Week 5

It’s been a really hectic week at work, and between drafting and filing legal docs and scrambling to find court motions, the days seem to slip by. After a crazy workweek, I was more than ready to blow off some steam; so a few friends and I decided to try out the local restaurants and bars and really enjoyed ourselves. Here are a couple of pictures from our nights out:

Over the weekend, some friends and I hit up the National Mall (yet again). This time we stopped by the National Archives Building. Not gonna lie, I couldn’t help but think of National Treasure the whole time. It reminded me that I wanted to track down the Live Free or Die Hard tunnel where Bruce Willis drives a car off a ramp at the perfect angle and takes down the helicopter, and when he and Justin Long manage to dodge a flipping car by a few feet by merely ducking. Needless to say, the fourth installation of the action series was definitely realism at its best (ha, ha).

Afterwards, we viewed the Cinema of Dreams exhibit at the Hirshhorn Museum. The exhibit aimed to compare the qualities of cinema and film to the characteristics of dreams. Truthfully, it was somewhat of a trippy experience. A few of the exhibits were slightly unsettling and the concept was a little too abstract for me, but we had a great time nonetheless. We then went to the Albert Einstein Memorial (random, I know). Here’s a picture of a few of us posing with Albert:

I’m super tired from today’s long day at work, so until next time!

21 & Invicible

This weekend went by way too quickly – celebrating my birthday at Villanova was so much fun. I miss being at school a lot, but being back made me realize how different the college atmosphere is from the “real” world environment. For instance, it’d be pretty unlikely to come across a beer bong or Guitar Hero in the upscale apartments of professionals. My friends and I went pretty low-key for the birthday celebration, and just had dinner and hit up a few bars in the area. But, I’m looking forward to celebrating it DC-style this upcoming weekend. Here are a few photos of me and my friends at Nova. The first photo is a friend and I at dinner, the second is some of us relaxing after feasting on steaks, and the third is a picture right before we headed out.

The lawyer I work with informed me today that only two out of every ten False Claims Act cases get picked up by the government, and usually only when it deals with Medicaid/Medicare fraud. It's a sad statistic, but it makes the work we do all that much more significant since every piece of information really has to contribute to solidifying the case (maybe Deval Patrick will let me steal some of his speeches too when I draft legal docs). However, the stuff we write isn’t “just words,” so I’ve really been relying on my English major. Luckily my lawyer is really helpful, so I’m not too lost when doing his assignments. Well, my DVD of HBO’s Entourage just came this past week, so I’m going to unwind while watching Arie throw a stapler at Lloyd. Till next time!

The refs must've graduated from Georgetown...

It's already almost halfway through February, which only means one thing: my birthday is coming up!! Luckily, it falls on President's Day weekend, so I get to go back to Villanova and celebrate. Unfortunately, Mid-February also means Valentine's Day, and although I'm not really a big fan of all the lovey-dovey couples decked out in head-to-toe red, a girl won't refuse flowers and/or chocolates (I hope my boyfriend is reading this!) :)

This past work week has been a blur--I began researching for several of the new cases my attorney is working on, and we get so caught up in familiarizing ourselves with the all the relevant regulations and administrations that we completely lose track of everything else. Our office looks like a giant stack of paperwork, but it is so exciting to contribute real substance to the cases. Happy hour has become a staple during the work week, and last week I went to Mr. Smith's in Georgetown. Its interior is set up like a big garden party, with lights and ivy trimming the walls, brick flooring, patio furniture, and it even turns into a piano bar at around 10 PM. It also has some great deals, which is a hard find in Georgetown. Over the weekend my roommates, some friends and I went to R&R, a chic lounge on 6th street, which was loads of fun.


We also went to the Holocaust Memorial Museum, and it was incredibly moving. Some of the exhibits amazed me - like the short film explaining the cruel "medical experiments" performed on prisoners, and a scaled model of the gas chambers' systematic killing. The grainy black and white stills that document the horror of the Holocaust can evoke strong emotions within any individual with a conscience, but it's ironic that those sentiments are only a fraction of the terror that the "non Aryan" race experienced. Going through the museum was both mentally and physically exhausting, but it is definitely one of my top recommendations of places to go in DC.

On Saturday, I assisted my supervisor interview potential summer interns from Georgetown and George Washington Law Schools. It was definitely a little weird sitting on the other side of the table, but I picked up some great interview tips and met other professionals in the legal arena. So even though I had to get up at 6:30 AM on a Saturday, it was definitely worth it.

I also went to the Nova vs. Georgetown game at the Verizon Center this week, and although we cheered the Wildcats on like no other, we failed to pull through. With 30 seconds left on the clock, it was tied at 53 and we had the ball, but when the ref made the most ridiculous call with .1 second to go, Georgetown made two free throws, and the overtime win that should have been ours slipped away.


My brother-in-law was watching the game on TV, and said that even the commentators remarked that the ref's call was faulty (so I'm not being completely biased). When we go to the ball games at Villanova, we usually sit right behind the basket in the student section, however this time around, we sat way, way, way up in the arena. Here's a picture of the court from our nosebleed section seats.



It would have been nice to win against Georgetown and to seal off the top wins of the week (i.e. the Giants and McCain), but it was still a great game. Well I've blabbed on enough about my week and my delivered groceries have finally arrived, so I better run. But I'll definitely come back next week with news and photos of my birthday weekend!

Week 2

First things first, GO GIANTS !!

Amazing game. Peyton and Eli – back to back champions. INSANE. Patriots 19-0?? YEAH RIGHT. Too bad, Brady, maybe in another 30something years.

Okay, I’m finished with my gloating. I desperately wish I was back home in New York to celebrate. However, I did enjoy my week here in D.C. The past few days at The National Whistleblowers Center and Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto have been great – I got to start writing a draft of the Relator’s Statement for a new case, and it was so exciting to write a legal document that’s actually going to be filed in court.

Over the weekend my friends and I decided to explore D.C., and we had an awesome time. On Friday night we decided to go into Adam’s Morgan, a really cute part of town that’s filled with so many other twenty-something year olds. Here’s a picture of my good friend and me that night.

We went into a place with live bands playing and it was so much fun. On Saturday afternoon we did the whole tourist thing: we went to see the White House, Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, walked along the Reflection Pool, and stopped by the Lincoln Memorial. Here we are in front of the White House.

Everything there looks so much better at night. I definitely want to go back to the Washington Monument one night when the weather gets warmer, it was probably my favorite stop.

I just got back from class and the Law & Criminal Justice program lecture for the week, and John J. Miller of the FBI came to speak to us. He looked so familiar when he walked in, and it turns out he was a news anchor in New York. He had such an interesting career – he began working in the media at age fourteen and has worked for the NYPD, then back to media, and then back to LAPD, and then to the FBI. The most interesting thing though was that he interviewed Osama Bin Laden in 1998, where Bin Laden pretty much declared war on the United States, and 7-8 weeks later the embassy bombings occurred. It was a really great lecture, and I definitely learned a lot from it.

But, the biggest news of today – Super Tuesday! Unfortunately I was late in getting an absentee ballot, so I wasn’t able to vote. It’s probably for the best though, since I’m still not 100% on who I want to vote for. I really wanted Giuliani, but obviously that isn’t happening. News of the “recession” were pretty big today too… and interest rates keep getting cut, but hopefully that’ll encourage more spending and stimulate the economy without bringing about too much inflation. I better get going and hit the gym – all this exploration of D.C. is ruining my diet. Plus, I took my celebration of the Giants victory a little too far by gorging on junk food. :) Next Monday Villanova plays Georgetown in basketball, so hopefully it’ll result in a big win too!