We leave DC on Tuesday. I can't believe it's almost here. We've been trying to cram in as much fun as possible to see everyone and everything before we leave.
One of the best places we've visited is PX here in Old Town. I'd heard about this place over a year ago...ironically, I heard about it when my mother, living in South GA, sent me an article on it with a note suggesting we check it out. We finally got there, and boy do I regret not going earlier. It's been described as a speakeasy type bar, and I suppose that's as good a description as any. First, you need reservations to get. Then, once you're appropriately attired (cocktail, or at the least, semi-dressy), you head on down to a little side street off of King Street (our main drag in Old Town) to the doorway with the blue light. Ring the doorbell and wait. Once you're allowed into the inner sanctum, you walk up a dark staircase, turn a corner at the top, and magic! There are three cozy rooms, one with green, velvet-covered sofas, the middle containing the beautiful, wooden bar and small seating area, and the last room of light blue walls and white, leather sofas. All are lit with sparkling, but dim, crystal chandeliers. We sat at the bar for our first visit in order to watch the master work. And I do not use the term "master" frivolously. Watching the "bartender" work was pure enjoyment. Cocktails are very original, bitters & syrups are handmade, juices are hand-squeezed, and so on. Things are set on fire, lemons are smoked by hand to rub around the rim of a glass, ice tinkles as the bartender's assistant (sous mixer?) gets the glasses prepped. The whole experience is just that - an experience. I loved it.
I took a break yesterday from my final rush of projects (organizing photos may yet kill me!) to visit three museums in DC that I've yet to explore: The DAR Museum, Corcoran Gallery, and Renwick. The DAR was fantastic and beautiful. Lots of great examples of 300 year old china and silver, as well as a marvelous quilt exhibit. I'm a traditional girl when it comes to quilts, but there was a phenomenal, abstract one done by a New Orleans artist. When cleaning up her home (or her grandmother's home) from Katrina damage, she noticed the blinds in the windows were still hanging...they were bent and askew, but still there. She took a photo, screened it onto fabric, and somehow made this gorgeous design. Once you know the story, you can see the blinds. Until you read about it, the fabric is just a wavy, abstract design. She placed that fabric in the middle, added a few others for a border, then a final border in black, to symbolize the light in the middle shining out from darkness. Really beautiful. And the museum itself is in a great, old building with marble staircases, mosaic tile floors, cut glass banister finials, and so on.
The Corcoran is a nice art museum - a smaller collection, but has some fantastic pieces. And the Renwick focuses on decorative arts. Their collection has a wonderful mix that goes beyond just paintings on a wall. It was a great half day spent seeing something new in my "hometown." We could live in the DC area for 10 years, though, and not see it all.
Tonight we have our final night together with just the two of us. We've been saving our visit to one of the DC's top ten restaurants for this night, and so at 7:30 pm, you'll find us sitting in the Chef's Tasting Room of Restaurant Eve. I imagine Nathan will have to roll me home as the menu is five or seven courses. I'm also quite excited b/c I just found out that Restaurant Eve is owned by the same folks who own PX, so I have high hopes.
Tomorrow, my sister and brother-in-law are taking us to a going away dinner at their favorite restaurant in Baltimore, The Charleston. So that will be two fantastic dinners in a row. On Saturday, I'm headed off to a girls' weekend in St. Michael's with my sister and her sister-in-law. My brother-in-law started a fun tradition last year for my sister's birthday - for her birthday, he sends her and one or two other ladies to a spa hotel in a quaint town somewhere in our region. I missed last year's trip, so I'm very excited for this year's. Especially as St. Michael's is one of my absolute favorite Chesapeake Bay towns. Monday, my aunt flies in and will spend the night with us, and Tuesday, we head up to Philadelphia to spend a few days visiting with Nathan's family. Nathan's pushing for us to do a Segway tour, mainly for the amusement of seeing me on a Segway. I think me on a Segway is a terrible idea, but I'm not willing to be left behind on any sort of potential fun.
