Yesterday at the grocery store I saw a huge line-up of people by the customer service desk. I was confused what the line was for -- because no one was going up to the service desk, they were just standing by the service desk. When I checked out, the cashier asked if I was waiting for a newspaper. I said, confused, no. Then it clicked. I asked if the line was waiting for newspapers. She said they were, that they had run of newspapers and they were waiting for the Washington Post guy to bring over some more. It was such an historic day that everyone wanted newspapers to commemorate this day. Amazing.
I was thinking today of all that we have seen in the past couple of months. We left Vancouver in August and since then we have driven through Washington, Oregon, Idaho. Visited California. Then drove through Idaho, Montana, North Dakota (and visited Fargo), Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
Since being here we have explored areas in Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. We have explored different neighborhoods in D.C. and the various surrounding cities in the D.C. metro area (e.g., Greenbelt, MD; Silver Spring, MD; College Park, MD; Chevy Chase, MD; Arlington, VA; Alexandria, VA.) We also took a day trip out to Annapolis, Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay.
In D.C. we have visited many monuments, museums, and galleries. We have found lots of good shopping and good restaurants. We have taken advantage of the many free events that happen in D.C. And even still, I feel that it would be impossible to see everything this place has to offer.
And after all this traveling, we have finally found a place to unpack our suitcases and call home. Or learn to call home. It always takes time, right? Regardless, we now are Marylanders. We live in Silver Spring, Maryland -- which is just north of the D.C. border. We live by the top point of the diamond that is D.C.
We love our apartment and the area (downtown Silver Spring). Our apartment has hardwood floors, big windows, a big kitchen, and lots of closet space. The apartment complex has a pool and a fitness center. We're about three blocks from the metro station. We live next door to the library and a park. We're just two blocks away from several restaurants/eateries and shops (e.g., Pier 1, DWS shoes, Marshall's, Nine West, New York and Company). It seems like for every style of food, there's a restaurant/eatery within two blocks of our apartment. Whether we want Lebanese or Chik-Fil-A, Thai or Noodles & Company, pizza or burgers, Moroccan or Mexican -- it's all here. There's even a cupcake shop called Cake Love -- you can't go wrong with that. We're also two blocks away from a Borders and two movie theatres. One of the theatres is an American Film Institute theatre that plays independent movies, old movies, and film festivals. It's a really great neighborhood.
Since being here we have explored areas in Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. We have explored different neighborhoods in D.C. and the various surrounding cities in the D.C. metro area (e.g., Greenbelt, MD; Silver Spring, MD; College Park, MD; Chevy Chase, MD; Arlington, VA; Alexandria, VA.) We also took a day trip out to Annapolis, Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay.
In D.C. we have visited many monuments, museums, and galleries. We have found lots of good shopping and good restaurants. We have taken advantage of the many free events that happen in D.C. And even still, I feel that it would be impossible to see everything this place has to offer.
And after all this traveling, we have finally found a place to unpack our suitcases and call home. Or learn to call home. It always takes time, right? Regardless, we now are Marylanders. We live in Silver Spring, Maryland -- which is just north of the D.C. border. We live by the top point of the diamond that is D.C.
We love our apartment and the area (downtown Silver Spring). Our apartment has hardwood floors, big windows, a big kitchen, and lots of closet space. The apartment complex has a pool and a fitness center. We're about three blocks from the metro station. We live next door to the library and a park. We're just two blocks away from several restaurants/eateries and shops (e.g., Pier 1, DWS shoes, Marshall's, Nine West, New York and Company). It seems like for every style of food, there's a restaurant/eatery within two blocks of our apartment. Whether we want Lebanese or Chik-Fil-A, Thai or Noodles & Company, pizza or burgers, Moroccan or Mexican -- it's all here. There's even a cupcake shop called Cake Love -- you can't go wrong with that. We're also two blocks away from a Borders and two movie theatres. One of the theatres is an American Film Institute theatre that plays independent movies, old movies, and film festivals. It's a really great neighborhood.
