Category Archives: Life in the Capital

Business and Money, Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed, The District, We Green DC
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DC Bag Tax Nets $150,000 For Anacostia River Clean Up

Photo courtesy of
‘Reusable Giant Bags’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

The District’s 5-cent bag tax, which started in January 2010,  netted approximately $150,000 during its first month of enactment. According to the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue, only 3 million bags were issued in the month of January compared to 2009’s 22.5 million bags per month average, and it appears that the new law DC shoppers has been successful in altering  shopping bag habits faster than was expected.

Prior to enactment, the new tax was estimated to generate $10 million in revenue over the next four years and would fund the Anacostia River Cleanup Fund. Given January’s results it appears that consumer behavior has changed so rapidly that this revenue may fall short of its original projection.

Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, People, Special Events, The Daily Feed, The Mall
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Photos From The Smithsonian Kite Festival

Circle

The National Mall is a place I don’t visit nearly often enough. Today was an exception to that. A childhood friend of mine surprised me with a call Friday afternoon saying she’d be in town for the weekend and wanted to picnic on the Mall — during the KITE FESTIVAL!

Thanks to her, I got to play tourist for a day (something I haven’t done for a very long time). Here are some highlights from the Smithsonian’s Kite Festival and parading about the National Mall after the page break Continue reading →

Life in the Capital, Media, The Daily Feed
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Law & Order’s Mariska Hargitay Talks Hollywood, Global Health

Photo courtesy of
‘Library of Congress Reading Room’
courtesy of ‘tzk333’

Can’t get enough Law & Order even though it’s on every single hour of every day? Mariska Hargitay, of the procedural’s Special Victims Unit series, will be in the District this week to talk about Hollywood’s portrayal of global health issues. Hargitay is joined by the show’s executive producer Neal Baer,  as well as representatives of both the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Hollywood, Health & Society (the sponsoring organization).

The group’s focus will be a discussion on how entertainment can play a role in support for global initiatives around developing healthcare. Fishbowl DC has more details on the event, which will be held this Wednesday night from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Library of Congress in the Mumford Room (6th floor) of the Madison Building.

Essential DC, Interviews, Life in the Capital, People, The Features
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She Loves DC: Meredith Peruzzi

Photo courtesy of
‘Gallaudet Chapel Hall’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

Reader Meredith Peruzzi, a lifelong area resident and a current Gallaudet student, approached We Love DC eager to share her perspective on the city. Here she explains why she loves DC…

I always thought that people who weren’t native to a place didn’t really identify with it – that if you asked somebody where they were from, they’d name their hometown.  I grew up in the DC area, so whenever someone asked where I was from, I’d always say “here” – this has always been my home, and I can’t consider myself “from” anywhere else.  I’m a Washingtonian because I’ve always been one.

So I assumed that DC was “my city” and that people who moved here didn’t necessarily feel that they were Washingtonians.  Until I started reading We Love DC, and realized that even transplants love this town and feel a connection to it.  People who like to move from city to city may not identify with DC, but anyone who makes their home here is a Washingtonian.

So DC is my city, but it’s also your city, our city, and everyone’s city.  Tourists flock to DC every spring and summer because they want to see where their tax dollars are going, where their senators and representatives live, and all the famous monuments and buildings that grace their money and their history books.  Across the nation, civic pride is personal – the Statue of Liberty belongs to New Yorkers, and the Golden Gate Bridge belongs to San Franciscans.  But the Washington Monument and the White House belong to all Americans, and I love that they come to experience DC because America means something to them.  It’s not so much “welcome to my home” as it is “welcome home.” Continue reading →

Food and Drink, Life in the Capital, News, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Social Safeway: The Supermarket Superstar

Photo courtesy of
‘Shopping – Race to the Checkout’
courtesy of ‘David Blackwell.’

Great googlie mooglie!  With all the interwebz chatter about the grand reopening of the Social Safeway at 1855 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, one would think this was the greatest development in DC since sliced bread, and as one of those local residents, who has been supermarket less for almost a year, and therefore semi-breadless, it is indeed a long awaited event! And no, Whole Paycheck (aka Whole Foods) does not count as a supermarket, even though I do love their produce and two-for-one pizza Tuesdays.

