The Beach (No, not that one)

While in D.C. Hannah mentioned that she wanted to check out the new art installation at the National Building Museum, and normally I would dread looking at "art", but I knew exactly what she was talking about with this installation and I WAS SO EXCITED!!!  The exhibit is called The Beach and is around until September 7th...so if you're in DC....GET ON IT.

Little did we know that it was SO popular that we stood in line for an hour and a half to get in!!!  And we cut out probably an hour because we had pre-purchased tickets!!  Totally worth it though.  There were SO many families standing in line waiting to get in.  If I had kids I would NOT have stood in that line!  No way Jose!  And if you go, make sure you wear pants (no dresses here!) and bring a bag you can completely close (zipper or button), they told us they had a lot of people loose things in there!  Just like the real beach!

Well we finally got in....CHAOS, just CHAOS. But what a cool concept!

Hannah fairing well with her bubbles...

Me not so much....Actually it was SUPER hard to do the ball pit!  I guess as a little kid, you're much more agile and able to deal. It was pretty deep (ok, like waist deep), but it was near impossible to put your foot down flat on the floor to stand up. And it hurt A LOT to step on those damn balls to stand up.  A couple of times we had to grab each other's hands to pull us up!

It was pretty funny.

And exhausting!

Buy fun!

Getting swallowed up whole by the balls!

Reunited and it Feels So Good!

Next up on my travel adventures was my 2 week jaunt to the East Coast!  First stop was to D.C. where I was reunited with my friends!!!  p.s. Allison, sorry we took this picture after you left, wish you had been in it!

D.C. was amazing, I am just not used to the heat or humidity!  If we could just meld the SF weather and my D.C. life, it would be a match made in heaven.

Our first stop was a wine flight at Cork.  Mmmm wine flights!  I got the chilled red flight and it was delightful! I love red wine, but it feels too hot for summer. But CHILLED RED is the perfect combination!!!  We also headed to 2 Birds, 1 Stone, a below ground cocktail bar with the BEST cocktails ever!!!  If I lived in D.C. again, I'd be here all the time.

Saturday started off with brunch with Kara at Lyon Hall.  Gosh, I LOVE Lyon Hall, the food is just amazing.  While I was waiting to meet up with Hannah again, I set out to enjoy all of my favorite DC things!

First up was Georgetown Cupcakes...MMMMM... 

I was really hoping they would have their mint oreo, because that's my fav, but alas they did not, so I settled on chocolate lava!

Then I settled in Georgetown Waterfront Park to eat my cupcake.

I met up with Hannah and then we headed to my FAVORITE bar EVER...Four Courts!  We had a yummy lunch and a few cocktails. Then we headed back to DC (that's Lisa and I in the back of the car taking selfies).

On Sunday, I walked around while Hannah visited her family. This is the art that's a couple of houses down from her place.

I walked to the Dupont Circle Sunday Farmer's Market, I can't believe I've never been before!  There were so many stalls and good eats to have!

Walking through Dupont.  My weekend in D.C. was too short, but I still have a special place in my heart!

Happy Holidays...2 months late!

After a week in Dallas, I took my flight home for the holidays!  Actually, I feel like San Francisco is "home" and DC is a close second. I got to see several friends and my dad so I was a happy camper!  We flew into DC, spent a night there, drove down to Newport News and spent 3 days there and then went up to Annapolis. It was great to celebrate with friends and relatives our great news as well as spend quality time with family!  Hannah and Teresa came to visit me at my favorite bar....

I totally brought our mugs from San Francisco back to their happy place...Four Courts!!!

And of course life wouldn't be right without koozies....and of course I got Christmas sweater koozies from Target!

After a whirlwind week, we flew back to San Francisco for New Years Eve!  I'm now taking my friend Erin's advice as I kick off the new year....less frowns, more gowns!!

FIVE HUNDRED...SAY WHAT?!?!?!

HOLY COW!!! 500 posts! I've written FIVE HUNDRED BLOG POSTS....saaaayy WHHHAAATTT?!?!?!?

This blog has been through a lot, from moving home from London, trials and tribulations of living in a small(er) town again, moving to D.C. and finally resting in my current city of San Francisco.  I don't do it for money or fame, its just fun to write everything down and see where my travels have taken me over the years!  I talk about my sorority, Junior League, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, volunteering, vacations and everything in between.

Hope you enjoy my travels as much as I do!

Four Courts Four Miler

Instead of running the Shamrock Half like I have before in 2013 and 2012 and 2010, I decided that we should run the Four Courts Four Miler this year! I've always been sad because its the same weekend and there's no way I could run this race and then drive down to Virginia Beach for a half the next day. I mean, I could theoretically do it, but I want to be able to drink and enjoy St. Patty's Day and I wouldn't be able to do both in one weekend.

I just had to convince my father its as a better idea. That took all of 2 minutes. Ha. I will say this race is awesome, however the last mile is STRAIGHT UP A HILL. This was actually one of my WORST races ever. I guess I was hungry or really out of shape because after mile 1, I had this sharp (and I mean SHARP) pain up under my rib cage and I kept having to stop and breathe. I lost my dad after mile 1 and he went ahead and killed the race!

It may not have been my best race, but it was pretty fun!  My dad is going to have to fly to SF a lot so that he can run some races with me!

The music started at 8 am and people are already out and about enjoying the party.

LOVED this guy! He played really well too.

We will run for beer!

Race for Every Child 5K DC

Back where there was warmer temperatures, our alumnae chapter teamed with American's Gamma Delta Chapter to run the Race for the Every Child 5K in DC.  They did a WONDERFUL job and raised almost $6,000! We had a blast celebrating…too bad it was so hot that I ran a horrible race, but at least I finished :)

And CRAZY, Ezra from Pretty Little Liars was there too!!! Apparently Ian raised almost $7K for the race as well! I didn't personally see him, but lots of girls from the chapter did! Man, I wish I had stayed around afterwards.

Spotted in DC v5

 

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

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