The J-Dub

I am having so much fun in DC!  I forgot how much fun it is to go exploring in your new home.  Of course, my hotel is in such a perfect location, I haven't even been on the Metro yet!  Everything we've wanted to do has been no more than three blocks away, including the White House.  It's wonderful.  Maybe I'll just live in the hotel...

 I'm staying at the JW Marriott, a giant hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue.  The Jdub, as I like to call it, is ridiculously nice.  There are ginormous chandeliers that Joe and I are convinced we've seen crashing onto bad guys in at least one James Bond movie, the bar has delicious food and a great happy hour, the lobby has super comfortable couches like the one on which I am currently perched, and after 11pm on weekends there is a security guard at the door to keep out the ruffians and only allow entrance to the holders of black cards.  It's all very posh and Washington-y.

 The beds are also super comfortable, which is nice since it's August in DC so I have spent about as much time lounging on the beds as I have on my feet.

My favourite feature though is the window seat in my room.  On the left I can see the Washington Monument and straight ahead I can see the very Parisian Willard InterContinental Hotel.  And to the right I can see the Borders that is going out of business but that's not so great because it's difficult to resist temptation.  I spend a lot of time sitting on that window seat and I think I'm going to miss it the most when I check out tomorrow.  Oh well.  I'll definitely be coming back to happy hour at 1331 a lot!

The Monument

 

The Willard

Going back to bed and A/C...
kat

Just Practising for the Future

I went to the White House today!!  It was amazing.  A group of current and former law students and I were invited after ValJar came to events that two student organizations held during my graduation, at which she was the commencement speaker.  I was especially excited because I planned one of the events and invited her and I was absolutely shocked when she said yes!!  We found out a few months ago that we had been invited to the WH and today was finally the day!

The White House from the inside.

 After the requisite posing for photographs in the blazing sun and waiting in line at security as they took our IDs and did their security thing, we were in!  After seeing the WH through cast iron gates for so long, it was amazing to see it right in front of us, up close, with nothing in the way.  It really is the most beautiful home in America.


There were about 15 of us in the group and we were met by one of VJ's assistants.  She led us down the lawn and into a door held open by a very handsome Marine.  The room inside was divine.  All crimson and cushions and lush, with gorgeous artwork on the walls.  As we headed to the Roosevelt room and deposited our electronics outside, I noticed an amazing four-part Norman Rockwell painting called "So You Want to See the President".  It was incredible.  You can see it here.  Finally, we went in and took our seats at the table where the President and his senior staff meet every single day.

Me with the super cute bag my aunt bought me.  I was the only one not wearing a boring colour... of course.

I won't go into the details about the meeting but suffice it to say that, just like the last time we met, VJ was absolutely stylish, kind, gracious, and brilliant.  She's so smart it's crazy and far more humble than she deserves to be.  I totally love her.  I also love her because when I told her that I just moved here two days ago and don't have a job yet she said, "Well you moved here on Wednesday and are at the White House on Friday so I'd say you're doing pretty well."  I couldn't agree more VJ!  We talked about everything from the November elections to the President's birthday to the White House's role in crafting their message.  It was an incredibly open and honest talk about what's going on in the administration and it was reassuring to know that everything she was saying was something that we had heard before, which means they really are getting their message out there, at least to those of us who are paying attention.  And, after she left us she went to the confirmation of Elena Kagan!!  Yaay!!!!


We were so lucky to meet VJ, to sit in that historic room with the portrait of Teddy Roosevelt on the wall, and to get to experience even the tiniest part of history.  I can't wait til I find a way to get back again.


Sweet dreams from the capitol!
kat

I'm a little rusty, but I'm working on it

I started this blog post over a week ago and everytime I sat down to write I found myself staring at the screen and wanting to take a nap.  Clearly, my brain wasn't ready for the thinking yet...  But, here I am and I'm BACK and have a super fun (relatively speaking) trip to talk about. Also, a disclaimer.  There are no photographs of any of the pre-bar descriptions here because, quite frankly, I was too terrified to think about taking pictures.

