This past week has been a whirlwind of exhaustion, excitement, and everything in between! I went on my first-ever solo road trip to see family and for a work conference in Charlottesville, Virginia, bought a brand-new HUGE monitor for work that I LOVE using while working from home, went to see the Cherry Blossoms at the National Cherry Blossom Festival for the National Cherry Blossom Festival Opening Ceremony at Warner Theatre, met up with my good friend Claire in a new and gorgeous neighborhood outside of Washington, DC of Del Ray, Virginia, and I started going into the office on a semi-weekly basis. I post about ALL of these goings in my life on my Instagram (follow me @_thepinkchickadee!). All of this excitement and madness has occurred while Springing forward with the time change moving up an hour. So, needless to say, it has been an exhausting time but also pretty rewarding, too. Now, for even more updates!
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- First-EVER Solo road trip to Charlottesville, Virginia – this past weekend, I attended my also first-ever professional conference at the University of Virginia which is located in Charlottesville. So, I made the trip down to Charlottesville in my brand-new car Daisy. I pretty much turned on the 80’s music via SiriusXM and listened to it ALL the way down to Charlottesville and back. Charlottesville is a beautiful town in the heart of the Virginia Wine Country and at the foothills of the Virginia mountains. I stayed the night with my Aunt Lisa, Uncle John, and cousins Mary, Joey, and Matthew and got to hang with their adorably sweet dogs too. We enjoyed the evening together and Aunt Lisa, Mary, and I all went to Grace Estate Winery and I FINALLY got to use my Virginia Wine Pass, too. The family time was priceless and such a gift. The whole weekend was (I’ll be sharing MORE about it in a blog post this weekend!). Above all else, I am proud of ME for doing it all by myself.
- Catching up with Claire in Del Ray – Ever since I moved to the Washington, DC area, I had never even heard of the gorgeous little suburb of Del Ray, Virginia. My good college friend Claire was visiting family here in the Washington, DC area who happened to live in Del Ray, so we decided to explore it while she was here. Del Ray is located near Alexandria, Virginia and is such a homey and adorable little town. In fact, it even had a mural featuring portraits of ALLL the Dogs of Del Ray – what’s more wholesome than a mural of dog residents?! All of the businesses in town are small businesses and there were also two pet stores to add on to how wholesome this town is especially when it comes to its love of dogs. Overall, Del Ray low-key reminded me of Stars Hollow, Connecticut from Gilmore Girls, yet more urban. All in all a great time exploring a new place with a great friend that I hadn’t seen in a while!
- My second big girl purchase – If you follow me on Instagram (follow me @_thepinkchickadee!), then you know that I recently purchased my first-ever Big Girl purchase – a White Volvo S60 named Daisy! Since buying Daisy, I bought my second-ever Big Girl purchase – a 32-inch LG Monitor for work from home. I have LOVED having this monitor since I purchased it and is 10/10 such a great second Big Girl purchase! Shop it here: https://rstyle.me/+hg-oT3mAM2TA1dWwpCz1Hw!
- National Cherry Blossom Festival Opening Ceremony – Over the weekend, along with going to Charlottesville, I also met up with my good friend Shivani for the National Cherry Blossom Festival to not only see the Cherry Blossoms along the National Mall at the Washington Monument, BUT also to watch the festival’s Opening Ceremony at the drop dead gorgeous Warner Theatre, complete with a ribbon cutting! This Opening Ceremony was such a fun event, honoring Japanese culture (the origin of the Cherry Blossom!) along with tons of gratitude all around for the beauty of the gorgeous city of Washington, DC and America’s and Japan’s friendship. True true true beauty and many items of merchandise were purchased at the gift shop, too (sorry, Mom!).
- Rae Dunn Jackpot Clearance at TJ Maxx – Right after attending the Cherry Blossom Festival Opening Ceremony at Warner Theatre, I made the trek to the nearby TJ Maxx (if you know me then you know that I LOVE the TJ Maxx’s in Washington, DC the most!!!) to sit out the Metro crowds right after the ceremony. When I arrived, I was nothing short of amazed at ALL of the Rae Dunn on clearance *yes, clearance* at this TJ Maxx in Metro/City Center of Washington, DC. Y’all – there were $3 MUGS and let’s just say that I got ALL stocked up on some Rae Dunn clearance goodies!!!
- Going into the Office – My teammate and coworker and I have been meeting at least once a week to go into the office. It’s really nice to get that in-person experience, after starting out in the workforce virtually and ending my college career with mostly virtual classes. I got the keys to my desk last week and decorated it this past week, too. ALL pink and completely Katie!!! At the same time, going into work in Washington, DC traffic is nothing but exhausting despite the great in-person connections I have been making on a weekly basis. Needless to say, the hybrid workforce has been good to me, despite the pure exhaustion!
Here’s to a great week for us all!
XOXO – Katie <3