Catch-up: Family Comes to DC

It is a lazy Saturday ( a much needed lazy one), and the accomplishments today have included: catching up on missed Top Chef episodes, making a "ghetto" latte with coffee from Copenhagen, showering, and eating a lunch of Mac N' Cheese. Luckily, we do have plans to meet-up with some friends tonight, but I am enjoying the art of nothingness for today.

Time continues to evaporate, and I find myself not even knowing how or where to start when I am presented with some down time. Most "down" time is spent watching TV--which is such a waste in so many ways, but often all my brain can comprehend after multiple busy weekends, and weeks of intense work.

After family visiting, a trip back west, a work trip up north and early morning weekends, I relished in a lack of an alarm, and taking my sweet time to get dressed and ready for the day.

To re-cap some of happenings from the last few weeks...I present mediocre iphone photos to capture the moments:

Birthday Dinner for Gramps at DGBG, complete with homemade sausages.

We did a weekend trip down to see Williamsburg and Monticello, and lucked out with some of the most fantastic fall weather.

A final day-trip was to Annapolis where we checked out the state house and waterfront.

A final evening in DC was topped off with a impromptu visit to Graffito (which ended up being the best meal of their trip!)

And possibly the first family selfie.

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A Relationship Like IKEA

Insight into our personality always comes at random times, a burst of introspective thought and you think "hmm, yes, I really am like that".

My latest revelation is that I don't like sharing special moments that I bonded with someone over. Which ties into my natural tendencies to keep my group of friends small, and that I am allllllll about loyalty (and trust) in relationships.

So back to being a non-sharer. I hate finding out that a particular behavior, phrase, facial expression, or joke is something that is shared between my person and another person in their life.

I feel cheated. I feel duped into thinking there was something special and unique to our relationship, only to find that instead of a one-of-a-kind relationship, we have a mass-produced-IKEA-expedit-bookcase esque type of relationship.

Sure it looks good, but it loses it's luster when you realize that IKEA has compromised your special bookcase, by selling it to hundreds of millions.

Call me jealous, or unreasonable, but whatever happened to protecting relationships?!? Or preserving some things just for a special person? I guess people are greedy and will mass produce something purely to be in every home...

 

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Letters to DC: To the Man Who "Has a Wife & Child"

Dear Man "With a Wife & Child",

What happened at Barnes & Noble was...shocking. My head is still reeling from the incomprehensible absurdity of the interaction we shared over the the table that opened up in the Starbucks cafe. 

Now, I am sure I have no idea how stressful your day had been. Perhaps your kid screamed all morning, or your wife was mad at you for not remembering something you should have, and perhaps (just perhaps) you were trying to make up for it by securing a table in the Starbucks cafe so your child could enjoy a milk box, and your wife and you could sit and chat while the fruits of your loin made you two realize how in love you two are. 

However, the statement "have some mercy! I have a wife and child" said in your entitled voice, as you leaped in front of me to steal the table we had patiently been waiting for, was uncalled for, and frankly absurd.

There were approximately, 20 other tables, and in fact-- one opened up not more than 5 minutes after you rudely took the table that we had kindly been offered by the individual who was leaving. Your child was not screaming, or even acting like they wanted to sit down (plus they had a stroller they could have sat in that was blocking an entire isle of books) and your wife ended up not even sitting down with your to enjoy a over complicated coffee order. (You both seemed like the type to order a Triple, Venti, Half Sweet, Non-Fat, Caramel Macchiato)

Regardless, the next time you think having a "wife & child" make your more important than a kind, patient, couple who just wanted to order a coffee and browse their travel books, and patiently followed the social norms of waiting for a table in a crowded store) you may want to think about what makes you more worthy of that table. 

I hope that your wife reminded you of why she was probably mad at you (that undesirable selfish, self-important attitude may be a clue), your kid screamed the entire way home and threw their milk box on you, and that the next time I encounter you in a Starbucks I can get over my shock to kindly remind you that we had been waiting ahead of you, and social norms say that we were in the right to take that table.

Happy Reading to You and Yours MWW&C!

Yours Truly,

Andrea

It Used to be so Different

When I first moved to DC I didn't have a job, hardly a friend, a very meager amount of cash flow (read: none), and firm desires to have a perfectly kept and pulled together apartment.

We sat in lawn chairs, utilized a desk as our dining room table, had mismatched bedding, and a very 1980's apartment complete with a sun room to fill. It was like an elevated version of living in the sorority (except at the house, my meals were cooked for me). We made do. We utilized what we had to get by. I also cleaned. I cleaned all the time. Practically every Tuesday and Thursday when I wasn't working. I made those IKEA purchased shine and sparkle. 

Fast forward six years (yes...SIX years...ugh) and I now have conversations about if we should cancel the cleaning service this week since our building is still working on repairing the air conditioning situation in our kitchen. I mean....a cleaning service?! when the heck did that happen, is all I can think to myself. "When did I get so busy and tired that I have to rely on someone else to cleaning my bathroom sink?!?".

Granted, the real reality is I inherited the cleaning service. When you move in with someone and you move into their space, you acquire things that had been set-up before you came along- for me, namely- the cleaning service. Regardless, it is this strange reminder that life has gotten so...busy...and important. Two of my least favorite "DC" words: Busy & Important. But the reality is- without a cleaning services, we would have some serious issues keeping things clean. Between my new(ish) more demanding job, and the BFs work schedule, it just wouldn't happen. We aren't dirty, but we certainly struggle to find a lot of time, and cleaning sinks just isn't either one of our favorite activities. 

I feel like an impostor having people who come clean for us. I mean...I'm not even married. I don't even have kids! Or a dog! I am too young, too "poor", too "resourceful" to pay someone to clean for me. 

But I'm not. Not anymore. 

Those days of part-time work, where I was practically begging to be hired full-time, and lazy weekends, and very limited income and where I really didn't do much of consequence outside of writing this blog and using my limited craft supplies to make really amazing birthday cards- have vanished. 

Life was slower. Those first two years in DC- seemed slow. I could remember each month passing and thinking, "I've been in DC X number of months". Now, August (the month of my DCversary), passes by and I maybe pause for a split second to feel the panic rise in my throat- but then I go back to answering a pile of emails, or figuring out how to get my laundry done before the next trip we have coming up. Life is just going so fast. 

I yearn for those slow weeks. I long for the time and freedom to have time to make plans to move, to end this time in DC. I wish for a few moments of uninterrupted thought to create a game plan. To figure out the "what next" part. But like the conversations around if we should cancel the cleaning service- it all is rushed, and sometimes you just have to make a decision. 

Getting older certainly isn't a picnic is it? But at least there is a cleaning service. 

I guess this is my ode to being here in DC for six very long years.

Royal Bump Watch: Part Deux

Happy Monday!!

Happy Royal Family Announcement Monday!

We have another Royal Baby on the way, a little nugget that will be an adorable playmate for Price George! After visiting Buckingham Palace during our trip, I am practically royal at this point since I breathed the same air that touched the walls of the Royal Family's residence. I mean...you can refer to me as Princess Andrea. My new spot in the Royal Family has made me hyper aware to royal announcements, and as my alarm went off for the billionth time this morning (has anyone else mastered how to not snooze for 45+ minutes every morning?!?), I quickly checked my phone for major life updates and saw a snippet of information on the Royal Announcement. A quick Google search to confirm- and I had indeed woken up to a fantastic start to my Monday. 

Hip Hip Hooray for Another Baby!!

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