Mental note: when trying to secure a tour of the West Wing, it doesn’t hurt if one of your oldest friends works there. That’s the case with my friend Caitlin, who I’ve known since Elementary School and also went to college with. Her job is one of many reasons she rocks.

When I was in DC this week Caitlin took me on a tour of her office – which also happens to be the President’s Office, in case that wasn’t abundantly clear – and by any account it exceeded all expectations. Before even entering the building, we ran into HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Then, the Vice President walked by when we were in the entryway – not a bad first five minutes.

Caitlin is a tour-guiding pro, so the remaining hour flew by. She had dozens of stories about the scenes featured in recent photographs, the eccentricities behind the artwork, and the history of the building. (Did you know a gaggle of reporters is called a “Press Pool” because the current WH Press Room used to be FDR’s pool? Mind blown.) Other highlights were The Rose Garden (yup, lots of roses), the Roosevelt Room (which houses FDR’s Medal of Freedom & Noble Peace Prize) and – clearly – the Oval Office. That last one was pretty surreal.

Another interesting fact from Caitlin: the White House is the only building that serves as a Head of State’s office and residence as well as a working museum. And bonus: it’s staffed by extremely friendly Secret Service personnel.