DAY 42: This is the first day of my life

the most private thing i'm willing to admit: i love looking at pictures of johnny depp and winona ryder. they've been broken up for years, but i love how their pictures capture that moment of happiness, of absolute-pure-complete love for one another. they were the most transparent couple and i can't get enough of that transparency. that i'm-so-blissfully-in-love-and-i-don't-care-who-knows presence that exudes from them. 

oddly enough, d.c. has given me hope and appreciation. i didn't realize how narrow the scope of my life had become until i came here. and now, i'm filled with hope for how different my life can be lived. for how much is out there, at my very fingertips. there's a sense of excitement to continue to explore and pursue. i don't want to return to california and do the same thing. i want to fall in love. and i want it to be this type of love. i want to travel to europe. i want to move to a new place. and i want to create a space where i walk in the door and i know i'm at home. i'm externalizing all these very internal pieces for one reason: accountability. i want people to remind me of the largeness that is life, the incredible opportunity we have to not only shape, but to create our dreams! so, please remind me of these things so i can remain present and aware of my heart and what it's calling me to do. 

and after all of that, we now return to our regularly scheduled programming. 

last weekend was cray cray. and yes, i use that word on the regular. and no, i have no shame about it :) 

friday night, i went to the u street corridor and met up with a young woman named kari. a friend in oakland gave me her contact info and said we would have a lot in common. and he was right! she works on climate justice issues for a national partnership - she gets around d.c. by bike (her bike's name is belle) and she's super passionate about social justice! she was such a great person to be around. i also met her friend, lilly, another kindred spirit. she works on social justice issues and also get around d.c. via bike. so we had drinks at tap and parlour and then headed up towards howard to check out another place. that place wasn't happenin' so we went back to u street and got fro-yo*. and then we ended up at tap & parlour. it was SO east coast and i was definitely feelin myself. and i knew i was going to regret the tequila in the morning, but it went down so easy that night! 

after dancing (and singing EVERY east coast song as if i was from the east coast), my new friends and i parted ways. i was heading back to my 'hood in the NE. and then i met some folks who were heading to H street. they invited me to join their crew. and i, always looking out for the next adventure, joined forces with them and headed to H street. so on H street, there are a LOT of bars and dancing, right by my house. and then this new group wanted to go to a salsa club in NW. so i went with them ... except for the bouncer was whack. he wanted to charge a $15 cover at 3am?! i mean, the club closed at 4 ... so i was like, seriously? so we didn't get to check out the salsa club. but it was still an incredibly fun night. the next morning i was exhausted ... but it was great to see the social scene in d.c. 

saturday: i literally stayed at home all day recovering. yeah. tequila is not my friend. in the future, i'm going to just say NO to tequila. 

sunday: literally the BEST day ever. i spent three hours at the natural history museum AND another three hours at the american history museum. after experiencing the gloriousness of these spaces, i now know that the american history museum and the natural history museum are my favorite spaces in d.c. i'm seriously considering quitting my job and finding a new job at the smithsonian as a historian. i'm so so serious. i loved being surrounded by our history, our evolution. even with the crowds, i was able to stay in my suspended state of joy as i took in all the history around me. i would definitely recommend these museums to any d.c.visitors or natives. it's such a treasure to have that space! pictures below! 

thomas jefferson surrounded by all the names of the slaves he owned at monticello 

michelle obama's inaugural gown ... it was the best one there. (and i'm not biased, i swear!) 

a literal cornucopia of images from the different wars we've been involved in! 

one of our earlier species - it's crazy to see how we evolved over time! 

the fossils of a woolly mammoth! i couldn't even get the entire animal in the whole picture! 

this was a SLOTH like 60 million years ago. can you believe the size of this SLOTH??!! 

if you wanted to know: this friday, i spent my night at u street. it was great great fun! i went to this really cool (but packed) reggae club. it was such fun to be present to the music and let my body move with the rhythm! after the reggae club, i went to this other spot called marvins for a minute. and then ended up at tap and parlour. it was more of an old school vibe (think michael jackson when he was still black) and it was booooomb! loved dancing the night away :) AND because i didn't indulge in any tequila, i'm actually functional and ready to write this stupid paper ;) 

post script: today wouldn't be the first day of my life with the help of my friends and family. they have made it possible for me to embrace the freedom that d.c. offers. words cannot express how much each of you means to me. thank you for forcing me to do things that i didn't want to do and for supporting me 110%. you all know who you are. i love you so very much. and i can't imagine life with you. 

expect birthday party attendance, a weepy MOH speech, one (1) drunk night at baobab for the loves of my life. and dinner on me to the family who helped me. 

 

*[sidenote everyone in the south and east coast is obsessed with fro-yo. literally, everyone's always saying, 'you want to get some fro-yo.' i do not understand this obsession!]