In an attempt to be a bit circumspect about my past life as a workaholic, political junkie (heretofore referred to as PJ), I am dedicating Fridays to recalling some cool moments in my career. Most non PJ's (especially Republican ones) won't think they are the cat's meow, but for posterity sake, I've got to put them somewhere!
pastedGraphic.pdf">
Queue last December when I returned from a post campaign cruise with friends only to find that amid my junk mail, a large envelope with the return address of the White House--yes THE White House popped out. Much to my surprise, it was an invitation to one of the 18 Holiday Parties at the White House with the President and the First Lady (I kept the invite in a safe place, but apparently too safe since I can't find it to take a photo of it for the blog). I called Justin to tell him pastedGraphic_1.pdf">the news--I didn't think we were going to be able to go because we had just got back from the aforementioned cruise--but he said we had to go and we would make it work. My fabulous mom wholeheartedly volunteered to take care of the kids and gave me one of her free Southwest tickets, my friend Kelli gave me some jewelry and fixed my dress, Jen encouraged me to buy some knockout shoes and get my hair done, Justin found a deal on priceline for a last minute hotel room, and we left for a 48 hour trip to DC.
pastedGraphic_2.pdf">
We had to do some juggling on where and how to get dressed as our hotel was no where near the White House and in the process, Justin forgot his tie. He felt slightly out of place, although he looked quite dapper. He kept joking that he was going to ask the President if he could borrow one of his.
It was such a fantastic night. Justin and I kept
pastedGraphic_3.pdf">
saying to each other--"We are at the White House Christmas Party!" We were greeted at the gate and escorted to the front entrance of the White House. There were two large dining rooms with huge buffet spreads, decorated trees in every room and the Armed Services orchestra playing Christmas carols. We didn't really know many people there, but we made some friends from Beverly Hills, Texas, and met Supreme Court Justice Alito. We were also given a designated time to get in a photo line to take our photo with the President and FirstLady.
pastedGraphic_4.pdf">
Having organized a photo line or two with the President myself, I can tell you it goes super fast. Someone takes your purse right before you get to front of the line, you are introduced to the President, and then you have about 30 seconds to say hello before they snap your photo and move you along. I was determined to get my rehearsed elevator speech out to President and Mrs. Obama. I expressed how thankful I was for their last minute trips to Nevada (both came to campaign for my boss in the last days before the 2010 election) President Obama told me "Job well done. Anyone who is on Senator Reid's team is on my team too." As you can see from the photo below, I was a bit excited.
pastedGraphic_5.pdf">
Above is the photo the "official" photo sent to us after the party. It is now in my library/den so I can reminisce, especially on those days I am cleaning up drool, patiently trying to calm a pre pre-teen tantrum, and changing dirty diapers, about that time I got gussied up to go to the White House.
