For the past year, Kerry and I have had some great adventures. London, La Rochelle, London again for me, Madrid, and Charleston. After all that motion, (and still nothing in the way of solid job offers for me), we opted to try DC.

A few days before Kerry’s Christmas break, he managed to secure a very cute apartment in Kalorama, just north of Dupont Circle. The apartment had everything we could want, from brand new stainless appliances and granite counter tops in the kitchen, washer & dryer, almost fully furnished, lots of bookshelves, maisonette (2 story apt) style, new soaking tub and fireplace. We moved in on the 31st and ended the decade in the Nation’s capital.

The neighborhood is great and hosts Teaism, my favorite place in the capital to pick up a large chai tea. Jeff and Onika introduced us to this neighborhood when they lived here from 2005 to 2007.

I remember sitting on the Spanish steps thinking what a beautiful neighborhood. Now, I get to make it mine.

I am still getting used to things in DC, which is strange because I feel like I know it parts of it from driving in to various shows, visits with friends, art gallery & Georgetown trips to Paper Source but there is a lot I have to learn.

No. 1 You can’t walk around just anywhere you please like in London. I haven’t learned this the hard way (yet) and K hopes I don’t for all of our sakes.

No. 2 is to pick back up some of my American edge that seems to have rounded off in Europe. K and I were in Ikea yesterday and left our cart filled with a bag of things to look around at area rugs for a few minutes. We came back to discover our cart was missing. I chased a person down thinking they had stolen my cart only to be wrong. Luckily I found a few of my things dropped in a bin so was able to salvage it. Who does that?

No. 3 is to come into “the Cloud”. It was suggested that I am still working and thinking in a ‘late 90′s’ framework and need to pick up the pace to come into this decade. Forget MS Office and use a browser for all my needs; save data online not on your computer; use a wiki and blog to communicate. While I have had experience with all of that, I can’t say I use it on a full time basis but endeavor to try a bit harder.

No. 4 Enjoy it. As I learned in London, it takes a while to get a full diary. Suggestions have been made to join the Smithsonian Young Benefactors, listen to docent lectures at 10am on Saturday at the National Gallery, join some embassy cultural mailing lists, and try to write a children’s book. We will see what transpires. Ideas are welcome.

So watch this space. Let’s see how quickly I can assimilate and thrive. :)