New Apartment, New Home (Warning: Lots of photos!)

I am loving my new apartment. It's gorgeous, in a great location, wonderful roommate, and has great amenities. I live on 16th Street right off historic U-Street. It's a nice 15 minute walk to Dupont Circle which I absolutely love since Dupont has so many great restaurants and shops. (Dupont is also my second closest metro station so I think I'll be doing that walk a lot.)

The building itself is controlled access and has a nice big lobby area and front desk. On the day we moved in we also explored some of the rooms on the lobby floor where you can go to relax or hang out that have big comfy chairs, fireplaces, and complimentary hot chocolate and coffee (I'm planning to take advantage of the free hot chocolate every morning on my way to work...) However, my favorite part is the grand piano right when you walk in that plays music 24/7. I've never seen an electronically played piano (it reminds me of a ghost playing it), but it makes me laugh every time I walk into the building.

Here are some photos:

Front lobby where you walk in (note the self-playing piano on the left)

Lobby (see my elevators in the back?)

My room

Living room

View from the balcony

On Wednesday night my mom, Emily, Thomas, and I left Apex around 8:30 p.m. (after Emily had gotten off her shift at work) and drove about 3 hours of the way to DC. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a ton of stuff, so four people + one car + all my crap was a lethal combination for a five hour trip:

Mom was a good sport and carried my little TV on her lap the entire trip :)

We stopped at a cheap hotel that leaned on the sketchy side to spend the night. I guess when you stay at a cheap place these days, they don't even put on the sheets for you anymore...

We drove the remainder of the trip on Thursday morning and arrived to my new place and quickly moved all my stuff up those to those little suitcase buggies/trolleys. Afterward, we went to lunch with my roommate Ivy:

I couldn't think of a better place to live as I start my journey in DC!