Old Town Alexandria
Many many years ago, I went to Old Town Alexandria with a friend for dinner and I decided that it would be a cute place to visit in the day-time when all the shops were open. Over Christmas, while trying to get on the right highway that would lead me to Ohio, I passed through Alexandria again and thought the same thing. Today, a friend and I were actually heading to a local park to go hiking and found ourselves lost in Alexandria. Since it was an overcast day, we decided to skip getting lost again and just walk around Alexandria instead. It was a very good decision and a close enough break from D.C. There were several cute boutiques and as we are both in the process of making our apartments homes, we went into every single furniture/home decor store that was available.
A quick bit at a Thai restaurant allowed us time to people watch and boy was that an experience. Old Town Alexandria is sorta like the neighborhood of Georgetown in DC, except with less Gucci-wearing college students. This is basically the town said students would dwell when they are in the married/dog owning/baby-having phase of their lives. With million-dollar homes left and right, way too many men in penny-loafers, and a whole lot of hot-steppers (women who basically walk around in stilletos on a regular Saturday afternoon just for sh*ts and giggles usually accompanied by the previously mentioned penny-loafer wearer). While it was a cute little stop from D.C. and I'm glad I made the visit, this place was way too yuppie-fied for my taste. Like Georgetown, I think I'll reserve any more visits to Old Town for very specific needs (i.e. to huge Paper Source store that I love).
Starting a Garden
In order to keep myself from falling into a rut, I decided a while ago to just keep trying new things that I've always been interested or and wanted to get out and do. I''ve made so many lists outlining all the things I would do if only_____ (fill in the blank with any excuse). Well, gardening has always been at the top of that list just because I love flowers, food, and being outside so I keep thinking it's a perfect combination for me. A few weeks ago, I attended one of the many free events in the city targeting urban gardeners (Rooting DC) just to get a clue as to what I was attempting to do (remember, I've never grown anything before). Near the end of the event, the host give out over a thousand packets of seeds from the 2008 season and in my excitement of all things free, I picked up about $140 bucks worth of seeds that I now have to turn into something beautiful. I'd already made several trips to one of the local gardening stores to starter supplies, so with the weather warm enough for me to work outside, I finally got to planting some of my seeds. As most wear from the 2008 season, I don't know how many will actually germinate, but I'll honestly be ecstatic if even one seed decides to pull through. I'm a bit impatient and kinda want everything to be out and beautiful now, rather than the 10 or more weeks from now.....but that's exactly why I wanted to learn to garden: to practice patience! So, hopefully in a few weeks, my patio will be covered with hollyhocks, forget-me-nots, amaranthus, phlox, french marigolds, bachelor-buttons, and more (image above is what all/some of these will look like when in bloom)!
So tell me, did you do anything fun this weekend?!?
In order to keep myself from falling into a rut, I decided a while ago to just keep trying new things that I've always been interested or and wanted to get out and do. I''ve made so many lists outlining all the things I would do if only_____ (fill in the blank with any excuse). Well, gardening has always been at the top of that list just because I love flowers, food, and being outside so I keep thinking it's a perfect combination for me. A few weeks ago, I attended one of the many free events in the city targeting urban gardeners (Rooting DC) just to get a clue as to what I was attempting to do (remember, I've never grown anything before). Near the end of the event, the host give out over a thousand packets of seeds from the 2008 season and in my excitement of all things free, I picked up about $140 bucks worth of seeds that I now have to turn into something beautiful. I'd already made several trips to one of the local gardening stores to starter supplies, so with the weather warm enough for me to work outside, I finally got to planting some of my seeds. As most wear from the 2008 season, I don't know how many will actually germinate, but I'll honestly be ecstatic if even one seed decides to pull through. I'm a bit impatient and kinda want everything to be out and beautiful now, rather than the 10 or more weeks from now.....but that's exactly why I wanted to learn to garden: to practice patience! So, hopefully in a few weeks, my patio will be covered with hollyhocks, forget-me-nots, amaranthus, phlox, french marigolds, bachelor-buttons, and more (image above is what all/some of these will look like when in bloom)!So tell me, did you do anything fun this weekend?!?
1 comment:
talk to rachel and adam. they can garden anything! and april will be perfect for all of those blooms!
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