Weekend!

well, in the middle of True Blood (the best part of any Sunday), dad texted me requesting a blog update, so, here it is.

friday night katelyn's mom and aunts were in town and didn't leave till later in order to miss rush hour traffic on their drive home to Baltimore, so we didnt all go to the grocery until late. we came home and decided to make stir fry since we had so many leftover vegetables from the office reception/networking event the night before. aside from my apparent ineptitude when it comes to measuring how much water is needed to cook rice, dinner was really good! we didnt finish until almost 930, however, and were all too tired to summon up energy to do much else.

we all got to bed early and got up early saturday morning to go to Eastern Market. Eastern Market is a great farmer's market style, craft fair with over 100 vendors and the best breakfast you'll find anywhere. its a huge deal here and we'd all been wanting to go. we waited in line for an hour for breakfast, but it was worth it. we all got 'blue bucks', aka blueberry buckwheat pancakes which were HEAVENLY :) and shopped around. people here are obsessed with pandas, as they're the most popular animals in the national zoo- so it's a good thing i dont have a little sister in AOII to shop for anymore or i'd be buying this panda stuff left and right.

After looking around for a bit, we went to the Smithsonian Museum of American History. It was really great! It was nice going with girls because we all agreed on what exhibits to focus on and what to ignore. Things we loved- the First Ladies Exhibit, the President's Exhibit, and the pop culture section. Things we ignored- all things related to science and technology.

We rushed home to catch as much of the US-Ghana game as possible. We ended up being able to catch all of the additional time from 90 min. mark onward. sadly, it didn't end as we'd hoped but i'm honestly ok with that, because the US can't be the best at everything, right? ;) Also, i'd be happy if an African country was able to win and Ghana is the last shot at that happening. It is unfortunate that this is the 2nd consecutive time theyve knocked us out of the tournament, however.

Liz Furman happened to be watching the World Cup game in Matthew's suite, so she came over and we all hung out for awhile, and then decided to go to dinner and a movie in China Town, an area i hadn't been to yet. China Town was the first time DC has felt like NYC to me since ive been here. It made me realize how much more i like the feel of DC than bigger cities like NYC and Chicago that i've been to. We had a great dinner and then split up for movies (liz had already seen TS3 and i'm waiting to see it with Maria when she gets in town)

Liz and I saw "Get Him to the Greek" which was hilarious!!! i knew it had gotten really great reviews but i still had my doubts- and they were proven wrong. it was really hilarious and a night with liz is never a bad time!!!

today i got up early and went to an Episcopal Church literally feet from the White House with matthew. it was very interesting and remarkably similar to a Catholic mass (except for the female presider). Afterwards, i hung out in the suite until the VIEW BBQ, which was a lot of fun. Complete with grilling out, music, and pie, it was a great time and it was fun to see everyone and hang out for a bit. After, i went and worked out and then finally got to talk to my mom on the phone (its been weeks!) that was wonderful, and then i made some dinner and the True Blood group convened and enjoyed our favorite television indulgence.

Now, off to bed! Can't wait to see Laura and Mom this Thursday!

week 3

well, another work week is finally coming to a close.

monday & tuesday were honestly awful days at work. i had nothing to do and was entirely bored all day. however, tuesday after work i went down to the hill and had dinner with Matthew taylor and Mary Lamar Washburne. She's been interning since school got out and is leaving today so it was great to get to see her, especially because she'll be in Florence all fall semester :(

I rushed home Tuesday night to watch Pretty Little Liars with the roommates and our friend Gheremey who is a VIEW participant and lives on our floor. We can' t help but love it for how awful of a show it is.

Wednesday was a better day at work. I've finished Arts & Health Month and the website should be launching in the very near future! it's a good sense of accomplishment. Now I'm working on planning the Ambassador's Dinner, which is a 500 person event for the many supporters of the arts in Congress, major organizations, and other arts related industries. It's been a lot of tedious work but it's cool to know I'm working on something that is important to the society.

it has been UNBEARABLY hot in DC this week. hotter than temps in Texas and other areas normally much hotter than DC. We actually set a record yesterday when the temperature hit 100. Walking a mile each way to and from work is miserable in business clothes but oh well!

