Eyes Wide Shut

The President of the ICRC is retiring and so we planned to send him a group photo today, in front of the White House. We agreed to meet at 09:00 sharp, in front of la casa Obama. I got off the metro around 08:35 and figured I would head straight over, given that by the time I reached the office, it would just be time to turn around again.

When I arrived, there were four or five tourists taking more pictures than they will ever need in their lifetime and two very serious looking guards/police men (per usual). It had been raining, so I couldn't sit on the edge of the fence, so I just stood and decided to read. Lydia borrowed Mindy Kaling's book from the local library for me (really enjoying it so far, much lighter read after The Hunger Games 2 and 3), so I was quite entertained. However, I started to think about how weird/suspicious I probably looked, just standing in front of the White House, in my denim dress and boots, reading a book on the most humid day of the year thus far. By about 08:54, no one had shown up. I called my friend Laura and she told me that they were on the OTHER side!! Ay Dios mio, as if I didn't look sketchy already, now I was running, book in hand, sweat rolling down my face to the other side of the lil' house. To make matters worse, a police man rudely stopped me when I was almost there, to tell me that the path leading to my colleagues was CLOSED for an "event" (sure...), so I had to go around. Around?!?! I finally made it at 09:01, as if I had not showered and was instructed to stand in the front row, next to our boss. Front row, curls gone afro, tights sticking to parts of my body that I shall not even mention. Cheese, smile, click, click, click. 

Once back in the office I plopped myself in front of a fan and almost fell INTO the fan when my colleague uploaded the photo we just took and I realized that my eyes were closed. Not squinting, closed. As if sleeping. In the front row. For the President. Yes. SoFIASCO. My colleague suggested we Photoshop the picture, but the last time I checked, Photoshop doesn't OPEN eyes...Yes, good morning to you too*. 

Past - Mindy Kaling as a child (back cover of the book), isn't she adorable?

Present - if you don't recognize her, she's from The Office

As far as wedding updates, we confirmed a rabbi!!

My grandma somehow has connections all over. When we got engaged, she remembered that one of her former students (who had recently contacted her on facebook - just another reason I really do like the social network) was a rabbi in NYC. So, with nothing to lose, she contacted him to see if he would consider marrying us, but unfortunately he couldn't, due to the distance and his busy schedule. However, he recommended a few rabbi's in DC that we could speak to.

After much research, we chose our favorite of the bunch and contacted her to see if she actually married people and if she was willing to meet with us. Luckily she was and we met with her for the first time about two weeks ago. We had no idea what to expect, how to prepare or what exactly would be discussed. I had been very busy at work that day, so by the time 17:00 rolled around, I needed to dash to the Temple. On the metro, I was a bit nervous - Will she think I'm Jewish "enough"? Will she quiz us? How much does a rabbi cost? Is it polite to even ask about prices? After a few minutes, I realized that I needed to chill and we just needed to be ourselves (yes, I know it sounds like a Barney 'the friendly dinosaur' special) and if it was not a good match, we'd keep looking. We knew that finding the right officiant would take time and that is why we were starting early.

However, the meeting could not have gone better! We instantly liked her and her approach towards the wedding. First of all, she works at a Reform Jewish Congregation and later we found out that Newsweek actually named it "one of America's most vibrant". Plus, she seemed very open minded and kind. She said that she likes to "invest in a couple's future", so she prefers to have five or six sessions prior to the wedding, in which the ceremony details are discussed, as well as topics like - religion, children, money and sex (!!) 

As we drove home (for a while...as we were stuck in Georgetown traffic), Matt and I discussed our meeting and really could not think of any reason not to move forward with her. So, we e-mailed her the next day and look forward to meeting with her again in a month or two. Woohoo!


Chelsea Clinton & Marc Mezvinksy's interfaith wedding

Have a wonderful night and rest of the week. Can you believe it's May? Sorry, just realized that I wrote all the times above in military time (note to self: this is not a work e-mail). 

*Luckily, someone had taken a picture (above) in which my eyes were open, so although it is not the sharpest image, not all was lost :)