Currently - October '16

The first part of October has been a bit hectic, with several work events outside of normal work hours for me and adjusting to Keizo's new work schedule (4:30 AM wake up calls and 9 PM dinners). Thankfully this weekend has been more low key and allowed me to do some catching up.

This month's link up is hosted by Anne and Jacqui. Please take a moment to go say hi!

Cheers-ing - My birthday, and dragging it out as long as possible! Last Sunday marked the end of a week of birthday celebrations with my 3rd Annual Bikes-n-Beer bike ride/brewery tour through DC. On my birthday the previous Saturday, Keizo took me out for dinner and dessert, followed the next day with a date at the National Arboretum. During the week, we met up with a friend at the Nationals game and I enjoyed a happy hour with my co-workers. So far, 31 still feels a lot like 30, but with a few new grey hairs.

Organizing - Still plugging away at the 2nd bedroom in the new apartment. It's become a catchall for things we don't use on a daily basis, but sometime soon I'd like it to be a functional and inviting study/guest bedroom instead of the current nightmare.

Dreaming - About vacation, and wondering when the next one will be. Keizo's new job is in retail, so I don't think we'll be going anywhere over the holidays. However, my family is planning on joining us here for Christmas, and Keizo is finally starting to talk about a trip back to Japan to see his parents and siblings after the holiday rush.

Buying - We're getting closer to finding the right couch and dining furniture for the new apartment. Even though this place feels spacious to us, we're finding most couches a just a tad too long, and we've seen some gargantuan dining room tables. At least the size constraints are helping narrow down the choices!

Listening - Ask Me Another is my go-to podcast for doing chores around the house; it's funny and I love it when I'm able to get the answer before the contestants. I've tried a few other, less interactive podcasts lately, but have found myself tuning out after just a few minutes.

Auf Wiedersehen #819!

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The Alexander House Apartments in Downtown Silver Spring made a great place to live for two years filled with some big life transitions. First was my move from quaint Charlottesville, VA to bustling Washington DC and starting my first real job after grad school. Almost exactly a year later, Keizo moved to the US, we got married and have spent the past twelve months figuring out how to live in very close proximity to each other in relative harmony. Thankfully, he's easy going and ascribes to the philosophy, "happy wife, happy life." ;-)

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I moved from Charlottesville with only a few big pieces of furniture: a futon, a dresser, an armchair and an outdoor bistro set, so the apartment--all 655 square feet of it--was a little sparse in the beginning. On my first trip to Ikea I bought a desk, shelves and two chairs for the breakfast bar. More trips to Ikea and the purchase of a real bed later, and things looked and functioned much better.

I was smart enough to take some 'before' photos the day I moved in, and then some 'after' ones a month or two before moving out. The 'after' photos were taken on a Saturday when I was feeling grumpy about having spent the better part of a nice day inside cleaning and tidying up. Looking around afterwards, I realized the place actually looked pretty good and it was the perfect opportunity to take photos before we tore it apart packing up to move.

As shown in the floor plan above, all of the rooms connected to one another. The "tour" below skips the kitchen and moves roughly clockwise around the apartment from the front door.

The dining area was just two chairs for the year before Keizo moved in. They barely reached the counter, but when it was just me I didn't care too much. Finding a table to fit in the small space (with the weird offset tiles and light fixture) took some searching; we eventually found one on Wayfair that matched both the chair legs and the wood sideboard we picked up at the local Habitat ReStore.

The living area also had a few different iterations before we settled on the arrangement above. The futon from Charlottesville served as the sofa and set the color palette for the rest of the room: black and white, with a few bright accents. Just visible on the far left of the photo is the desk, which was a perpetual holding zone for papers, catalogs and the odd things that never seemed to get put away. 

Buying a real bed made me feel like I finally made it to adulthood, and I still look back fondly on the first week of good sleep after it was delivered. The bedroom was more than just a place to sleep; it also had to serve most of Keizo's storage needs, as well as provided a place for us to keep our bikes out of the elements. We bought a vertical rack that allowed us to stack them on the wall at the foot of the bed. Off the right edge of the photos was my dresser and the entrance to the walk through closet, which led to...

...the bathroom. Nothing too special to note here; I still like the shower curtain I picked out two years ago at Target, and I have found storage bins to be my solution to many an organizational quandary. As long as you stick to a theme within each bin, and don't fill them to the brim, things are pretty easy to find.

