New Year, New Adventures

Happy 2012! The New Year has started out so wonderfully for me. Well, wait. It initially started out slightly rocky, but turned pretty amazing within a few days. Let me explain:

The movers came and took all of my DC apartment contents on Dec 13th and brought them up to Boston to put in storage. Then I departed on Dec 14th for Minnesota (with a stopover in Indianapolis to catch up with some college friends). I spent two great weeks in Minnesota, enjoying time with friends and family - and Jakers enjoyed Mom's 20 acres to roam on and chase squirrels, chipmunks, birds, and deer.

Christmas Eve with the family!

Then, the morning after my 30th birthday, I hit the road for Boston. We (Jakers, Mabel and I) made it 12 hours on the first day, stopped for the night in Cleveland, then finished the last 10 hours on New Year's Eve. So I get into Boston around 7:00pm on the biggest party night of the year, exhausted and desperate to get out of the car. The only problem: the security guard who was supposed to have my keys to my corporate apartment knew nothing about me. :( There were some mix-ups and there were no keys available for me. NOT OKAY. Luckily, someone from the apartment rental office was able to get downtown and by 9:00 we were settled.

Great, right? Wrong. This old building has old windows. I can hear EVERYTHING happening outside. Oh, and I'm surrounded by bars/pubs. So NYE was the loudest night of my life. All I wanted was sleep, all I got was drunk people, screaming, police sirens, and fireworks.

But I don't mean to dwell -- I've really enjoyed my first week in Beantown, once we got through night 1.
I've discovered Christoper Columbus Waterfront Park a few blocks away. We've taken lots of walks there, along the Boston Harbor.
My first week at the new job has been great. I'm working with some very talented folks and cool clients.
Through my apartment hunting, I was able to see some different neighborhoods -- and find a great place in the Charlestown neighborhood! I'm moving in next weekend!
And I'm looking forward to hanging out with some friends (new and old!) and enjoying some of the restaurants that I've heard a lot about.

Now, let's get onto some FOOD. :) Living in this temporary apartment for a few weeks means I'm limited with my groceries. I've been trying to find easy things to make that only require a few ingredients. This recipe fit the bill, and I knew it would keep well, so I could eat leftovers throughout the week. Perf. My mom used to make this Spaghetti Casserole when I was little, and now that I know how easy it is and how great the vegan version is, I'll be adding it into my rotation as a grown-up. :)

Here's to a great start to 2012 -- new city, new job, new apartment, and hopefully some new adventures!

Spaghetti Casserole(The pix do not do this justice - it looks like a blob o' pasta & cheese - but it tastes oh-so good!)

• 1 box spaghetti noodles
• 1 pkg Daiya vegan mozzarella "cheese"
• 1 pkg vegan pepperoni slices (I used Smart Deli)
• 1 jar of marinara sauce

Cook the spaghetti, then layer half of the noodles in pan, half of the cheese, half of the pepperoni slices and half of the marinara. Repeat. Bake in preheated oven (375-degrees) for 20-30 mins, until sauce is bubbling and cheese is melted. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes, then slice and serve.
Enjoy!

(This can be scaled to whatever size pan you want to use - Mom always made it in a 9x13, but since I'm only feeding 1, I used a square 9x9 pan. The ingredients are all eyeballed, anyhow, so just use more of everything if you want to use a larger pan.)

Told Ya So

I was right all along. I do have plantar fasciitis in my right foot. I'm not happy about it, but I do think maybe I should be a doctor since I'm a champ at self-diagnosis. :)

I finally went to an orthopedist last Friday, after 3 weeks of NO running and no improvement in pain. He x-rayed my foot, but confirmed my prediction. And JAMMED A NEEDLE IN MY HEEL! He gave me a cortisone injection, which was painful, but worked miracles. For the next two days, I was totally pain-free. However, on day 3, I'm already seeing it fade a bit. I also need to buy a night splint to keep my foot flexed at night. That sounds super comfortable, right? *sigh* But with a few different tricks and some time off of running, I should be good as new soon!

