paying my student loans (up to $500 a month, depending on the office)!!
Time to go work on application 93...
I absolutely love my internship, don't get me wrong; it's been an amazing opportunity and I am thrilled to be learning so much! Politics was so unimportant to me until last month and now I think about my position on politics all of the time and the news actually matters! Unfortunately, my internship just does not pay the bills! My student loan bills alone are $550 a month!
I used March to settle us in to our new place and new life and then started applying for jobs like crazy in April. I have literally applied for 92 jobs between April 1st and August 12th. The toughest part about it has been not receiving a response after applying until this week, finally!
Yesterday, I had my first real hill interview. I interviewed for a Legislative Correspondent position on Senator Bob Casey's (Pennsylvania) staff. I was shocked to hear that over 200 people applied for the position and impressed to hear that I was 1 of 10 to be interviewed. They liked my writing sample, the simple resolution I wrote to honor the anniversary of StoryCorps and the contributions of the West African griot. It will be a few weeks before I know definitely because after the interviews they will choose the top 2 or 3 for a writing test (no problem!), and then, based on that, there will be a second meeting with the legislative director and another staffer. Surrounding the lengthy process is the fact that it's recess and everyone is on alternating vacations, including Ryan and me (in a week, for two weeks), so it really will take awhile. This was my first bite though, and I feel really good about it. It gave my confidence the boost it was craving. Ryan phrased it perfectly when he said I applied for 100 jobs and got a 1% chance, but that 1% turned into 10%. So, we'll see if I can get that to 33% or 50%, then 100%!
The more I learn about working on the hill, the more I want to be here. I love what I'm learning, and you all know I love to learn. Being part of the political process has been much more gratifying than I assumed it would be.
In addition, I desire the benefits: top notch medical and dental (especially after learning yesterday I will need a deep cleaning, 4 fillings, and 2 root canals), metro benefits (so I won't have to pay $4.05 each day each way to get to work), and help paying my student loans (up to $500 a month, depending on the office)!!
Time to go work on application 93...
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Olympic Silver!
Update: Kara Lynn Joyce won an Olympic Silver medal last night in the 4x100 freestyle relay!
Congratulations Kara Lynn!
Congratulations Kara Lynn!
Friday, August 8, 2008
Ryan's Cousin in the Olympics!
Ryan's cousin, Kara Lynn Joyce, is swimming in her second Olympics this week!
Her first event is the 4x100 freestyle relay heat tomorrow morning at 9:22 (east coast time). If her relay team qualifies in the heat, they will swim the final tomorrow night at 11:18 (east coast time).
Her next event is the 50 meter freestyle heat on Friday the 15th at 6:30am (east coast time). If she qualifies in that heat, she will swim the semifinal at 10:51 (east coast time) that evening. The final for the 50 freestyle will be on Saturday the 16th at 10pm (east coast time).
Please join us in supporting Kara Lynn as she swims for her second set of Olympic medals!
Her first event is the 4x100 freestyle relay heat tomorrow morning at 9:22 (east coast time). If her relay team qualifies in the heat, they will swim the final tomorrow night at 11:18 (east coast time).
Her next event is the 50 meter freestyle heat on Friday the 15th at 6:30am (east coast time). If she qualifies in that heat, she will swim the semifinal at 10:51 (east coast time) that evening. The final for the 50 freestyle will be on Saturday the 16th at 10pm (east coast time).
Please join us in supporting Kara Lynn as she swims for her second set of Olympic medals!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Parks to Pink Tourmalines!
We've been slacking! Our last blog was a week and a half ago! Yikes!
Well, last Saturday was a really fun day. I met with Hailey, Teddy, Antonina, and some of Hailey and Teddy's friends from church, at the National Arboretum Park. I had never heard of the Arboretum and I was so glad I went! It was so beautiful! It's a 400 acre park only 15 minutes away from the Capitol. The weather Saturday was perfect for a fun time checking out the foreign plants including herbs Hailey and Teddy sampled and Bonzai trees that amazed us all. We also had a really fun time playing frisbee with Hailey's giant frisbee!
Sunday, I went to Virginia to help register voters and only 30 minutes into our walk, it started to rain! By the time we got back to our cars, it was pouring!! If you know me and weather, I was white knuckling as well as I could, but even local drivers were pulling over to the side of the freeway because visibility was zero! I was an hour away from home and in a panic. I pulled off the freeway and into a parking lot and was fortunate enough to see a sign for Arundel Mills (like Ontario Mills) and knew I could kill some time walking through the mall. Then I realized it had a theater! So, I saw "Mamma Mia!" and if you haven't seen it yet, you should! I loved it!! Fortuately, by the time the movie ended, the storm had passed and I was able to head home safely.
