I could have danced all night

Well, okay. There was almost no dancing at the balls. Except, of course, by the Obamas.

The balls on inauguration night were pretty well covered by CNN so I won't get into them much. They were lovely. The food was delicious. The Obamas were perfect. Marc Anthony sang and J. Lo came out for one song (I'm pretty sure she was just there to make sure he didn't hook up with any inauguration honeys). The evening ended with minor adventure (no cabs, freezing weather, hotel security guard drove us home and asked for my number). Enough said. I want to write about the other ball, the untelevised ball, the time of my life, the greatest inauguration event, which also happened to be the last.

On Wednesday night, K-dub and I had tickets to the Staff Ball. This was the ball put on for all of the (mostly) young people who have spent the last two years of their lives working for Obama For America. Clearly, this was the one they went all out for (next to the Neighborhood and Youth balls the night before). There was an open bar, and incredible buffet, and Arcade Fire was playing when we got to the armory.

The great thing about this being the last ball was that everyone (except the President) had had a chance to recover from the previous day's activities. All of the speakers were more relaxed and had a lot more time to speak than they had the night before. Joe and Jill Biden came and gave a pretty decent speech. I'm not the greatest fan of Vanilla Joe and he doesn't seem to be able to discern between a campaign speech and a regular talk (the consequences of 36 years in office I suppose). Campaign Manager David Plouffe spoke, which was remarkable because he ran an absolutely incredible campaign. And then, of course, President and Mrs. Obama came out.

Unlike the evening before, the Obamas were calm and casual this evening. Michelle didn't speak, she just stood by her man looking happy to be there. The President, however, gave his most inspirational message of the week. I think this message resounded with me more than the others because it was directed at the young people who had given so much for his campaign and who have so much to give in the future. As I heard him speak about how much the staff had given over the last two years, about the fact that it was the young people who got him elected because we didn't know any better than to believe that it could be done, and about how much we still have to do in the future I started to get a clearer idea of what I want to do in my future. President Obama encouraged everyone in the room to take part in the reconstruction of our nation, to change whatever small or large part of our country that we can, and to take responsibility for the future. He was remarkable and left everyone wanting to leap out of the room and get started tout de suite.

Just when I thought the night couldn't get any better, Jay-Z came on stage! He was there to give us a private performance and it was, without a doubt, the cherry on top of a perfect evening.

The entire inauguration was without a doubt one of the greatest experiences of my life. It topped the Queen's Golden Jubilee without even trying. Throughout the week I froze, starved, and broke my shoe, but I also saw a black man become President, danced at the President's ball, and saw Jigga!

Best week of my life, no contest.


The next post will be about my sight-seeing around D.C. I went to some new museums, basked in the sunlight, and generally had a fabulous time not being in law school. Until then, au revoir!

kat

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Chaos at the Purple Gate

If there is anything that I learned during this crazy election it was that people will wake up for Obama. While volunteering at an Obama event in Detroit one day, I spoke to people who had been lining up since 1am. And this was just to see him for five minutes in a park. People in Detroit don't get up for anything. But they'll get up for Obama.

This probably explains why I was awake dark and early at 3am on the morning of the 20th. Even though we had tickets, 240,000 people is still a lot and K-dub and I figured that we should get a cold and early start to be sure we got in line. If anything, we'd be there early and could scope out good seats. Ha to the ha.

At 4am when we finally drove up to the Metro stop at the end of the green line, or rather, the street with the Metro stop, we sat in our car in line for an hour. The Metro decided to make a pretty penny and charge each car $5 to park for the day, which meant that we had to sit in our cars as each person stopped at the one gate, paid their $5, got change, and slowly drove in. When we finally got in and parked, the Metro cars were already packed. By the time we reached the stations in the center of town, whole subways were passing by, too full to accept any more passengers. Like I said, people will get up for Obama.