This Safeway is going to be, quite frankly, TheBomb.com. Not only will it be  Safeway’s most state-of-the-art, greenest, opened 24 hours, full-service grocery store to date, but it will also feature: a wine cellar complete with a wine steward, a specialty cheese department with certain varieties flown in fresh daily from Europe; a sit-down sushi bar; brick-oven pizza; Italian-style gelato bar; an upgraded Starbucks coffee bar; indoor/outdoor seating area featuring a fireplace, HD televisions, complimentary WiFi, and open balcony overlooking Wisconsin Avenue; a SunTrust Bank; a Bergmann’s Dry Cleaners; and wait for it……..A NUTBAR!!!!! offering a wide selection of warm, ready-to-eat nuts that can be flavored or ground on site to create spreads and butter. OMG!!!!

Social Safeway 2.0 is set to open its brand spanking new, glorious, long awaited doors May 6th.  From the looks of the construction site’s live webcams, there’s a fair amount of fixing up to do in the next month and a half month. Giddy up Safeway! Giddy Up!

Life in the Capital, The Features
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Fitness District: Barre at B.fit

Photo courtesy of
‘Studio – B.Fit DC’
courtesy of ‘prettylovelythings’

Author’s Note: This article is part of an ongoing We Love DC series, Fitness District.

I admit it; I am by no means a gym rat.  If you were to perhaps bump into me there, it would not be on a regular basis. Sometimes I might be busy reading something at myfitnesshub.com, sitting somewhere with my phone on. I exercise, sporadically, because it is the healthy choice to make – good for the body and the mind.  But let me say this one time for the record, I dread a morning, afternoon, or evening workout.  I dread them all.

Furthermore, I don’t think that the gym itself makes the experience any more delightful.  In my personal opinion, the gym atmosphere is often times unwelcoming, intimidating, and outright aesthetically unpleasing.  I honestly have no idea where the typical gym owner got the idea that horrendous lighting is flattering, because those harsh lamps with the yellow-ish CRI won’t make even the buffest of the buff look good, let alone poor me.

The solution to my dilemma, as painted above, has been to engage in alternative forms of exercise such as Yoga and Pilates. Quite recently I read the article on the Neuropathy Cure website when I was trying to find the apt medication for my damaged nerves and found that for my condition it is much suitable for me to practise yoga than lift weights. Since finding a fit that worked best for me, exercise was no longer a burden – but something that I truly enjoyed and looked forward to.  And the best part, when it comes to the typical Yoga and/or Pilates studio you are almost always guaranteed good, natural lighting.  However, with any routine, sometimes you need to be a bit daring and switch things up.  Which is exactly what I was about to do by enrolling in my very first Barre Class at B.fit.

Continue reading →

Life in the Capital
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Be Prepared: It’s Not Just for Boy Scouts Anymore

Photo courtesy of robinvanmourik
‘The gear’
courtesy of ‘robinvanmourik’

As we’ve come out of the frozen tundra of the Snowfecta, we might think “oh thank goodness winter is over and we won’t have to worry about a blizzard for a while.” While you may be right in that regard, we’d be missing the larger point: A lot of people were not prepared to handle this in any way, shape or form.

We witnessed Hipsters who were lined up outside the closed P street Whole Foods almost rioted as if someone had just told them that Fleet Foxes sucked. The shelves in produce aisles city wide were bare. There were major lines at area supermarets. It was so bad we even ran out of condoms. With some of the power outages, people ran out of firewood and burned furniture to stay warm. It as a lot of smart, well-educated people with good paying jobs in a predicament they simply did not plan for.

The old proverb rings true: “He who fails to plan, plans to fail”

So what could people have done to be better prepared for this storm? We gave you some ideas on snow-specific preparation before, but what about things other than snowstorms? Well the good news is there’s things you can do that will let you be prepared for a lot of similar elements in disasters, from losing a job or a water main break all the way up to an earthquake or massive solar storm.

