washington, DC thru airBandB

Last week I made a short trip to DC for business and decided to give this new service a try -- www.airbandb.com. It's an organized mix of couchsurfing and craigslist subletting. You contact the home owner directly and rent by the night(s); it could be a portion of the house, a private room or the entire home, and sometimes they include breakfast and tips about the area.

My two nights stay was at Melissa's studio in Dupont Circle, which I chose for its central location and close proximity to the meetings I had scheduled, and also because her apartment looked chic and the type of environment I'd want to stay in..

Here are photos and notes from my stay--

the entrance into Melissa's studio. the whole place has a light, clean and airy feel to it. 

to the right are photos of where she's lived, including Paris, Boston, New York and Puerto Rico. 

she has a remarkable bookcase structure that lines her wall, giving it a full yet not cluttered feeling.

and a mini grand white piano.. i want one! if only i played the piano..

i love scoping out people's texts, especially their cookbooks. she has one of alice waters! a true foodie.

where i slept..and also the two kitties, which would not leave me alone..

'tis all. it was a short stay, i wish i could have been there a bit longer if only to enjoy the studio and Dupont a bit more. Who knows, it was such a last minute trip that I suspect I'll be heading over to DC again shortly. I'll definitely be using airbandb.com again..thinking of a trip to Monterey!

why i love dc

Now I'm in Washington, DC, one of my favorite happenin' places in the world!

It's been rockin', I've been training as a student organizer in Change It, an environmental grassroots program, where I'll be leading 200 eager student activists on how to kick ass on their college campuses. Lots of exciting events to come like a lobby date with my rep, Congressman Adam Schiff and a big talk with Rep. Henry Waxman on the Safe Climate Act (awesomeness, especially because he's from Cal!) and this hasn't been confirmed but I'm crossing my fingers, a meeting with Senator Barbara Boxer, my heroine.

I love DC.

Other reasons: Two days ago I joined Members of the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, Iraq War Veterans, family members, progressive groups and many more concerned citizens at the "Call to Action by Candle Light," a rally by the Capital to push Republicans in the Senate to end their filibuster on the vote to end the war. It was unbelievable, I felt like I was in a movie. I couldn't believe I was five feet away from so many politicians and activists like John Lewis, many of whom I've admired only from afar. It's also unbelievable that the Republicans, a small tyrannical minority in the Senate won and carried through with the filibuster the next day.

Last night I went to Suzanne Willett's comedy show called Feminazi. The setting was chill, in the back alley of a bookstore basement-converted-coffee shop. I didn't enjoy the humor as much as I did the talk about feminism afterward. The crowd featured older women in their 60s, middle-aged mothers and many more young female college students. Of a lot of things I learned that night, one for certain, is that I'm going to establish a day care center at my future workplace, if one does not already exist at that time!

Enough talking..

Time for some dC sightseeing!

Pictures from Washington, DC

Finally uploaded are some random pictures from Washington, DC. Enjoy!
to view them click here.