A group of people are walking through the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. They’re here to scout the space for a blowout inaugural event. They clutch information packets outlining the hotel’s specs, including floor plans, parking, guest rooms, and outdoor event spaces. They have pencils, cameras, and cell phones in hand. Chris Otway is at the helm to answer their questions.

They’re standing in one of the executive suites, a guest room with living, dining, and meeting spaces.

“Do you know the square-footage of this room?” a man asks.

“About 600,” Otway replies.

“Are all the rooms the same size?” another chimes in.

“No, this is the smallest.”

“What about tissues?” says the first man. “I didn’t see any in the bathroom. We’ll need tissues.”

“I’ll check on that for you,” Otway replies as he jots something in his notebook.

This is a typical day for Otway. He’s the Wardman Park’s director of sales and catering. His job is to bag big-ticket events for the hotel, and that means being able to answer every question and assuage every concern a client might have—right down to tissues.

Local bookstores are selling more political-themed children’s books, some written by the famous, some written about the famous. Here’s a rundown.

The crowds at 14th and U streets, Northwest. Photo by Flickr user Alex Barth 

Last night marked an historic moment in US history—an African-American won the presidency. Though Barack Obama will officially take office at the end of January, Washingtonians started the celebration en masse last night.  

Obama won easily in Maryland and the District, where he secured 61- and 93-percent of the vote, respectively. But Virginia remained “too close to call” for several hours. Just after 11 PM, with West Coast polls showing clear Obama wins in California, Washington, and Oregon, CNN and other networks felt comfortable declaring Obama the president-elect. Minutes later, Virigina’s results were finally decided—Obama eked by with 52-percent of the vote.

The streets of Washington erupted. We were driving back to the city from a watch-party in Virginia around 11:30 and were greeted by good-natured honks of car horns and pockets of boisterous young people headed, we quickly realized, to the White House.

Crowds formed all over the city. A friend in Northeast said that he saw fireworks. From P Street, Northwest, we heard the cheers of the crowd on U Street, five blocks away.

Were you part of the celebration last night? What was going on in Virginia and Maryland? We want to hear your stories and see your photos! Leave us your version of the events in the comments, and send photos to eleaman@washingtonian.com. We’ll start a slideshow to document our readers’ perspective of last night’s historic occasion.

See also: Tell Barack Obama where he should dine when he arrives in Washington.

Since Barack Obama first entered the political scene, we've been keeping an eye on him. Here's some of our coverage of the new president-elect from the past few years—and guesses as to what the next four could look like under him.

What If Obama Filled His Inner Circle With DC Outsiders?
One clear message President-elect Obama could send would be to appoint Cabinet officials who have never worked in Washington. Here is one way an outsider Cabinet could shape up. From December 2008.

Who'll Get the Big Jobs?
Will Kerry be Secretary of State? Who will Obama appoint as his Chief of Staff? We make our guesses. From October 2008.

The Legend of Barack Obama
From out of nowhere, he’s become DC’s brightest star. Will his charisma and sense of destiny propel him to the White House in 2008? From November 2006.

Chew on This: Tell us which restaurants the Obamas must dine at when they come to DC. 

Will Malia and Sasha Go to a DC Public School? No—the inside betting is on Maret. 

The Next Chapter of Obama From June 2008

Will Obama Kill Pleated Khakis?
Is Barack Obama the next DC fashion icon? He favors slim-cut suits and tapered ties in keeping with the new trends in men’s fashion. From May 2007.

Who Might be in an Obama Cabinet?
Obama has surrounded himself with strong and opinionated advisers, and odds are that his Cabinet appointments would be more than window-dressing. Here are our picks for who might make up his Cabinet. From May 2008.

Chicago Magazine has these pieces:
Vote of Confidence
The Speech 

Families take center stage during presidential elections. What kind of family best connects with the public? Daughters seem to be an advantage. Starting with Lyndon Johnson’s victory over Barry Goldwater in 1964, only two presidents—Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush—have won with more sons than daughters, and both were one-term presidents.

Four of the last seven elected presidents have had just one or two children. The exceptions with large families were Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Bush 41.

Barack Obama can take heart that his family—wife Michelle and two daughters, Malia Ann and Sasha—represents a traditional presidential nuclear family. John McCain is father to seven children from four different sets of parents: four sons and three daughters.

DC numerologist Tania Gabrielle uncovers how names and dates shape US history in her latest book, The Unrevealed Secrets of Political Success. She uses Pythagorean, Chaldean, and ancient Egyptian systems to outline what the founding fathers have in common, how the numbers related to President Bush’s name beat those in Al Gore’s in 2002, why John McCain and Barack Obama were destined to run against each other, and more.

Numerology is the study of the meaning of numbers. In the same way words are associated with a definition, numbers are associated with a set of key words in numerology. Gabrielle explains that the numbers 1 through 9 have very specific meanings that have been handed down from the systems she studies.

No matter which way the presidential race goes, it’s clear that Barack Obama won the Washington region’s money primary. According to federal finance reports, Obama raised more than $21 million around Washington through September 29; his best scores came in DC’s Cleveland Park and Palisades. His Democratic opponent Hillary Rodham Clinton raised about $12 million, and Republican nominee John McCain managed almost $9 million, with much of that money coming from DC rather than the GOP stronghold of McLean.