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" If you would have told me this time last year I&amp;#x27;d be seeing the 57th Presidential Inauguration from the second row on the steps of the Capitol, I would have looked at you like you were, well, we&amp;#x27;ll just use the word &amp;quot;insane&amp;quot; and call it a day. But today I did, and even hours later, I&amp;#x27;m still in awe, ladies. Want to see what I saw today? Hundreds of thousands of people descended on the nation&amp;#x27;s capitol today to watch President Obama&amp;#x27;s second inauguration. Here&amp;#x27;s a similar view to what the president might have seen had he stepped up to the podium around 9 A.M. I took my seat in Section 1 Brown for a second-row view of the podium at which President Obama was going to speak (and yes, where Beyonc&amp;amp;eacute; sang, too!). Um, wow? We were helped to our seats by members of the U.S. Coast Guard Honor Guard. Lots of female service members on hand, including Stephanie Severns, here. We were right across from the United States Marine Band, too, who took the stage around 9:30... ...and played through the President&amp;#x27;s intro around 11:30. (Even they were caught up in capturing the moment; who can blame them?) Then, lots of filing in! First, the House of Representatives, including Rep. Nita Lowey (D, NY-17), waving here. And Senators! They&amp;#x27;re celebrities around here, I&amp;#x27;ve gleaned. Here&amp;#x27;s Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Max Baucus (D-MT), waving his hat. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) was wearing one just like it, too! Oh, yeah, and Eva Longoria, Presidential Inaugural Committee Co-Chair. When New York Senator Chuck Schumer began talking, he started with a salute to the armed forces and service members&amp;#x27; &amp;quot;braveness&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;sacrifice.&amp;quot; I loved how he then talked about the statue of freedom on top of the Capitol dome, which is...a woman! She represents &amp;quot;strength, courage, and humility&amp;quot;, and that&amp;#x27;s not only what today was about, but what I see represented in so many of you daily here on Glamour.com (really!). The perfect note on which to begin. Next up was the invocation by Myrlie Evers-Williams, wife of Mississippi civil rights leader Medgar Evers. Another major moment for women; according to MPR, Evers-Williams is the first woman to ever deliver the invocation. She delivered blessings for &amp;quot;all who contribute to the essence of the American spirit and American dream.&amp;quot; Gorgeous. You won&amp;#x27;t be surprised that I squeed a little to see Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor swear in Vice President Joe Biden. There&amp;#x27;s a little glimpse. And, of course, President Obama! Here he is walking to the podium to speak after swearing-in. I&amp;#x27;m sure you&amp;#x27;ve all heard President Obama&amp;#x27;s address by now, but what I took away from it was the spirit of togetherness, a word that he said many, many times. Think about &amp;quot;collective action&amp;quot;; that&amp;#x27;s the phrase that stood out to me. As we contemplate who we are and who we&amp;#x27;d like to become in 2013 and in this new administration, &amp;quot;together&amp;quot; is the word we can be thinking about in our daily lives when we approach political discourse and social positions, and make sure we&amp;#x27;re embracing the future as one, regardless of how we define ourselves and our ideologies. One more thing--did I mention some cool chicks named Kelly and Bey sang some songs? Ha. I kid, I kid. The day was a whirlwind of wonderful...and I can&amp;#x27;t believe it&amp;#x27;s only getting started. Tonight&amp;#x27;s The Inaugural Ball, and I hope I&amp;#x27;ll get a chance to see the President sweep Mrs. O off her feet. Did you watch the inauguration on TV? Did you attend, even? Were you moved at any moment? Did you have strong feelings--or even not-so-strong feelings? So glad I could share with you what I saw today! Photo: Longoria: Andrew Clevenger"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/inspired/blogs/the-conversation/2013/01/inauguration-2013-come-see-the>