It’s 9:45 p.m. and I’m tired. Guess who I’ve been spending time with? That’s right – my family.
Actually, last night, my eight-year-old sister Mandy slept over at my new Big Girl apartment in D.C. We played about a quarter of a game of monopoly (45 minutes…yes…I timed it), had great fun pulling down the Murphy bed, and watched a bit of T.V. (“What do you want to watch?” “Anything other than cartoons.” Mandy goes to OnDemand and plays some weird cartoon called Fanboy and Chum Chum, all the while saying, “Sister, this is kind of a cartoon, sort of. Is that okay?”)
The wine probably affected her.
Don’t worry, it’s just sparkling lemonade!
As a 0L, I feel as if I should be preparing for the next three years of drowning myself in court cases from 1748 that no longer apply to today’s Supreme Court decisions. I should have a glass of wine while pondering Machiavelli and typing some sort of philosophical rant about Clarence Earl Gideon.
Fortunately for you, I don’t want to do that. I want to talk about something else entirely.
Crafts.
See, after 4 days with my family, making gingerbread women that are 50% anatomically correct, hitting the National Zoo, and losing a purse in the worst possible location (The Mansion on O Street, with over 30 hidden passageways meant to twist and turn you, distorting your spatial awareness)…what did I REALLY want to do on my first day alone in the District?
Craft. I wanted to craft. To create something. As a disclaimer, I would just like to mention that I don’t particularly have any talent in the crafting arena. I basically cut pictures (unevenly), paint wooden trinkets and boxes, and now I can string beads and (sometimes) successfully crimp them to create bracelets, necklaces, and anklets. But crafting just feels great. It’s also a relatively inexpensive way to enjoy yourself without ever having to leave your home.
Except, of course, if you need to venture out and purchase new supplies. Like I did today.
Don’t get me wrong – I UPS’d a medium box filled with arts supplies I’ve collected over the years (fabric flowers, two one-gallon Ziploc bags filled with different color paints, stickers, scrapbooking appliques)...but nothing wooden to actually paint.
Come to find out there is no convenient arts supply store (think: Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, Joann Fabrics) within walking distance to either my apartments OR to ANY Metro stop. Really?
…Really. So, $50 in cab fees, 30 minutes of slight panic when I realize that I don’t know how to call a cab, and a MASSIVE supply of arts and crafts later, I can proudly claim that I have traveled to the Seven Corners Shopping Center in Church Falls, Virginia.
I’m pretty sure I will never go back. I will now be mass-purchasing at the 231 art supply stores within quick driving distance in my hometowns in Florida. Until someone decides to bank by opening a craft supply store in downtown D.C.
I would also like to mention that I successfully traversed the Metro system as well today (I even had to cross lines at the Metro Center). I accompanied my parents by taxi to the Reagan airport (also, ironically, located in Virginia), took the 8 minute stroll to the nearest (above-ground) station, and got from the blue line to the red line and ALL the way to the Panera across the street from my building.
Now, if you know me (which you should, if you’re reading this), you know I SUCK at following directions. For some reason, mental maps work just as well as physical maps for me. That is to say…they DON’T work.
Turns out, the Metro maps click just fine in my brain.
And that’s the way the hippo heckles.
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