People will also stand in the cold for Obama. When K-dub and I finally reached the street near our gate, she had to use the bathroom, so we stood in line for another hour at Starbucks. Seriously. One hour. For the bathrooms. I got her and our other friend who we thought we'd be meeting (we never found her in the mess of people) coffee and Kerry got out of the bathrooms at the same time that I got the coffee!

By the time we reached the line at the Purple Gate it was already 6am and people were everywhere. There were very few signs, no directions, and millions of people running around unsure of what to do or where to go. This was a little surprising. For two years, Obama for America has run an almost flawless campaign. Organizing and directing thousands of people into a small space is second nature to them at this point. They're in politics. It's what they do. But unfortunately, today they dropped the ball. It's understandable. They're exhausted. Their President was being sworn-in. They probably all had better seats. But wowie wow wow (as Junie B. Jones would say), this was a complete mess.

We stood in line on one corner, about 30 yards from the entrance to the gate from 6am until about 11.35. We moved at the rate of one footstep per hour. It was cold. People were hungry. And angry. And confused. We didn't think we would make it. There were no authority figures telling us what to do or where to go. Only mobs of people, desperately anxious to get inside. At about the time that we heard Rick Warren giving the opening prayer, K-dub and I had managed to crawl our way into the mass at the front. People were chanting "Let us in! Let us in!"

Everyone was pushing. The two police officers at the tiny hole in the gate were telling folks that they may or may not let us in. It felt a little like the way Crown Heights must have felt about five minutes before the first fist flew. K-dub and I held hands to be sure we wouldn't get lost. It didn't work. All of a sudden there was a huge swell and I was literally lifted off of my feet, in with the crowd, and through the gates. K-dub's hand slipped out of mine and I desperately shouted that I would wait for her.

Once inside, the security lines were surprisingly short. However, once through, there were thousands of people in front of the capitol and a giant tree blocking the only jumbo screen on our side of the lawn. The enormous (and very un-populist) stands blocked the view of the stage almost exactly like they had done at the We Are One concert. I turned around and saw K-dub running after me. She had made it in! For about ten minutes we rushed around trying to find the best spot, finally settling on a little piece of land that allowed us to see the screen through the branches of the tree.

(can you see the JumboTron?)

At least I could hear! I turned around and was amazed to see the sea of people crowding the mall. I wondered how Obama felt, walking onto that stage, seeing that sea of people and knowing that he had made it to where only 43 other men on Earth ever had. President of the United States. I imagine it felt a little like Neil Armstrong, taking that first step on the moon.

I didn't see Aretha's fabulous hat (made in Detroit, yaay!) until the CNN coverage later that evening. I didn't see Michelle's lemongrass suit or the girl's absolutely adorable custom-made J.Crew coats until I watched the parade while dressing for the ball. I didn't see a thing except our gorgeous Capitol Building in front of me, gleaming in the sunlight, red, white, and blue banners waving proudly in the wind, and the ocean of proud Americans behind me, finally celebrating a President that we could all be proud of. I didn't see much, but I heard the Oath (thanks Roberts), I felt the cannons vibrate as they exploded in turn, and I knew that, from the moment I first volunteered to the pride and privilege that I felt on that day, that I was a part of history.
(my view of the ceremonies)

A very cold, very tired, very vertically-challenged, part of history.

And besides, I knew I could watch it all on CNN later.

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It's been a whole week!

Happy one week anniversary of our new President! Hahahaha. Isn't that amazing? Anyways, it is past midnight and I still haven't finished all of my reading (Voting Rights is interesting but my goodness is it dense!) so I'm going to post a few pictures today of last week and I'll post another account of my experience tomorrow. I hope you're all having a fabulous week!


Me, doing one of the many long, long drives from the Metro station to K-dub's cousin's house.


My perspective at the Swearing-In. 240,000 people is a lot yo! You definitely got a better view on CNN. No worries though, one day my view will be a lot better...


An actual piece of the Berlin wall at the Newseum.


The entire city was celebrating Obama's inauguration, the Newseum was just one of many buildings with colourful banners congratulating the President.