Monday was an exciting day at work because I was able to attend an intern lecture featuring Colin Powell!! It was so great! He's a phenomenol speaker with so many wonderful experiences to share. He's funny too! I think his grandkids are so lucky to have such a cool grandpa (even though he's a Republican)!
Last Tuesday, I attended my first DC ADPi Alumni Event: Happy Hour at Veritas Wine Bar in Dupont Circle. I was apprehensive to go because I knew it was going to be completely different from the Inland Empire Alumni Association where the majority of members are from my chapter. The event was so nice! I was able to chat with women from chapters all over the country! Everyone was in my age range, from recent grads to early thirties, and either young professionals or grad students. I am looking forward to the next event.
Wednesday, I attended an intern lecture festuring Representative Rahm Emanuel who used to be an advisor to Bill Clinton. He was pretty cool. Then, Thursday, I got to see Representative James Clyburn who is the chair of the Democratic Caucus and I finally got the nerve to ask a question! There are usually about 100 interns on average at these lectures (well, Colin Powell had at least twice as many) and there is always a question and answer session. So, I asked a question regarding the recent AIDS and HIV legislation providing assistance to Africa and whether anything was being done to combat these diseases in the United States where it is still a number one killer among African Americans. I was pleased with his answer: Congress currently has many projects helping to combat the epidemic although they're not as publicsized in order to protect the people in those communities. Senator Barbara Boxer spoke next! Woo hoo California!! First of all, I never realized she was so timy! She had to stand on a little platform to see over the podium! She was brilliant of course, representing California well. She really put our position in Iraq in a new perspective.
Friday, I started the day at the doctors... yay. For the last few weeks I have been feeling really sleepy all day but have had trouble sleeping at night, my vision has been blurry, and I have been really thirsty. I was concerned that my PCOS was winning and causing me to develop Type II Diabetes, which it often does. Fortunately, we did a fasting glucose test and it was only 96! Perfectly fine! So what's been causing my lethargy? Allergies!! I have never been really diagnosed with allergies, I would just get the sniffles. My doctor actually said they are pretty severe, so she recommended I take zyrtec every morning and hopefully they will improve. Apparently, this is the worst allergy season in Maryland's history! Yay for my nose, eyes, and sleepy head!
Friday afternoon, I gave my first Capitol tour! It was great! The two women on the tour were so complimentary! Now I'm a pro! So, come visit and I'll give you a tour!
I had a fun Girl's Day Out with Hailey on Saturday!! I'm so sad she's moving back to Charlotte!! I guess she does have to finish school though! We met for lunch at Mon Amie Gabi in Bethesda. We were so excited because it was Bethesda Restaurant Week, so they had a pre-fixe menu for lunch or dinner and our lunch was only $12 each! I started with gezpacho (fabuluos! I'll go again just for that!) and she started with a salad, for our second course, I had a chicken salad sandwich with fruit salad and she had a chicken and mushroom crepe with fries, and for dessert we each had a chocolate covered cream puff filled with ice cream and topped with powdered sugar! What a lunch!! After lunch, we decided to do some ring browsing!! She has been with her boyfriend Teddy for over 5 years as well, so we both figured there is no harm in looking. We both were pleased with the outcome, especially because neither of us wants a diamond as a center stone. She realized what style of ring she wants and found some good options for center stones that appear to be diamonds to the untrained eye and I found the most beautiful gemstone that looked perfect against my skin: a soft pink tourmaline gemstone. Many come in dark pink or hot pink which is cool for fashion but not for every day. The ring I tried on just looked perfect on me. So I did some research on pink tourmalines and learned that the majority on the market come from Pala, California! No risk of a blood diamond there! If Ryan decides to get a diamond ring for me *(eventually), I will be happy with it, but I think I will eventually have to get a pink tourmaline for my right hand...
Well, last Saturday was a really fun day. I met with Hailey, Teddy, Antonina, and some of Hailey and Teddy's friends from church, at the National Arboretum Park. I had never heard of the Arboretum and I was so glad I went! It was so beautiful! It's a 400 acre park only 15 minutes away from the Capitol. The weather Saturday was perfect for a fun time checking out the foreign plants including herbs Hailey and Teddy sampled and Bonzai trees that amazed us all. We also had a really fun time playing frisbee with Hailey's giant frisbee!
