Washington, DC - Part One

Mom and I are here this weekend for the National Italian American Foundation's (NIAF) Annual Convention and Gala. It has been pretty great so far. Don't ask me how, but I managed to find myself in an elevator with Yogi Berra on my first day here (yesterday) and then I ran into Frankie Valli this morning while on the phone with my friend Katie (who has the same last name... we joke that he's her uncle). Then, this afternoon, I was in the elevator with Italian Designer Renato Balestra. Oh, and did I mention that I was in the same room this weekend (on two separate occasions, but in the same day) with TWO US Presidents??? Count them: two... 41st President George H.W. Bush and current President George W. Bush. The latter of which made a surprise appearance at last night's dinner event (where Frankie Valli performed). There were Secret Service personell EVERYWHERE. I must admit that my favorite part of the evening was watching about 35 Media folks bolt through the hotel lobby immediately after President Bush's appearance and run up a flight of stairs with cameras, tripods, video cameras, microphones and all kinds of electronic equipment in tow.

Out of control.

I have no idea who is attending the big gala this evening, so we shall see if there are any other famous faces that I might run into...