For all of you making comments right now, I know, I know. For future travel writing I have to seriously work on my photography skillz. And perhaps get a better camera. Give a sista a break! However, for far better pictures, here is a link to The Black Snob who posted an amazing collection of photos on flickr!

The Black Snob's Flickr page

Does anyone else have fabulous links to Inaguration coverage? If you're anything like me, you still can't get enough!

Travel well,
kat

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Slowly but surely

Hello all!

Thanks so much for the wonderful messages and emails! I had an absolutely amazing time at the Inauguration and I cannot wait to tell you all about it. Unfortunately, I also missed an entire week of classes and have been trying to catch up on my 500+ pages of reading! I'm going to post a little slowly and include slide shows throughout the week. I recommend subscribing below, or on either side of the page, so that you get updates as I post!

I was so lucky to get tickets to the inauguration of our 44th President, I still can't believe it. My friend K-dub worked on the campaign and brought me to DC as her plus one! We not only had tickets to the swearing in, but also VIP tiks to the We Are One concert (which I wrote about below), and two balls, the Western states ball and the Obama for America Staff ball the next evening, the last inauguration event. I'll be writing about what we did on the days before the inauguration on the Indie Travel Guides and I'll be sure to let you know when it's up!

One of the most incredible things about the city was the way it was decorated for the inauguration. Every building had a congratulatory message for the new President, Brooks Brothers displayed pictures of previous presidents, including Jack and Jackie, in their picture windows, and red, white, and blue decorations abounded. My favourite building hung a banner with the American version of "The King is dead. Long live the King."

When thinking about the last week, I often find myself at a loss for words. There is simply no way to describe how amazing this experience was.

Not only because of the millions of people all over the country and all over the world celebrating the beginning of a new era.

Not just because we have a new, absolutely gorgeous Black family in the White House.

Not even because President Bush is finally, finally, finally back in Texas.

It was personally incredible for me because it was so obvious to see that the country is finally taking responsibility for itself and that we now have, for the first time since Kennedy, a President who is asking us to help him change our country.

From the new Pepsi and Starbucks campaigns to the President's website, USAservice.org, he is spurring us all to lend out a hand and change our neighborhood, our city, our country, our world. I had the honour of seeing President Obama speak four times last week and each time he spoke directly to my sense of ambition, my desire to create real change in the world, and the conflicting quest to satisfy them both. At the Staff ball especially, he spoke to my generation in particular and for the first time someone actually said that they believe in us, that it was because we didn't know any better than to believe in the impossible that he made it to the White House, and that if we all pull together and keep striving towards a better future, everything can change. I know it sounds corny, but I guess the world is sort of in a corny mood. Anyways, it meant a lot to me, and if all President Obama does is inspire us to change a little bit of the world at a time, that will be more than anyone has asked us to do in a long time.



Tomorrow I'll write about the Swearing In, then the balls, and finally a little bit about my wandering about D.C

Travel well,
kat

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Remember This?

I'm almost home from the greatest week of my life and I promise I'll write about everything when I get back! Until then, remember this video? This was such a huge moment of the campaign, one of many, and one of the reasons that we have a new President. Thank you Will.i.am!



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Absolutely Incredible

(photo courtesy of mthphotos on flickr)

The concert today was an incredible moment in history. I felt like I was in the crowd at Marion Anderson's concert, at Martin Luther King's great speech, and at every other moment when Americans have journeyed to our capitol to protest, celebrate, and come together. There were thousands of people lining the mall between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. Luckily K-Dub got us VIP tickets so we skipped to the side of the enormous crowd and entered the VIP area. Once we got there, we realized that there was uber-VIP and little-VIP, we were little so we stood behind the enormous staging area that they built. This meant that we could really only see a corner of the stage but we got our own jumbo screen and private refreshment stands, souvenir shops, and most importantly, bathrooms. We arrived early and while we sat outside freezing and drinking hot chocolate for hours, the jumbo screens played occasional songs, greetings from celebrities, and various patriotic shorts about the wonders of America. We met some cool people, froze for a while, and eventually, the show began.

