DCCCCCCCCC!!

I'm going to DC for the inauguration and I'm soooo excited!

As soon as it sunk in on Nov. 4th that this was all going to go down, I felt like I had to do whatever I could to be there and be a part of it. And I really feel grateful that I have a job that allows me to realize an opportunity like this and even encourages it. I'm so thankful that I have a family that is supportive and also excited for me. And I'm super thankful that I have friends who feel the same way I do and who were able to make something amazing happen.
Life is what you make it, so why not go big, right?!

I held plane tickets for weeks after the elections (another job perk). My friend wrote to her Representative in Iowa and won a lottery and won 5 tickets to the inauguration. So once she had the tickets, we felt like we had to go no matter what. So we bought plane tickets even though we didn't have a place to stay. Hotels were booked solid. I was able to get a nice hotel for our last night in town but for the first few nights we had nothing. At first we figured we'd just party and stay out all night. The bars are supposed to stay open until 4am so we figured we'd get by. But then this crazy cold snap hit the east coast. And I went out on New Years Eve and at about 3:30am all I wanted to do was be in my bed, so I realized staying out for 2 nights in a row in the freezing ass cold was actually a terrible terrible idea. So about 2 weeks before we left, I decided to post an ad on craigslist.

Here's the ad:
My friends and I (4 girls and 1 boy) are coming to DC for the inauguration and we have a place to stay for one out of our 3 nights :), but we are looking for somewhere to crash Jan. 19th and 20th.
We weren't going to let this a lack of accommodations deter us from attending this historical event and we figured that if need be we'd just rough it on the streets or in a bar somewhere.
But it would be ohhhh sooooo much nicer to actually have a place to crash, and at the very least to drop off our stuff. We don't care how basic the accommodations are, as our other option is essentially the street. Just to have a roof over our heads and a secure place to leave our bags would be super awesome!
We can pay something, but we are not wealthy by any means.
We can however, bring gifts from California and our eternal appreciation and thanks.
(and maybe we can even return the favor someday if you ever plan to visit San Francisco)
So if you have a place (a room, a living room.. whatever) where we could maybe crash please shoot me an email, and maybe we can make a deal. We are fun, sane, responsible, respectful people, looking for the same. Thanks so much!!!

I got so many responses. Plenty of people wanting to make a buck, but also plenty of people just concerned saying we can't stay in the cold and we can use their basement or living room or whatever. People were really nice. And one guy offered up his studio apartment in Dupont Circle, which is an awesome location. So we went for it and it's costing us a bit, but I think it's 100% worth it. We are soooooo grateful to have a place to stay and I'm super excited about the location because it's going to save us so much time and hassle trying to deal crazy metro rides. It's going to be cold but I checked the weather today and it looks a good 10 degrees warmer than last week. So things are looking good.
I'm so excited!
(wish me luck and send me some warm fuzzy thoughts)