Rooftop Decks and Stoli

This is 13th St. somewhere between Columbia Heights and U street on a beautiful Spring day. I love the variety that rowhouses offer, especially after growing up in suburbia. The one thing that DC doesn't get is that rowhouses were made to have a rooftop deck like many do in Baltimore. When are the residents of DC going to get with it?


Now the most important part of the post...introducing...Stoli (she's a Russian Blue):

Bubbs

Well, what can we say. Steph and I were blindsided by the death of our little cat "Bubbs" just this past Sunday. He was just under a year old. The immediacy and the shockingly sad way in which it all occurred was well...truly a tragic experience, as anyone who has had such a wonderful pet can certainly tell you. Anyway, I've been thinking about all the wonderful things that this little creature did and it really makes me feel quite happy that he was a part of our lives, because that's really what he was - a part of our family.

Where is the bottom???

So not to be a downer... but this whole crashing economy thing is really starting to get scary. I know I am very fortunate for many reasons, the biggest being that I am young and don't have a family to support or a 40 year retirement fund that is dwindling. But, I do have to say being young doesn't come without it's negatives as well and it certainly does not come with immunity to what is going on around us. Although I have been aware of what is going with the recession and have attempted to cut back and be cautious of my spending, up until now I have not been directly effected. Yesterday was a pretty big shock to my world as the day started with a meeting from one of our superiors preparing us for the idea that our office may no longer be in the comfortable position it was nearly a month ago. The day continued as people talked cautiously about what they thought may or may not be coming our way. Then at the end of the day a quick staff meeting was called where it was announced that 8 of our co-workers were no longer with us. I felt a combination of shock, guilt and fear. I have never been through something like this as many of my older co-workers have and I was pretty unequipped to deal with it.

All in all, we have to keep moving forward. My biggest fear is not knowing where the bottom of this downfall is and if things keep going the way they are I think it is pretty safe to say that no one is out of the woods yet. As for now- I am making some adjustments to be more prepared for the worst, but I am also counting my blessings and looking forward to good news. Things have to improve eventually, at least that is what history tells us.

This is an interesting map that I came across today that illustrates how people across the country are being effected by this crazy thing. It is hard to understand what is happening if it hasn't hit close to you- but as you can see this is serious, and it is everywhere.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/03/us/20090303_LEONHARDT.html

Kittens inspired by Kittens!

I have no idea why... but Kevin and i think this is the funniest video ever...





Our favorite lines are:

"I want pie... I want beef jerkey!" and " I'm her mom.... no she's not"

Is it Spring Yet?!

I can't believe how fast January and now February have flown by... but man am I ready for winter to be over! I love the month of March- not only b/c it is my birthday month, but mostly because it is the start of the spring weather and festivities. I know, I know... most of you that live in the North East are cautioning me of that dreaded winter storms that still loom in late March or even April, but even if the weather isn't perfectly spring like in March there is still something in the air that teases the upcoming lift in spirits. On top of the warmer weather there are several other things about spring to look forward to- blooming flowers, the return of green-lush scenery, outdoor dining and drinking, long outdoor runs, AND day light after work... just to name a few. I am quite aware however, that as spring drifts into summer being the TX girl that I am, I will be truly happy with the heat and sun and all of the summer festivities of tanning, grilling out and swimming only to find myself 2 months later cursing the heat and yearning for the crisp, cool fall weather. I guess that is only human nature, but it is a cycle that keeps me motivated to move through the year always looking forward to what the next season will bring.

Random link of the day- How ridiculous is this?!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/25/white-house-watermelon-em_n_169933.html

Metro Ads

One of the more entertaining things about living in DC are the ads that you see on the metro system. No coffee, vacation or language classes advertised here. Among the ones that I find most interesting:

An add for JLTVs or a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle made by a company named "General Tactical Vehicle"- basically, this is a hummer with a massive turret on top. The picture in the ad, similar to below, shows a JLTV racing swiftly through a remarkably peaceful looking desert-like country...hmm, I wonder where?
Battleship/Destroyer Command and Control Systems - who could buy this? or a JLTV for that matter? Wouldn't your command and control system already be an integral part of your billion dollar vessel? I understand that it is simply that a certain defense contractor really wants you to know that they actually produce something and are working for 'merica but come on...it's ridiculous to see ads for tanks and heavy weaponry on the metro. What a country.

Lupus - Millions live with it! Donate now via CFC #54678 - ummm, ok, nothing funny about this, but a little odd on a metro line. But then again I just looked up Lupus and now know how terrible it seems. So was that successful advertising?

And my personal favorite, the American Humanist Society placed ads during christmas that said "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake." Yep. This caused quite a ridiculous furor. People were trying to get the ads removed!

Updates!

So it has been awhile since I last posted... but things have been busy! I am renewing my commitment blogging and so here are the updates from the past 2 months.

Kev and I are finally in our new apartment and could not be enjoying it anymore! The move was a little hectic (like all moves tend to be) and it didn't make things any easier when I threw my back out the 1st night- trying to lift our couch. It was the worst! I have never hurt my back that bad and not only is it painful, but it is a pain in the ass... every move I made hurt my back and I was so handicapped. I refused to except defeat and was so set on getting our new apartment settled that I figured out ways to move around and get things done. Even if it meant sliding things around on the floor on my knees ha-ha. We were actually pretty successful in getting everything unpacked and decorated in the 1st weekend and decided we couldn't wait to have people over to celebrate our new place so we had our apt warming party the very next weekend. It was so fun to finally be able to host people- we had a blast!

In the past month we have settled in even more and have gotten the chance to start exploring our neighborhood. A couple of highlights include: a neighborhood bakery which we frequent on weekend mornings for bagels and the occasional doughnut, a supremly delish brick oven pizza joint that has a variety of gormet personal sized pizzas that we just can't get enough of, a crowded dive bar called the Raven that has cheap drinks and diverse patrons, a local sports bar that has daily happy hours and 1/2 priced juicy bugers. These are just a few of the places we have discovered and I have no doubt that once the weather starts to warm up a bit we will be out and about all the time finding great new additions.

Another great thing about moving into the district and where we are living is the accessability of everything we need- Kev and I love that we hardly drive anywhere anymore. He drives every day to and from work since his office is not Metro accessable, but on the weekends especially we will not even use the car once. With my gym, the grocery store, Target, Marshalls, Bed Bath and Beyond, Best Buy, several cleaners, a beer/wine store and a CVS all with in a block of our apt we are pretty much taken care of! Going out in the District is much more fun now too since we are walking distance from U Street and Adam's Morgan and the metro is literally directly below our apt so getting anywhere is super easy- especially for me going to work everyday.

I have to say we are pretty happy in our new existance- especially Gypsy and Bubbs- with much more space to play and chase each other it is a whole new world for them. Especially the forbidden patio- which the curiosity and yerning to explore all but consumes them whenever they see us out there.

The icing on the cake of the whole move is that we just found out our new good friends Mike and Tanya will be moving into the hood with in the next month! We now have partners in crime to live the life with us in Columbia Heights! Can't wait.

That's all for now- but more to come soon :)

Steph