Days Around My Birthday

My birthday fell on a Wednesday - being adult is sometimes not fun. But on the Friday before my birthday, Martha, Gina, Melissa and I went to Union Market (Union Market is a hipster market in my 'hood). They do a drive-in once a month, cars are $10 but walk-ups are free. We went because it was Clueless - my favorite movie as a teenager, "As If". 

 

We had a tree in our way :( But we had all seen the movie and we could hear it. 

 

We had brownies! :)

The next night, Saturday, June 2, Melissa and I ventured during a rainy day and chilled by the pool. The rooftop in my apartment complex is amazing! There are 2 pools on the rooftop and one of the pools has an amazing view (that my camera does not give justice too) of the US Capitol Dome and Washington Monument.

Then the Friday after my birthday, a group of us (Martha, Stephanie, Brittany and Neville), went to Jazz in the Garden at the Sculpture Garden - we did it last year, so maybe this is our new tradition. It's a great tradition to chill in DC with friends. Afterward, Neville, Brittany and I went to Hill Country for dinner. What a fun Friday night!

I received some of the most thoughtful cards and gifts from my Idaho peeps and I can't wait to celebrate with them in a few days.

May Random

May was a pretty quite month. I made a new crock pot meal - salsa chicken. I really like it for salads at lunch time.

Who doesn't love the lemon cookies?

For the first time in 3 months, I went and saw my car. I love my car. I gave him a bath and drove him around (I didn't forget how to drive, after all). It's such a change to not have a car at your disposal. I often think that maybe I should cave and bring him into the city with me, but it is expensive, so I am trying to remain strong. Plus I am super thankful that my friends, Mike and Gina are kind enough to let Bumblebee stay with them for free.

May was hard, emotionally. I didn't want to be in DC, everything in me wanted to pick up and move back home. I miss my people, I miss my cousin, I feel so alone out here. I have friends here - not deep like what I have in Idaho, but friends nonetheless, but everyone was busy. I also was vulnerable with someone and while I am proud of myself for doing this, it still hurts on how it ended. I have wonderful friends in Idaho and one night, a dear friend just let me vent to her. About a week later I got this special little box of sunshine. How amazing is this, so creative! I cried so hard when I got this, it was so touching and it did truly remind me that I am loved. It has also help remind me that hopefully my time in DC will be coming to a close at the end of 2019. I need to embrace DC and my time here - be thankful for the time that I have and experience as much as I can. I have also, finally found a church that I really like going to. So in May and going forward Mere is strong, always growing and learning and trying to be more open. 

I love Word Porn. There are so many sayings I have saved, but this is the one I need to remind myself of on a daily bases right now. Seems simple, but it's not, especially with emotions - stupid emotions:)

The second one is so true and what an awesome reminder. 

 

My baby like me, has a very random attitude and I just love her! 

Family is so adorable and I am so excited to see them in a couple weeks!

Memorial Day Weekend

My bucket list friend was back after a busy spring time for her. We decided to spend the afternoon at the Native American museum and have lunch after their famous cafeteria. I first went to church in Alexandria and then I made my way back to DC, but because it was the weekend and it's metro (I hate metro) I ended being a little late - but this worked in my favor, because I was able to see the Rolling Thunder with the Capitol Dome in the background. Very patriotic!

I am not a very good picture taker - I actually usually rely on others to take photos for me (miss you cousin!). I just heard about a survey that said that people that take pictures actually forget more than people who are just present in their surroundings - so that is my story and what I am sticking with :) 

After the museum we walked up Capitol Hill and had pizza in Eastern Marketing. Then we made our way to the west lawn of the Capitol so we could attend the Memorial Day concert. I didn't really know what to expect from this concert - it was just something I saw on Twitter. I had no idea it was hosted by PBS, or their were a lot of celebrities and politicians. Or that normally 100's of thousands of people attend. We did have to go through security - but that is pretty common in DC. Next we had to find the perfect spot.

It rained so much, but we were determined to stick it out and I am so glad that we did.

It was a very patriotic concert and such a unique DC experience!

The US Capitol is only a mile from my apartment, so afterward I just walked home. Kind of amazing that I can pretty much walk most places.

And summer has officially started!