15 minutes with Sarah MacMaster Blount

What year did you graduate Bluffton High School?
1992

What are you doing presently? 
I went to Miami University. After college, I moved to Paris, France for a year.  While I was there, I met a Marine who was stationed at the American Embassy.  He wanted to get married, but he was on his way to posts in Syria and South Africa and I went home to go to law school at Ohio State. 

I graduated from OSU in 1999 and moved to Chicago to practice law. Eventually, I became a partner in a small law firm and lived two blocks from Wrigley Field. In 2006, I got back in touch with the Marine I'd dated in Paris, my now husband Charlie. He was getting out of the Corps and working for the government in D.C. 

I moved here (Northern Virginia) to marry him and worked for a large D.C. firm doing international litigation until I had my oldest son. The hours weren't family friendly. These days, I am a stay at home mom to my two sons, Patrick (5) and Michael (16 months). 

We live in Herndon, Va., a suburb of D.C. We really like Herndon. It's a small town that became part of the suburbs as D.C. grew. It's still retained a lot of the small town feel and sense of community. 

It's hard to go to the grocery store without running into someone we know, but it's easy to get in and out of D.C. We go into the city a lot various events, dinner or to take the kids to a museum.  My kids love the Natural History Museum and the Building Museum. My favorite is the National Gallery.We're also only about two hours from New York City by train. My husband is originally from NYC and has a lot of family there.

What's the latest book you've read or hope to read?
I just finished "Crazy Rich Asians" by Kevin Kwan. Highly recommend it.

How about the latest movie. Was it any good?
"We're the Millers."  It was ok.  It had some funny moments.

Who is the most famous person you've met since leaving Bluffton?
Not sure, probably Bill Clinton. You meet a ton of politicians in this area. When we go to events in D.C., occasionally you'll find out the person you were talking to is a Senator or Ambassador. 

We used to live in McLean,Va., and several times we found ourselves in line at the diner behind someone who'd run for president or we'd seen on the news.

The day I met Clinton, I was in Georgetown when he was speaking on campus at Georgetown University. I was standing there when he came out of his speech. I shook his hand and talked to him.

I think the coolest famous person I ever ran into was Olivia de Havilland (Melanie from Gone with the Wind). She lives in Paris and shows up at events at the American Cathedral.

Have you done any world traveling? Tell us where and why you went there.
I did a study abroad program in Dijon, France, when I was in college. I lived in Paris, France for a year after college. I've made several trips to Europe since then to visit friends. Our last trip abroad was to France in 2011.  We went to a friend's wedding in Paris. It was fun to take our oldest to our old haunts in Paris. We also made a side trip to Burgundy. I've been to England, France, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Italy, Monaco, Austria and Germany. I think that's it.

Can you remember anything worth mentioned from your days in Bluffton schools? Any experiences, teachers, friends.
We moved to Bluffton the summer before I started seventh grade. I did two years at Beaverdam and four years at Bluffton High School. Bluffton was a really great place to be a kid. We lived on Grove Street.

I had a late birthday and I was one of the last people in my class to get their license.  I really enjoyed being able to walk or bike almost anywhere I wanted to go; the pool, friends' houses, football games, the movies, etc.

The teachers I remember the most are Mrs. Goode, Mr. Bollenbacher, Mrs. Weaver and Mr. Brown. I think what really makes them stand out is their dedication.

I had a lot of good friends in my high school class. Some I've been fortunate enough to keep in touch with like Liza Jacoby Stoltzfus and Chanda McCoy Smith, and others I haven't. I wish I'd been better about keeping in touch with people.  I'm grateful for Facebook.  I really enjoy seeing pictures of everyone and their families and being able to keep up with their lives. 

When was the last time you were in Bluffton?
Two years ago. A friend from college is from northwestern Ohio. I was in the area for her wedding reception.

Tell us what your brothers are up to?
Tom lives in Atlanta.
Sam is a social work professor at the University of Tennessee.  He has four kids and lives in Nashville.

What are your favorite websites?
I love keeping up with people on Facebook.  I read a lot of news websites like the Washington Post, NY Times and the Daily Mail. THe rest of my internet time is on "Mommy websites" and  cooking websites.  Epicurious is my favorite cooking website.