hey world. strap in cause it's going to be a long blog . . .

1. had a "wow, this is my life now" moment the other day. i was invited to the NARAL annual Roe V Wade anniversay dinner on the 18th. i'm walking over there, quite pleased with myself and i arrive at the hotel, sit down at the fancy table and slip on the newest version of the livestrong bracelet (which i have been wearing proudly since june - anyone who hasn't had one since the beginning of july is a trender) the pro-choice bracelet "never surrender" (want to be cool like me? you can get one for yourself here) i look around the hotel room and realize that i've been there before. pretty much exactly 4 years ago. it's the same hotel ballroom that i went to the Inaugural Ball in 2000. and it kind of sucker punched me how much i've changed since then. 4 years ago i was prancing around in a prom dress with a bunch of friends celebrating something we only minorly hated. that night i was surrounded by the most powerful and most liberal women in the city celebrating something we were all passionate about, and i belonged. what a difference 4 years makes.

2. life lesson for the day: 4 inch heels and snow do not mix. today, in protest of the snow, i wore my birkies and found it much easier to walk.

3. as i was walking in the snow both yesterday (in heels) and today (in birks) it hit me that if i moved to san diego or hawaii i would never be faced with this dilema ever again. i thought about that for awhile.

4. i've said it before, i'll say it again - sometimes i'm not a republican fan. esp. when they invade my city. yesterday i had my first real crazy republican sighting. a group of 20 or so women, all with huge puffy red jackets with the words "red hot mommas" embroidered on the back and elaborate headresses made of red, white and blue feathers and other such sparkly material were having a very difficult time trying to figure out the ticket stalls on the metro. i could have been a nice dc native, but i just kept walking, and even managed to shoot them several nasty looks.

5. in an effort to not be mistaken for a republican riding the metro to the inauguration this morning (as i went to work - we are the only office in DC open, but whatever) i wore my birks, jeans, safari style shirt, hemp necklace, pro-choice bracelet, cord jacket, ipod (the coo of apple gives to ndn so i'm convinced they're all dems) and my Democrat baseball hat from the convention (dark blue with a huge "D" on the front - could i be more obvious?). i did not want anyone to speak to me and was hoping to scare some republicans away ("wow, sandles when there's snow on the ground? democrats must be tough . . . " ok - maybe it was futile, but there's only so much i can do!). this worked for the most part, i sat across from a republican couple wearing matching "bush-cheney 2004" hats and after staring them down for 2 stops they bowed their heads and didn't look up for the rest of the ride. triumph!

however, as we arrived at my station all of a sudden someone grabbed on to my arm. it was an old woman decked out to the nines in a huge fur coat, fur hat and fur lined boots and gloves. as my stomach retched at the sight she told me that she was petrified of the subway (why she was on the metro in the first place is beyond me) and would i please walk her out. i was obviously not intimadating enough. being the good person i am (thanks mom and dad, really) i took her arm and led her out of the scary metro station. she informed me that she hates public transportation but was so worried she'd be late to the inauguration if she took a cab - she just needed to meet up with her daughter. so i send her on her way and resume my scowl and try to look even meaner than i had on the metro.

6. bush's speech is only going to be 16 minutes long. normally they're about an hour. i'm guessing he's just going to stand there and give america the finger for 15 minutes and then retreat to his parties.

7. here's some fun stats about today:

$40 million: Cost of Bush inaugural ball festivities, not counting security costs.

$2,000: Amount FDR spent on the inaugural in 1945…about $20,000 in today's dollars.

$20,000: Cost of yellow roses purchased for inaugural festivities by D.C.'s Ritz Carlton.

200: Number of Humvees outfitted with top-of-the-line armor for troops in Iraq that could have been purchased with the amount of money blown on the inauguration.

$10,000: Price of an inaugural package at the Fairmont Hotel, which includes a Beluga caviar and Dom Perignon reception, a chauffeured Rolls Royce and two actors posing as "faux" Secret Service agents, complete with black sunglasses and cufflink walkie-talkies.

400: Pounds of lobster provided for "inaugural feeding frenzy" at the exclusive Mandarin Oriental hotel.

3,000: Number of "Laura Bush Cowboy cookies" provided for "inaugural feeding frenzy" at the Mandarin hotel.

$1: Amount per guest President Carter spent on snacks for guests at his inaugural parties. To stick to a tight budget, he served pretzels, peanuts, crackers and cheese and had cash bars.

22 million: Number of children in regions devastated by the tsunami who could have received vaccinations and preventive health care with the amount of money spent on the inauguration.

1,160,000: Number of girls who could be sent to school for a year in Afghanistan with the amount of money lavished on the inauguration.

$15,000: The down payment to rent a fur coat paid by one gala attendee who didn't want the hassle of schlepping her own through the airport.

$200,500: Price of a room package at D.C.'s Mandarin Oriental, including presidential suite, chauffeured Mercedes limo and outfits from Neiman Marcus.

2,500: Number of U.S. troops used to stand guard as President Bush takes his oath of office

26,000: Number of Kevlar vests for U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan that could be purchased for $40 million.

$290: Bonus that could go to each American solider serving in Iraq, if inauguration funds were used for that purpose.

$6.3 million: Amount contributed by the finance and investment industry, which works out to be 25 percent of all the money collected.

$17 million: Amount of money the White House is forcing the cash-strapped city of Washington, D.C., to pony up for inauguration security.

9: Percentage of D.C. residents who voted for Bush in 2004.

66: Percentage of Americans who think this over-the-top inauguration should have been scaled back.