Here I Am

Hi friends,

So it's been a while (oops). Here's what I've been up to for the past year and a half:

I resigned from my job in Charlottesville and moved to Washington, D.C. to begin a Journalism Master's program at Georgetown. In true city fashion, I rented a studio apartment in the heart of downtown. It had a single window, which featured a prime view of this parking lot and banana mobile.

While I unpacked and tried to settle into the new apartment, my demon cat, Roux, did this.

Always looking for new things to do, I went to the "drive-in" near my apartment, which was a movie projected onto the side of a renovated warehouse. But I forgot the wine key...

I explored new restaurants with friends and when gratuity was included, if our server did a good job, we tipped them a little sumthin' extra.

I joined a pretty serious band. Clanky D & Tha Whistlas, anyone?

And a hip-hop duo. Dr. Dray and Kimbaland dropping beats in a city near you.

I drank copious amounts of coffee, but only poured my cream out of a Tupac shot glass.

 In D.C., they sound it out.

Tired of sitting with Roux and staring out of my one window at the banana mobile, I moved into a bigger apartment with a roommate. My roommate got tired of staring at my apartment troll garb and bought a nice pair of satin pajamas for me.

I picked up new hobbies, like collecting novelty salt and pepper shakers.

I went out to dinner with Sarah, and she ordered a platter of Fancy Feast cat food. Or Spam. You decide.

Halloween came and I dressed up as Roux.

And drank some beer.

Most of the time I took the metro, but if I had to drive anywhere, I let Roux take the wheel.

A year ago today, I started my dream internship at NPR Music. I showed up in black dress slacks and heels. But instead of casual Fridays, the music team opted for casual Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and - if anyone remembered - dressy Friday, which meant that Stephen wore his jeans that only had one hole in them. And then there was the one Friday that Jacob actually wore blue suede shoes...
What an amazing bunch.

I took a stab at being healthy and started running outside. But weird bumps popped up on my shins, proving I'm allergic to exercise and giving me permission to binge marathon Orange Is The New Black and Pretty Little Liars on my couch. Because I'm a hypochondriac, I decided to have my bumpy legs inspected at the orthopedic surgeon and the kind doctor gave me these awesome shorts to wear. 

My fashionable medical accessories didn't stop there. I had to have all four of my wisdom teeth removed and I spent the last two weeks of 2013 looking like this.

But it's okay, because I had the golden ticket to a solid toothless diet. This baby guarantees me free frosties for the rest of the year.

And last, but not least, I casually drank wine in a field with the musician whose concerts I've been structuring my life around since I was 15 years old. He put his arm around me and his face touched my face. That is all.