The Week I Shook Hands with the President...of the United States

Even better looking up close and personal

I almost don't know where to start.  Most of you know about our incredible journey to the Super Bowl and how much it meant to me (and many many others).  We went, we won and we came home champions.  I never miss an opportunity to include that fact in most things I do. I figure it will eventually wear off...so far though, it hasn't.

Last week, however, was the technical end to all of the celebratory festivities that Super Bowl Champs traditionally get as a part of their win.  And, it was one of the best week's of my life!

Mid-week, everyone who was to receive "the ring", got invited to go to the White House.  I'm not sure of your political affiliations and frankly I don't care...we live in a land where we can have political affiliations and we can speak freely about them. We live in a country where, we the people, elect our officials and we live under a blanket of safety and freedom that is provided under the direction of our Commander in Chief. And, this girl, was going to his crib. WHAT?!?!?

I was beyond thrilled!  I was so excited I couldn't stand myself.  My fashionista mind was going bananas.  I needed the perfect White House outfit because you certainly can't look ridiculous when going to the White House.  I mean really!

Dressed in our White House Best

Wednesday June 5th:

The weather was perfect...bright, sunny and seasonably warm.  8 police escorted buses left Owings Mills at 8:00 am and headed to Washington, DC. P.S. Sorry to anyone along the commute that got stuck in traffic because of our buses.  We arrived at President Obama's pad at about 9:30. We were greeted by Secret Service agents with the cutest working dogs.  Our bus was inspected before anyone even got off.  Security was tight, but it didn't take very long to get in.  

No pics allowed while going through White House Security.
But this guy checked out our bus.
We were all clear. Obvi.

Once inside, we were allowed to roam about the house. For about 90 minutes, we took in the China Room, the Library, the terrace, and the spot where President Obama told our nation that we had finally gotten Bin Laden.  We strolled on the South Lawn listening to a Marine jazz band, sipping White House water with cocktail napkins that a few of us stuffed in our purses instead of tossing away. We took all kinds of pictures, we soaked in every second and savored the experience.  

When at the White House one should always take very serious pictures.

Oh just chilling at Barack's crib having a little girl talk. No bigs.

We fit right in. No doubt about it.

Excellent Entertainment

Normally, I'm on the outside looking in. So taking a picture looking out was a must.

Vince felt right at home.

Everyone was happy to be there.

We sat front and center as our Super Bowl Champion team stood on a stage listening to the President of the United States crack jokes and congratulate us on winning.  Now, I realize that President Obama has speech writers and people who prep him on the team and details...but think about the amount of knowledge a President has to have and know. It's quite mind blowing if you think about it.  President Obama knew many ins and outs about our Team of Destiny. He made references to Ray's eating grass during player intros, Torrey's brother Tevin, Jacoby's dancing and his amazing catch to tie up that freezing cold game in Denver. He joked about the lights going out during the Super Bowl.  He was polished, relaxed, kind, funny, witty, smart, savvy and super doper awesome.  Oh and Coach Harbaugh told him that we plan to be back next year.

Pretty darn close to the action...3rd row.

After being presented with a Baltimore Ravens number 44 jersey, President Obama shook hands with each player.  Some guys even hugged and joked with him.  It was fun to watch.  When the players exited the stage, President  Obama turned his attention to the other guests...i.e. us.  With a smile, he walked down a line of waiting hands, shook each one and thanked them for being there. WHAT?!?!  Excuse me?? That's correct....When he shook my hand, he said, "Thank you for being here."  Ummmmmmmmmmm, no Mr. President, thank you for having me here.  WOW.

 

Very nice purple tie Mr. President Sir. We LOVE.

I had planned on never washing this hand again.
But, I had to. Good thing I have this pic to capture the moment forever.

Once the hand shaking was over, I'm assuming President Obama had a packed schedule, he is the President and all, he went off to do whatever it is Presidents do.  We couldn't stop smiling. We skipped back to our buses, grabbed our boxed (and yummy) lunches and headed back to the Castle. Being a Super Bowl Champ, really doesn't get old.   

Yep...we just met the President. Not a bad day's work.

Smiling on the way to our awaiting chariots.

Up next....we get the bling!

XO~

P.S. Feel however you want...I voted for Obama and I'd do it again. :-)

It was Everything I thought It would Be...

Bringing the Fun

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right? Right...except in our case, anything that happened in Vegas really can't be told, repeated or delivered to truly express how much fun it was.  That's not because there were scandalous deeds that went down, but rather the non-stop laughing and girl time, really cannot be expressed to give anyone a true picture of how great this trip was. 

