Last week in DC!

So insane that this was my last week!

Starting with Sunday: after my late night after coming in from Philadelphia, I got up early to meet my friend Kath who was in DC for the day!! She spent the summer in Virginia Beach in a leadership training program! (http://kathcerveraltvb12.blogspot.com/) We met for breakfast and then she was on her way back to Chicago.  Although it was only a few hours, we got to catch up and it was so good to see her!!



Afterwards, I headed over to the National Cathedral to meet my friend Katie for Sunday mass. This structure is gorgeous in terms of American churches, but is probably nothing in the eyes of Europeans.  The building was hit hard by the earthquake last fall (that cracked the Wash. monument) and HUUUUGE pieces fell off the top of it.  They were points from the roof, that sort of look like giant chess pieces. Like from wizard's chess in HP2. Capped off the afternoon with a traditional DC brunch :)

The week went by quickly! I was very busy with finishing multiple projects at work. This made me happy, since i'd rather be busy than bored, like some other interns were at their jobs.  If you want to learn more about what I did, click on http://fsround.org/ and head to the "research tab." I did some work on "Fast Facts" from June 14th on, and also worked on the "Cumulative Weight" link.  I finished up my biggest project of the semester, a giant 50-page Fast Facts book that will be released before the company's Fall Conference.

On Thursday, my parents were in town to pick me up and we went to dinner in Georgetown - at a tapas restaurant! mmmm. and of course cupcakes for dessert. I moved out on Friday afternoon and my parents helped me pack up after a final half day at work!

My internship at the Roundtable was a great experience for me this summer. I learned mountains of info about the economic crisis, the current state of the economy, financial legislation, the national debt, and how Washington functions as a political city.  I attended two high-profile hearings. My work was featured on the company's website, and some was sent out to over 700 congressional offices and financial trade companies. I networked with professionals. I took a course on foreign policy, and recognized my growing interest in that field. I am beginning to consider grad school. I enjoyed time in an amazing, never-boring city.  All in all, this summer helped me figure out small bits of my future. And that is all I could have asked for!

Phila Philadelphia

Last weekend, I took a day trip with my friend Olivia to one of the oldest cities in America, Philadelphia!  It was great to get out of the city for a day and see some new scenery!  This city is filled with history, and i'll tell you a little about what we saw.

1) Independence Hall:  This is where our founding fathers drafted & signed the Declaration of Independence as well as signed the Constitution. Some of the most famous historical moments in our nation's history began here!! Philadelphia also served as our nation's capital until Washington, DC was built after 1800.  So for 10 years, Congress, the President (then Washington) and the Supreme court all functioned in buildings in and around Independence hall.

2)  The Liberty Bell: not much to say about this, other than it is in this building dedicated to the bell (to shelter it from weather) It was mostly interesting to learn about the history of the bell, such as how it got its crack and when it was taken down from its perch, in the tower of Independence Hall.

3) South Street : a cool, eccentric strip of boutiques, stores, and restaurants on the south end of the city.  We spent a lot of time walking around, window shopping, and eating my first Philly Cheesesteak! it was pretty good :)

4) Other things we saw included the Declaration House (the house Jefferson stayed in while in Philadelphia that he drafted the Declaration in), Christ Church (where founding fathers including Benjamin Franklin are buried), and LOVE Park in downtown.  --->

It was a great day! the city was cute with all their row houses and everything, and it was actually strange to be in a city where the buildings are taller than 10-15 stories! In DC, it is law that no building can be taller than the Capitol. The streets were cobblestone for the most part. and it was hot (as usual) and a bit humid because of drizzling but we missed most of it while we were inside touring things!  It is 3 hours from Philadelphia, and after around 9pm we headed for the long bus ride home!

I had one full week left in DC to look forward to!

WOW!

Over 40 people read my blog yesterday?! Thanks guys!!!

Also....

for everyone's radar:

HOLY CRAP I HAVE TWO WEEKS LEFT!!!! EEEEEEKKKKK! 

There's still a ton I want to do! hoping to go to Philadelphia next weekend.

and also I went to a Washington Nationals game tonight with my co-workers; in my Cubs gear. Don't worry, I  bought myself a hat too. So I kinda fit in.... :)

Gotta rep my Cubbie blue.

YEEEESH.

it's been far too long since i've posted. weeks have gone by and I keep meaning to but it's been so busy for me!!!

Okay, first. the Fourth of July. Probably the coolest 4th I've ever experienced! I had the day off from work obviously, and was able to go to Mount Vernon, George Washington's home.  There, they had Revolutionary War re-enactors and it was all decorated to look very patriotic. It was hot, but we pushed through it!!! Later that night, we made our way back to the mall for fireworks. We saw them with the Washington monument in the background!! SO cool. While it was cool to be here on our nation's founding, I don't recommend it-- there were SOOOOO many tourists here all week (the tourpocalypse, as we called it) and made it very hard to navigate the city!

What is next?? I guess the next highlight would be my visit from Charlie! He came 2 weekends ago, and we had a great time. He was willing to do some off-the-beaten-path types of things, such as the National Portrait Gallery. This is one of the Smithsonian art museums, and has the original official White House portraits from almost every presidency. That was pretty cool for me; for him, they hit the nail right on the head. their seasonal exhibit was THE ART OF VIDEO GAMES. could it have not worked out any better? anyway, they had a lot on the development of graphics and even a few games you could play yourself! We each took a round of Pac-Man :) We also got to do the monuments at night, which i've come to enjoy as one of my favorite things to do. there are tons less tourists at night, and I think they look more elegant, anyway. Final bonus: its usually cooler outside! I also finally got to see the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial - this opened up in the fall of 2011, so it wasn't open last summer when I was here with my family! it is very unique, but very fitting for this essential figure in our nation's history. (there's us, at the bottom. Dr. King is HUGE!)

