Happy Saturday! I am about an hour into coffee... watching the latest installment of "John Adams." Gotta love HBO on demand - which I just realized I have a couple of weeks ago - wonder how long I've been paying for that and not realizing I had it?! I am loving this series.

Check this blog out! The other day, Brokaw and I were taking a walk and he made a new friend, Chewie. Chewie has a blog and Brokaw got a shout out with pictures and everything!

I am having lunch with a new friend today, I can't wait!

Poll: Should I switch my closet over to spring or is it too early?

Easter Egg Roll

Okay, so I am realizing I'm kind of doing titles again.  Hmm.  I guess this is my blog so I get to make the rules and I say it doesn't matter that I'm not consistent. Get it? Got it? Good.

I totally forgot to mention a highlight of the Easter Egg Roll - I met Julie Mason, of the Houston Chronicle and more importantly, author of one of my favorite blogs, The Beltway Confidential.  Julie was live on MSNBC today!  Go Julie!

Still... when I see the words Easter "Egg Roll" I think of Chinese food.  Given the current foreign affairs situation, I realize that's not really cool, but I think it's funny.
Be that as it may... here are my pictures from the White House Easter Egg Roll...

The South Lawn is pretty much the coolest back yard (or is it the front?) I've ever been in/on in my life (sorry Tracy)

Eric was such a sport putting up with my dorky antics as I people watched before the POTUS got started, and after...

This is Greta Van Susteren.  She had like 4 handlers who were coming in just as we were and let me just say her make up lady... yeah... she had enough supplies to reach the limit on a domestic flight.  One rolling suitcase and a personal item.

Wonder if all that was in line with the 3-1-1 rule?

I've always heard about these but this is the first time I saw one.

Look!

It's POTUS, DOPOTUS, FLOTUS, AND MOPOTUS.

hahahahahahaha... like 3 people I know will get that, but whatever!

Look it's W!!  W is for whistleblower in this case.

Secret Service bunny!

I thought this was hilarious, so I had to sneak a pic.  Eric saw me and gave me that "you're such a dork" look.

He's so right.

Thankfully, for this blog's sake, I have no shame.

Look Daddy!  Charlie Brown - at the White House!

Here is my boss, Wendy, with her husband, Tom, and little Jake - who is suddenly not so little anymore.

Mama Barbara Bush.  As I was leaving, we were being "held" by the rope line.

I was wondering who was going to walk by.

It was her.  She was shorter than I had imagined and actually seemed quite nice!

First it was Charlie Brown at the White House.  Here you have Dana Brown at the White House.

I told you... Shameless.

Hello, world.  I am feeling much better today.  I guess it's just something about Tuesday, it's daunting.  Whew, glad that's over.

After work yesterday, I "wogged" (to steal a word from Jordan) in the city!  I thought I was rocking it out, until I clocked it with my car and realized it was only about 2 miles.  Ha!  Oh well, the important thing is, I'm keeping it up.  I bet all the tourists were wondering - what's up with that girl in the green hoodie going slow motion up the Mall? Haha....

I am having a good day today!  I got a lovely postcard in the mail.  It's my first good hair day in at least two weeks and I came up with a surprisingly good outfit combo I had never thought of before (I'm wearing those safety pin black pants, but whatever).  Joe Scarborough is back today... And I'm planning to go to Target after work, which is always a delight. See? Good day.

Oh, I would hereby like to give Ann a shout out because she now offically knows who Dana Perino is, and that is impressive.  :)

And, let me add this -  I read in today's Post that Meghan McCain (John McCain's daughter) has a blog, check it out!  I think it's darling.

Standby for those Egg Roll pictures.....

The most incredible story I've heard in a while...

Last night, Barbara's story about Nathan & Tricia and baby Gwyneth aired on WTVD.

You can watch it here. Please do! And pray for them - they are an amazing family.

I am so sleepy all I want to do is rub my eyes and curl up under my desk. Night night.  I really wish I didn't wear contacts today - what was I thinking?

I had a great weekend - very productive and social.  I got my taxes done, yay!! What a huge weight off the shoulders, yes?  And I had lunch with Jessi and Joe and dinner with Becky Barber.  Brokaw was a disaster - peeing all over the place.  It was quite embarassing because Becky has one of the cleanest, cutest condos on the planet.

The beautiful Becky with sweet little Radar.

And this is Mr. I don't know what to do with a puppy pad and I wouldn't know if my life depended on it and if you offered me a million dollars worth of treats for it.

Radar totally gets it.

For that, we roll out the red carpet.