Last night Evlyn (my supervisor/membership coordinator at the SAH) and I went straight from work to the VIEW Reception, which was held at the Vanderbilt Federal Relations Office, which is down by the hill and is where Jillian, my roommate works. It is a gorgeous building and was a networking style cocktail party for all of the VIEW students, our mentors, and employers. I met some really nice and interesting people- including a man who actually went to Trinity high school in Louisville and grew up on Hanover, which is within walking distance of our home in Louisville! He is going to get Jill and Katelyn and I into a criminal trial so we can watch what really goes on during a court case. Also, Professor Dalhouse, who oversees the program, flew in from Nashville and was at the reception. We got to talking and now I might be babysitting for he and his wife in the fall as they have two twin boys who are 3 (and they live on the Commons in East House!) It was a really nice evening but by the time it was over I was wiped out and my feet weren't too happy with me either. Since jill works at the host site of the event, we got to take home ALL of the gourmet leftovers! However, they weighed about 30 pounds and we had to lug them home via metro...THAT was an experience. We made a lot of friends on the ride home who wanted some of our delicious food. Now we wont have to go to the grocery for awhile!

Today my computer crashed at work (seeing as it is a 9 year old Dell, i am not surprised at all.) the old piece of crap freaks out on me daily and has been through a few too many interns to work much longer. Im on Anita, my boss's computer, since she is at a conference in Baltimore, while a repairman tries to salvage my computer. looks like i might be bringing in my macbook (yay! mac!!!) instead of working on the desktop for the rest of the summer.

Not sure of too many weekend plans yet, other than going to Eastern market tomorrow with the roommates and other VIEW people. It's supposed to be a wonderful open air farmers's market plus it has a lot of booths for jewelery, crafts, and other things. Can't wait!

and i'm back!

Sorry for the delay in posting!

Thursday was uneventful at work- I'm still getting to do a lot for starting up Arts & Health Month, which should be really cool once we've got it up and running.

Liz picked me up from work Thursday night and we went on what became a driving extravaganza. I'm not used to living in a city with tons of traffic and lots of driving- but DC certainly requires patience on the road! We looked around Tyson's mall (wow, i could spend my life savings there) and then picked up our AOII sister Veronica and drove to Bethesda (such a cute area!!) and got dinner at a great Thai place there. Then we dropped Veronica off and then me- but by then it was after 11pm! Let's just say we did a lot of driving around. But that's ok because Liz and i never run out of things to talk about so we had a great time.

Friday at work was fine, and more relaxed because my boss wasn't there. I got to leave a bit early to go to Metro Center for the Ivy League Mixer. It included students from Harvard, Penn, Stanford, Yale, Vandy and a few other places...but basically the Vandy kids were singled out as the dumb ones since we aren't an ivy. It was fun, but it certainly didn't do anything but reaffirm my impression of Ivy league kids and make me very glad i go to school where i do! i got to meet some nice people though and it was fun to get out. The best part was that the frozen yogurt place we've been dying to try, called froZENyo, was only a block away. the suite girls went after the mixer and it was soooo delicious. it far surpassed any other froyo i've had and was delicious! After we went back to the suite and just laid low for the night because we were all so tired.

Saturday was not the best day for me- i dont know if it was the leftover Thai i had for dinner Friday night or something else but i had awful food poisoning all day and literally couldn't leave our room all day. i was getting sick all day and basically just slept the ENTIRE day. i feel better now but it was quite a waste of a Saturday!

So today, i want to wish happy father's day to all the wonderful fathers in my life- my dad, my grandpa Paw Paw, my many great role models that are my friends parents, and many more! I also don't want to leave out my late grandpa Pop, as this is only our family's 2nd father's day without him. All of yall are in my thoughts today and i wish i could be at home in KY to celebrate Father's Day with the family. This afternoon i'm going to try and go to a museum, then have dinner with the suite girls and watch True Blood- because we're all obsessed!

We grilled out!!!

Grilling out- thankfully avoided the rain!

9/11/01 Memorial at the Pentagon

Abe statue in the capitol

don't make too much fun of my inability to be artsy

CLT (currently listening to, for all of you who are not-Clay): Find Your Love- Drake

Monday was uneventful, other than actually getting a REAL LUNCH BREAK. this is revolutionary , since normal lunch consists of silently eating at our desks. Since it was Cara's birthday (our secretary) i lugged a glass tray of iced brownies there as a surprise, and we all went out to lunch to celebrate. We went to an awesome restaurant with great food that also doubles as a performance space and coffee shop (called Busboys & Poets). all 4 of us came home and just ate together and watched TV- Katie and i both watch Secret Life together.

