Thoughts of the day...

Monday, September 20.

Day 6 in D.C.

1. It's amazing to be somewhere and in such a short amount of time feel completely at home. I'm gathering my bearings fairly easily. I can maneuver the area without anxiety, not that I have any anyway (except for the big issue of J-O-B).

2. I think I need to start carrying tissues/chapstick on my runs now. 8 miles today. 4 to Georgetown, 4 back. GLORIOUS. I love running fast past all those yuppies... And window shopping.

3. This weather is so so so great. Cool, but not cold. Warm, but not hot. And humidity? Not really! Ah, my hurrrrr hasn't looked better in a while.

4. DCRR is great. Meet some cute, nice girls! Yay new friends! Edith's show was wonderful. The space was so fitting, exposed brick walls, old wood floors, exposed air ducts. Very cool and eclectic. The Falls Church is great. Again, met new friends! Can't wait to get more involved in everything.

5. The job hunt is going well. Everyone I talk to is very encouraging and helpful. Lurv it.

Love this. Love D.C. So grateful and thankful for all that has been given to me.

"Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" -Luke 6:38

So I copied and pasted an e-mail. Call me lazy. Or genius.

Hi!!!!

Alright, here we go.

Left Jville at like 11:30 on Monday. 1-95 was a boring bummer. And another disappointment? Water for Elephants on CD. Woof. It was this old slurring drunk man who narrated it. I honestly couldn't even listen to the first chapter. Bust. But I listened to this other novel, Karen Kingsbury something-something. It was ok, not mind blowing, but it passed the time. I arrived in Raleigh about 6:45. Pretty easy to get to! And beautiful! And cool outside! So nice to feel cool air again. Monny took me to this cute Mexican restaurant, Cantina 18 in Cameron Village. Nummy num nums. Then we went back to her place and watched the Bachelor Pad. Best show ever? Doubtful.

Left Raleigh around 9. Got to my place in Arlington about 2ish. Met Edith, who is super great. She's 65 and upbeat and especially cheerful considering her husband just passed away. I think she's glad to have someone around. She left to run errands and I unpacked everything. Surprisingly, it all fits! I mean, my room is definitely small. Smaller than Ben's. Like dorm sized with a queen bed. But my closet is adequate. And I have drawers. It's perfect for right now. I couldn't be happier. I wanted to go run at Iwo Jima with DCRR (DC Road Runners) at 7 that night, but I didn't finish unpacking until 6:20 plus I didn't know how to get there. Should I drive? Could I run there? Should I bike? So I left it and Edith cooked a pizza and put together a veggie plate with green beans and blue cheese, and roasted peppers, eggplant, etc. We sat outside in the backyard where she has a tented patio set up and ate and chatted. Lover-ly. Oh man, best part? She split this AWESOME dessert thingy she picked up from Costco. It's an ice cream bar dipped in chocolate and then dipped in almonds. Mind.Blowingly.Delicious. You can pick them up at the front, like with the churros and pizza slices as big as your head. Two thumbs up. And if I had more thumbs, they would be up too. Then I went to my room and made some phone calls (ahem, Mom and Dad) and applied to some jobs.

