White House Correspondent's Dinner!

A couple of weeks ago the coordinator of my previous internship with CBS messaged me and asked if I was interested in working the White House Correspondent's Dinner this past Saturday.  Needless to say, it was an amazing experience and such a once in a lifetime opportunity that I will never forget!  I got to wear a beautiful full length white dress, got to catch up with everyone from CBS, and spent the night meeting celebrities, eating award-winning food food, and drinking great wine.

My night started off at the Washington Hilton, where I got to work the pre-dinner reception.  CBS, The National Journal, and The Atlantic hosted an amazing and very packed party with good music, drinks, and a fantastic guest list.  I ran the guest list at the front door and got to admire all of the women in beautiful gowns and men in their tuxs.

After the pre-parties were over and the guests invited to the actual dinner headed down to the ballroom, me and three of the current CBS interns went to dinner at a restaurant called Barcode in Dupont Circle.  The food was delicious, the company was great, and it was great to rest my tired feet and give them a break from my heels.

After a long dinner we headed to Jose Andres' restaurant called Zaytinya for the CBS after-party.  I ended up getting home around 2 AM after a rainy cab ride home, and couldn't have asked for a better night.

The most memorable spotted included:  Rosario Dawson, Eric Cantor, John Legend, Elle McPherson, Mary J. Blige, Malin Ackerman (who is SO sweet, classy, and even more beautiful in person), Jennifer Goodwin, Woody Harillson, Kerry Washington, Captain Sully, John Huntsman, Rick Santorum, and Julie Chen.

I had an amazing night and am so grateful that CBS News gave me this opportunity.  Hopefully in the future I'll get to be a part of it again, and maybe even attend the actual dinner next time!

First Summer Purchase of the Year!

I've been very good about limiting my spending on fashion since I've moved to D.C.  To be honest, it's mainly because I can't afford much of anything after paying rent and utilities in one of the nation's most expensive cities. But I just made one exception on a pair of shoes from JessicaSimpson.com that were 20% off and had free shipping. They are perfect for warm weather, and I've been wanting a new pair of wedges for a while.  I can't wait to get them in the mail...cross your fingers that they fit!!

I'll Never Let Go

Titanic is hands down my favorite movie of all time.  It's one of the few DVD's I actually own, and I'm not going to lie, I used to listen to the soundtrack while doing homework in college.  I've probably seen the movie 40 times and can almost quote it word for word, but seeing it on the big screen tonight in 3D was like it experiencing it for the first time all over again.

Sorry Nicholas Sparks, even Noah and Allie from The Notebook don't come close to Jack and Rose.  The Titanic is and always will be the greatest love story of all time.

Decorating Inspiration

I saw these on Pinterest and they definitely inspired me for decorating my new apartment in Houston.  With a beginning teacher's salary, I will have to stick to simple decorations for my apartment, but I think it will be fun to make some do-it-yourself crafts to really make my new place feel like home.  Here are some ideas and looks that I love:

But for now, I'll have to focus on moving out of my apartment before I even think about moving in somewhere new.  Only 25 days left in my apartment in Virginia...time is going way too fast!

1 month left

Time really does fly, and I can't believe I'm leaving DC in one month! I am really going to miss my roommates, friends, my apartment, and all of the wonderful things that DC has to offer. However, after living in DC for a little under a year now, I've decided on a few things I definitely won't miss:

-Public transportation, and people who don't abide by simple metro common courtesies
-The large population of people in DC who think they are God's gift to the earth. Haven't met Obama yet but I'm pretty sure he's more modest than half the people who live here.
-The pick up line, "I work on the Hill."
-Working at a restaurant where 90% of the employees have chosen to make it their lifelong career, therefore assuming that I don't know how to do my hostessing job as well as they could
-$10 rail drinks

One thing I'm really going to miss is the newest addition to our apartment, Stella! Bri adopted her yesterday and she is the cutest and friendliest little cat I've ever seen! I'm not even a cat person but Stella has totally won me over.

How am I supposed to want to go to work when this little angel is waiting for me at home?

California Here We Come

So I'm still slowly working my way through the Couch to 5K program, and to be honest, I'm not quite sure running will ever be easy for me.  But nothing feels better than stretching after a run that you thought would never end.

Tomorrow I finally have the day off, so I plan on going to a trivia night at a bar across the street with my roommates and some friends tonight, and catching up on sleep tomorrow.  I also have a ton of TFA reading to do tomorrow, and need to start making some to-do lists for the big move.

I booked my flight home to San Diego, and will officially be landing in my home state on May 22nd.  I can't wait to reunite with my parents, friends, real Mexican food, and the beach. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I wanted to live in California again when I originally moved out here.  But after living in DC for almost a year now, I can safely say that I am not cut out to be a city girl, and that the suburbs of California are where I belong!

I won't be living in California for the next couple of years because of my commitment to Teach for America, but I'm happy that I'll be able to visit my favorite state during school breaks! And who knows, maybe Texas will steal my heart...but I think California will always be the place I call home.

Need this for my new apartment in Houston!

Wonderful Weekend!

It's been a while since I last posted, but I've been super busy with work, filling out tons of paperwork for Teach for America (including getting my fingerprints taken for the FBI!), and having friends in town.  I was lucky enough to have one of my best friends and roommates from college, Taylor, visit me this weekend!  We laughed pretty much the entire time we were together, as usual, and had a blast catching up and reminiscing on college memories.

On Friday, a group of us went out to a popular DC bar called McFaddens, which played amazing music including some classics by N'Sync and The Backstreet Boys that Taylor and I danced like fools to all night.

Taylor hurt her foot while in New York for a business trip, but we still wanted to see the sights while she was in town, so on Saturday we rented a wheelchair for the day and I proceeded to wheel her around the monuments all afternoon.  Thankfully, DC is very handicap accessible, and we had a blast being tourists for the day!

Saturday night we went out to dinner with Shaun and then had a hilarious night in, filled with wine, card games, and charades.  We woke up early Sunday morning to go to the Air and Space Museum, which we could have spent the entire day at.  

Sadly Taylor's visit came to an end, and I drove her to the airport late Sunday afternoon.  It was so fun seeing her and I can't wait to reunite with her and all of my other college friends again, hopefully in the near future!

I'll end this post with my favorite picture of the weekend.  I wheeled Taylor in front of about 50 tourists taking pictures at the Lincoln Memorial to snap this classic photo of her.  I don't think she will ever fully forgive me for the embarrassment she endured at this moment, but the picture still makes me laugh every time I look at it.