There are just a few things I miss about this apartment since moving about 3 weeks ago. They are:

• the view looking west from the balcony = lots of pretty sunsets
• the dishwasher 
• the open kitchen.

The new place is really nice though, and so far I am loving:

• having more space (two bedrooms, large open living/dining room and 5 closets)
• the "hardwood" floors (the wall to wall carpet in #819 went from off-white to grey despite liberal use of carpet cleaner)
• the spa-like shower head
• ceiling fans throughout.

Currently - September '16

I'm a little behind schedule with this post, but rather excited to share that this is my 17th Currently post since first joining the linkup in December 2014. This month, Anne and Beth are co-hosting, so please stop by to say hello!

Reading – Both our old and new neighborhoods are peppered with Little Free Libraries in people’s yards, and I often stop to browse the offerings. Recently I picked up “Riding the Bus with My Sister,” (non-fiction) and “Yo!” (fiction). The first was a good lesson in empathy and trying to appreciate our differences, while the second was an interesting novel told from several different points of view. 

Trying - A capsule wardrobe (see photo above). In a perfect world, I would have spent time cleaning out my closet before moving, but unpacking presents an equally good opportunity to purge in my opinion (maybe even better, since the memory of all the beautiful, empty space is still fresh in my mind!) I settled on 40 items not including shoes and accessories for my first capsule. Some of my initial thoughts are: there's no way this enough! Will I have to do laundry more often? And right now it's >90* while the end of November is usually around 50*...let's hope it cools down a bit soon!

Hoping – My new bike commute will help my clothes fit better. One week in and it's mostly just making me arrive at work sweaty and even hungrier than usual.

Decorating – Our new apartment! While we have all of the basics and then some in terms of stuff, our new place has more space than our last, so it’s time to upgrade our 2-person counter height table to a proper dining table that will allow for dinner parties, large jigsaw puzzles and various craft projects. It's also time to invest in a proper sofa so we can move the futon into the second bedroom for guests.

To-do listing – Plenty of boring stuff: changing my address in a gazillion places and setting up a long overdue dentist appointment with some fun stuff mixed in: planning my birthday treats at the end of the month.

Seattle

Thinking back to our trip to Seattle last month, the things I remember most were the great weather and all of the fun we had celebrating Hannah and Nick's wedding with many of my friends from college. We kept our itinerary pretty relaxed; attending a few pre-wedding events and spending one day sightseeing, but otherwise sticking to the Othello/Columbia City neighborhoods near where we were staying and taking some time to relax. 

Top to bottom, L to R: Breakfast at Columbia City Bakery, Pike Place Market, taking a break at the Olympic Sculpture Park, our cute Airbnb, wedding reception fun, all dressed up, gorgeous centerpieces and Pitzer College alumni with the bride and groom.

Currently - August '16

Unfortunately, I missed the link-up hosted by Anne and Dana this month, but here's a quick look at what I've been up to currently. In general, I am ready for these hot, hot, humid days to pass, but already starting to mourn the sun going down earlier.

hearting - keeping a 5 minute journal. The first day I tried it, I was amazed at the difference it made in how I felt about tackling some of the things on my to do list. I don't experience the same boost on a daily basis, and it can be difficult to come up with new "amazing things that happened" because I like to stick to my routines, but I've also had a few days lately where there wasn't anything in particular I wanted to change, which is really satisfying.

watching - Like many others, I am enjoying the Olympics, having started at the very beginning with the opening ceremony last Friday. Rugby is making a comeback as an Olympic sport (the last time it was featured was 92 years ago) so I think Keizo is excited too.

exploring - We enjoyed adventures in Annapolis and Seattle last month, and are looking forward to exploring a new neighborhood when we move a few miles down the road at the end of the month. We will have a second bedroom(!) and a large living/dining room(!), so I've also started exploring Pinterest for ideas.

creating - a moving to-do list. We're slowly making progress, having picked up some boxes, lined up a mover and reserved our building's freight elevator, but there's a lot of packing ahead!

eating - more vegetables to keep up with the bounty of our weekly CSA box. This week's winning recipe was Spicy Chicken and Eggplant Stir Fry.

Thanks for reading!

Currently - July '16

It certainly feels like July around here, with plenty of hot, humid weather. I recommend grabbing a cold drink and taking a peek at what other's have been up to by visiting Anne and Jenna, the always gracious hosts of the Currently link up each month.

