Spotted in DC v5

 

Oh honey, never wear a skirt that gives you back fat. Its not attractive.

Happy Birthday to ME!

(source)

That's right, Friday the 13th and a happy 31st birthday to me!

Just writing that I realized the 13 and 31 are reversible! Just a bit of a nerd alert there :)

Hannah's Faux 30 Party

 

That time when only I was ready for the picture....

MAN I've been SLACKING on updating this blog. Time to get back in the game. And considering its almost my birthday, I guess I should post about Hannah's birthday....which was back in JULY. Oops! And I long for the weather where I could wear a dress instead of the snow boots you need right now. Ugh. She celebrated her actual birthday all across of Europe a few weeks before this party. So, since we couldn't all go to Europe, we had a faux birthday instead.

She does know how to throw down so I knew this would be a great time! She wanted us all to go to a DC United game, but not just ANY seat would do. We sat in the Barra Brava section...you know that really rowdy section where everyone cheers and throws their ($10 freaking dollar) beer when we make a goal! There's also chanting, feet stomping and flag waving in this section too!

The spread

Getting our barra brava tickets!

Besties

A very adorable preggers Danielle joined in on the selfies (she has since had the MOST ADORABLE beautiful baby boy!)

These pictures are HILARIOUS!!!

2013 Out and Equal Conference

I'm in Minneapolis biiiiiittttttccccchhhheeeessss!! It's that time of year again! I get to see these fabulous people for the Out & Equal LGBT Conference:

AND we get to dress up again this year, just like the good ole days (cough cough last year):

This year's theme is the YMCA characters! We'll see what a 'cast of characters' we'll be this year! I'm even presenting a workshop this year! I really really hate speaking in front of crowds, but as part of my development areas, I'm trying to step out of my comfort zone and do something different! Stay tuned for my recap!

The Laramie Project at Ford's Theater

The inside of the Ford's Theater

This past weekend I had the opportunity to FINALLY go check out Ford's Theater. Seeing this theater where President Lincoln was shot has been on my bucket list forever. So when I got invited to see a show, I jumped on it! Though thanks to the government shutdown, I almost didn't see the play there but in a church instead. Thankfully the government got their shit together and re-opened!

My GLOBE & Allies group went to see the Laramie Project play, the story of Matthew Shepard, the LGBT young adult who was brutally beaten in 1998. It was a very hard play to listen to and take in, but I'm very glad I did it. The theater was so small and intimate, its easy to see how a play might have gone down way back in the day. 

I was very curious as to why the Lincoln Theater was chosen for this play. I did some research and apparently this theater is promoting the "The Lincoln Legacy Project":

With malice toward none, with charity for all
The Lincoln Legacy Project
From Intolerance toward Equality

In Fall of 2011, Ford’s Theatre launched the Lincoln Legacy Project, a multi-year effort to create dialogue in our nation’s capital around the issues of tolerance, equality and acceptance. Each fall, through a series of cornerstone theatre productions, educational programs and special events, Ford’s takes a closer look at racial and religious intolerance, social injustice and civil rights in American history and contemporary society. Through a diversity of programming, the Lincoln Legacy Project is designed to encourage people of differing viewpoints to engage in meaningful and respectful dialogue about tolerance and understanding.

 That's the area where Lincoln was shot. Crazy how close it was to our seats! Someone who sat there that fateful night would have been able to see into that alcove and watch it all go down.

Me and my boys (with Abe photobombing us in the background!

Human Rights Campaign 2013 Dinner

Me, Nic, Brad and Kameron

A few weekends ago I had the opportunity to go to the Human Rights Campaign Dinner in DC. Big Daddy D paid for my ticket to the dinner. I haven't been to a black tie event in a really long time! I almost didn't get to go because all the partners wanted to go this year to cultivate relationships or something. Thankfully one of their wives double booked and a ticket became available! I told my GLOBE & Allies lead that if that happened I was more than willing to get ready at the last minute!

No, literally it was the last minute! I was at Target in Alexandria and received the call that I might be able to go! I rushed home and got ready just in case. Then I was able to go! I was SO excited! I had heard about this dinner in the past and how there were always big stars there! The Vice President was supposed to be there, but thanks to the government shut down, we got a taped recording of the President instead. Oh well, maybe next year...

BUT I did see J-Lo! She received an Ally for Equality award for her producing the Fosters and some other various things she's done in the past. Um, there was also an 11 year old DJ spinning records before the event started, DJ Young 1. Yes, you heard (saw) that right folks, AN 11 YEAR OLD DJ!