But what a perfect weekend to be free of pain. One of my best friends was in town from Chicago and we saw everything DC has to offer! It was gorgeous weather and I finally got to some of the museums I had been meaning to get to since I moved here (namely, The National Archives and the National Portrait Gallery). Emily also opted to be vegan alongside me for the weekend, which made it extra fun!


I would say Saturday night was the highlight of the weekend. We met a couple of my faves from Syracuse (my friends and my sisters, mind you - Phi Sigma Sigma 4 life!) for dinner in Old Town Alexandria. And then we took over a bar until close. It was such a fun night. I haven't had an all-out crazy night like that in awhile, with my marathon training all summer.


NOW I'm fully focused on getting ready for Thanksgiving this Thursday. I love Thanksgiving, even though some people question my ritual. This is my second year of cooking a beautiful vegan feast for...me. :) I love my solo-holiday with no cruelty and just a relaxing day at home with Jakers and Mabel. I'll be with my family in MN for two weeks in December, so I enjoy the quiet time to reflect on what I'm thankful for...my way. I'll definitely post some pics and recipe later in the week!

Perspective and Pickles

I decided to be ambitious this weekend. I had a pretty lengthy to-do list which started bright and early on Saturday - with a 14-mile run.

I took off from my apartment and headed around the Iwo Jima Memorial, down past Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River, around the Lincoln Memorial, alongside the Reflection Pond, past the WWII Memorial and the Washington Monument and then turned around at the Smithsonian Castle. INCREDIBLE. There is no better city for your long run...I am telling you. Just breathtaking. And I love watching the reaction of the tourists who are seeing this incredible sights for the first time. It's a great distraction from the monotony of running for 2+ hours.
The best part of my run was on my way back home -- I was at about mile 8 -- and starting to feel tired and had a dull ache in my back. I looked over at the WWII Memorial and noticed some people escorting about 100 WWII vets out onto the memorial for a photo. The volunteers helping to wheel/guide the veterans out kept saying "thank you for your service" and several of the old men were wiping tears from their eyes. I had to stop and watch. Wow, was this moving. And it really put my complaints in perspective. After paying my respects and witnessing this moving sight, I continued on and had a really great run, and was able to reflect on all the blessings of my life that I take for granted. I think living in DC has given me a new-found respect for those who serve in the military.

So after a morning run and an afternoon at the Arlington County Fair with the kids I babysit for, I had a lot left on my to-do list today. Including -- wait for it -- canning my own pickles!

My Aunt Carlotta makes some killer dill pickles. I have many fond memories of sleepovers with my cousin, Chrissy, that involved us polishing off a jar or two of homemade pickles. :) My aunt is one of the best cooks I know -- she's the one who turned me on to the wonders of rice pudding, if you recall.
Since I don't live in Minnesota, mooching jars of pickles off of Aunt Yiya is more challenging. So I decided just to mooch her recipe and can my own. I drove all over Virginia, DC and Maryland, looking for supplies this morning, and when I got home made my first batch. It's kind of labor intensive, but I think it's well worth it. I just have to wait 6-weeks to try them and see if they turned out! Recipe and pictures below. :)

Aunt Carlotta’s Dill Pickles

(Makes about 3 quarts)

· Small pickling cucumbers

· 2 cups water

· 2 cups vinegar

· 6 Tbsp canning salt

· 3-6 garlic cloves, peeled

· 3 Tbsp dill seed

· 1 bundle of fresh dill

Fill jars with the cucumbers. Bring water, vinegar and salt to boil. Pour in jars*, filling to one-inch from top. Put 1 Tbsp dill seeds and 1-2 cloves of garlic and a couple of piece of dill in each jar. Put lids on and wait for them to seal (you'll hear a pop).

*Make sure the jars are clean and hot. (I kept mine turned upside down in a cake pan with an inch of water on the stove and boil the water while I'm putting the cucumbers in the jars.)