Tuesday all of the VIEW interns were off work (yay!) and went on a group tour of the capitol and the pentagon. the capitol tour could have been better, as we had some organizational issues, but lunch and the pentagon tour were awesome. we had a vandy undergrad & vandy engineering alum who is a doctor and works in the pentagon give us a super cool, private tour. then we got to go outside the pentagon and see the 9/11 memorial, which i also really loved. it was very simple but i'd never heard of it before and was very impressed.

after that, all 4 of us were exhausted from a lot of walking and came back to rest our feet. after a quick turnaround, we went to the nearby farmer's market. it was great to look around, but stuff didn't seem in season yet and was too expensive. we made our normal weekly grocery run and came back. since it's resident-appreciation-month, they had a free barbeque on the porch, complete with balloons and live music and really good food! barbeque, cole slaw, corn on the cob, etc. then matthew, liz furman (who came over!!!) and the 4 suite girls drove to georgetown, which i'm now obsessed with, and went to Baked and Wired, a 1/2 cupcake store 1/2 coffee shop. it was amazing. we shopped a bit and then came back.

our suite is addicted to really poorly acted, poorly written, cheesy television. aka, ABC Family. Naturally, we watch their new show Pretty Little Liars and plan to all summer. It'll become tuesday night routine for sure. This morning Katelyn and i were a bit slow moving, unwillingly returning to work. i was a little later to leave this morning (still got to work 10 min. early) so i got to ride with some VIEW people on the metro. Work was fine, a bit slow today, but i'm getting to do a lot of really great work on the first annual Arts & Health month. its really great to be able to be with the project from its inception and help make it get off the ground.

as usual, g chat saves me from complete and utter boredom at work. the highlight of the day was when katelyn, jillian and i realized we can GROUP gchat. Our lives (and productivity levels) will never be the same. however, it is helping me learn to multi-task, out of sheer necessity.

after work i got to FINALLY talk with katie (Vandy roomie and best friend, not Katie my roommate here or Katelyn my roommmate here- confusing, i know) and skype briefly, do to bad wifi. I lovvvvve her and it was so nice to get to begin to discuss all the stuff we need to catch up on, since she's been out of the country most of the summer so far!

then, the suitemates, minus katie who was at a work dinner, decided to defy gender stereotypes and grill out. we managed to out-grill the gay couple that we shared the grill with (it was quite hilarious, 3 girls cooking big cheeseburgers with ease while 2 clearly gay men cant manage to cook their thin strips of chicken) and enjoyed a really nice, sit down dinner complete with squash, cucumbers and a rich dish with vegetables freshly supplied from katelyn's family. Katelyn and i went to the gym and worked out and then we watched the season premiere of Top Chef: DC. its so cool to see the show set in the city we're living in! im sure we'll watch that regularly too.

i also spent a good hour saving, well, rescuing, Omar's suite from it's filthy conditions. he called asking for cleaning supplies but i soon realized his situation required drastic action. these 4 boys have no trash bags, no cleaning supplies, and no care that their place is trashed, has bugs already, and smells awful. the future housewife in me kicked in to gear and managed to sanitize, clean and organize the whole place. since ive already baked for them too im sure they consider me their house mom haha.

now, off to bed. sooo tired. hopefully seeing liz again tomorrow! also, my boss hinted we might get Ethiopian food for lunch!

the rest of my not-so-lazy-sunday

I liked the Corcoran gallery. didn't love it, but had a nice time wandering around. i also walked around the area for awhile, stumbled through the GWU campus, and found a nice coffee place to get an iced coffee. then i met a really cool woman who happened to be visiting from Hawaii, where she teaches art history! she is in town looking at new collections at art museums and even has a gallery in NYC! we exchanged cards...hmm. such a cool coincidence!

Then, Liz picked matthew and i up and we met her friend mary beth, who was wonderful, and we went to dinner at Clyde's in Georgetown. Georgetown really isn't accessible from the metro, so it was sooo great to get to see it and bethesda. we had a wonderful evening and now i'm ready for work tomorrow!