One week from Tuesday, we fly out, and the posts from Italy begin!
Showing posts with label Alexandria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alexandria. Show all posts
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Temporary Digs
We're slowly settling into our temporary digs. After the fabulously, fun beach trip out to the shore, we spent a week shuttling back and forth between my cousin's house in a DC suburb and my sister's house in Baltimore, staying a couple of nights here, a couple of nights there, etc. We then had a wonderful weekend visiting friends who live near Roanoke. Great food (thank you, Sherry!), great talks, great outings. We then moved into our one month, temporary rental back in Old Town. We LOVE being back in Old Town. It feels like home. Our house is very cute with quite a lot of space for a temporary rental. We're just two blocks of Old Town's main drag, which has meant eating out most nights, although to our credit, that has included walking to Whole Foods (yes, walking! It's only four blocks to that wonderful, money-sucking, place) for a "pick out some yummy cheese and a baguette)" dinner.
Today, Armageddon hit DC. I haven't watched or read any local news yet, but I'm anticipating some amazing stories. One of the worst thunderstorms I've ever been in hit...and keep in mind that I grew up in south GA, which I'm pretty sure is the inventor of thunderstorms. This one was so bad that I actually took cover in the stairwell, along with the dog, because I was sure that something - tree, construction material, Toto - was coming through the window at any moment. Nathan left work at his normal time to ride home on the metro. At about the two hour mark, he called me from the bus he was on. The metro had stopped at one of its stops and never restarted due to trash across the tracks. He and a co-worker got on a bus to get back to Old Town, but it's route was diverted due to trees and light-poles lying across the roads! What? Nathan and his co-worker eventually made it to the restaurant/bar where they were headed, which is only two blocks from our old house, only to find that all lights were out at that end of town. So they walked twelve blocks to another popular place - and lights out at that end of town, too. So they headed up to the area where we now live for a last ditch attempt at a fancy, schmancy tasting room...one hour wait to get a table. I'd joined them at this point, so off we went to Whole Foods, which has a lovely generator to keep them operational and serving us delicious, healthy meals.
We're headed into our countdown now. At least once/day, I have the thought that it's only "x" days now. I feel all this pressure to see everyone, do everything in these last days. At the same time, I set some goals for myself for some projects I've been putting off for a few years, and on top of those, I'm starting an accreditation class which is going to involve quite a bit of studying. But knowing that we're living in the same house for the entire month has meant I've finally gotten some sleep! Yay! After three months of very little sleep, I'm now back to my much needed 8.5 hours. I thought that meant I would no longer be a crazy person when some moving crisis arose, but today has proven me wrong.
I called the military vet office to make the appointment for Crazy Dog to get his USDA vet-approved, international certificate, only to find that since our military flight has a layover in the Azores, we also have to follow any Azores pet importation rules. Except I couldn't find any instructions on this. In addition, due to the vet's scheduling, the only appointment available is exactly 10 days before our flight, no later (the certificate has to be within 10 days of flight), so nothing can go wrong. No delays, nothing. So I handled it in the calm, cool, and collected way that I've handled all of these irritations along the way - by calling Nathan, at work, in Red Alert panic mode while hyperventilating. He took care of the problem and my blood pressure has now returned to normal. I then spent the rest of day making inroads on one of my major projects and am now off to veg on the sofa with either a book or the TV. Nathan and Crazy Dog have gone to bed - CD is in my spot, which is where he goes every night, then growls at me when I try to move him. He would be very happy if I disappeared forever and he got Nathan, his True Love, all to himself. I think this is very odd, and a little off as well, for a dog, but others have assured me that most dogs pick their Person and this attachment is normal. I'm not convinced.
