What's the big deal?

Newsworthy? Sure. Worthy of #4 spot on CNN's Latest News posts on home page? Definitely not. What are you trying to say, CNN?

I think the "Weekend at Bernie's" impersonator's are far more deserving of this honor.

Shirlington Village

Yesterday, Jeff and I looked at an apartment in Shirlington Village in Virginia. Though it’s just out of DC, it’d be a few metro stops and a 20 minute bus ride to get into the city.

The apartment was inconceivably beautiful, with a luxurious rooftop terrace, brand new cabinetry and appliances, a clubroom that looked like something out of a mansion and a workout room with personal televisions on all of the equipment. The leasing office treated us like royalty and we were drunk on indulgence.

Shirlington Village looked like something out of a storybook. Everything—restaurants, boutiques and bars—was new and crisp, down to the freshly laid bricks on the streets and sidewalks.

It had the charm of an old European town with the intrigue of the new and novel. It was perfect. A place a young girl always dreams of living with the one she’s going to marry.

I kept thinking, we could actually afford this. Sure it’s luxurious, but with its distance from the city combined with the dual income toward a one bedroom apartment, it wasn’t out of our price range.

The whole time we were there, I kept imagining bringing my parents to our new neighborhood. They’d be so impressed. She really made it, they’d think. I’d made it, I’d think.

I was so busy looking at designer clothes through store windows and reading restaurant names off awnings that I almost didn’t notice all the baby strollers and toddlers.

That’s when we realized what we’d be giving up by moving to this amazing apartment and this beautiful village—the rest of our youth.

If we lived so far away from the city, we’d probably rarely venture to DC for drinks with friends after work, and nights out on weekends. We probably wouldn’t have much opportunity to host friends from the city at our apartment. We’d make friends, but they’d most likely live near us, and would probably be older and maybe even have children.

We had a choice to make. Luxury verses location. Settling down verses relishing the last few years we have left of our youth.

Once we were out of the Shirlington Village, its spell released us fairly quickly and the decision was easy. Location. Nearby metro. Washington D.C.

I still plan on bringing my family to Shirlington Village when they visit. I know they’ll love it just as much as I did, and I can tell them Jeff and I will live here, one day, when we’re ready.