Weekend of Celebrations!!!

This past weekend was one of those weekends that had so much fun packed into it, that I really needed another couple of days off to recover. I love weekends like that! Especially loooong weekends like that!!

Last Thursday, my mini-vacation began with a trip down to Raleigh to see my best friend from high school, Catherine, and her husband Jason (and of course their two adorable girls). I have known Catherine since our days in the marching band (she was one heck of a cymbals player!) when I loaned her a pair of Umbro shorts. We've been great friends ever since! We lived together after college for a year and a half when I first moved to DC. And ten years ago, she and Jason got married in one of those truly storybook-type weddings. I was honored to be a part of it and of all the bazillions of weddings I've been to over the years, it is most definitely in the top tier!! So ten years later, they wanted to get as many of the bridesmaids and groomsmen together as possible. So of course I signed up!! :) I even took my beautiful Vera Wang bridesmaids dress in hopes of getting another wear in to get my money's worth. It turns out that might have made a scene but for the record, I could still wear it if I needed to! Anyway, I had so much fun hanging out with their family and celebrating ten years! The most excellent thing is that I don't think either one of us has aged in the past decade!!

Then Saturday morning, I drove home so I could continue the weekend celebrations. The first party on the docket was for my friend Joe's graduation from law school on Friday. I am so proud of him! He's made it through law school all the while being a great husband to Katie and father to Ella and friend to everyone. I do agree that this graduation is as much Katie's as Joe's but his name was on the diploma so he got the card and gift. It was great to see so many people who have been a part of Joe's life in the past four years there celebrating this great accomplishment!!

After approximately 15 minutes at home, I headed to the next party which was for Caryne as she graduated from William and Mary last week. I have known Caryne (and her family) for years as we played together in the church orchestra when she was in high school. I remember when she got her driver's license and of course her high school graduation. And she went to W&M and that automatically made her both smart and cool. When she was accepted there, I taught her the W&M alumni song. You might realize that I am not a W&M alumni but since both my parents went there, I'm just nerdy enough to know the words. Anyway, Caryne has become such an absolutely lovely young woman (which comes to no one's surprise!) and I was honored to be able to help her celebrate this big moment in her life!!

Then on Sunday, I had another honor to help celebrate another moment in a friend's life. My little friend Jack, whose family is very dear to me, was baptized at my church on Sunday morning. His mom is one of my great friends and his father, Billy, passed away about four years ago. I have known Jack since he was a baby and for the last seven years, I have watched him as he's grown up. I told him that this was the most important decision he could make in life! I was honored to be able to celebrate with him and his family on Sunday after church.

After a much-needed Sunday nap, I headed to the US Capitol lawn to celebrate Memorial Day with the annual concert that airs on PBS. I hadn't been in a couple of years but it's totally worth your time to go (or watch it on PBS). I will warn you though. I usually end up crying or at least tearing up when they tell the stories of those who have sacrificed everything for our freedom. This year was no different. It really puts things into perspective when you hear stories of young widows who have lost their husbands at the age of 22. Or a guy who saves his buddy's life in a battle in Korea. Plus the patriotic music. Seriously, sitting on the lawn of the US Capitol at that moment makes me feel so incredibly proud to be an American. In my family, my brother-in-law George served in the first Gulf war and then my mom's uncle (who died long before I was born)served in WWII. But we also have a history of stepping up to the plate when needed and in any way possible. As my mom reminded me, both of my grandfathers were too old to serve in WWII but my grandfather (her dad) was an axillary policeman during the blackouts and my grandmother (my dad's mom) uprooted her family from Roanoke to go work in a factory in Norfolk during the war. So while I don't have any direct link to someone who sacrificed their life for our country, I do have a deep appreciation for those who did and the others who sacrificed in their own way for our nation. I hope to continue to make that celebration/concert a tradition for years to come!

Pomp and Circumstance

As graduation season is kicking into high gear, it makes me feel nostalgic! Even though I graduated a loooong time ago, I love the ceremonial aspects to it all! So this week, I didn't go to a graduation but I experienced the pomp and circumstance at a whole new level. This week POTUS and FLOTUS (POFLO for short!) hosted their second state visit of the presidency. This time it was with the President of Mexico and his wife.

