Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for my family and friends, my baby, especially his little songs and kisses, good health, our friendly neighborhood, and our warm house full of love. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

First time!

Generally, I hate going to new grocery stores because I don't like having to search for things that I am used to finding easily in my usual haunts.

I was so pleasantly surprised by the new Harris Teeters in Navy Yard that my usual annoyance of not finding the toothpaste aisle was overcome by the variety of products and the quick service.
There were so many people shopping yesterday, the day before Thanksgiving, but the service was  great. Practically no lines! Why hasn't Giant figured this out?  And the variety of all types of products was wonderful. Better than other Harris Teeters I've been to. And they're all good to start with.

Wow. If only we had another grocery store  EOTR with better service that sold more produce than chips. I'm looking at you, Giant!

Urban Turf: The Improving Market in Anacostia

Housing market is on the upswing east of the river. This article is for Anacostia, but I think the same can be said for Congress Heights. Yet we remain to be the most affordable part of DC by a long shot. When do we stop being too affordable and become just affordable?

See the Urban Turf article here. Here is an excerpt:

• Home prices are slowly increasing. The median price increased 6 percent overall, from $187,000 to $198,200, with detached three bedrooms selling for an average of 28 percent more this year than last.
• List prices for homes rose 13 percent, and the average sold price to original list price ratio rose from about 91 percent to 97 percent.

Did you see that? That's right! Detached single family homes in Anacostia went up by 28%?! Looks like one of the fastest appreciating markets in DC to me.

A coffee shop in Congress Heights?

All this talk about Busboys and Poets opening shop in Anacostia has got me dreaming again. Wouldn't it be nice to have a coffee shop in Congress Heights, preferably on MLK and Malcolm X? I would love to have somewhere to go nearby for some quiche or lentil soup. Somewhere to go for some coffee or hot chocolate in this cold weather?

Someday I aspire to open my own cafe, possibly on our main corridor. But I could be easily dissuaded if someone else opened shop first. Instead I would be one of their best customers. Any takers?

A house for 300k in DC?

There was this thread on a DC Urban Moms forum about being able to afford a home in DC for 300k with a good commute to L'Enfant....

You know? Hello? The only place you can buy a house in DC at that price range is EOTR, but no one was recommending it! They were all talking about Woodbridge and Bowie. Not a good commute to downtown DC in my book. People joke DCUM should change its name to the Suburban Mom forum. They don't know what they're missing out on! :)

Late to the education party

Apparently, I'm late to the party. This Greater Greater Washington article tells about how Catania proposed that the city council consider establishing an application middle school or high school in Ward 7 in early 2013. :)

Still an interesting discussion even a year later though, right?

An application high school EOTR?

After reading about the renovations at Ballou, I was trying to recall a statistic about the number of children from Ward 7 and 8 that attend schools WOTR. I couldn't find the number I was looking for. But I'm pretty sure it's a really big number, which is absolutely shameful.

Instead I found other statistics in an interesting letter from the Hillcrest Civic Community Association, asking DCPS and the city council to consider establishing an application middle school or high school EOTR.

39% of school age students in DC live EOTR. EOTR students constitute 30% of the students at half of DC application schools, none of which are located in Ward 7 or 8.

The letter was written a year. I didn't see any further information saying whether conversation ensued.  But I wanted to share it on here as an interesting way to entice EOTR students back closer to home.

Tutoring in SE turns a guided tour of SE

I went tutoring for the first time at Malcolm X Elementary School this week with some of my coworkers. We tutored students of different ages. The kids were great, and we had a good time.

Unsurprisingly, a lot of my coworkers hadn't ventured into SE DC before, despite working on its fringes. Being the shameless braggart that I am, I took the opportunity to tell them about the wonderful place I call home. On your left is my big, beautiful and extremely well-priced brick house. On your right is the National Park where bald eagles nest and my baby and I play, etc, etc. :)

Needless to say, my colleagues enjoyed the scenic drive along Oxon Run Parkway and left with positive impressions of the school and the neighborhood. I was so proud to show off the neighborhood that I call home.

Thrift Store Shopping!

 

My favorite place to shop is the thrift store. We are so fortunate to have two not far from where we live. The one on Indian Head Rd in Oxon Hill and Martha's Outfitters on MLK.

My baby is growing so fast we visit once a season to stock up on some seasonal clothing his size. We went this weekend and got the cutest little sweaters and corduroy pants with no snaps for super cheap. (My baby is potty training! :)) Way better than going to the store and paying an arm and a leg for an item my baby will grow out of in a matter of months. After shopping at thrift stores for a good chunk of my life, it's hard to turn back! I LOVE thrift shops.

I was also looking for a coffee table, but I didn't have any luck this weekend. I'm not a big fan of craigslist, which would be a good alternative. I have to see something before I commit. But usually when I write about something on this blog, it very strangely materializes. So I'll let the interweb do its thing and send me a little furniture to make my largely unfurnished living room more complete!

I Love the Whole Foods market

Yesterday's Whole Food market was the last of the season. There was a petting zoo with everything, bunnies, a pony, chickens, ducks, etc plus some more unusual animals, like a 50 year old tortoise and a bearded dragon with half a tail.

We had a great time. I hope the Whole Foods market returns next year!

Pictures of new kid-friendly sculptures at Saint E's

These are the new sculptures at the Gateway Pavilion I was talking about earlier. My baby and I like the artwork, but I suspect he would like them more if they were actual play structures instead! ;)