You had to be there.

I will try, however, and tell you a little bit about it...you know the stuff I can actually tell you. Those who follow us on FB, you saw some of our pics, so you got a glimpse into the weekend. It was sunny and hot and perfect. It was jammed packed with fun sun activities.  I didn't gamble even a $1.  We slept very little and drank quite a bit of vodka. We ate gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free muffins on the same day we ate cheese filled pizza. We wore sparkles. We took as long as we wanted to get ready. We had a party room. We played loud music.  We did not have tickle fights in our underwear. We didn't get any tattoos and there were never any tigers in our rooms.  We met cowboys, brides, and bachelors.  And, we laughed pretty much the entire time.

Who doesn't like meeting real-life cowboys?



In case you were curious, he's a champion too.

 

That's us with the happy newly hitched in Vegas couple.  Salut!

 

To me, celebrating any birthday (a big one or small one) is fantastic reason to celebrate all that is good in life. Family, friends, good health, having all you need and enjoying the one thing that will always be more important than things...our relationships with each other.  The gift of our relationships is better than any gift I could ever receive. The most important things in life, aren't things.



All ready to hit Sin City.

The girls that went on this trip were the perfect ones to go.  It's not to say that we wouldn't welcome more girls into our wolf pack because we would. And, to be totally honest, our wolf pack is a darn amazing wolf pack. To quote my sister, "We bring the fun!" It's true, we do bring the fun. More than fun or more than whatever fun means to you, these girls were perfect.  Everyone got it. There wasn't anyone who didn't get it or didn't want to be a part of the fun.  It worked perfectly.  And, it was fantabulous. It was everything I wanted it to be and more. I don't know if I can ever thank these girls enough for going with me!

More fun being brought.
 

2013. Well played. I had a feeling about you.  So far, so great! 

We mean serious fun.

Vegas Quick Hits:

• Robert Baker of Southwest Airlines. Simply put: You ROCK. Absolutely made our flight out the best flight ever. 

Robert brings the fun (and self-tanner) too.

• No sleep, waking up hungover and/or having a blotchy sunburn = small prices to pay for a good time.

I love the sun. She melts.  All-time BFF's anyway.

• We stayed in room Eleventy058.
• Dancing with a very little bit of bumping and grinding then jumping = the only way I will ever dance again.

Little bit of bumping and whole lot of jumping

• Super sick is a great way to describe many things...including a cabana at a rocking pool party.

Bday Cabana - why I think we will.

• Totes adorbs is a perfectly acceptable way to describe anything that is totes adorbs.

Totes adorbs, of course!

• No matter how you feel about your body, someone has a body that is "better" and someone has a body that is "worse".  Love yourself. Be healthy. And, exercise!

Be healthy!!

• The water show at the Bellagio is so freaking cool no matter how many times you see it.

Always rocks.

• At one point, I was holding 5 purses. None of which were mine.  I had a peak into the world of our boyfs..and it really wasn't that bad.

5 purses and a light stick.  Yes that's me.

• Drinking vodka with seltzer water really does help with hydration. The seltzer was free. The vodka on the other hand was $475 a bottle, perhaps that's why I was going through (I mean holding) 5 purses.  #vegasprices

 

Vodka with ice that lit up, seltzer and a splash of cran = delicious.
For $475 a bottle we took that ice light home with us. Don't you dare judge.

• Vitamin B12 smells awful.  However, its powers relative to helping with hangovers seem to be worth enduring the smell.
• Is it just us, or has the song of the summer yet TBD? Where's our Call Me Maybe 2013? For now we threw it back to Put your Hands up in the Air. Everyone's hands look super hot in the air when dance jumping.
• If I had a green thumb, I'm certain my flowers would look like just like the gardens in the Bellagio.  #nodoubtaboutit

Inviting and beautiful, exactly like mine would be.

• While there were stars in Vegas for the Billboard awards, we only saw Ed Sheeran.  He was cool and even though I had already captured his pic by taking a sassy pic of my sis, he was nice enough to actually take a pic with us.  I'm certain he realized that...we bring the fun.

He had to know about the fun we bring, just look at that face.

• Photo bombing is a favorite pass-time for one bestie. Can you guess which one?

A good photo-bomb always makes for fun!

• This past weekend was the kick-off to celebrating summer.  Let the fun continue!!!

Best. Friends. Ever.

 

Happy Memorial Day Weekend Readers!! Enjoy the kickoff to summer! Play, get outside, be safe, have fun and love out loud!!!

xo~