the 14 miracles of inauguration weekend

first of all, i hope you all like my new display name. the other one was really just a placeholder and since all of the lovely co-authors of this blog chose such exotic ones, i thought i'd follow suit and use my nickname with my middle and last initial. sounds kind of asian doesn't it? like i could be yoyo ma's sister or something. plus, sarah will be in asia in a few months, so it felt right.

i cannot believe christmas was only a month ago- it feels like a million years ago. work's been busy, which is good… but i can’t help but see the unemployment numbers rise and think i might be next. so you’d think i’d get react by keeping my nose to the grindstone, burning the midnight oil and all that. nope, instead i decided to take 2 days off of work (on top of a holiday) to go see the inauguration! i really wanted to go and had all the necessary things in place- mlk day off, libby and jenny offering a place to stay and park, an invite to a kickass inauguration day party that libby was planning with the website she works for, and promises of historical moments to share with the grandkids someday. my only problem was i had no way of getting there that wasn't astronomically expensive. enter chris and jackie who had wheels and wanted to partake in all of the above. it was perfect.

once we made plans to go, i started researching a little. the warnings for people traveling to dc were enough to scare off anyone with even the tiniest inklings of agoraphobia. every source i checked was predicting mass pandemonium. early estimates said 4 million people would come to DC and that every road would be blocked, and that there would be roller-coaster like lines just to get on the metro. it seemed like stepping within a 5 mile radius of dc would be "like times square on new years eve, but worse"- direct quote from a newspaper. i'm glad i was prepared for the worst, though, because every time any little thing worked in our favor i saw it as some sort of miracle and wanted to praise lord jesus christ. in fact, here is the story of inauguration day, which i would like to call "14 miracles" :

• miracle #1 and #1.5: no traffic on the way to jenny's in maryland, and no traffic driving into DC with jenny. it was saturday though, so maybe i was being a little paranoid.
• miracle#2: jenny gets parking spot right in front of libby's apartment. i thought we'd be circlingfor hours!
• miracle #3: 12 bottles of wine got consumed on a night of "taking it easy"
• miracle #4: garth brooks' rendition of shout is the highlight of sunday's concert on the mall. i've never jumped so much in my life! i left before barack even spoke bc i was so cold.
• miracle #5: despite the crowds GOT A TABLE WITHOUT A WAIT at the nearby round robin bar at the willard hotel. after a makers on the rocks and some cheese popcorn. i am sufficiently thawed out.
• miracle #6: i did not have a panic attack trying to get out of the metro on monday. even though we were stuck underground for 20 mins shoulder to shoulder, groin to butt, boobs to back. everyone was so nice! and not pushy! they were almost happy to be stuck together. weird...
• miracle #7: caught a cab (i thought cabs were out of the question when 2 million people come to town!!) to georgetown, right after seeing charles gibson up close. he's pretty handsome.
• miracle #8: saw dave chappelle and then caught ANOTHER cab, no problem, back to dupont circle (libby's hood).
• miracle #9: i did not have to pee once the entire 4 hours i stood in the cold to watch the inauguration.
• miracle #10: WE INAUGURATED A BLACK PRESIDENT. i was standing next to a couple who came in all the way from new zealand and thought of sarah the happy traveller and wondered where she was at that moment.
  
• miracle #11: we made it back in one piece
• miracle#12: caught cabs to and from the inauguration party ON inauguration day. the party was so kickass- colt 45 flipcup, karaoke, burlesque dancers who put themselves in balloons, twinkee eating contest, an awesome standup comedian, and tons of great bands. my favorite was libby's bf's band, fever. look 'em up!
• miracle #13: they were not sold out of soul food on U street. yumm.
• miracle #14: (bc 13 miracles might amount to bad luck) no traffic on the way back either!
  

for chris's pictures of the weekend, go here (he got some great shots!):
http://picasaweb.google.com/jackieam5/Obamarama#

and for pictures of the party libby put on with brightestyoungthings.com (seriously the girl is amazing for pulling this off) go here:
http://www.brightestyoungthings.com/photo-posts/photos-byt-inauguration-classic-2k9-spectacular/

the pictures always tell the story better.

now i am back in boston and sick as a dog. can't complain though. it was definitely worth it!

....in Boston, just another Thursday

Thursday, January 22nd.....Pops Moreau's 54th Birthday.

So it's been a hellish week at work:  the economy blows, every time I cold call for new business the VP tells me 'no' and I'm the scapegoat in the office that everyone likes to crack on because they think I can "take it".  But you can pretty much say that I'm a candy Peep in May:  stale and crispy on the outside but the marshmallow center is a bit chewy and still soft...aka I cried at work like a pansy because I couldn't take it.  SO I get my shit together to bust out of the door at 6:00p.m. (early for me) and grab the change of clothes that I packed the morning of.  I'm in the bathroom changing out of the brown tweed suit that I've worn all day before I realize that I left the shirt I'd picked out to wear on my bed at home... typical.  But, as the eternal optimist, I think on the bright side and realize that I now have an excuse to go shopping before meeting up with my father and sister for dinner.  Lucky me, they are busy rubbing elbows and hob-nobbin' it with the city's wealthy esquires at Anthony's Pier 4 and wont be on Newbury Street for another 45 minutes.  I turn on Newbury Street and fate have it, like Moses parting the Red Sea, there is a space smack-dab in front of the store that is every 20 something's mecca for cheap shopping:  H&M.  

