Election Life

Well, the elections are heating up! And as you all know, when there's political action, I am right there in the middle of it!

I have been working on President Obama's re-election campaign for the past four months and have really been enjoying the experience. As a summer fellow, and now just a Powell volunteer, I have seen all kinds of aspects of grassroots organizing and have met all different types of people. There actually are a lot of democrats in Powell, Ohio. Who knew?!

Photo from Westerville Rally with Michelle Obama

This past Monday we had our Powell office opening, which I gave a short speech at. Basically I highlighted a million reasons why I support our President in this election, and gave some reasons why the people at the office opening should volunteer with our campaign. It seems to have been a success! There were around 100 people there, and many of them signed up to get involved. So great!

Cookies I made for the Office Opening

As a young volunteer, I have seen the issues coming up in this campaign. Young people, WE HAVE TO VOTE! This idea of "Ron Paul didn't get the nomination, so I'm not voting" is total BS! Where has this come from? Is this some kind of hipster ideology that's running around college campuses and hip downtown bars? We are the backbone of this nation! We have a voice, and for some reason, are not entirely motivated as a collective generation to exercise this right. Why? Don't we want aid for college and graduate school? Don't people like having healthcare, and being able to comfortably (somewhat) ease into that first job, without the worry of being unable to go to the doctor when we are ill? This to me is insane! Young people, VOTE!!! If you don't vote, you don't have a right to complain. Educate yourselves on the issues and candidates. Apathy gets you nowhere.

Happy 87th  Grandma!

...and on that note, I am going to my Grandma's 87th birthday celebration. Happy Birthday Grandma Juney!

A whole year of being Michael Jordan's number --- i'm 23

Yes. You heard right. I have nothing more to look forward to on birthdays besides being able to rent a car (at 25) and then my over the hill party (at 50). Joy. 

But, to celebrate this past birthday I had some interesting moments.

My family and I went out for a nice dinner on Friday night at Buca di Beppo to celebrate both my mom and I's birthdays, since we both worked on our special days. After rounds and rounds of food (bruschetta, salad, spaghetti, penne, chicken marsala, and chocolate cake) we probably gained five pounds of birthday weight. Oh well! 

Then on Saturday everyone at Vaqueros celebrated my birthday. Alejandra and Selina bought me a birthday crown and a ribbon that they made me wear all night. This was before I got pied all over by the staff in the restaurant with whipped cream -- a little tradition in the restaurant. Although usually not EVERYONE participates, which they did for me. Then they all sang me a little birthday song in Spanish which was very nice. However, my favorite part of the night was when Rivas gave me a bouquet of birthday roses. 

After being pied with whipped cream I washed out somewhat in the sink and headed to BW3's, my favorite wing joint, with Meredith, Erin, Jane, Kevin and Joe, as well as Mariano and Lalo. They had all come to visit me at work and decided to go out for a couple drinks afterward. 

The next morning was my actual birthday. Ugh. I woke up for the early morning brunch shift at MTM and worked all day. Work on your birthday really sucks. That night I only worked a couple hours though at Vaquero's because it was the super bowl and we didn't have too many customers. So, I packed up and went home, only to sit on the couch and watch the game and Madonna with the fam. It actually was a great game! 

And, now I am old.