Am I done yet?

Well, to be frank, this week sucked.  Work has been really stressful and crazy.  This is one of the busiest weeks of the year for tourism in DC, since it is Easter week, and the Capitol was so packed.  I gave one tour, which turned out to be a nightmare since part of the group was late, and it was the last tour of the day so everything was closing up.  People are so rude.  They were late then complained that they didn't get to see enough.  I'm not sure what people's expectations are, but I think the Capitol is really cool!  I hate feeling like I let anyone down, but I think these people just had a bad attitude, and it wasn't me.  I guess the crowds are getting to everyone.  There were a lot of people gone from the office this week, too, so I was doing a lot.  It was nice to have more responsibility and things to do, but also not so fun since I barely had time to take a breath or eat.  I was also told I was going to be attending the Easter Egg Roll at the White House on Monday, but then a few days later learned that I couldn't go as an intern.  That was a huge heartbreak.  I mean, I never in a million years thought I would get to go to something like that so I was seriously ecstatic when I found out.  Then after being so emotionally drained all week and looking forward to that to keep me going, finding out I wouldn't be able to go was really tough.  Thank goodness I had Friday off, or I might have really gone crazy!

Thursday for theater class, we went to see Taming of the Shrew by Synetic Theater, but it wasn't typical Shakespeare at all.  It was silent!  There was music, but no words.  It was also supposed to be a modern hip hop version set in a very smutty Hollywood-type city.  It was bizarre, kind of crude, and I did not like it at all.  I don't think anyone in the house did.  It wasn't a great way to end my week or a good play to end this theater class on.

I came home on Thursday to find the cutest popcorn tin from my Aunt Jean.  I definitely needed a pick-me-up so that was just perfect!  She spoiled me too much when she was here, so I can't believe she sent me this popcorn, too!

Popcorn tin from Aunt Jean

Friday I decided to go to the Smithsonian National Zoo.  I made the mistake of waiting to eat lunch until I got there.  The zoo was crazy busy, and I had to wait probably almost 30 minutes in line to get food.  I almost felt awful and faint, because I had to wait so long.  It is not fun to feel that way when you are somewhere by yourself.  Moments of weakness like that and being surrounded by so many families at a place like the zoo reminds me of how much better it is to do things with other people instead of alone.  It is the times like those when I get a twinge of homesickness again and can't wait to just be with the people I love even doing the little, mundane things.  In general, it was hard to walk anywhere without a person or a stroller in your way as it was so busy there.  The zoo itself was cool though.  Its very big, and the big draw is the Giant Panda habitat.  I had never seen a panda before and seeing one up close was neat.  I also liked the meerkats - really cute.  There were some peacocks, which are just breathtaking, as well.  It is a lot of walking though so I was beat when I finished.

Panda!

Peacock

Flamingos

Meerkat

Saturday, I was kind of at a loss as to what to do with myself, so I decided to check out the Pentagon City Mall.  It was a pretty nice mall.  I just did a lot of looking mostly, but I did finally find myself a graduation dress at Forever 21.  I had been looking for a few weeks but didn't see anything that really hit me.  I love what I got.  I will be able to wear it to work and for other nice occasions, too.  The best part is that its bright purple!  Go Tigers!  I also bought myself a Cherry Blossom Festival shirt at Union Station on my way home.  That night there were fireworks down at the SW waterfront for the Cherry Blossom Festival, so I gathered up some of the roommates and off we went.  It was a nice show, but then the metro was crazy for a while with the huge crowd leaving the area.  We decided to try to find a restaurant or coffee shop to hang out at until the rush died down, but that was ultimately a failure so we just walked around for a good bit.

