Welcome To Driving In The Rain At Night

Its a better metaphors for the future than I Thought

So I just got home (yeah I know, way after my bed time for a Sunday) and its raining. It's dark, hard to see the road and everyone seems to loose the ability to make good driving decisions. It can be a really stressful and I have to be able to react at a moments notice. Driving fast is also not an option as the chance of an accident greatly increases. This is not much like trying to plan for the future.

I have a very limited idea as to where I will be and what I will be doing six months, let alone a week, from now. Oh I can sort of visualize a few things that are coming up (moving to NJ is now set in stone), but I don't know if the universe is going to change directions, go into a tight curve and have me go over the edge of a cliff. 

I really hope not, but I don't put anything past the universe anymore. It loves to mplay so with me. All I can do is hope that I react in time to prevent disaster.

After many years of driving experience, driving at night in a torrential downpour doesn't faze me. However moving far away from the two cities I grew up around does. It's new and strange. I don't feel like I'm in control of my life.

I just have to take a deep breath, pay attention and trust my instincts (they're usually right). Wish me luck. I'll check in next week. It will be my last in post in Maryland.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you like hearing from me. Until next week.

Welcome To Your New City

It’s Nothing like Your Old City

This weekend, my roommate from college came up to visit it me. We have both decided that it is really weird that we are no longer living together and that we should visit each other more often. She does not live that far away (when there isn’t any traffic), however it is still a bit of a hike to get to me. Since I live in the middle of suburbia, I thought that it would be a better idea to go into the nearest city to me: Baltimore.

She got to my place bright and early (10am) and we left not too long after that (you know you’re an adult when bright and early is waking up at 7am instead of 1pm). She made me drive. Since I am currently driving an SUV instead of my adorable sedan (I’ll explain that in another post) I spent a good part of the five minute drive into the city hoping I did not try to squeeze into anything two sizes two small.

This was not my first time in the city. The first time I had been there since moving was for a rugby interest meeting at a place called Alexander’s Tavern. Apparently it’s a hangout for rugby players (shouts out to my rugby friends!). I didn’t join the team (commute and time commitment was a bit much right now), but I did survive driving in an unfamiliar city at night. Before that adventure, I hadn’t been in the city of Baltimore since I was 15 years old. So I really did not have any idea where I was going. I also don’t own a smart phone or GPS. I have to rely on maps…from the Internet.

My official second adventure into Baltimore was a little bit less stressful. I still had no idea where anything was or where I was, but we did find a parking garage (I think it was in Little Italy) and a map of the Inner Harbor and Fells Point. Both are beautiful. Everything is expensive, but I was expecting that.

As we first entered the city from 295, we noticed all of the police out and about for the baseball game. This helped us plan when to leave the city to beat the baseball traffic. We then passed the convention center and realized that it was the weekend for Comic Con. I have never seen a Con before; just a quick glance was an eye opener. I would like to go to one before I die. I would also like to dress up as Franziska Von Karma from the Phoenix Write Ace Attorney games if I go to one (look her up if you don’t know who she is, trust me she’s awesome and not scantily clad).

It took us a little while to find a parking garage (though it was a little sketchy). We then headed over to the Inner Harbor. It was cool and very similar to how I remember it from when I was 15. I need a pin from the Hard Rock Café for my collection. We went into the Barns and Nobles, which was in an old factory building. I thought it was cool, but worried I might run into something.

After the ten minutes at the Inner Harbor, we walked to Fells Point, which isn’t that bad of a walk. The first place we ate at was a Tapas place that was really expensive. Only eat there if you don’t have a big appetite or if you have lots of cash. It was very yummy, but not worth the cost. We then walked around a bit more and discovered a place called The Daily Grind. We had to go in because at our old college campus, we had a place called The Daily Grind that several of our friends practically lived in (we also lived right next to it at one point). Though it was in an old factory building, the menu could have come straight from out college campus. It was great! It also made us (namely me) at bit homesick for school.

We left not too long after, but got a bit turned around finding my car. Getting out of the city wasn’t hard. The signs for 295 are a lot bigger than the ones for 83 and 95. We also beat the traffic from the game and the Con.

Baltimore is very different from my home city, even though they are very close. Fells Point does look like Old Town Alexandria, though. I find it charming and different, but I will always have a soft spot for home, even if it is one of the most annoying cities in America. I would recommend Baltimore for a visit and I would at some point like to live in the city, but not right now.

Welcome to your New Home

First you have to find it...

First I would like to give a shout out to Shark Week. Once again I am afraid to go into the Ocean. Beware the awesome power of the deep!