I'm sure all of you watched the free concert on HBO (if not, you can watch it now) so I won't rehash the details but we all freaked out as we saw Bruce Springsteen, Garth Brooks, John Legend, Heather Headley, U2 (I almost died, I have always wanted to see U2 live), Stevie Wonder (OMFG yes) and millions more phenomenal artists. Denzel opened the ceremonies, much to our delight, and Jamie Foxx did a hilarious impression of Obama. Finally, Obama spoke and he was as inspirational as always. Michelle and the girls looked gorgeous of course and let me tell you, Sasha just loves seeing herself on TV! Wouldn't we all at age 7? The entire event was fantastic and I was thrilled to be a part of it. As much as I love travel and want to become a travel writer I really don't think that I could stay away from politics, I've always loved it and seeing the incredible change that is finally coming to our country makes me want to be a part of it now more than ever.

My internet is spotty here, we're at K-Dub's wonderful cousin's house in the middle of the woods, so I won't write much more. I'll write a much fuller recap of the entire weekend once I get back. However, here are a few pictures of the event and a couple of the videos that they showed us before the concert started. I don't think anything like this has ever been put on at the Memorial and I can't imagine how amazing Tuesday is going to be.

Travel well, and happy inauguration weekend!
kat





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BWI isn't so bad

I'm in D.C.!!!! I'm so excited! This is going to be the greatest week ever. I knew it was going to go well when I was leaving BWI on the rental car shuttle and I noticed that the airport is named after Thurgood Marshall. Did you know that? I had no idea. Apparently, there are more good things in Baltimore than the musical Hairspray! They named it after him in 2005, the year I graduated from college, which would explain why I didn't know, I haven't been to D.C. since about 2004. Anyways, I love. I do not love, however, the fact that BWI does not have free wifi. Boo to you, BWI.

After taking the shuttle to the rental car building, I easily picked up our rental from Avis and drove off into the sunset. Well, the sun anyways. It is so funny how all of the stations here are thrilled about Obama. Rappers like Young Jeezy and Nas have come out with songs about Obama and even Michelle, including the classic lines, "we supported 43 of your dudes, it's about time you supported one of ours" and "there's never been a president with swagger like Barack". Both are so true, by the way. 93.7FM has renamed itself, "Obama 93.7" and auto credit commercials are citing Obama's concern for the economy as a reason to call them for a new car, "YES YOU CAN get a new car". Really? It's sort of exciting actually, the whole city is buzzing, it's all the DJs can talk about, every black celebrity on Earth is going to be here, every club is having a party, and Obama fever is everywhere. I hope it lasts, I hope he spurrs people to make real changes in their lives and this country. We really have to. But for now, everyone is thrilled, Jay-Z is throwing a party, and in three days we will have a Black President and First Lady. And cute little black First Children. Yaay.

I'm just getting settled and I'll only be posting when I have the net. I will, however, be twittering constantly, so that's a great way to keep up.

Oh, p.s. K-Dub showed me our tickets and they're BEAUTIFUL!! We have amazing spots for the swearing-in too! K-Dub really came through, she is so the shizzle. I'm so glad I convinced her to take the job with the campaign!!
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Another reason to love Southwest

I'm sitting here in my room trying to pack for the Inauguration. Although I have spent my entire life packing, it only gets harder as I get older. I am inclined to think that this is more a crisis of wardrobe than a crisis of packing. Either way, it isn't easy. Especially when you are packing for the most exciting, most historic, most significant week of your life. To guard myself against packing too much, I went online to check Southwest's checked baggage fee, expecting the usual $15 for the first bag, $3,000 and your firstborn child for the second. Amazingly, Southwest will check your first bag for free. Astonishingly, Southwest will check your second bag for free too. OMFG. Why isn't everybody flying Southwest? At these prices, I may be taking everything I own!