It’s easiest to do it in small batches like this. I did 12 quarts, so had all my ingredients ready to go and then did 3 quarts/jars at a time.

For the record, I bought the jars and canning salt from Wal-Mart, the cucumbers from a farmers market and rest from the grocery store. I looked at a co-op for bulk dill seeds, but couldn't find them. So I bought 5 of the small McCormick spice jars of them. Next time, I'll plan ahead and buy the dill seeds online, since they're tough to find!
Also, the cucumbers I got are pretty big, so I put 4 or 5 whole cucs in each jar, then sliced some up in quarters and slid a few spears in each jar, as well. We'll see how that turns out (my aunt usually only makes whole pickles).

"Snowmageddon" Arrives

Being my first winter in DC, I've been pleased with how little snowfall this area gets. Then I heard on the news that the average annual snowfall for the DC metro is 15"...and we've already had well over that. (Well, shucks - I guess I can expect even less during a normal winter!) And to top it all off, we're forecasted to get another 18"- 24" this weekend! Now, even as a Minnesotan and Syracuse grad -- that's a lot of snow over 2 days. But you would not believe the chaos happening here!

Yesterday, the grocery stores were a madhouse. People were waiting on the street just to turn into the parking lots, the shelves were emptied, and lines were out the door. And then just tonight, the local news was reporting that gas stations were running out of regular unleaded fuel! WHAT?! People are loading up on food and gasoline for a 2-day snowstorm?! That's insanity. Everyone needs to relax.

Anyhow, with the lack of snowplows in the area to begin with, I don't anticipate leaving the apartment all weekend. Sounds good to me! :) I'm a homebody at heart, anyhow.

I, unlike the rest of DC, did not stock up for the weekend. I have plenty of food here for ONE WEEKEND. And since I was craving something sweet for dinner - but need to keep it small with my weight loss efforts (ie didn't want to bake a batch of cookies) - decided that I needed to use up an apple that was sitting in my fridge for a week now. You'll notice that am kind of a spaz about using up food before it goes bad. You'd swear I grew up during the Great Depression they way I feel about throwing out food. I did a Google search for "microwave apple crisp", because I'm classy like that, and found the recipe below. I made some tweaks, but overall, pretty darn tasty! I'd definitely try it again when wanting something sweet that doesn't involve baking a pan of brownies. Jakers was a fan, too.

Stay warm...I'm sure I'll do some more blogging while snowed in, fending off starvation and worrying about my fuel levels. :)

Microwave Apple Crisp...for one!

1 medium apple
3/4 tbsp cinnamon
1/4 c. oats
1 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. vegan margarine

1. Core, peel, and dice apple. Put into microwave safe bowl.

2. Mix cinnamon with apple.

3. Microwave on high for 2 minutes.

4. In a separate bowl, mix oats, brown sugar, and margarine.

5. Microwave about 30 seconds, until margarine is melted.

6. Stir until crumbly, and pour over apple.

See, I Can Have Fun!

I had a really fun time out in DC last night. A couple of friends did a joint birthday party and so I met up with them at a bar in DuPont Circle -- very near my office, actually. I took the Metro in, so I wouldn't have to worry about driving...or parking. I'm very comfortable with my orange line -- it takes me to and from work everyday. Now granted, my office is technically closest to a red line stop, but I'd rather avoid transferring lines and just walk a bit further from an orange line stop. But last night, I was in heels, so I figured I'd take do the transfer. I get to Metro Place, get off the orange and wait 25 minutes (oy) for the next red train. Promptly strut my stuff onto the train, only to realize I've waited 25 minutes for a train in the WRONG DIRECTION. I've lived here 4 months. I should know better. At that point I think "screw it" and get off at China Town/Gallery Place and go upstairs and pay the $8 for a cab to take me to the bar.

