Mississippi on the Mall

The 20th Annual Mississippi on the Mall is this Saturday, June 19, 2010 from 3:00pm – 7:00pm.

The event will take place in the shadow of the Washington Monument, near the corner of 14th and Constitution, NW. Catfish, hushpuppies, coleslaw, McAlister's sweet tea, beer, and music by the George McConnell Band.

Buy your ticket atwww.mississippisociety.com/events!

Cape Hatteras-OBX

It was high time to get o-u-t of the city and what better place to go to but the OUTER BANKS? My first experience in the Outer Banks was last summer and I absolutely loved it! My friend Katie has a house there and has been kind enough to let our DC crew crash there twice now.

Cape Hatteras, North Carolina was the #4 spot on America's Best Beaches this year and I can certainly vouch for its wonderfulness! The best part about the beaches at Hatteras is that you can drive your SUV straight onto the beach and park it. We have done this the past 2 summers with Laine's 4-Runner and have had much success (minus one incident this year...that's another story). We load up the troops and our gear and once we arrive at the spot of our choice we open the back hatch and car doors and blast music. It's the best.

Buck invested in a high quality eagle kite.

Samantha, Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte

This was Cooper's first beach trip! He had a life vest.

Another clutch addition to this year's trip was that Jordan bought a tent so that we had the options of sun or shade. My skin is still thanking Jordan.

The actual beaches and water are beautiful too--the sand is not exactly white, but it's tan, and the water was a deep blue green. We had great weather--a few clouds but nothing major and it burned off by noon.

I went on my first fishing trip. Six of us headed out early Saturday morning on the SEA DOG with Captain Chris Bock. We only did a half day trip, but we caught tons of fish (Spanish and Blue mackerel) and had a huge fish fry on Saturday night. It is believed that I reeled in the biggest fish--an honor that I am proud of! Our resident Marine, Grimes, caught the most fish. Be sure to ask him about his experience...

Reeling my fish in!

Nothing like raw fish for freshness...

Captain Chris making sashimi for us

Buck's shirt is off before 10am = bad sign

Katie, Ty and me

Buck, Ty, Kern

Hatteras is officially a tradition now since we have gone in 2009 and 2010. I hope to keep this tradition alive for years to come!

Gold Cup

The Virginia Gold Cup started in 1922, and now draws about 50,000 spectators. Steeplechasing in Virginia has been a way of life since early Colonial times when the horse was the primary way of transportation, farming and war. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson met in sporting competition over fences. Organized steeplechase races have run in Fauquier County since 1844 originally at White Sulphur Springs then a fashionable spa near Warrenton.

On April 3, 1922, eight sportsmen met at the Fauquier Club in Warrenton and decided to organize a four-mile race between flags over the natural walls and fences of the nearby hunting countryside. Pledging $1,000 to purchase a trophy for the winning owner, they ruled that it be kept permanently by the first owner to win the race three times, not necessarily in consecutive years nor with the same horse. Just 34 days later, they held the first Virginia Gold Cup race. From its beginning, the race was intended to be a national event drawing “the best hunters in America.” Unlike today’s seven-race card, that first Virginia Gold Cup was a single-race event, riders to be “gentlemen wearing racing colors or officers of the U.S. Army in uniform.”

Annnnnnndddd...here we are today!

Our third horse race together!

LA Tent

Swept off my feet...so to speak!

Prom pose

Nap time

First Lady's Luncheon

Since 1908, the Congressional Club, a group made up of Members of Congress' spouses, has honored the First Lady with a lunch. My boss' wife asked me to go as one of her guests this year! I was thrilled and my expectations were surpassed!

The theme was "Illumination Celebration" and featured lights in general and chandeliers throughout the White House in particular. The first thing I saw when I sat down at the table was a Seda France candle in Japanese Quince (my favorite!) in a special box made for the luncheon!

The food was delicious. We had white cheddar cheese soup topped with smoked popcorn, cornish hen with apricot, sweet potato parsnip and roasted corn hash, and southern biscuits and cornbread (with whipped honey butter). Dessert was the best: there was a duet: warm chocolate molten cake AND spiced apple glace with delicious fresh berries!

As if the food wasn't enough the entertainment was even better. Among several, Julia Murney, who recently played Elphaba in Wicked and Mark McVey who has played Jean Valjean in Les Mis. Mark's singing brought us all to tears!

This is the only picture that I could get of Michelle. She was escorted out by a Marine as were the other spouses of President Obama's cabinet members and, of course, Mr. Pelosi!

The first lady spoke for a few minutes, highlighting her campaign, Let's Move! which is aimed at stopping childhood obesity within a generation.

Here is our great group!

More to Come

I'm back! The month of April was unbelievably busy. So many events occurred--expected and unexpected. Granny Penn went home to be with the Lord. My best friend, Ashley, got married in Charleston. I celebrated another birthday with Gran Fran in Mississippi and went to Kern's sister's wedding in Brookhaven. (DROVE back to DC to bring Kern's truck). Work continued to be busy. I got to attend the First Lady's Luncheon with my boss' wife! Mississippi on the Mall planning is ramping up. (You can purchase your ticket HERE, hint hint!)

That is my disclaimer for that fact that over the next week or two I am going to try to go back and chronicle some of these events in more detail. I'm getting mentally prepared for the writing.

For now, I will include some pictures of my Saturday morning. I crossed a threshold this morning--I am officially growing my first CROP--tomato plants! Kern and I went to Frager's Harware store (DC folks, if you haven't been, I recommend the field trip) and got a container, 3 plants (2 patio and 1 roma) and potting soil. An outing in DC isn't complete without seeing at least someone with security detail. I spotted Kathleen Sebelius collecting a variety of plants.

We went to Kern's house to plant the tomatoes

Now I have to be patient and WAIT! (and water!)