Happy Chinese New Year!!!

TODAY Sunday, went to the Chinese New Year Parade and Celebration in Chinatown. The Washington DC visitor's website had this event posted and I thought 'since it's free (like most things in this city) why not?' I walked down K St to Chinatown only to find that I had about 1 1/2hrs to spend. Off to Metro City metro stop to hopefully get a Smartcard....NO. Turns out not only does the CVS near the apt not have them but the machine in the only place that should have the cards is broken. Womp womp. Friendly advise from the teller I walked (again) to 14th and H St to the CVS where (thank the Lord) they had some.

Back to the location of the parade I waited, standing, in the cold...for an hour and twenty mins before I realized the parade was taking place a street down from where I stood. Apparently the stage setup near where I was turned out to be the ending ceramony piece to the celebration. Another womp womp. I decided last minute to run around to try and catch the tail end....saw some dragons :)

A stroll back to 11th St a trench coat caught my eye at H&M. Went in unfortunately not in my size but I bought two nice sized pouches for my purse and two collared shirts to add to my wardrobe of business attire. Picked up a coffee (and cupcake :P) at Crumbs and off to New York Avenue. Back at the apartment I had my first seminar for health eating and shopping tips on a budget. Boot camp starts next week...a little nervous but I'll survive (hey hey). Up the elevator to the apartment to cook Maple-Glazed Chicken (thank you Rachel Ray) and even had some leftovers. Meeting with roommates about house hold things like cleaning went well and was fun to chat. Laundry, tea with cupcake, and now sleep. What a day!!!! 

Tomorrow, Monday, is my first day off from work. Although I have a lot of work to do - research for my job, complete my final paper for winter term course, and send a bunch of emails - I will try to relax with a book and my journal. Thanks for reading and stay tuned.

Day of Adventure #1

The last fews days in D.C. have been such a thrill. To start where I left off... my internship at The McGuiness Group is amazing. I'm learning so much and getting to work on so many different assignments. Our meeting on Friday gave me an additional two assignments to work on next week along with an update on pretty important clients coming in on Wednesday.

Despite getting caught in an ugly monsoon early on Friday I was let out early and almost ran back to my apartment to change and get back outside to explore on what became a bright sunny spring day. Its incredible how similar the weather is here to Elon. Moody Mother Earth... I ended up spending most of my afternoon/evening with an Elon friend Taylor, who is soon to be off in Madrid for the semester. She had a conference and decided we should meet. It was great sharing and laughing and walking around into the bitter chilled night. I never imagined the monuments to be so beautiful at night. The moon was a nice touch.

Saturday was a filled tourist day. Woke up late (10am) to do some research on sites to see and local happenings for the weekend into the coming months. I found an ad for an "I Love Lucy" exhibit in The Library of Congress (James Madison Building) and said 'well that sounds like fun.' Out the door towards South Capital into the Thomas Jefferson Building - one of the most pristine and artistic structures in the entire country - thru security check, down to the cellar, through the 10 min tunnel to finally get to room 113. The exhibit showcased a variety of photographs, movie reels/footage, articles, interviews, and other media pertaining to the life of "Desilu" the dynamic duo!

Next was a walk around The Capital past The Supreme Court and on my way towards the Washington Monument (closed since the earthquake this August). Past the monument I continued to walk on towards the WW2 memorial and continued on the right past a pond full of geese. I took a stroll past the Vietnam memorial, onto the Lincoln Memorial (shown below) where I stopped into the exhibit below. Interesting how the quotes they used in the exhibit were all engravings on stone!

The back of The Capital 

The Supreme Court

The Washington Monument in the sunniest day here thus far

The Lincoln Memorial....much bigger in person :)

Walking further to the Korean War memorial which I thought was the most impressive next to the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial I passed about a 1/4 of a mile west on Independence Avenue. And yes I continued to walk, and walk, and walk past the Roosevelt and ...memorials to finally reach the Thomas Jefferson memorial as the sun started to set. I didn't spend too much time there considering the pain in my feet. I'm sure I easily walked 15 miles between Friday and Saturday. So much for skipping exercising in the gym on those days...I told myself I'd have a grace period over the weekend. HA!

The Korean Memorial

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

After a nice chat with Eezy, a vendor on Independence Ave near the Smithsonian Metro stop, I was back at the apartment exhausted and hungry. Cooked up a few veggies to add to my Carmine's leftovers from Friday and went to bed. ZZZZzzzzzzzzzz

Premier post! It's been 28 hours since I moved into my penthouse apartment in near Union Station. It was a very intense trip - final exam, packing, putting things into storage, driving to Greensboro for a rental car, driving 5hrs to D.C., losing car keys three times - but I'm glad to be here. My first night was nerve-racking. I feel so energized and refreshed to start something new in a brand new environment. All of my clothes are hung up in the closet, food is organized in the kitchen, and my roommates couldn't be nicer. I have a roommate from Alaska, Japan, and Mexico - what diversity huh! Only in a city...I LOVE IT!

Today started a bit slow but there's nothing like a good workout to wake me up. YAY endorphins! My Alaskan roommate, Taranova, made coffee for me which helped me as I walked out the door. The best part of my morning was realizing how incredibly close my internship was from my apartment. Literally 8 blocks away! I arrived at the office almost 40 mins before I was scheduled so I went back to the boulevard to scavenger around Union Station. Lots of shops and restaurants including the one my bosses and I went to for lunch. Yes I was treated to lunch on my first day!

About twenty minutes later I was registered with a pass and in the office working on my first assignment. Meeting with Kevin and Mike McGuiness (father son team) was short, relaxed and informative. I really enjoy the setting at the office and how much confidence they have in me and my abilities without having known me for more than 2 hours.

I have about six assignments already planned for my semester in Washington D.C. I'm already working on legitimate and influencial assignments which remind me why I'm here. I want to be here to work, explore, make changes, and grow. The McGuiness Group seems like a perfect fit! Check out the link here.

Stay tuned for updates in the coming days. I'm scheduled to have my first weekly meeting with Kevin and Mike McGuiness on Friday. I'll provide information about where I go, what I do, people I meet, music/arts I go see, and food I eat. Be sure to check out my other social networking websites listed below:

twitter.com/catcell
facebook.com/catherine.valero1