The California State Society

My apologies for taking so long to update the expat! I just returned from my first gay wedding in California not too long ago. My dear friends, Travis and Hernan just tied the knot at a truly fabulous and touching wedding at the Disney Concert Hall. It was a stunning venue and even had paparazzi, helicopters and, yes, the USC marching band. I'll forgive you for that one, Hernan. Only because Travis seemed thrilled with the surprise...and because they were incredible. Anyway...I'm really happy for both of them.

Speaking of California...

I recently discovered where all the other Cali expats in Washington hang out: The California State Society. Yes...there's a society of Californians working in D.C. who are dedicated to networking, socializing and improving the image of California in our nation's capital...but from what I can tell...it's mostly about the drinking. God bless.

So...here's the story. Every state has a society in D.C. that serves as the networking body for people from that state working in the District. It's chock full of staffers from different congressional/senatorial offices. Judging by the way some of these 20 something staffers were dressed...there's something more than networking going on...

Last night, the CA State Society held it's annual Back to College Night. Basically, all the major colleges and universities in CA send an alum to staff a table full of free school pride goodies. The important part was the two large bars with hours worth of free wine and beer. Basically, it just made all of us feel old...especially because some of the alumni were at least 90 years old. But, we had a blast. I finally got to talk about what was on my Tivo with some other UCLA alumni. We were all lamenting about the District's general lack of pop culture knowledge. Here are some other things I floated by my fellow California expats:

- Where does one go to lay out for a tan in the District without getting mosquito bites all over? This wasn't a problem in La La land. And...it's just gross because you basically look like you've ended up with "backne." I may or may not be speaking from experience here.
- Why is it that wearing a really hot pair of jeans with a cute blazer, shirt and tie isn't acceptable as "business casual," but tucking a polo into some cheap gap khakis is? This is just appalling. Apparently, everyone in this town would rather look like an ex pro golfer than a cute professional.
- Does anyone watch Bravo around here? Does anyone watch anything other than CSPAN and MSNBC? Honestly, I have SOOO much to debrief on about Project Runway (even though this season is nothing compared to last year's)
- Where the HELL are the luxury spas here? My sources tell me that I'm supposed to drive to certain parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania. That seems ridiculous. With the amount of money that there is in this town...it shouldn't be hard to track down DC's version of Burke Williams or something. Seriously, people.

So...as you can see...it was a productive mixer...especially in that they had no problem refilling my wine glass several times. While I was getting drunk with the California Expats in the basement of the Rayburn House Office building, there were a LOT of staffers scurrying around like bees trying to deal with the $700 billion economic bailout. God's speed, kids...God's speed.

Oh...and you MUST check out the website for the California State Society...cutest thing EVER (there's a bear on a surfboard!):

http://www.cssdc.org/