Bar close is 3:00am. Wow. For someone who prefers a 9pm bedtime, this is rough. But I got home a little before 4:00am and eat three chocolate chip muffins before bed(!) I shouldn't bake before going out partying. The temptation is just too great. I will, however, post the recipe below for you to enjoy.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins
1/2 cup vegan margarine, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 "eggs" (I always use Ener-G Egg Replacer.)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup soy or rice milk
1 tablespoon cold water
1 cup vegan semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Either grease 10 muffin cups or use paper liners.

Cream the margarine with an electric mixer until soft. Add both sugars and beat until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in the "eggs".

Sift together the flour and baking powder. Fold this into the margarine mixture, alternating with the soy milk.

Beat in the tablespoon of cold water for about 10 - 15 seconds - just enough for it to mix in with the rest of the batter. Fold in chocolate chips.

Pour batter evenly into the 10 greased/papered muffin cups. Fill the empty cups half full with water to ensure even baking.

Bake for 25 minutes, until lightly browned. Let stand in the muffin pan on a wire rack for about 5 - 7 minutes before lifting them out.

Are We Ever Truly Settled?

Well, it's been almost four months since I picked up and moved from my beloved Minneapolis to the amazing DC metro. I love my apartment and I love my location, so I think I'll be here for a couple of years. Therefore I'd like to make it a bit more homey feeling by painting a couple of walls. I'm thinking about doing that this weekend. Just a couple of accent walls, nothing fancy.

It's weird, I feel like that's the last thing on my to-do list since moving. I've hung curtains, gotten some extra furniture, hung the pictures and unpacked the last box. What am I going to stress about and write lists for once that's taken care of?! I guess I'll have to find a hobby. :)

Speaking of making things homey, let's talk comfort food! I've discovered this great recipe on my friend's (and fellow animal activist) blog. It's a vegan mac & cheese. I'm getting to a point where it's hard to tell how things taste from a meat eaters' palette. I mean, I think this tastes like delicious, creamy mac & cheese. But if you taste it side-by-side with the cruelty-filled version, would it taste strange? It's been over a year for me, so I don't know! What I do know is that I LOVE this version and not a single animal suffers for it!

Vegan Mac 'n' Cheese

Ingredients:

Full package of macaroni
1/2 cup margarine or vegan butter equivalent
1/2 cup flour
3 1/2 cups boiling water or vegetable broth
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs. soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup (or less) canola oil
1 cup nutritional yeast flakes
Cajun seasoning to garnish (I topped with a little cayenne pepper, as that's all I had)

Directions:

Begin process of cooking the noodles.

While you're doing that, make the sauce:

Mix the vegan butter and flour and melt on a very low heat until they are thoroughly mixed.

Add the boiling water or vegan stock, salt, soy sauce, garlic, turmeric.

Bring to a very low boil.

Then add vegetable oil and nutritional yeast and mix.

Combine the noodles and the sauce in a large baking pan and sprinkle Cajun seasoning on top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Typical DMV Love Story

Well, it's Saturday. Normal people use Saturday as an opportunity to sleep-in and relax. But not those of us who recently moved to Virginia and need to get our car registered and a new driver's license. I tried going a few weeks ago. They open at 8:00am on Saturdays, so I woke up around 7:30, got all dolled up for the DL picture, and showed up a little after 8:00 to a ridiculous line out the door and not a single parking space in the lot. I got annoyed and left.

This morning was round 2. I got up at 6:30 and got all dolled up for the DL picture, and arrived around 7:40. So did about 70 other people. Oy. The line moved relatively quickly, though. And by 8:40, I was in the door....with my ticket to sit and wait some more.

They finally call #C210 and I go up to the counter. I get the most disgruntled DMV employee in the history of time. She HATES her job, I promise you that. I mean, she did us the favor of showing up to work...but didn't think we worth a shower. Or a change of clothes. Or a comb through the hair. And she actually stopped working on getting me logged into the computers on several occasions, so that she could pick up her cell phone and text message someone. Um, really? I was sugary sweet, since I was just desperate to get everything taken care of, but it took everything in me to maintain that compsure.

