Old Town Alexandria Rowhouses and Townhouses

One of the first Virginia cities we visited was Old Town Alexandria. It is simply charming. When we first moved to Capitol Hill thirteen years ago we found many of our favorite restaurants in Old Town and continue to visit them since we moved to Virginia a few months ago. Last week we went to a favorite Greek place; Tyesterday we took a ride to a breakfast place that we like on Duke Street. After that, we went to see the Tall Ship Providence that is docked near Chart House on the Potomac River. Nearby are the water taxis and marina for many boats as well as several touring vessels. On the way from Duke Street to the river are typical Old Town rowhouses and townhouses. I never get tired of looking at them. They are very distinctive and have been around for a long time. But we also know the reality if living in these vertical housing units - stairs, tiny spaces, dark interiors, and terrible parking options. Near the water it gets flooded more times than not. We actually looked around Old Town for a potential “retirement” home, but decided against it because the irritations of living in DC are similar there. It’s a very touristy place too - which is both good and bad. So for now we like the idea that we can still visit, and we do. 

The Providence in Old Towne Alexandria

You could say it is in my blood. My dad loved the water and was in the Coast Guard for twenty one years, including WWII. He would love be to take us aboard docked ships. When I visited my cousin in Boston after graduating high school we spent a day sketching “Old Ironsides.” My family lived near water in New England and Florida, and thereafter I lived near Lake Michigan and the Potomac River. I’m not in to sailing or boating or even swimming. But I spent a lot of time on the gulf coast growing up. I even had a job one summer in college making boat molds out of fiber glass. It was hot and disgusting work! Seeing boats and ships and docks and smelling sea or river water seems so familiar, but it is not something I really know much about. When I read about The Providence tall ship being docked in Old Towne Alexandria we thought it might be a nice ride to check her out. She is a replica of John Paul Jones first command during the revolutionary war and will soon be open for tours and such. I have to say she seemed quite small, but her sails weren’t up and she was sitting at the end of the dock surrounded by modern water craft. I’m not sure I would have been so inclined to make passage on one of these things back in the day. And I admire anyone be who did and still does today. 

A Walk in the Park

If at all possible we prefer to walk outside somewhere in the neighborhood rather than the shopping mall. Of course, with inclement weather we have no choice. Neither one of us likes using a fitness center. It’s just not comfortable. But maybe one day it may be our only option. Walking the concrete jungle of Capitol Hill was difficult in summer and on rainy days, so we spent some time wandering around Union Station. Now we look forward to putting in about two miles every day walking through McLean Central Park. It’s been about four months since we started using it, and many of the faces - and dogs - are becoming familiar. Every one is quite cordial and pleasant - very unlike our old neighborhood and much more like the midwestern feel we were used to. We’ve seen a few hawks, deer, and cardinals. The foliage is now changing from late summer to early fall. We wonder what fall and winter will look like. The rainstorm last month created a bit of a mess, but everything has been put back in order. It’s nice to have this walking option and it reminds us of a smaller version of Grant Park along Lake Michigan in our old neighborhood. I’m glad we are both able to use the space and hope we can for many more years to come. 

Redbubble, Zazzle and Etsy Digitalart Sales

It’s nice to get noticed. It’s even nicer when it happens on three different websites. For the last several years I’ve been hand painting custom pet and memorial portraits and I use the finished digital images to populate my Etsy, Zazzle and Redbubble sites. I also have a Merch Shop on Amazon and try to keep at least 100 images out there for primarily T, baseball and sweat shirts. I also have a few portraits that I painted of non pet subjects. One of the favorite pieces is Women in the Steps of Persepolis. Someone purchased it yesterday from my Etsy shop. Someone bought a Vizsla Card on Zazzle, and two stickers were sold on Redbubble - one of a husky and the other was an Eskie. The revenue from these products is hardly worth mentioning, but what gives me the greatest joy is that someone likes something I painted enough to buy it for themselves or give as a gift to someone else. That’s saying something to get noticed out of the millions of images out there. So thank you for noticing- I really appreciate it!

Alotpower Moisture Meter for Houseplants

When we moved to Virginia four months ago from Capitol Hill, we swapped a tiny patio garden for a balcony. Rather than have outdoor plants in a garden with a birdbath, we now have a console table in the dining room that is home to several indoor houseplants. Watering houseplants can be tricky. I got a few water bulbs that can be used for when we go away for a few days/weeks, but I found out it’s not a good idea to use them for every day purposes. So we thought having a water meter would be a good way to figure out if the plants were really thirsty or not. So we got Alotpower moisture meter and gave it a try. Immediately we knew it worked. We decided to not water the plants for a week and see what the results would be. Some of the plants were dry, while others were moist. So I now have a better idea which one is which. The houseplants have brought life in to the living space which is the general idea. Now we need to make sure we take good care of them. 

Reko Pizelle Vanilla Cookies and Tea

Given the choice, I will take cake over cookies any time. That’s one of the reasons I have a slice of angel food cake every evening. For my husband, he much prefers cookies and is the Cookie Monster’s best friend. He loves chocolate covered just about anything, and a whole host of things in between. Someone gave us a pack of Reko Pizelle Vanilla cookies a few months ago and he fell in love with them. They are very light and crisp and taste like an ice cream cone. But we haven’t been able to find them anywhere. We no longer have a Costco membership and looked around at a few other places, including Italian grocery markets, with no luck. So I searched for Pizelle on Amazon and found a few offerings. One of them included ten dollars for shipping! But I found a Prime offer for free shipping for a smaller amount, so I ordered two boxes. They arrived the next day and my husband was thrilled to have them once again in the nightly dessert mix. Even without the tea they are tasty! At least now I have access to another one of his favorites. So I can add them to the cabinet that is stacked with cookies. We can’t ever run out of the supply. 

Goodbye AT&T; Hello Verizon

It finally happened. After searching for the “best deal” for our mobile phones, we decided to finally switch to Verizon. I’ve been an AT&T customer since I can remember, but have lately been frustrated by international calling plans and thinking I could get a better contract if it’s bundled. I checked in to it when we had Xfinity/Comcast and am thankful we didn’t go that route. Comcast isn’t even offered in northern Virginia. So when we moved to Virginia from DC we went with Fios for internet, cable and phone (which we don’t even use.) I asked at that time if there were any combination mobile phone/internet/cable deals, and was told no. Last night I saw an add on TV about “pairing” services - Fios with Verizon. When we drove by the Verizon store after lunch we decided to stop in and see what break we would get. I’m sure it ends up being all hog wash. We were told we would get $10.00 off on Fios and $10.00 off Verizon for having both services for as long as we have them; $150 prepaid MasterCard for each of us for starting the service; unlimited data; and a potential for a senior discount if I check back again in six months - one year. I forgot about having a personal hotspot, but see that it is available too. And I need to keep my eyes open for deals if and when we need to upgrade our iPhones. Supposedly the Verizon coverage is better, but we will wait and see on that. There have been many instances of lousy AT&T connectivity, and if we use our google maps on trips we always run out of data and get charged. I have a feeling we will end up paying more, which wasn’t the idea to begin with. So I’ll just keep my fingers crossed and hope it at least comes out even.