Cait Comes to Visit!

This weekend, one of my best friends in the whole wide world came to visit me!!! Caitlin flew in Thursday night to a typical 510 C tornado of madness, which I tried to apologize profusely for...but is what has been and will be my life until May 11th! We called it a night b/c we were both pretty tired.

Friday we went to go see Arlington National Cemetery. It was pretty cold and kind of rainy when we started up, but it cleared up a lot when we got to the cemetery. Caitlin's grandmother is buried there, so we went and visited her, then saw some more sites and memorials that were there. We took a tour of Lee's home, which I didn't do the last time I was there, and I really enjoyed seeing it. The history there is fascinating...the original structure has survived so much, and although they are doing a renovation on it now, they are trying to keep a lot of the original material in tact. After that, we went back and chilled for the night...caught up on some movies...I recommend Enchanted if you haven't seen it-it was adorable!

Saturday was so fun! We decided to walk around the monuments and see everything, which was a good decision b/c it ended up being a BEAUTIFUL day (70 degrees, sunny...perfect!) My housemates and I had to introduce Caitlin to Tortilla Coast, a 510 C favorite. We had some good Mexican food, then went off on our journey! First stop was at the Capitol, then made the rounds around the Mall, saw the cherry blossoms and thought it was hilarious how many people were there-we couldn't even walk around the Tidal Basin. But it was so worth it to see everything! That night we saw Leatherheads, another good movie! It has Jim from the Office in it, so of course it was amazing...George Clooney wasn't bad either ;-)

Sunday we went to the most amazing church-the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception-on Catholic U's campus. We went to the noon mass which on the website was described as the "solemn mass with choir"...it was one of the prettiest masses I have been to in a long time! I really enjoyed going there...I think I'll have to go again before I leave! After mass, Cait and I went to Georgetown and ate lunch at Clyde's, which was a really good restaurant-very busy though. We shopped around for a bit, then headed back for some chill time and ended up watching LOTR until like, midnight.

I had a GREAT time this weekend-I miss Cait a lot so it was fun to see her, especially up here in DC! It was a good reminder of how much fun the summer is going to be...I hope I get to see her again in July for the big 2-1! But yeah, it was a fun weekend!!!

Cherry Blossoms!

DC is GORGEOUS right now! Yesterday after work, a group of my housemates and I decided to go check out the trees that are blooming along the Tidal Basin. AMAZING...everything was so pretty! The actual festival starts this weekend, so that'll be fun to go to as well. I love DC in the spring...its so pretty with all the different flowers and trees...its great. Enjoy the pictures! Caitlin gets here tonight so I'll have a fun weekend to talk about on Monday!

I <3 NY

This weekend was a BLAST! Ten out of the twelve girls in the house decided to take a weekend trip up to NYC to see the sights and spend some money. We crammed as much as we could into 3 days, and wound up seeing a lot more than I expected!

Friday we arrived on our bus around 1pm-ish, and checked into our hotel which was this really cool building downtown literally right across the street from Ground Zero. We could see the entire site from our 12th floor room and I have some really interesting pictures. Once we got all settled in, we decided to check out the downtown area and saw Wall St. and the New York Stock Exchange (I got a picture with the bull too)...then we walked down to Battery Park and saw the Statue of Liberty. We ate at this really good local pizza place, and then had to best dessert of the entire trip at Pinkberry, which is a frozen yogurt place that is AMAZING. Then we headed over to Times Square (where we almost were conned into buying tickets for a comedy club despite the fact we already had tickets for another one...it was interesting) and went to a comedy show...needless to say we were exhausted after a long day!!!



Saturday was just as jam packed! We all got up and went to Canal Street where I got some excellent knock-offs (Gucci and Coach...not bad!)...then we split up and the group I was with decided to go see Rockefeller Center and my roommate Sarah and I shopped in the NBC store (where I purchased a lovely Office poster...cant wait to put it up in my room at school!) and then we walked down 5thAvenue and then to Dylan's Candy Bar. Then we met up with the others at FAO Schwarz (which made me miss the one that used to be in the STL) and I went with some of my other roommates to eat at this really cool Irish pub and then went to the top of the Empire State Building (at night I think its the best!)...again, at the end, we were exhausted!



Sunday was awesome too...although I thought I'd be sitting that day out b/c I ended up waking up feeling like the world was spinning...but once I got outside it was so much better. My roommates Chelsey, Grace and I went back to 5th Avenue and popped into some of the stores...then we ended up meeting up with some other girls and ate at Serendipity 3! We thought we wouldn't get in...but we got to eat amazing food and have even more amazing desserts (if you are ever in New York, I highly recommend it!)


We had a GREAT time...I love that city...although I think DC is more like home for me!!!

WE MADE IT!

Okay so mission impossible wasn't so impossible after all! We left our house at 5:15...got to the Supreme Court at 5:25...and found out we were the FIRST ONES THERE! Our group got numbers 1-5 to get into the courtroom...excellent...

The 4 hour freezing wait was totally worth it...we all bundled up in our blanket (some how all 5 of us managed to keep warm under one blanket haha...the gaurds thought we were crazy)...the line got longer and longer as the morning went on. Okay, so I guess I should explain how getting into the Court works. There are two ways to get in to see oral arguments. The first (and legitimatley cooler) way is to be invited by the justices, or be special guests of someone getting sworn into the Supreme Court Bar that day. You get to sit in the cushy seats if that happens.

The public is a different story...you have to wake up early (or not so early, depending on how interesting the case is to general society) and wait outside on the plaza...nothing extremley exciting happens until about 7:30ish when they hand out "the numbers"...it helps the gaurds keep track of how many people in...but "doesnt garuntee a spot"...technically all 75 numbers could get in, or no one could get in depending on how many private guests come...but usually about 50 or 60 people make the cut!