To top off the miserable woman helping me, I get over to the wall for the DL picture, apply a quick coat of pink gloss, adjust my hair, and bust out my best "natural" smile. And it's at that point that pleasant DMV lady informs me that they just just changed the law, and you can't show teeth in your DL picture -- they don't WANT you to smile! Ugh. Enter: awkward, closed-mouth smirk. I can't wait to see that awful picture when my DL arrives in 7-10 business days. :)

Only in DC

Have I ever mentioned that I have a part-time gig babysitting? If not - I'm telling you now. I work at a nonprofit and am not the most financially brilliant person you will ever meet. A second job helps support my food addiction. :) They are a great family who found me on care.com - a website I used for occasional babysitting gigs. But they have me over two nights a week and one day on the weekend, so I don't NEED the additional gigs. It's great. And they live literally 4 minutes from me. Perfecto!

Anyhow, tonight I was babysitting for them (two boys - age 4 and 6) and we decided to play with sidewalk chalk. I rediscovered my love of the chalk. They keep telling me to draw more roads on the driveway, so they can drive their cars. Then of course we need buildings! So I draw a house...a school...an office building...a factory. And I say, "I think our neighborhood is complete!" And the older boy says, "I don't think so". "What is our neighborhood missing?" I ask. And he replies, "What's a neighborhood without a Lincoln Memorial!?" HA. Only in DC would a 6 year old say that! :)

Seriously

I was asked by two different people on the crowded Metro today if I wanted their seat. Two different people. I was chosen out of a crowd. Do I really look that bad after my 1-mile speed walk?? People think I'm going to collapse and die if I don't get a seat?? And I was wearing a flowy shirt today, so then I of course panicked that people were thinking I was pregnant. Therefore I had a salad for dinner. Just to be safe.

Red & Sweaty

I walk .8 miles to the Metro every morning. I ride the orange line for about 10 minutes (5 stops) and then walk another .8 miles to work. If you're keeping track, that's over 3 miles a day total. Plus I usually take a walk over lunch. Let's round up to 4 miles.day for drama-sake. OH! And I walk my dog about a mile twice a day. So I walk approx 6 miles per day.

Yet I've gained 3 lbs since moving here. Go figure.

ANYHOW, by the time I walk my third .8 mile stretch of the day - leaving the office to take the Metro home - I get on the Metro a hot, sweaty mess.

(Did I mention no on forewarned me about humidity in DC? A coworker informed me today that DC was built on a swamp. Well, now that was dumb! Today was 88-degrees with 90% humidity. SERIOUSLY.)

Getting back to the Metro. I get on it, literally dripping with sweat and my face is a lovely shade of neon red, courtesy of my Chaffee-genetics. I was stuck standing, as the train was full. A few stops in, someone got up from a seat next to me and exited the train, leaving an empty seat. I apparently looked as though I was having a heart attack because an ELDERLY WOMAN standing next to me offered the seat to me rather than sitting herself. WHAT?! I'm a healthy (albeit slightly chubby) 27 year old! I don't need to sit! This grandmother thought she was better off standing and letting the apparent heart attack victim sit?? Puh-lease.

I let her sit down, mopped the sweat droplets out of my eyes and turned back to my book. Hmpf!

