I'm back!

This past month has been....well, insane. For both Jesse and I. Finals, a funeral, packing, moving, graduation, a new job, etc. I don't think it will really hit me that I have finished grad school until September when others return to class and I don't. However, this balmy weather and free time has me dreaming of taking some adventures and expanding my horizons. I'm thinking about new professional development opportunities, places to travel, languages to learn, skills to brush up on and books to read.

Before I get ahead of myself, I want to take a bit to get back to some essential self-care things, like eating better, yoga and getting to the gym, and take some time to just be lazy. I've worked two jobs or worked and went to school since I was 15. I want to enjoy every bit of this down time.

{Photo credit: kevindooley}

The return of farmers' markets!

Last week my office moved to a new location. There are many great things about our new space but perhaps my favorite is that I am now two blocks to the White House Farmers' Market! Held on Thursdays from 3-7 pm on Vermont Avenue, NW between H and I Streets, FreshFarm Markets brings produce, flowers, baked goods and more to us city folk! My goodies: asparagus, strawberries, the best sourdough bread I've ever had (no lie!) and a rhubarb muffin. I'm so excited that I can stop by after work on Thursdays between now and November to get some fresh, local food!

The vendor where I purchased my strawberries and asparagus!

Really pretty flowers!

Bonus! To celebrate the market opening for this year, Chef Jose Andres, who has his own show called Made in Spain, plus appeared on Top Chef and is the owner of many restaurants, including two of my favorites, the delicious Jaleo and Oyamel here in DC, cooks a GIANT paella for the crowd!

Free time.

What does a girl do when she has finally turned in her last paper for graduate school and therefore has some free time for the first time in at least three years? I shall tell you. She:

-Sees "El Secreto de Sus Ojos", the Argentine film that won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film (I love Ricardo Darin!). She also watches "The Lovely Bones" from Netflix, even if it leaves her less than impressed, as well as the documentary Crude on the case against Chevron/Texaco in the Amazon in Ecuador. Upon finishing the film, she feels both infinitely inspired and infinitely enraged. (You can learn more about the case here).

-Finishes reading both Freakonomics and Get Financially Naked: How to Talk Money With Your Honey

-Buys new gold sandals and orders her Mother's Day gift for her Mom.

-Takes a long, leisurely walk around her neighborhood, walking barefoot in the grass by her house.

-Cooks up some sauteed zucchini and tomatoes for dinner.

-Throws out 5 bags of things she doesn't need and packs 7 boxes of books in anticipation of moving in a few weeks.

-Contemplates all of the things she wants to do in the coming weeks: decorate her new apartment, do lots of yoga, cook her way through Viva Vegan!, see the Georgia O'Keefe exhibit at the Phillips Collection, go see the documentary Babies, spend time at farmers markets, plow her way through unread books, go to concerts and museums, and spend time with her now non-long distance and instead live-in boyfriend, who she has missed oh so very much.

-Thinks about how good her life really is!

{Photo credit: dml82}