A few weeks ago, Abel and I went to our parish school's Casino Night fundraiser. As part of the festivities (and money raising) they held a silent and live auction as well. Abel was just itching to bid on something in the live auction and ended up winning us 2 tickets to the Washington Wizards v. Chicago Bulls game which was last night. Despite living in the DC-area for many, many years we'd only been to one other Wizards game--when Michael Jordon was playing for them. Neither of us are huge fans of basketball but he ended up winning the tickets for less then the face value of one ticket so we were happy to have a basketball date night.
As we approached the arena we noticed that the lines were coming out the door. That was strange, we'd never seen anything like that before. When we got in, we realized that the Secret Service was there checking every bag and putting each person through the magnetometer.
Was Obama there?
It would make sense. We all know he's a huge basketball fan and the Bulls are his home team.
When we got to our seats, I started scanning all the boxes for some sign that the President might be up there. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, though. Then, just a few minutes into the game, the crowd erupted! President Obama and about six other guys walked in and took seats on the floor! Wow! The crowd went wild. Can you imagine the players? Playing through those cheers: cheers that weren't for them but were for the biggest person they could ever hope to have in their stands? Wow!
Our auction-won tickets were pretty great--we were directly behind one of the baskets, about 22 rows off the floor. Obama sat in the corner on the opposite side so we had a very clear view of him for the entire game. Both Abel and I admitted that we watched Obama much more than the game! My stomach was just jumping the entire time. I just couldn't believe he was there. I just kept thinking that I hoped he was able to relax and enjoy himself for those 4 quarters of basketball. He's got so much pressure on him, I'm sure he needed it.
Showing posts with label Celebrities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Celebrities. Show all posts
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Inaugural Ball Bust?
I remember reading this article by Roxanne Roberts back in early January and snickering to myself about how true it was. She writes:
Each of those balls, however, confirmed Roberts' cautions as well as those noted in this article: long outdoor lines, horrors at the coat check, little-to-no food, long lines to purchase drink tickets then to secure actual drinks, no dancing and an absolute crush of people.
I snickered back in early January because I knew I wasn't going to succumb to the dream this year that "it will be different." I'd already decided we wouldn't be wasting our money on an inaugural ball.
But then, I got caught up in the excitement. Abel scored tickets through work (read: free for us!), we got a babysitter, I had a dress. We decided to go.
Ugh.
Don't get me wrong. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to go, to say "I was there." It was fun to get a dead-of-winter pedicure, to get dressed up, to stroll in with Abel (who looked so fantastic in his tux we need to figure out another opportunity for him to wear it soon!) and to celebrate this amazing time for our nation.
But.
It was not fun to stand in a long line outside the ball with bare legs and very strappy sandals. It was not fun to walk about 100 yards to go to the bathroom at the Amtrak gate at Union Station with the hoards of train and Metro passengers coming into town for the festivities. It was not fun to wait forever to purchase tickets to purchase drinks--$7 for mixed drinks and $6 for wine. It was not fun to then stand in another long line to actually purchase the drinks. It was not fun to be in a crush of people the entire night and even have my foot rolled over by a suitcase (hello lady, really you needed to bring you suitcase into the black tie ball?).
But.
It was fun to stand right next to George Lopez. It was fun to see Rosario Dawson and Rosie Perez. Apparently J-Lo, Marc Anthony, Shakira, David Archuleta and my cartoon-voice-crush, Wilmer Valderrama were there as well. (The true account is that we didn't lay eyes on these last few stars, but, you know, history gets, um, revised all the time....)
In truth, I've already forgotten the cold and the lines. And I quite clearly remember how nice Abel and I looked and that I got to see J-Lo and Wilmer in person.
Right?
"Every four years I warn starry-eyed rookies about the inaugural balls, and every four years they ignore my hard-earned advice. I feel like the mom who tells her lovesick teenage daughter, "Trust me, he's going to break your heart." Does the daughter listen? Of course not. She says, "But this one is different."Prior to last night, I had been to two inaugural balls and my heart was indeed broken with each one. Don't get me wrong, I loved getting dressed up--I purchased new long gowns and accessories for the inaugural ball I attended with some college friends in 1997 and for the "official" ball Abel and I attended in 2001 at which George W. and Laura made an appearance.
Each of those balls, however, confirmed Roberts' cautions as well as those noted in this article: long outdoor lines, horrors at the coat check, little-to-no food, long lines to purchase drink tickets then to secure actual drinks, no dancing and an absolute crush of people.
I snickered back in early January because I knew I wasn't going to succumb to the dream this year that "it will be different." I'd already decided we wouldn't be wasting our money on an inaugural ball.
But then, I got caught up in the excitement. Abel scored tickets through work (read: free for us!), we got a babysitter, I had a dress. We decided to go.
Ugh.
Don't get me wrong. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to go, to say "I was there." It was fun to get a dead-of-winter pedicure, to get dressed up, to stroll in with Abel (who looked so fantastic in his tux we need to figure out another opportunity for him to wear it soon!) and to celebrate this amazing time for our nation.
But.
It was not fun to stand in a long line outside the ball with bare legs and very strappy sandals. It was not fun to walk about 100 yards to go to the bathroom at the Amtrak gate at Union Station with the hoards of train and Metro passengers coming into town for the festivities. It was not fun to wait forever to purchase tickets to purchase drinks--$7 for mixed drinks and $6 for wine. It was not fun to then stand in another long line to actually purchase the drinks. It was not fun to be in a crush of people the entire night and even have my foot rolled over by a suitcase (hello lady, really you needed to bring you suitcase into the black tie ball?).
But.
It was fun to stand right next to George Lopez. It was fun to see Rosario Dawson and Rosie Perez. Apparently J-Lo, Marc Anthony, Shakira, David Archuleta and my cartoon-voice-crush, Wilmer Valderrama were there as well. (The true account is that we didn't lay eyes on these last few stars, but, you know, history gets, um, revised all the time....)
In truth, I've already forgotten the cold and the lines. And I quite clearly remember how nice Abel and I looked and that I got to see J-Lo and Wilmer in person.
Right?
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Name that Celebrity!
I have to admit I'm having a hard time writing my post on Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention. Our Day 3 was Thursday. THE DAY. The historic day when Barack Obama accepted the Democratic Nomination for President of the United States. As I've already mentioned, we were there, in the stadium, for the speech. And it was amazing. So amazing that I'm having trouble getting it down in words.
So, as I work on that. And, as a break for any of you not so interested in politics. Here's a post about celebrity sightings! Real celebrities!
You see, the section right in front of us seemed to be chock full of celebrities. Some were easily recognizable like Susan Sarandon and Dana Delany. Others looked familiar. We were certain they were famous. But, we couldn't quite place them. But, we confirmed they were, in fact, important when the entire group got up and was escorted to better seats!
So, today I give you "Name that Celebrity!"
Join the fun by naming these celebrities in the comments section.
Celebrity A:
Celebrity B:
Celebrity C:
So, as I work on that. And, as a break for any of you not so interested in politics. Here's a post about celebrity sightings! Real celebrities!
You see, the section right in front of us seemed to be chock full of celebrities. Some were easily recognizable like Susan Sarandon and Dana Delany. Others looked familiar. We were certain they were famous. But, we couldn't quite place them. But, we confirmed they were, in fact, important when the entire group got up and was escorted to better seats!
So, today I give you "Name that Celebrity!"
Join the fun by naming these celebrities in the comments section.
Celebrity A:
Celebrity B:
Celebrity C:
Celebrity D:
Celebrity E:
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