Feet, meet the streets

7.27.08

As many of you know, we went to D.C. this weekend to finalize where we will be living. On Friday at 5:00 am, Mary (Sie's mom) took us to DFW (THANK YOU MARY!) for 3 days of non-stop house hunting.

We arrived at DFW semi-awake, got in a winding security line, when directly to our right, a woman threw up all over the security entrance and trash can. This continued for a good 20 minutes... like a train wreck that you cant look away from; but replace trains with orange vomit. The airport staff tried to help out by blocking off the area with a bench and some cones as she continued on with 100 people staring at her.

Then the man in front of us snorted, "people are such A**holes". We looked over to see that huffy travelers have been put out by this hold up and were now walking OVER the bench & cones, proceeding to step in vomit... and so our trip began!!

An uneventful (see: slept the entire way) flight later and we were in D.C. A metro ride later, we rode the elevator to the 6th floor and do a double take when we realized we were staying in Room 6-6-6! Baffled why they even HAVE a Room 6-6-6, we proceed to blame anything that goes wrong for the remainder of the weekend on: THE DEVIL ROOM.

Friday was a full day of walking around the city; we had an appointment Saturday with a realtor, but we also had places of our own to check out from craigslist and other apartment listings. First stop near RFK Stadium, we toured quite possibly the dirtiest rowhouse in history, in a semi-sketchy area. Next place, too small... 3rd & 4th the metro was terrifying- scratch those.

We quickly begin to question all of our craigslist finds! Friday for the most part was a bust, BUT we figured out quickly where we did NOT want to live. and that we may have to pay for it! :(

We walked maybe 8-10 miles, took loads of metro rides (thank God we got the day pass!) & were completely pooped! We cleaned up at our hotel and headed back out to Dupont Circle, starving since we hadnt eaten all day. We stumbled upon "Raku", which was the most amazing Pad Thai & Pad Sew and was so much fun.

Saturday was full of adventure... there were lots of options but nothing felt right.. Nicer apartment options that were farther out than we wanted to be. Rowhouses closer in that were in not so nice areas... we ended the day feeling defeated/worried/unsure of what to do.

We brainstormed that night and decided if we didnt find something we felt comfortable with, we'd explore more apartment options and possibly deal with paying alot more than what we originally planned. We couldn't risk being unsafe. In the morning, our realtor called- an amazing place in Kalorama/Dupont had opened up and could we meet her at 12:30. We headed that way- metro to Dupont circle, a short walk later & there we were, standing on Decatur Place in front a beautiful rowhouse.

We walked inside and our mouths literally dropped. A big bay window, wood floors, large bedroom and den, closets, a large deck outside overlooking a garden-y backyard.

I looked at Sie and he said, "Wow. I Realllll-y like it." We were so excited, but also hesitant to believe it could be real after the weekend so far...

We spent the rest of the day doing our usual 10 mile hike all around d.c. looking at apartment options and potential “back-up” plans. We loved the Decatur rowhouse, but we were so scared to put all our eggs in one basket- it seemed too good to be true!

Side note: Check out the terrifyingly steep drop into the Dupont metro!


Around 4 in the afternoon, we met our realtor with the paperwork for our future home & our deposit check. She rushed it over to the other realtor immediately, and we were off to fly home for Dallas.

We came home and for the past two weeks were still hesitant to talk about it until the t’s were crossed and the I’s dotted. But as of today, its officially DONE!

I cant wait for all our friends & family to come visit- we now have an extra den/spare bedroom JUST for all the visitors who've promised to head our way!! :)