White House hosts lawmakers for Christmas

While members of Congress struggle to wrap up their work for the year by the end of this week, they made sure to schedule a bit of down time at the White House on Monday evening, as lawmakers of both parties from the U.S. House enjoyed a pre-Christmas holiday reception.

"Beautiful decorations," wrote Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) on Twitter. "The Obamas are gracious hosts."

And thanks to social media, we can have a peek inside the festivities from outside the gates of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.