Red fireworks

Tons of gold fireworks during the finale

Today I was pretty bored and again didn't know what to do with myself.  I did my fairly regular Sunday tradition of going to Eastern Market for my favorite crepe and to look around.  I ended up just doing a work out video and watching some movies on my computer after that.  I'm really getting to the point where I'm just ready to go home.  Other than the few things I have planned for next weekend and when my parents are here to move me out the weekend after that, I'm done with everything I wanted to do and see here.  Living with 14 other people in this tiny house is wearing on a person, this week at work was crazy, and I'm done with all of my schoolwork, so I'm counting down the days.  I'm excited to get back to SC soon and be with my family and friends.  I swear this experience has made me appreciate the South so much more.  I'm craving some good BBQ and summer time fun.  It is also scary though as going home approaches since I literally have no plans after graduation day on May 11.  This has to be the first time in my life that has ever happened, and to a planner like me, that is pretty inconceivable in my mind.  As much as I'd like to relax and travel before I land a job, like everyone is telling me to, there is no way I can just sit around and not be stressing until I find something.  I want to start my life, and I want it to be the right thing, not just the available thing.  I can't rest until I find it, but the job search has been pretty sparse so far.

With the semester drawing to a close, some of you may be wondering what this blog will be afterwards.  Maybe you're not...but I guess I'm trying to answer myself on that question right now.  I still want to keep it up, though I likely won't have as many sightseeing adventures to document.  I'll probably do some general life update posts infrequently when something big happens or I take a trip.  I definitely want to write more about PR and social media related topics.  I've always wanted to since I started it, but I let the DC posts take priority for the time being.  Maybe in my unemployment I'll finally have time to be as crafty as you would think I am from looking at my Pinterest boards and post about that!  And I'll put it in writing right now so I stick to it - I want to try a diet when I get home, and I may write about how that goes.  We'll see!

Sorry for the mildly depressing post, but no worries!  I'm bringing out my favorite Coldplay and James Morrison tunes, which always feel so right and have gotten me through a lot.  I'm hoping the next two weeks are much better than this one, and I'll be home before I know it.

Official pic with Congressman Clyburn

Historic Places and a Soccer Game

Work this week was good.  I got a fairly large project to work on.  I am doing the first quarter media report, so I'm basically going through all of the news articles and interviews he has been featured in since the beginning of the year and organizing them.  I also got to take my official picture with the congressman.  I didn't have any warning so I wasn't exactly wearing what I wanted, but hopefully it looks good!  I'll put it on here when I get it back.

We saw 1776 at Ford's Theatre on Thursday night for theater class.  I had been looking forward to it all semester as I thought it would be really fun since it is a musical about the founding fathers, and its at Ford's.  The costumes, set, lighting, and singing was fun, but I was a bit disappointed overall.  It is pretty long.  The whole thing is basically about John Adams trying to convince all of the states delegates at the second constitutional convention to go for independence.  So its a lot of intricate discussions and arguments.  It was also just frigid in the theatre so it was hard to concentrate since I was so cold.

Ford's Theatre

Lincoln's Box, where he was shot

Friday night, I went to a DC United soccer game with some of my roommates.  We had gotten an email from our housing place about discount tickets for that night so we decided it would be fun to go.  It was a really good decision.  The atmosphere was so fun.  It reminded me a bit of being at a Clemson game, though not nearly as crazy, as there were a lot of college students and people my age, and everyone was really pumped.  They won 4-1 against Dallas FC.  Then we took a bus back home, which was also an entertaining choice since most of the people on it were drunk and really excited about winning.  There were definitely some DC United chants going on.

DC United soccer game

Yesterday, I went to the Library of Congress to finish up my schoolwork for good in the main reading room.  I don't think I've ever been so excited about doing work.  I could not believe I was actually sitting there just working on stuff in such an amazing room and building.  I've been meaning to go there ever since I got my reader card when I first got here, but never bothered to go.  It was another thing to check off of my to-do list, and I did it!  Now I really am done with all of my work.

I went on a run on the mall afterwards, which is the first time I've exercised since I got here (oops).  That was pretty awesome, too.  I love the mall.  There is always something going on there, too, so I stopped to watch some intense African drummers on the steps of the Natural History Museum for a few minutes in the middle of it.