Woke up at 7:30 on Weds (yesterday), fixed some b-fast, made some nummy coffee in my super cool new coffee maker. Looked for some jobs. Tried to get oriented with the 'hood on googlemaps. Went for a run to Iwo Jima, which was fabulous. The run, the view, the neighborhood. EVERYTHING. Can you tell I am in hog heaven? LOVE this place. Best life decision ever! The memorial is only 3.3 miles from my place and is so easy to get to, plus I'm going straight through Ballston/Clarendon and checking out everything. I passed a Container Store, and Crate and Barrel, and Whole Foods and all sorts of fun stuff. Not that I will be purchasing anything from any of those lovely establishments anytime soon. Came home, showered, went and got a library card and explored that. Note: The Arlington Library has e-books you can rent. And if you're not a resident, you can pay for a membership for a set fee and rent them. Handy for those that are overseas (ahem, Kirbside). And cheaper than Kindle/Nook/what-have-you. Then Edith took me to (cue Hallelujah Chorus? No? Too over the top?) Trader Joe's. Loves it. Got some essentials... bananas, applesauce and peas (comfort food, just in cases. But obvi, I don't need any comforting!), frozen veggies, pita, tomatoes, rice, beans. Nope, no peach salsa. Not this go-around. Edith introduced me to TJ's Powerberries. Oh man, they are good! (She is SO bad for making me eat all this stuff!) The centers are juices from cranberries, acai, pomegranate, and blueberry and covered in dark chocolate. Whoa. Hey, new special treat. Went home, unpacked that and put on a cute black Target dress and silver TB flats to meet my friend Diana at the Verizon Center downtown. Yes, I navigated the Metro just fine. Child's play really. MB could do it in her sleep. (Miss you Mary Buck-Buck!)

She took me to this Launch Party for an "interesting" non-profit, Dog Meets World. It was started in Jville and her mom was involved in that launch, so she felt obligated to attend. And I'm up for anything, so whatevs! It was on the rooftop of the Newseum residences on Pennsylvania Ave with this ah-mazing view. Really, really cool. (Pics are up on FB) Good food, good people, good times. Then we went to a YNPN DC Networking gathering and I met a ton of youngsters with lots of information for me. But I got some more contacts and job leads that I'm going to follow up on today. Diana, her friend Sonya, and I went toNando's for some din-din, which was yummy and inexpensive (YAY!).

I love love love it here. Really, could not be happier.

Today's plan: Run (I'm thinking I'm going to check out Falls Church today. Find The Falls Church, so I know where I'm going on Sunday), and shoot out a bunch of e-mails. Wish me luck!

Love to all!

Kaylan

Me and Diana. And view. Oh hey, Capitol.

Old Post Office+Sunset=This.

Let's be honest, shall we?

It's D-Day.



Today is the day.



See ya Jacksonville. It's been real. It's been fun. But it hasn't been real fun.



(Yeah, I'm taking it back old school-- middle school yearbook signing old school)



I'm excited. Thrilled. Exhilarated. And terrified all rolled into one.



Time to be a big girl. Let's do this world.

Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts.

What, then shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31

Thoughts of the day...

And what a day it was!

1. I like Target. It's so clean and sparkly and they have cute clothes... on the cheapsies. Which is wonderful because I will soon be paying rent (yikes!) and can't afford my J.Crew/Anthropologie/Random boutique purchases.

So cute, I know. And inexpensive! And business-y! Oh joy of joys. I'm going to be a big girl with a big girl job. Can't wear t-shirts and running shorts to work anymore. (Yay! No more little kid messes!)

2. Where do kids pick up things? Like being so brand conscious? The 10 yr old, O., is obsessed with Under Armor, Nike, etc etc. I bought some new running shoes and switched brands (gasp!) and he's all like "Why? Why?" Well, because these new shoes are fitted to my feet better than my old ones... and I'm tired of getting blood blisters and wrapping my feet in duct tape before runs.

This is what I used to have to do. First layer is mole skin, then athletic wrap, then duct tape. Ridiculous, I know. So, I have new shoes. I'm a Saucony girl now. Sorry Mizunos... I still heart you.

3. Another things kids pick up: BAD words. The 4 yr old, W., dropped the F-bomb today. Really? REALLY? What do I do with that? I'm not his mom, I can't put hot sauce on his tongue or punish him really. I calmly asked him where he heard that. Do you know what he said??? "Oh, I just made it up in my head." Hmm..........

4. I'm exciiiiiiiiited about DC. YAY! I've found a church I want to try out, and a gym, and a running group, and applied to more jobs, and may have to babysit to supplement for a while. With everything that has come up recently, I feel more confident than ever that this is where I'm being led. Have faith, breathe deeply, and jump!

5. How am I going to get my bike up there?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Vernon_Trail

6. I'm going to miss this.......