SarahWurrey.com

Full disclosure: I’m proud to say Feeding America is a client. I have been helping with their outreach effort on blogs and Twitter to promote Hunger Action Month.

Who do we think of when we think of hunger?

For me, I always used to just think of the children in those daytime commercials I would see as a kid. Images of children living in poverty in developing countries, whom you could sponsor for “just a few dollars a month.”  Growing up in a sheltered New Hampshire suburb and never worrying about where my next meal was coming from, I suppose it was easy to be ignorant of the fact that hunger affects millions of kids in America as well.

According to Feeding America, in 2007 there were over 12 million American children living in food-insecure households. These undernourished children are in great danger of social, physical, and educational problems. Feeding America wants to do more to ensure all children receive the nutrition they need.

Hunger Action Month starts today, and will focus in part on childhood hunger in America–and there are many ways that you can help! I’d like to urge you to lend your voice to the effort. Whether you’d like to give up a cup of coffee, sign your child up to be a Hunger Helper, or write your Representative–every action can make a difference.

For my fellow social media geeks, I’d also like to challenge you to join me to spreading the word on Facebook, Twitter, and through your blog. Use any of the links below to make sure your network hears about Hunger Action Month, and urge your friends to do the same!

Spread the word on Twitter ~ Spread the word on Facebook ~ Be a Blogger Advocate

Fall down, go boom.

This has been a rather busy weekend; I find myself exhausted before midnight for the first time in a while, I tend to keep Dracula hours, but tonight I can’t wait to crawl into bed. I figured, however, that a quick recap was in order.

1) Friday night I had a blind date that went well, if you don’t count the fact that I ate it hard on my way into the restaurant. On my way to sit down I went lurching wildly into one of the high-top tables, which I then almost took down with me in my fruitless gravity resistance efforts. I basically was clinging to this table and scrambling my legs back under me as the date, waitstaff, and other patrons looked on in horror. In terms of embarassment it probably falls somewhere between Brittany Murphy falling down the stars in “Clueless” and Grape Stomp Lady. I realize in retrospect I could have come off awesomely if I’d just stayed down there and pretended I was doing a “Family Guy” homage (ssssss, aaaaah!):

2) I was running around from minute one on Saturday, collecting a friend at the airport at 8am and then spending the next few hours gossiping, shopping, getting ready for that night’s big bachelorette party and riding around in the glorious weather with the top down–which prompted the world’s biggest redneck to lean out the window of his T-bird at a stop light and drawl at us, “there ain’t nothin’ in the world like a rag top…” Aside from being right, this guy was like a cross between Jeff Foxworthy and Rod Beck:

Rag tops are good, y'all. As are pornstaches.

This was all capped off with a big night of bachelorette craziness, in which I ended up at a bar I haven’t been to since I was 19 21, talking to a guy who was actually born in 1988 and resisting the urge to just pat him on the head and question how it is he has facial hair and is able to legally drink alcohol.

3) Tried to get into the city to see cherry blossoms today, as it was another day of glorious weather. We faced obstacles at every turn, including but not limited to:

• Remembering that the car was parked at Sara’s house.
• Facing epic levels of “Old Ladies Who Are No Longer Able to Recover After a Late Night on the Town” laziness
• Tourists and Traffic that rivaled the Obamabration
• Surly Rite Aid cashiers and a Diet Coke shortag

So we didn’t end up making it in. But we did drive around aimlessly for a really long time with the top down, and visit two convenience stores and a McDonald’s drive thru for sustenance. But to satisfy anyone with blossom lust (which, in this neck of the woods at this time of year, is everyone), here’s a picture with us crudely pasted in–ignore the drinks in our hands, not like we were actually on Bourbon Street in that pic. Ahem.

So, a busy weekend. And now that I’ve wasted an hour I could have been sleeping on this blog post, I am definitely off to bed.