I want to write more and post my pictures from the White House Easter Egg Roll but I just don't have it in me.  I am going to the morning meeting, then I'm peacing out of here! 

I don't want to do titles anymore...

I don't like coming up with blog titles, okay?  So, there.  It continues to amaze me that so many people read my blog.  But I love that you do, so thank you!  It gives me motivation to keep it up.  I have a super random list of things to blog about today, buckle up!

First, I'd like to say to Joe Scarborough and Chris Licht (he's the EP of Morning Joe) that I seriously cannot get enough of the show.  And I totally called that they would be all over Dick Cheney's "So?" comment to Martha Raddatz from yesterday's GMA interview.  I so called that.  I'm so good.  Call me.

I am having Au Bon Pain's "Morning Blend" as I watch Morning Joe today, first time I've opted for that instead of the Hazelnut, and I have to say - it is NICE.

I need a good cup of coffee to help me through work this morning because I have to see that yellow and black suit on Hillary, AGAIN.  I don't know if it's just that it's noticeable because it's black and yellow, or what... but seriously, I feel like she wears it every Wednesday. 

Speaking of yellow, HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING!  I am tempted to switch out my closet this weekend to spring/summer clothes but I almost always do that too early, so I'm going to try and hold off...  but I am really over brown and black and turtlenecks and boots, for the record.

Today I'm wearing my black pants that have a safety pin in them.  It's on my left pant leg, down at the bottom.  I'm pretty sure it's been there for about two years.  I don't know what I am doing wrong, but the hem always falls out of my left pant leg.  I'm too lazy to take pants in to be re-hemmed.  And, clearly I don't sew myself, hence the safety pin.  It's held up for like two years in the wash, though, and I have to say - that's pretty remarkable!

I watched David Gregory's new show last night - it was pretty good.  I'm willing to give it enough of a chance that I selected "record all episodes" on my DVR, so we'll see.  I read an interesting article about how "lame duck" it is right now at the White House, as far as the media goes... even still, I wish I was there!  Thank goodness for some cool blogs that let me peek into that world!

Two other things that I am loving, then I'll leave you alone. 

1.  The John Adams mini series on HBO.  Love it!  I never made it through David McCollough's book, I'm embarrassed to say, I just didn't have the intellectual muscle to finish it, but the mini series is AMAZING!  My dad says we're somehow related to John Adams - I forget how, but if so, that's pretty stinkin' cool, no?

2.  I downloaded the song that's in the MacBook Air commercial - "New Soul," it's super catchy and I can't stop singing it in my head... "I'm a new soul I can do this strange world hoping I could learn a bit about how to give and take. La la la la la la la la la ....."

By Popular Request

OKAY everyone... here is my official 2008 Shamrock 8K playlist... By the way, the title to this post is a knock-off of Gretchen's blog. Go there immediately and demand her to update. She is a funny girl and the world wide web just isn't the same without her posts and crazy picture antics.

Beautiful Day - U2

Settlin' - Sugarland

Love Like This - Natasha Bedingfield

S.O.S. - Rihanna

Work It - Missi Elliott

Everything's Magic - Angels & Airwaves

Merry Happy - Kate Nash

Get the Party Started - P!nk

Summertime - Kenny Chesney

Makes Me Wonder - Maroon 5

Baby Girl - Sugarland

This One's For the Girls - Martina McBride

Killer Queen - Queen

Clothes Off - Gym Class Heroes

Miami - Will Smith

Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani

Live For Today - Natalie Grant

Big Girls Don't Cry - Fergie

Beer in Mexico - Kenny Chesney

Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend

Upside Down - Jack Johnson

Who Knew - P!nk

It's My Life - Bon Jovi

Getting Jiggy With It - Will Smith

This is Our Country - John Mellencamp

Crazy in Love - Beyonce' & Jay-Z

Pump It - Black Eyed Peas

Stronger - Kanye West

Home - Daughtry

See? I told you I took something from everyone. I didn't listen to all of the songs during my "run," I kind of jumped around - and I told you I crossed the finish line to "Jiggy," yeah!

Starbucks Shout Out

I have to give a shout out to my friends Ben & Cris.

They were kind enough to send me a Starbucks gift card! That gift card got me fuel to get home yesterday. I need Starbucks just as my SUV needs gasoline!

It was awesome, thanks so much, guys!

ShamROCK Weekend Pics...

Virginia Beach sunrise.

Aaaahhhhh.

Back of the bib.  I guess this is how they identify your body.  Thankfully, no race officials were contacting my mother :)

Paris Hilton style house arrest chips.

Disclaimer: This joke is not original.

