C Ya

Now that the cat's out of the bag at work (and has been for a while—Friday was my last day!), it can now be told: I am moving to Seattle at the end of the month. For those of you who didn't already know, I've been planning this for a quite a while. My trip to the Emerald City back in June was in fact part vacation and part reconnaissance mission. And having checked it out as thoroughly as possible, through my visit, personal recommendations, and reading through several books (namely, this and this), I have decided to give a whirl.

As for my reasons for moving, I won't get into the details. It's just not that interesting. DC isn't doing it for me anymore. That's basically it.
And I picked Seattle because, in all my years as a so-called “army brat,” I never spent any time in the Pacific Northwest. So why not?

I'm flying out tomorrow to find an apartment. I've got three solid days of looking and hopefully securing a place to live and then it's back to the east coast to pack my stuff, sell whatever else I can, and then get the hell out of here on the 1st. Oh, and I guess I've got some hanging out to do before I go. I'm heading to the beach to spend some time with my brother and his family for a few days next week, for one. And then there's the going away party that's supposed to happen here at the house. More on that later, though.

I'm pretty fucking excited—I've never lived in my own place before. And I wanna do it right. It's supposedly a renter's market out there, but they go quick. I have only a few neighborhoods in mind and what I want is pretty specific (old building, 1BR, hw floors, cats allowed, in hip-but-not-too-hip neighborhood). Still, I am cautiously optimistic.

Wish me luck.