Ok, so I have some news that might be bad for some people... I'm never coming home! Man alive, we've just moved into our flat and it's amaaaazing. I'm afraid I shan't be returning to the UK unless I can ship this place over with me.
It's just as well that this apartment is so nice, or else I may still be dwelling on the earth-shattering discovery I made as we were moving our millions of bags out of the temporary apartment we've been staying in... There was a pool in the building! And a gym! Who knew? Seriously, what was I thinking, sitting at my computer, wandering the streets and watching TV? I could've been splashing around in a pool but an elevator-ride away from my flat!! Grrrr. I only found out because, on one of my many trips to and from the taxi, a betrunked man with a towel around his neck emerged from the stairway and spoke to the concierge about there being some problem with the gym. Or was it the pool. I can't remember. The point is, there was a pool in the building! Ugh.
Anyway, that place is so last week and I'm all about our wonderful new flat, which is making me extreeeemely happy. We moved us and our way-too-many bags here when Max got home from work, to give the cleaner (woo!) time to finish up. The taxi brought us along Connecticut Ave, which is the main drag between here and Dupont Circle, where I spotted a Lucky Brand Jeans shop, so had a suspicion that all was going to be well.
Once we'd lugged all our stuff into the flat, we ran about like loons, exploring the many many doors, some of which led to en-suite bathrooms, others to walk-in wardrobes and some to more than one boiler. Odd.
I was very aware that Max had had a long first proper day at the office and had done much lugging of suitcases, but there were just a couple of bits of furniture I wanted to move before we headed out for food. And those bits turned into a few more bits and soon we were rearranging the whole flat, so that it now looks awesome. I don't think Max's predecessor spent much time here, as the sitting room and bedroom were laid out quite funnily. But since this is going to be where I hang out most days, I'm determined to Soph-ify it. Plus, as anyone who's lived with me can testify, I'm a chronic nester, so fortunately it came as no surprise to Max that I wanted to put my mark on the place, and thankfully his excitement at being here outweighed any hunger/tiredness.
The whole place reorganised, we headed down the road to 18th Street, where there are a couple of blocks of restaurants. On the corner, there's a Belgian cafe, but that was closed for refurbishment, then there was a kind of diner next to that, what I think is a pub next to that and a Chinese takeaway next to that. We plumped for the diner, which actually looked exactly like a nice pub in Britain inside, not unlike the trusty Elgin at the end of our road in Maida Vale. The menu's great for those nights when you just can't be bothered to cook (or have yet to work out how yet another oven works...) and there are peonies all over the place - I love it!
We didn't realise when we were ordering our fried chicken and mac and cheese that it was 11pm by this stage, but wolfed it down until we could wolf no more and then over-excitedly asked for what we couldn't manage as takeout (because we could) and stumbled the few yards back to the flat, extremely excited by our local and the neighbourhood as a whole.
While Maxy crashed out, I couldn't resist buzzing around the flat a bit more, sorting bits and pieces out while clambering over our bags every time I had to go through the hallway. Grrr. Why so much stuff?! As I explored the spare room, I found a pile of what I took to be junk mail, only to discover a gift from Rols and Nina and an AMAZING welcome package from Tom and Bam of East coast maps, guidebooks, Entertainment Weekly and a screwdriver! It was an excellent end to an unbelievably exciting evening and I'm so so happy to be here. Sure, the fact that the Pope and Gordon Brown are hitting Washington this week is pretty momentous, but I'm far more excited by our home. Less so by the prospect of unpacking...
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