Today, Armageddon hit DC. I haven't watched or read any local news yet, but I'm anticipating some amazing stories. One of the worst thunderstorms I've ever been in hit...and keep in mind that I grew up in south GA, which I'm pretty sure is the inventor of thunderstorms. This one was so bad that I actually took cover in the stairwell, along with the dog, because I was sure that something - tree, construction material, Toto - was coming through the window at any moment. Nathan left work at his normal time to ride home on the metro. At about the two hour mark, he called me from the bus he was on. The metro had stopped at one of its stops and never restarted due to trash across the tracks. He and a co-worker got on a bus to get back to Old Town, but it's route was diverted due to trees and light-poles lying across the roads! What? Nathan and his co-worker eventually made it to the restaurant/bar where they were headed, which is only two blocks from our old house, only to find that all lights were out at that end of town. So they walked twelve blocks to another popular place - and lights out at that end of town, too. So they headed up to the area where we now live for a last ditch attempt at a fancy, schmancy tasting room...one hour wait to get a table. I'd joined them at this point, so off we went to Whole Foods, which has a lovely generator to keep them operational and serving us delicious, healthy meals.
We're headed into our countdown now. At least once/day, I have the thought that it's only "x" days now. I feel all this pressure to see everyone, do everything in these last days. At the same time, I set some goals for myself for some projects I've been putting off for a few years, and on top of those, I'm starting an accreditation class which is going to involve quite a bit of studying. But knowing that we're living in the same house for the entire month has meant I've finally gotten some sleep! Yay! After three months of very little sleep, I'm now back to my much needed 8.5 hours. I thought that meant I would no longer be a crazy person when some moving crisis arose, but today has proven me wrong.
I called the military vet office to make the appointment for Crazy Dog to get his USDA vet-approved, international certificate, only to find that since our military flight has a layover in the Azores, we also have to follow any Azores pet importation rules. Except I couldn't find any instructions on this. In addition, due to the vet's scheduling, the only appointment available is exactly 10 days before our flight, no later (the certificate has to be within 10 days of flight), so nothing can go wrong. No delays, nothing. So I handled it in the calm, cool, and collected way that I've handled all of these irritations along the way - by calling Nathan, at work, in Red Alert panic mode while hyperventilating. He took care of the problem and my blood pressure has now returned to normal. I then spent the rest of day making inroads on one of my major projects and am now off to veg on the sofa with either a book or the TV. Nathan and Crazy Dog have gone to bed - CD is in my spot, which is where he goes every night, then growls at me when I try to move him. He would be very happy if I disappeared forever and he got Nathan, his True Love, all to himself. I think this is very odd, and a little off as well, for a dog, but others have assured me that most dogs pick their Person and this attachment is normal. I'm not convinced.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
One Load Gone
We will post some photos of Nathan's trip to Naples soon. We have not had a chance to even sit down and look at them together yet. Maybe tonight. If one of us doesn't fall asleep at 7:30 as has happened quite a lot lately.
Our first load of stuff has been taken away from our house. Gone, gone, gone. I love it. This pack-out is destined for long-term storage. Really, it does beg the question, if we don't need it for the next three years, why do we need it at all? I have had that refrain running through my head for the past week as I've been squeezing my way past piles of stuff in every single room (I had to pull it all out of the basement and unpack it from my completely unsuitable for a move storage bins).
I had a great pack-out crew with only two incidents. The first was I spent the entire day going from room to room saying, "I would like that put into a box." The crew just was not using boxes. Lots of things they just wrapped in padded paper. So odd. All became clear at the end of the day. As I signed off on the paperwork, the crew boss showed me where he inventoried the # of boxes used, and said, "I didn't include the boxes you added at the last minute b/c you'll get charged extra." What? We don't pay for our moves. I never even thought about the crew just trying to save me money by using less boxes. So kudos for their thoughtfulness, but this is my seventh, military move. Boxes keep things from getting broken or going missing, and boxes cost a whole lot less than having to pay for something missing or broken. Next time, I'll alert the crew ahead of time. This is never anything a crew has ever worried about before.
