something i did this weekend that i forgot to mention - my family and i went to visit the house in foxhall village where i spent the first eight or nine years of my life. my father was browsing the real estate section of the post a few weeks ago, and noticed it being listed for - god good - almost $900,000. a neighbor we were close friends with when we lived at 1417 44th street nw is still there, so we borrowed a key from her and broke into the house to check it out.

the whole thing was supremely weird. none of us had been on the inside for nearly 17 years. i don't think my littler sister had really ever seen it, given that she was like, 5 months old when we moved out to vienna. peter only remembered bits and pieces; he was five or so when we left. i remembered everything almost perfectly, but i still felt like i was an overgrown oaf lumbering through a beautiful dollhouse. thing is, when you live in a house from ages 0-8, rooms seem a lot bigger and more scarily grown-up than they do when you're 24.

the house itself is absolutely gorgeous, though the man whom we had sold it to and who is selling it now (strangely enough, who also happens to be j. bradford delong's father) had done almost nothing to improve on it, except replacing the bathroom tiles and putting in a new stove. the house needs some improvement - it was built in 1932, and though my parents and grandparents (who lived there immediately before my parents) took excellent care of it all, a house is bound to need some updating 70 years later. but all the fixtures and such are original - it's still got gorgeous crystal doorknobs, hardwood floors, a huge backyard and lots of light. even if the kitchen is the tiniest thing you've ever seen (it is literally about three feet wide). in fact, the whole place is rather tiny, but certainly cozy and quaint.

anyway, if i had a billion dollars to spare, i would buy the house because it's adorable and was such a wonderful place to grow up. it's on a quiet, tree-lined street; glover archibald park is directly behind it, along with a secret path we used to take to the c&o canal; it's a short walk to georgetown; and it's close to the many shops and restaurants of foxhall village. unfortunately, i am a bit short of the million dollars it would take to close, so i can only hope that whoever gets to the house next takes care of it. want to buy it? you can check out the listing here.