Live From Washington, D.C.

I was in Washington, D.C. over the weekend to celebrate my friend's wedding and I got the chance to check out a couple of amazing museums I've been wanting to check out for some time- The International Spy Museum and Newseum.

Michael, me, Debbie and Carson on the Pennsylvania Avenue Terrace at the Newseum.

Michael and I along with my friend Debbie and her amazing husband Carson visited The Newseum on Saturday. The Newseum was fabulous. If you're a news junkie or a history lover like me, then Newseum is perfect for you too. The seven-layer museum is an amazing tribute to the nation's fourth estate and, according to the museum, it's the world's most interactive. Housed within the gorgeous $450 million building, five centuries of news history meets with modern, up-to-the-second news updates. It has everything from Howard Stern and The Simpsons, Tim Russert's office and historical front pages from around the world. The video tribute to 9/11 left us all in tears and I applauded the San Francisco Chronicle front page treatment from that day: "Bastards". There was also the much mangled news antenna that was left among the ruins. My favorite exhibit was history of news where you can see an extensive timeline of the past 500 years of history in print. It had everything from the coronation of James 1 to the election of Barack Obama.

It's also where I learned that 20% of the people can name all five Simpson, but only only 3% can name all five freedoms in the First Amendments. I was also blown away that most people in the world live in a country where they can't enjoy freedom of the press (hint, hint).

Among the 14 major galleries and 15 theaters you can stand in the shadows of the original Berlin Wall and it's watch tower, see the ash-covered notebooks and camera from a fallen news photographer during 9/11, see iconic news photographs, radio and television images. If you're daring enough, you can play new anchor in an interactive newsroom. Two of the museum's special exhibits include top news stories of the FBI's first century with amazing reproductions of the Unibomber's cabin and the DC sniper's car as well as the hip-shaking Elvis exhibit.

Yes, it's one of the few museum in Washington you need to pay for, but it's worth every penny. I could go on and on about all the amazing sites at Newseum, but trust me when I tell you this is one museum you shouldn't miss.

After the museum, we cooled off from the humid day at The Dubliner for some authentic Irish fares.

Michael and I really enjoyed ourselves at the wedding. The lavish affair was held at charming The Hotel Monaco.

And here's a lovely statue of my favorite red-headed couple. If you look closer, she's wearing a New York Yankee cap and he's wearing a Tampa Bay Devil Rays cap. It's so adorable. Congratulations Lauren and Anthony! You make a beautiful couple and I hope you're enjoying your honeymoon.

Hope everyone had a good start to the new week. Did you do anything fun over the weekend?

Fabulous Fridays: A Tribute To Friendship, Cleopatra and SATC2

Last night I attended the premiere of Sex and the City 2 at New York's famous Ziegfeld Theater.

I'm not going to delve into a full out review, I'll save that for others. But I will say that the movie was FABULOUS!!!! You'll laugh your asses off and leave with a smile. In between all the humor and the guilty pleasures, the movie did address several modern day topics like couples who are childless, the importance of intimacy in a marriage, rearing children and working under a tyrant troll boss. Of course, the movie was full of fierce fashions and the strong bond of the dynamic foursome. That's the premise of Sex and The City, the brilliance of friendship and how each day our friends step up and show us what's possible.

Part of the joy of going to see the movie is getting dressed up in something fabulous and getting your girlfriends together. Tina of The Occasional Cook, Stacy of Taffeta Darlings, Alyssa, myself and a few others had an extra reason to be dazzled with the movie. Our shining star of the evening, our friend, the amazing Miss Wendy Brandes has one of her truly unique and beautiful pieces of jewelry in the movie. Samantha (Kim Cattrall) wears the dramatic gold and diamond Cleopatra earrings from Wendy's own jewelry line. During the scene when the earrings made their film debut, we all burst with pride for our friend and applauded. After all, for a designer it doesn't get better than having it appear in SATC. It's like having a line on Broadway.

We celebrated while drinking some Prosecco while Wendy lent each of her friends a pair of Cleopatra earrings of our own to wear during the movie. We were on our way for some fun!

I really loved the movie. I laughed the entire time. For me, the best part of the movie clearly was looking around and seeing my friends wearing the Cleopatra necklaces and earrings along with Miss Samantha. It just made the whole movie night feel more special. And obviously the worst part of the night was giving the earrings back. I mean, on hold.

Stacy, me and Wendy wearing the Cleopatra earrings last night at the premiere of SATC2.

Stacy and Wendy getting ready for their close-up.

The whole beautiful gang. Can you see the earrings on everyone?

If you want to take home a little bit of the movie, you will certainly enjoy Samantha's earrings. These shoulder-grazing beauties are truly very lovely and they certainly did look fabulous on everyone last night. Short or long hair, these earrings made everyone feel and look simply spectacular. Click here for the gold pair and here for the silver pair.

Samantha wearing Wendy's Cleopatra earrings

Here's a close up of the gold Cleopatra earrings...

...and the silver version.

I had a such a blast last night basking in the brilliance of my friendships, both new and old. Hope you have a happy and safe weekend. Anyone make any special plans? If your plans include SATC2, make sure look for Samantha wearing Wendy's earrings.