Sage Advice

My friend Heather over at Candy Coated Cupcakes (can you tell we're friends?) wrote a post in honor of my big ol' move with some GREAT advice.

Heather made a similar move to Chicago after undergrad and has paved the way in moving to a town where you maybe know 2 people and making it.

So, head over to her blog, read the advice if you're about to take the plunge on a big move, and read her blog because she has an awesome job, well travelled in cupcakes, and just generally awesome.

Thanks again Heather for the shout out and the advice!

Moving Weekend

Backing up to last Friday, I woke up giddy knowing that I was going to fly across the country to begin the next chapter in my life.

I have a very specific itinerary to adhere to once I landed. I needed to check into my hotel, sign my lease, pick up my pack mule - I mean, friend - Daisy, get to Target...

Time out.
The National Marathon was Saturday, March 26, and the route surrounded all routes that I would have used to get to any Target. This was also distressing because my furniture would have to traverse the same streets which means I might not have a bed to rest my head in on Saturday.
Time in.

After Target, I would need some rest! My cousin lives in Virginia and came into town to help out on his weekend with toting me around and getting those first essentials.

The National Marathon actually ended up being a great thing because I was more efficient in my errands and was able to get out on Saturday with Daisy as a tourist in my new home rather than cooped up in an apartment.

Arlington National Cemetary

Robert E. Lee's House

Tomb of the Unknowns

Changing of the Gaurd

Changing of the Wreath

Some cherry blossoms over the cemetary

View from the Amphitheater to Robert E. Lee's House

Those legendary cherry blossoms!

View from Robert E. Lee's house.

RFK

L to R: Jack Jr., JFK, Jackie O

View from the Memorial Bridge. (You can see the white blossoms in the Tidal Basin.)

Honest Abe

The Reflecting Pool is getting a face lift.

Korean War Memorial

WWII Memorial and Washington Monument

From Atlantic to Pacific

3 oh 3!

Wow. That's tall.

That Capitol and Smithsonian castle.

The National Archives

The White House. Duh.

Saturday and Sunday were filled with sights and errands. It was a perfect mix for the weekend. Enough to enjoy a last hurrah with my girl Daisy, thank her for coming all the way and helping me unpack, and feeling settled enough to start Monday morning running.

Although, there's a whole other post about the tourists on the mall. We'll just say my patience was worn thin.

First Day

Before I get to the fun details about te move, the weekend, and all the pictures, I thought I would do a quick post about my first day.

I left with an hour to walk, ride, and find my office. Which is good because the exit for Union Station I went out of was not what I had stalked on google. I chose left because I could see the Capitol (eep!) and once at Columbus Circle, I had my bearings and headed into my first day.

As soon as I walked in and met my supervisor, my lulu lemon bag's handles ripped and sent my office goodies flying. Thanks a lot lulu for a cheap bag. I spent plenty of money on your clothes, you could at least give me a descent reusable bag.

As far as the work, well, I haven't done much. Between meeting everyone, getting more information, setting up my computer (three phone calls spanning two hours), getting lunch, going through my email (I came INTO 17 before I even started), I'm pretty well busy.

In the mean time, I have tried to find the usual office goods with pens, pencils, staplers, but also to get my desk to be something I can use long term with ergonomics and efficiency.

Oh, and my hand me down furniture has decided to not open, so I don't know how I'm getting my purse out. Oy.

So far, I like the people and the work sounds doable and intriguing. That, and I already have a happy hour! Woohoo!

Packing

You know how when you think about the amount of clothes that you have, they could easily fit into you luggage, right?

I started packing and have found that I could potentially stretch the seems with space bags and such, but the airlines 50 lbs. limit really makes the capacity of my baggage less than used.

I have set aside clothes and shoes for the next week of life, but I still have to pack my jewelry, housewares, and all the clothes I set aside for life.

I haven't even started looking at my toiletries. Dear little baby Jesus in golden fleece diapers, let that go easily. I'm debating in my head (it's really crowded in there right now) what to ship and what to pack when it comes to the get pretty stuff.

Other than that, I feel very accomplished! Finally!

By the way, I have around 300 pounds worth of stuff to take to DC. Wow. Thankfully, I can check two bags, my BFF that's coming with me can check two bags for me, and I have a shipping allowance.

Driver's License Freak Out

Today was a little more than stressful for the move.

Getting my application complete for my Zipcar, I had to have my driving record checked. (Insert lead foot comment here.) I get an email saying that they can't find a record for me. Well, that's because you have my license to before the District, but not Colorado. (Which by the way, there's no selection for a state on the form.) OK, done.

Then I get an email around 1pm that says my driving record indicates that my license expires on my birthday in 2011.

My birthday? March 22. That's three work days.

When do I move? March 25. Eff. My. Life.

