An Evening with the President

My girl Brooke sent me a hilarious video of Kristen Bell on Ellen a few weeks ago, saying "Oh my gosh, watch this, it is SO you". I'm sure many of you have already seen it (over 9 million views on YouTube, dang!) but if not I highly encourage you to enjoy this little giggle: 

Too stinkin' cute, right?

I share this video now because her description of her emotional state being measurable on a scale from 1-10 is exactly how I am. If she lives within the 3-7 range, all is well. But if she slips below or jumps above this...well...watch out, because it's tears o'clock.

Kristen, honey, I so get it. I mean, I cried when I fed a baby tiger 2 years ago because I was so overwhelmed with joy and excitement, gratitude and awe. I 100% cry when something is sadder than a 3 and I 100% cry when something makes me happier than a 7. I take such pleasure in sharing another person's joy, too, that I have been known to cry many a happy tear on behalf of my friends and family.

That being said...

Last night I had the extreme pleasure of attending an "Evening with President Obama" with some really wonderful people. My ticket was surprise gifted to me by a couple who has continued to generously share much love and support with me in a multitude of ways. To say I am grateful for their presence in my life is a huge, huge understatement. Everyone should be so lucky as to have friends like them.

To be frank, I really have no desire to get into a political rant on this blog. I have no interest in swaying your views one way or another. I hope that when I speak of my excitement over last night it is received with the same level of respect I give to those who may not feel this sort of event is their cup of tea. I have both Republican and Democrat friends whom I adore. I see both the pros and cons of the Obama administration. Was this an Obama rally? Yes, absolutely. Did I have a ridiculously awesome time attending? Hell yea I did.

Regardless of your party affiliation (or lack thereof), I think it is fairly obvious that Obama is one heck of a charming, cool, collected, powerful speaker. Hello. The man is the leader of our nation and I basically breathed the same air as him! Woot! I am so, so very grateful for being given this opportunity; for being able to share in the intense electricity pulsating throughout the room as he spoke. There were good vibes for days up in that building! Phew, I'm still tingling with all the positive energy that was bounced around...

...and yup, I dangerously teetered on the 7-to-8-oh-man-the-tears-wanna-come emotional scale the entire time. My friends kept stealing glances my way to see if I'd reached my tipping point! When Chris Cornell from Soundgarden (he opened the evening with an acoustic set) sang a rendition of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You", one gal pal even texted us from across the auditorium to ask "Is Trish crying yet?!". Mama loves her some Whitney, and Mama is me. (Let's just say I had to wipe my eyes to prevent any real leakage).

Unfortunately the only camera I own is my honker of a digital SLR (and by "unfortunately" I mean only in this specific instance), which was prohibited from the event. Thus, I apologize for my crappy iPhone photos. Hopefully you still get the gist :)

Seeing the President of the United States speak in person, let alone in such close proximity and in my favorite city, is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. It's a story to tell my kids someday; a check mark on the ol' bucket list. In some ways it humbly feels like a tiny participation in a tiny piece of history. My small corner of the world shared time with a world leader.

How rad is that?

In Gratitude,

Trish