*Read my farewell to DC post: “This is the Story of a Girl in Washington, DC” (all about the exciting, fun career stuff that’s happened to me in the past 10 years.)

Well, it was my last weekend in DC — so I had to play tourist just a little bit. Plus, the Marine Corps Marathon was this weekend and though I prefer running it, spectating is the second best thing I can do!

Of course moving is NOT FUN. Packing, cleaning, stressing — especially for a cross-country (ish) move isn’t exactly a blast, but we are getting there. Luckily, we decided to put the move-stress on hold to enjoy our last weekend here.

We decided to hit up the one monument neither of us had been to in all this time — the Jefferson Memorial. 

It was a cloudy day but a good one for downtown — there was an Alzheimer’s Walk and a Walk for Hearing going…just the bustle I love about the Mall.

I wanted to make it a longer day of tourism but I seriously can’t handle much more than a couple hours at this point — I get SO exhausted! More on that in tomorrow’s pregnancy update though!

I will miss so much about DC! It’s hard not to take things for granted when you live somewhere but I’ve always tried hard not to do that. I have taken a million pictures of the Washington Monument, run by the White House a hundred morning with Back on My Feet and walked to and from the Capitol for meetings dozens of times.

I’ve run down the Mall from work all the way home to train for marathons, passing kickballers on the Mall, tourists confused about which way the Lincoln Memorial is and massive groups of middle schoolers going into the Museum of Natural History. 

I’ve been to a million happy hours in fun, quirky bars on U Street and in Dupont Circle, spent too many nights I don’t remember too well at Lucky Bar and Adams Morgan (a long time ago that is…haha).

I will miss the constant activity and the passion of the people that chose to make their lives here, the lobbying and creativity and actual chance to make a difference where you can. I’ll miss Eastern Market and all my cute little fitness studios, passing Senators walking to my office and the short walk past the Supreme Court on my way to visit friends across the Hill.

It’s impossible to remember everything and I’m sure things will come back to me — in a moment next week, next month, next year…when I’ll say, I remember when in DC. I will be nostalgic about this city for the rest of my life. I will re-live moments and so want to be here when we elect our next President, when there’s something huge going down in government  or a big rally or race.

I know it’s time to go — it just is. This chapter of my life is over. However, I never want to forget or take for granted all the wonderful things I experienced here.

Marine Corps Marathon

That includes…the Marine Corps Marathon — which I have run 5 times (here’s when I got my marathon PR)! Of course, at 8 months pregnant, that wasn’t happening this year! However, since I live a mile down the road from miles 22-23 of the course, I love to spectate when I’m not running. I was really happy I wasn’t moving until after the race!

I like to think of signs that won’t be a million other places on the course. I thought these were decent! People seemed to like them at least. I also enjoy being at the 22-23 mile marker when people REALLY need encouragement. I cheered for over 4 hours, though I sadly missed seeing my friend Kristyn somehow!

I always have the urge to say, “I know how you feel, I’ve done this 5 times!” or “I WISH I was running –you are lucky you get to do this right now!” Of course that would be really douchy to so I don’t. I did a lot of “Only 3 miles left, you’ve done that a million times!”

So that was fun. I’m looking forward to enjoying a NEW hometown race in two weeks, though, the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. I am planning to cheer that one as well — and hopefully run it next year!

That’s So Michelle

The other fun thing was weekend was that my friend Michelle had a book signing at Williams Sonoma in Alexandria for her new book, “Jelly Shots.” She is like a creative genius when it comes to this stuff — it’s INSANE the beautiful little recipes she has come up with. I guess that’s why she got a book deal!

So I bought six copies and had them signed as Christmas presents for my favorite, fun people 🙂 Honestly, they are the most fun party treats I’ve ever seen — and you can make them all without booze if you prefer — so kid-friendly too!

Oh the last thing we did this weekend was a fun thing called “Boo at the Zoo” at the Washington, DC Zoo. We were like the only people there without a kid but it was still fun — though we paid a whopping $64 to get in! They handed us each a trick or treat bag and we promptly felt very silly. However, it was cute walking around seeing all the stuff they put out and the kids dressed up in their costumes. We talked about how next year at this time Jacob will be almost 11 months old & we’ll actually have in a costume and all!

So that was the last DC weekend. I suppose we could have made it more exciting but all my energy was used up. I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts on leaving the city at some point. How was your weekend?!