George Stephanopoulos...

was just feet from me, and I swear we made eye contact at least twice. :) I was as close to him, as he's been to the last three presidents, almost every "household name" politician, and more importantly, the ladies of The View. Di and I went to "An Evening with George Stephanopoulos: The Media and the 2008 Political Season" (again, much thanks to Mike and his twin Tom) last night at GW, and it was awesome. I love hearing about the life and times of such a successful professional! Telling the stories of so many important movers and shakers really has given him a pretty incredible story himself! I was inspired, he makes me WANT/NEED to get back into the communications field SO badly!

Some tidbits from George:
~3 is a good rule of thumb. Ask the tough question three times, then move on if your interviewee skirts around and won't answer...unless your instinct tells you otherwise.
~Anytime you get a real response, as opposed to a talking point, you've succeeded!
~If journalism is your passion and it makes sense in your heart and in your mind...DO IT!

Why I loved him...

"What is it about American culture that has led us to become the most powerful nation in the history of the world? We believe in hard work and education. We love opportunity: almost all of us are immigrants or descendants of immigrants who came here for opportunity-opportunity is in our DNA. Americans love God, and those who don't have faith, typically believe in something greater than themselves-a "Purpose Driven Life." And we sacrifice everything we have, even our lives, for our families, our freedoms and our country. The values and beliefs of the free American people are the source of our nation's strength and they always will be!" -Mitt Romney.



Doesn't he just inspire greatness? I'm sad that he's out, but so glad he ran!

Meltdown at The Melting Pot?

My roommates and I went to The Melting Pot (our reservation was at 11:15 pm...it was the only time we could get during Restaurant Week). We ate our food...which was mediocre, but worth the experience. If you've never been, you cook your food at the table. They bring out raw meat to dip into boiling pots of oil or broth to cook. It's lots of fun, but takes a L-O-N-G time. We ate as quickly as we could, but still didn't finish until about 1:30 (we had to endulge a bit/too much on the chocolate fondue and 1200 pounds of brownies, banana, cheesecake, marshmallow, strawberries and sponge cake).

And now the real adventure begins...the manager validated our parking and we headed down to the parking garage. At this point, we're all completely engorged on food and drink and wanting to get home. We drive to one exit find the door down...drive to the next exit same...next exit, closed. We're getting slightly worried at this point that we might be locked in, but think "why would the manager validate our parking if the garage had closed?" We continue driving around trying every call box, reading every sign, pulling up to every exit in hopes it will magically open, but no...we're locked in and all in desperate need of a restroom! Horrible feeling! We have nightmares of spending the night locked in a concrete box--scary!

Finally, a waitress from the restaurant comes out and she has a pass to get out of the garage. She tells us to follow her and she'll get us out. She pulls up to the garage door, it opens and we all gun it out. Freedom, right?!? Oh no, not yet...there's an in and out arm gate-thingy next. Her pass gets her out of the prison, but we are now stuck between the garage door and the arm/gate. The girl tries and tries to get her pass to open the gate for us with no luck. In our attempts to get out we may have reved backwards at full speed at one point-with all of us screaming (a funny moment, imagine 4 girls screaming and zooming backwards straight for a large metal door) Finally, after a brief spout of profanity from the kind waitress, the manager comes out. He gives us a little wave, walks up to the gate, RIPS the arm off, tosses it to the side and then waves us through. Quite the night...fortunately the only meltdown was the chocolate!

Gracias, Merci, Danka...

And thank you, thank you, thank you to all my wonderful friends and family in UT! I just want all of you to know how grateful I am that I got to spend time with you over Christmas vacation. Utah was so wonderful...so much so, that I really didn't want to leave! Special thanks to...

~My sweet girlfriends from high school. Thanks Jaci, Natalie, Jessica and Chloe for our fun lunch date, it was so nice to see you all and catch up! (We really missed all you gals that couldn't make it.)

~Alexis, Natalie and the USU basketball team. Gotta love a good ole' Aggie basketball game! I know you gals sacrificed time with your families and some seriously needed R&R after your Christmas travels, but I am so grateful! I loved catching up and seeing you!

~Preston and the Mack's Lunch crew! Gotta love a nice, greasy meal at the ole' family drive-in--thanks Preston for getting us all together!