Ohhhhh Canada

Since we had to take the bar in New York, my friend Raph and I decided to drive there to save money (ha!), relax before the exam (hahaha!) and see a new part of the country at the same time.  So, we hopped in a rental car and drove the five hours (through Canada)  from Ann Arbor to Buffalo, where I was to drop Raph on my way to Albany.

Buffalo, NY is a pretty cool little town.  It looks a little like Detroit when you first drive in: sad, post-industrial, abandoned.  A reminder of the boom time towns that are now bust.  But after meeting up with one of Raph's bffs from Bryn Mawr, we got to see a much cooler part of the city.  We went to the Anchor Bar, home of the original buffalo wings where I scarfed down a plate of the most delicious wings that I have had in a long and dedicated buffalo wing eating career.  We also drove around and saw some of the quaint little neighborhoods with colourful Victorian houses, the adorable cafes and boutiques, and the awesome buffalo artwork all over the town.  By the next morning I was sad to be leaving.  Well, I was mostly sad because I was that much closer to the bar exam, but also because Buffalo was such a chill little town.

However, I had to move on so I hopped in my Chrysler Sebring (the new ones are really really nice, btw), cranked up the SiriusXM (it was better when it was just Sirius) and sang my way through the lush vegetation of upstate New York to the capital city.

Albany is awesome.  It's full of great little restaurants, cafes and boutiques.  It has some amazing architecture, including the American-Parliament-esque state capital, and it even features some of the most terrifying sculptures that I have ever seen.  One particular featured an 8-foot-tall Victorian couple dancing while the man chewed off the woman's ear like some pre-Holyfield/Tyson nightmare.  My friends insist that he was only whispering to her but I am convinced that I saw drops of blood and masticating.  Yeah, it was gross.  HOWEVER, other than the oddly chosen sculptures, Albany was a pretty cool town.  They do make a killing off bar students though, overcharging for everything from hotels rooms to taxi cabs to slices of pizza being sold on the street corner, but whatevs, a town's gotta do what a town's gotta do.

Then came the bar. Blah blah blah.  Done.

Afterwards, I hopped in the auto and jetted back to Buffalo where I picked up Raph and, after a crazy delicious salmon and olive paste sandwich at some little cafe where I also picked up an Ann Rice novel for $2, we decided to go to Niagara Falls. 

Niagara Falls is AWESOME!  The Canadian side is incredimazing.  Not only did they get the best view of the falls (we must have been feeling generous that day) but they've turned it into a mini-Vegas with casinos, a Stratosphere-looking thing, and even a Legoland. Yeah, you heard right. Lego. Land. Of course, being Canadian, they had to wuss it up by calling it "Lego Brick City" and not actually being awesome, but whatevs, it's still giant Legos.  Not that we went.  No, we jetted through, parked at the falls, took some pics, I spent half the time on the phone working out the details of an exciting visit about which I shall tell you this weekend, and then jetted back out.

Me on the phone at the falls.  Clearly I will be heading back to the gym ASAP!

After over an hour at customs, in which the INS/ICE/BS woman asked us everything from "where have you been and what have you been doing?" to "where did you two meet?".  Raph and I spent a lot of time guessing what the wrong answer to that question is.  I think it's "We met at Jihad summer camp", she went with "Islamic lesbian lovefest".  Either way, the question, like the wait, were highly inappropriate, especially since the Canadian dude waived us in without even looking at our passports.  But finally we were HOME!!  I love coming back to America more than most but after finally being liberated of all law school related duties, I have never felt so free.  It was a highly symbolic moment.

Haaaaaalelujah!  Free at last!

To celebrate, I spent the rest of the week partying every night with my equally liberated friends, packing up, and saying goodbye to my beloved Ann Arbor.  I'm writing to you now from the lobby of the crazy gorgeous hotel that my parents sent me to to start my new life in DC.

Another adventure awaits!

I missed you all, but now I'm baaaack!!
kat