Lights, Camera, Obamas

I went to the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony tonight! As I noted a few weeks ago, I entered the online lottery and won seated tickets. (I rarely win anything, so I was excited.) My friend Emily and I took the day off work because we had to be in our seats before 4:30 p.m.

First, we stopped at Dunkin' Donuts for coffee (her) and white hot chocolate (me ... it's delicious pure sugar!). Then, we saw a matinee of "Love and Other Drugs." Nine dollars. That's the cost of a matinee. Ridiculous! But still cheaper than seeing a movie at other times. (The movie was good. It had more range than a lot of romantic comedies.) Next, we stopped for lunch at an Irish pub. And then, off to the Ellipse by the White House.

We didn't know how long security lines would be with more than 13,000 people coming, so we arrived around 3:30 p.m. We got in fairly quickly and were among the first in our seated section, so we had seats a few rows back with a nice view of the tree, the stage and the White House.

By the time the ceremony started, we were happy to have the hand warmers we bought that morning. (We also had multiple layers of clothing and many pairs of gloves.)

A row of state trees near the National Christmas Tree.

Entertainment included rapper Common, Sara Bareilles, Ingrid Michaelson, Jackie Evancho, Maroon 5 and B.B. King.

Obama speaks. (He's in the center with a red scarf.)

Beforehand, we watched the huge presidential motorcade pull away from the South Lawn of the White House, drive down the street and arrive at the Ellipse. It was pretty funny to watch the whole row of 15 or so cars drive one block.