Enjoying America's pastime on America's 240th birthday! Go Nats!

toasting - Hamburger buns for tonight's dinner of leftover zucchini patties and sweet potato fries. Tomorrow we'll be toasting to Keizo's birthday and the end of his intensive summer writing class!

going - To Seattle in two weeks to celebrate a friend's wedding with a bunch of college friends. The last time I saw most of them was two years ago at another friend's wedding. We're sharing a house with the couple that got married two years ago and their adorable daughter who I am very excited to be meeting for the first time! Keizo will also be getting to meet many of my college friends for the first time too.

smelling - We've reached the height of summer, so things aren't always smelling so great but sunscreen always beats a sunburn, and I'd much rather be wearing sandals than socks!

wearing - Skirts and dresses to work, shorts and tank tops on the weekends. I have all but abandoned my pants as most are too fitted for this hot, sticky weather we've been having. I've been loving the couple of solid colored dresses I have, as they make getting ready really easy, yet can be reinterpreted multiple ways with different accessories. It's probably worth getting one more to mix in to the rotation.

wishlisting - The perfect new apartment! We're in need of a bit more space, and after two years in the same place, it's time for a change. We toured one we really liked, but sadly the landlord was looking to fill it right away and found another tenant. Hopefully we'll find something similar soon, as I really dislike having given notice but not having a new place lined up yet!

6 things for 2016: 6 month report

And just like that, it's July and 2016 is halfway through! Time to check in on my goals for the year and make plans for the next six months.

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More yoga - My approach to yoga has changed this year so instead of taking a one hour class once a week, I have been fitting in 15 to 20 minute sessions at home a few times a week. YouTube makes it really easy to select a routine based on style or length. I recommend videos from Sarah Beth Yoga (I've done her 7 day challenge a few times), Cole Chance at Yoga TX, and for a good laugh and lots of upper body conditioning between the down dogs, Tony Horton.

Exercise in the morning - Hitting the snooze button is a constant battle for me, so waking up with enough time to fit in a full workout before heading to work happens infrequently. Most days, I get in a mini workout of sorts; either yoga or some HIIT exercises, and then finish up after work with a run, long walk or more HIIT. I'm going to call this goal a work in progress.

Volunteer - I just finished up a week volunteering at a summer camp that teaches kids with different abilities how to ride bikes. All the campers start in the gym on specially designed bikes with rollers on the back that get them used to pedaling and slight variations in balance. As the week goes on, the rollers get thinner on the edges so the riders have to work more on balance until they are ready to ride on two wheels. The camper I was paired this week alternated between loving being on the bike to hating it as soon as he felt like he was going to fall. On Friday, he made one complete lap around the track without stopping. He was crying for part of it, but didn't stop pedaling which was really amazing to see! It might be hard to top bike camp, but I would really like to find a weekly or bi-weekly volunteer opportunity in the coming months.

Make time for hobbies - If going on walks and listening to podcasts counts as a hobby, I am doing pretty well with this one. That wasn't as much of a hobby of mine back in January when I wrote these goals, but the long summer evenings are too nice not to take advantage of! The original intent of this goal was to spend more time blogging, baking and crafting, three things I enjoy doing but often get lost in the shuffle. Like the exercising in the morning goal, this one is still very much a work in progress but I am on pace to blog more than last year, I created and hung up some art in the apartment and have knit a few baby items to give as gifts.

Travel every month - I haven't traveled for pleasure every month, but between work and play I am pretty close to hitting this goal for the first half of the year. The first real trip of the year was to New Orleans, followed by a weekend in Charlottesville, a week in Atlanta for work, camping in Tennessee and another quick work trip to central Ohio. I'm looking forward to traveling for fun this month with a weekend trip to Annapolis to celebrate Keizo's birthday and the end of his summer class, followed by a trip to Seattle for a dear friend's wedding later in the month. This is definitely a goal where it's better to plan in advance; picking dates and making reservations ahead of time to get it on the calendar, and then filling in the details as the trips get closer. 

Date my husband - Memorable dates this year have included a midnight walk through a blizzard followed by sledding amidst a bunch of kids on a slick hill the next day; eating sushi burritos and visiting the Wonder exhibition at the Renwick Gallery; several weekend bike rides; ice cream and board games at Moorenko's; and most recently dinner at Daikaya followed by an outdoor movie in Farragut Square on a lovely summer evening.

I don't know if I was fully conscious of it before, but all my goals for this year are really focused on moving beyond the day to day and enjoying life. It bothers me that I have to be so intentional about having fun sometimes, but I suppose like anything, you get better at it as you go!