A Flashback for Fun

One of the hats I wear is the President of the Federalist Society's Phoenix Lawyers Chapter. We host debates and panel discussions regarding legal issues throughout the year, and once a year gather as a large group in Washington D.C. for the annual convention every November.

This year, I had an incredible time for two reasons: 1) my good friend Niki attended with me, and 2) it was the 25th Anniversary Convention and a HUGE celebration. So I thought I'd backtrack a bit and share some of the fun from this past November.

The first major event was the annual banquet, held this year at Washington's Union Station. The Banquet featured an opening address by President Bush, as well as comments from Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito, Ted Olson, and numerous other Federalist Society superstars. Quite amazing! And of course we had a lot of fun dressing up.

Niki and I also took some time out from Convention activities for a very important errand: a trip to the National Archives to view original copies of our Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and other founding documents.

On the left is a picture of me standing in line to see the Constitution. I'll be completely honest, I was giddy in this picture

and shortly thereafter pretty choked up. It's an amazing experience to stand in the room with these revolutionary documents, and to really appreciate what our founders fought for when they embarked on this great experiment.

We also took pictures outside the beautiful Archives building, and on the right, I am in front of a statue with one of my favorite quotes: "What is past is prologue" inscribed in front.

Most of the time I love living in Arizona, but I occasionally do miss the east coast and its amazing explosion of color in fall. We just had to get a classic shot of Niki on a city bench. It helps, of course, that Niki is so photogenic, but I was pretty pleased with this arty shot.

Finally, one of the funnier experiences that week was late one night -- I think after the a reception with limited "real food" -- when Niki and I realized we were starving. We went to this great neighborhood pizza place and made the unfortunate mistake of ordering before we took the time to investigate exactly how big one piece of pizza would be. As you can see, our idea to share three pieces turned into a really funny picture!

Other highlights of the Convention included remarks from Justice Thomas regarding his book, and the annual Barbara K. Olson lecture, this year featuring Chief Justice Roberts.

It was truely an amazing and once in a lifetime experience!