As you might recall, the last time POFLO did this, there were some uninvited guests to the dinner. It made me mad that all that was remembered from the event were these two folks who made a mockery of the whole thing. They took away from all the glitz and glamour which is what I love. Ok, I'm off my soapbox and won't comment on my personal feelings towards them anymore! :)

This time around, I worked early so I got to go to the State Arrival Ceremony. Talk about pomp and circumstance. This is one of my favorite things because it's as ceremonial and full of tradition than just about anything that goes on at the White House. I think I should have been a part of the royal family (I'm close with my last name!) because I just LOVE tradition and ceremonies and pomp and circumstance!

Anyway, back to the South Lawn! President Calderon and his wife arrived and after the greetings, they played the national anthems of both Mexico and the US. I was standing among the Mexican press corps and got to hear them singing it. Not that I could understand everything they were singing but I could pick up on a couple of words. I also learned that they when they stand at attention (like we do with our hands over our hearts), they stand with their arms perpendicular to their torso with their hand near their chest. I'm sure I didn't put that into the best words but here's a picture about what I learned:
POTUS and POM (again, this doesn't sound as cool) reviewed the troops. The honor guards of all five branches of military were standing at attention. They were standing right in front of me but I didn't feel like I could ask them to sit down! :) Then one of my two favorite parts of the ceremony took place. The ceremonial drum and fife corps played and marched by. Maybe it's the history geek in me who loves all things colonial or maybe it's music geek in me but I just LOVE this part! Of course, some of them look a little more natural in the George Washington wig than others! But I was almost giddy as they walked by!
Then my other favorite part of the ceremony: United States Army Herald Trumpets. I am sure this is the music geek in me but it also just screams pomp and circumstance! They played from the Truman balcony and it was sooo cool. I'm trying to figure out how to book them to play for my wedding (which by the way is in no way anywhere close to impending but at least I could give them plenty of notice!)

After the ceremony, POTUS and POM had a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office which of course I was not invited to. Then they came out to the Rose Garden for a press conference. It seems like I had spent quite a bit of time in the Rose Garden lately! No offense to two out of three North American leaders, but the presser was a bit lame. Only one question per side and there was little to no news in it. But at least it was a nice day to be outside!!

So I missed the State Dinner and all the glitz and glam from that. Instead I was at Wednesday night supper at my church. There might not have been the ceremonial aspects or any fancy dresses or flowering decorations but the food was good and the fellowship was great! :)

Shuffling Off to Buffalo (& NYC too!)

Yes, it's your lucky day. Two blog posts in one day!! Count your lucky stars! :)

I don't know the words to that song but this week when I told people I was going to Buffalo for the day, I heard more than one person sing parts of this song to me. Apparently it has to do with going to Buffalo for your honeymoon or something like that. I never actually googled the words. But apparently Buffalo is known for this song and their famous wings and I got to venture to this fine city with POTUS on Thursday!

I was in travel pool on Thursday so as those of you who have been long-time readers of my blog (my mom), you'll know that means that I was on Air Force One and in the motorcade and pretty much inches away from POTUS for many parts of the day. I have been in travel pool dozens and dozens of times in my nearly 5 years of doing this job but I have to say that this trip on Thursday might have been one of my all-time favorites!

Stick with me here. This might be a long post. It was a really long day. Also, you'll notice that I was using my personal camera which, as we all know, really sucks sometimes. But you'll get the idea.

We left Andrews AFB mid-morning and headed to Buffalo. On the way, of course there was food. This time it was some Asian-spiced shrimp and rice. I couldn't figure out if there was anything orange-related in the spices. And then given the recent little issue of oil in the Gulf of Mexico, I was just slightly unsure. There is no room in my job, especially in travel pool, to get ill. The rodeo doesn't stop because of a migraine and there's no one to fill in for you. But when the food came, it looked so pretty!! I tried it and it was pretty good but the highlight was the coconut ice cream in a coconut shell. By the way, the shell was somehow glued or stuck to the plate. Interesting. Anyway, at the very end of the flight, we did our off-camera briefing (gaggle) by the press secretary. He was still talking as we were landing. I'm not sure if you've ever tried to listen to someone talk, take notes, hold a recorder, and type on your Blackberry as a plane lands but it's not easy. Clearly they don't enforce the seat-belt rule on AF1!

