Results tagged “obamafamily”

It was a year ago today that District residents awoke -- likely groggy from the celebrations the night before -- to a new president-elect. Barack Obama not only became the nation's first African-American president, he also offered residents of the District of Columbia the promise of a new relationship between the federal executive and the city, one that had largely fallen by the wayside during President George W. Bush's eight years in office.

The First Lady's office has put in a request to close Vermont Avenue between H and I Streets NW between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m., every Thursday, for the market. The day of the week and time of the proposed market certainly fits in with what DCist commenters were saying they'd like to see in terms of a White House farmers market, but the proposed location was up until this point unknown. This block of Vermont stretches between the far corners of Lafayette Square and McPherson Square. The WTOP article makes mention of some concern from residents about the potential for further traffic congestion in an already clogged area. We gather the Secret Service would prefer not to set up a weekly market right on Pennsylvania Ave., where the street is already closed to vehicular traffic.

Every election year, the cliche that somebody should or should not begin measuring the White House drapes gets trotted out. But eight months in to their new life at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., it looks like the Obamas may finally have brought in some help for the job, in the form of fashion personality and Barney's New York creative director/window dresser extraordinaire Simon Doonan. You may recognize Doonan from his appearances on America's Next Top Model and VH1's I Love the ____ shows.

A White House spokesperson has issued a statement repudiating a report from Time magazine published online today that said President Obama had decided to make the Evergreen Chapel at Camp David his primary place of worship, in order to facilitate more privacy. "The President and First Family continue to look for a church home. They have enjoyed worshipping at Camp David and several other congregations over the months, and will choose a church at the time that is best for their family," is the word from Deputy White House Press Secretary Jennifer Psaki (via the Christian Science Monitor).

The Obamas have finally ended the speculation about which D.C. church they would join - by picking none of them, Amy Sullivan reports in Time magazine. Instead, President Obama has reportedly decided to make the same choice as George W. Bush, and worship at Evergreen Chapel, the nondenominational church at Camp David.

Everyone's still going ga-ga over the story of Barack and Michelle going on a date to Citronelle on Saturday night and following it up with a romantic, albeit brief, stroll around the White House grounds. They totally held hands 'n' stuff, because they love each other! Awwww.

The President and First Lady have better things to do than brunch with the wealthy parents of their daughters' classmates. But it appears some families at Sidwell Friends, the private school attended by Malia and Sasha Obama, are disappointed that the first family donated autographed magazines, instead of hang-out time, for the Sidwell Friends School Dollars for Scholars benefit auction. “There were expectations that they might donate something more personal, like the Clintons did,” a source told MSNBC's Scoop blog, “Lots of people were disappointed.” Instead, the Obamas "only" submitted "a signed copy of the Rolling Stone issue featuring the president and a signed copy of the January Vogue that featured the first lady."

Just in case you managed to miss this video, released by the White House, of Bo the Portuguese water dog's first day with the Obama family, here's some Wednesday morning cuteness for ya.

                     

Traditionally, the White House Easter Egg Roll has been attended mostly by D.C. area families who camped out early with their kids to score tickets to the free annual event. But on Monday, the 2009 White House Easter Egg Roll played host to over 30,000 people from 45 states and the District of Columbia, thanks to a new online ticket distribution plan put in place by the new administration. Local parents grumbled, but 4,000 tickets were also distributed separately to students from D.C., Maryland and Virginia public schools. DCist photographer Meaghan Gay was there to capture what an Easter Egg Roll hosted by the Obama family looks like.

The First Hypoallergenic Friend, a Portie who was named Charlie before he was renamed Bo by the Obama daughters, is on his way to the White House. Here is the Post telling a story about how the Post got the story first, a fact noted with some disdain by the AP, who got the poop from White House aides on condition of anonymity, because everyone forgot that they were talking about a puppy and not the last known location of Lashkar-e-Taiba senior leadership. And, of course, the Post didn't even break the damn story: A Web site called First Dog Charlie, which was probably thrown together on a WordPress account by an eager Sasha Obama, had the scoop (not to mention the full feature interview) yesterday. Nevertheless, the good news still stands. Obama avoided what might have been the biggest political blunder of his young career: a labradoodle.

The Daily Show's Wyatt Cenac was apparently in town recently to film a segment with the pastors from a handful of local churches, each pitching themselves to the Obama family. Church of the Epiphany, Foundry United Methodist, World Missions for Christ Church, and, you guessed it, the Sixth and I Historic Synagogue all make an appearance. Anybody spot Wyatt when he was filming around town?

First Lady-to-be Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia arrived in D.C. last night, a day earlier than expected, in order to have some additional time to settle in to the Hay-Adams Hotel before the girls start school on Monday. Reporters and onlookers have been camped outside the hotel since Saturday, but the Obama women managed to enter the hotel through the alley last night without anyone capturing images of them. The Post reports that President-elect Barack Obama is expected to arrive this afternoon.

They're heeeere! Well, almost. The District Department of Transportation put out a press release at the end of the day Friday alerting the public to parking restrictions and street closures around the Hay-Adams Hotel, which is where the Obama family will be living beginning this weekend until January 15. The restrictions go into effect overnight tonight, so it's safe to assume the Obamas will arrive sometime early tomorrow morning.