Taking Care of Business

Hi! So sorry I haven't posted for such a long time (that's, of course, directed to my 4 followers). :) It's been a busy few weeks. My brother got married (I rocked the cleavage-baring dress that I mentioned a few posts ago). I have been working my butt of at PETA - we've been a bit short staffed, but have taken care of that problem with a couple of FABULOUS new hires! And I also got a second job, doing some part-time (evening/weekend) child care for a family a few miles away. It's a great way to pay off some of my cross-country-move debt....and it's a relaly nice family, so I'm happy to help out.
Combine all that with my needy dog and my 9 hrs per night sleep requirement, not much time for blogging. :)

However, now that life should slow down a bit, I'm determined to make more of an effort to see DC and be more social. When my friend Grant was in town in April for a school conference, one of his friends from school introduced me to her good friend, Eliza, who lives in DC. With Eliza and I both being good ol' Minnesota girls, living in DC, we naturally have something in common. She asked if I wanted to grab coffee today, so we met near her apartment in Capitol Hill. That area is SO CUTE. When I was doing my apartment hunt from Minneapolis, I thought about Capitol Hill, but decided against it, because it really is hard to pick the safe blocks from the unsafe blocks when you're not living there. I felt safer staying out in Arlington, but I could see moving to CH at some point down the road. Find me a nice politician to marry. :)

So Eliza and I grabbed some lunch at her apartment (she's a vegetarian, so that made deciding on what we'd eat easier). Then we walked a few blocks to a cute coffee shop for some iced coffee/chai to combat the humidity. We wandered around the Capitol, the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress. I keep saying this -- but it's unbelievable that there are so many historic sites in one city! I think I could play the role of tourist for years and never see it all! My dad mentioned that he's got his eye on plane tickets, so hopefully he'll come visit soon. He would really love the National Mall. And my mom & sister are also talking about visiting this summer!

So it was a good day, and I was glad to get out and do something. Made a quick stop at Whole Foods on the way home and am now preparing to make a little homemade Pad Thai for dinner. I've also got some great new recipes that I'm anxious to post and talk about, but that will have to wait for another day. Oooh, and get out and buy some corn on the cob -- it's in season and deeeeelish! :)

Slacker's Back

Wow. I've really let myself go. In the blogging sense, that is. An friend from high school (hi Sarah!) emailed me today, letting me know she read my blog, and I was like, "Oh to focus on this post?! Let's talk about Mom.

My mom came out to DC to visit!! I think it was triggered by an emotional home-sick call I made the =yeah...I have a blog."

Anyhow, so much to talk about. What night I arrived in DC. After the 19 hour drive, arriving to an empty apt, SO over tired, I called home crying. I was never going to admit to that, but there. It's out there. :) So I think that very night my mom booked a flight out to keep me company!

We had such a nice time! We ate excessively (Thai, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican and vegan restaurants -- we covered 'em all!), spent all day Saturday on The Mall, saw a movie, did some driving around downtown...just enjoyed a weekend in DC! We both agreed that the WWII Monument was our favorite. We also agreed that pasty white girls shouldn't spend an 80-degree day on The Mall in tank top and no sunscreen -- you should SEE my sunburn!
My mom really loved DC. She also loves my apartment and thinks the area I work in is really cute. It's always nice to have a parent's approval, right? Now, just need to convince Dad to come out to DC - I think he would love it, as well!

I'll stick some pics in. One is of Mom and I at the WWII Memorial -- each state is represented, so we (of course) got a pic by the MN pillar. Then I also need to stick in the pic from the drive to the airport. Jake rs just loved having Grandma visiting him! He insisted on snuggling up next to her in bed each night -- I tried no t to get offended -- and wanted to sit on her lap on the way to the airport. For those of you who don't know, Jakers ALWAYS sits on my lap in the car. So I very safely, while driving, took a photo of the two of them in the car. Awww, loves it!

In other news, we are officially in our PETA DC office. It's in such a fun location and it forces me to see more of the city. When I was able to work from home, I was bordering on crazy recluse. :) Now I can stare at the Washington Monumet every day, take the Metro in with the rest of the working world and find reason to change out of PJs...not sure if that last one is a good thing or a bad thing... :)

I'll try to be better about blogging. Thanks for continuing to read. :)

Back And Better Than Ever!!