Song I'm currently in love with:

Since i have a 45 minute commute each day, i get a lot of time to listen to my ipod (which i LOVE). I'll try to update with my DC playlist :)

i know at least clay will like this, haha since we share a mutual appreciation/obsession with music

First Weekend

At the Gay Pride Parade in Dupont Circle

Late-Night Visit to the White House

Katelyn and my room

Kitchen

Dining Room (that we rarely use)

Living area

After making and delivering brownies for Omar and his suitemates to congratulate them on completing their 1st week of working in the 'real world', the suite girls walked down to crystal city, which is about 1/2 mile away and has all of the shopping/restaurants close to us. the area is really nice (i learned about it from my boss on our tour last week!) and we went to this great restaurant called Urban Thai that was small, inexpensive, and great food! we're trying to eat a lot of ethnic food since we don't get the opportunity in Nashville (and in my case, not in Louisville either!)

Then we took the metro to Dupont Circle, which is a really great area, and wandered around looking at restaurants, nightlife and sights. We ended up at the White House around 11pm, and it was really cool to see the White House at night. After that we crashed as we were all tired from the long week.

Saturday we all went to Pentagon City Mall (right by the metro stop) and looked around- it's 4 stories tall! All the DC people i've talked to say it's an 'ok' mall, but to someone from Louisville, this mall is incredible :) Then Michael Kariya came over to our place to watch the World Cup game (US v UK) and we hung out here and ate lunch. Then i met up with the other 3 suite girls in Dupont Circle for the Gay Pride parade! It's pride week, and the parade was huge! We caught tons of free beads, t shirts, candy and got to hear a lot of Lady Gaga music (of course). We even ran into quite a few Vandy people that we didn't even know were in DC for the summer! It was a great time and definitely entertaining. The highlight had to be all 4 of us leaping into the air to catch a blue noodle (the type you play with in pools) that we carted around all night long and plan to use in our rooftop pool very soon. Then we stumbled across this small diner called Luna's and ate there- and it was surprisingly good! All of the restaurants here have really cool decor and are so varied in their styles and I love it- especially after taking Modern Architecture last semester. I'm nerdily fascinated by it all, haha. Then we took the metro home and stayed up late just talking and had some VIEW friends over to hang out for a bit.

This morning we went to brunch at Freddie's, which is right next to the Thai place we ate at on Friday night, which is a gay restaurant/bar (there is no intentional pattern, it just had good reviews and has crazy decorations!) that has a great brunch buffet! We loved all the kooky decorations and had a good time. Now we're back in the apartment and Katelyn's mom is driving up from Baltimore (or down, i guess i should say) to bring her more things we've discovered we need in the apartment. I'm going to take the metro downtown and go see the Corcoran Art Gallery...it's not free but it's been on the top of my list of art galleries to see. it'll be nice to go by myself and just wander through. Later, we'll probably just eat in the room and have a suitemate meeting to plan out our week. We have tons of stuff planned for after work, since we're finally starting to get a hang of life here!

Highlights i'm looking forward to next week:

Monday- meeting up with Katelyn near the hill where she works and getting froyo and watching her office's softball game (but not playing because...come on, it's me)

Monday- Cara (our administrative asst.) is turning 25! We're going out to lunch to celebrate!

Tuesday- Megan, Katelyn's roommate from Vandy who also lives in Baltimore, just offered us FREE tickets to see the Dixie Chicks, Keith Urban, and The Eagles play at the Nationals Stadium!!!! I love Megan and this will be such a fun night!

Tuesday- oh, i forgot. i dont have to work tuesday!! The VIEW group is going together for Tennessee Tuesdays (breakfast w/ TN congressmen), a tour of the Pentagon and tour of the capitol

I'm posting a bunch of pictures, sorry this post is so long- here you can see what our apt looks like! More on facebook, and don't worry adults, the album is limited profile so you can ALL see it :)

WEEKEND!

Sorry, extreme fatigue set in last night as I hadn't gotten more than 4 hours of sleep a night all week...you can only do that for so long before even coffee doesn't keep you alert! Above are some pictures of the park across the street from where I work (more on FB) at the end of this lawn you can see over all the buildings and see the Washington Monument in the distance.

