my afternoon with prince harry

Last week, I got a blast-from-the-past email from a friend whom I haven't seen or spoken to in years.

She'd been watching TV coverage of Prince Harry's Washington, D.C., visit and thought she saw me in the background, stalking the royal uncle-in-waiting as he roamed the halls of Congress.

"I know that's something Patra from 8 years ago would do," she said, "was it you?"

If the MI6  has a file on me I wouldn't be surprised. I tend to make the paper(s) when the Brothers Wales dominate American headlines. I can't deny it's odd behavior for a lady of my age, but if the ginger prince came to your office wouldn't you try to catch a glimpse?

With just a little shame, I admitted to my friend that it was likely me, as the photos seen on the front page of UK Daily Mail (and also on CNN, HuffPo, WaPo, Gawker, USA Today and People) would confirm.  

In defense of all us curious anglophiles, I will tell you that the welcome we gave Harry was indeed hospitable but hardly the Beatles-crazed mania you read it was.  UK Daily (one of my favorite reads; I was highly amused to make its print) reported that police escorted us all back to our desks. That didn't happen (but should security have tried, I was ready to test the Reese Witherspoon I Am An American Citizen defense). Though mocked globally, our curiosities obstructed no one's justice. 

Southern Nights in DC

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I grew up in Tennessee listening to country music and have remained a huge fan, especially of classic artists and songs. In fact, the older I get  the more classic I become, it's the old school stuff I love most. 

So, when I had the chance Wednesday to make a night in Washington a Southern Night by attending a special performance by Glen Campbell at the Library of Congress, I RSVPed yes in an instant. Then, I asked our new hire, a cute girl with college graduation just days behind her, if she knew who Glen Campbell is; she didn't. I felt old.  Patrick and Jocelyn do, however....

...and so they came, too!  Before the concert there was a reception, also at the Library. I had no idea there was this pretty garden nestled outside the Jefferson building....

That's where we spent most of our times stalking the catering staff for mini-bites of beef, lobster, shrimp and chicken salad... 

and also trying to casually find ourselves next to Jane Seymour, who was also there (obviously, with an open heart). She MC'ed the concert....

This night was hosted by the Alzheimer's Association....

You can find an open bar and free food around Capitol Hill on any night of the week, but it isn't always special, and this event was truly well done. 

Glen Campbell, who has been very public about his battle with Alzheimer's Disease, is on his final tour this year, playing hits old and new. I had tried to buy tickets for his concerts at The Birchmere, a cool dinner theater outside Washington, but all three shows were sold out! Last night's performance was so special, and I was just thrilled to get to see it. 

It's the Climb: Capitol Dome Tour

Last Friday, there was a cancelation for a Capitol Dome Tour, and truly by chance, my office was lucky to fill it.

Looking at this picture, taken 152 feet above the Capitol Rotunda, still gives me a little bit of vertigo...and this wasn't even the highest point. Here I am on the balcony at the base of the tholos....

High enough to see the Maryland 'burbs.....though the Washington landmarks were much more sightly. Here's Patrick, the work hubs, holding Court, Supremely, on the exterior balcony of the Dome.

I've worked on the Hill for years, but never had the chance to make this climb.

I have a slight fear of heights, and a wild imagination that went into over-drive as I was winding my way to the top, giving the stairs a tight death-grip....

but I did it anyway, because it's a pretty big treat to score a dome tour (tours are not available for public booking, and only taken once a day). The up-close view of the dome's paintings....

and its architecture was worth a very real case of the willies. 

I am going to get a little D.C. nerdy here. I loved seeing this light....

When either the House or the Senate is in session, this light is always on. You can see it from the the top of the Capitol, all over the city. On September 11th, even when the government evacuated, this light stayed turn burning.

Confession....I had to rely on my co-workers for most of these photos. I was too chicken to look over the inside ledge. This is how I saw things from inside...

I wasnt as brave as these girls...

Dome you wish your collegaues are cute like mine? Hee! The photos don't do the experience justice...

but they will always be reminders to me of how lucky I am to get to do unique things like this!

What I Really Wanted to Ask John Grisham

There was a movie premiere Monday night in Washington. No, not Jen's. But John's......

John Grisham.  Or, as Patrick and I code-named him as we stalked him throughout a cocktail party...Jake Brigance.

