Lapping up the glamour at the White House with Leota!
Now that I’ve written about the purpose of the White House Travel Bloggers Summit, allow me to gush about its glamour. This post will cover the fashion, idols, beauty, and thrills of those remarkable 48 hours in DC. Get your eyes and heart ready, chum.
What a ceiling the Executive Office Building in the White House Complex has!
First, architecture! As you can tell from the fact that I have a giant category of my blog entitled “Sexy Architecture,” I swoon for pretty buildings… and the White House did not disappoint! I particularly loved the Eisenhower Executive Office building in which the main summit was held. Isn’t it grand?
The Eisenhower Executive Office Building in the White House complex: The site of the main portion of the Travel Bloggers summit.
One of the panels during the #StudyAbroadBecause summit.
Feeling executive-like while in the Executive Office building of the White House.
Even the stair railings in the White House complex are ornate.
Next, idols. Oooh, the big-shots I hobnobbed with during the summit! There were major government figures, famed travel writers, Travel Channel stars, major travel companies, and general movers and shakers of the world. Sighs of happiness and awe as I look back at these photos and remember the wonderful people who were there…
Bloggers in the W Hotel for breakfast, looking out at the Washington Monument.
Just hangin’ at the National Press Club with two of the top names in travel: Rolf Potts and Rick Calvert!
Tina Tchen, the amazing Assistant to President Barack Obama, Chief of Staff to First Lady Michelle Obama, and Executive Director of the White House Council on Women and Girls.
Finally, fashion, food, and fun! I’ll close this article with a batch of photos from my Instagram feed documenting delights of the DC trip. Where did I get those “effortlessly glamorous” dresses, you may ask? Well, my friend Sarah from college started an awesome dress company called Leota which is getting increasingly famous, and I was thrilled to wear two Leota dresses during the trip: the black and white number shown both in the first photo of this article and in two pictures below, plus the blue dress at the end of this photo set. Do read the captions below, and re-live the White House journey with me!
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- Leota in the Oval Office!
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- At the summit they had patriotic USA M&M’s.
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- There was a huge line to get through security to the inside of the White House.
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- The East Wing was grand.
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- The rain didn’t bring down our mood.
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- Have you seen this famous portrait of Kennedy?
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- Leota at a press conference. Hehe.
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- So exciting to be in the White House!
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- A beautiful doorway in the East Wing.
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- Energized for my flight home, wearing Leota!
As you can see, I had the time of my life at the White House conference. As a new mother, this trip was a huge milestone in that I was able to re-embrace much of my independence that having an infant changes… plus, I got to be part of an amazing new government-led movement to encourage and assist more Americans to travel! Thank you, White House, for your awesome #StudyAbroadBecause initiative, and for having such a fabulous summit!
The author, Lillie Marshall, is 6-foot-tall National Board Certified Teacher of English, fitness fan, and mother of two who has been a public school educator since 2003. She launched Around the World “L” Travel and Life Blog in 2009, and over 3.7 million readers have now visited this site. Lillie also runs TeachingTraveling.com and DrawingsOf.com. Subscribe to her monthly newsletter, and follow @WorldLillie on social media!
Abi
Wednesday 24th of December 2014
That was a fun read! Glad you had a good time there - also good to see so many familiar faces in your shots!
Penny Sadler
Wednesday 24th of December 2014
As cool as it is that you were at the White House, I'd be more interested in meeting the other bloggers that were there, like Rolf Potts! hehe. Oh and that portrait of Kennedy,,, beautiful. Very lucky indeed.
Lillie
Thursday 25th of December 2014
Penny, I feel the same way, both about the travel stars (swoon!) and about that Kennedy portrait.
Caleb
Monday 22nd of December 2014
Somewhere I have always wanted to visit. Thanks for sharing.
Cat of Sunshine and Siestas
Monday 22nd of December 2014
Looks glamorous - and productive - indeed!
amelie88
Sunday 21st of December 2014
The only famous person I recognize in your pictures is Don Wildman. I would have just monopolized his time by pestering him with questions about the weirdest stories he has covered on his shows. Love Friday nights when I have no plans when they marathon his shows back to back on the Travel Channel.
And the White House sure looks glamorous! Not sure I'd want to live there myself (too fancy, plus it wouldn't feel like a real home to me) but I'm sure there's lots of cool history to learn about. In fact, Don should have just hosted a conference about Mysteries at the White House (or at least make an episode about it if they haven't already. You're welcome Travel Channel for the brilliant idea).
Lillie
Monday 22nd of December 2014
I totally agree that would make a great show! Don was INCREDIBLY friendly and kind, despite my being star-struck. :)