Apartment 303: January 2015

Monday, January 26, 2015

NYC

Back last night from a whirlwind weekend trip to NYC. I took the train up to New York and met my girlfriends at our host's apartment, gussied up, and hit the town. We went to Westville in the West Village for dinner - delicious. Then we met up the guys, who got us a table at Wilfie and Nell's. It was quite the pick-up zone.

Saturday we woke up early and took the Subway up to Midtown and got some authentic New York bagels from Ess-a-bagel. Then we headed to the MoMA to check out the Matisse cut-outs exhibit. It was definitely the highlight of my trip. The colors! And, lucky for me, there was also a Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit up that we browsed.

From there I headed out to Brooklyn to meet up with a DC friend who also happened to be in the city for the weekend. We went to Croxley's Abbey, a great bar in Williamsburg, to watch some basketball. It was great watching the Jayhawks with another KU fan! Also, the bar was great - they had a ton of craft beer on tab and 10 cent wings!

Then I went over to Zach's for book club! I had asked him if I could stay with him this weekend two weeks ago and he said he was hosting book club and that I could only come if I read the book. Well, as you know, to read more is one of my New Year's Resolutions, so I took him up on it. We read Some Luck by Jane Smiley. I was a big fan - both of the book and the discussion it generated. The book is part of a trilogy and I'm already adding the next two to my "To-Read" list.

Sunday Zach took me to brunch at Stone Park Cafe in Park Slope. Another hit! We also perused a farmers market and took a stroll. Then it was time for me to head back to the real world.

Overall, a great weekend - had good girlfriend time, a good cultural aspect, and good partying time. Lucky for me I have plans to head back up to NYC in just three weeks for V-Day weekend! I'm working on convincing the book club to coordinate their next meeting with my visit.

Friday, January 23, 2015

Weekend at the Homestead

Bowling with Stephen

Wind tunnel

Action shot

Skiing in jeans

very steep

Hogs are back

Redrum

BINGO

Magic Show

Made it onto Hardywood Brewery's instagram!

A+ Adult weekend

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Week in Review

So far so good on the New Year's Resolutions!

I signed up for ClassPass and so far have hit up two different pilates classes. My first class was on Saturday (early morning!) at Fuel Pilates in Georgetown. I signed up for the pilates mat foundations class and it was perfect! Only one other person in the class meant I got lots of personal attention and corrections.

Then, last night I checked out Toolbox Pilates Art Studio. It's located in an alleyway in Dupont. It shares a space with an art studio so you're surrounded by paintings - makes for a cool atmosphere. The class was intense - I think I'll stick with the beginner level for the time being!

Checked out a couple of cool new venues. Saturday I went to a party at Lost Society. It's so close, but I'd never been. Looking forward to checking out their rooftop deck once it's spring. Sunday night I went to see Yacht Rock Revue at the Hamilton. I'd never been to a show there before and was so surprised by how big it is down there. The band was hilarious and one of the best cover bands I've ever heard.

A few great articles in the Times over the weekend:

To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This
An interesting story on a scientific study that showed that psychologists could make two strangers fall in love with a specific technique. Here is a list of all 36 Questions

52 Places to Go in 2015
I've been to some of these, but really hoping to add a few more!

Thursday, January 8, 2015

The Resolutions Post

1. Get fit

I need to be patient and remind myself that I'm essentially starting from square one. I haven't been regularly exercising, other than a near-daily mad dash for the bus, for longer than I care to admit.

Step one: Signed up for Class Pass! I'm hoping the key will be to keep mixing it up. I'll you keep you posted on how it goes. First class is Saturday with Heather.

2. Change things up

All the time I see new bars and restaurants popping up. I always think to myself that I'd like to try them, but whenever it comes time to choose where to go, I tend to rely on a few staples. This year, I'm going to start keeping a list of all the new places I want to try, and when suggesting happy hour locales, I'm going to be sure to refer to this list, rather than just suggesting Fainting Goat for the millionth time.

This doesn't just extend to bars and restaurants. I'm also thinking tourist spots (there are a lot of museums I still have never visited), events (considering going to my first PoPville happy hour next week), and sporting events (Wizards game, anyone?).

Step one: Create a bucket list of sorts of all the new places I want to try.

3. Revamp the apartment

This fall I will have been in my apartment for five years. It's starting to look a little rough around the edges and needs some TLC.

Step one: Replace the ceilings! I need to start thinking about crown molding and new light fixtures.

4. Read More

Now that I'll be relying on public transportation on my way both to and from work I'll have more opportunities to read. I'm vowing that I'll spend that downtime either reading or listening to podcasts. No more spending the entire hour-long commute on Facebook and Instagram.

Step one: Started Somebody's Someone, by Regina Louise on the metro yesterday evening.

5. Write More

The whole point of this blog is to hold myself accountable to the above goals. Hopefully it winds up being a sort of creative outlet along the way.

Step one: ~~Press publish on my first blog post!~~