 You're one of 'em, Jake...

Jake, er...John Grisham was among panelists discussing Mississippi Innoncence, an indy doc that showcases two wrongly convicted men from the same town in Mississippi, and their fight to eventual freedom.

The movie made its national debut last night at The Newseum, and the work hubs was kind enough to take me as his plus one.

I was excited to go because...well, there would be lobster corn dogs amd other savories served on sticks, thank you WolfGang. And though I am a tad more discerning before giving an RSVP, Yes to a school night event now that I domesticate from the 'burbs, I'm willing to trade a late arrival home for movie premieres with best-selling authors after-hours inside my favorite Washington museum.

I'm ashamed to admit, now having watched the film which was serious and moving, that I went into this night thinking only about things I wanted to beg of Grisham:

Why are you so smug when Matt Lauer interviews you?

What do you think of Justin Timberlake reprising the role of Jake from A Time to Kill on Broadway?

How did you get Matthew McConaughey so perfectly sweaty for your movie?

The thing is, Carl Lee Bailey was right when he called Jake out for only pretending to be a comman man. You knew that didn't you. You've seen A Time To Kill 2,342,423 times on TBS, too. So you aren't surprised that Mr. Grisham quickly took his by-line good-bye. He was no where to be found at the reception with the rest of us passed-app chasers.

It was still a great night, though. As any pap will tell you, be it actor or author, the thrill is in the hunt. What we lost in some face time with Grisham, we surely gained in prosciutto wrapped mascarpone.

This I Know For Sure...

 I'm sorry...the start of a Fall television season sans Oprah made me want to use the above as a blog post title.

photo credit: here

• I don't know much, but I know I love Trader Joes.

• I know that when I don't wear a lot of make-up to work, my co-workers say I'm in High-Def. When I take efforts with the concealer, the Low-Def is appreciated.

• I know that if there isn't a lot of posting on this blog that usually means there is a lot of cleaning at my house. 

• Laboring on Labor Day is under-rated, because all I did on my day off was launder + tidy, and I feel more together this week than I have in ages - now I know why all you Real Simple-types get so excited about organization!

• I've always known I bite off more than I can chew in life, and that is not a reference to my weight, just a way to say I haven't been binge eating, I just haven't had the time to update over at my Red Dress Report blog. 

• The DC Ladies blog, where I sometimes moonlight, got an updated look, and I know you'll love it if you click here... 

• Because I learned the hard way, I know that when dog poo lands unwittingly on one's face, a silly fight between husband + wife will quickly end and turn to desperate laughter. And I know that's all I need to say about that...even though it could make one hysterical blog post.

Cupcake, Interuppted

Now that the great DC Rumble of 2011 has passed with everyone and nearly everything unharmed, we can joke when reliving what was the Shake, Rattle + Roll Call on Capitol Hill.

The photo above is how I found my desk this morning, courtesy not of Mother Nature but, my co-workers. Jokesters. We laugh now, but in Washington, the first fear after a sudden shake-boom is not an earthquake but, sadly, a bomb. When sitting at your desk felt like riding the Gravitron (points for 1980s county fair people if you get that reference!) and when tourists start pouring out of the Capitol, even before the alarms sound to evacuate, it's sort of no joke.

It's scary. And I admit, for a few minutes, I was nervous. Til we could take cover in a bar...

Our building was off limits for the rest of the day. I couldn't even get my car out of the garage til early evening. So, I hung out with other stranded friends...

'til I could fight the traffic back to the 'burbs with the rest of the survivors.

I should mention that just before the Earth moved I was about to go all Katie Holmes and eat a bite or two of a Sprinkles cupcake. Not to make this about me (bloggers would NEVER do that - hee!) but I do have to wonder...was that just God's way of saying, "Step away from the buttercream"?  

We'll never know....because when I made it back into the office today, I discovered the treats had been tainted by a mystery sampler...

Cupquakes...left only as rubble.

Bobby Flay's Burger Palace

As is often the case in politics, I went to a networking lunch yesterday. A Food Network-ing lunch....hee!

Last week, Celebrity Chef Bobby Flay opened up a Bobby's Burger Palace in Washington, down on K Street. My co-worker, Allen, and I made a little run downtown to bring back lunch for everyone in our office....after standing in quite a line just to even make it inside the restaurant!