We are the champions!!

Show us the pancakes.

NOW.

Ro, in rare form.  Oh my goodness, I love laughing that hard.

This man has two speeds: On and Off.

And boy, was he ON at the par-tay!

Pound Puppy pinata.

This was quite violent.  Almost as bad as an Al-Qaida video.

Told you.

Happy 30th Jason!

Did you know that tall women freak me out?  They always have.

But I found one I liked.

They call her "BRB."

And I can see why!

Eileen is funny and she has an adorable daughter and I think she's going to be the next of Courtney's college friends that I warm up to.

Top of the Mornin' to ya!

Well... I reached my goal.  I finished the Shamrock 8K without needing medical attention.  Well, I do have a blister in between my toes which is kind of weird, but I think I can handle it on my own.

Here are some fun facts about my race experience:

1.  I did not finish first.

2.  I did not finish last.  :)

3.  I was awarded a medal.

4.  So was everyone else... Everyone's a winner!

5. That's the first running award I've ever received.

6.  The last participation award I received was for Field Day, 5th grade, I'm pretty sure.

7.  When I wasn't looking, someone strapped ankle weights to me when I was running.

8.  I crossed to "Gettin Jiggy With It."  **Thanks again for all of you who helped me build my playlist!

I'll have to post pictures later because I didn't bring my USB cord to work... check back later today.  The race was actually a lot of fun!  It was nice and flat and the wind was blowing and it was great to be at the beach.  It was even better to see awesome friends!!  I am exhausted though and I wish more than anything I could just go straight home and crash... but I signed up to volunteer at this camp this week, so I'll do that THEN go straight to bed!

I'm the loser who didn't even realize March Madness was going on.  I haven't seen any brackets floating around the office... that's weird, huh?  Perhaps my co-workers are all under the same rock.  If it doesn't have to do with the Presidential race, the Pope or the economy, it might as well not be happening.

Now, some news notes for you (clearly my brain is only functioning in list mode this morning!):

*David Gregory's new show starts tonight.  I want to check it out, but my DVR is busy at that time.  I will have to find clips online.  Side note: He's a giant!

*Tucker's show was canceled... but on the upside, he's now my friend on Facebook.

*Dana Perino is everywhere!  Last week she was on the Daily Show.  I wrote her and told her she was fabulous and funny and she wrote me back, 'cuz we're cool like that!

Remember - Dana P. loves the Daily Show.

Sunday, she was on Fox News Sunday, I want to put that clip up here too... because we're both named Dana and because my hair wants to be her hair when it grows up... but whoever posts the clips from FNS on the website must be slacking, because I can't find it.

*Am I the only one who thinks this picture of Katie is very Cindy McCain?

And finally..... my contribution to the "My nephew is SOOOOO cute" file.  My baby nephew, Brayden, lost one of his two front top teeth.  This is monumental.  Life changing when you're in Kindergarten and I hate that this is exactly the kind of stuff I'm missing not living in my hometown.  Brayden, I hope the Tooth Fairy hooked you up, buddy!

EXCELLENT NEWS!

Dave's cancer is GONE!! Praise the Lord! And thank you to all of you who have prayed for him and Christin - even though you don't know them. Rejoice! And keep praying for them, thank you so much!

The race is in like 10 hours. I'm about to go to sleep and as I sit here in this bed in the hotel room by the ocean - I'm building my playlist. Thanks to all who made suggestions, I took something from everyone!

Please pray for Dave and Christin.  Pray now.  Pray hard.  Pray without ceasing.  The news from yesterday was not good and they need us on our knees, so do it.  That is all I can get out without crumbling into a mess, so that's all I have.

There are some construction workers in my office RIGHT NOW and they have drills.  Seriously, drills.  Must I be surrounded by drilling noises 24 hours a day? Really.

A little bit on the news... I am so Spitzered out... I could scratch my eyes out.  Let's leave this man and his poor family alone, enough already.  And this Kristen/Ashley girl.. I'm over her and her myspace page, too.

I'm sorry I sound so bitter.  I need sleep and I need things to go better for my friends.

Today I have nothing profound or inspirational for you, just me.

My favorite thing I clicked on today was this. I LOVE Morning Joe and I'm glad to see MJ getting some love. And here, more love!

It's a free moving, fun, smart show to watch and I love the music and the fact that Joe doesn't bust out a tie until like 9am! Considering I'm the girl who takes my shoes off about half a second after I walk in the door at work and don't put them back on until the "day people" start arriving - he's my kind of guy.