Then, Charlotte, Seth, and I decided to go out to eat to celebrate us being done with our work.  We went to Ted's Bulletin on Barracks Row.  It was a really neat experience.  The decor, music, and waiters' outfits all have a 1930's feel.  The menus look like newspapers, and The Wizard of Oz was playing on TV's all around the place.  I had a burger and an orange push up milkshake.  They are also known for their homemade pop tarts, so I got a strawberry one to go to eat this morning.  I would highly recommend Ted's Bulletin.  The atmosphere is enough of a draw in itself, but the food turned out great, too.  Also, this is the first restaurant in DC I've been to that has actually split a check!!!  I don't know if I've written my rant about this on here, but it is so weird.  DC restaurants will not split checks, even when you ask ahead of time.  Usually, we end up scribbling all over the back of the receipt what each person had and their credit card number, and they end up giving it back to us 3-4 times before they actually process it to get the right amounts.  I do not understand why it is such a big deal, especially in a city full of broke interns who are eating together and obviously not paying for each other.  So them splitting the check without us even asking was pretty monumental and another reason to love it!

Today I didn't really know what to do with myself so I finally went down to Georgetown.  I have heard a lot about the area, but it isn't very metro accessible and I didn't really know what was down there so I hadn't bothered to go before this.  First, I went to a bagel place in Dupont Circle, where I got off the metro, and I had a banana nut bagel.  Interesting and delicious!  Georgetown is amazing.  It is clearly where all of the trendy people in DC hang out, and I definitely should have gone before this.  There is a lot of shopping, much of it more high class.  There are also a lot of neat little restaurants, and it is just a cool historic area.  I walked through a lot of shops, and got a couple shirts at H&M.  It was a good day.

Line as far as you can see down the road at Georgetown Cupcakes (DC Cupcakes on TLC)

This week at work will be interesting.  We are in recess so it should be pretty chill from that aspect, but a bunch of people in my office will be gone so I will have a lot more to do.  I get Friday off since it is Good Friday so I will have a long weekend, then one more weekend here before I move out!  It is April so its almost over!

Last Visitors and Wrapping Up

The House wasn't in session last week so it was pretty slow at work.  My Aunt Jean, cousin Judy, and her partner, Olivia, came to visit over the weekend.  I took them on a tour of the Capitol on Friday, and we had a nice lunch at Cosi afterward.  Unfortunately it was a bit of a gray day, as you can see in the picture.  They headed to the National Portrait Gallery, and I headed back to work.  I met up with them later to eat dinner in Chinatown.  We tried Nando's Peri-Peri, a Portuguese restuarant.  It was very good, and I'm impressed with myself that I have now tried a type of food that Ben hasn't.  That is a pretty incredible feat if you know my brother!  Their menu was mostly chicken and sides, and you could get it at varying degrees of hot.  I had a chicken breast and a grilled corn on the cob.  Then, as you must do in DC, Judy was interested in getting a cupcake somewhere.  We were all much too stuffed right after dinner to go, so we took a walk back to Union Station to help with that.  There is a cupcake place in Union Station, but by the time we got there they didn't have much.  So we had some treats at possibly my favorite place ever, Au Bon Pain, instead.

All of us in front of the Capitol

Saturday I got some errands and school work done in the afternoon.  They went on a bus tour around to some of the famous monuments and places in DC.  Judy and Olivia had some friends in DC they were going to have dinner with so I got Aunt Jean all to myself for dinner.  I introduced her to Potbelly's (yum!), and we had a good time.  Then I got home and saw a story on Facebook on Obama celebrating St. Patrick's Day at the Dubliner.  I could not believe it!  It is an Irish pub in the Phoenix Park Hotel, where Jean, Judy, and Olivia were staying.  I had just gotten home from taking Aunt Jean back to her room there, and it's only a few blocks from where I live.  I can't believe he was so close to where I was, and I missed him! Oh well.

On Sunday, they decided to rent a car and go to Mount Vernon as well as drive around to a few other places.  I went along, too.  I absolutely loved Mount Vernon when I came to DC in high school so I definitely wanted to go back.  It was a gorgeous day - cool in the morning and sunny in the afternoon.  We first ate lunch at the Mount Vernon Inn, then walked around the gardens and some of the surrounding little rooms, and finally toured the mansion, went to the tomb, and everything else.  Afterward we tried to drive through Arlington National Cemetery, but it was already close to 5 and they were closing.  We went to the Pentagon Memorial and drove past some beautiful cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin!  We returned the car, had dinner at Armand's across the street from my house, and watched The Descendants at the hotel. 