We immediately ran to the vans in the motorcade and drove a few hundred feet and then stopped so that POTUS could get out and meet with some families who had lost loved ones in a plane crash in Buffalo last year. I was still typing up my notes from the gaggle while the motorcade took off, presumably to the factory where he was going to give a speech. All of a sudden the motorcade stops and the doors to the van pop open. Which means one thing. RUN!
We had stopped at Duff's Famous Wings. Presumably these wings are the reason that the entire world calls them "Buffalo wings". Of course, I was the last one out of my van and bringing up the rear of the running press corps (I was running and typing on my blackberry at the same time and trying not to trip.) All of a sudden, I hear a voice right behind me of someone I recognize. It was POTUS himself!! Usually, we end up going in a different door than him or there is some sort of buffer. But not this time. He was literally on my heels!! He went to the counter and ordered some wings and some fries. The waitress who took his order was so calm and composed! It was such a crazy scene! While he waited for his order, he took pictures with those in the restaurant. He held some babies and shook a lot of hands. At one point, a woman told POTUS "I think you are a hottie with a smokin' little body." Seriously. I've been stalking the POTUS (43 and 44) for several years now and I have never heard anything close to this. I was only a couple of feet away at this point and I wanted to go over to see if this lady was for real. Her one encounter with the leader of the free world and this is what she's says. It made me laugh until I realized that my camera guy wasn't able to get it on tape. Then I cried! :)
We then ran back to the motorcade and took off for the factory where the event was being held. When we first arrived there, we ran (of course) to get in position for POTUS to start his tour of the factory floor. I wish I could tell you what type of factory we were touring. Something about small management projects. POTUS looked at several different types of big machines and talked to the workers. I don't think he knew what he was looking at either. Then we all went into another room for the next part of the tour. Again, I have no idea what I was looking at. There were several women working on sewing machines. He looked at a light board of some sort. And then one of the funniest moments with POTUS happened. He gets to this table that has a red circle mat with what looks like a leaf blower attached. He says it's a hoover board type thing and wants a volunteer from the press corps to try it out. A couple of the still photographers volunteered me to do it but thankfully POTUS didn't know my name and couldn't call on me. So he called on the reporter from the NYT. It was pretty funny. Since words don't really describe it, I'll let you watch the video.


We were literally only a couple of feet away from him for a lot of the tour. That never happens. It's usually all very well-staged and we are kept rather far away from POTUS. I was amazed how close we were and for how long! Once we got to the town-hall, it was a bit anti-climatic. I'm sure it was great and all but after going to hundreds of those, it takes a lot for one to stand out. Before I knew it, it was over and we were running back to the motorcade to leave for the airport. Along the way, we were able to eat some wings that POTUS bought for us (or someone in the WH bought). The wings were okay. I'm just not a fan of eating something that causes that much of a mess only for two or three bites. Anyway, I digress.

We then headed from Buffalo to New York City. (BTW, we were served calzones for meal #2.) As you know, I had been there a few weeks ago but whenever you are inside the security bubble in travel pool, it's a totally different experience. First of all, NYC means getting to go into the city on a helicopter. It's seriously one of my favorite things I've ever done. And I've done it several times and it never gets old. We chopper from JFK airport to the Wall Street Landing Zone (LZ). And it's an incredible ride!! But they do enforce the seat belt thing so I tried my best to lean behind me and take pictures through the window. That exact moment is when I wished that everyone else on the planet could be there. I totally realized I was super blessed to being seeing such a view!!