Yesterday was great at work. With there only being 5 of us (including myself) in the office, i'm working almost completely independently and am doing as much as anyone else in the office. Yesterday I did some mailing stuff- stuffing envelopes, stamping, sealing etc, but I also got to listen in (and contribute a little!) to the conference call with the membership committee which consisted of people calling from all over the country in addition to Great Britain and Australia! It was really cool and very informative but left me with a very long to-do list! After that I compiled a list of all of the member emails that were no longer working, scoped the internet and our database to find another way to contact them, and started the arduous process of calling every member with a falty email. That took a few hours but it was nice to get to talk to some of our members. I also finished writing multiple letters regarding our new website resources, membership renewal, etc that will be sent out to 1,700+ people. Not too shabby! The best part about yesterday was that I actually got to interact with my coworkers. Anita, our boss, was out of the office yesterday and today and so the environment was a bit more relaxed. Not that Anita isn't great- because she's been a big help in the office, but everyone talked a lot more and I really like the women I work with. A big plus is how casual our office is- I've still been dressing up a lot but it's nice to know I won't necessarily have to most days (considering the forecast for the weekend is 90 degrees, muggy, humid and rainy I'll be just doing whatever to survive!).

After work I went to the courthouse metro stop in Arlington, not too far from where we live in pentagon city and met my mentor, Tyler for the first time. He's only 23 (graduated from VU last year) but was a big help. We got coffee and he talked to me about post-grad options and what he does working in a senator's office on the hill. We're going to try to meet every week and I'm lucky to have such a great mentor! By the time i got home at 8 i was exhausted, but since Katelyn and i had marinated chicken the night before we decided to broil it and make dinner for basically the first time since we've been here. Being exhausted, we both weren't in our most sensible minds and forgot to move the salt and pepper shakers off the stove top and the plastic tops melted into jiffy-pop-shaped forms (see previous post for photo!) As hilarious as it was, we managed to throw together really delicious chicken, corn, salad and some bread and had a nice dinner. After dinner, we all 4 collapsed and had our eyes set on the weekend!

Work today was great- especially because I got to leave early around 230! Now that 3 of us are home early from work, I made brownies for one of the boys suites down the hall since my friend Omar lives there and I'm trying to be a good neighbor and congratulate them on completing the first week of work (it was a challenge!). Katelyn and i are considering exploring the blocks around us, and later the 4 of us are going to a highly recommended Thai place for dinner, and then maybe a free Jazz concert where a lot of our coworkers will be. It's great to know we can actually sleep in tomorrow and YAY FOR THE WEEKEND!

Walking to the u street metro heading home over 2 hours early! Thank you God for that much needed blessing! Also, GO 'DORES

It keeps getting better

Cooking FAIL.

too tired to blog...more later :)

3

Today was the best day in the office by far. I actually got to be in the office with all 4 regular employees and we interacted a lot more than before (it's usually silent entirely all day)

We had a guest come in to discuss arts and health programs all the way from Australia- really great accent :) which is always interesting. I finally figured out what I'm going to be doing, and worked a lot on preliminary ideas for our first annual Arts in Health Month (which will be this upcoming November). I also worked on writing a lot of different letters and promotions for targeting members and increasing membership.

I'm also working on other things such as press releases, news blurbs for newsletters, and various things in the office. it's very independent work and sometimes it's challenging, but it's rewarding at the end of the day. And the park across the street has a view of the Washington Monument which is gorgeous. After work I took the metro to Dupont Circle and met up with my good friend Omar, who is a VIEW intern at the RFK center. We caught up in the park there and then went to a panel of experts discussing US-Iranian relations. It was very well done but by the time we got home at 830, I was exhausted! The suite all ate together and watched Cake Boss for way too long- the time just zooms by when you're too tired to really pay attention!

Tomorrow, i've got another regular day in the office and then i'm meeting with my mentor for dinner. Can't wait!

Work, Day 2

I got to meet my boss, Anita, today! She's been in Israel with her family for a wedding- and from the pictures we saw it looked amazing! I did a lot of similar stuff today, and worked a lot on the social media aspect the office is working to expand- especially Twitter! (although, that got difficult when the new Lady Gaga video premiered- it crashed twitter for over an hour. wow.)

