How It All Starts

I have decided to start a side blog to chronicle my adventures as I pick up and move across the country, and explore what it's like to live in a great, big, East Coast city far from my suburban life in a square state  where the buffalo roam.

Here's an excerpt from my post that announced the big move and bigger opportunity on Caffeine & Cocktails:

I'm moving to Washington, DC for a year as part of a "temporary duty assignment". I will be taking on a position to help transition to the next generation of software. I could totally go geek on you and talk more about it, but really, I don't think a lot of people care all that much about what I'll be doing. I'll be there for a year, am welcoming visitors to indulge my touristy side, and cannot wait to see what this crazy opportunity has in store for me!

How did this all come about? Well, my boss sent me a link for a loan-a-case-manager program with the details that their anticipated start date was January 18. The date that I received the link? January 10. So, I thought it over, asked for my boss' boss' blessing, (well, I had to have it), and sent off my resume forgetting all about the position. A month later, I checked my application status and there was no change, so I figured that the position was filled or simply I didn't make the cut.

That is, until I got an email with "Interview?" in the subject line. 

Wait. What?

They had not filled the position and they wanted me to interview for it!!!! Omigodomigodomigodomigod! Not only that, they wanted to have their decision made my the end of the week.

That's it. I was offered the position, I accepted. (Really, if there was anything to think about, I shouldn't have applied for it.) Now, I'm on the fast track to call The District my home for the next year.

The last time I was in this city (aside from driving by it on the way to the airport in Baltimore), I was 12 and on a tour with my classmates and our teachers. Pretty sure I could name all the monuments, but have no idea where any of them are located.

That's what maps and apps are for, right?

So far, I have google stalked, wiki stalked, walk scored, and inundated my friends that have any kind of knowledge of the areas in DC. 

I am looking to create a DC Bucket List and I have already got a couple things compiled:

• Visit all of the presidential memorials
• Visit all of the armed forces/war memorials
• Find that "Awakening" sculpture again
• Visit all the Smithsonian museums
• Visit the White House (on a legit tour, not go all Salahi on the place.)
• Visit the Supreme Court
• Visit the U.S. Capital
• Visit the National Archives/Library of Congress

What else should I add to this list?

And since I identify a litte with Mizz Elle Woods, I totally will be channelling my inner (and outer) blonde to take over the city...except I won't have a purse sized dog or wear a pillbox hat, but feel free to call me Capital Barbie.