wait, i have a blog about living in dc?

it's nearing the (counts on fingers) 4th month anniversary of me working here at Brookings Exec Ed, it's been great
certain things could be better, but overwhelmingly i am pretty happy here and i feel like people really are invested in me
yes katarina got fired my first day and that scared the bejesus out of me...i know i wont feel total relief until i am on that cruise to alaska with my mom at the end of august (end of the 6 month trial period where i finally get benefits, annual leave, and things)

a lot has happened and i have been terrible at keeping record of it
ive stopped taking photos because im too exhausted to lug my cameras around (but yayyyy new camera!!)
also the weather got crappy here
and unfortunately all the canadians are back but i must must msut visit them
kailey came back! then she left (boooo!)

there was a frustrating month where i thought i could live with kailin
but then her female-only lifestyle encountered a guy and now she's the typical high schooler who is just trying to figure out looove.. ick

moved in may 31 to an apartment in van ness
cozy and compact, but will be good for me to not overspend on crap haha
need to save every dollar i can for sure
i adore my roommate Donte Donald (yes.) a 26 (?) year old who works in PR at the Economic Policy Institute, who is a bit forgetful and a little ditzy and definitely does not like doing his own dishes

ethan is undoubtedly happy for sure that ive moved out
niles and jessica's wedding went well
ive met his parents, his paternal grandparents, and his aunt. unfortunately his uncle passed and there's a chance i may go to the memorial service in a week..but at the very least i will be helping ethan through this time, which may involve giving his aunt company (who is a lovely lovely woman)
ethan's dad's art show in silver spring is beautiful, i really do like his pieces!
http://washingtonprintmakers.com/exhibition/extraktions/

ethan and i went up for founder's day, which was really nice and a drunken mess for me
saw dam funk, his favorite keytarist ever lol
i also went to vassar's graduation last weekend which was nice to see meryl streep and cower in her heavenly presence

andy was here wtf without telling anyone but at least i got to eat two dinners with him in the same night with him and jason wu in rosslyn--pho and rays hell burger
then went to dupont to drink and play cards against humanity at The Board Room

speaking of which it's funny how matt, emily, and i are all living in van ness, too bad matt is leaving july
and joe got into law school! aaah
life

how quickly it moves~

and i think im gonna restart the documentary pledge...AFTER I WATCH NEW ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT ASLKLDOWFAJW'TW;APJOTWA

HAPPY NEW YEAR

happy new year everyone! yay for snakes

this is my (love) letter

dear nmai,

don't stop doing what you do because youre the most amazing museum out there--you redefine what a museum can be, provide, and challenge--and one of your core values is to be as dynamic as the stories you tell. giving voice to the voiceless, thought for the overlooked, what you stand for is something all people should be aware of in one form or another.

you have your flaws, especially ones which are quite human and individualized (poor management, pride, miscommunication can find their way into the best of places), but you are a tank. a thinktank to be quite literal, as the people under your helm represent the most diverse, intellectual, and brilliant forms of knowledge and viewpoints for the field.

but it's time to move on from this field.

it's time to see what else is beyond this bubble, as i have certainly experienced the best that museums can provide now. and it's time to see how to fix your flaws and make you the best it can be.

for the future of all

2 more days

1 more day until pizza party for a good job on the Maya Angelou Event
2 more days until my 23rd birthday
3 more days until my last day here at NMAI
5 more days until my return to NY

not sure if i'll keep this blog since NMAI and coming to DC were the major topics and now that i'm moving here it doesnt seem so travel-y

all i can say is that i wish i had a better ending to my internship. i wish i wasnt looking forward to leaving, but that's life. ...at least there were good naps in IMAX theaters

NMAI is still an amazing institution to me, but some people were right, it was only a matter of time that my eyes grew dimmer.

I hope it's different by the time I'm undeniably qualified for a position here.

...or I move to Los Angeles or Salem.

LIVING TO TELL THE TALE

OH MY GOD.
GOT INTO WORK AT 5:45AM LEFT AT 1:30AM.
EVENTS PLANNING WHAT

i cant even
so i need to make a list to remember
- easy transport
- 24 hour dunkin donuts -- thank god for coffee
- immense line that stretched 4 blocks long AT 5:00AM. BEFORE IT EVEN OPENED
- breezing through ^ line
- having a secret service agent escort me to work
- changing into my nice work attire
- befriending anya on the 4th floor discussing hte immense 29 page list of VIPs i assembled >_>
- watching the inauguration from all floors! director's terrace!
- SURPRISE EAGLE ARRIVES. children and adults alike go insane. story is there's a woman who works here named holly who came dressed as a donkey last inauguration. she wanted to connect with "the young people" but did not know how--then the answer presented itself: buy an eagle costume.
- befriending greg vaughan the security man in the imagiNations activity center!
- escorting the head of the smithsonian secretary richard kurin and his entourage :O (by accident)
- huuge jumbo tron and delicious breakfast and lunch watching beyonce beast inauguration
- watching the schmoes on the Mall (heheh)
- secret service guy on top of our museum with the biggest guns ever
- 350 visitors!