One of the best things about living near Washington is getting to do the fun touristy things when friends come to town. I could do the fun touristy things any time, of course, but then I would have to be around other actual tourists without supervision. And I can’t take responsibility for what would happen. There may be an unfortunate incident involving a fanny pack used as a deadly weapon.

This weekend, my friends Jenny and Jen were in town to take in the sights. We got slow starts both days due to staying up until all hours Friday and Saturday night watching massive amounts of “Sex and the City” and eating massive amounts of foodstuff purchased at 7-11 (to say nothing of the sweet tea vodka), but we still managed to squeeze a lot into the few hours we had each day in the city:

1) We saw all the monuments except the Jefferson and FDR, because we are apparently elderly and were so exhausted after walking around all afternoon to the other ones that we couldn’t bear the thought of walking another, oh, quarter mile to the Tidal Basin. This is shameful, but an excuse for them to come back.

We walked past both sides of the White House, where Jen dared to ask the question, “what does wearing angel wings made of flowers and playing REM on a boom box have to do with vegetarianism?” To which I responded, “I am a lot more concerned about the guy with the teddy bear holding sign with the cut out in the middle and the arrow pointing to his ’stimulous package.’” (Ah, whacky White House protestors!)

2) We were forced to dodge large groups of nattering school children everywhere we went, and became convinced that a good percentage of the girls were simply not wearing pants. Anyone on the Mall this weekend would have been likely to hear the following, repeatedly: “Where are her PANTS?” “Seriously, there’s another one.” “Were YOU allowed to go pantsless to high school?” “Ok, seriously, those can’t even remotely pass for leggings–you can see her skin through them!” “You can see more than that.” “I’m really serious…where are her PANTS???” “Those cheerleaders on a scavenger hunt are annoying the crap out of me.” “Yes, they are a pain…but at least they are wearing PANTS!”

(My greatest victory in life is being born in 1979–when I was 15, the height of fashion was to roll out of bed looking like something the cat barfed up, with baggy jeans, flannel button downs, my awesome Doc Martens, Birkenstocks, and wild unkempt hair. I would, quite simply, not survive high school if I had it to do over again in this day and age. 90s fashion, FTW!)

3) Took the obligatory picture sitting on the Einstein statue’s lap, and freaked out my friends with the echo-spot at the center of the universe near his feet. (And told stories of the various abuses heaped upon poor Al during my freshman year at GW that are best not shared here…)

4) Went to Old Ebbitt Grill for martinis and couple bashing (it was V-Day, after all), making particular fun of all the couples who were already there and eating their Valentine’s dinner…at 430 in the afternoon. Someone forget to make a reservation?

5) Managed to get separated at the Museum of Natural History. In the sense that I chose to drop them off and find a place to park rather than expose them to any more of my road rage. It took me about three minutes to find a parking spot, and about 30 seconds to realize I did not have my phone. This incident ended up costing me 30 dollars in card charges using the pay phone to try and track them down. I should have known to just look near the Hope Diamond.

6) Consumed the following: unknown number of beers, Jack & Diets, Captain & Diets, sweet tea vodkas, martinis, Stoli raz and Sprites, Marlboro Lights, Cheetos, Fritos, Doritos, Wavy Lays, Milky Ways, Snickerdoodles (in both cookie and dough forms), frozen pizza, pasta, turkey meatballs, Trader Joe’s chocolate cloud cake, pumpkin spice whoopie pies, egg rolls, taquitos, fried rice, pancakes from a can, thick-sliced bacon, Chipotle burritos, Bread & Chocolate brunch, street vendor hot dogs, cookie ice cream sandwhiches, gummi orange slices and gummi worms. Oh, and Sun Chips. And dip. Ahem.

(Going to gym every day this week, why do you ask?)

(I think I’m going to have to insist on involving some vegetables the next time they come to visit…)

All in all, a great weekend. Although my apartment does currently boast quite the aroma right now. An intoxicating mixture of liquor, soda, cookies and bacon. I should probably get to cleaning…