Sunday, I went to Virginia to help register voters and only 30 minutes into our walk, it started to rain! By the time we got back to our cars, it was pouring!! If you know me and weather, I was white knuckling as well as I could, but even local drivers were pulling over to the side of the freeway because visibility was zero! I was an hour away from home and in a panic. I pulled off the freeway and into a parking lot and was fortunate enough to see a sign for Arundel Mills (like Ontario Mills) and knew I could kill some time walking through the mall. Then I realized it had a theater! So, I saw "Mamma Mia!" and if you haven't seen it yet, you should! I loved it!! Fortuately, by the time the movie ended, the storm had passed and I was able to head home safely.
Monday was an exciting day at work because I was able to attend an intern lecture featuring Colin Powell!! It was so great! He's a phenomenol speaker with so many wonderful experiences to share. He's funny too! I think his grandkids are so lucky to have such a cool grandpa (even though he's a Republican)!
Last Tuesday, I attended my first DC ADPi Alumni Event: Happy Hour at Veritas Wine Bar in Dupont Circle. I was apprehensive to go because I knew it was going to be completely different from the Inland Empire Alumni Association where the majority of members are from my chapter. The event was so nice! I was able to chat with women from chapters all over the country! Everyone was in my age range, from recent grads to early thirties, and either young professionals or grad students. I am looking forward to the next event.
Wednesday, I attended an intern lecture festuring Representative Rahm Emanuel who used to be an advisor to Bill Clinton. He was pretty cool. Then, Thursday, I got to see Representative James Clyburn who is the chair of the Democratic Caucus and I finally got the nerve to ask a question! There are usually about 100 interns on average at these lectures (well, Colin Powell had at least twice as many) and there is always a question and answer session. So, I asked a question regarding the recent AIDS and HIV legislation providing assistance to Africa and whether anything was being done to combat these diseases in the United States where it is still a number one killer among African Americans. I was pleased with his answer: Congress currently has many projects helping to combat the epidemic although they're not as publicsized in order to protect the people in those communities. Senator Barbara Boxer spoke next! Woo hoo California!! First of all, I never realized she was so timy! She had to stand on a little platform to see over the podium! She was brilliant of course, representing California well. She really put our position in Iraq in a new perspective.
Friday, I started the day at the doctors... yay. For the last few weeks I have been feeling really sleepy all day but have had trouble sleeping at night, my vision has been blurry, and I have been really thirsty. I was concerned that my PCOS was winning and causing me to develop Type II Diabetes, which it often does. Fortunately, we did a fasting glucose test and it was only 96! Perfectly fine! So what's been causing my lethargy? Allergies!! I have never been really diagnosed with allergies, I would just get the sniffles. My doctor actually said they are pretty severe, so she recommended I take zyrtec every morning and hopefully they will improve. Apparently, this is the worst allergy season in Maryland's history! Yay for my nose, eyes, and sleepy head!
Friday afternoon, I gave my first Capitol tour! It was great! The two women on the tour were so complimentary! Now I'm a pro! So, come visit and I'll give you a tour!
I had a fun Girl's Day Out with Hailey on Saturday!! I'm so sad she's moving back to Charlotte!! I guess she does have to finish school though! We met for lunch at Mon Amie Gabi in Bethesda. We were so excited because it was Bethesda Restaurant Week, so they had a pre-fixe menu for lunch or dinner and our lunch was only $12 each! I started with gezpacho (fabuluos! I'll go again just for that!) and she started with a salad, for our second course, I had a chicken salad sandwich with fruit salad and she had a chicken and mushroom crepe with fries, and for dessert we each had a chocolate covered cream puff filled with ice cream and topped with powdered sugar! What a lunch!! After lunch, we decided to do some ring browsing!! She has been with her boyfriend Teddy for over 5 years as well, so we both figured there is no harm in looking. We both were pleased with the outcome, especially because neither of us wants a diamond as a center stone. She realized what style of ring she wants and found some good options for center stones that appear to be diamonds to the untrained eye and I found the most beautiful gemstone that looked perfect against my skin: a soft pink tourmaline gemstone. Many come in dark pink or hot pink which is cool for fashion but not for every day. The ring I tried on just looked perfect on me. So I did some research on pink tourmalines and learned that the majority on the market come from Pala, California! No risk of a blood diamond there! If Ryan decides to get a diamond ring for me *(eventually), I will be happy with it, but I think I will eventually have to get a pink tourmaline for my right hand...
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