last day at ICMA!

Phew!  I finally made it to my last day of work!  It was a bittersweet day, because I was very, very happy to leave my responsibilities and my management situation (ask me if you want details), but I was genuinely very upset to leave 99 percent of my coworkers.  They're some of my best friends in the world, and it was a unique experience for me to be able to work with so many people my age.  Cleaning out my desk was really rough, because I had worked pretty hard to make it a cute workspace that I enjoyed seeing everyday.  And my teammates were sad to see it go, too!  But I have pictures, and I can always try to recreate it in the future.

Fortunately, my good friend, Megan, quit the same day I did, so we were able to share our going-away party and our goodbyes.  Apart from the fact that it would have been a little awkward to have all the attention on myself, it's nice to go through all the transition stuff with someone else.

Here are a few photos from my last few minutes at my desk...

Amy was a creeper, but that's nothing new.

...and Rebecca wouldn't stop taking pictures, so I had to come up with new faces.  That's enough of that.

Nate and I only worked together for a few months, but we were good buddies!  He's on the International team, but our cubes were actually just eight feet from each other.  Still, he would usually call me instead of coming over to my desk.  Men.

(He's also a Michigan State fan and holds the mother of all grudges over me for the 2009 National Championship game.  Time to let go.)

...and then I took this picture after we left Irish Times and headed to We the Pizza.  I really don't know why.  It's not my best.

So, again, not heavily documented, but it was a super fun night after a busy day of wrapping things up!

Even though I can't spill all the details here, I can tell you that I didn't leave without saying everything I needed to say, both to HR and to my team leader.  So, I feel good about that.  There are changes that need to be made, particularly if people my age are going to be able to thrive there.  I hope that for everyone's sake, those changes are made, because my coworkers desperately deserve better.

hill country barbecue

Did I mention that during my last week of work, I had parties to go to for about four of the five days?  Well, I did.  And one evening, a bunch of us headed over to Hill Country Barbecue in Judiciary Square/Penn Quarter.  It's Texas barbecue, which means it's beef, and between you and me, this Carolina girl prefers pork and vinegar.  But, for what it was, it was good.  And the Wizards basketball team actually showed up in the middle of our dinner, so I did the John Wall, much to my own embarrassment.

 

I'm not a huge fan, but we do share a hometown, I guess.

Anyway, I didn't actually take any of these pictures, so I can't take credit for them.  But they exist, so here they are!

Most everyone had left by this point, but here's Megan and Keith...

...and then with her friend, Keri!

I clearly had no idea this picture was being taken, but Ryan did.

So, there you have it!  No pictures of food or anything, just people.  But actually, you'll see more of Keith and Ryan later, because I'm headed to the Chick-Fil-A bowl with them this Saturday!

work christmas party

This year, we were fortunate enough to get to have our party at Carmine's in Judiciary Square, which just happens to be one of my favorite restaurants.  (Ok, it was my idea.  I'm real lucky it worked out.)

I didn't take any pictures of the food, because then I would probably drool over my computer screen every time I looked at them, but I did take some of the lovely people I got to call coworkers, and more importantly, friends!

Caroline, me, Megan, and Keith reppin' one side of the table...

...and Tricia, Amy, and Katharine on the other!  Best conversations ever?  Of course.

Love those two!

I have a video of Amy talking about how delicious everything was (and maybe making a Cookie Monster noise), but YouTube is slow and won't upload it.  So, you have that to look forward to!

p.s. I'm super glad I have a new job to go to in January.  This sitting around at home while everyone's at work thing is for the birds.

amy turns the big 3-0!

A couple Fridays ago, a bunch of us headed to Lauriol Plaza in Dupont Circle to celebrate Amy turning 30!  Most people are really upset to reach that birthday, but Amy was loving it!

And, as is to be expected, the pictures are hilarious.

Mrs. Crawford, lovely even without the wedding dress!

BIRTHDAY FLAN!

Sass-face.

...aaaaand the night is officially fun once Amy has started to cuddle the wine.

I just love my Amy-girl so much!  She may have just turned 30, but believe it or not, she's got a bigger event coming up in a couple months... her wedding!  It'll be my first trip to New Mexico, and I can't wait!

last day of work!

I can't believe it's finally here.  I officially let my bosses know I was moving back to North Carolina four weeks ago, and at the time, this day still seemed far away.  But time flew, as it always does.

It's definitely time to move on from my current responsibilities, but it's more difficult than I can possibly describe to pick up and move away from all the people I worked with.  With a few exceptions, I genuinely loved each and every one of them.  Never in my life did I think I would become that close to a bunch of coworkers, but as I sat in my exit interview yesterday, I told HR just how blessed I felt to have even gotten to work with some of the people who I'll call close friends for the rest of my life.