The second issue was a biggie, and also a first for me. I had a pile of framed artwork headed into storage on one side of the living room. On the other side of the living room are the pieces we're taking with us. The crew packed the right pile, but I kept noticing one particular piece was not packed. I kept moving it to piles of stuff waiting to packed, telling the person packing an area that it needed to be packed, etc. At the end of the day when I did the final walk-through to make sure all was packed, I noticed a familiar frame sticking out of the pile going to Italy with us. Sure enough, when I go over and start flipping through the art, hidden amongst all the rest are two pieces that had been in the stack to be packed, one of which was the piece I'd been taking to the crew all day long and reminding them to pack it. And these two weren't leaning in the front as if someone placed them there and forgot them. No, they were tucked in amongst a pile of about 20 other pieces. They hid them from me so as to not have to pack them! How crazy is that. My only guess is the last art box packed was full, and they didn't want to use a new one for only two pieces. It all goes back to the box issue!
The "big" move begins a week from Monday. It's a three day ordeal, then a day to clean the house, and on July 16th, we will hopefully be signing our settlement papers on the house. The buyer won't actually sign her bits until Monday as there was some scheduling issue with the title company. Since we're off to the beach on Friday, our realtor (we loved our realtors, the Blumel Adams Group) arranged for us to sign ahead of time. We're still waiting on the appraisal to come back, so we're not in the free and clear yet. This area is really tricky with appraisals, so I'm basically turning into a complete basket case after having almost zero anxiety on the whole house selling issue. I hope we get it soon and can at least move forward, whether it's good news or bad news!
Our first load of stuff has been taken away from our house. Gone, gone, gone. I love it. This pack-out is destined for long-term storage. Really, it does beg the question, if we don't need it for the next three years, why do we need it at all? I have had that refrain running through my head for the past week as I've been squeezing my way past piles of stuff in every single room (I had to pull it all out of the basement and unpack it from my completely unsuitable for a move storage bins).
I had a great pack-out crew with only two incidents. The first was I spent the entire day going from room to room saying, "I would like that put into a box." The crew just was not using boxes. Lots of things they just wrapped in padded paper. So odd. All became clear at the end of the day. As I signed off on the paperwork, the crew boss showed me where he inventoried the # of boxes used, and said, "I didn't include the boxes you added at the last minute b/c you'll get charged extra." What? We don't pay for our moves. I never even thought about the crew just trying to save me money by using less boxes. So kudos for their thoughtfulness, but this is my seventh, military move. Boxes keep things from getting broken or going missing, and boxes cost a whole lot less than having to pay for something missing or broken. Next time, I'll alert the crew ahead of time. This is never anything a crew has ever worried about before.
The second issue was a biggie, and also a first for me. I had a pile of framed artwork headed into storage on one side of the living room. On the other side of the living room are the pieces we're taking with us. The crew packed the right pile, but I kept noticing one particular piece was not packed. I kept moving it to piles of stuff waiting to packed, telling the person packing an area that it needed to be packed, etc. At the end of the day when I did the final walk-through to make sure all was packed, I noticed a familiar frame sticking out of the pile going to Italy with us. Sure enough, when I go over and start flipping through the art, hidden amongst all the rest are two pieces that had been in the stack to be packed, one of which was the piece I'd been taking to the crew all day long and reminding them to pack it. And these two weren't leaning in the front as if someone placed them there and forgot them. No, they were tucked in amongst a pile of about 20 other pieces. They hid them from me so as to not have to pack them! How crazy is that. My only guess is the last art box packed was full, and they didn't want to use a new one for only two pieces. It all goes back to the box issue!
