District of Love

It was another fun time in DC last weekend!  Having the time to spend just enjoying the city prompted me to bring a new style of post to my blog - my favorite things!  What better place to start it with than one of my favorite cities? So let me start with...

Where to stay?

Despite the fact that I have a lot of friends that live in and around the district, I like to stay in hotels.  Usually, the dogs are an excuse to get a room, but I love the feeling of a true "vacation" that I get with staying in a hotel!  Especially the dog-friendly Kimpton Hotels.  By being an "In Touch" member you get free internet and a credit at the mini bar.  Bonus that they are cool and boutique-y.  There are a bunch of them in DC, but our two favorites are:

• Hotel Palomar, when we can get a good deal (because it's usually a little more pricey) - Great location in Dupont Circle area, modern feel, awesome restaurant/lounge (Urbana), huge rooms and a pool to boot!
• Hotel Helix - Usually the cheapest, but still in an awesome location now that the 14th Street/Logan Circle area has boomed.  Cool pop-art theme (the minibar has Pop Rocks and Pez!) and very cool outdoor patio for their restaurant/lounge.

An oldie but goodie...Eli and Marlon enjoying their time at the Palomar

Where to eat?

Oh there are SOOO many delicious places to eat in DC (one of the reasons that it was really really hard to lose weight when I lived there!)! But my favorites include:

Open City (Woodley Park) - ProMo and I used to go to breakfast there at 6 AM every Friday and every time it was fantastic, delicious, fresh and unique.  Love it.

Napoleon (Adams Morgan) - Another neighborhood favorite, this restaurant is better known as a champagne bar late night.  But I've only enjoyed the brunch there.  The crepes are delicious, the salads are fresh, but what keeps this place in my rotation even after we moved away is the french onion soup. To. die. for. I actually said, "Come to mama" when I saw the waiter bringing the soup to our table.  No lie.  I can't really explain why I love it so much because it defies explanation. Just trust me. And get some!

Logan Tavern (Logan Circle) - Warm homey feel, nicest waiters ever, and delicious comfort food that is surprisingly affordable.  I would give a specific recommendation but everything I've gotten here is delicious.

Obviously there are a lot of other yummy places that I enjoy, but these are the places that I miss when I'm not there.

Where to dance?

[This category and the next would both say "Adams Mill" if that amazing place was still open, but alas I have to go with other choices...]

Well, there are a lot of fun places to dance and PLENTY of places I've never been to (especially some of the newer places that have a lot of buzz), but when I don't mind paying a little extra for drinks and I want to go somewhere that I (usually) don't have to worry about being hit with the "ball and socket," I go to Tattoo on K Street.  It's tiny but they have screens that play videos and the DJs are usually pretty amazing. It's my little piece of Vegas in DC.

Where to feel like a local...

Well again, this would've been my category reserved for the Best Bar in DC, but I'll say that anywhere that you find yourself saying, "Let's just go to _______ " is likely your neighborhood joint.

So in honor of the Mill, I'll leave this spot blank and say that any place is "your place" if you know them and they know you! Where you can walk in and they will know your name, give you a hug, and start prepping your favorite drink...

And finally, because my favorite thing about DC is my friends, if you want to see some really cool pictures of DC, check out my friend LL's photography blog! Beautiful!

Hey DC peeps...got any faves you'd like to add? Feel free to comment!

The Sweet Escape

Disclaimer: While I generally try to keep my posts positive, this is after all a blog of my life.  And so every now and then I hope you'll forgive my moments of frustration and brutal honesty and know that I just need to vent to the blogosphere without worrying what people are going to say. Thanks for being my readers and friends and letting me be me. :)

After the fun and craziness of last week, this week has been a bit of a let-down.  I am excited that ProMo and I are headed to DC for the weekend (a work trip with most fortuitous timing) because I know it will shake me out of this funk.

What do I blame it on? That the semester is over and students - and their energy - are no longer here? That the weather has been cold and rainy all week? That my entire work focus will shift for the next 3 months? That if I hear a student - or worse yet another faculty member - say "so do you actually work in the summer?" one more time I'm going to scream? It probably has to do with all of them.

As a result, I find myself retreating back into my 'burg shell.  I "suddenly" (although I knew it was coming) find myself surrounded by people who don't "get" me. I live for the trips out of town (and trust me, there are some great ones coming up), but then I resent that I can't find that kind of happiness in my own little world here.  It's not right that someone should have to LEAVE their hometown to have fun.

And it's not that there isn't fun stuff to do here...there can be.  But without any good friends here, I'm relying on one person - ProMo - to do everything with.  To his credit, he's been great!  The problem is that I've depended on him to be my (sole) social outlet for the past 3 years (less the past couple of months when L and D gave him a little "break").  Throw in the fact that he has a whole different work and travel schedule, and is admittedly less social than I am, and the result is that I would end up doing a lot of this stuff by myself.  And that, my friends, is definitely no fun.

OK it's not that we don't get invitations to do things or we haven't been on "couple dates" with other people.  But just like real dating, you can't force a relationship just because you're the same age or you live in the same town or you have certain things in common.  And unfortunately, the people that I could really "piss time away" and enjoy exploring the area with happen to be...not here.

At least it has gotten to the point where people have stopped telling me that I'm just not trying hard enough. Believe me, I have tried it all.  But besides that, I don't think ANYONE should compromise what they look for in a friend, right? The truth is that it's a small town. Period. In a city you have millions of fellow residents and maybe get close to a handful of people to call true friends.  Percentage-wise that doesn't bode well for a town of a few thousand.