As I said, we were numbers 1-5, so we had a good shot of making it...and did we make it! We had the best seats the public could get...front row (kinda haha) and we could see everything. At 10am on the dot, the justices entered the chambers...it was AMAZING to see these people in person! I mean, you see pictures of them and hear their voices in arguments and such...but to see them and see them grill the lawyers is great...just like the White House, you have so much respect for what goes on there...

The case we saw was Indiana v. Edwards...so fascinating, and pretty easy to understand. It was about a man (Edwards) who was judged to be comptent to stand trial, but was refused the right to represent himself b/c of his various mental illnesses. He was arguing that if he was competent to stand trial, he should be competent to represent himself...so today the lawyers argued various components to this case...what competency means....if it is fair to have two standards, or if there should be just one...what the responsibility of trial judges should be if there people such as Edwards are allowed to represent themselves...what happens if a trial becomes farsical...etc...

It was incredible to hear what the lawyers had to say and the questions that were asked by the justices...I loved it...its definitley up there with my White House journeys and now all I need to do is go see the Capitol and then I have all three branches of government covered!

So yeah, that was my morning...awesome...haha if you want to hear more let me know...I can tell you all about the trial in more detail...trust me! Miss you all!

Mission Impossible: Oral Arguments

Fact: It is 5am in DC
Fact: I am awake
Why? becuase my roommates and I are attempting to go hear an oral argument at the Supreme Court today...People start lining up at 5am or so, so we figured we'd join them...if we don't make the cut, we'll be in the 3 minute line

Fact: We don't want to be in the 3 minute line...so lets hope we make it!

I will update you all on the status of our mission after its completion. Thank you.

Happy Easter: The family comes to visit!

This weekend was great! Not only was it Easter (which I love), but my family came to visit me too! None of them but my dad have ever been to DC (and he hasn't been for quite some time) so I was able to take them around and show them all the fun sites. We accomplished quite a bit in their short time here...a lot of walking of course, which the bros weren't too fond of, but it was good exercise and we saw a lot!

Friday was their first full day here and of course we had to go do the important things in DC. We went to the Supreme Court and heard the lecture there about the main chamber...it was really interesting (again haha) and I think the boys liked it too! Then we walked to all the monuments-even TJeff and FDR-and my family had their first metro experience...I think they are still confused by it! It does take awhile getting used to though, so I will give them that. We had a pretty nice day to do all that walking...just a bit windy...but we all ended up getting sunburned, go figure.

Saturday was a new adventure for me too...we thought it was going to rain, but it ended up just being a little bit cloudy and cold, so we decided to venture to Arlington National Cemetery. It was really really interesting and exciting to see...it really put things into perspective too...and the history there is amazing! We took a tour mobile-bus thing around and heard all of the different stories and information about the different monuments and grave sites...it was very cool. One of my favorite parts was going to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown. The first time we saw it we were pretty far away, but my dad had us stay and we saw it up close the second time...very neat! After the tour, we walked a bit to see the Iwo Jima memorial-which was fascinating to see-and it was HUGE...I didn't realize the statue was that big.

After our trip there we went to Georgetown and walked around the campus...we picked up a few things at the book store too! (sadly, however, the Hoyas lost the next day to Davidson...sad) We went to dinner at a restaurant called 5-Guys, which has some amazing burgers and fries (recommend it to anyone going to DC)

Sunday was EASTER! We got up early and went to mass because later that day we were going to THE WEST WING! Yes, I know! I've officially been to the White House THREE times...and I can't believe how lucky I've been to have all of these opportunities. It was a gorgeous day...I think the nicest one (well, Monday was nice too I suppose)...flowers were blooming in the Rose Garden and we even caught a glimpse of the president's dogs! My entire family had a great time there...they were all very intrigued by everything...I think my mom and dad were the most amazed by it...my mom wants to come back and see the other side of the White House...so next time they visit (which they claim will be when I have a "paying job") we'll have to go.

We had a great Easter-very unique I would say...and we got our Christmas card picture taken care of early this year! Monday I took the day off work to hang out with the fam some more! We decided again that it was supposed to rain so we would go to the museums...it ended up not raining, but we went anyway. We walked to the Museum of Natural History first...the dinosaurs were awesome, but my absolute favorite part was the jewel collection they have there. I aspire to own half of that collection one day (a girl can dream, right?)...the favorite thing I saw there was a crown from Napoleon that he had given to his wife...amazing (I think my favorite word in this blog is amazing...so I apologize for its frequent use!)

Today I had work, so my family investigated DC on their own...we met for dinner at Tortilla Coast (right by the RNC actually!) and had a great dinner...it was such a fun weekend and a great Easter...it made me realize how glad I am to be going home for the summer...I love DC and I would love to come back someday and work, but I am definitely excited to be spending a few months in the STL! Miss you all-remember...write me!

Happy St. Patty's and Gun Ban Day!

Yesterday was St. Patricks Day...I know I'm a day late...sorry...I'll write in green to honor my heritage...(let me just say that being 20 years old on this day does not make for much celebration in Washington DC)...I did wear green though...

Anyway...today was pretty crazy around where I work...the Supreme Court was hearing oral arguments for the DC gun ban case...big deal (obviously...since it involves DC)...usually the lines to get into hear arguments are pretty moderate...but today was out of control! I managed to snap a few photos of the line on my way to work...

What else has been going on...hmm...not a whole lot I suppose...this weekend (other than Friday) was pretty chill...I think I'm gearing up for this upcoming weekend when my family is in town...we'll be doing a lot of sightseeing then...then the weekend after that is NEW YORK! I am SO excited...that'll be an exciting blog post (count on it)

Miss you all!