I Could do this for a Living...

Yaay! My first article for Indie Travel Guides has just gone live! I'm so excited, this is my first semi-professional gig! The article is about the only thing I can think about right now, the Inauguration! If you're headed to D.C. next week, my article will give you all of the tips and links to make the trip as smooth and enjoyable as possible. If you're not headed to D.C., head over there anyways and click on an add or two! ;-)

I'll make this post extra short so you have plenty of time to head over to Indie Travel to read my article. Leave comments over there or over here and tell me what you think! Also, let me know if there's any particular travel-related topic you're just dying to hear about.

Travel well, six days 'til CHANGE people!
kat

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An Update

Ater posting To Poop or Not to Poop, I got a couple of great tips that I hadn't thought of for proper bathroom etiquette while traveling.

1. Travel Candles ya'll. Take them. Use them. Add a little romance to your cover-up.

2. Kleenex. Especially when traveling abroad. You never know when the hosts may have run out of TP or if you'll have to use an outhouse. This has nothing to do with smell, but really, do I have to say it? It's necessary.

Also, tomorrow is my first day of classes. One and a half years left of law school! I have to study tonight, since I've been procrastinating in favour of packing for next week! I leave on Friday ya'll!

Happy trails!
kat

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Something I Just Learned...

So I'm sitting here making my rental car reservations for D.C. and of course, like everything else, the rental costs hundreds more for my particular week of interest than it would on any other day. However, while searching I found a couple of things that helped:

1. Rental Car Momma. I don't know who this Momma is, but I love her. She has coupon codes for almost every major rental car company and saved me HUNDREDS, literally. Thanks Momma.



2. When you're reserving a car you have to choose the times that you are going to pick it up and drop it off. Choose from "Noon" to "Noon" and the price will be about $100 cheaper than filling in actual times. Then, you just have to call customer service later and mention that your flight is at a different time. As anyone who has rented a car will tell you, once you have the reservation, the time that you're bringing it in or out doesn't really matter. This isn't Zipcar after all.

With these two tools at my disposal I was able to get a rental car for the entire Inauguration week for less than $400. For some reason all of the car agencies have Mustangs on sale, which is what we got, which means if I can fit all of my bags into it, we'll be riding through the capitol in style!

I hope these tips help if you're looking for a car! Do you have any other gems of frugality? I'll be passing along more tips as I continue to make my plans.

Travel well!
kat

p.s. If you're looking to buy Metro pass for the week, they are no longer guaranteeing that if you order them online they'll get to you in time. Your best bet now is to purchase them from a retail location once you get into town. The Metro website has the locations listed online.

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To Poop or not to Poop

This is a post that I have wanted to write for a while. It’s a little personal but no one has to see you read it and you know it’s a problem that you have had. I’m just trying to help. One of the trials of vacationing in a group is that you often have to share a hotel room, and those tiny hotel bathrooms. The bathrooms are usually large enough to do your business but small enough that once you open the door to the room, everyone can smell what your business was. This is not hot. Whether you are staying with friends, family, or a new significant other, it’s embarrassing, gross, and just plain rude to step out of the bathroom and share your scent with the world. Below, a few pointers to help you- and your roommates- out of this sticky situation:

1.Close the door. In the event that you actually do go number two in the hotel bathroom, do not leave the door open thinking that it will air out. It will. Into your room. Close the door and turn on the fan.




2. Go to the lobby. If you are prepared for the situation, excuse yourself and head to the lobby bathroom. Tell your boo that you want to go call your mother, tell your friends that you have to go call your boo, tell someone something and zip downstairs. This is the easiest and surest way to avoid smelling your way out of a relationship.






3. The drop and flush. If number two crept up on you unexpectedly, as it is wont to do, flush immediately. The longer it sits there, the more it smells. This may lead to you flushing more than once but your roommate is not going to ask questions and if they do, just say you had to blow your nose.