This place is a hot-spot, but considering the crowd, we were still able to make it in an out pretty efficiently!

There are a few big time burger places in Washington operated by big time chefs (Shake Shack, Good Stuff, Ray's Hell Burger, Central) and between the bulk of us, we've been to nearly all of them.

The review? The shakes - delish, but not as good as the Roasted Marshmellow shake from Good Stuff. The fries - Bobby offers sweet potato, and they were very good, as were the regular fries! The main event, the burgers - better than Good Stuff, and as good or better than its other rivals.

The salads (aka, the topless patty on greens)? Cause yeah...that's what I got. Pretty good, probably even great...if you don't eat it while watching everyone else enjoy various forms of gourmet cheeseburgers!

I didn't order fries yesterday, but today over at Red Dress I'm telling about how fries were the key to the first part of my weight loss...you can read about it here!

Love, Marriage...and Co-Workers.

I got to see my friend (and former co-worker) Lindsay say I Do on Saturday. She was one of the happiest, most excited brides I've ever seen, kissing her groom even before he was given the charge to lay one on her. It was adorable!

Lindsay's mom compared her daughter's wedding day to her first day of kindergarten. "She was just so ready, like on the first day of school" she said, "she never even looked back." I loved the likeness of those two monumental days.



I, however, spent much of the wedding reception looking back, glory daysing with co-workers, past and present, who'd made the trip from all over the country to be at Lindsay's wedding in Tennessee.

I took my mama as my hot date, since Dan didn't make this trip home with me...

....and she got an ear full as everyone told stories and played catch up. PR loved it, especially all the nice young men who made sure her drink was always full.

Mom told me I was really lucky to have worked/work with people I like so much.

As she often is, PR is right! A few years ago I left the Hill, and was working at a place where I didn't jive with too many people. They all seemed to think the world of each other, and when that happens -when I'm the outsider to a situation - my default defense is to just scoff at it. Very mature, I know. I can remember saying to someone, very As If-ish, The only friends those people have are people from work.

Four of the people in my wedding party were people who were first "just" co-workers to me. Yes, I'm guilty of being one of those people. It's truly no wonder I struggle with weight; I eat more words than anyone I know!

Not everyone gets to spend eight hours of their day with their friends, but for many years, I have. Tons of people wouldn't even want to see their co-workers outside the office, certainly not at their wedding. That wasn't the case for me, and clearly not for Lindsay, either. Here's hoping you are lucky enough to be one of those people, too.

Nora Roberts for Congress

The hay day of lobbyist lunches and free tickets to sporting events has long since passed for Hill staffers, but one perk that remains is the privilege of borrowing books from the Library of Congress.

Hill staff can reserve a book  online, then it's delivered straight to their office. A phone call is made to schedule the book's return.  I count this as the best perk of my job, and I request books from the LOC nearly every week.


I guess that because the request is going to the LOC, the prettiest building in town, the home of all the smart government researchers, that there's a little weight behind the borrow. That's why when I do check out things like Rob Lowe's bio and anything by Nora Roberts I do so with just a tad of shame. Not that I'm embarassed to admit reading those kinds of books...but to check them out from the Library of Congress? I mean, I do it, but it feels a little frivolous.


Or at least it did...

Here I was worried that every other Congressional staffer was checking out The Art of War, memoirs of former Presidents or something by Peggy Noonan at least. Nope. Vision in White is wait listed!!!! That means I'm not the only  pseudo-intellectual borrowing romance novels of the most common sort from our country's greatest library.


I can't tell you how much better this makes me feel about msyelf.

D.C. Power Lunching

As in most cities, food trucks are all the rage these days in Washington. It's not always easy to track them down as they roam from stop to stop, but once a month, a ton of trucks roll into a big lot near Nationals Stadium...

I went last week with some co-workers...

As the diet would allow, I made stops at the homemade popsicle and the lobster trucks, respectively...

Though, what I really wanted was a fancy grilled cheese...

and a cupcake!

There's a band, a beer/wine/margarita garden and the crowd is full of everyone from power players to students.

I don't know why the food trucks don't do this EVERY Friday - there were tons of people there, and I  think it could bring a whole new casual, summery feel to D.C. power lunching!