Going to the "Mall"

Mommanator duly noted that there are a ton of changes going on in my life right now, and maybe it wouldn’t be the wisest decision at the moment to dump the job, too. This is also advice that I personally would give anyone who came up to me with the same “symptoms.”

However, I’m sure you all have figured out by now that I suck at taking my own advice.

My horoscope over the weekend said something to the effect that I should start enjoying the "now" moments and that will make me feel better. The Sunday job section had an article about how leaving your current job in an emotional huff may not be the wisest thing in the world.

OK, OK, OK, UNIVERSE! I get the hint. Thanks! Kisses! 8^*

I had a wonderful Saturday. My friend J had a friend come into town who wanted to do touristy things, so touristy things we did.

Now there were a ton of things going on this weekend in DC that were quite noteworthy – the Solar Decathlon on the Mall, the opening of the Annie Leibovitz exhibit, along with an Ansel Adams exhibit, at the Corcoran, and an Edward Hopper exhibit . However, these are Random Kath-type activities, which normal people with only a day to spend in the Nation’s Capital don’t usually choose at first blush . . .

So we started the afternoon by having some yummy barbeque at Red, Hot and Blue. The friend is a sort of barbeque connoisseur, and he pronounced his ribs to be very good. Then we rode up to the National Mall, where we spent a bit of time trying to find a parking space. We found one nearby the Washington Monument (which as it turned out was a permit spot where we later found a $20 parking ticket on our windshield) and proceeded to visit several of the popular memorials.

We visited: the World War Two Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War Memorial. Whew! Quite a few people around, since it was such a gorgeous day, and quite a bit of walking.

To see DC through the eyes of an honest-to-goodness, un-jaded, Midwestern American, is refreshing. Living around here all of the time, it is so easy to get so used to all of these iconic buildings and monuments and start viewing the huddled masses who come to the city on a daily basis as PITAs who are only here to tie up traffic, stop short and stand in the middle of sidewalks, and keep us regional residents from reaching our appointed rounds in a timely manner. But there are a lot of gosh, golly, gee and awe-inspiring things here, and playing tour guide reminds me of just how fabulous it is to live here so close to so much.

After the whirlwind tour, we stopped in Alexandria and got some ice cream at a local shop. The friend then went back to the hotel, which allowed J and I to head over to the Salvation Army for a little bit to do some thrift shop rummaging. I found a very nice, usually expensive wool sweater for only $4, an Asian-inspired black velvet vest for $10, and a flowy sort-of house/day dress for only $5, so I only spent $20. Yay!

All-in-all, good times were had. Being out and about always makes me happy and I’m hoping I have another fun weekend outing very, very soon . . . they do a soul quite well . . .