OK, so I have to admit I have a bit of an obsession with new stuff smell… new car smell, new shoe smell, new clothes smell…you name it. It’s weird. I know. I can’t help it. The past month has been overflowing with new stuff. Not all of them are associated with smells, but I do feel better now that I’ve made that confession public. :-p

I’ve given snippets about lots of new things happening mostly as an excuse for why my posts have been few and far between this month, but now I finally have time to give a real update. At the beginning of July I started a new job as a senior manager of communications at the Global Business Travel Association. My first boss has worked there for a few years and is helping me transition into the position as she plans to spend more time with her family. Always nice when someone does that genuinely – and not to save their collapsing political career.

It’s the perfect way to learn a new job and I’m really excited about it so far. My coworkers are great and have been trying to get me up to speed quickly since our big annual convention is coming up next week! It’s also in a great location in Old Town, Alexandria. There are so many great lunch spots, it’s just a few minute walk from the waterfront and it’s an amazingly easy, traffic-free commute.

That traffic-free commute is made possible by my new car! Hopefully this isn’t starting to sound like the Price is Right. Early followers of my blog might remember the story of how my old Saturn died on New Year’s Eve a few years ago. I’ve been car-free or attempting to drive my boyfriend’s standard without stalling too many times since then, so I was pretty excited about leasing my new Honda CRV. The back-up camera might be my favorite feature, but I’m also enjoying the feeling of being a little higher up than I used to be in my tiny blue Saturn.

At 9-10 miles along the Mt. Vernon trail from my apartment, it’s also the perfect distance for running home from work on my longish mid-week run. I’m hoping the hills at the end of that route will pay off come Marine Corps Marathon time.

Just because I apparently like to do everything at once, Ian and I also moved into a new apartment the weekend before starting my new job! This one is my favorite of all the new stuff that’s been happening. We only moved one metro stop away, but we’re loving the bigger space and our new neighborhood. Also…in-unit laundry! That probably makes me happier than it should. Five years of going down 8 floors to the basement to do laundry and days- (or more often, weeks-) worth of stinky running clothes in the hamper was more than enough though.

We rented out my old condo and got a quick lesson in what it’s like to be a landlord when we spent all of July 4th (and a half) until 5 in the morning putting the finishing touches on the old place after we’d gotten all of our stuff out of it. We painted the trim and re-caulked the bath tub because who would live without those things. Oh wait, us, for the last 11 months since the new trim was put in. Funny how you can get used to things.

We also spent several days of Ikea madness at our place, but I love all of our new furniture and that we got to pick this place out together. The building amenities aren’t half bad either! We’ve already taken advantage of the grilling area by the pool and (not suprisingly) the fitness center. We finally got around to hanging all of our pictures this past weekend and are really enjoying settling into the new place. Seeing as there is no elevator, which made the move-in process really fun, I’m hoping we’re here for awhile!