election night 2012

As you may have heard, there was a Presidential election yesterday. And since this may be the only time Richard and I are in DC on a Presidential election night, we ventured out to the RNC's Election Night Party held at the Ronald Reagan building downtown. The National Republican Congressional Committee hosted the event, in conjunction with the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and Hill staffers for members' personal offices were invited to attend. 

It was a fun thing to experience- Rodney Atkins performed and there was plenty of food and drink- until everyone started to realize that almost all the swing states were being called for Obama. In the span of about 10 minutes, it became clear the Romney/Ryan ticket would not be victorious. I honestly have not been too involved on the campaign but have several friends who were, and I felt for them last night. I would have loved to see the GOP take back the White House, but I was thankful to see my boss win and for a continued Republican majority in the House. Nothing really changed, other than a few Dem House and Senate pick-ups, so the next four years will be likely be a continuation of the status quo. It certainly is an interesting time for our country, and an interesting time to be in Washington. 

view from the balcony

watching the results come in on Fox News

party crowd

hoping for great things for Paul Ryan in the future

And then there was this. I had to run over to Bethesda Row before the event and found it almost fully decorated for Christmas. Y'all, it's November 7th! I'd be lying if I said I'm not excited about listening to Christmas music and putting up our tree, but I was still a bit surprised to see Bethesda Row already decked out. I guess holiday ads will replace all those campaign ads!

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

sheltering refugees

Since Hoboken, NJ was severely affected by Hurricane Sandy, we ended up having two grown-up trick-or-treaters seeking power and internet. Will and Caitlin arrived Wednesday night, and after two days of being worried sick over them trapped in his apartment due to flood waters, I was SO glad to see them! And they were very happy to be able to check their email. 

work computers out and fired up

While they caught up on work and opened the door to our many Halloween visitors, we hung out with a precious little Abby Cadabby and her mom and dad. 

Gia as Abby

little Gia walked in and handed us candy

After Will and Caitlin got in two good workdays, we loved spending the weekend with them, especially since they requested a return trip to Founding Farmers, one of our favorite restaurants.

Clemson played a rare night game against Duke, and we met some of Will's friends at Town Hall in Glover Park to watch the game. There is nothing like being in a bar full of 20-somethings to make you feel old! The food was delicious and the atmosphere fun, but we will probably return to our cozy couch for the next game we watch on tv. 

proudly sporting Clemson orange and purple

Will and his old roommate Chris- so annoyed at me for taking multiple pictures

big smiles for a big Tiger win over the Blue Devils

I obviously would have rather seen Will and Caitlin without the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, but I loved having them in town nonetheless. I miss my brothers and can't wait to celebrate the holidays with the whole family together very soon.

pumpkin carving party

Happy belated Halloween! We handed out candy last night, but we really celebrated this past weekend before the storm came. My husband is kind of like Clark Griswald when it comes to holidays, in the sense that he LOVES them. He creates playlists for every one, makes sure to pull out our multiple tupperware containers of various decorations and usually wants to host friends for celebratory parties. I like to entertain, but I sometimes get frustrated with all the time and prep that goes into it.

We decided to throw our second annual Pumpkin Carving Party this year and expanded our invitation list somewhat. Not as many friends were able to come as we had hoped thanks to the impending storm and other commitments, but it turned out to be such a fun party! And the weather was just perfect- a little overcast and almost 70 degrees. Much better than the snow we had last year. 

our front porch decorated and ready for action

back yard before the sun went down

Gowdy office friends Mary Anna and Patrick- loved having them stop by

We served appetizers outside, three different kinds of chili inside and yummy desserts- a Smith Island cake, one of the best I've ever hard, and Halloween cupcakes from our friend Alex. Unfortunately, the molasses ginger pumpkin ice cream cookies were left in the freezer!

Our littlest guests enjoyed looking for prizes in birdseed, everyone stayed warm by the fire pit and roasted marshmallows for s'mores, and our friends carved some very impressive pumpkins. 

Halloween bubbles in birdseed

USC Law girls Caroline and Laura

Richard and I were exited to order an attachment to go on the end of the drill which was supposed to scoop the inside of the pumpkin in record time. It didn't quite work as fabulously as advertised, but they may have been due to the fact our drill wasn't properly charged.

showing off his new toy

boys hard at work

Jill and Ryan

the Capaldi's

newlyweds Laura and Shawn

Min and Alex, who is expecting Baby Strawn in January

so proud of his finished product

some of the carved masterpieces

sweet girls Gia and baby Elsye

At about 9 pm, little Gia decided she was tired of our Halloween playlist and wanted to hear her Disney playlist. Which resulted in a Disney dance party. Hilarious. Oh how times have changed, and we don't even have kids of our own.