Me at Mount Vernon

Aunt Jean at Mount Vernon

Gorgeous flower in the Mt. Vernon gardens

Picture of the Capitol my aunt bought me

Me and Aunt Jean at Dinner

Aunt Jean, Judy, and I at Dinner

There's less than a month left!  I got most of my remaining schoolwork done this week so I can relax the rest of my time here and not feel guilty about doing fun things.  I just have one 2 page theater review to do after we see 1776 next week, a short journal entry to write, and then my two final presentations for each class.  Things are really wrapping up.  I am getting excited to go home, be with my family, graduate, hang out with my friends, and do some summer activities!  Hopefully I'll find a job somewhere along the way, too :]

Everything is blooming in DC, including the infamous cherry blossoms, so I decided to go out this weekend to get some pictures before its past the peak.  Mother Nature is being a jerk though, as it was rainy all today and will be tomorrow, too.  The rain didn't deter me, but the sun would have really made for better pictures.

Awesome purple tree in front of Capitol

Tulips at Library of Congress

Tulips at Capitol

Cherry Blossoms at Tidal Basin

Jefferson Memorial and Cherry Blossoms

Me with the Cherry Blossoms

Washington Monument with Cherry Blossoms

Thankfully I went when I did, because it started to rain pretty hard around lunchtime when I was finishing up and going to go eat and do some shopping.  It was only sprinkling when I was walking around in the morning.  Shopping was a failure.  I didn't get anything I was looking for clothes-wise, though I did get groceries.  Tomorrow I may attempt to shop again a bit, then probably just relax and do some final edits to my research paper and final theater project.  I can't believe next time I post, it will be April!

Halfway There Already!

Wow.  This weekend it really hit me.  I'm about halfway through my time in DC.  There are exactly two months left.  It has gone pretty fast, but I got hit with some homesickness this week because it has been so long.  It didn't help that I had a pretty stressful week and didn't get a chance to talk to my mom for about 5 days, which is probably the longest we've ever gone without talking.  This week was pretty crazy with ups and downs, and I think the stress of this whole situation is finally getting to me a bit.  I cannot wait until the two weekends in March when I will have visitors.  I think that will definitely lift my spirits again.  I'm just trying to stay positive and enjoy every moment.

On a weird side note, I really miss driving my car and singing along to my music, too.  I just realized I really haven't been listening to any music here since I usually do that when in the car or working out.  It is so weird!  I need my music to relax.

A highlight of my work week was that I actually met Clyburn for the first time.  I've seen him around before but never had the chance to officially introduce myself so that was good.  I've been working in the Capitol office more lately so hopefully I will get more interaction with him and the communications director.  I hope to get some PR work soon and make the most of the rest of my time here at work getting some good experience.

A peek inside of our Capitol office

On Wednesday, I got to judge the "We The People" competition at Chavez Prep Middle School here in DC.  The students had to prepare little speeches on different aspects of government like "why is voting important?" and "what would happen if there was no civic participation in government?"  The speech and debate nerd inside of me was so excited to help these kids.  It was a neat little excursion from work.

I also (sort of) went to a committee hearing this week that ended up being big news.  It was the Oversight and Government Reform committee's hearing on "Religious Freedom" or "Obama and Separation of Church and State," but it ended up being more of a hearing on the whole contraception issue that has been going on lately.  It was on the news a lot because there were no women on the panel, which was pretty crazy since it was a discussion about contraception.  It was pretty fiery in the beginning with the Democrats and Republicans going at it about who is credible to be a witness at a hearing and why some people didn't qualify that the Dems submitted.  I didn't get there in time to actually sit in the committee room and a lot of the seats were reserved anyway, so I watched it on a TV in an overflow room.  I wish I had gotten there earlier and I maybe could have gotten a seat and been on national news!  I had no idea the hearing was going to be such a big deal.

