McLean Blogger Sami Moog

By Sami Moog

Slumdog Millionaire and Starbuck’s Lemonade are a match made in Heaven!

I saw quite a few of my friends on a recent night in McLean, Virginia. First I met with my closest friend, Danielle Rein. Although I had a class, Street Law, with Danielle in McLean High School, we never really met until my senior summer. She came over to my house, and we were joined with my other close friend, Carolyn Whitebread. I met Carolyn through a friend of mine who went to McLean High School with me. Carolyn graduated from O’Connell in 2008.

Danielle Rein

We then picked up our friend Chris, a McLean High School graduate of 2007, and we went to the Starbucks in Downtown McLean. I discovered the most delicious drink at Starbucks, passionfruit lemonade.

We sat outside on the patio at Starbucks, We talked about people sitting at Starbucks, and what they were doing. One gentleman was reading a book, “Beyond Beef,” which I have a actually been planning on reading. Jeremy Rifkin, the author, writes about the meat industry, and the vast negative consequences of its growth. I know a little bit about this book, so I started a conversation on the topic. We also talked about friends, troubles, and a handful of the good times we all have experienced together, which is by far my favorite topic of conversation.

Sami Moog and friend Carolyn Whitebread

Sami Moog and friend Emily Lavergne

Starbucks is a nice place to hang out and pass the time if my friends and I are simply waiting for the night to begin. Another nice, albeit weird, thing one can do at Starbucks is people-watching. After spending about an hour outside Starbucks, enjoying the rare cool weather in the midst of this summer heat, we went over to Liz Velander’s house, where  we met a large group of men and women. Liz Velander just graduated from McLean High School.

We watched the film Slumdog Millionaire. Slumdog Millionaire is one of my all time favorite movies. I have seen it  over 4 times. All of my friends liked it a lot. It was Carolyn’s first time watching the movie, and I think I might have amped it up a little bit. She found it “very deep and passionate,” however. All in all, I think the highlight of my night was easily the pleasure I took from drinking Starbucks’s passionfruit lemonade!

A little Information On a Few of My Close Friends: Carolyn and Danielle are perhaps my closest lady friends. Emily Lavergne is my third closest friend, although she wasn’t with us that night.

I have had more memories with Carolyn and Emily, respectively, than probably all of my other friends combined. We have be through very good times together and some very hard times together.

Last summer, I went to the beach with a few GMU friends, and Danielle Rein came along, along with another friend, Kailey Westby-Gibson. They met a few of my close friends at Mason, including my best friend, Rayan Othman. Needless to say, everyone got along wonderfully and we are all planning of going to King’s Dominion sometime in the next couple of weeks together!

Sami Moog is a 2007 graduate of  McLean High School. He now studies dentistry and journalism at George Mason University. This is his blog and his life in McLean.