Hi!! I've been MIA for so long!! I made the move across country and have begun my new job with PETA. First, let me tell you this: NEVER use movers when making an inter-state move. Not worth your time, money or the hassle. I picked the SHADIEST moving company ever, apparently. They never showed on Monday, as they were scheduled to. Then, they told me they weren't sure when they could get a driver and truck out to me. So I was forced to find another company, last minute....however the first company never gave me my deposit back! (Get A Moving Company is the name of the a-holes.) And while the second moving company was slightly better, they also had a lot of empty promises and left me hanging until Saturday night. My mom was forced to host me, Jakers and Mabel for an entire week! She doesn't appreciate Mabel's naughty-baby-kitten ways as I do (ie climbing curtains). I was so grateful to be able to stay with her during that stressful experience.

Anyhow, so they show up on Saturday at 7pm and take about 15 minutes to get that first couple of boxes out. They could not figure out how this dolly they had worked. So I ended up just taking charge and carrying things out at mach-3 speed. After a long, sweaty 3 hours, we finish loading the truck and my condo is empty. At that point, my mom arrived and brought me Jakers & Mabel and me and the babes hop in the little Ford Focus and take off. Because of the time crunch, we had to drive 19 hours STRAIGHT...stopping only for gas and to potty...across country. It was miserable. But we arrived at 5pm on Sunday and got into our apartment. Cutest apartment ever!! I'm in the Ballston neighborhood of Arlington, VA.

I took Monday off - it was supposed to be my first day, but due to the mess of a weekend, my boss encouraged me to take a day to rest and get settled. Loved that idea. My brother, Andy, came over and kept me company while the movers did there thing. Jakers and I took some long walks and saw the neighborhood. So many friendly neighbors. And there's an Arlington County cop in my building...so I feel REAL safe. :)

Today was Day 3 of working for me. Since our DC office isn't ready yet, we're working from home. BUT since there are a few of us who are new, 5 of us are working from one coworker's apartment in DC (Logan Circle). It's been a bit of trial by fire, but so far so good. I think I'm really going to love my role with PETA. My days have been long, though. It takes about an hour to get to this girls' place and we work 9 - 5:30. So I get home close to 7:00. I think long working hours won't be bad, though, knowing I'm working for the sake of animals. It's such a passion!

Alright, I will try and stay more on top of the blogging. I have very little money for groceries until my first payday...so recipes may be in short supply. :) Have a great night!!!!

A New Chapter

I can finally talk about this, since it's been made official (aka I gave my notice at work). I have accepted a position with PETA!! I will be their new Advertising Manager. It's a new position, so I think it will be a great opportunity for me to help shape my role, but they of course also know where their needs are and what they'll need me to step in on.

I am SO excited about this. I can combine my knowledge and education in advertising with my absolute passion for animal advocacy. It's such a blessing. I also hope I can help some of my friends and family see that PETA is such a great organization that gives a voice to so many animals in need. Yes, they have some extreme viewpoints, but sometimes the quiet voice gets lost in the crowd.

It also means picking up my life in Minneapolis and moving it out to Washington DC! I am going to miss my friends and family here like crazy. (Although, I will be back for some weddings and the TLOV animal advocacy conference this summer!) But I am moving to a city that has plenty of other friends...and a little bit of family. A lot of my friends from Syracuse have settled in DC. And my brother and his fiance are living there, as well! I certainly won't be lonely. I've already gotten my friend Kristen to look at a few apartments for me...I'm hoping the place she's checking out today is the winner, as I'm running out of time!

I'm done at Carmichael Lynch (my current ad agency) on March 20th and am giving myself a week to move, then starting at PETA on March 30th. I will of course keep you up to date on the progress, but as of right now I have A LOT to get done. I'm still not over my illness, so it's been hard to get motivated. I'm hoping to make a lot of progress in the way of Salvation Army drop-offs this weekend. I want to use this opportunity as a chance to purge my life of some unnecessary belongings....especially clothes! And lighten my load for the drive across country. (Which reminds me, I still need to secure movers....ah!)

Anyhow, so that's my big news. Can't wait for all that is in store for me. :)