#44

OK, I’ll admit it, I along with everyone in America, delayed working A LOT yesterday so that I could watch the inauguration festivities on TV – to be honest, I have never watched former president take their oath of office, deliver their inaugural speech, or sign the documents to officially become the President, so I was pretty interested to see what all the fuss is about.

This was actually my very first presidential election to vote – the last time we re-elected Bush, I was in college and didn’t really bother sending in an absentee ballot and in 2000, I was only 17 so I couldn’t cast my vote. To me, this is what America is all about- everyone has a say in our political system and I think we all should take advantage of that opportunity, which is why in the past few years I have become more and more interested in politics.

Now being the optimist that I ALWAYS try to be, I went in with a positive attitude about Barack Obama yesterday (even though I didn’t vote for him). Our country has elected him and I made a promise to myself back in November that I would support and pray for him as he has QUITE a few tasks laid out for him to achieve, and I hope whole-heartedly that he serves our people well. With that, I was surprised at how much I agreed with MOST of what he said during his address. My favorite part of his speech was when he talked about how some former US Presidents took office during times of peace and prosperity, but for him, that just isn’t so- he didn’t try to sugarcoat our situation and make it sound better than what it really is – we’re in trouble and he is well aware of just how much help we need to get out of an economic recession, and end the wars we’ve been in for so long. He painted a picture that said we all need to be accountable for our actions, and we all need to join together to help get our country back on track. I thought he was eloquent, and yet easy to relate to, and I think he has realistic goals for the next 4 years.
Of course, what inauguration would be complete without 10 balls? Yes 10 all throughout the Washington D.C. area! I was shocked there were so many, and even more surprised to see just how many celebs were out celebrating with President Obama – I watched the Neighborhood Ball on ABC quite a bit with A-list performances by Mariah Carey, Sting, Maroon 5, and Beyonce singing “At Last” as the President and First Lady shared their first dance together… p.s. how cute were they??? I also loved how Michelle was sporting some very fashionable attire throughout the 3-day inaugural events – sets the bar pretty high for what all she’ll be sporting the next 4 years and I’m glad someone with that much style has made her way into the White House once again- never know, she could be the next Jackie-O