I prance in the store, get lost in the inexpensive faux designer studs and settle on a shirt from the $5 rack, 2 pashminas and a gold necklace that's a turn-table (Sar...I'll buy you one...it's amazing!).  Alison and Dad pull up right as I'm checking out and off we go to eat overpriced entrees at Capital Grill.  Being a family of frugalness, we find a clutch spot at a meter near The Other Side and start walking toward the restaurant. About halfway down the street there is some familiar looking guy walking towards Alison and I on the way to check the meter/parking signs on the street when both of us realize that he's familiar because he's Christopher Knight (aka Peter Brady, aka married to Adrienne Curry via the VH1 reality show "My Fair Brady").  The first thought that ran through my head was "Oh shit....it's Chris Knight!!"  The 2nd thought was "what the hell is he doing bargain parking??? Don't famous people use valet?"  Alison and I had a joyous moment over our Boston celebrity sighting and contemplated alerting TMZ before we realized that they wouldn't really give a crap.  

At dinner, I wine and dine with the best of them at Capital Grille, order disgusting amounts of food and watch my sister shamelessly flirt with our waiter.  Now, every since I was 17 I teased my sisters that she was destined to married a bald guy.  Despite the fact that she gets super pissed, I wholeheartedly feel that this is indeed a fact.  So when she decides that she has a crush on our incredibly sarcastic, extremely attentive and very bald waiter, I can't help but feel that I am witnessing destiny in the making.  Fully knowing the fact that my sister will never act on this opportune situation, I decide to step in on her behalf and write her name, number and email address down on a business card and sneak it into the billfold while Alison is in the bathroom.  I decide not to tell her what I've done until we're walking towards the car so that she doesn't have the chance to go back and take the card.  No more than 20 minutes after we leave, Alison gets a text message from her future husband and they decide to set a tentative date for next week.  Holla!  I decide to pat myself on the back for the potential success as a matchmaker.  Shit, I should just quit my recruiting job now and take the place of that hideous chick on Bravo's Millionaire Matchmaker and become a reality TV star for my undeserving talent!  Can you say cha-ching?

But I quickly come down from my high horse as I climb into big empty bed with nothing to cuddle up with except my copy of Eclipse, the 3rd book in the Twilight series that is popular amongst middle schoolers...(damn, if only I had a vampire boyfriend who is eternally 17). 

Thus, we come to an end of just another Thursday in Boston.  

Peace, Love and the Celtics, 

Lauren 

Tasty bits...

So in preparation for the big Reps Weekend that I am so pumped about (mainly because I'm going to bust out my best flapper outfit and run rabid through the NH liquor store celebrating the 100th+ anniversary of Repeals Day **Thank you for the idea Christina!) I took my snowboard to get waxed today at Ski Market.

On the drive to Ski Market I had to get on 95 South and was humming along until I had to change lanes to get off the exit for Woburn. So I do the good ol' mirror check to see what I'm up against with the exit only 1/4 mile away. All the sudden I notice that there are a bunch of cars in the right lane with their hazards on and little purple flags....it was a frickin' funeral procession. So I know from experience that you are NEVER supposed to interrupt the procession out of respect for the dead. So I'm freaking out trying to figure out what to do as I slow my car down to 30 mph on 95 and I'm getting horns and fingers left and right. I started sweating bullets because it was now or never, I had to either cut through the procession or go to the next exit and turn around. Now I'm respectful...to a degree. I had no choice but to cut through the procession and vear last minute off onto the exit as I got the stink eye from the car I passed in front of. I made my exit, but prayed to the dead guy not to hex me with a car accident for ruining his procession.....

So, I finally get to the Ski Market and as I walk in I'm greeted by a Ski Market worker who's idea of customer service is waving at me with a full cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee while giving me the nod and asking "What do ya need?" So I told him I needed a wax and a binding change (I'm going to try not boarding goofy...fingers crossed!) and he asked me what model of board I had. Not knowing shit about boards or the proper vernacular, I told him it was a Burton. He laughed at me and asked me what kind. I had to look on the board and tell him that it was an "A.49" whatever that means and he said "Whoooaaaaaaa...that's old school!" Long story-short....he's not getting a tip.

So despite that fact that I have an antiquated snowboard, I'm PUMPED for this weekend. It certainly will not be the same with out S. Traweek and I will eat 40 pieces of cheese at the Cabot tasting station in her honor.

