Lindsanity!

The Bean Trees

Speeding through Barbara Kingsolver's novel, I reach the ending way too soon. To discover the last three pages have been ripped out. Thanks Salvation Army. More thanks to Google books.

Mike's Thrift Store

One of the first local businesses I visited when I moved to NE Capitol Hill was Mike's Thrift Store on the 1400 block of H Street NE. A few weeks ago, it was a dumpy, hard to enter grandpa's garage/neighbor's storage shed type of adventure. Everything was a dollar. A pair of shoes? Two dollars. There were home videos, piles of clothes. A nice man named Mike wearing a heavy winter coat in the cold small room.

I found a few VHS tapes, some missing the box. Spied some pretty good lamps and figured that if I took the time to dig under the piles of old clothes I could find some real gems. But then again, I'd have to dig through those piles of old clothes. It was pretty gross, but I could tell there were some finds to be found.

It made me sad, because H Street is in the process of developing and in a few years, a store like Mike's might be a faint memory. This is the kind of place where vintage stores could really take off.

So, I walk into Mike's today. I hadn't been in several weeks. First of all, the Bible on tape was still playing out of the old cassette player. Secondly, the door was open, letting in fresh air. I could see the floor and I could walk to the back wall. Mike told me he hadn't felt like cleaning. It is a brand new place now. I found some real gems, without having to dig through the trash.

But with change comes Mike's best move yet. Everything is not a dollar anymore. He gave me a free VHS copy of Moulin Rouge when I expressed my disappointment. Also a good move. I'm happy to be a customer who will always remember what Mike's used to be like. Sad that the lamps I spied the first day are now $25. But mostly psyched because I know now that Mike's has a chance at survival as H Street develops.

Happy Turkey Day!

Nancy Anderson is here! Last night Nancy, Karissa & I were hard at work in the kitchen. Nancy made a pecan pie. I made my Grandma's pink jello salad and Karissa made some mad-delicious smelling rice. Omar, Nancy's adorable lab/blue heeler/sharpei, stood by patiently begging for scraps.

Since Nance got here I have been laughing a lot more and way less uptight. It is nice to have someone around who isn't a D.C. professional and who knows how to have a blast. It has also been amazing to have a few days off for the holiday. 

We went to see an apartment yesterday in Capitol Hill. Nancy said she had a feeling about this one, even though it was the first apartment she'd gone to see. Turns out, the realtors were amazing, the apartment was enormous, parking was free and I had a feeling about it too. Anyway, we filled out the application right there in the kitchen and they should get back to us sometime this weekend. Hopefully we'll move in next week--not that we have much to move in. 

I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday! I'm sad I can't go hiking with my Uncle David on my grandparents' hill in Patterson, Missouri. Sad I can't shoot off bottle rockets with Kyle. Bummed to be way from my Mom and Dad and the rest of my loving family. But I am thankful for amazing friends this year. And also thankful that they convinced me to buy everything we wanted to for our thanksgiving feast. It is going to be fe-no-me-nal!

Apparently I only post on Thursdays

In the news: My brother got a tiny adorable dog, Nancy is coming on Saturday, and Black Friday may or may not be the death of me.

The local watering hole:

Rainy day in Old Town

Hey team,

 I have been busy! Training for Apple went really well... now I'm doing in-store training. Everyone at the Clarendon branch is really fun and energetic. As soon as I get my whereabouts and actually understand what I'm doing, this group is going to be fantastic. There's a few Spanish speakers, a comic book lover, a ton of gay guys and some big personalities. I think I'm going to fit right in. 

 Halloween came and went. I went to a college party w/ my amazing roommate Karissa:

 I was a unicorn (awesome costume idea courtesy of Amanda Espy) and he was a Somali pirate. Karissa and I have been getting to know one another and I'm learning all about his Kenyan background, which has been fascinating. He grew up on the coast and learned English in school. He's been in the US for like a decade or so now and he teaches Swahili! So cool. 

 Anyway, there is more to tell, but I'll save that for later. 

<3