Anderson, Gia and Julia getting down

All the pumpkins turned out great! I'm hoping we can make this party an annual Webb tradition.

only missing one or two

a little brighter

ending the night around the fire pit

sandy staycation

Thanks to Ms. Hurricane Sandy, I've been off today and yesterday. The federal government, local government, and schools all closed in preparation for the monster storm. The June Derecho storm really did a number on our area, and I think everyone wanted to be prepared this time. Thankfully for us, the damage was pretty minimal and and we kept power the whole time. Unfortunately the Frankenstorm hit my brother Will and Hoboken, NJ a little harder. He's without power and the streets around his apartment are flooded.

Richard actually got to spend some time at home too, so we've watched The Nightmare Before Christmas (his choice) and My Best Friend's Wedding (my choice), sorted through piles of mail and laundry, eaten most of our leftovers from our weekend pumpkin carving party and gone a little stir crazy. But we are super thankful the storm wasn't much worse! And for the impromptu staycation. 

empty flashlight aisle at our local Target

USPS still delivered despite the storm

Sandy heeded the wishes of this Catholic school

cars lined up under the overpass near our house

rising creek

Hello Kitty for President- we noticed these on a super cold walk through our neighborhood after finding out both our YMCA and the gym on base were closed

update: the scene outside Will's apartment in Hoboken, as of Wednesday morning

reunion tailgate 2012

Each year, some of my favorite friends from Clemson and I plan a reunion tailgate a few months in advance of the football season. And for the past few years, it's seemed that the games we have chosen have been set for noon. This year was no different for the Clemson- Virginia Tech game. Noon games are the worst, especially when you have to come in from out of town. And even more so when your flight gets delayed several hours due to a bad thunderstorm. Richard and I were not particularly thrilled to spend our Friday night in the BWI airport instead of with family and friends at home.

this look pretty much sums up our night

We finally made it to Greenville late Friday night/early Saturday morning and after sitting in a bit of traffic, made it to Clemson a couple of hours before the game. I love, love seeing my girls and their sweet children but always feel like we never have enough time. A girls weekend is definitely in order!

Lisa is kind to host us every year, and it's been so fun to get to know Avery and now baby Warren

There are 22 children among the girls who typically come. 22! They didn't all get to come, but we tried to get a picture with most of the little ones who were there. 

Sarah's version- thank you Sarah!

And just the girls- we were all tickled because the little ones didn't understand why they couldn't be in this picture too- bless their hearts, their little faces were so sad. I'm sure us laughing at them didn't make it any better!

and again, Sarah's version,  from L to R- Meg, Melanie, Lisa, Sarah, me, Julie, Baylis and Dawn

love this one of Sarah and me- Sarah was one of the first people I met at Clemson, and I respect her so much for how she balances a successful career and happy family life...wonder woman for sure!

Clemson designated the game as Military Appreciation Day, and it was so special to see Daniel Rodriguez, a Tiger football player and Purple Heart award winner for service in Iraq and Afghanistan, run the American flag down the Hill. 

Go Tigers!

In addition to the girls, we got the see several other great friends. Thankfully a lot of alums picked this game to get back to.

Angelo was student body president at Clemson when I was vice-president, so we spent a ton of time together in the Clemson Student Government office. I think we made a great team, and I'm so glad we got to visit with him and his wife, Heather. 

And we saw Kellianne, one of my dear childhood friends, briefly. I needed more time with her!

The best part for Richard was getting to see not one, but two of his best friends from med school. We had talked prior to the game about meeting up and really lucked out when their tailgate spot was just three down from my girls! Stuart and Lee had McIver with them, their adorable baby boy who we hadn't met yet.

Stuart is such a good dad

MUSC reunion- Chris and Rachel, who were both in Richard's class, and Lee and Stuart, who graduated from MUSC as well

My mom and dad make most of the games, and we had fun getting to tailgate with them too. I love that our whole family shares a passion for Clemson football. We missed Will but loved seeing Jeff and Leah! Hard to believe this is the last season that mom and dad will have a student in Clemson.

best parents a girl could ask for

Richard and me with Leah and Jeff- so proud of Jeff, who will graduate from Clemson in December

Richard is a Wofford grad but has adopted Clemson as his second team. He was such a good sport to trek all over campus with me on a warm October day after having had very little sleep. 

my favorite guy

With a good Clemson win over the Hokies, reunions with so many of our favorite people, and visits to even more special friends on the way home to Spartanburg, it was a happy, happy day.