It's official

We got business cards today. Crazy. (and cool...) And one more shot from the ball (by the professional photog for the night). Everyone but Bryan.... a sharp looking bunch if I say so myself..

Today I went to the White House

Sorry I'm late posting this - I found the Amazing Race online and so had to watch it. And it was two hours!

This morning was our White House tour. Started off poorly with our group not being on the official list of visitors so there were faxes that had to be sent and approvals made (guess who was coordinating this visit? the person who used to run my program. Coincidence? I think not!)

Anyway, they let us in eventually, and it was a lovely, slightly cool morning for standing around outside.

We only got to see the East Wing - not that I was expecting to get in to the Oval Office or anything, but I thought they were be an opportunity to peak around the corner or something, but it was not to be. You only get to see maybe ten rooms in total, and while impressive, if you have been to any of the Royal homes in England, this was really nothing special. I did like some of the art though. They are strangely proud of the fact that the British burned the place in 1817 or whenever it was. Maybe 1817 was when the repairs were finished (clearly I wasn't paying too close attention on this tour). You would have thought they'd be slightly ashamed of this fact, but no, they went on and on about it.

My favorite part of the tour was actually right at the end as we were leaving. Looking up from that particular exit you could see a window that had a little butterfly decal on it. I thought that that must be one of the girls' rooms, or a room where they spend some time. Either way, I was glad that there was a sign, however small, that children lived there and that they could behave like children, even though they were growing up in the White House.

Ball round-up

Okay, I have fully recovered from my NSO ball experience. Actually it was quite a lovely night, though capped with an hour plus wait for a cab to get home. There was a torrential downpour so this apparently was the cause, however, it was a good lesson to have multiple cab numbers on hand. I now have 3 recorded in my cell phone.

It turned in to a full day of pre-ball prep. I decided to go for a manicure in the morning, and for E and L, my manicurist wasn't quite as fabulous as the one I had in Vegas, but pretty close. In the afternoon I decided that something needed to be done to my hair, so I wandered down the street and went to the first place that looked like they didn't cost a fortune. I just had them style it - though we did have a bit of a language issue with me saying that in the humidity it was better to go curly and as a result they made my hair so flat it stuck out like two sheets of paper from my head. However, with some adjustments, it was fine and still probably better than I could have done myself.

I'm including two pictures here - first of my FFF taking a picture of Kentucky and then me with our Russian fellow. (or as it turns out me first than the other! stupid up-loading) He makes a lovely accessory. I would like to point out for the record that I bought this dress for the opening night of Rent in...1998? and it is really a modern miracle that it still fits. It doesn't currently fit as well as it should, but it still goes on, so that's a victory. It was also at the time the most expensive item of clothing I had ever bought, so I guess it has paid its dues now that it has been worn at the Kennedy Center. (and yes, Canstage folk will recognize it as what I wore to our ball last year...)

I love the orchestra. Or maybe it was a combination of the concert hall and the orchestra but still. I'm actually excited about going to see them perform again. I was mesmorized. The two hard core orchestra people in the fellowship had criticisms but I suppose since my main previous symphony experience was at Roy Thomson hall pre-reno, I thought they were the bees knees. Seriously.

The dinner and dancing part of the evening was what it was. I'm learning that DC does not do vegetarian. The cocktail party on the Friday night had NOTHING (well except the cupcakes - and believe you me I had a couple of those) and so maybe it's just that the rich in DC don't do vegetarian, but I'm finding it very difficult when eating out. Trader Joe's of course would lead you to believe that the entire nation has converted, but that is not the case. It's just something I'm going to have to remember in future and pack a granola bar! There was a vegetarian option - salmon (so they don't quite get it) and so I didn't eat all that much over the course of the night. I'm glad I didn't pay for it, is all I can say....

Overall, the night (after the actual concert) was a little anti-climactic but such is life.

Sunday, I ventured into a new part of town and tried out a Greek restaurant near the Portrait Gallery. I liked the area so much that after work tonight, me and FFF went to the portrait gallery for a couple of hours and then had a glass of wine at the bar next to the restaurant I was at yesterday. It is truly brilliant having free galleries so you can pop in and out as you like without any pressure - FFF laments the lack of good wine here and I have to say I mostly agree with her. DC is not a wine town. And when you find somewhere with a decent list, you pay for it. I don't mind plonk myself, but I guess it is unFrench to drink crap wine.

We went through the American Presidents at the gallery in preparation of our White House tour bright and early tomorrow. Neatest thing was the Abe Lincoln bit where you can go out to the balcony where his inauguration took place - they then also have some very gruesome photos and images from his assassination. But it's an interesting chapter in their history for sure.

Think of me on the metro at 7am - ACK. Why they couldn't have chosen 1pm I'll never know...I'll say hi to the Obamas for you if they are back from the G20....

Shout out to Miss Laurie today on the occasion of her birth.

I'm off to the NSO ball to celebrate....

I don't really know how I ended up in a life where I'm at the same cocktail party as Obama's chief advisor on the environment, but that seems to be what's happened. She was a lovely woman.

I realize that I haven't really said what I am doing all day. Other than going to balls and receptions and such that is.

Three mornings a week we have "class". These are actually more seminars or discussions with the three most senior members of staff - the VP of Marketing, VP of Development and Michael Kaiser, our CEO. We also have finance class but it seems to be more sporadic. So far they are really the best part about being here. It's this amazing amount of access to people who are so smart and good at what they do. It is such a painless way to learn all this...stuff... about areas that I've had little exposure to- officially anyway. And it is amazing how generous they are with their time. These are not un-busy people but they clearly love talking about what they do all day. I'm completely paranoid about being late for one however (MMK says "on time is late") so I tend to get to work half an hour early, so it makes the day long!

Otherwise in my rotation currently I am writing my first NEA grant (National Endowment for the Arts) and I would just like to say no one should complain about the Canada Council grants ever again. The level of bureaucracy involved in this thing is astounding. They are very, very picky about formatting and what you put where, it is like they are looking for ways to disqualify applications based on technicalities. Of course this is horrifying as I don't want to be the fellow that lost them a grant because I named a file incorrectly! Actually I think we are stretching it a bit with this particular application but fortunately I am a gifted wordsmith.

Tomorrow it's back to cocktail parties..

America is weird

As seen on the streets in Old Town. Yup. Clearly we are a centre (center) of sophistication.