We had a prominent member visiting in town come into the office for a meeting this afternoon, which was interesting to listen in on. Also, Anita was nice enough to drive me home, as she also lives in Arlington. On top of that, she gave me a tour of the entire surrounding area- so now i'm not so clueless!!!

Jillian arrived today, so our suite is complete! While Katie was hearing Ralph Nader speak, the 3 of us went to the grocery and Bed, Bath & Beyond and actually had a really fun time. We rushed back just in time to watch Glee, and then all crashed out of exhaustion! I finally have hangers so the giant mound of clothes that has been residing on my floor is now hung nicely in the closet. Day 3 tomorrow!

Internship: Day 1

Wow, I am tired. (As expected!)

For my internship, I get up by 7am and leave by 745..Katelyn's one-cup coffee maker is amazing and will save my mornings no doubt. I arrive at my metro stop around 8:30 and it takes until about 8:50 to get to work, depending on lights, etc. Not the closest commute but I think I'll get it down. I'm dreading when it'll get really hot though, because it doesn't take much to ruin your hair and makeup and feel gross all day.

I work in a gorgeous Victorian house, on the top floor. The office I work in is very small- only one room and there are 4 regular staffers (all females- no surprise there) and myself. Only 2/4 of the regular staffers were there today, so tomorrow will be when I get to meet the other 2, including the executive director. I am going to be working pretty independently and can foresee accomplishing a lot once i get the hang of things. I haven't interned before, or worked much in an office setting, so i'm hoping to catch on to everything quickly. today was a bit overwhelming, as i didn't receive too much of an orientation and the office was absolutely silent from 9-5. No lunch break- the women simply pull out their lunches at 1pm and eat at their desks and continue working. I don't know how i'll feel about that much silence! Hopefully once we get into the swing of things i'll be able to go over to the great park across the street. I will be working on issues pertaining to membership recruitment and retention (primarily) and hope to help out a lot! It's too early to say how i feel about everything overall, but it's definitely a LOT to absorb.

After work, I took the red line all the way out to the stops that are parking garages and Michael Kariya picked me up and took me to his house for dinner with his family! It was so great and i am so lucky to have friends in the area who want to see me! Michael cooked dinner for us and it was wonderful- steaks, sweet potatoes, green beans, and bread, completed with delicious brownies made by his sister. I even got to bring the extra dessert home, which the roomies appreciated! I stayed for a few hours and got to hang out with his parents and sister, all of whom were great and truly fun to talk to. It was so great to get to have a nice, family style dinner! Then I came back and realized how exhuasted i was- caught up with my 2 roommates and Matthew as well about their first days, and now i'm planning to start all over again! It's certainly a hectic lifestyle (as i can already tell!) but I am determined to not waste a second.

Also, I'm really excited that Vandy won their baseball regional tonight! Yes, it was against UofL, to which i devote my loyalty also, but i'm all about a good upset- and it was great to see them win and advance to a super regional! Go 'Dores!

Where I Work:

Here's the facebook page for my work:

And here is the website

just if you're interested!

the last day of DC without work!

The baseball game was great! I got to see the Nationals (where Adam Dunn, former Louisville Bats and Cincinnati Reds fan favorite, now plays!) playing the Cincinnati Reds, and it was actually a good game! The Nationals are normally awful, so that was fortunate.

Katelyn and I had QUITE the adventure at Giant grocery store. It's an older building so the layout wasn't great, and since it was our first trip we needed a LOT of stuff. And going right when people were getting off work made it crowded. However, we got everything we needed and got back to our apartment and let me tell you, having an elevator is a great improvement from living in Scales all year without one. I had to dash off quickly because LIZ FURMAN is back from Paris and was picking Matthew and I up for dinner! She drove us to Old Town Alexandria which is amazing and perfect in every way, where we met up with her mom and stepfather for a lovely dinner. Then we walked around the area (there are real cobblestone streets!) that had cute shops and stores, grabbed some ice cream and ate it while looking over the water at Maryland. It was a really wonderful night, and much cooler!

Afterwards, Katelyn and I checked out the gym downstairs. it is beyond amazing. not only does each machine have a touch-screen workout formatting screen, but it hooks up to your ipod so you can control your ipod (scrolling through songs, playlists, whatever) from the machine screen. all the machines also have TV and you can listen to music while you watch tv with closed captions. There are tons of machines, everything is new, plus there are weights, weight machines, mats, medicine balls, etc. I actually might want to work out :)

Now I've figured out everything for tomorrow and have a packed lunch, selected outfit, and mapped out course. Hopefully tomorrow goes well! Now, i've got to get some sleep!

