My Local Sephora, Christopher Pike, and more

1. My New Sephora: I’m lucky (or unlucky, depending on your perspective) to have a Sephora just a short walk from our new home. I’ll be walking past it a lot so I will need to learn some restraint! I managed to go inside without buying anything last week, so I’ll have to keep that up.  😛 I love the cute “Hello, Capitol Hill” floor design just inside the entry!

2. Chain Letter: I’ve always wanted to re-acquire copies of books that I loved as a kid. My originals are long gone but it’s not too hard to find this kind of book online. I was SUPER into book series like Sweet Valley High and The Baby-Sitters Club, but I was also really into authors like Christopher Pike and VC Andrews. It’s important to me that I only get copies from back then, nothing with new or updated covers. I found this 1986 copy in great condition on eBay for $6 including shipping. It’s going to be fun trying to re-establish a nostalgic book collection!

3. House Painting: We’ve slowly been chipping away at painting the interior of our new home! We’re going to do as much of the painting ourselves as we can muster. Last week I painted the accent wall in our living room (I skipped doing the edges because I’m really shitty at it. Also, I got paint in an electrical outlet). I am loving the color! In person it’s more of a slate blue; it looks pretty gray in the below photo. I feel so accomplished when I look at my handiwork!

4. Zoe’s Beaver: last month I added this Kong Refillable Beaver Cat Toy to my Chewy order to get to the free shipping minimum. And it has taken some time, but Zoe has really warmed up to her beaver!  I don’t know if she’s decided it’s her kitten or what, but lately she’s been carrying it around in her mouth and meowing a ton. I call it the Beaver Crazies. Seeing as how I have the sense of humor of a 12-year-old-boy, the beaver toy has been an endless source of jokes. It really has been one of my best impulse purchases.

Zoe, you’ve got a beaver on your head.

5. A Rake’s Progress: we went to dinner with friends this week at A Rake’s Progress, a nearly year-old restaurant in the LINE Hotel in Adams Morgan. I forgot to take photos of the space and food, but it is gorgeous! The hotel is located in a former Christian Science church (yikes…but also pretty). The chandelier you see below is constructed from the church’s organ. They cook some of the dishes over an open flame in a kitchen fireplace. Because of the smokiness I came home smelling pleasantly of campfire. I really enjoyed the vegetarian squash dish, but overall the service was a little fussy for my taste. As in, they cleared our plates and silverware and brought us fresh ones after each course, which I don’t feel is necessary. Sometimes I just want to be left alone.  😛

Image Credit: Rey Lopez for Eater DC