bah! move to Baltimore and have a whole house for $100,000 less and hang with us!

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Well, thats not going to happen, though it sounds appealing.

1. We both work in DC and I don't drive and I'd rather saw off my right arm than commute anyway. So I can walk to work in less time from any of these places than it would take me to take the train and metro etc... And no, working in Baltimore is not an option because not only is my job the best that I could get in my field (yeah OPEIU!) but its pretty specific to being in DC.

2. Johnny's school is in Rosslyn and he has classes until 10 pm and then works at 7:00 am the next morning, so he'd get no sleep if he had to commute too.

3. We don't really want a house anyway, we want a condo and though more space than what we have would be better, we don't want anything huge because we don't have the time right now to fix up a place or to maintain it with Johnny being a full time studet and working full time. Plus, why bother with all of the extra work, like yard work! of owning a house when we don't really need that kind of space since its (and always will be) just the 2 of us.

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1718 1st (http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=929715) is just around the corner from the Big Bear Cafe (1st & R), and hopefully the return of the Bloomingdale Farmer's Market.
I have almost no closet space and well, it keeps you from gathering too much clutter and forces you to keep to the basics. I also have a small kitchen, and so wall space is used, if the ceiling were higher I'd use that too.
Avoid the basement, unless you've lived in basements with the same amount of light before. Lack of natural light makes some people depressed and cranky.

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No, no, no. Figure out what's most important to you and then chuck that all out because you will walk into a place and fall in love with it. THAT's how you buy a house.
-lacochran (http://lacochran.blogspot.com)

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Well, if we went by that, I fell in love on the inside with numbers 1, 3, and 4, and from the outside at 2 and 5! And from the rooftop of #5 also! But we do have to be practical about things too, so we don't end up regreting the decision when I have to walk a mile or more to get groceries (I do not drive), we have to get rid of half of our stuff when we move, or we want to host a dinner party and can't. The reality is that anything that would fulfill all of our desires - location, size, and amenities - is way oout of price range. So it becomes a compromise. And what things are worth more than others is where we're having trouble. We have accepted though, that we cannot have it all at this point in our lives.

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You know, I am a totally a minimalist and wish it would keep us from acumulating clutter, but the truth is my husband will not get rid of anything and it will then just be a mess. But the good news is at this particular place, there might be some options for creating storage, since the bedroom and living room each have these big alcoves that could be used for big wardrobes or floor to ceiling shelving or something. The kitchen poses another problem though. As it is, it is completely impractical, since we cook everyday. All of our pots and pans etc., will not fit, and there isn't even enough counter space for a cutting board to chop up vegetables! I've been racking my brain trying to find ways to improve the kitchen, such as buying a pantry and/or building an island, but the real problem is that the door is right there, so I haven't figured out a way around that yet. The reality is, the actual condo itself here is 4th on the list and we would never have considered it if it weren't for the appeal of having the outdoor space. Markets are cool, but #4 is near Eastern Market and #1 isn't far from this market or the DC Farmer's Market in NE.

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Number 4.

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