- getting to nap sort of not really at all
- seeing the intersection of the parades meet at OUR museum corner--only to have the parade be delayed by nearly 2 hours
- FLOTUS and POTUS being bosses
- JOE BIDEN BEING THE WORST THING TO HAPPEN TO SECRET SERVICE. oh my god, the man seriously loves to please the crowds
- the reporters also being just as punchy after hours of no sleep and the lack of having anything substantive to say: "there joe biden goes, pushing flesh with the people--shaking hands with the crowd"

- changing into ball attire! wearing my (read: my mom's) diamonds :)
- seeing everyone in long black dresses haha
- THE WHOLE MUSEUM WAS BEAUTIFUL. ABSOLUTELY STUNNING
- the food was delicious
- the music was amazing: funk, bluegrass, country, oldies, etc.
- 1491s!!!

- crystal shawanda
- chaske spencer is really tall
- my boss's sequiny dress!
- seriously everyone looked _amazing_
- recognizing some congressmen and tribal leaders feeling super proud
- connecting more with rebecca ortiz
- laughing it up wtih larry
- listening to martha redbone and murray porter--and SPEED YODELING
- pear zingers (aka pear drinky drinks according to my boss after a few of them)
- blue digital is amazing photography--yay for sending emailed pictures to myself!
- meeting roylan bowechop from the makah tribe and making a fool of myself >_>
- dancing with a dude who SNUCK INTO THE BALL WHAT. AND WAS THE LIFE ON THE DANCEFLOOR? some dude named Richard
- dancing with my coworker's military boyfriend?!
- dancing (a lot) of HUSTLE and CHA CHA with a POTAWATOMI TRIBAL COUNCIL MEMBER?!
- the military boy breakdancing?!
- the assistant director of the museum moonwalking?!
- the founding director of the museum dancing up a storm and staying a half hour later than he intended, breaking all records?!
- 700 retweeted photos!
- amazing success all around, my boss' boss grabs a bottle of wine and says she's done for the night

BAM.

oh and
my shoes were so comfortable it wasnt until 12:30am i wanted to take them off. SUCCESS

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

NEXT UP: POST-BALL ANALYSIS & BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING.

LIFE MOVES ---> FAST

big news, FINALLY GOT A JOBBBBBB
at Brookings Executive Education, a collaboration between Washington University in St. Louis, Olin School of Business, and Brookings Institute (thinktank in DC)
going to be doing Events Assistanting which is gonna be nice and admin-heavy but i really like the team and i feel so awesome about this position

my life is finally moving forward and i think as nice as it was to have a plan (get a job and go to grad school) im starting to feel dissatisfaction with at least some parts of the museum world
i hate inefficiency and working in this field is making me feel so inefficient.
i need to be challenged and move forward and if all i can scrounge up is a part-time job doing admin shit at a postal museum and working on my own projects which will go nowhere because my senior researcher is _insane_ and also in some ways burned out, then i think its time for the change

it is so wonderful to have all my stress leave my life
and i can finally post on this blog without going NEED A JOB JUST GIVE ME A JOB
life has been pretty good if not for the stress of being overlooked at work and looking for work + then deciding between the three offers
loove my new TMH friends hana and yi and kayla and sam <3
going to be living here until april 30th, if not longer if i dont go crazy

moved into a penthouse suite with two windows (just on the 3rd floor) which is so similar to my room at vassar my junior year
hana supercurled my hair and will do so again sunday so i look pretty--need to buy bobbypins!
got a nice bagel with cream cheese
went with hana and yi to hillwood estate and museum ---soooo beautiful and especially with hte paper dresses! never saw a museum whose motto is "be fabulous!"

& with two canadian interns colleagues of hana's, rob and shivonne. met so many canadians last night who cheered for me when hana screamed "SHE GOT A JOB. AT _BROOKINGS_"
<3
enjoyed a nice Goose Island Sofie and discussed...canadian things? met three more TMH-Canada intern girls Alicia, Jessical, and Nujhat
 AND miss emily haight of chicago (only because i met her there) is now officially at NMWA (National museum of women in the arts) so there will be many mini-Chicago reunions and happy hours to come. got to see her, matt, matt's bf michael, and meghan, gabe, and some others from Smithsonian American Art at Chef Geoffs and enjoy a beer and an awesome burger :)

after hillwood we went to get some coffee, and eventually met with sam and her friend bryant at Sichuan Pavilion which was good and authentic--right down to the rude chinese mean waiter :(
but after that, got some bubble tea in chinatown which was ehhh for me but good for others i guess
sat and chatted for a whileeee
and made plans to hang out tomorrow eaaaarly
and i have to go into workkkkk omgggg inauguration is SO SOOOOOON

edit: mt.vernon was cool :D
sorry this got overlooked because of the AWESOMENESS of inauguration

been back

so much has not changed
i really need to fix my inner clock because my current one still gets me into work around 9:30am -_-
but that is better than me waking up at noon...

yesterday was pretty productive
spent the morning with ethan
went to pentagon city with leslie to get shoes for the inaugural ball (yay for comfort)
then national gallery with joe
pulpo, a tapas place, with joe--had some delicious mini burgers, and tres leches
then a thai place with matt, caught up with him
headed home
unpacked til about 1am, showered, and slept soundly :)

a little too soundly!

SECOND SEMESTERRR

...is exactly like the first.
very little, really none, fanfare for my return
but it's okay because that doesnt really matter. what matters is that it's INAUGURAL BALL INAUGURAL BALL INAUGURAL BALL

i need to remember to chat up people i havent met yet at NMAI and GGHC, try to leave a really positive impression :)

TMH is lovely as ever, rent is going up by $10 and they gave me my old room hahaha yay? not sure.
whoooo im back!