4. Have febreeze, will travel. Febreeze, that miracle spray, makes an excellent little travel size. Take it with you, put it in the bathroom, and help you and your roommates avoid embarrassment.










5. (This one is courtesy of JBJ) Go before you take a shower. Or perform your nightly routine, or whatever you do in the bathroom that takes a long time. That way, you trap yourself in there but the room has aired out before you open the door.





As much as I love the book Everyone Poops, I always felt that the sequel should be, But Not Everyone has to Know it When You Do. Save yourself the anxiety and humiliation and be considerate to the air around you. It will make your trip more pleasant and make your roommates happier people too.

Do you have any other travel bathroom etiquette pointers?

Travel well!
kat

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Montreal Run Down

Montreal is a fun town. It is an artsy and cultural town, full of museums, theatre, music, and fashion. It's a frat boy's kind of town, full of bars, pubs, clubs, and cheap food. And it's a sleazy town, full of strip clubs and prostitutes. Montreal can, I think, be anything you want it to be. Except, perhaps, warm in January.

Situated in Southeastern Canada in the French speaking province of Quebec, Montreal is known as much for being where 18-year-old New England kids go to party as it is for its art and music scene. The official language is French, which was fun for me. It has been years since I have had the opportunity to speak French and, although it was pretty much terrible, I was at least able to get my point across more often than not. However, I have a lot of work to do and my plans for living in Paris after I graduate have by no means been cancelled. For anyone not interested in torturing the language however, almost everyone in town speaks English and all of the signs/menus/etc. are in both languages.

I went to Montreal with one of my friends from Teach For America and some of her fellow students from her grad program at UConn. Our primary intent was to see some of the city, hang out at pubs, and stay inside as much as possible. Getting across the border is easy going in to Canada (takes a little longer getting back into the States), all you need is a passport or your birth certificate and a photo ID.

It was snowing pretty heavily when we got into Montreal so we missed the famous view from the bridge. We made our way to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Select Centre-Ville (Downtown). The hotel is in the center of Chinatown and has a very cool Asian theme. The restaurant even has a little walkway over a pond which is pretty cool. The service was good, the rooms were nice and clean and it was within walking distance of almost everything. That's pretty much all I can say, I mean, it was a Holiday Inn. We could afford it and didn't have to worry about the cleanliness of the sheets. However, the wireless internet only worked for a day, a fact which did not please me. But other than that, it wasn't bad.

Rue Saint-Catherine is really the main street in Montreal. It is full of great shopping (if I wasn't broke I would have had many, many pairs of shoes and dresses to declare at the border), the after Christmas sales (Boxing Day sales in Canada and the UK) are on right now and every window showed off a huge "SOLDE!" sign. Saint-Catherine and its side streets are also home to the touristy bars and strip clubs that Montreal is known for. The Museum of Contemporary art, a few beautiful cathedrals, and a host of restaurants finish off the eclectic mix of entertainment to be found on the street.

We spent a lot of our time here, especially on Saint-Catherine and Crescent Street, which is where we found Winnie's, a very cool little pub named after Sir Winston Churchill. We had dinner a block or so up the street at Dundees, which served huge portions (a common theme in Montreal) of pretty typical bar and grill food. We stopped at the Hard Rock for a drink because I love it, I don't care if it's touristy. I don't buy t-shirts at every one but I may have to start. I don't collect any one thing when I travel and it's sad, I feel like I should bring home more than stories. Not that I mind the stories, but you know, shot glasses, spoons, and bells (my mom's favourite) are there for a reason. Oh well, I'll find something eventually. The second night, we had dinner at Baton Rouge, on Saint-Catherine, which was recommended by a shop owner in town. The atmosphere was elegant and sophisticated, the portions were giant-sized and delicious and it was reasonably priced.

