"It's for the kids"

High five to a positive ending for the last week in April. 

Thursday night, I was invited to attend a silent auction fundraiser with one of my co-worker Krystina, who I'm quite fond of :) She and I started working for LivingSocial the same week, so we went through training together and are work buddies. We left around 6:30 to catch the train to Capital Hill. 

To my delight, the event was held at a house near 2nd and C. Since I equate many situations to rap lyrics in my head, of course this reminded me of 50 Cent and G-Unit. Krystina didn't get the reference, but it's ok, I won't count it as a strike ;) Not everyone is ghetto like me and has street cred.

C Yoouuuu-NIT!

The fundraiser was benefitting the Children's National Medical Center and was called "Hill House After Dark". It was hosted by the Junior Council, which I might join! Krystina is a co-chair for their big event in the winter, they host really fun parties and events that raise a ton of money for the hospital. Dressing up and having fun for a good cause? I'm in!

I kind of failed at taking pictures of the event, but I did manage to get one of the tent in the backyard. 

The house was really cool, it's an older row house with tons of updates, a fabulous (but small) kitchen, and 2 bedrooms/bathrooms upstairs. And for only 1.2 million, it could be yours, too! They had live music, open bar, and a silent auction inside for some cool prizes. 

Post-Auction

My only complaint was that they didn't announce when bidding ended, so we got caught up mingling outside and didn't get to bid on anything. Was probably for the best though- my competitive streak always shines at silent auctions, and I end up bidding on random things I really don't need. But, as Matt Damon once said, "It's for the kids". So that makes it ok.

Around 10:00, we were about to head home and ran upstairs to use the restroom. When we got to the top of the stairs, we were waiting at for the restroom in the staircase. All of the sudden, we both freaked out because there was a silent creepy figure lurking in the doorway. We both screamed and ran into one of the other bedrooms... what the heck was that?!

Finally, I mustered up the courage to see what it was. I tip toed up to "it" and poked it with my finger. 

It fell backwards onto the floor. To our surprise, it was a Sarah Palin cutout! Which is almost creepier! I walked into the room to pick it up, and realized we found a gold mine. The entire cast from the 2008 Presidential Campaign were all hanging out together upstairs. Everyone from the Prez to McCain to Mitt Romney- all together in one room- silent. I bet that's a first.

Of course this called for a photo shoot! We I thought it would be cool to take pictures and tell everyone that I really met these people. Turns out, taking pics with card board political cut-outs and making them look real isn't as easy as you would think.

Too much flash, and would anyone ever do that behind Sarah Palin?

Too much flash, awkward thumbs-up. Fail. 

Not enough flash, but blurry enough that people might not be able to tell he's fake.

Getting a little better, but still looks really fake.
Oh, and creepy Sarah Palin is lurking in the background.  Double fail.

Then, someone from the party came upstairs and busted us in the middle of the photo shoot. But he didn't judge... he actually asked if both of us wanted in the picture! Kind of an awkward moment, but not really because not much is awkward when there's an open bar.

Still awkward- would Obama really let Krystina pinch his hip?
We give up.

Exhausted from our photo shoot, decided to head home. But not before grabbing some free Red Velvet cupcakes!

Thanks for a fun night Krystina!!

Friday morning, while it seems everyone on Facebook woke up at 3:30 am to watch the Royal Wedding, I was still counting sheep. Call me crazy, but for some reason I just didn't see the point. That's why they invented DVR. But-to each is own!

When I got in to work, LivingSocial had sprung for some Tea & Crumpets in honor of the royal nuptials. Now THIS is something to get excited about- I've never had a real crumpet before! I mean.. what is a crumpet anyways?

I present to you- crumpets.
They look like english muffins but are fluffier and taste better.

Enjoying English Breakfast Tea, and my delicious crumpet with cheese spread & berry jam before hitting the phones.

Around 3:30, we finally hit our team goal of 305 deals- Way to go Team LifeSavers!!! I ended up with 16 for the month, which I'm ok with since I was gone for 1/2 of April. We have the best boss ever and she let us head home to enjoy the fabulous 70 degree, zero humidity weather outside.

We had a countdown running, similar to a paper chain for the days of Christmas. Only, no one wanted to cut out 305 rings, so we opted to write the numbers on sticky notes and pull the number down each time we got a contract in. It's actually a dramatic process- when someone gets up from their chair to pull a number down, they start the "slow clap" for themselves, and everyone in the office joins in and cheers you on as you walk over to do the honors.

Everyone celebrating after Alex (blue shirt in the back) pulled down the last number off the sticky note countdown.

As expected, we skipped the "home" option and all headed around the corner to my favorite bar RedLine for some celebratory team bonding. And Irish Car Bombs. We scored a table on the patio, success! And a little DC Trivia- the building in the background is the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Me, Jules, and Sergio.
Jules also was suckered into buying a $7 box of animal crackers from the kids on the street.
She also quoted the wise Matt Damon- "it's for the kids".
But the kids actually are out every week and change the "cause" they're raising money for. Oh well.

With a dead phone, I managed to find my way to Crystal City to meet Zeke and some friends for dinner at a sports bar in the area to watch the disappointing end to the Caps game. With not much to celebrate, we headed home.

Today, we are going to a quick bike ride- our first in DC! The weather is too nice to stay inside. Hope everyone has a great Saturday!