2-9

For my post about Gretchen's birthday, I'm going to do a photo-essay.  Because much like any time spent with this girl - there just aren't words to describe the events.  I love what Gretchen brings.  She can talk to anyone, make any situation seem hilarious, inspire, connect and you just never know what's going to happen next.  My life is richer because she's in it.  I'm thankful for the way life worked out - and brought us together.  Happy birthday to one of my best friends. (technically it was yesterday - but who says the celebrating must be contained in only 24 hours?)

I spent the weekend in Pittsburgh.  And other than feeling terribly sick the whole weekend, I had a blast.  Isn't it weird how much you don't realize you miss something, a place, people, etc. until you re-visit them?  Seeing old friends and hanging out in the 'burgh over the weekend kind of made me, gasp, homesick!?  It was bittersweet.  At least there is the hope that Gretchen and Jason will be moving closer next year.  That will make it better.

Friday night, we met the Channel 4 Action News morning crew out at Jerome Bettis' restaurant for a little celebration.  I had been awake for more than 24 hours, that's why I look kind of glazed over.  I only had a total of 2 drinks, people!

If I had a million dollars, I would get something like this for Gretchen for her birthday.

In retrospect, I should have just chanced it and ripped this off the wall - so I would have SOMETHING to give her at all!

The B's are practically part of the Channel 4 family.

Here is my sweet Melanie.  I miss this girl SO MUCH.  Thank God for almost daily e-mails.

She's one of the sweetest people on the planet and I'm thankful for her friendship.

We were just a little excited to see each other, can you tell?

Oh, you should definitely check out Mel's blog.

Her daughter, Quinn, is such a cutie!

They had reason to celebrate --after a BIG win in November sweeps!

This is a team of all-stars, people!

Andrew and Kelly make such a great team.

I really miss working with them - they made the horrible schedule possible because they were just so much fun and so easy to work with.

At least I can still hear them every morning in IFB...

And Demetrius, too!  God bless Demetrius for always thinking I'm such a "good girl."

HA HA HA HA.  I so am, who am I kidding, right?

D has such a nice smile, no?

And, alas! I got to meet Mrs. Duck.  Franklin's wife is so beautiful! It was a pleasure to meet her and a wonderful surprise that Franklin was there.

Geez. I really miss these people SO MUCH.

:(

SPEECH.  SPEECH.  SPEECH.

Andrew commands the room and leads a toast to the morning show team.

He's so good at rallying the troops!  A great guy - such an encouragement to the whole team.

I vote for Andrew for team captain.

We're gonna knock the "whoopsie" out of you!

Marc and Mel.

 

This is Jennifer Sloan, the new AM Executive Producer at WTAE.

Jennifer - this is only the beginning - I wish you all the best - have fun with the crew and kick butt covering the news in Pittsburgh!

And about those shoes you're filling - they're not big - only a size 6.  :) Keep in touch!

Gretchen paying one last tribute of the night to the BUS.

I wish he would have showed up in there - now THAT would have been something!

Shout out to Gretchen and Jason for being troopers as I took forever to talk to all of the Channel 4 peeps.

But like I said, you're practically family! :)

Edit: It has come to my attention that I left someone out.  Steve wasn't at the par-tay so I didn't include him in my Channel 4 Action News lovefest post.  But he's a talented EP and he throws awesome parties so here's a shout out to him and a giant picture of his head. Love ya, Steve!

WOW. It really has only been a couple of days, yet I feel TERRIBLY behind on this blog.  Today I stayed home from work, sick.  I'm wheezing, coughing, sneezing and my back hurts in this weird way it's never hurt before.  So, I sat on the couch with a heating pad for a couple of hours and watched just about the limit of television I can take in one day.

So, here are some updates...

Thursday, Eric, Nikole and I went to the White House for Mrs. Bush's holiday preview.  We were there to do a story I started dreaming up roughly 3 weeks ago about how the White House is "going green."  Yes, me.  I am not usually this into pointing out the fact that I thought of something (hello - I'm a producer) but I feel obliged because the Washington Post totally stole my story!  Yep. That "2 page list" the article references - was totally put together because of MY inquiry.  It's cool, though.  Lucky for the world, I am just enough of an amateur that the Post taking my idea makes me feel more like a real journalist in this big, crazy, DC news world.

You know when they're serving food, you're going to have a massive press corps!

I was totally stalking out the food on my way in!

Chicken Fried Steak - at the White House?!?!

I'm so IN.

They debuted this year's Christmas card.. would you believe they'll send out 895,000 cards?

Good thing they don't have to pay for postage, I'm sure...