The "big" move begins a week from Monday. It's a three day ordeal, then a day to clean the house, and on July 16th, we will hopefully be signing our settlement papers on the house. The buyer won't actually sign her bits until Monday as there was some scheduling issue with the title company. Since we're off to the beach on Friday, our realtor (we loved our realtors, the Blumel Adams Group) arranged for us to sign ahead of time. We're still waiting on the appraisal to come back, so we're not in the free and clear yet. This area is really tricky with appraisals, so I'm basically turning into a complete basket case after having almost zero anxiety on the whole house selling issue. I hope we get it soon and can at least move forward, whether it's good news or bad news!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Contract!!!
We have sold our home. Yippee! Or rather, we have a contract. I have to temper my excitement as you never know what will happen between contract ratification and closing day. However, we feel great about the buyer, the process, the timing, and so on. Actually, I firmly believe this is the Lord’s timing. We set our main personal property move for July 12-14. We had to just guess a date. When might the house sell, when might the new owner wish to take possession, would the new buyer be willing to negotiate our timing at all, and so on. All complete guesses. (We had a contract offered 7 weeks ago in which the buyer was completely unwilling to make a concession on the timeline – among other issues as well - so this whole timeline thing has been a source of anxiousness for me). For this contract, the buyer is pretty firm on her closing date as well…for July 16th! I couldn’t believe it. It’s the exact date I prayed for. Our moving truck will pull away on the 14th, and then I have one day for light cleaning & wall touch-ups on moving scrapes.
Naturally, the process couldn’t go too smoothly though. When all these guesses started happening, they revolved around Nathan’s work trip to Italy in July (supposedly leaving the evening of July 16) for 10 days. I hoped to move out, close, Nathan immediately goes out of town, and my sister invited me (and Scully) to the beach with her for the time that Nathan’s gone. Voila. Short term housing solved until August. Nathan now leaves next week. My sister & I are moving forward with our beach trip, but Nathan & I are trying to figure out if we can find a 6 week sublet, or can he sleep on someone’s sofa for the weekdays (and come to the beach on the weekends), and so on. Immediate update: While I was typing this post, my email dinged with a response from one of my craigslist, sublet inquiries. There is a cute (by the photos anyway) rental available right in downtown Annapolis for August. A summer month in Annapolis would be great fun! “I love it when a plan comes together.”
Nathan & I went to dinner at our fabulous, neighborhood restaurant located across the street from our house (Vaso’s Kitchen), and at dinner, we discussed how chaotic the preparations for this move have been. Nathan said he has this vision of us sitting down to a nice dinner in Italy, looking around at our home, and saying, “I don’t know how all those pieces ended up getting us here, but somehow, it happened.” That’s what our life is like right now – one of those 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles. And we’re just following Puzzle 101: Get the corners.
Naturally, the process couldn’t go too smoothly though. When all these guesses started happening, they revolved around Nathan’s work trip to Italy in July (supposedly leaving the evening of July 16) for 10 days. I hoped to move out, close, Nathan immediately goes out of town, and my sister invited me (and Scully) to the beach with her for the time that Nathan’s gone. Voila. Short term housing solved until August. Nathan now leaves next week. My sister & I are moving forward with our beach trip, but Nathan & I are trying to figure out if we can find a 6 week sublet, or can he sleep on someone’s sofa for the weekdays (and come to the beach on the weekends), and so on. Immediate update: While I was typing this post, my email dinged with a response from one of my craigslist, sublet inquiries. There is a cute (by the photos anyway) rental available right in downtown Annapolis for August. A summer month in Annapolis would be great fun! “I love it when a plan comes together.”
Nathan & I went to dinner at our fabulous, neighborhood restaurant located across the street from our house (Vaso’s Kitchen), and at dinner, we discussed how chaotic the preparations for this move have been. Nathan said he has this vision of us sitting down to a nice dinner in Italy, looking around at our home, and saying, “I don’t know how all those pieces ended up getting us here, but somehow, it happened.” That’s what our life is like right now – one of those 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles. And we’re just following Puzzle 101: Get the corners.
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