Once we landed at the LZ, we ran over to watch POTUS's Marine One land on the same LZ. I have yet to figure out how they do that. He left before us and landed after us. One day, I'll solve the mystery. Anyway, soon after POTUS landed, we ran to the motorcade and by this point, it was rush hour. And they closed down a lot of main roads for POTUS. I'm sure there were plenty of people who were not pleased. We made a quick stop at the NYPD Headquarters to thank the officers for dealing with the recent Times Square car bombing incident. That involved running for about five minutes and all cramming into a small elevator and running down another hall. We found ourselves in the communications hub with the officers and POTUS had a few words. And then we retraced our steps and ran back to the vans. (Are you seeing a trend? We run a lot.)

Finally we were headed to the St. Regis Hotel for POTUS to speak to a fundraiser. It's amazing how many streets were shut down and how many people were lining the streets to catch a glimpse of the motorcade. It's a pretty cool experience to be driving down cleared out streets all through New York City. Usually my experience has been sitting in a cab in traffic! When we got to the hotel, we waited for a few minutes in a room before we went to the room where the event was. I did run into Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick! I guess they could afford the price tag for the tickets- $30,400!!

Once POTUS was done giving his speech, we ran back to the motorcade (BTW they had box meals for us as meal #3.) Then we raced back to the LZ and then got to take the helicopters back to the airport. This time it was dusk and an absolute incredible view. Unfortunately, I was on the wrong side of the helicopter to get a good picture but trust me, it's awesome.

By the time we got back to AF1, it felt like we had been running around for days. It had only been about 11 hours! I was sooo happy to be going home but also feeling extremely blessed for having such an unique experience. We had three flights on AF1, two unannounced stops, some up-close time with POTUS, a cool motorcade through the streets of NYC, And of course two awesome helicopter flights!! And BTW, we had more wings on AF1 for meal #4!

Nice Hat, Karzai!

On Wednesday, my good buddy President Karzai of Afghanistan was at the White House for a meeting and I had the good fortune to be able to see him once again. I can't actually remember how many times I've seen him before (I think in my old age, I am getting senile and my rock-solid memory is failing me at the moment) but I'm sure I've seen him. Trust me. I remember the hat and cloak-thingy in person. But I guess it's been a while. I'm pretty sure he can't remember when we last saw each other either. So I don't feel so bad!

POTUS and POA (which doesn't sound nearly as cool to day) met privately in the Oval Office first. I can't imagine why they didn't invite me in! :) And then they came to the East Room for a press conference. Karzai wore his famous hat and cloak. I'm pretty sure I would have a much more difficult time identifying him without those! POTUS spoke first (as always since he is the host) and then Karzai spoke. Then they took some questions and pretend like they were total BFFs. Maybe they really are. Your guess is as good as mine and I of course don't want to discuss politics. Anyway, it was another moment this week that made me remember the unique place where God has put me.

I snapped a few pictures from the event:

Oh and another highlight of the event was getting to see my friend Dana! She looked so professional and important. I was shocked that POTUS didn't call on her for a question. SHOCKED, I tell ya! :)

Sixth Row to History

Yesterday was one of those cool days that reminded me why I like my job. Actually I think this week is going to be like that. But yesterday was cool because I got to be an eyewitness and once again see history being made up close and personal.

Ever since late last week, we had all been predicting that POTUS would announce his pick for the latest opening on the Supreme Court (or SCOTUS as we like to call it). And we were all betting that it would be Monday morning. And I was scheduled at the WH early on Monday. So I just knew that I would get to see history being made again! There have been three openings at SCOTUS since I began my job and I have been here for two out of three! I know I'm getting spoiled! But I love days like yesterday, when I know that I will get to see something in person that's special! With a front row seat! Yesterday, they had about five rows of people in front of me so technically I had a sixth row seat to seeing history being made. Somehow it made the alarm going off at 4a almost okay.

As you know this blog is not about politics so I won't talk about whether I think picking her was good or bad. But I will mention that I think I might like her because she's short and apparently her nickname is "Shorty". Real creative there. I won't take points off because of that. But any time I see a woman of short stature doing something extraordinary, it just makes me smile. But what made me smile even more was that POTUS and VPOTUS offered her to stand on a box for her to make comments. Thank goodness. That's one of my pet peeves in life. When the microphones cover up a person's face. And she didn't look as short. I think I need to find that box for this year's WH Christmas Party!!

