The Newseum Rocks My World

My dad came up to DC for a day trip this past weekend. As I had a groupon to the Newseum which was about to expire and I couldn't fit a visit in any time else, I asked if he'd be interested. We set off to the city foolishly thinking it was way warmer than it actually was. Duh, hello Amber, its February...dress appropriately! We hopped on the metro into downtown and set out to find the place.

HAHAHA we clearly don't read directions well: I missed the sign for the groupon redemption outside (I thought it said GROUP sales, not GROUPON sales) and of course my dad had a pocket knife on him (seriously?!?!) But the nice people allowed him to "bag check" his knife hahahah. Oh well. And then this really nice guy in line totally gave us a free ticket because he had an extra pass because he was a part of Teach for America. Apparently there was a conference in town for them. Free $22 dollar + tax ticket? Don't mind if I do. Swweeeeeeeeeeet, 2 tickets for 10 dolla! HOLLLA!

Anyways, this place was a BLAST! I'd defintely recommend this museum to anyone in DC. It was very interactive and very visual with a variety of things to see and do. Its way better than the other DC musuems and suprisingly your ticket covers 2 days so you can really see everything.

The building has 45 words of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution etched into the building:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the goverment for a redress of grievances.

Front of building, great architechture!

They had front pages of probably 30 newspapers lining the street.

Exhibit on the White House dogs over the years, vote for the one you like best!

Global map of countries that have the ability of free press: Green=Free, Yellow=partially free, Red= not free.

Politcal cartoons drawn by Douglas Nigel Marlette, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American editorial cartoonist

The technology center of the Newseum. I could never work in a room like that with people like me gawking at them.

Interactive screens

A wall full of TVs. Sometimes they all played the same thing while other times they played different things.

The inside of the museum

An original printing press

They had hundres of actual newspaper front pages from about the 1700s on to today. And then every few feet or so they had touch screens that you could browse through front pages. It was cool to see how they've evolved over time.

A HUGE wall full of TVs showing live news around the world

Their current exhibit is of Elvis.

Lisa Marie's dress

More info on him.

This is the flag that was hung on the Pentagon as it was going through construction to repair its damage from 9/11

Front pages of the 9/11 coverage

The radio tower from one of the twin towers

Valentine's Day

An oldie but a goodie:

...AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA. Sorry, that shouldn't be as funny as it is, but it is!



I'm looking forward to spending my annual V-day date with the lovely Hannah this evening. This will be our second date on this day. The first one we spent together at The Eagle in London complete with the BEST sticky toffee pudding EVER! I mean, who wouldn't want to drink a pint or two at a bar that looks like this:






I rest my case! Tonight Hannah and I are going to be dining at a British Gastropub in Columbia Heights called Commonwealth and reliving the joys of London. I bet their sticky toffee pudding is NO WHERE near as good as the one we had before but we've just got to give it a chance ;) And I think there's a footie match going on as well today!

Food and Friends

The other day a few of my alumnae sisters volunteered at Food and Friends, a local food bank that provides meals to people with life-challening illnesses. I had a really great time and I'm glad I volunteered! The location was super easy to get to since its near Fort Totten which is on the green line and a direct line from work. AND there's even a free shuttle provided by F&F to pick you up from the metro and take you there...now that's what I call service! Not realizing how short of a commute it was I actually got to the metro station at 5....we weren't supposed to start volunteering until 6. For once I wasn't running on Phi Mu time...

According to their website and their super cute/friendly full time volunteer here is a little about the organization:

Food & Friends provides meals, groceries and nutrition counseling to people living with life-challenging illnesses such as HIV/AIDS and cancer. Determination of eligibility is entirely health-based. Food & Friends has no requirements for income or insurance coverage. To be eligible for service, a person must have a qualifying primary illness; compromised nutritional status and a limited ability to prepare his/her own meals due to factors such as disability, illness, or medical treatment. Food & Friends provides meals and groceries to more than 1,450 clients. Since 1988, we have served more than 206,000 individuals. Food & Friends delivers throughout the metropolitan area, as far north as Hagerstown, Maryland, and as far south as Fredericksburg, Virginia, a total delivery area of nearly 5,500 square miles. Nearly 50% of our clients live in the District of Columbia.

And I really liked this comparison that I found on their website:

Minus the hideous hairnets we all had a blast! Half of us packed lunches in brown bags (chicken with cheese, pasta salad, blueberry cobbler, yogurt, bannanas, chips, a croissant, and trail mix...yummy!) and half of us stuffed dinner (chilli, vegetables, soup, and I think some burgers -wrapped in tin foil so I only assumed the circular items were burgers...who knows!).

Sorority Squat

Ok, our knees hurt we had to stand up

VP of Membership

You're lookin at the new DC Phi Mu Alumnae VP of Membership! I'm super excited to be on the exec board of an alumnae chapater again! I'm looking forward to another fantastic year and can't wait to see what it brings. Now its time to make everyone as excited about Phi Mu as I am...its going to be tough but I'm up for the challenge :)

Happy Birthday Smee!!!!!

Who knew that when I first met you 8 years ago on Bid Day with cornrows in your hair and bright magenta colored reebok shoes on your feet that we'd be best of friends? My first thought was "what the hell is she wearing and WHAT did she do to her hair?!?!?!" Flash forward to today and we've been able to do and share so many exciting things over the years such as DC, Paris, England, Italy, Florida, Weddings, our love for Harry Potter, and above all 2 am heart to heart sessions. I wonder where the next 50 years is going to take us?

So here it is to my most favorite Phi Mu and sister...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAMI!!

How many weddings do you figure we've gone to together?

En Francais S'il vous plait!


Laughing it off in Rome

First tagged picture of us together on FB. Oh HP. Oh the memories!

Her wedding!

We share our love for all things French, chocolate (be it white or milk), and pink!

Warmer weather plans in Florida.



Colder weather plans in DC

...and 2 am heart to hearts sitting on the edge of bathtubs