I am also pumped about the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show...let's just say they better have a TV tuned into it at Silvertone's or I'll be "stillin" the wait staff. (See how I worked that in there!....that's racial!)

phew!

i'm glad linds got things started because i kept visiting this blank page and got stage fright each time. i'd wrack my brain for ways to start it, afraid that our pathetic attempt at updates (should this be the new name of our blog!?) would only deter sarah from coming back. but now that linds has gotten the ball rolling, there's no stopping it. here we go:

work's been a little rough thanks to two unflattering news stories to come out about suffolk in the last few weeks. first, the chronicle of higher ed published a story that named suffolk's president as the highest paid president in the country. its a bit more complicated than that (a lot of it is retirement money), but you can imagine the alums were not happy. this was closely followed by an article questioning the president's business relationships with members of the board of trustees- he has contracts with a few of them them, they were the ones who awarded him the hefty retirement package... so you can see where this is going: http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2008/11/26/trustees_fiscal_ties_roil_suffolk/?page=full
you can read the article if you want, but here are some of the reactions on boston.com:

As a Suffolk grad I was very impressed and proud of the progress that Suffolk has made in the years since I graduated. It is not the appearance of conflict of interest. It IS a conflict of interest, pure and simple. I would not want to be on the Development team right now. My guess is until this resolves itself, donations will dry up; as they should.

As a Suffolk Alum I am disgusted by what I am learning. I worked very hard to pay my own tuition with little or no financial aid. I am mailing back my request for a donation today with a note asking that David Sargent could contribute on my behalf. They'll NEVER get another dime from me...

(mind you, that mailing for a request for a donation? i sent those out. can't wait to get the replies...)

Recent grad of Suffolk. Very disgusted. Pledge here and now never to give another cent to this school.

there are many more, but you get the idea. should be a great time for fundraising!

to be honest, though, i haven't been that stressed. i'm just doing my job to the best of my ability, and if i get negative feedback, i certainly won't take it personally.

i think the last two weekends have helped keep things relaxed. after sarah left (*tear*) i went up to burlington, vermont with tom and hung out with kathryn (old boss) and her family. last time i was up there was in 2001 when christina and i managed to rent a car at some sketchy spot on harvard ave and, after multiple trips to fleet bank to consolidate funds and up our limits to make the necessary $1000 deposit needed for drivers under the age of 21, we were on our way!

i don't know why it took me so long to come back. it was as beautiful as i remembered it, and the food was definitely a highlight. i pretty much ate myself through burlington and on the trip back to boston, where we stopped to buy beer at magic hat, sampled maple syrup at the shelburne country store, and watched pottery being made at simon pearce in quechee. good company, too- kathryn, her son mike, and gf emily were fun hosts.

then last week was thanksgiving. a short summary (bc this post is getting long): tom and i cooked, which was great. i love cooking, i'd do it as a job if i could. awesome meal thanks to tom's turkey making skills, christina's green beans, and the fact that tom's dad and brother brought 2 desserts to add to my two pies- so we ended up with 4 diff desserts for 6 people. yum. the meal kicked off a weekend of movie-watching and laziness. it was great.

now i am back to work and trying to stay positive. i have a lot to be thankful for. yesterday i asked my work friend renita "how was your thanksgiving!" and when she looked back at me with tired eyes and said that it was just "OK" i naively asked "why!?". she is from india- and always said she was from bombay. so, when i heard about the attacks on mumbai, i was like "oh thats good, it isn't renita's hometown of bombay..." well, i'm a big fat idiot bc bombay changed its name to mumbai back in '96, as renita kindly explained as she told me she lost two friends over the weekend. she is hanging in there, but i feel terrible for her. and really, i should brush up on my geography. stat.

but this is why we have sarah, our goodwill ambassador, traveling the world and learning useful things like that mumbai and bombay are actually the same place... or that argentina lacks spice. i couldnt believe that! so sarah, keep sharing your stories, i love reading them.

A pathetic attempt at an update.....

We are pathetic – no blogging on our end and Sar put together this fun little update that has made me insanely jealous and I want to be traveling in fun/warm places!!!

**Me stomping on the ground like a three year old toddler**

Maybe there are not posts because we don’t have anything as exciting going on in our weenie little lives to warrant posting something. Regardless, Boston isn’t the same without you and it feels like you have been gone for a month already. This weekend is the infamous Reps Weekend and for the love of God it won’t be the same without Sarah Dawn. It looks like there is a pretty good group going – I wish you and Tom could come, Kiki. I have been to Ski Market about six times in the past month and got talking to this kid there that helped me picked out boots. Long story short I figured out he knows Arik and he is actually coming up to Killington this weekend. Needless to say, Max the Ski Market guru, will not replace Sarah – good story Linds, good one.

Other than that there isn’t really too much to report. I got some new skis finally and I still hate my job with a passion and if I don’t get a raise in January I might be meeting you on the top of Machu Picchu.

Sar, how has it been staying the hostels and stuff? It sounds like you have met some great people so far. When was the last time you showered!?!

I miss you incredibly and am going to get a calling card so I can call you next week.

More updates please!!!