Day 668

Not my best this morning. The bars in this town decided to stay open until 4 AM for the Convention parties, but until last night I've been able to somehow behave myself. Yeah, not my best. I did, however, see two great concerts...Daughtry and Julianna Hough (the adorable blonde from Dancing with the Stars...apparently she's now a country singer).

Sorry kids, I couldn't take any pictures last night at the Convention because I was super busy, but I do have some pics of the show below.

Bald men are sexy!







Isn't she just the cutest thing ever?





Celebrity sightings at the RNC: Jon Voight walking in front of me, Jon Voight eating dinner next to me, Jon Voight at a late night party, these two late night artists above, Big and Rich and that black Cowboy that hangs out with them and raps...that's pretty much it.

Maybe I'll see more tonight at the Vanity Fair party!!! Yes, super excited, and we scored an invite thanks to my new BFF Todd Purdum, which I must brag a little and say that it was a bit surreal discussing President Clinton's speech with him in Denver. Very cool. For those of you that don't know, Todd is a political writer for Vanity Fair.

Anyway, need to eat a bit and sober up and pack and get ready for the night and for my flight to Las Vegas tomorrow morning!! Ugh, just tuck me in my bed instead!

Day 667

A little more about Minneapolis/St. Paul today...I really like these cities! Minneapolis has a great downtown area that is easily walkable. There is an inside walkway, called the SkyWalk, that gets you from building to building above the ground...probably to shelter you from those cold Minnesota winters.

Also, this really should be called the Windy City, because the wind won't stop blowing up here. My hair has been one big knot all week.

St. Paul is really pretty also. Rolling hills and big Victorian homes everywhere. The state capitol building is really pretty and right downtown near the Xcel Center, and St. Paul Cathedral is gorgeous. It's funny too, because St. Paul and Minneapolis are separated by the Mississippi River, just like Little Rock and North Little Rock, except that up here, the Mississippi River isn't so much the Might Mississip. Still a baby river.

There have been some pretty crazy protests here, much worse than what I saw at the RNC in New York City four years ago. I got a warning from U.S. Captiol Police this morning warning of some protest activities planned for tonight...demonstrators are expected to set fires all over St. Paul after some concert tonight. On Monday, over 40 people were arrested for smashing out windows, slashing tires and pepper spraying people's faces. Scary stuff.

Anyway, here are some pictures from last night...enjoy!

First Lady Laura Bush







President Bush via satellite



President George H.W. Bush, Barbara Bush and Cindy McCain

Day 666

The past two days have been crazy. Thanks to Hurricane Gustav, the schedule was rearranged and then rearranged again. The good news is that the platform is being used to encourage service and donations for the people of Louisiana. Last night I went to a Friends of New Orleans party (the same one I went to in Denver) and the Spirits of the Gulf Coast party (originally supposed to be named the Spirits of Minnesota, but when the storm came, the name changed). Donations were encouraged and abundant, which is always a good thing.

Sunday was credentialing distribution day, which went very smoothly. That night, I joined a friend to go to the Sammy Hagar party. He was entertaining as always and sang all of his best songs. Very fun...thanks Lindsay! She also gave me tickets to the Beach Boys party last night, but I couldn't attend because of the other two parties I had to go to...plus I'm just too tired at this point to do that much party hopping.

I also forgot my camera last night, so no new pictures for you (sorry), but there wasn't too much to shoot anyway. The First Lady and Cindy McCain did speak, so unfortunately I didn't get any shots of them, but they were the only ones I missed. I'll make sure to take it tonight.

Day 663

So far, Minneapolis is great. We are staying downtown, and there's just such a great vibe here. There is an outdoor pedestrian mall, somewhat like 16th Street in Denver, that is lined with bars and restaurants having deep sidewalks for outdoor seating. Last night we had a staff dinner, then met up with lots of photographers and radio/tv people at a rooftop bar. Very fun. A little too much maybe, because tonight I am officially skipping the RNC Media Party and taking the night off. I need to recharge!

Today we did some credentialing and also went to the Xcel Center, where the GOP Convention is being held, to check the writing press stands and other workspace. Below are some pictures from our writing press stands inside the Xcel.







I'm off to bed soon...have to get up early tomorrow for work. Funny, but I'm totally loosing track of what day it is since I work every day. All day today I kept thinking it was Friday. Whatever.

Day 662

Hello from Minneapolis!

I woke up at 3:30 AM to get to the airport on time and still just barely made my flight because of the mass exodus out of Denver. Pretty much was on an all Media flight. I made it in around 9:30 AM and went straight back to bed until 2 PM today. Since then, I've done lots of laundry and just rested up a bit. I have to go to a dinner tonight and then bright and early tomorrow morning, it's off to work all over again.

Hard to believe I have to do this all over again! Also note that I reposted yesterday's post with better pictures and comments, so reread below for a better post.