The rest of the week of awesome with Shawn

Sad story about our new intern friend was that he was going back school in one week. So, we made the most of it. That included...


...Waiting in line for hours in the cold outside the Kennedy Center for tickets to attend the Messiah Sing-along...

(okay, so I didn't actually get there until everyone was inside. I got to selfishly skip the cold.)






...Going Contra-dancing (square dancing, the Virginia Reel, etc.) in a small town called Purceville, VA. I intentionally included this picture because you can see our favorite new friend hidden behind some people - the barefoot dude with the tie-dye. He looked like a Hobbit!






...Caroling with the ward at a nearby nursing home...







...Testing a chocolate fountain for one of Marcia's work parties (although the most exciting part came when it was time to clean up, and melted chocolate started spraying everywhere!)...


...Playing with the tortilla Princess accidentally left in the toaster oven, which actually started a small fire inside the oven - almost three years to the very day that my apartment burned down. How ironically appropriate. Marcia thought it fitting to apply some decorations to said toasted tortilla...






...And then we shared our secrets with Einstein.

Dreams do come true in DC at Christmas

One night during the Christmas season, Marcia and I took our new intern friend, Shawn, to see the Christmas tree in front of the White House. It's very nice.





After that, to kill time, he offered to show us the Capitol Building since he had his work ID. Long story short - we ended up crashing a fully-catered Senate Superintendent Christmas party instead! They invited us in and told us to eat and drink whatever we wanted, and then we danced the night away - us in jeans and t-shirts, everyone else in their finest, slinkiest, dressiest attire. We brought that party to life, and without the assistance of alcohol.


Shawn still managed to sneak us into the deserted Capitol after that, even though it was after midnight. We had the VIP tour from an experienced guide, without the annoying masses of tourists. The night was magical. It was the kind of night I hear other people tell stories about, and daydream about one day being in their shoes.

Flashback: May 2006 - BA and Iguazu Falls

Ever since the year I graduated out of High School, I've made it a point to leave the country once a year. In 2005, destination was originally going to be Ireland. My friend Kristin had family out there, and my friend Eric's dad was an airline pilot and could get us free tickets. It was destined to be pretty much the cheapest trip ever. Well, one week to go-time and due to some technical difficulties, we switched destinations to Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a nice side trip to Iguazú Falls.

We got a great taxi driver who slipped the border patrol $10 for each of us to visit the Brazil side of the falls. Worth every penny. Niagra Falls, eat your heart out.

We actually got stuck in BA for an extra two days due to more technical difficulties (oh, the dangers of flying standby), but all that time definitely allowed us to see what Argentina has to offer - the steak, tango dancing, seedy hostels, discotecas, amazing waterfalls, crazy cat-infested cemeteries...and even the police museum, complete with wax figures of la policía and a cock fight display. I experienced Argentina. I am content.