Here are some photos from the event:


And this one was picked up on my network's website for a while as the lead picture from the event. And no, I don't get anything extra for that beyond a sense of accomplishment!

Nerd Prom 2010

Last Saturday night, I'm sure there were teenagers all around the country going to their senior proms. It's an annual experience full of photographs, memories, and fun. At least that's what I sort of remember from mine. Well this past weekend, all that was relived on a grander scale with the White House Correspondent's Dinner, aka Nerd Prom. It's the hottest ticket in town. Half of Hollywood shows up to have dinner with the President. Of course it's dinner with POTUS and about 2000 other people. The large majority of folks there have actually never set foot in the WH. Those of us who are actually members of the WHCA were few and far between! But the dinner isn't really for us. It's a chance for Washington to be the cool, hip place for once. And we just get to be a part of a pretty cool night!

Again, not to sound jaded but this was the sixth year I've had the chance to attend. Some years are funnier than others. POTUS tries to be funny and then the star entertainment does the same. This year, POTUS made me laugh a few times and Jay Leno was moderately funny. I guess I had higher hopes for him. But I got to see a bunch of stars. However, I am apparently really bad at recognizing stars in person. Maybe it's because I don't get star struck. Maybe it's because I don't read nearly enough of People Magazine. But I had to have friends of mine point people out to me all night. In that crowd, literally everyone looked famous. The only one I could pick out on my own was Gabby the girl in the movie Precious. She's pretty distinctive so if you don't know who that is, google her and you'll realize it wasn't much of a feat, I know!

(clearly this is not Gabby... this is my friend/co-worker Jamie)

I ran into my friend Dana who told me to look for her fake eyelashes and I would find her. It worked like a charm. Even in a sea of fake eyelashes, I was able to find hers. So I got to hang out with her for a few minutes. We saw a bunch of stars but she was more excited about seeing famous newspaper columnists and political commentators! I just love her! She put the "nerd" in the term "nerd prom"! I say that in the nicest way. She won't be offended by that comment at all!!

I would like to say that I had pictures with all kinds of stars but frankly my camera sucks and I didn't really stalk anyone in particular. So I know I have let you down but it's just the way it was. Next year if I get to go, I promise to have a better plan and hang out with certain friends of mine who are sooo good at stalking, it's a little scary.

But here's a weird story for you. As I was walking into to the nerd prom, I ended up getting tangled up in POTUS's motorcade. Of all people, I should have been able to plan better since I knew when he was leaving the WH, but I didn't. I'm ashamed of myself. Anyway, we ended up having to walk around the perimeter of the hotel to get in. And it was an extremely enormous block. So there was a pack of us making this trek. When we finally got around to the front of the hotel, stalkers and gawkers had gathered to catch glimpses of the stars arriving in their limos. At this point, I was sweating like a pig and my feet were slightly hurting. I tried to put a smile on my face so that people thought I was having a good time. I'm not sure if I was successful or not. Anyway, as I was walking, I could hear a lot of people screaming. I quickly glanced around to see if I saw anyone famous in my immediate proximity but I didn't. Then the strangest thing happened. Some girl in the crowd screamed "BECKY!!!" which of course caught me totally off-guard. I looked over to her and made eye contact and she waved to me. In my extra-quick glance, I thought I had never seen this woman before and was completely clueless to who in the world it could have been. I actually thought I was dreaming or something but then my colleague Julian asked me "Who's that?" It really happened!! For a very brief moment, I was in some warped world where I thought I was actually famous and people were yelling in excitement to see me! Then I walked in over the red carpet and all and quickly realized that Donovan McNabb was in that pack of people walking around the extremely enormous block. Clearly, he was the one who was receiving all the screams. But that didn't explain the chick calling my name! So it bothered me for days of who this was and I almost lost sleep over it. But it turns out that by Wednesday, I had an e-mail from a fellow Hokie friend who confessed to the scream from the crowd. She is a great gal who I have only met a couple of times but we are Facebook friends so she recognized me despite the fact I was not wearing the gigantic goat-fur hat I am wearing in my FB profile picture. She said she couldn't believe she was drawing attention to herself screaming. But I was so impressed that out of all the people she saw pass by that night that I was the one she screamed for!