I've mentioned before how surviving cancer is a blessing in that it makes me really appreciate just being ALIVE and having love in my life.  So I do feel selfish when I want more. The "curse" of cancer (besides the obvious) is that I made a promise to myself that I would not waste any more time...wasting time. Or existing. Or being in an unhappy situation.  So when I do find myself having a bad day or week I really beat myself up and put pressure on myself to DO SOMETHING to change it. And that's not always possible.

So what do I do? Look for a sweet escape...either literally or figuratively. Skip town (see ya soon, DC!), go for a walk, watch some guilty pleasure TV show, read a book, do sudoku, clean the house, clean the dogs, go workout, take a nap...

I know people would love to have as much "free time" as I do. I KNOW I have a lot of wonderful, positive things in my life.  But sometimes you just have to vent. And escape. And throw things out into the black hole of the internet...

They call it commencement for a reason

Oh, what a week!

Last week was exhausting yet exhilarating. Grading a never-ending pile of final papers (and yes, I read all 137 of them) by day, relaxing and milking L's last days in the 'burg by night.  It was certainly not a sustainable pace for me, but I don't think it is likely to happen again in quite that way.

On the academic side, I was at times really frustrated with students who I knew could do better, but for whatever reason chose not to put the effort into their final papers.  But on the other hand, I was super proud of the students who really pulled together something great at the end of the semester.  [This part of the week will probably happen again.  Every semester, in fact.]

On the social side, I was at times so happy to feel like my (true) self - laughing too loud and razzing friends sarcastically.  But on the other hand, I knew that all the revelry was for a reason.  It was the end-of-semester euphoria...a sentiment shared by students and (frankly) professors alike.

To be clear, for all its insanity, it was not my "real life" in the 'burg. But for one week, at least, it was.

And so ended the 2010-2011 academic year.  All in all, I would call it a successful one even though the classroom continues to provide endless challenges for me.  Student apathy is certainly rampant and as a result, I'm usually surprised when students are shocked that I take a real interest in their lives. 

Even though I may joke about it, I think that some of them are among the brightest and most talented people I have met. Why wouldn't I want to be a part of that? I could honestly talk to these folks (or even just listen to them) forever.

Of course it's not all sunshine and roses...not everyone is going to love me and/or my style. Maybe they want more law, less ethics. Maybe they don't want to hear about professionalism from someone who they think is only a few years older than them.  Maybe they think I don't know what I'm talking about. Maybe they're thinking that they are engineers for a reason - they don't do well with memorization of definitions or they hate writing.

I've learned to not obsess over it.  Some of my colleagues feed on the negative feedback and some of them just don't care.  I admit that it crushes me a little bit when I get a bad review, but luckily with such a big class every semester, I am usually able to drown out the negative with the positives.

And even though this whole professor thing is relatively new to me, it has brought many "positives" to my life.  For the third year, I worked at the spring commencement ceremony for the College of Engineering and it's something I actually enjoy.  Graduation is just such a happy time! The proud parents, the elated students, the beaming faces all over campus.  What you'll notice is that even though it may be the last time many of them see each other and most are approaching the great unknown of full-time employment, the overwhelming emotion is pure joy.   

"There is a good reason they call these ceremonies 'commencement exercises.' Graduation is not the end, it's the beginning." ~ Orrin Hatch

And thus begins another cycle for those of us here.  In my academic life, I will continue to strive to be a better educator, friend, and colleague. I will try to be more patient and positive.  In my social life...well...I'll try to get a social life in the wake of L and D's departure. :)

It's not the end, it's just the beginning...

So stay tuned. I predict good things for the 2011-2012 year!

And so it goes

"And so it goes, and so it goes.  And so will you soon, I suppose..."

This quote is from one of my favorite Billy Joel songs.  Like many Billy Joel songs, it is beautiful, sincere, and slightly tragic.  And although he is singing about love - the romantic kind - I always find myself singing this song to myself when I say goodbye to good friends.

[Stick with me...I swear this isn't as depressing as it seems so far!]

Assuming this is not your first visit to my blog (in which case...welcome!), you probably know that because of my many moves and job changes, I've had to say goodbye to loved ones a number of times.  ProMo has certainly moved around more than I have due to his childhood as an "Army Brat," but I think I've had my share of goodbyes as well.
 
The "problem," I think, is that I get attached to people pretty easily.  I thrive on making connections and forming friendships. So while this may not seem like a problem, it can be hard when I find myself needing to say goodbye before I'm ready.  And despite the fact that we're not moving, the end of a school year in a college town means that I will still be saying a lot of goodbyes. 

And so it goes.

As I've mentioned before here on this blog, finding lasting bonds has admittedly been harder for me since we moved to the 'burg.  But this year has been a bit of a revelation.  Once I decided to just let go of some hang-ups on who I could and could not socialize with, I've been able to get close to some pretty cool people.  That's the good news!  The flip side is that by opening myself up to these friendships, I've had to prepare myself for the inevitable goodbyes that I know will come.  Some sooner rather than later.  As in, this week. (Eek!)

Rather than seeing it as something completely sad, I am thankful for the really fun (really really fun) times that I've had this year!  And I am hopeful for good times to come next year, even though I know this means opening myself up for new friendships yet again.  But that's one of my favorite things to do, so I don't mind the challenge... 

And I think I've got some good prospects, whether they know it yet or not. :)

And so it goes.