A Day In The Life Of Miss A

Andrea Rodgers, Tatiana Boncompagni Hoover and Miss DC 2008, Kate Marie Grinold at Urban Chic at Bethesda Row.

After making my usual calls, emails, picking up silent auction items for upcoming events and writing in the morning, I headed to the Innocents at Risk Tea at Ann Hand. I brought two gifts with me for  girls ages 11 – 17 years old who had been victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. The gift requests were for very basic things that most people take for granted. It’s so horrible that you don’t even want to imagine what has happened to these precious little souls. I just hope that we made their Christmas a bit better, and I hope that the cards we wrote to them will give them the strength they need to get past the horrors they have been through.

I learned so much from talking with Claudia Barlow about recent developments in Human Trafficking such as the Natalie Holloway case. Claudia consults to the State Department and has worked with the modern slavery issue since the first global data bank on trafficking in persons was formulated to pose a need for Congressional action and White House policy directives.

After having some tea and dessert, I browsed Ann Hand’s amazing collection of jewelry. She has an amazing selection of Ann Hand items for men and women celebrating Barrack Obama’s win that you should check out! Ann is such a lovely lady! She’s from Texas originally, and reminds me so much of my mother’s girlfriends in North Carolina! She’s not only a great lady, she’s quite the entrepreneur. I have so much respect for all she’s accomplished!

I left Ann Hand and headed up to Bethesda Row for Tatiana Boncompagni Hoover’s book signing at Urban Chic. Bethesda has come a long way! I absolutely adore it! Urban Chic has such beautiful clothing! I had fun finding outfits for Miss DC 2008, Kate Marie Grinold to try on as possible choices for her trip to Las Vegas for Miss America!

It was such a pleasure to meet Tatiana! She was so kind, open, and down-to-earth! I look forward to hearing what she thinks about my blog! Tatiana signed a copy of her new book, Gilding Lily for me which I’m dying to read in North Carolina over Christmas.

Ladies, keep your eyes out for her next book which will be out next year called Hedge Fund Wives. According to HarperCollins, “In this amazingly timely story about what the wealthy do when Wall Street lays an egg, the author of Gilding Lily once again delivers a witty and insightful treatment of today’s woman, as she explores the sacrifices they make, the bargains they strike, the rules they follow, and what happens when it all starts to fall apart.”  

I ran into my dear friend, Pamela Sorensen at the book signing. She invited me to Lisa Sun’s birthday dinner at Darlington House. So after going to every single level of the parking garage, we finally found my car and headed to the Dupont area for a wonderful dinner. I had never been to Darlington House before. We entered the basement level, which reminds me a bit of The Mad Hatter, but I was pleasantly surprised that the 2nd floor had a beautiful atmosphere and delicious cuisine!

(Pictured top right: Miss DC 2008, Kate Marie Grinold with Deborah Sigmund, founder of Innocents at Risk; top left: Claudia Barlow with Lindsay Craig; middle right: Ann Hand and Andrea Rodgers; middle left: Kristin McMahon of The Patton Group sporting a preppy sling!; bottom right: Phillipe Cousteau of Earth Echo, Andrea Rodgers and Pamela Sorensen; bottom left: Lisa Sun, Chantal Attias and Dimple Shah celebrating Lisa’s birthday with Veuve!)

- Miss A