Life Update

Apologies for the absence--it's been a busy week. With so much change in the air, there's a ridiculous amount of stuff that needs to be done. I've been a bit harried, attempting to study for the bar before and after work, being at the office from 9am until 7pm, juggling dinners and going away parties, and trying to map out the next few months. Blurgh. It's a lot.

To make life even more hectic, though in a good way, J flew in last weekend on a space-a (space available) flight. Also known as rotators, these military flights between the Air Force bases are free for service members and their dependents, but they're not always the most reliable and it's frequently difficult to get seats because they're usually filled with servicemen on their way home from Iraq/Afghanistan or other people of high priority. J has relatively high priority because he's active duty, but even still, getting his name on the wait list involves a lot of bureaucratic nonsense. After considerable shenaniganry, J made it in on (very) late Saturday afternoon and flew out Monday evening. I had some reservations about him coming to DC for the weekend, as it's a lot of of traveling for just two days together, but he really wanted to do it. Which is why he is the best boyfriend ever.

Saturday night, J and I had an amazing dinner at Ba Bay, a Vietnamese fusion restaurant that recently opened on the House side of Capitol Hill, with our friend SC. If you don't remember, SC is my roommate SM's ex-boyfriend who introduced J and me. J and SC are close friends from their Okinawa days, and SC and I became good friends while he was dating SM. SC likes to remind us constantly of how much we owe him for introducing us, and really, I can't disagree.

J & SC

I love Ba Bay--not only does it have great food, but it plays the best indie and soul music. I was pleasantly surprised to hear "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" by The Flaming Lips come on over the speakers (it's one of my favorite songs). Anyway, the three of us split appetizers of autumn rolls and beer braised pork and clams. J ordered phở, while SC and I got the duck. All amazingly good. For dessert, we shared the lemongrass pot de crème with lime sabayon and pineapple compote, and the Vietnamese coffee milkshake topped with cinnamon chantilly and a churro. Delicious. SC wanted to stay out after dinner, but we begged off and ran home because we had, um, other things we wanted to do.

phở

J & me

J and I had planned to spend a lazy Sunday together just eating brunch and lolling about, but that morning, we impulsively decided to drive up to New York City to get my stuff out of storage. It took us 12 hours to hop on a train to BWI Airport, rent a car, drive 5 hours to NYC (we sat in a lot of traffic), get my stuff out of the Chelsea storage facility where it'd been languishing for over two years, grab dinner at BLT Burger--one of my favorite burger places, sit in more traffic, and drive 4 1/2 hours back to DC. Craziness.

 Love the local beers

More amazing milkshakes

The Classic burger (avocado and cheddar on mine), with sweet potato fries

Despite the endless travel and traffic headaches and exhaustion, we had a great time. Even just driving together is so enjoyable for us because we love talking and listening to new music (the new Bon Iver album that drops June 21st is amazing, by the way) and just being with each other. Sorry if this is getting too sappy.

So that was last weekend.

In other news, my life plans have changed, and I'm moving out of DC one month earlier than I'd anticipated. The new schedule:

1. Give two weeks notice next Monday
2. Vacate my room/house at the end of June
3. Drive my stuff cross-country with J to Nebraska and store some of my stuff with J's parents, hopefully see a few people along the way
4. Drive to Denver, drop off some more stuff with J's aunt and uncle
5. Fly out of Denver to Frankfurt, stay in Germany for a month while I study for the Colorado bar exam
6. Fly back to Denver and take the bar exam at the end of July

Originally, I'd planned to work for 2 weeks in July and spend 2 weeks in Germany studying for the bar, but then I realized that that wouldn't be enough time. Oh, and that there aren't 5 weeks in a month. A silly miscalculation on my part. J suggested that I stay in Germany for the entire month, and we could do a little traveling on the side as a study break. I mulled it over for awhile and decided it was a good idea, though everything is now on a much expedited timetable, hence the sudden flurry of activity.

So there's the plan. I'm really excited to be spending an entire month with J and in Europe no less. Not so excited about having to study for the bar--it's difficult to stay motivated and focused. When I took the New York bar exam after graduating law school, I futzed around for a month and a half before buckling down two weeks before the exam. And promptly panicked. That was a miserable two weeks of cramming, and I was convinced afterward that I had failed. I'm trying to take a more measured approach this time around, but I unfortunately do my best work under pressure, so another stressful cramming session may be in my future regardless.