More than anything, I learned an enormous amount about myself.  This job had its extreme highs and extreme lows, and maybe one day I'll share them.  But I am so much more aware of myself now than I was nineteen months ago.  I have a firmer grasp on my strengths and weaknesses, but more than that, I know exactly how I operate in an office atmosphere.  In a lot of ways, it's unconventional.  Most people go to work to get things done, achieve goals, and build a professional network along the way.  I find all of that valuable, I really do.  But it will always be unrealistic for me to walk into a workplace and not want to make friends, have drinks after work, and decorate the office on holidays.  For that reason, I'm glad I'm becoming a teacher, because I think the level of social interaction that I need in order to thrive at work is much more necessary in a school environment.

I started cleaning out my cubicle on Wednesday night, and it felt like the last week of a college spring semester always did, when you clean out your dorm room and everything just feels blank for a few days while you wrap up your last exams.  The idea of walking away from that room seemed unbearable, but then you took down everything that was yours and you didn't recognize it anymore.  That's exactly how I feel now.  All of my decorations are down, all of my post-it notes packed up, and the space doesn't seem like it's mine anymore.

I'm sure there will be tears today.  One thing I learned about myself long before I took this job is that I get overly attached to things in a rapid amount of time.  It makes me highly susceptible to hoarding.  I'm attached to the comfort of that office and the routine and, obviously, the strong friendships I have there.  Everything has a memory.  But I always re-attach elsewhere.  I find a new normal and I'm fine again.  But that doesn't make the leaving any easier.

My friends and I have sworn up one side and down the other that we'll stay in touch, and I believe us.  So really, I'm just ripping the band-aid off of what would have been an inevitable departure further down the road, when leaving might have hurt even worse.  I'll be just fine, better even, but I'm going to need those first few moments to wince a little bit.

Yours truly,

Funemployed until the new year.

christmas boats in alexandria

After Megan and I wrapped up our museum tour de force, I met up with Molly and her mother and grandmother for some Tex Mex in Old Town Alexandria!  We went to Austin Grill, which was super delicious. And even though it was freezing, we walked around the waterfront after dinner just to see all the boats decorated with Christmas lights!

If our boat wasn't winterized, I would totally ask my parents to do this.

And then I took this super creepy picture of the Freemason Temple on the way home.

You're welcome.

museums with megan

A couple weekends ago, Megan and I decided to do our very own Whirlwind Washington Museum Tour Extravaganza 2011 and hit up all the museums we hadn't been to yet.  (Just kidding, only the important ones.  Going to all the ones we've never stepped foot in would take eons upon eons.  Megan, as it turns out, is leaving ICMA the same day I am, because she's headed back to the great mittened state of Michigan to work on economic development in the western part of the state.  So, we're tag-teaming all of these cram-everything-in-before-you-leave-DC activities.  It just works out great that she happens to be one of my best friends.

First, we went to the Library of Congress (which is actually several different buildings, but we, of course, chose the prettiest one).

Then, we headed over to the Newseum, which we got $10 tickets to, thanks to Groupon!  I had already been before, but Megan hadn't, and since it's my favorite museum, I was all for going back!

Here's a piece of the Berlin wall from the West German side...

And oh look!  MJ!  Megan is a Michigan State fan, so Magic Johnson (who I guess also happens to be MJ) made her happy.

This was a map for an operation to kill a notorious gangster back in the early 20th century, and look at the name under number 2!  Dad discovered this last time we were at the Newseum, so I made sure I took a picture this time.  Such good people, those Winsteads.

One of the best views in DC!

My beloved News and Observer from home.

Turns out the Tar Heels were actually in two states' papers that day!

Not exactly a Tar Heel, but former NC State quarterback Russell Wilson was on the front of Michigan's paper that day!

Probably my favorite picture in the Presidential Gallery.

Twisted wreckage from the top of the World Trade Center's broadcast tower.

Tim Russert's office!

I actually hadn't seen this part last time, but we found Christiane Amanpour's set for This Week on ABC!  Megan is a huge fan of hers, so these pictures are extra hilarious.

"OMG YOU GUYS, THIS IS HER CHAIR!"

She'd be pulling these off if not for that awesome tag over her nose.

I don't think it takes being on TV for me to give someone that look.

Our last stop was the Hope Diamond at the Natural History Museum!  It has a new setting that I don't love at all, but the diamond is still beautiful of course!

So, that was our museum day!  Exhausting, but so, so, so fun!