Everyone in Montreal was incredibly friendly and helpful. We had a long conversation with the man who owns a t-shirt shop in Old Montreal (he felt the need to inform the three black women he was speaking to of the fact that we can now hope to find black husbands because Obama is going to raise the bar), getting safety tips from cab drivers ("I tell my passengers, if you are in a hurry, find another taxi!"), and catching up on politics with local vagrants ("Vous etes Americains? Obama!"). Our group consisted of two white men and three black women, all under 26, and no matter which combination we walked around in we were welcomed and treated with respect.

On the second day, the girls and I decided to explore Vieux (Old) Montreal. Old Montreal looks like a European Christmas village. Right on the water, it is anchored by Notre-Dame, a beautiful basilica. The neighborhood features a plethora of tourist shops and cafes. This is a life saver when the weather is hypothermia-inducing and we frequently stopped to explore kitchy souvenir shops or for a hot chocolate, tea, or poutine, the traditional Montreal dish of french fries, gravy, and cheese curds. We stopped at a little place called Pizzeria Jacques Cartier at 444 Place Jacque Cartier for hot chocolate and delicious carrot soup. We also went to a little broom closet of a place on St. Vincent that may not even have had a name for some french fries and Poutine. We really did not have a choice, while we were standing outside looking at the menu a lonely looking old man jumped out of the restaurant and read the entire thing to us, begging us to come in! Traveling to tourist destinations in the off-season often lends itself to this kind of personalized attention. The service was great and the tea and fries were warm so we weren't disappointed.

Overall, Montreal is definitely a city that I will visit again, although next time in the summer. It is a great place to go if you can't afford a visit to France, as it is the second-largest French speaking city in the world (after Paris, bien sur). They say Montreal is like New York-meets-Europe. I think maybe more like Boston-meets-Europe actually. It's not really anything like New York at all. It definitely has more of a small-city, touristy feel to it but in French and with a little village. I liked it. I think you will too.

Have you ever been to Montreal?

Travel well!
kat

I heart Southwest Airlines

I have been Farecasting (yes, it's a verb now) tickets to D.C. for the inauguration since about, ohhh.... November 1st. The prices from Detroit to Baltimore have gone up and down but have never gone below $250 or above $400 when I'm searching for reasonable dates (i.e. not coming in on the 19th and leaving on the 21st). Then, yesterday I read that Amtrak added additional lines between various cities (Boston, New York, and the rest of the Northeast Corridor lines) and Washington D.C. and that Southwest Air added additional flights. Sure enough, I checked for a flight today and found one for $210!! I am staying for a week, which helped, but even when I was looking through more restricted dates I found tiks for just $245. Southwest rocks. In fact, they rock so much that most of the flights were sold out so if you are planning on buying a plane ticket go now!

That is all. Rock on.

The Luckiest Girl in the World

I HAVE TICKETS TO THE INAUGURATION!!!

Yes, you heard right. Actual. Tickets.

To the swearing in AND one of the official balls. Holla!

My beautiful, wonderful, incredible, amazing friend Kerry, who was a semi-big shot for the Washington state Obama campaign, got tickets and is taking me as her date! I've never been happy that she's not married before, but today I have to admit that I sort of am... She called me on the bus back to Hartford on New Year's Day to tell me, which is when I knew that 2009 is definitely going to be my year. I cannot even believe how excited I am. 14 days until Michelle Obama becomes First Lady and I actually have freaking tickets. Plus, there are ten official balls and the Obamas are guaranteed to show up to all of them which means I'll actually get to see her! I will probably die immediately afterwards.

Since there is little to no chance that I will be blogging while I am partying like it's 1999 for the week, keep up with my Twitters for up-to-the-minute updates and, quite possibly, a description of the ambulance in which they are carrying me away. OMFG, can you believe it? I have so much shopping to do! There are balls, parties, luncheons, standing out in the freezing cold for a minimum of six hours (why the inauguration is in January and not June I will never understand). I need gowns, dresses, shoes, shoes, gloves, and shoes. I wonder if I can find a pillbox hat?