~TA, Braden, Liz, Cortney and our New Years bunch...the best way to ring in 2008!

~Bill, thanks for making the trek to SLC for the Capitol opening...good times!

~Dave, Doug and Di! You guys are as hilarious as I remember:)

~Karly & Greg (the newly engaged lovebirds!) I'm so happy for you both...can't wait til March so you can seal the deal! Wahoo!

~And especially all my family...I love you so much and miss you like crazy! I'm so blessed to have such a great family! Thanks for all you do!

This is old...but I forgot to post it before Christmas!

So here's the story...

"Fire out at building next to White House"

And here's where I was on Sunday night...

Notice anything? Yep, the same building! The Eisenhower Executive Office Building is right next to the White House and is home to most of the White House staff. It's an absolutely beautiful old gem! I'm just glad I got to look around inside before the fire (luckily it wasn't totally destroyed!) For everyone who hasn't been inside, here's a peek at the building (and at Mike in his office, hard at work...or at least pretending to be)!

The Eisenhower Executive Building was just one stop on the West Wing tour of the White House! Here's the highlights (at least the ones I could take pics of) from the rest of the tour...

Outside the Rose Garden...those windows look into the Oval Office! "Hey, W! How's it going in there...."

The Oval Office was beautiful, unfortunately no pics inside. :( The President's desk was absolutely gorgeous, and its history is even more beautiful. It's the desk JFK used...and the famous pic of John-John peeking under it was taken with it!

Inside the press room...right by the podium where Dana Perino gives the daily press briefings! Maybe one day I'll be behind the podium...

Or possibly in front of it...I'll ask the tough questions! Each news organization/reporter has an assigned seat...this one is just down from my Helen Thomas' chair!

Profound Realization...

My whole life I thought the chorus to "Have I Done Any Good?" said, "Then wake up and do something more. THEN dream of your mansions above...." So I've been waking up, doing a bit more and totally daydreaming about my awesome digs in Heaven... Little did I know the correct lyrics are "Then wake up and do something more THAN dream of your mansions above." I guess I better get my head out of the clouds and get to work!

Finally...

My friend Maren tagged me weeks ago to reveal "7 things you may or may not know about me." So in classic Kami form, here it is forever and a day later....

#1...Weezer wrote a song about me...I'm a half Japanese girl! Sadly, I don't speak any Japanese, and neither does my mom, nor my grandparents for that matter. It's surprising how many people don't know this, and have a hard time believing it when I tell them. So when I say I like sushi...its not because I'm being trendy, it's who I am :)

#2...I still wear my cheerleading socks from high school. Kind of gross (I do wash them regularly though) and I know its been five years, but they are THE most comfortable socks I've ever worn! I don't wear them because I'm stuck in the "glory days," it's totally for comfort and they still look like new, and I have nine pairs of them, and I paid for them, so why not? Right?

#3...When I was a little girl, I prayed and prayed for a sister! And let me tell you what, Heavenly Father answer prayers...not always as we expect, or when we expect it, but He always comes through! I have the sweetest, most beautiful little sister, and I absolutely adore everything about her! I'm sure I had to wait so long for her (15 years) because my poor parents couldn't handle 2 princesses any closer together!

#4...My favorite place to think or relax is in some form of shopping center. Wal-Mart, the mall, grocery stores, or drug stores, it doesn't matter, I meditate the best in the hustle and bustle of retail! It's oddly relaxing, reminds me of home (and shopping with my mom and grandma), and is just conducive to thinking.

#5...I can recite the bios of almost every Utah news reporter and anchor! I check KSL continually, and feel like I am best friends with all of the broadcasters. The news business is just so exciting to me...you might call it an obsession. Weird, I know!

#6...In my next life, I want to own a bakery/pastry shop. I love little tarts, fresh bread, pretty creme puffs, and all those delicious sweet treats! But, my mom always says I don't like mornings enough to be a baker...my goods wouldn't be ready til at least 8pm. Hopefully I'm more of a morning person in my next life!

#7...If I could combine my obsession with broadcasting and my desire to be a pastry chef, I would love, love, love to have my own cooking show or be on a show like "The View" or "Good Things Utah." Dream job!

Now I tag Di (this is a tag team from Maren, you better do it now Di), Melissa, Tabbi, Jessica and Mandy...let's hear it girls!