Finally, this past weekend, my cousin Colleen visited me!! We also had a great time. Her visit included  the secondTruckeroo, bike riding around the monuments, and Georgetown. I was glad I finally got to rent bikes!! i've been wanting to forever, and if the monuments are good by night, the second best way to see them is by bike - it's wayyyy too much walking to do!! they were able to transport us very well and we used them a couple times within our 24-hour rental period. We also did Georgetown Cupcake! It's a long story, but we ended up getting 6 cupcakes for the price of TWO! That's a steal :)


Having these two visitors these past two weekends was actually really great, because I got to do some things i have on my "DC Bucket List"! With Charlie, I had been wanting to do the Portrait Gallery and the Tidal Basin area (Jefferson, FDR, and MLK memorials). With Colleen, we took a tour of the Capital, walked around the Library of Congress, went to Georgetown University, and to the National Zoo. the Zoo is famed for its two Giant pandas! We saw them, but it was pretty hot so they were inside and pretty much dead from heat, haha.

And I'm going to take this time to dedicate a paragraph to Georgetown University. HOOOOOOOLLLLYYYY MOLEY that school. the grounds are BEAUTIFUL. the architecture is amazing. It's actually a Catholic University, which I did not know. we snuck into the mass that was happening in the chapel, actually. Fun fact: they use the same songbooks that my home church uses! little happy things. the school is absolutely stunning, and the fact that it's in one of my favorite neighborhoods definitely adds to its allure. however, its very pricey. so if I wanted to do grad school, i'd have to think twice about it there...yikes! but I was glad I went.
That picture to the right? oh, that's just the Georgetown student life building. no big deal. Why I go to school in a cornfield is beyond me.

And finally, a little work tidbit. I was able to go to another hearing this week :) this time it was in the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was giving his semi-annual report to Congress. First, I was glad and honored to be covering a hearing as important as this one. Second, I'm extremely pleased that I found myself to be hardly confused or lost at all - I understood almost everything they were discussing, which means i'm up-to-date on my financial services industry lingo!!!

I sent this text to my mom that night: "Essentially, Bernanke testified that the industry is safer and stronger after the financial crisis. their employment numbers are not where they'd like them to be, but regulation is making the industry more transparent and accountable"
IMPRESSED?! :D

Benefits of Washington life

So I'm starting to realize all the cool things I have access to while I'm here.

For example: the SCOTUS (supreme court of the united states) Obamacare decision. I actually know people who went to the SCOTUS announcement of the case! I mean, how cool is that? I've also known many people to meet Congressmen and work with them. Additionally, there are all these seminars and speakers you can attend. A lot of these take place at Think Tanks, which are educational and academic institutions on issues and politics. On the Washington Center website, you can read about how someone got to see Bill Clinton speak! totally cool.

I also attended an intern luncheon hosted by the Roundtable, where I work.  This allowed us to meet other interns in other companies around the city, but also allowed for Q&A with the executives of the Roundtable. I was able to get a few in, which was good. Afterwards, I was able to talk to the CEO of the Roundtable one-on-one. (He actually sought me out after the luncheon was over!) We chatted about history fun facts, he asked about school, and mentioned I was doing a great job on the work my supervisor, Abby, was helping me with. Big confidence boost!!! I'm starting to really enjoy my job here. I'm always busy, which is good. It's better than being bored! I'm also learning a lot about how the financial services industry interacts with legislators and Congress. I've got a clear picture now of what happened before, during, and after the 2008 recession and where the economy might be heading.

In general, Washington is a great place to become immersed in politics and what is truly driving our country forward. I plan on subscribing to POLITICO after I leave, a politically-focused newspaper that i've found to be great for local, national, and global current events.

I only have one month left here!!! I can't believe it, but my goal for the rest of my time here is to make the most of it!

downtownnn & chinatownnn

Hey everyone!!!

So these past two weeks/weekends have been a little more low-key than in the past.

Last Thursday, my friends Katie, Meagan and I went to see a small concert on H street - Greg Laswell and Elizabeth and the Catapult. Even though I had never heard of either of them, they were very good! I liked them a lot. Mental note to keep them in mind for some good music.

On Friday - we decided to go local by heading to the after-work hotspot, the Jazz in the Garden series at the Sculpture garden! I'm not sure if i've written about it before, but there's this great garden just south of the Archives and next to the art gallery full of cool sculptures and with a fountain in the center. The fountain has a ridge all the way around it so you're able to stick your feet in it on a hot day :) sooo refreshing. Anyway, in the summer every Friday night they host jazz concerts and they're a nice way to relax after the workweek and kick off the weekend! Afterwards, we tried to get into this comedy show at a place called DC Improv. Apparently this is ALSO the place to be, since we showed up an hour early and it was already sold out!!! bummer. But we ended up eating a late dinner and hanging out in Dupont for the rest of the night, which was okay with me :)

Saturday we went shopping downtown, around the area I work in. Everyday when I get off the metro there is first a giant Forever 21 and then an H&M next door, and I've been dying to go inside everyday. So we finally did!!! I got these great purple shorts and a cute summer dress! I was so excited! You'll see pictures of the dress later!

At night, we went to see a movie in Chinatown. I was totally taken aback by this area- It was not what I expected! Full of nightlife, bars, restaurants, and shops. and of course, a whole strip of Chinese restaurants! keeping that in mind for later. We were going to see...aw shoot I don't even remember, but it was sold out. the important thing was that we had to settle for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. If you haven't seen it...well, I don't exactly recommend it. But it made for some hilarious historical ironies...a cross between buffy the vampire slayer and twilight. hahah whatever. :)