revelations from the working world

While this working thing is not entirely new, considering I was gainfully employed in a wonderful job consistently through my taking the Bar to moving to DC after the wedding, working in a big city in a fast-paced environment after nearly 5 months of a life of leisure has taken its toll on me! I am by no means complaining, as I am so thankful to be in the midst of law-making on a daily basis and to have a second income, but the hour-long commute each way and long hours in the office have certainly taken some getting used to.

Here are a few things I've learned in my past three weeks on the Hill:

1. The elected official you work for is simply referred to as "the boss"- e.g. saw your boss in the elevator earlier, I'm sure your boss will vote this way, i've got to get this list of questions to the boss, etc.- not sure why this is case, but I guess it eliminates the question of which formality to use (the Congressman, Representative, Mr. so and so...and it's shorter than all of those!

2. There really are underground tunnels and a small subway system that links the House office buildings, Capitol building, the Capitol Visitor Center, and the Library of Congress- you never have to go outside in the cold if you don't want to! And the little subway train is very much like that in Spartanburg's Cleveland park that I loved to ride growing up...and still pretty fun

3. Finding time to work out or cook dinner when your job takes 12 hours of your day is pretty tough. Finding time for Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, however, is not.

4. The specific legislative issues that each staffer is assigned to is called their "portfolio." I am sure I gave a very confused look to the first person who asked what was in my portfolio.

5. The Hill is full of YOUNG staffers. I am definitely one of the older ones, and many of my same-aged peers are already in some pretty powerful positions. At a recent lunch with Clemson grads on the Hill, more than half of the 10+ there graduated after 2008.

6. Committee hearings are covered by C-SPAN. Staffers can often be picked up by the camera in the background during said hearings....so it's probably wise to put on some lipstick before!

7. While I may be overwhelmed and tired and sometimes frustrated by how much I don't know, seeing "the boss" deliver a speech on the House floor that I helped edit and watching him question a witness during a hearing reminds me just how blessed I am to have the opportunity I do.

New Year in New York

Richard and I rung in the New Year with some of our dear friends in Bethesda with an 80's style bash. Richard's mom had a genuine, vintage 80's New Year's sweater that she actually wore to ring in the new year in the early 80's. She let me borrow it, and I wore it- and some pleather leggings, "Sam and Libby"- like flats, and big, disc earrings- all very proudly. The best part? The sweater lit up (thanks to Richard and Jon Dickens' engineering!) and played "Auld Lang Syne." Classy.

We left New Year's Day for the Big Apple to see Jeanine and my brother Will, who was kind to come see us all the way from Jersey. We explored Little Italy with Jeanine and Alex, saw Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson on Broadway (which we wouldn't necessarily recommend), strolled through Central Park, ate some Gray's Papaya hotdogs, and did a little shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue (yay for new Tory Burch leopard print flats and a Radko ornament that was 75% off! Picking up a Radko ornament there each year has become a fun tradition). It was the perfect start to a new year and a fun mini-vacation before the reality of work set in.

lunch in Little Italy

snowflakes at Saks

cocktails at the View at the Marriott Marquis, a fun revolving restaurant

Central Park

yummy hot dogs

Serendipity decorations

outside the theatre

2010 in pictures

I realize we are a couple of days into the new year, but I wanted to share a few thoughts and some of my favorite pictures from 2010 before I completely let such a monumental year go. I have read many articles about why 2010 was such a terrible year (including this Dave Barry one in the Post that was quite entertaining), but I will always remember it as a year of celebration, change and growth. A few of the things I've learned...

• Blackberries do not tolerate toilets well. Always shut the lid if you plan to get ready with your email at arm's length.
• Planning a wedding can make you a little crazy. Planning a wedding, a move and job searching all at the same time can make you really crazy. I don't think I would have made it through the first six months of the year without my mama.
• There are a lot of hermit crabs in Anguilla. And you will find a South Carolina connection anywhere you go, even at Cap Juluca.
• God's timing is best, but it sure is hard to be patient. Especially when living on one income and on a four-month shopping moratorium.
• Some friends are "forever" friends, and some friends are for a season. And that's ok.
• Always, always send in a response card for a wedding! And if your response changes, by all means let someone know. Or perhaps better yet, don't do response cards.
• Marriage can be absolutely incredible but also incredibly hard at times. No one challenges me quite like my husband! But no one blesses me as much either.

And now without further adieu, some pictures. Like the lessons learned above, many of them are wedding-related.

January

ringing in the New Year in 80's prom-wear

February

with 10 of my best friends at our first engagement party/shower on February 6th- an amazing night

March

Celebrating sweet Ashley's 30th birthday at Mr. Friendly's in Columbia- birthdays in Columbia were always special occasions, and this was a particularly fun night (which may have actually been in late February, but Ashley's real birthday is in early March, so it counts!)

April

These girls, 4 of my absolute best from Spartanburg, threw a beautiful shower for me the Walnut Lane Inn Spartanburg, complete with games, maple doughnuts, and old friends catching up- such a fun time!

May

Bachelorette party in Edisto- an amazing weekend with all of my best friends in one place

June

First Baptist of Arcadia shower- I grew up in a pretty rural church, and these ladies have known me since I was a baby. They were so, so generous and kind, and the Vietri platter that I received from them at this shower is proudly displayed in my kitchen.

July

love, love this one from our wedding- a most perfect day

August

so this may have actually been the end of July, but close enough! On our honeymoon in Anguilla

September

Davis family takes on DC! At the Nats vs. Braves game

October

Wofford Homecoming- such a fun reunion weekend

November

a terrible Clemson-Carolina game, but a fun time of everyone being together at Thanksgiving and the weekend after

December

touring the Grinch Ice! display at the National Harbor Gaylord hotel, where it was 9 degrees inside!

