I’ve been missing D.C. and northern Virginia since the moment we left.  I haven’t wanted to talk about it much since, obviously, we had valid reasons for choosing to move and it just didn’t seem like it would help anything to make a big deal out of being homesick when we were trying to get adjusted to life in a new place.  But with the recent stress of looking for permanent housing in Buffalo (and finding nothing – we’ve made four offers and all four have been rejected, one under truly frustrating circumstances) I’ve been feeling especially homesick for NoVA.  And I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about all of the things I miss about that place, where I chose to live for ten years and which will always be in my heart.

• Lunchtime wanderings through Capital Hill and on the National Mall (back in the day when I worked at the Department of Labor) and around Dupont Circle (more recently), with the accompanying awestruck feelings of, “I can’t believe I live here!”
• The Mount Vernon Trail, my favorite place in the world to run, bike, or just take a family stroll.
• Roosevelt Island and Rock Creek Park, two oases of calm in the middle of the city.

• Great Falls National Park, my favorite place in the entire world to hike.  I never made it to the Maryland side and will always regret that – although the Virginia side is heart-stoppingly beautiful.
• Teaism!  My favorite place to get lunch.  I frequented the Penn Quarter location when I worked at DOL, and the Dupont Circle location when I joined my firm.  The tuna bento box was my go-to lunch in Penn Quarter, and the seitan stir-fry in Dupont.  And always, always, I got a drink – tea when it was cold out (lavender lemon mint or World Peace or jasmine) and mango lassi when it was hot.  Oh, and the ginger scones were to die for – they made the best “afternoon tea” snack at my desk on a Friday when I really needed a treat.
• Saxby’s Coffee, speaking of cafes.  I went in there a few mornings every week and they started making my drink as soon as they saw me come through the door.  I always got a “London Fog” – vanilla steamer with Earl Grey tea.  I never knew anyone else to order it, so as far as I know they kept it on the specials menu just for me.

• Sherwood Hall Regional Library – my home branch in Fairfax County.  (The Arlington library was great too, but Sherwood stole my heart with its lovely light-filled stacks and complete collection of Fairacre novels.  The Buffalo library doesn’t keep the Fairacre books readily accessible – they’re in the closed stacks – so I’ve been gradually buying them.)
• Visiting my favorite exhibits in my favorite museums – the First Ladies in the American History museum, and Ginevra de Benci and the Monet collection in the National Gallery of Art.
• The fact that every Wednesday during the summer months, at approximately 4:00 p.m., an email would circulate around the female attorneys at my firm, with just one word in the subject line and nothing in the body: “Yogurt?”  And the fact that approximately three minutes later, we’d all be in the lobby and on our way to Pinkberry.
• Shopping at Lou Lou, which was just a store full of silly scarves and inexpensive jewelry, but I loved poking in there at lunchtime.  I have a fairly extensive collection of scarves and wraps from Lou Lou and I pull them out anytime I need a little Connecticut Avenue in my life.
• Speaking of Connecticut Avenue, I’ll never get used to just running out at lunchtime to browse a few minutes at Kramerbooks (and sometimes take a slice of Afterwords pie back to the office with me).  And there’s my other favorite D.C. bookstore – Politics & Prose, where I spent some happy hours on weekends, since it wasn’t walkable from work.
• In fact, I just really miss how many places were walkable from work.  Or easily reachable on the Metro.

• Mount Vernon!  One of our favorite places to wander.  I have a weirdly good memory for trivia and I pretty much memorized the docents’ speeches.  I still have way too many facts about “the General” bumping around in my brain, if you want to know some of them.  (My favorite: there’s a reason why the Washingtons’ private bedroom was much more understated than the rest of the house – Martha decorated it.  George was the one with the frilly taste.)
• Old Town Alexandria – I miss that place every single day.  I miss King Street, with its parade of shops and restaurants… Mischa’s Coffee, where I’d grab a cup of herbal tea after yoga class… Christ Church on North Washington Street, with sunlight streaming through the windows and old-fashioned box pews… the waterfront and the Torpedo Factory… the Spice and Tea Exchange (I need to make an online order soon; I’m almost out of Earl Grey Crème and Coconut Oolong, not to mention my favorite Southwest Seasoning spice blend).

Of course, I also miss all of our wonderful friends and co-workers and neighbors, and our beautiful house.  Part of me will always miss D.C. and Virginia, where I really did feel at home.  We’ve moved on, but the region will always be in my heart.