What I've Been Up To Lately

yes, I did take this

   I must truly be the worst blogger ever.  After faithfully posting nearly every day last summer and into the fall and winter, I went over four months without touching this blog.  But now it is summer again, and I've got time on my hands, and so here I am, again!
   Since my hiatus, I have been busy.  I've run a half marathon (under two hours, baby!), graduated from college, and started an internship in Washington, DC.  I absolutely love this city, and in the nearly two months that I've lived here, I've learned a lot.  In the upcoming weeks, I hope to share a bit of it with you all!  For starters, I've come up with a list of tips for DC newcomers, like myself.

1. Traffic signals are just a suggestion (unless you hear sirens).  If there are no cars coming, go ahead and cross,
2. Learn the "inside" of the metro - the area where all the lines start to cross each other and get tangled up - first*  
3. Yes, it really is important to add NW, SW, NE, and SE to any address
4. Anything in Foggy Bottom or around Farragut Square is going to be expensive.  Try Dupont Circle, or even better, Adams Morgan for younger, cheaper things.
5. Georgetown is the only place where taking the bus is really a good bet, in my opinion.
6. It is a 5 mile loop from the Lincoln memorial to the Capitol and back - great for running!
7. You can never try too many gourmet(ish) burgers or cupcakes.  I recommend Good Eats (by Top Chef contestant Spike Mendelson!) and Crumbs bakery - but many more are great too!
8. If you find a good Mexican restaurant, let me know.
9. While you're here, network, network, network.
10. Soak it in.  This is a city with a huge amount of influence and possibility, so make the most of it!

*And you only need to know the stops you tend to go to.  This will help you navigate faster - if you know what direction you need to go, you only have to look at the station at the end of the line in the direction you need to go, and figuring out which train to take will get easier.