What I Miss About DC - 1st Edition

M. sometimes likes to poke fun at the fact that I didn’t feel like DC had enough to offer me in the employment arena. Of course there are TONS of jobs in DC and I’m sure there were many interesting positions I could have applied for there, but I was drawn towards an industry that DC unfortunately just didn’t offer. Even though NYC has more of what my career desires, I must say, living in DC was amazing. I LOVED living in that city – it’s the perfect mix of city and non-city – it’s busy, but not overwhelmingly so. You can walk places if you want to, but if you don’t really feel like walking one day, you can drive your car. People in DC are extremely well educated and for the most part, everyone is very friendly. There is great shopping and fabulous restaurants. All of this to say that of course DC has its downfalls as well, for me, again, it was the industries present in the job market.

New York is really, truly such a different place to live. There are many things that I love about it and many things even mirror great things about DC, but there are downfalls here as well. I’m so happy in my new position. It took me a little bit to get adjusted, and believe me I am still getting adjusted, but even though I’m only about a month in, I can honestly say that I love what I do. I love the environment that I am immersed in on a daily basis even though some days I am completely stressed out or feeling completely lost. I think I’ll be even more excited about my new city once M. and I find “our” places. Our favorite restaurants, places to take walks, places to hang out, etc. Of course this will all come in time.

I actually didn’t mean for this post to get all “deep,” so I’ll get back to my original purpose. I wanted to list some of the things that I am currently missing about my old “life” in DC...lighthearted things of course (I'm not depressed or anything, people!).

• The garbage disposal. Yes, something so small and meaningless really, but I am reminded of what a pain it is to try and scrape EVERY SINGLE PLATE clean before I rinse it off and place it into the dishwasher. So much extra effort….I know, I’m lazy. Our garbage disposal in our DC apartment was AWESOME and I always loved putting lemon rinds down it so that it would make the whole kitchen smell fresh and clean. Maybe I’ll buy one of those cheesy car air freshners in a lemon scent and hang it from the sink’s spout!? Ok, not really, but I sure do feel like it.
• Driving to the grocery store – Harris Teeter to be exact. I have a weird attachment to things – people, places, things, brands…it’s hard for me to change it up…I’m a creature of habit. Take for example the bank I use… a long time ago I told my mom that I would never live anywhere that didn’t have my bank. So far, so good. I hate when I have to use other bank’s ATM’s when mine isn’t available. It makes me worry for some odd reason. So you can only imagine how much I hate finding a new grocery store. Grocery shopping in New York is the worst (at least I think, so far!) because you have very few options…Whole Foods which is outrageously expensive and doesn’t carry any of the “regular” brands because they’re trying to be all organic and natural or whatever, Gristedes (apparently a New York institution in grocery store world) which always just seems a little bit dirty to me, and then there are the independent markets and convenience stores. You have no idea how much I miss my clean, brightly lit grocery store with easy to find items and regular old name brands. M. and I are seriously considering getting a membership to a Costco like place and renting a ZipCar to get to one in Jersey to buy all of our groceries…I’m considering it more and more every day. Any NYC people with grocery store recommendations?
• Taking evening walks on the National Mall. This was always a really fun thing to do with M. I loved having the chance to talk and catch up on each other’s lives while walking by some beautiful monuments. Even though I love seeing the empire state building every day, I must admit, the beautiful white rotunda of the US Capitol is truly breathtaking!
• I miss the water pressure in our old place. Showers just aren’t the same and the shower head is placed WAY too low for my 5’9.5” frame. M. likes to remember that Seinfeld episode with Kramer and his change of shower head. :)
• Most of all I miss my husband – every single day. Good thing I have a snazzy photo from our wedding day sitting prominently displayed on my desk at work. I probably look over at it 1,000 times a day. I love it – and him, more than anything!
  

So really just “housekeeping” things that I’m currently missing (except for my husband, I would never put him in the “housekeeping” category!), I suppose I need to do a post on the things that I am LOVING about living in the city next. For now, enjoy these photos of New York portrayed through Lego’s. Super cute, right?! I love the one with the two kinds of cream cheese and the empire state building colors.