A Carolina Christmas

One of my New Year's resolutions is to have shorter, more concise blog posts. But since we're still in 2010 and it's been a while since I posted, I thought I'd share our Carolina Christmas in one big post.

We got off to a bit of a rough start. I locked my keys in my car right before we left, and while we were taking Richard's Jeep, we figured we probably should retrieve them from the ignition before taking off. As we drove south, we hit snow as soon as we got to Virginia. We stopped in Hillsborough, NC to visit the Vietri outlet, which was sadly closed. We were hoping to get a few more of our Santa Claus plates! We settled for the Wooden Nickel instead, where Richard enjoyed a fried pork barbecue bacon sandwich.

pork, bacon, bbq goodness

snowy Hillsborough

We made it to Spartanburg safely and were happy to welcome our Ohio family on the Sunday before Christmas for a visit. It was great to see them, and we just wished Will had been there too!

at the Olive Garden with Suzanne and Alyx

my 90 y.o. grandfather, my aunt, and mom at the Jason's Deli- we love some chains in Spartanburg

No visit to Spartanburg is complete without a trip to the Angel Nails. Dan, Will and crew take good care of all of us, and Alyx and I had great bonding time over manicures!

We had Christmas with the family a few days early- Richard and I gave my grandfather Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Extraordinary Book of Facts upon recommendation of my aunt, and he loved it! Was quoting facts the whole trip home...apparently it's the little things. Jeff got an incredible piece of art from my aunt, which is what the blanket is covering in the picture below. With the tree, presents, couch, bookshelf, dog, etc., there wasn't much room left for the four of us!

Jeff, my cousin Alyx, me and Richard (and Hunter dog)

Two days before Christmas, we hosted the annual Webb Christmas drop-in. This served as an engagement party for Richard and I last year, so it was scaled down a bit this year. We still loved getting to see old friends and family. And I made the Santa picture for the first time this year.

Richard's mother requests a picture of Suzanne and Richard with Santa Claus every Christmas. Every year. Still. Even though they are 29 and 26. All 30 pictures, from the time Richard was 7 mos old, are displayed on the sun porch.

a portion of the pictures

And now, by virtue of marriage, I have made it into the picture. The big question looming is if the first grandchild will be permitted to take our place with Santa. Surely he or she will be a quality replacement!

Richard, Suzanne and ME with Santa

We gave sweet Darcy a life-size Tiger that had once lived in my Clemson apartment. Please don't hate us, Amanda! Hope it's found a nice nook in your home.

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with the aforementioned Tiger- and how precious is Darcy's outfit, handmade by her mama?!

Richard with Andy and the Fortune brothers

love these girls- two of my oldest friends, April and Meghanne

After having Christmas dinner a few days early with our Ohio family and cooking for the party and buying a car Christmas Eve morning (goodbye Grand Cherokee, hello Acura MDX!), we decided to make Christmas Eve dinner an Outback night. I was skeptical, but we ran into everyone and their brother and had a great meal.

the Davis family (Will made it home!) and the Webb family (minus Suzanne, who had to work)

capping off Christmas Eve with dessert at Miss Ruby's

We went over to Richard's Aunt Debbie's Christmas morning for a fabulous breakfast and gift exchange.

Josh, who's marrying Molly, Richard's cousin in April, Richard and Cousin Al

the whole group minus the bride-to-be, who refused to be photographed in PJs- can you blame her?

We went back to my parents' house, opened presents, and ate again. We visited a few of Richard's cousins, played in the snow (yay White Christmas!) and finished the evening with a movie. All in all, a wonderful first married Christmas.

the boys in their new beanies and gloves

same spot- this time with Will

opening presents at the Webbs

first White Christmas in Spartanburg since 1963!

my mother's St. Francis of Assisi bird feeder, which she loves

Merry Christmas from the Davises and Webbs!

Christmas Card 2010

Hopefully by now, most of these have reached their intended destinations! I LOVE receiving Christmas cards from friends and family and had so much fun picking these out and sending them!

great week and some big news

After two weeks of training in Texas, Richard finally came home on Monday! I missed him more than I ever thought I would...while he was gone, I got sick with a pretty bad cold, which made him being gone even harder. Thank goodness for a really sweet pharmacist at the Rite Aid up the street!

I was thrilled to pick him up and excited to have him help finish our little artificial, pre-lit tree. We just didn't think we'd have enough time in our house to enjoy a real tree this year.

my own Clark Griswold, wearing his VV Christmas lounge pants

As we were finishing up some DVR catching up, we looked outside to see SNOW on the ground! So we headed outside at 1 am for a mini-photo shoot. Please keep in mind this is sans make-up...eek!

We hosted our church small group for dinner, and I spent most of Tuesday making some Pioneer Woman toffee. The kitchen was a disaster after I finished and mine didn't look quite like Ree's, but man, is it tasty! I need to package it up to get it out of my house ASAP! We also served pork tenderloin, baked brie, and this fabulous bacon-cheese dip. So yummy...wish I had taken pictures of the table. But this is what our house looked like...we didn't put out everything, as a good bit of our Christmas decor is still in SC.

sofa table with Annalee snow couple and Target green trees

Clemson Christmas tree that Richard gave me 7 years ago- I still love it!

decorated tree and gifts

ornaments in jars, small nativity scene and cinnamon broom

pretty Beth Wiseman pillow

We had wonderful news to report to our small group- I GOT A JOB! It's a HUGE answer to prayer. I've been working at the Lilly Pulitzer store nearby and have absolutely loved it, but I needed something a little higher-paying. I am going to be working on Capitol Hill for a newly-elected South Carolina Congressman, and I could not be more excited. We have so much to be thankful for this Christmas season!