The highlight of my May after being unemployed for two months was starting a new job (for more on my lay off, read my March post)! Thankfully, my new job is a definite improvement over the last work environment I was in, and in many ways I can feel a certain weight of stress lifted off my shoulders. My manager and coworkers thus far are friendly and a pleasure to work with, and there seems to be a good work-life balance. My commute is also down from an hour to twenty minutes now!

Besides working, in May my mom and I celebrated Mother’s Day with an afternoon tea time at Lady Camellia in the Georgetown area of Washington, DC. We really enjoyed being able to treat ourselves to something a bit different and even Markell enjoyed the experience.

Sadly however, my grandma passed away two days before Mother’s Day. I had visited her earlier in the week before she passed and I am grateful I got that final time with her. She was 90 and lived a long and full life. Her remains are being flown back to her birth country of Switzerland and her final resting place will be along the lake next to the town where she grew up.

In May I also decide to go ahead with a semi-remodel of my master bathroom because there was water damage behind some of the tiles in my shower. The entire shower was removed and is being redone with a new shower door, shower head, and tiling. We also updated all the faucets and fixtures with silver brushed nickel replacements and painted the walls a biege color. The overall aesthetic of the bathroom has changed to feel more tranquil, modern, and spacious. I will post final pictures when the work is completed in June!

Over Memorial Day weekend my mom, Markell, and I went on a short trip to Colonial Beach, Virginia, a small beach town on the Potomac River. We sat by the beach, did a wine tasting, enjoyed live music, and ate a nice seafood dinner. On the way home, we stopped at Gunston Hall, the former home where George Mason lived and died. George Mason is famous for writing the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which later inspired the Bill of Rights. I attended George Mason University for my undergraduate degree, so it was interesting to learn more about the namesake of my alma mater.

So, what’s happening in June?

Summer is here and life is getting bus(ier)! In mid-June, Markell is graduating from elementary school so I will be attending a ceremony his school is hosting to celebrate this accomplishment. We also have lots of fun events to attend this month including a church picnic, birthday party, graduation party, and engagement party (lots of parties!). Also in June, Markell, myself, and my friend Lauren will be heading to Jamestown, New York for a weekend for the wedding of my friend Brooke. In late June, my friend Jing who I met in London and who currently resides in San Francisco will be visiting. All in all it should be a fun month!