Washington, D.C.: Week Two: Getting Ready for the Inauguration...

I apologize for taking so long to post this blog. With all the inaugural events happening, I didn't get a chance to set some time aside to update all of you.

This is how my second week played out...

Throughout the week, my Congresswoman and Chief of Staff had me busy in the office with several inaugural projects. If it wasn't stuffing gift bags with miscellaneous things and tissue paper for her private inaugural party, it was putting together folders for our constituents when they came to pick up their inaugural tickets. These seem like simple projects, but when you're preparing for nearly 300 people to come through the office, these projects were not as easy they seemed. As a side project, I was also responsible for distributing gifts to all the House Democrats on behalf of my Congresswoman...it was not until I began the project that I realized that there are nearly 260 Democrats in the House!! You could only imagine what I was thinking!

Anyway, I started off my week taking a tour of the Pentagon. Not exactly what I expected, but still pretty intense to say the least. I was able to not only walk the halls, but I was also able to check out the 9/11 memorial and the side of the building that the plane hit. Just sitting there in the middle of the memorial and thinking of that day was bone chilling. On Tuesday, as I was working on one of the projects in the legislative room, my Intern Coordinator came up to me and said "Hey Julian...now don't flip out, but......we're going to give you a ticket to the Inauguration." So naturally, I flipped out! It was the craziest feeling! My blood went to my head and my heart went into my stomach. I couldn't really grasp the news. Just thinking about the road I took these last two years before, during, and after the the Obama Campaign; and how much of myself I dedicated to getting him elected as our next president of the United States...It all came down to that moment.

When Wednesday came around, I headed down to the bottom floor to run an errand and ended up crossing paths with Congressman Ron Paul - which I thought was a complete trip! When I got back to the office, my Chief of Staff came up to me and handed me my ticket to the Inaugural Ceremony. It was official...I was going!! I couldn't stop smiling. Even as I walked the hall ways of the Capitol doing some work, I carried the smile around with me. Most people thought I was smiling at them as I walked by them...definitely not the case.

On Friday, one of the other interns told me that there was a party being hosted by none other than Common. So when I got home from the office, I jumped online, and put my roommate's name and my name on the guest list for the event; and sure enough, we got in. We were there for a few hours waiting to catch a glimpse of him...but instead, we ended up meeting him and taking pictures with him. That was crazy!

On Saturday, my roommate, neighbor, and I took the train to the Capitol, which was about a mile away, and ended up walking all the way to the Lincoln Memorial to see the setup for the Pre-Inaugural Concert. That walk including the walk back to our apartment was about four miles! Not to mention that it was about 20 degrees outside! After getting myself prepared for the next few days, I finally crashed around midnight.

On Sunday Morning, I woke up at 2:45 to get ready for the concert. As I was getting ready to leave, my roommates were just getting home from the bars and clubs. (which I thought was pretty funny). Anyway, I left my pad around 3:30am and got to the Lincoln Memorial around 4:00 in the morning. I was one of the first of about 50-60 people there. When the gates finally opened around 8:40, we all ran as far up as possible. However, on the side I was waiting on, they only allowed people to go about half way down the reflection pool. I was heated! "I did not wake up at 2:45 in the morning to be way the hell back here!!" So I left my "front row seat" and ran, with my messed up foot, all the way around the reflection pool to the other side - and somehow was still able to get front row of the general viewing area. Most people said I was crazy, but let me tell you, it was worth it! After waiting for about ten and half hours and seeing the estimated one million or so people crowd around, the show finally began. John Legend, Stevie Wonder, Mary J. Blige, Beyonce, Garth Brooks, Bruce Springsteen, Shakira, George Lopez, Tiger Woods, Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks, and many others graced the stage that day. Not to mention Barack, Michelle, Sasha, Malia, Joe Biden, and Jill Biden! It was definitely a sight to see.

That next morning, Inauguration Eve, I had to be at the office for my Congresswoman's Open House. My 8:00a-2:00p turned into 8:00a-8:30p. Because not only did I have to work in the office on the day of Dr. King, I also had to work my Congresswoman's cocktail party that night. I wasn't too thrilled about working all day on a federal holiday, but I did get to meet Jerry Rice's daughter and saw his wife and other daughter as well. Rice's daughter and I spoke for a few minutes about her career in music, her dad, and her parents entertainment label. She performed for the party because apparently she has her first album coming out in the summer. Anyway, as 8:30 came around, I needed to leave so I could get ready for the next day...The 56th Presidential Inaugural Ceremony.