After the dinner, we all headed to the after-parties at several locations throughout the city. Think after-prom but on a much, much larger scale. I headed for the first one with some friends of mine and after some dancing and food and some wonderful chocolate from my friend's chocolate company, it was time to head to the next party. It was also about 1am. And I also could not feel my feet and was pretty sure that I had left my pinkie toes at the dinner or on some sidewalk somewhere. I was pretty worn out so I decided to call it a night. But on the way back to my car, my feet hurt so bad that I walked without shoes for several blocks. On the streets of DC. My stomach still hurts to think about all the germs and utter nastiness I walked through. You know I was desperate to go through that! When I got home I went straight upstairs and soaked my feet in a hot Lysol bath for at least an hour!! Good news! Almost a week later and my feet have recovered and I can feel all ten toes once again!! Until next year!!

Stop to Smell the Rose Garden

Last week, spring was in the air which meant it was finally warm enough for POTUS to hold events in the famous Rose Garden at the WH. The way my schedule usually works out, I see POTUS once or twice during a given week- depending on when he has open events (not as often as we would like) and when it's my turn to be in the basement of the WH. Last week I saw the man at 5 or 6 times over the course of four days (and two of those days he traveled to the Midwest!) So this was a rare occurrence!!

So on Tuesday before he went to Iowa, he had an event in the Rose Garden where he talked about fiscal responsibility and some other stuff that frankly either I don't remember or just never understood in the first place. I understand fiscal responsibility on a personal level; although sometimes it's a bit tough for me when I really, really want to splurge on something. Usually it's something like a cookie at Potbelly's for $1. But when they talk about it in terms of "billions in deficits" and economic growth charts sometimes it's hard for me to really grasp what the heck they are really talking about. But I stood at the event and took notes and pretended to understand every single word that POTUS said.

Two days later, I was back in the Rose Garden. This time for the annual Teacher of the Year ceremony. First of all, let me say that I applaud teachers everywhere. I had some pretty fantastic teachers when I was in school who I still keep in touch with! My mom was a teacher and my older sister is one too. Many friends have chosen that noble profession as well. I really wanted my sister to win National Teacher of the Year and really expected a surprise announcement during the ceremony that my sister was going to surprise me as the winner. But it didn't happen. Each state was represented with a state winner. In fact, when they were introducing the, they announced the winner for Northern Mariana Islands. Who knew that we had a 51st state or a new territory!! I had never heard of that before. I guess it is fitting that I learned something at the Teacher of the Year event. Anyway, I digress. The winner was a teacher from Iowa who created individual podcasts for her students and wrote songs and other fun activities. I'm sure she's a wonderful teacher but the only difference between her and my sister is that she knows what a podcast is! :)

The very next day, we were in the Rose Garden yet again. This time there wasn't an audience so we were very close up to POTUS. The topic du jour was the new GDP numbers and the oil spill. We waited and waited because the event was really late. And it was really hot and I was sweating. I started to complain. Then I ran into a friend of mine from Atlanta who works for my network and she was soooo excited to be in the Rose Garden for the very first time. Seriously almost giddy. It was then that I realized how jaded I am sometimes. And I have to kick myself because most people would jump at the chance to see the Rose Garden just once much less three times in one week!! I don't want to miss any moment! My friend was so thrilled to be there and get to see POTUS in person and I was reminded how blessed I am to have been there because it's my job.

She said to me, "We have to stop and smell the roses in the Rose Garden!" I thought, "what a great idea!!" But unfortunately roses must not be in season yet because there weren't any roses in the Rose Garden!! But the idea is now in my head so that the next time I'm there and start to complain, I will immediately stop to smell the roses!!