Are any of you going to the inauguration? If you are, stay posted, I am now a staff writer for Indie Travel Guides (that was another bit of New Year's news) and my first post is about planning for the event. Also, since it's all I can think about, I'll share little tidbits about the best tips and guides on BAPworld as I go along. I've added a few links to the bottom in case you want to get started now. If you're not going to the inauguration, MSNBC and all of the other news stations will have all day coverage, if you're at work, you can watch CNN.com/live and I'll be Twittering along as I go. You can even plan an inauguration party, watch the event at home with friends, and read them my twitters as they come in! Okay, you don't have to do that last part...

If you're going to the inauguration, what are your plans? And if you're not, how are you going to celebrate our new First Lady at home?

INAUGURATION LINKS
Presidential Inauguration Committee
Senate Inauguration Site
Washington City Paper
Washington Post Inauguration Central

New Year, New York

This year for New Year's Eve I went to New York City to party with two friends, one of my best friends from Mount Holyoke, Katie, and one of the members of our very tight foursome from Teach For America, Rachel. The only other time that I have spent New Year's Eve doing anything other than watching the Twilight Zone marathon on the Sci-Fi channel, I spent it at a creepy little speak easy on (literally) the wrong side of the tracks in Houston. Needless to say, I was thrilled about the prospect of celebrating the new year at a fabulous club in the greatest city in the world. Luckily, Katie's brother, who went to law school with me but graduated last year, and his wife have a beautiful apartment right off Central Park West that they left to us while they traveled for the holiday. This apartment made me re-think my decision to go into public interest. It was gorgeous, and who doesn't love the Upper West Side? Sigh.

Anyways, the first order of business was deciding which club to grace with our presence and $100 cover charge. We waited too long and our options were narrowed down for us as the clubs kept selling out, but like the educated women we are, we did extensive research and finally settled on Home/Guesthouse, a fun little club on 27th that would only (she says sarcastically) charge us $135 for entrance, an open bar, champagne toast, and fabulous new year. It was worth every penny. Or it will be if I manage to eat every day until my student loan money comes in... The DJ was not only cute but talented, the crowd was fly and loved my new hat (thank you Mrs. Hollingsworth!), and since there was only one bar, and you can imagine how crowded it was, we made lots of new friends in line. The club was packed and Katie and I soon found ourselves dancing on the bench by the DJ booth. This quickly made us the stars of the show and at some point in the night the bouncer kicked everyone who had joined us on the bench but said, "I like you two, you can stay". This officially made our night. Being in possession of the usual 25-year-old lack of self-esteem, mostly due to the many extra pounds that I need to get rid of, I was sure that when we got to the club all of the other girls would look like supermodels and that I would be sad and ignored and hate myself by the end of the night. Oddly enough, Katie, who actually does look like a supermodel, had the same concerns. We were fools to worry. Everyone was in such a jovial mood that they were friendly, complimentary, and basically made me feel better about myself than I have in years. Plus, since the bar was so difficult to get to, we really didn't have very much to drink, which ensured that I felt great in the morning as well.

2008 was amazing and I already know that 2009 is going to be even better. I'll be traveling and living abroad a lot (more on that later), writing a lot (more on that a little less later than the latter), and on the bus back to Hartford I got the greatest news of my life (more on that hopefully within the next 24 hours) that pretty much ensured that I will be dying of happiness sometime soon. Plus, Michelle Obama is going to be the First Lady so what on Earth could be wrong with the world?

I hope you had a good New Year's, did you do anything exciting?

Travel well!
kat

A quick check-up

Hello All!

How was your New Year's? Mine was phenomenal, I almost never left New York! I have been crazy busy over the last week flying and driving and having a fabulous time. I have a few days left on my vacation before I return but when I do I will have lots of stories and news and travel tips galore. Have a great first week of 2009!!

Travel well,
kat

P.S. I also have an enormous surprise but I'm waiting for the official word before I tell! I'll give you a hint though: Expect incredible stories in about 15 days!!!