Somehow Peter's co-worker got us on the guest list for the inauguration party at the Ambassador's. I thought it was going to be just embassy worker bees, and we had to walk three miles in the snow: this is my excuse for showing up wearing jeans with a white belt and Keens. Well, this is no excuse for the white belt, except they are cool. On the way out of the embassy, we walked past the wall where the portraits of the President, Vice-President and Secretary of State hang. After seeing Bush, Cheney and Rice for so long on State Department walls, it was strange to see the wall, where the portraits normally hang, blank.
We walk into the main "salon" at Spaso House and the room is electric, filled with people dressed far nicer than we are--one guy was in a tux--a jumbotron screen, and tv cameras. 
The lights go down, and they show the Presidents taking their seats. President George the First gets a big cheer from the Ruskie audience for wearing a Russian hat, they see it and go nuts. Aretha starts singing, in her hat with the bow you can see from space. "Freedom, freeeeedom," they show the Golden Gate Bridge and I start crying and pretty much don't stop until we get back home.
Obama walks down the stairs going out to the podium and looks so beautiful, then speaks with this great combination of gentleness and power, that I think he may be the Buddah. "This guy is even better than David Cook," I say to myself.
After the swearing-in the lights come back up and everyone stands around hugging. I feel like we all just got married. I have never felt so hopeful in my life.
We exit the salon and the reception rooms are filled with flowers, banners, American flags, tables with caviar on toast, shishleek (Russian brochettes), mushroom pastries, dumplings in creme sauce, fresh fruit and veggies, all kinds of wine, beer, Beringer champagne and shots of Russian wodka.
Peter says we have to drink to Obama.
At midnight we walked home in the snow, the ground slushy, the Russian White house in the distance.
We came in through the embassy and the wall was no longer blank, we were greeted by two new faces: