Five years worth of DC life: 2017-2022, the twenty-something-year-old's big leap

Ah, what a five years I had in this crazy city/town...thanks for becoming "home" and for not many at all dull moments (no one needs more of those).

In no particular order:
-Attended Ruth Bader Ginsburg's memorial
-Walked on the frozen Reflecting Pool and scootered through the dry version
-Visited many embassies, including staying at the Peruvian Embassy and the EU in the US until closing and accidentally sitting next to the Malaysian ambassador
-Spent much time on the metro and Capital Bikeshare
-Participated in five years of Capital Life Church and DC Roadrunners and four years on the United Women in Business board
-Did six (overlapping) jobs/gigs and survived a global pandemic
-Savored the window seats at Un Je Ne Sais Quoi, made many Doi Moi visits, splurged at Compass Rose (RIP), developed an Agora bread obsession, reveled in the glory of Habesha’s vegetarian platter, frequented happy hour at Bua, discovered pho (with fried tofu), prioritized plantains to go from neighborhood holes-in-the-wall, and ate glorious Donna's BBQ pulled pork nachos and baked beans to-go on the rooftop for date nights during early COVID
-Walked to Lafayette Park on election night, toured the White House on the first day of the first Trump Impeachment, lived through January 6th, and drove down 16th Street the moment the church bells started ringing and people flooded into the streets after the Biden election
-Never missed a DC Restaurant Week! (even ate outside in the falling snow in January 2021)
-Attended the epic Australian Embassy closing party
-Accidentally invited myself to the Capitol Tree Lighting Ceremony
-Met the most interesting people just about anytime I talked to a stranger
-Finally did the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler in spring 2022, experienced the wettest marathon of all time (Marine Corps 2019), had a Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon streak, and placed top 100 in the Army Ten Miler
-Played Monopoly with a Supreme Court employee's kid while babysitting
-Enjoyed the International Day of Yoga three times on the National Mall (on the Capitol lawn and the Lincoln Memorial lawn) with the Indian Embassy
-Experienced many little joys at the Wharf: attended the opening ceremony, enjoyed the swings, learned to curl, belted 90s tribute songs, enjoyed cherry blossom District Donuts, played in the fountains in 120 degree heat index, and did a birthday outdoor concert (plus literary-themed drinks afterwards at Kramerbooks & Afterwords across town)
-Jogged down Massachusetts Avenue and Barracks Row and Kalorama, ran to see the cherry blossoms on my lunch break, and did costumed group Halloween and Christmas tree jogs
-Walked five feet from the car taking the Olympians to the White House on my commute and walked to the Nationals victory parade and Bush funeral processions just outside my office
-Toured NPR, the Supreme Court, the Capitol balcony/voting seats (thanks, St Jude!) and The White House Garden
-My favorite outdoor yoga class was regularly interrupted by the Vice Presidential motorcade 
-Walked past the Wonder Woman: 1984 filming
-Experienced many life moments at the Jefferson Memorial: not getting the job, participating in my first and only "elite" race, processing the breakup, and even winning the lottery the first week of the global pandemic (for a St Patrick's Day work celebration) 
-Accidentally sat next to an award-winning author at a birthday dinner
-Went to the regional coffee brewing championship, The Night of Ideas, The Long Conversation, and the DC Jazz Festival, as just a few of my favorite events
-Drove a free-upgraded red Jeep across the Mall
-Was in a Getty Images photo while sledding on Capitol Hill before work (in not-quite-enough snow)
-Experienced many great Kennedy Center moments, about two-thirds of them totally free: rooftop visits and supper happy hour concerts, yoga on the red carpet, cultural dance classes, engagement photos, last-minute NYC Ballet tickets, a DIY wedding cake tasting, the glorious Aretha Franklin New Year's Tribute concert, Anastasia, Opera in the Outfield, Mean Girls, The Disney Princess Concert and more)
-Met the local news fun-stuff-to-do expert Tommy McFly
-Participated in church small groups with people from the Secret Service, IRS, DOJ and FBI
-Got my Library of Congress card, accidentally blasted rap music while inside when my headphones malfunctioned and another time watched the Blair Witch Project with the movie directors on Halloween
-Did lots of dancing and people-watching at Nick's in Alexandria (RIP)
-Visited nearly endless farmers markets
-Made the news for a Lincoln Memorial workout with an Olympian (shout out to the November Project)
-Saw Kal Penn, Yo Yo Ma, Alessia Cara, DNCE, Jose Andres, Katie Ledecky, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf all for free (I'm not even going to include all the glorious Capitol Fourth performers 2018-2019/2022 because I'd never finish)
-Ran into someone from college on Valentine's Day at the exact same metro door at rush hour and another person from college on a corner the exact moment I sat on a bench in a part of Capitol Hill that I was never usually in
-Splurged on a meal at Rooster and Owl, a Michelin star restaurant right down the street from my apartment
-Danced the YMCA with a four-star admiral
-Attended a particularly great concert in Dupont Underground
-Got to visit the African American History Museum three times (once through the employee entrance)
-Enjoyed the early almost-post-COVID Off The Record (relocated to the top floor) moments
-Watched National Treasure and did a themed scavenger hunt at the National Archives
-Attended a rooftop Mickey Guyton concert for work
-Celebrated the Fourth of July Georgetown kayak tradition four times
-Had a first date at the H Street Festival, officially started dating at the Hamilton, got interviewed by future best man Dan at The Old Ebbitt Grill, got engaged at the Alexandria waterfront, shared special times at the National Gallery fountains, splurged on the Willard Hotel (with Ethiopian takeout), and celebrated Georgetown graduation (first only in the mail and much later, live on campus)
-Finally visited Roosevelt Island
-Stayed at the JW Marriott on my friend's CDC work trip before work next door the next day
-Made many visits to the National Botanic Garden and Smithsonian, including the Smithsonian Summer Solstice event–my "night at the museum"
-Joined my first-ever book clubs and participated in my first Scrabble Meet Up
-Lent a PBS News Hour reporter my headphones during a climate march

