Writing in Pencil: "You Can Be Where Your Feet Are"

I am starting to feel like I belong here.

Not too long ago, I recall a time of nothing short of terror about my future. While there are still certainly things I'm anxious about, particularly taking on all of the 'adult' things that come with being out of school and on your own, I finally feel like the overwhelming things are of a manageable size. I can take them as they come. Even in my new job, I can feel my Type A self starting to creep towards "But what do I do after this job? How is this going to further my overall career? Do I want to be here forever?" A mentor of mine who knows how much difficulty I have living in the present once told me, "Kelsey, just be where your feet are."I would argue back, "But, I don't know how to be where my feet are. Don't you know me? I can't walk anywhere....I have to run."

It's true I do run a lot. But yesterday was the first day of Fall-like weather in DC. You can't miss the day when it actually turns from Summer to Fall. The sky is bright blue and the air has an exhilarating crispness about it. I decided for my lunch break I was going for a WALK. About a mile each way to Catholic University for a Pumpkin Spice Latte. (It took me less than an hour into the first day of my job to find out where the closest Starbucks to campus was located, but this was my first venture there.) While walking, I was reminded of what my mentor told me and what it for me at the point I'm at in my life. It is not necessary to have every single step figured out. Or every single path. Sometimes we just need to know the very next step or to be comfortable with being still and finding our feet.

There are so many great things that have happened in the midst of the craziness of the past couple of weeks: celebrations, transitions, lessons. I want to be able to really experience them in the present. Here's a recount anyway:

The Weekend of Birthdays!

I went to Ben's "Paris in the 40's" surprise birthday party on a Friday night (I tried brandy for the first time), played a role in a scavenger hunt for Goo's fiancee Emmanuel's birthday (reminiscent of sorority clue weeks a little bit), and celebrated Alex's birthday on Saturday night (a little Barrett reunion!).

The GGSS kids are so great at costume parties.

That Sunday, I accidentally almost signed a contract for a really expensive gym in the city (actually it's just a normal rate, but everything is twice as expensive in the city as I am used to or can afford). The salesperson pushed me into it very sneakily (he told me I had toned arms!), but promised me I could cancel after 2 weeks. I met up with Mike afterwards who had been in a meeting and couldn't even make eye contact because I was so ashamed. However, I'm grateful that when I showed Mike the contract he made me march straight back to the dude and demand an immediate refund giving me things I could cite as ground that the contract was void already. (Sometimes there are perks to dating a future lawyer.)

Moving/Labor Day Weekend

First, I had plans to see the UMD-WM game with friends at College Park! (Hello football season!) The Tribe always plays a division above us for the first game of the season so we were definitely the underdogs in this game, but we played really well! Unfortunately we led the entire game until the last half, but I have high hopes for Tribe Football this season.

My Person (Kelly) and I cheering on the Tribe in our old cheer gear.

View from the stands.

The next day was moving day and Mike (being the awesome boyfriend that he is) braved animal allergies and took some time away from law school work to help me move in. He made an instant friend in Gilbert who took no time before crawling up into Mike's lap. We finally got on the road and I got to spend most of Labor Day unpacking and organizing my apartment.

Gil, you are such a ham.

Cupcakes my landlords left me as a welcome present! Well, Mike and I ate the first two.

This Past Week(end)....

Dan Snow had a going away party. I will always remember Mike introducing him to me as the guy who sounded like Mufasa (because he has SUCH a great voice). It was nice to celebrate with all the lawyerly folk. Steph helped to provide much of the food, of course, and I am constantly in awe of her ability to feed the masses with the tastiest of noms. I mean there were pretzel rolls, c'mon!
I have started to run again. I was really nervous about this when I moved to the city, but once you've accidentally taken a 4 mile off-roading loop on an interstate and had to sprint home to make it to work, you kind of stop being afraid. It is also pretty cool to live in a city where your favorite routes are notated by "To the Capitol and Back", "To the Washington Monument and Back", and "The Soldier's Home Loop Around Lincoln's Cottage". #thankful

I will leave you with some pictures I took yesterday and today of the pretty Fall weather!