For five days a week, Annie Yu graces the TVs of thousands Northern Virginians across the regions when Get Up DC takes the air at 4:30 a.m. We sat down with the morning news anchor to see how she prepares for that early call time and some of her favorite spots around Northern Virginia.
You are on the air at 4:30 every morning. How do you do it?
My alarm clock is set minutes apart, starting at 1 o’clock — seven times, lucky seven. So, 1 o’clock, 1:01, 1:02, 1:03, and so on. And knock wood, in my 23-year career, I’ve never been late to work or slept in.
How do you decide what to wear at 1:07 in the morning?
I love that question! OK, so my closet is organized by the ROYGBIV model — the colors of the rainbow. Really! I’ve got my section of red, my section of orange, yellow, and so on, and I have all my dresses in those sections. So, I go through the rotation — and that’s why I take lots of photos so I can say, ‘Oh, I’ve already worn that’ or ‘That’s a good combination, let me try that again.’ If I stay with the ROYGBIV model, I can just pull something off the rack and go with it. It’s all laid out the night before because every second counts in the morning. It’s all ready: my lunch, my bag is packed, everything’s by the door, and I’m ready to roll out.
What time is bedtime?
My goal is to go down between 5 and 5:30 [p.m.], but as my daughter [Ava] is now 12, I try to push it a little bit when she doesn’t have practice. She’s an avid golfer, basketball, tennis — she loves sports, that’s her jam. I like to stay up and spend more time with her. I don’t see her in the mornings, and it’s hard, but in the afternoons I’m able to get her [from school].
Where do you spend your downtime in Northern Virginia?
Any weekend I have free I like going to Mosaic [District]. What they’ve done with that area is such a treat because it’s got a great trendy vibe, a city vibe. You’ve got great restaurants and local boutiques, but also better-known boutiques. And there’s an area for dogs and that green area where you can just sit and have ice cream. It’s a wonderful spot. We take Ava to the [Steven F.] Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles quite a bit. As a family, we’re really into space and all the different aircraft they have there. And since I’m Korean, of course I love Korean barbecue spots, like in Annandale or Centreville, but for pho, I’ve been going to Pho Hai Duong for like 12 years. It’s amazing.
You are not alone on the Get Up DC set in the morning. Is everyone on the team really as tight and friendly as it looks?
I say with full confidence that we are all friends. I have known my co-anchors, Allison [Seymour] and Wisdom [Martin], since the start of my career, when I was an intern [from George Mason University] with Fox5 and they were working there. It’s a full-circle moment for me, because they knew me when I was 19, and now I work next to them. It’s pretty amazing and special.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Feature image courtesy Annie Yu
This story originally ran in our March Issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