The big part of the event was when HRC presented the plaintiffs and attorneys from the historic Proposition 8 and Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) cases before the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year with the National Equality Award.

Enjoy some of the pictures below!

This year's theme: Join the Momentum

The stage as we came in

HRC president Chad Griffin speaking

The Fosters Cast

J- LO!!

I mean, look at that dress!

I only wish she was speaking on our side, but alas, she was on the other side

Sara Bareilles!!!!! I was SO sad that I was missing her concert in DC a few days later because of a work trip for training, but so relieved when I got to see her perform at the diner!

Her band!

HRC banner as we left

Work Trip to NAS

Recently my team took a chartered bus down to Norfolk to view a couple of ships. I’m not exactly sure who funded this trip, but probably Big Daddy D. My senior boss used to be a Captain in the Navy and through his connections we got to board a ship and check out the quarters and inner workings of this ship. Interestingly enough, even though I’ve grown up in the military and lived around the largest Naval base in the world, I’ve never boarded a ship before. To say the living quarters and areas are tiny is an understatement!

We had to get up and be at the office by 6am on that Tuesday morning. Thankfully I just live up the street so I cabbed it down. Our account, or rather, Big Daddy D, provided breakfast and the transportation down to Naval Station Oceania.  We hit no traffic and got all the way down there in 2.5 hours. That MUST be a record to get from DC to Norfolk!  It was weird to be going back to my hometown with my co-workers!

It was actually September 10^th, the day before 9/11, so our boss shared with us his story of 9/11 and how there was a ship near his reign that looked like it had a bomb on it. He told us his story of how this one ship almost caused him to shoot it because they thought it was another terrorist attack. I never knew he was so high up in the Navy, but it was cool to hear about his experiences!

Anyway, we got to the area and boarded the ship. It was really neat to see the inner workings of how everything was ran for both the officers and enlisted. They described how things worked when the ship was just in regular duty and then how things were different when they were out on a mission.

We got to see the quarters, kitchen, and various other places such as the equipment area. They took us up to mission control area and all of the navigation machines. We also got to go up on deck and check out their machine guns. Kind of weird to think that sometimes 19 year olds are responsible for 4 million dollar machinery. I sure didn’t have that kind of responsibility when I was only 19!

Anyways, we had a great time and even made fantastic time on the way home too! Of course Big Daddy D paid for drinks on the bus on the way home! Needless to say my team and I partook in some singing karaoke style on the way home. Oh the magic of cell phones and one teammate who can essentially remember any word to any song ever! We had a blast! Things like this make me like working for Big Daddy D, save any of the other b-s that goes along with it.

Oh well, you can’t win them all.

Enjoy some pictures of the ship!
 

BIG GUNS!!!!

And my team mates at the back of the bus drinking and singing karaoke!!

Spotted in DC v.4

Um....WTF is this?!?! Girlfriend, WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?!!? Leopard print tight leggings? The seemed pretty legit and maybe actual running pants.

One last SF post

Sorry these posts are ALL OVER THE PLACE. One last SF post to round out the trip.

Oh San Fran, how much I enjoyed you on my stay. We went to a lot of different places and our last day was anything but slow. We checked out SoMa (South of Market), a really nice are by the bay.

We stopped by Garaje for a bite to eat before we were off to visit the BF's friends for dinner. Its a casual taco place with a bunch of tequila and beer on tap. Its cash only, so don't forget those dolla-dolla bills ya'll.

From there, we took a cab back to the hotel and got picked up by the B Man's Coastie BFF in San Fran and took us to their house and then this AMAZING restaurant on the hill called Cliff House and its views were just spectacular! Weirdly enough, I guess this place sits on National Park Service land and it closed down with the Government shut down. Which is a pity!

Me and the B Man on the clifss outside of Cliff House

Just beautiful!!

Race for the Children 5K

Some of the ladies running the 5K

This past weekend I joined my sorority to run a 5K for Children's Miracle Network in DC. It was SUPER hot (almost 80 degrees) in OCTOBER. WHY?!?!?!?! UGH. But the AU Chapter and the D.C. Alumnae Chapter raised $6,000 for CMN! You can still donate here.

People lining up before the start

Another group picture....of course!

Excuse the instagram pictures, but we're on the sponsors banner!

UM....some sisters met Ian Harding (Ezra from PLL!!!!!) and taught him the quatrafoil sign! I have no idea why he's there particularly, but he raised $4K himself, and got a team together and they raised $6K! Apparently he's from Herndon. Who knew?!?!?!

Here is a better photo of him. HOW DID I MISS EZRA?!?!?!