Surprise! You’re Working from Home

I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to quickly transition to fully-working-from-home during this era of unexpected COVID-19 weirdness. I have verbalized never wanting to work from home more than “maybe one day a week”. Meanwhile, my roommate loves doing it every day as she has done for years. I even did college sociology research on the stress of living at your workplace, whether serving on housing staff or working from home. However, just like I’ve said for years that I could do vegetarianism but never veganism—and then found out that I am “highly reactive” to both eggs and all dairy—life sometimes turns out very different than you’d expect. 

I mourn the news and am working to keep focused on what I can control as well as regularly sharing positive tidbits and moments with friends. At first glance, almost all of my personal default settings have been thwarted by this quarantine. I am extroverted, almost-never-sitting-still, definitely not a homebody, nearly always searching out and planning the next fun event, and I typically seek out nearly constant stimulation from either interesting media, creative opportunities and/or social interaction. I’ve read more than ten “work from home tips” blogs and wasn’t seeing these, so this is what I've been doing to help with Pandemic-induced working from home!

(Image by DarkWorkX from Pixabay) 

To work from home as well as possible, I incorporate these tips as much as I need to:

1. Start, break up or end the day by walking. Or, do all three! In the absence of commutes, we still need transitions, breaks and movement. The sunshine and bird twitters have been a special treat for me. While, like everyone, I wish this had never happened, I’m particularly thankful that this pandemic didn’t happen in the winter.

2. Switch up between essential oils or use a candle to create “new environments”. Pick different scents to help you celebrate a new day.

3. Plank day! Choose a day to do a plank once an hour. Be sure to use a timer to help you remember. Choose sit ups, wallsits or something else, if you prefer. You’ll be surprised how much it helps move the day along while you squeeze in strength-building resets.

4. When possible, try to combine news catch-up with time that you are answering simple emails.

5. As you can, take advantage of the amazing, free online-learning options. I’ve found worthwhile options through my library online, Instagram, email newsletters, listservs and trials of usually expensive training portals.  

6. Keep water next to you. Either have a tall glass that holds more water (to keep you more hydrated without forgetting) or use a smaller glass that prompts you to get up to refill. 

7. If you have to review longer documents or news emails and it can be done on your phone, use those minutes to pace around a room, hallway or around the block. (Obviously, maintain social distance and wash your hands thoroughly if you have to touch any door handles or buttons.)

8. Incorporate inspirational photos or quotes into your workspace, whether by moving frames over to your new primary spot, updating your desktop, using a colorful sticky note, or writing a dry erase marker quote on your fridge or bathroom mirror. 

9. Invest in blue-light glasses to help protect your eyes from all of the screen time.

10. If you don’t need to be on video, whether during or after work, use the call-in only option on Zoom, or close or otherwise focus your eyes while listening to a Facebook Live or webinar. Give your eyes and brain a break from the useful but weirdly exhausting video call era that we’ve emerged into.

11. Set recurring alarms to shift positions, refocus your eyes every twenty to thirty minutes (extra screen time means more eye strain), roll your shoulders, and/or take belly breaths.

12. Check in with coworkers just to say hello. Remember when we used to all say hello on the way in or in the break room? (I miss that!)

13. Reserve special tea, coffee or treats for when you are struggling and work to truly savor them. I’ve realized that my default was eating too quickly so have been working on chewing well and taking smaller bites to prolong the deliciousness.

14. Without my beloved standing desk options from my recent offices, I was experiencing too-frequent spells of numbness, tingling and backaches. And then, my boyfriend and I made one by stacking a board game box on top of a printer on the kitchen counter. As I finish this blog standing, I can already say that it has made such a difference. If you want to invest in a more legitimate option, I loved having this Vari converter at my last job.

15. Adopt various music themes to spice up the days: Taylor Swift day, retro playlist day, Macklemore day, musical day, Tim McGraw day, Beach Boys day and several (irreverent but weirdly stress-relieving) days of the “COVID-19 Quarantine Party” Spotify playlist. 

16. Appreciate any meeting-free hours or days by joining me for “Face Mask Fridays” or whichever day suits you best.

17. Acknowledge the emotional “penthouse days” and the “dungeon days”. On the dungeon days, take a deep breath, work to reset and try your best to “win in the dark”. (Thanks, Lucas Jadin of TRAIN2BCLUTCH for sharing in the DMV Running Clinic!)

I hope these ideas help you keep things lively and productive for as long as you can during the #quarantinelife. Let me know if you have any additions! Thanks for reading.