Having a three-day old ponytail and minimal makeup on (leftover) if I was going to get a new license that would last for a decade, I would need to do something with this disaster.

Before I left work, I called the DMV to see what their records said to verify that my license wasn't lying.

Milton at the DMV (Cruel Office Space joke, much?) informed me that I would need to pay $2.25 for a certified copy of my driving record. If I needed to renew my license, that would be $21. Great, Milton, but can't you just tell me if I really need to renew my license? Milton chimed in that my license would be invalid after that date if I did. So, that's a yes or a no, Milton? It's an I'm going to be a stereotypical DMV employee and be completely ambiguous and frustrating. I have to go to a location. Awesome.

Rushing home for a quick blowout and makeup application, I get a call from Zipcar asking about the expiration. I told them what Milton told me and that I am completely confused as to why my license would read something different than the DMV. So the rep decided to look manually at the record and found a notation in an irregular place that indicates that my license is indeed valid until 2014 like it says and I'm a legit Zipster.

So, a minor coronary later, I am set up to drive the Zipcars and I had an extra couple of hours this afternoon to pack (read: nap).

Oy.

Back to Reality

Every time I say that phrase in my head, I hear Eminem go "Back to reality/Oops, there goes gravity..." I'm so thug slash legit.

(Although I doubt those living the "thug life" do any of the following: A) wear pearls, B) blog, or C) still listen to Eminem.)

I digress.

But really, that's the theme for today. I have managed to avoid everyday life and reality for the last 48 hours and it has been nice. I went to Texas for a quick wedding planning help trip for my cousin. (Read about it at Caffeine & Cocktails.) Now, I'm in the home stretch before I move to The District.

As my birthday present from my aunt & uncle, she gave me Space Bags. I have a couple from prior moves, but I really was avoiding trying to buy more because they can be expensive. With them as a gift, though, I now have no excuse to get everything together.

Oh, wait.

Yes I do.

I have to sleep, work, see some family members, celebrate my birthday & going away with both family and friends (multiple times because who doesn't like a party?), sleep, and work some more.

I might need an intervention to get me to focus. I can already envision my mad packing Thursday next week as I try to assemble everything and get out the door tasking my mother with getting to UPS to ships some boxes, and then sleeping on the plane. (Forget that, I'll be too excited. I won't sleep!)

OK, someone smack me to get my crap together and get things ready already!

Countdowns Have Started

I have started a final countdown...perhaps to my own detriment, but I need to start getting things together.
I have set aside some things that I'll need to ship to my new place and packed one of my giant suitcases with most of my clothes, but I'm still not as organized as I should be. Part of me rationalizes that I'll have plenty of time before March 25 to pack everything up. Then the social side of me breaks in and reminds me that in the mean time, I have brunches, dinners, games, nights out, and work that will interfere with the actual number of hours available to me in the mean time.

In actual time, I have 17 days. In real time, I have 10 work days and 14 days in Denver with my trip to Texas for a couple of days next week.

Denver To Do List:

• Turn in DVR (waiting until the last second, obviously.)
• Replace windshield in car (gotta leave Bruce with a fresh face, but postponing because we're not out of snow and greavel truck season yet.)
• Box and prepare to ship housewares/linens and shoes (I'm truly creeped at the thought of "renting" linens.)
• Finish packing my clothes (How am I to pack what I need to wear? And I'm having an internal struggle about how much dirty laundry I'm willing to take.)
• Pack up my office (My pictures, magnets, and iPod speakers...clearly I'm not heisting my pens and this really can be done in 5 minutes, but it's still something to get done.)
• Sign up for Comcast since they won't make appointments more than one week in advance.
• Clarify Verizon internet order because they were Johnny-On-The-Spot with my order and shipped everything 3 weeks in advance.
• Manage my to-do lists here, on paper, on my phone and in my head.

Oy. I need a vacation.

Looking Ahead

In less than four weeks, I will be a DC denizen! I have so many things, places, people, that I want to see, do, and meet, it's killing me to have to wait, but I'm not ready to go just yet.

Here's just a short list of the things that I'm looking forward to in DC:

• Trader. Joe's. Enough said.
• H&M. See above.
• Sticky Fingers. It's a vegan bakery and cafe that also serve GF goodies. My bankruptcy counterpart is Vegan, so we've decided that this will be our hangover hangout.
• Target. It has an escalator for carts. How cool is that?
• My own space again. Not that I don't love the sweet gig I have now, it's just not the same.
• Meeting my new coworkers, getting settled in my new office space.
• Meeting mutual friends that have hooked me up in knowledge and that I won't be an island.
• Walking distance to almost everything that I need.

I'm excited to get there and get settled in, but all the same, I'm trying to jam as much as possible into the last few weeks that I have in Colorado.