Mayor Adrian And Michelle Fenty: Washington's Other Stylish Couple (SLIDESHOW, VIDEO)
share this story
**Scroll down for slideshow and video**
The Obamas will likely be spending quite a bit of time with DC Mayor Adrian Fenty and his British wife Michelle. The First Lady lunched with them last Friday, the Mayor took the President out to eat at Ben's Chili Bowl on January 10th, and Jill Biden and Michelle Obama's mom Marian Robinson attended a Kennedy Center event thrown by Michelle Fenty on Tuesday.
At age 35, Adrian Fenty was the youngest person to be elected DC mayor in 2006. He and Michelle Cross Fenty, whom he married in 1997, have three kids: twin boys Matthew and Andrew Fenty, who were born in 2000, and daughter Aerin, who was born in November. Mayor Fenty, like President Obama, has a white mother and black father.
The Fentys met at Howard University Law School, where, like the first couple again, Michelle acted as Adrian's mentor. According to the Washington Post:
"I had probably seen her walking the halls for some time," Adrian Fenty said of Michelle. "I asked her to be my mentor. . . . It was love at first sight."
Michelle Fenty laughs. "He'll say it was love at first sight, but it wasn't."
Michelle, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, grew up in working-class south London:
With three girls, Annett Cross remembers braiding a lot of hair, ice skating and playing board games. "As a little girl, Michelle was a very bright kid," said Cross, 58, who now lives in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood. "She was always writing on walls. If she found a blank space, she would write. She didn't play with a lot of toys."
Their neighborhood of flats was diverse, with Jamaicans, whites and Indians. Michelle ran track, loved Maxi Priest and lip-synced to Shalimar. "Michelle was always doing the right thing all the time," Athena Cross said. "She's very studious. That was always her priority."
Michelle still works four days a week as a lawyer and is an active member of Washington's social scene, though she told Politico that's not necessarily her favorite part of the job:
"In order to get a lot of the things done you do have to do some social events, because a lot of networking takes place, and I think that's part of the job," she said. "Is it something I enjoy any more than anything else? No. I think it's a means to an end."
She told Women Bisnow:
"People recognize that I have children and a job. They're incredibly grateful when I show up--I didn't feel a massive expectation to be out there everyday."
The Washington Post writes that Michelle, like her Obama counterpart, "doesn't believe in nannies; if a sitter is needed, they call on the mayor's mom."
SLIDESHOW:
|
DC Mayor Fenty and his wife Michelle arrive for the BET Honors on January 17th.
|
|
WATCH Mayor Fenty discuss inauguration preparations, Ben's Chili Bowl, and get teased by Bill Cosby on "Meet the Press":
WATCH Mayor Fenty endorse Barack Obama on July 17, 2007:
See more photos of Michelle Fenty in Washington Life magazine.
Loading comments… 
The Huffington Post First Posted: 03/08/09 06:12 AM ET Updated: 05/25/11 02:05 PM ET