Day 2, thus far

So, the day has had its fair share of emotions thus far!

This morning, realizing we had no food in the apartment, I temporarily delayed breakfast (I'd never skip the best meal of the day!) and went on the metro alone to find my workplace. If anyone has any idea of my sense of direction, you know that it's nonexistent. I work in Columbia Heights, which is a fairly 'transitional' area, so I have to be very careful about where I walk. Parts of the area are very cool and modern with new shops and stores, and mere blocks away are government-provided housing, rundown areas, etc.

I'll be sure to map out the best location! Sadly, I got turned around finding my building, since it's a good 3/4 of a mile from the metro stop. It was 90 degrees and humid and well, you get the idea. Also, I was running late to get back to the apartments for an 11 o'clock meeting with the group. Finally, I found my building and it's BEAUITFUL! It's a historic building and across from a wonderful park...mere blocks from a Starbucks (which provided breakfast!) and a Target and many lunch places. I can certainly see myself eating lunch in this park daily.

I then got lost looking for the metro station to take back to our apartment ( I was told to take a different one than the one I came on) and ended up running (literally) aimlessly to find the stop and not miss my train. Well, I missed it, but caught the next one 15 minutes later. I got back just fine and only a little bit late. We had a group lunch and then all went to watch the Nationals play the Reds! My mentor couldn't make it, but I met a lot of other cool Vandy alumns and also got to see my sorority sister Claire who lives in the area (and is a VIEW alum). The game was great until the weather turned nasty and we decided to leave. Now, we're back in our apartment and Katelyn and I are about to go to the Giant grocery store (apparently they're like Kroger? haha) and stock up on food. Our 4th suitemate still isn't here since she is taking the LSAT tomorrow, but we can't wait to meet her!

Tonight, I'm really excited because one of my best friends and AOII sisters at school, Liz, is back home from her Maymester in Paris! She lives really close to our apartments (10 minute drive!) and has invited Matthew and I over to her house for dinner! I am beyond excited to see her and her family. It's hard to believe that I have to go to work tomorrow! I'll be on the subway by 8am to give myself plenty of time to get there. I've already come to the realization that I am going to be hot and sweaty constantly. I'm VERY glad my hair is shorter, but business casual in the heat and very hot metro is going to take some getting used to!

More later!

First Day

Wow, I'm exhausted. We got into DC early this afternoon and got settled in. Fortunately, both of my 2 suitemates (the 3rd arrives later this week) drove and therefore were much more prepared with supplies and necessities for our suite. The suite is pretty nice- big bathroom, nice living area and a decently stocked kitchen. The fitness center downstairs is brand new (maybe incentive to actually use it? haha) and the pool is on the roof!

The lobby is being renovated in our building so there literally isn't even dry wall yet. But, more surprising than that was the concierge woman who was...well, interesting. Let's just say that I can think of members of the Addams family who she too closely resembled...and they also had more warmth to them!

Katelyn (my roommate) is awesome and we sorted out our large amount of clothes and shoes and got things figured out. I finally got to Skype with Maria in Spain (yay wifi) and then Omar came up to visit before dinner. The whole group met up (about 25 in total) and we walked to a nice Italian restaurant for dinner. Then we took the metro to view the monuments at night- WOW! That was a really cool experience- I definitely liked the WWII Memorial the best, but it's impossible to remember the grandeur and awe of the monuments until you return to them. Seeing them at night was a great perspective. We passed GWU on our way back and it was really nice to see their campus- nothing like Vandy! Very urban...I really liked their greek houses though. Then we rode the subway home as a collectively exhausted, hot, and sweaty group. Only a few minor mishaps with the subway so far but unfortunately my internship is one of the further ones from our suites- meaning early mornings for me!

Tomorrow we're going to have a practice run to our internships to figure out the best route, then meet back and go to a Nationals game where we will sit with our mentors and meet with alums. After we'll probably hit up the grocery for basic supplies. I'm in awe that I'm here and am so excited to get started with work and figuring out everything about this amazing city!