A Love Letter To D.C.

Tomorrow, my husband and I depart for Texas. As my nephews would say "One more wakeup." That's right - just one more time waking up in my Alexandria, Virginia bed. To say that it is bittersweet is an understatement. I am excited for our journey together, but I am so sad for all I am leaving behind. I will miss my friends terribly - that goes without saying. But I will also miss D.C. If you know me well, you may know that I am a little bit of a second guesser - a little bit of a regretter. When I decided to move here, however, I never looked back. I knew I would love it, and I did.

What exactly will I miss? There are too many things to list. But I would be remiss if I didn't at least give it a shot. So here goes.

The National Gallery Sculpture Garden. On a Friday in August 2001, I interviewed with my firm. I was done with the interview before lunch and walked around downtown. I started out with a little trip to Ford's Theater, down the street, which took me back to my third grade fascination with Lincoln's assassination. It was a fun day all to myself. The best part was in the afternoon when I found the Sculpture Garden. It was hot outside, and people were pulling up their pant legs and dipping their feet into the fountain. I joined them. I thought, "I could live here. I'm really going to live here."

The Adams Mill. A month or two after I moved here, I became reacquainted with a law school classmate, Staci. Staci was single. I was single. Staci and I joined forces, leading to several adventures at the Adams Mill in Adam's Morgan. We had so many great and ridiculous times there, and it led to a fantastic friendship. I haven't been to the Adams Mill in a good five years. I will miss it anyway.

Freedom Plaza. During my first spring in Washington, I discovered Freedom Plaza. Don't get excited. It's not the kind of place you seek out. But if you are working nearby, it is the perfect place to hang out and eat your lunch on a sunny day. I had never worked in a downtown before, and the fact that I could walk to all of the lunch spots and stake my claim on a slab of concrete in front of the National Theater for an hour or so was just amazing to me. The people watching - also spectacular.

The Commute. You may have heard rumors that Washington, D.C. is one of the worst cities in the nation in terms of the commute. And you know what? They’re 100% true. Even so, I passed the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial every single day. I had clear views of the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial. I could see the Lee Mansion and the National Cathedral as I crossed the 14th Street bridge. People come from all of the world to see these things. Yet, they were as mundane to me as my morning coffee.

Sip of Seattle. The coffee shop across the street from my office makes the best caramel macchiatos. They even make them for me sugar free. My favorite thing about it, though, is the people who work there. The crew has been the same for years. They call me “Baby” when they take my order.

The Bottom Line. After my Adams Mill days, after Staci found herself a boyfriend (and later husband), I came across a local watering hole known as The Bottom Line. The Bottom Line is the headquarters for the Purdue alumni group. It took me over a year to work up the nerve to attend a football game viewing there. You see, I was single. I knew several people from law school in D.C. – none from undergrad. I wasn’t quite ready to put myself out there and hustle some new friends. I was not ready to fly solo. But I did it. I finally came out to watch a game. After a brief stint at the “middle table,” I saw the table on the side of the bar lined up with alums in athletic gear having a great time. I knew I had to find my way to that table. That was where the action was. I made my way “in” through an introduction to a Purdue alum who had gone to my high school. Best move ever. I kept coming back, I kept meeting more people. I got up the nerve to join the flag football team because I wanted that feeling of camaraderie – going for beers after a game.

That was 5 years ago. Since then, there have been countless days and nights spent at the “BL.” And there was one that was very special indeed. One day a guy from New Jersey came down to visit his friend in D.C. Both Purdue alums, they decided to watch the game with the crowd. It was a big game – an exciting one. The guy from New Jersey sat at the table next to me. When Purdue scored, we toasted. We chatted. We had a grand old time, even though Purdue choked – big time. He asked for my number. “Yeah, right,” I thought. “He lives in New Jersey.”

I married him.