Ringing in the New Year

Even though it is a month late, thought I'd fill you in on our upscale New Year's Eve. Living in Arlington, just a stone's throw from the District is fun, but we don't go downtown that often. So for a change of pace we decided to take DC by storm.

Liz, Sarah and I on our way out

My friends from high school Liz and Sarah went in with me on a hotel room at the historic Mayflower hotel, just a few blocks from the white house. This hotel was called the Grand Dame when it opened its doors, and was reputed to have more gold inlaid than any other building save the Library of Congress.

We took our time getting ready in the room. The girls wore nice dresses, and I got decked out in my tuxedo. Just a short walk from the Mayflower, we arrived at dinner.

The Melting Pot

OK so the Melting Pot might not be the most upscale restaurant in the city, but it sure is tasty - and a fun experience to boot. After we were stuffed full of fondue and champagne we retired to our room.

Instead of settling in for the night, we broke out my new Flip camera and shot a couple hours worth of footage for a new music video! Chances are you won't see the three of us on MTV, as the edited video is embarrassing enough to be under lock and key!

National Equality March

Other than the inaugural weekend in January 2009, the National Equality Marchw was the biggest political event I've participated in. Held Oct. 11, the march was organized for LGBTQ rights.

I managed to bring the whole family and a group of a half-dozen friends to come for the march and rally afterwards. There were hundreds of thousands of activists on the streets.

The highlights of the rally included Lady Gaga and Cynthia Nixon from Sex in the City. After a long day of political activism, we headed over to Chinatown for some delicious Mongolian food. RANDOM but so good.

The Adventures of Juanita

There was one unintended and long-lived side effect of the trip to Williamsburg I took last spring: Juanita. My colleague Trish was staying in the historic house during the meeting the year before, completely decorated to match the age of the property and the rest of Colonial Williamsburg.

One of the pieces of furniture in her room was an ancient baby crib, complete with baby doll. Every time Trish came into the room, she swore the doll was in a different position. It would be sitting up in the morning, laying on its back when she came in after lunch, and twisted around when it was bedtime.

Although she knew it was probably the maid service, the doll creeped Trish out. She put the doll under the crib's mattress, but the next day the doll was back in plain view. As Trish related this story to me, I immediately remembered a doll that our Filipino nanny gave my sister when she was a baby.

The doll looked like a Cabbage Patch doll, but with a knitted body, and a disturbing, dirty face with bright blue eyes. To make a long story short, I ended up bringing the doll into work and hiding it in Trish's cube.

Trish was definitely surprised when she came into her cube and found the little monster. But Trish is resilient, and decided to adopt her as an office maskot. We named her Juanita, and she would make many visits to our co-workers over the next few months.

For your viewing pleasure, here are just a few of the many places Juanita found herself in 2009:

Juanita reading the Congressional Daily and eating Triscuits!

Juanita hanging out in a cube

Do you see Juanita?

The crowning moment for Juanita: when Trish found her strapped into the child safety seat in the back of her car, with "Juanita's Hit List" in the seat too.

You don't want to see Juanita in your rear view mirror