This is the picture I took so that Helen Thomas could see what the art looked like.  She couldn't see it from where she was standing, so me and my digital camera were her eyes!

That scored me this picture with Helen!!  She told me I was smart to think of taking the picture of the painting.  Helen Thomas thinks I'm smart! Yessss.

Shout out to Nikole for snapping this shot!

Then the First Lady made her entrance.  You could barely hear what she was saying, over all the camera flashes!

She was taller and thinner than I thought she was (why is that always the case - TVs suck!)

I was fascinated by the whole thing.

Mrs. Bush revealed that this year's theme for the Christmas decorations at the White House is "Holiday in the National Parks."

You can read a lot more about it here.

When it came time for questions, I asked my question - right after Helen, my new buddy. :)

Ha ha... too bad I stumbled all over my words, but thankfully Mrs. Bush was patient with me and answered the question - about what the White House is doing to "go green" with respect to decorations this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc5WHFK4HGw

I could feel my heart beating in my throat and it was all I could do to keep it inside my body.

I was so impressed with this little girl.  She was at the press conference with her little "Scholastic" notebook. 

Okay, so at first, I wasn't so nice. I'm jealous! I wish I was here when I was 12 instead of 28, but hey --

I let her have my spot and after a little convincing, she asked one of her questions to the White House Executive Chef.

Sooo cute!!

Then, we were off to shoot the decorations!

Here's Eric hard at work.

Meanwhile, Nikole and I were touring around and taking pictures of ourselves in front of the Blue Room Christmas Tree!

This is so "West Wing," no?

Green Room.

Red Room.

Tulips in the Red Room.

Breathtaking.

Green Room garland.

So fresh.

Meanwhile, Eric was still working...

When we were finished with our work - it was time to sample the White House holiday cuisine in the State Dining Room.

On the White House China with real silverware.

Yess!! This is what I'm talkin' about! And, by the way, the Chicken Fried Steak I was stalking out - was divine.

Too bad we were pretty much KICKED OUT as we were finishing up dessert! Ha.  Nikole and I totally closed down the State Dining Room.

This is the gingerbread house this year, it's done to scale and dipped in white chocolate.

Something like 300 lbs of white chocolate and 100 lbs of gingerbread.

That's not something you can make out of a tube!  Thank God for freight elevators...

It really was a blast.  So much so, I didn't mind the 14 hour day that it was. Clearly, one of the most memorable experiences of MY LIFE thusfar.

It's not everyday you get to question the First Lady of the United States.

We all had a blast and we have White House napkins to prove it. :)

The tour was totally what I needed to inspire me to put up my own Christmas decorations.  More on that, later.

Two more things, then, for real, I need to go to sleep.  See?  I am so all-or-nothing with this blog.  It's a little bit embarrassing.  And I think this Thera-Flu actually made me more awake, which is a cruel twist I wasn't expecting.

Okay.

1.  I have now realized the power that I hold.  This blog is POWERFUL, people.  I have received my first gift solely because I blogged about the fact that I wanted it:

Look what I got in my mailbox on Friday!

Shout out to my awesome sister, Tracy!! Merry Christmas to me!

Now, for the rest of you that are lurking here in this space, wondering what you can do to earn a shout out and a photo of me with a product brought to me by you...

I am also longing for:

--a new green ipod nano

--the book written by Peter Jennings' wife

--Hello! Gilmore Girls Season 7 DVDs

--And always - gift cards to Ann Taylor, Target and Starbucks

I am kidding, kind of. NO, really! Thanks Tracy soooo much.  I can't wait to read it.  And I'm LOVING that Tom Brokaw is on a book tour because I am seeing him everywhere, and I do miss him so. (Note to self and Gretchen: must find a TB signing in the near future so that I can stalk him out.

Here he was on Meet The Press:

Such a muffin!

I love this man!!

2.

Say hello to my little friend.

Last week, ground sausage was buy one get one free at Harris Teeter.

Being the frugal wanna-be that I am, I bought one and got one.

The thing is, I've never cooked ground sausage before, and I didn't know quite what to do with it...

So, my friends, I introduce you to.......The Pizza-Inspired Sloppy-Wich.  It's a working title, don't joke.

Pizza-Inspired Sloppy-Wich

1 lb ground sausage

1 onion

1 green bell pepper

1 handful of sliced mushrooms

kaiser roll

mozzarella cheese

pizza sauce

Sautee' the sausage, mushrooms, green pepper and onion in a skillet.  Pop the bun in the toaster oven. Spread the pizza sauce on the toasted bun and top both sides with cheese.  Then pile on the rest, mash it together and enjoy! (Note: you'll need a fork - hence the "sloppy" part)

I know, I know!! Rachael would be so proud.