On Saturday, I went shopping with my roommate in Friendship Heights.  It is a really nice, ritzy area.  It was the first time I was in a Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale's, or Anthropologie.  I got some cute shirts at Nordstrom Rack and got some good exercise in with all the walking.  It was a really nice day out, and it was fun just to do some looking and window shopping.

Sunday was another museum day!  I went to the National Museum of the American Indian.  I had heard the Mitsitam Cafe there was a great place to eat from a few people so I made sure to go at lunchtime.  I had an "Indian Taco" which was chili, pinto beans, diced tomatoes, cheese, and lettuce on fry bread.  It was very good, but a bit pricey.  Then I toured the museum.  This wasn't a museum that was top on my list of things to do, but I must say all of the smithsonians are just so well done.  The design of the building and all of the displays is really neat to admire, even if you're not that interested in the content.  The building itself is kind of wavy on the outside, and the displays are shaped similarly.  Afterwards, I decided to go through the United States Botanic Garden and Conservatory since it was right next door.  Obviously since it is winter, the garden wasn't too much to see, but I will definitely have to go back in the spring.  The conservatory was really neat.  They had a big display of different kinds of orchids.  I got some cool pictures there.

National Museum of the American Indian

Indian dress

U.S. Conservatory

Beautiful white orchid!

Purple orchid

Since all federal buildings are closed on President's Day, this was a three day weekend for me, and I had an extra day to explore.  It was nice, and I didn't feel bad that I just stayed in all today working on some schoolwork, playing my uke, and catching up on my TV shows.

Getting into the Swing of Things

Continuing where I left off last time, Sunday I took a me day.  I finally got a Smartrip card, which will make riding the metro so much easier, and I took a stroll around Eastern Market, which is a wonderful farmers and flea market with lots of fun food and arts vendors very close to our house.  It was pretty darn cold, so I didn't stay too long.  I will definitely be going back there though.  So many great scarves, jewelry pieces, hats, and other cool things.  I've also heard they have a great brunch.  Then I took some time to catch up on my TV shows online, write some letters to pen pals, and call family.  It's a little odd not having any alone time really, as I'm always with some of my roommates since there are so many of us.  I need to take some time for myself, and I always love it when I do.  Monday was a pretty chill day, too.  We went to the Washington Wizards game, then I came home and did some laundry.

Washington Wizards vs. Houston Rockets

The rest of the week I worked, of course!  It's really the most important reason why I'm here, but it is very easy to forget that with all the fun I'm having.  It's been amazing and stressful at the same time.  I feel like I've adjusted to working a little better than I did when I began my internship over the summer, because I have had that experience.  However, of course there are the times where I'm unsure of myself and feel like the new intern that doesn't know anything.  I put a lot of pressure on myself to make an amazing impression and exceed the highest expectations.  As I've learned with internships, it's what you make of it.  You have to ask, ask, and ask some more to do things you want to do and gain those opportunities.  I'm trying hard to make all of my time here as productive as possible, even when I don't have a specific task assigned to me.  My Friday was pretty amazing.  I got to actually go into the House chambers, walk around the floor, and sit in the front row.  I will have to go again when they are in session.  I went into the members only cloak room inside the chambers, and I got to stand on the speaker's balcony, seeing the view a president would see of the mall on inauguration day.  It was absolutely amazing.  Even though I get to go inside the Capitol on a daily basis, I feel like it will never get old.  The inside of that building is so elaborate and wonderful.  I am constantly looking around in awe, thankful of the privileges I have.

Clyburn's Office in Rayburn

My Badge!  Not the greatest picture, but it gets me to some amazing places!

It snowed a little last night, which looked pretty but also made things a little slippery today.  I wanted to do something since it was Saturday, so I decided to shop.  There is a Forever 21, H&M, and Zara, all right next to each other in Chinatown.  Can you say shopping heaven?  They all had some pretty great sales, too, so I got some cute things I needed.  Then went to a Chinese place in Chinatown with my roomie and got a cupcake after as well.  DC has a lot of cupcake places, so I've been wanting to try one. It was a really really fun day.  Things are great, and I feel at home in DC and at work.