Some more good news, Eagan got a job at the Government Accountability Office as a health care analyst. The office he's working for researches health care issues, suggests policy to congress, and evaluates congressional policies. Eagan's really excited and it's a great fit for him.
And I'm still looking. The job process takes a long time here (the period in between applying and interviewing takes forever), so things move slowly. But hopefully soon enough I'll get a job. I was already offered a research position at a research firm, but it wasn't a great fit for me and I don't feel I'm in a place where I need to settle for something that isn't right for me.
And I'm still looking. The job process takes a long time here (the period in between applying and interviewing takes forever), so things move slowly. But hopefully soon enough I'll get a job. I was already offered a research position at a research firm, but it wasn't a great fit for me and I don't feel I'm in a place where I need to settle for something that isn't right for me.
Living in D.C., you have to take advantage of all the free events that go on. Eagan and I have gone to two really great book readings so far. The first was Sarah Vowell discussing her latest book The Wordy Shipmates. She is just as nerdy in person as I was hoping. And just as sarcastic. It was great.
After her book reading we got to chat with her a little bit. We expressed our love for her past works and talked with her about Montana/Bozeman (she lived in Bozeman, where Eagan grew up). She seemed really glad to talk about Montana, the way people are glad to talk about places they've called home with others that know exactly what they're talking about
The second reading was John Hodgman discussing his latest book More Information Than You Require. You probably know who John Hodgman is whether you realize it or not. He's the PC guy (that kind of looks like Bill Gates) in those Mac ads. He's also on the Daily Show. He was so amazingly hilarious. He read from his book, but he also just told a bunch of random, funny stories. He talked about being a "famous minor TV personality". He said now he's rich enough to buy a tux. He said most of us common folk have to rent a tux, but he owns a tux. He said this is in direct contrast to when he was just a lowly book agent and he had to rent regular pants because he couldn't afford clothes. And he just ate Ramen -- but he couldn't afford water so he just ate the noodle cake and snorted the powder.
We also got to chat with John Hodgman for a little bit after his book reading. And on top of being hilarious, he's a really, really nice guy. I don't even remember how it came up, but we started talking about Simon Fraser University and how excited he was that Battlestar Gallactica was filmed there. How many people have that trivia floating around in their head? Needless to say, I developed a mild crush on him after that night (and not because of his love of Battlestar Gallactica).
Walking down the street, a black homeless man said to me aghast, "What, do you have no melanin?!?" I have to say I was quite impressed with his technical vocabulary, but, really, I would have accepted a "Damn, girl, you pale." He didn't need to try and impress me like that...
I will conclude with these...in case you have forgotten what we look like since the last time you saw us:
3 comments:
It sounds like you guys are having so much fun! I'm glad I can live vicariously through you guys and pretend that I live in a cool, hip town, until I realize that I am in... Logan. Thanks for the post!
Obama-rama!! I cried too. It would have been great if we were all together for that. (And to go along with your newspaper story: I was watching this highly intelligent tv show you may have heard of called "E News" the day after the election, and the host held up the Chicago newspaper with a giant picture of Obama that said "Mr. President" on it. And she said the newspaper was sold out all across the city and she had to buy it for $20 from someone).
I saw Sarah Vowell on the Daily show and she was hilarious!
A few days ago in my Social Gerontology class we were talking about various types of assisted living facilities. The professor mentioned congregate housing, and said that her grandma had lived in "this awesome congregate housing facility called Leisure World" in Silver Spring, Maryland! And it made me think of you guys twice over because you live in Silver Spring and because Eagan had talked about the Leisure World in California.
cute photos. love you! glad everything is going great!
Shannon - I'm glad you liked the post. It's true, Logan is not very cosmopolitan...but it still has it's charm. There's always something about Logan/Cache Valley that I miss, no matter where I move. It's the small things about that town that you'll find you'll miss when you move away.
Holly - I wish we could have all been together on election night, too. I guess you guys are just going to have to move out here!
There's a Leisure World in Silver Spring?!?! Awesome! We'll have to look up where it's located. Eagan's grandfather lives in the Leisure World in Seal Beach (the first Leisure World). It's so awesome there. I totally want to live there when I'm old.
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