{"id":218477,"date":"2009-12-18T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-12-18T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.usa.gov\/roller\/govgab\/entry\/white_house_holiday_reception"},"modified":"2009-12-18T10:03:12","modified_gmt":"2009-12-18T15:03:12","slug":"white-house-holiday-reception","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/218477","title":{"rendered":"White House Holiday Reception"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ginger’s Note: Our guest blogger is my co-worker, Sarah, from USA.gov<\/a>.  She was working on a detail assignment at the White House and she was invited to attend the White House Holiday Reception for the staff. Here is her inside scoop on what the party was like.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"WhiteI’ll be the first to admit that I’m a sucker for a good party. I’ve never been able to turn down an invitation to a soiree \u2013 and my resolve gets even weaker when the holidays roll around. There’s something about holiday parties \u2013 the carols, the decorations, the eggnog \u2013 that really make the season magical.<\/p>\n

This year I had the amazing opportunity to attend the White House Holiday Reception in the East Wing of the White House. This party was being held in honor of White House staff and their families and was hosted by the First Family. It was an unforgettable event!<\/p>\n

\"ModelThroughout the East Wing of the White House, all the ceremonial rooms were open for mingling. We could sit on the historic furniture, use the tabletops for our appetizer plates, and mingle around the fireplace. There was a quartet from the Marine Corps band providing music in the Entrance Hall and a very talented soloist who sang beautiful Christmas Carols throughout the evening.<\/p>\n

\"WhiteThe holiday decorations were simply stunning. Every room in the East Wing boasted a soaring, live Christmas tree, and each tree was adorned with handcrafted ornaments from around the nation. There were ornaments celebrating Mount Rushmore, the Red River Valley, the Tennessee River, and over 800 American landmarks.<\/p>\n

\"SarahThe highlight of the evening was an appearance by President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. The President and First Lady graciously thanked the staff for their time and dedication, thanked the families for patience during the long
\nwork weeks and exhausting schedules, and welcomed us all to enjoy their home for the evening. After the remarks, the President spent just a few minutes shaking hands and greeting his staff. I was thrilled beyond belief when I had the opportunity to meet the President and shake his hand.<\/p>\n

After such an unbelievable evening, I knew I needed more souvenirs than the embossed cocktail napkins I’d stuffed in my handbag. The next morning I immediately hopped on to USA.gov<\/a>, where I knew I could find gifts and memorabilia from the White House<\/a>. I’m so
\nthankful that years from now, when I unwrap my 2009 White House ornament, I’ll have an unforgettable story to tell my children and grandchildren.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ginger’s Note: Our guest blogger is my co-worker, Sarah, from USA.gov.  She was working on a detail assignment at the White House and she was invited to attend the White House Holiday Reception for the staff. Here is her inside scoop on what the party was like. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4150,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-218477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4150"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218477\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}