Friends, I need your help. Saturday, I have to "run" in a race. I say "run" because the word, to me, means that I am moving. It may mean something terribly different to you, like picking up your knees, going at a faster pace than walking. For me, that is not necessarily the case. That said, Saturday, I am "running" an 8K with some friends down in Virginia Beach. I need advice. Help me build by playlist! Seriously, leave me comments with suggestions!! And any other advice you have for someone who is about to, in 4 days, "run" 5 miles. Keep in mind this said person has not ever "run" more than a little more than 3 miles.

My goal is to finish not needing medical attention.

I have a better way of explaining the construction noise I am constantly hearing at home than the analogy I gave last week that was gross. It's like there's a giant BlackBerry on the roof that is constantly getting e-mails. Maybe it's MY BlackBerry!!??

Good thing I have someone cute to snuggle with as I sleep in the bright loudness:

**Please don't forget to pray for Christin and Dave - dark and early tomorrow morning, it's the big surgery day. Pray they will get all the cancer out and also for the best possible scenario afterward - for Dave's quality of life. And peace and grace and strength for dear Christin, wife of the year.

Loving the smallness

I am small, in the scheme of things. We are small. It's a small world. Isn't it grand, though?

Since Nate linked to my last post, I have had some 5,000 visitors to my blog! I usually average about 30 a day. That is a lot of people. It's humbling. I love that that many people are following Nate and Tricia and Gwyneth's story and are praying for them.

I told Barbara that and she told me about how many e-mails she received - the story even made it's way back to her hometown and her mother! And she found out someone in her Sunday School class had even been following the story all along!

And I got an e-mail from an old pal who I was in Driver's Ed with like a million years ago, who put two and two together, shout out Janice!

I am just amazed by God's love, displayed by so many people who are willing to care and say a prayer. Christin said she had people sending her messages and praying for her and her husband, David. Wow!

I say to Nate, Tricia, Christin and Dave - THANK YOU for your transparency. If we could all just let others in... just a little... we'd see... we all have needs, huh?

Amazing. Simple truth is so amazing.

I have been reminded this week of that, of why it is I do what I do - and of the love of my God - displayed in community, in this case, a vast community I do not even know - yet a community indeed!

Thanks to all who have visited. Keep those prayers coming!!

The most incredible story I've heard in a while...

I'm a television news producer. I see/write/watch/hear hundreds of "stories" each week. But this week, I was touched by a story in a way that I haven't felt in a while. The other day, I was checking in on my friend Christin's blog - where she gives updates about her husband, and their battle with cancer. (Pray for them - surgery coming up on the **12th**)

I clicked on a link. I couldn't believe what I was seeing before my eyes. An incredible love story. A young couple, facing a life I cannot imagine with strength, beauty and grace that made me cry and fall down on my knees in joy at the same time. Please click on the link and take the journey for yourself. I think the world needs to know the story of Nate, Tricia and Gwyneth Rose.

Tricia is a beautiful young woman with Cystic Fibrosis. She and her husband were getting things in order to prepare for the double lung transplant Tricia needs when they found out they were pregnant. It was not an ideal situation for Tricia to be pregnant, but she and her husband trusted God, and decided to have the baby. I'm leaving all kinds of details out but you can CLICK and read it all for yourself - in words and pictures and videos that tell the story a million times better than I could ever attempt to tell it. Tricia had to have an emergency c-section and tiny Gwyneth Rose was born way early. Tricia and Gwyneth still have a long way to go. They're both still in the hospital, away from home, facing major medical hurdles. Nathan is amazing. He is there with his girls, blogging updates all the way. His writing is beautiful, he's a talented photographer and the videos he makes are well done and so touching.

The crazy thing is - I know Nathan! I hadn't talked to him in years - you know how it is - you lose touch with people, it's normal. It happens. Nathan's dad pastors the church I used to go to when I was living in on the Outer Banks of North Carolina when I was home for summers and winters from Liberty University.

Well, after I spent almost the entire day, pouring over his blog - I was wishing there was something I could do to help this beautiful young family who is so honoring God with their lives it made me hit the floor. Face down. In tears. I could only think of one thing.

Their story. It needs to be on television. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I contacted Nathan, found out they would be interested, then it became my mission!

I scored within hours. An old pal, Barbara Gibbs, came to mind. Barbara used to be one of the main anchors at WSLS in Roanoke. When I was a student at Liberty - I had an assignment to interview a news reporter and have them grade my interviewing skills. I chose Barbara and we really hit it off in that school assignment. It was because of Barbara that I ended up interning at WSLS, then I got my first producing job there and you know the rest of my career from there!