Finding a place to live was a lot harder than I had thought it was going to be. I had thought that I would search on the internet, go to the apartment place and (WHAM!) I’d be living on my own. This was the first reality check. Not only did I discover that cheap places to rent in the areas that I wanted to live were virtually non-existent, but if I did find something in my price range, it was already occupied. I also discovered that income requirements are another hurdle.

All of the places (except the first that did not have any free apartments in a normal price range) had income requirements. I also came to dread the term luxury in front of apartment ads. Honestly I don’t think luxury apartments are worth it if there isn’t any affordable housing anywhere else. Heck I’m still trying to figure out where poor people live in Fairfax County.

My mom and I went back home without any progress. I at first was convinced I would be living out of a cardboard box (or driving over an hour and a half commute to work). A few frustrated tears later led back to the internet. I was hoping to find a room for rent or a roommate. I found plenty of people looking for roommates, but I wasn’t sure how much I’d like kids, three cats (I’m allergic) or 18 year old French guys. There were a lot of 18 year old French guys looking for roommates. I finally found, with a good bit of help from my mom, a guy renting his basement with all utilities included. A phone call later and we had an appointment in two days to go check it out.

We also discovered that about twenty miles from where I was going to work was a small town with apartments with a rent that was at least reasonable. My mom started sorting through apartments while I just kind of nodded my head and agreed with whatever she said.

The next “new home hunt” started in the further away town very early in the morning. The first few places I looked at were nice. Mom helped me to identify what was lacking and what was a plus in some of the different places we looked at. One of the coolest things we discovered was that some apartments offer move in deals. If you move in by a certain date they cut the rent, wave fees for the pool or even give you a month free of rent (but check to see if it’s a 12 or 13 month lease).

After another long day of looking at apartments and still having an interview for a basement to rent, I found a really cute place that was in my price range. I decided to cancel the interview and put in an application for this place. There was also a lot of paper work required on my end. They are very serious about not doing illegal activates and knowing where the money for the rent is coming from.

About a month later I was ready to move in. I managed to bribe two of my friends, along with my dad, to help me to move all of my worldly possession to the new apartment. When we finally got everything in, just as it was starting to thunderstorm, I discovered that my apartment was a lot bigger than I had thought it was and that I did not have as much stuff as I thought I had. Don’t get me wrong, I have more stuff than I know what to do with sometimes, but I still don’t have a couch or a coffee table. For that matter my dining room is currently folding chairs and a card table. I guess I never realized how much furniture makes a home. My dad had to suggest the card table and folding chairs before I realized that I even needed dining room furniture.

After a few weeks, and my book case being rebuilt, I had finally managed to make my apartment seem more like a home. I especially love having a dishwasher. I didn’t have a dishwasher in college and I now realize how much I love them. I like having my own home. Now I just have to keep it clean.

Welcome To Wonderland

I Fell Down The Rabbit Hole!

Hello and welcome to my blog! I am a twenty something who just recently graduated from college, moved out of her parent’s house and have started a new job. It’s my first “grown up” job. This whole experience has been a little scary. Okay it’s actually really scary. That is why I decided to start a blog: to hopefully help people who are also just starting out and share my adventures.

 I will likely talk about my experiences and possibly reminisce about college, high school, talk about what’s interesting to people my age and other somewhat random things. However, I choose not to talk about work nor rant about any personal, political, monetary, or religious issues. There has been so much news in the media lately about people losing their jobs over a stupid post or tweet that I would prefer not to get into any of that. If at any time I seem to be straying from my original path, just let me know and I’ll get right back on track.

I would love feedback. Though hopefully not the creepy kind of feedback, but this is the Internet. One of the other reasons I wanted to start a blog was to keep practicing my writing skills. If anyone notices that I have misspelled anything or there is a grammar mistake, let me know so I can fix it. I love being able to improve. Since I am new to all of this I’ll keep this first post short. I’m hoping to average around 1000 to 2000 words each post. Since this is just my introduction, I don’t think I will be putting too much in.

I chose the name of this blog to be Starting Out In Wonderland because I feel like I, much like Alice, have fallen through a rabbit hole. I had thought that college had prepared me for the real world, but it was really a fantasy land. College established my independence as an individual, but not as a person. The individual independence allowed me to start making choices without constantly asking my parents’ permission. Independence as a person is making those decisions, but not having the safety net there to keep me from falling flat on my face. In college most of my problems required a phone call or a talk with a professor to solve. Now I have to solve those problems on my own. Luckily I have a lot of friends and family who are still willing to give advice, but ultimately I still have to fix them myself. I feel out of my element now. Hopefully it will not last too long. 

Who’s ready to explore wonderland with me?