Week One-The Journey, The Arrival, The Chaos, The Resolution

So as most of you know, I have come to DC without Rich d/t the job situation, so my mom agreed to accompany me on my trip and help me get set up in the new place. We started our trip with goodbye, me, Rich, mom, and dad went to breakfast at Mimi’s to spend a few more minutes together before goodbye. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds, because I definitely didn’t think about goodbye at all or I wouldn’t have made it through breakfast. After breakfast we said goodbye, and we hopped in the Yaris and headed east.

Angel nestled on top of all my stuff in the back of the Yaris

The drive wasn’t too bad, about 24 hours broken up over 2 days including stops; we stayed the night in Nashville on the way. Unfortunately my body decided that would be a good day to get sick…WRONG! My poor mother had to deal with me that day, it’s a good thing she’s stuck with me, because moving away from my husband and being sick put me in a pretty foul mood. Tuesday was a little better, some Dayquil helped me cope with the sinus infection, and the sorrow of goodbye had faded some, and the excitement of finally arriving at the new place made the time pass a little quicker, despite the torrential downpour that lasted about 6 hours of the drive. We finally arrived at 1415 N. Taft St. Arlington, VA 22201 (my new address).

We came in, had a look around, and immediately started unpacking boxes looking for sheets, towels, and blankets to get us through the morning, and Rich called Papa John’s and ordered us a pizza. Fail proof dinner with no kitchen right? All you need is a drink and maybe some napkins… Well, the pizza arrived, UNCUT!!! We now have to find a knife, and what no napkins either… Oh well, we made it through, it was tough though touch and go for a second…

Uncut Pizza

The Apartment is great! It’s very spacious feeling, we are on the same level as the gym and the pet walk, and there is a trash shoot around the corner and recycling in the parking garage! I love it!

Wednesday, let the chaos begin….Today was our first official day in Arlington, and we started bright and early at 7am, when I received a special welcome in the form of a parking ticket! It put a little damper on the day, but the show must go on, and we began to tirelessly unpack and rearrange the furniture. Our apartment has a very odd shape, it was difficult to determine the best (my favorite) furniture configuration, Amanda I hope you approve. We took a little break in the afternoon to hit up Walmart, but to my utter and horrified surprise the Super Walmart does not exist, nor does the Super Target. So four hours later we had finally finished our shopping, and returned home to cook the first meal in the new place…Tacos!

Thursday…More unpacking! The big event of the day was IKEA. We headed out to College Park, Maryland to buy some furniture and much needed organizational accessories. This was my first drive through DC, and we also enjoyed our first DC traffic jam. After our big outing I installed our surround sound, DVD, and TV…All by myself! So I introduced my mom to Harry Potter, we watched the first movie, she had never seen one before.

Friday…still more unpacking! And another trip to IKEA, but this time to Woodbridge, VA. On our way to Woodbridge our GPS kept telling us to enter the HOV lane, but here you must have 3 people, then we realized it was not peak time so all traffic was allowed in the HOV lane…But we’re smarter than the GPS, the HOV was stopped with nothing but brake-lights up ahead, and we were sailing, so yet again we ignored the GPS and stayed in the regular lanes. Approximately 1 minute later we were in bumper to bumper traffic as the HOV lane sailed by.

Saturday, things finally started to take shape. We only had about 3 boxes left, most things have found their home, and we started hanging pictures on the wall, but the main event was the Dell’Omo visit. Sara and Tom brought Leo and Josephine out for a visit and delivered my wonderful orange rug (inspired by the orange clock) and my school books, they have served as my personal post office. Josephine was absolutely beautiful, tiny with dark hair and wearing the dress Rich and I bought her in Italy. Mom thought she looked like Maria, but I don’t really think babies look like anyone at a week old, but I was very excited to get to meet my new niece. Leo is so big, he had a blast running around jumping on the bed, making a fort out of boxes in the living room, and playing hop scotch with the rug. He is so sweet, and full of energy and has a wonderful laugh.

Josephine

Sunday, The day of rest! I was absolutely exhausted from the week and told mom Sunday was a day of rest, only my mom doesn’t really know what that means, at least I got to sleep in. We ended up making our third trip to IKEA, and going to Target where we bought a TV antennae. I installed the antennae and now we have 15 channels. We also drove around the neighborhood to try to figure things out and organized the office.

The neighborhood is great! We are 2 blocks from the metro, the courthouse, and a movie theatre. There are tons of restaurants all around, including 2 Irish pubs, a sushi place, a tapas bar, a Cosi, and more. Then about a 15 minute walk to Whole Foods and a large shopping center, or one metro stop away. It is a different world, at night the sidewalks are littered with people out and about, and most of them are 20's-30's.

Monday, it has been one week today, the apt is starting to feel like home, but I’m also starting to miss Rich. But he’s coming to visit Labor Day weekend, so that’s only 2.5 weeks. We visited the Iwo Jima memorial today, it’s about a 2 minute drive from the apartment, but it is hot and humid so being outside is rather unpleasant during the day. In the evenings and early morning the temperature dips into the 70’s and is quite pleasant.

Guys I know that was a big update, it’s been a big week. I just wanted to say I appreciate the calls and I love and miss you all! Also, I am accepting visitors ;)