Barbara is an awesome woman of God and she was the perfect thing I needed in my first job in the "real world," she totally made my transition into the world from the "Liberty bubble" possible.

Babs is in Raleigh, NC now. And you know what? I had lost touch with her, too. Until Nathan and Tricia's story.

Full circle: Today Barbara went to Duke and interviewed Nathan and Tricia and their story will be on the local news there in Raleigh/Durham. (air date is TBA) I am convinced that this is only the beginning! I have already contacted some national news outlets, and I'm praying they will pick up the story! Please pray - what is Nate and Tricia's prayer - that God would use this journey, this story, to raise awareness about CF, Organ Donation and Premature Birth.

I'm just honored and humbled to be a part of a blessing for a family that has truly blessed me. And I love the circle of THIS story - I think it's such a reflection of the BIG God we serve in this SMALL WORLD.

Personal Field Trip

Forgive me for leaving out one of the best parts of the Portrait Gallery!:(scroll to the bottom)

It's another breezy, beautiful day! Yay. I'm going to make this kind of quick so I can go to sleep and wake up to watch the returns tonight.

Scratch that. Brokaw just ate my sandwich! Argh! So I just had to detour in my kitchen and start all over again. I made some serious tuna salad, though, I put Old Bay in it, mmmmmm.

Where was I? Who knows. The construction has re-started on my apartment building so it kind of sounds like I'm inside someone's mouth who has a cavity and is at the dentist. Ick. What a horrible metaphor. Sorry about that.

This morning, The Tom Brokaw was on Morning Joe! I was beside myself. I love listening to TB adlib about elections and campaign stuff - he is hard to top! We had our political analyst in today, doing live shots and he shared a great story about the great Tom Brokaw. He ran into him after some late night live shots over by the Capitol, and they walked outside together. Marc (that's my political analyst friend) was hailing a cab. Tom was getting into his limo. Tom Brokaw asked where Marc was going and let him ride in his limo. Totally hooked him up. That Brokaw is a classy guy!

I should name my doggie after him... wait! Too bad the puggle just doesn't measure up to the person. Brokaw is cute but if he had real class, he would have left my Pastrami & Cheese alone. Boo.

Now... pictures from my personal field trip to the National Portrait Gallery... as promised:

I have arrived! It's pretty sweet how the Metro pretty much takes you right to the front door.

I don't remember who this guy is, but I thought he looked a lot like Tim Russert. Your thoughts?
This is Andrew Jackson. He has awesome hair, it's wild... kind of like the ideas he had during his time.

I think JFK's portrait was my favorite.  It's a mess, right?  Well, it was painted in 1963 - just weeks after he was killed.

I think the frantic strokes are quite representative of the chaos that our country was feeling emotionally at the end of '63.

Check those microphones.

LOVE IT!

Classic. HAHA.

Guess which President's portrait includes this folded up New York Times?

Go ahead. Guess. Leave a comment.  If I get guesses, I'll post the whole portrait so you can see who was rocking the NYT.

After the NPG field trip, I strolled around Chinatown.

It was a busy Friday afternoon - everyone who lives a normal life was getting off of work.

Check out the Chinatown ATL!

Awesome.

Too bad they were having double style cards... it's like the "ruin your lent commitment" gnomes are conspiring against me.

But I was strong! Take that anti-lent gnomes!

An end of the field trip skinny caramel latte and I called it a day.

What a fun Leap day!

Life is Good

There are BIRDS CHIRPING in DC today. I am not even kidding you! It's sunny and breezy and I was able to drive home with my windows down. Oh, it's grand. I love nice weather, it makes things like running errands well, pleasant -- and I'll take that any day!

I didn't even wear a coat to walk Brokaw. Nice!

Okay... so primary prediction time... I can't believe I'm still playing this game because I've been wrong so many times but I'm saying Texas for Obama and Ohio for Clinton. I'm going to go ahead and give Clinton Rhode Island and Vermont too. Just to keep it interesting.

Is everyone loving SNL being back because I am! This weekend, I caught up on my Daily Show and Colbert Reports... wasn't it great to see Tony Snow? He looks good. I'm so happy he's doing well.

I need to post pictures from the personal field trip I took Friday - to the National Portrait Gallery. Gretchen - you have got to go there next time you come to visit - you can see all the official Presidential portraits and there's even one of the elusive Colbert! You'll be all over it.

I have officially decided that I prefer Facebook over Myspace. So, there. Today it cost me $47.00 to fill up my gas tank. 47! Old school joke but these gas prices are no joke!

Standby for pics... I'm still kind of training wheels on the MacBook.