Continue reading →

Life in the Capital, People, Special Events, The Daily Feed, The District
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The Art of the Blog

Photo courtesy of
‘2010:57’
courtesy of ‘::FiZ::’

Friday night I had the opportunity to attend The Art of the Blog at District in Adams Morgan.  Hosted by Ready Set DC, The Art of the Blog is a new, monthly get together for bloggers across the nation’s capital.  With a focus on ‘neighborhood blogs’ this month, the special guest speakers – Dan Silverman of Prince of Petworth & David Garber of And Now, Anacostia – both shared candid interpretations of what it’s like to be a DC blogger.   Continue reading →

Essential DC, History, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed, The District
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Cultural Tourism DC Opens A New Visitor Center On U Street

Photo courtesy of
‘U Street’
courtesy of ‘Rolenz’

Cultural Tourism DC opened a new Visitor Center on U Street last week to introduce a new audio tour of the historic  neighborhood. Local residents and tourists are encouraged to stop by the new center and take the audio tour to learn more about the rich cultural history the neighborhood has to offer.

Stops on the tour include the restored Lincoln Theater, Jazz hot-spot Bohemian Caverns, The Whitelaw Hotel, and The Thurgood Marshall Center for Service and Heritage.

For more information, email Trail@CulturalTourismDC.org or call 202-661-7581.

Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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Insert Banana Peel Joke *Here*

Photo courtesy of
‘Perfect Placement’
courtesy of ‘gadgetdude’

At around 4am last night, a truck loaded with bananas overturned on the Northbound portion of Interstate 270.  Traffic was briefly closed between the Capital Beltway and Old Georgetown Road and was  reopened in time for today’s rush hour. The southbound portion of 270 was unaffected.

If you’re driving by this section of 270, you’ll spot the truck on the shoulder, as the truck and it contents will be removed after rush hour.

All Politics is Local, Essential DC, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed
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Someone Doesn’t Like The New Parking Laws

parking sign in the C&O Canal

parking sign in the C&O Canal

Someone in Georgetown is clearly not a fan of the new parking regulations that took effect in January. And I have to admit the addition of Saturdays has been the bane of my existence, however instead of throwing signs into the historic C&O Canal, let your voice be heard by contacting Mayor Fenty, your Ward representative and/or your ANC with your complaints/comments/suggestions.

Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, News, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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White House To Be Filled With Glee This Easter

Photo courtesy of
‘(137/365) GGG’
courtesy of ‘MarksandSparks’

If you thought getting tickets to last year’s White House Easter Egg Roll was hard, then imagine what’s going to happen with the addition of a performance by the cast of Fox’s Glee.

Yup, that’s right. They’ll be appearing and performing at the April 5 event, so you should start lining up for tickets today.

Apparently, Michelle, Malia and Sasha are among the shows 2038475 million fans and are super pumped. Wonder if Bo is into Glee.

Entertainment, Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed
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DC Commission On The Arts And Humanities Want YOU To Promote The DC Art Scene

Photo courtesy of
‘Televised War’
courtesy of ‘Karon’

Ever been bitten by the art bug? Need a way to scratch that itch? The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities is starting a new one hour television show called Art(202) and they need your help!

Aid in the effort of DC arts promotion  by submitting a video feature idea to the commission for airtime. What are they looking for? Info-mercials about your respective arts organizations, artistic interpretations of any of your work, documentaries, animations, music videos, slides of visual art, and anything else your creative brain can throw together.

All you have to do is make sure your content is 100% DC related.

If you plan on submitting an idea for a feature to run on Art(202) there are a few guidelines you’re going to have to follow. They include: making sure your video is between 30 seconds to 5 minutes long, is burned to a data DVD with either a quick time or .mov, a link for online screening purposes (if available), all the contact information of the producer & organization being promoted, and a video release form.

Art(202) will be airing on Friday nights at 9 p.m. and Saturday nights at 11 p.m. on the Mayor’s Network (Channel 16).

Entertainment, Essential DC, Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed, The District, The Mall, WTF?!
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Screen On The Green In Danger … Again

Photo courtesy of
‘Screen on the Green’
courtesy of ‘InspirationDC’

Screen on the Green is in danger for a second year now. HBO has yet to determine their 2010 budget, which  means no one has any idea whether or not Screen on the Green will be back this summer.

Want to support the effort and keep Screen on the Green a running DC tradition? Screen on the Green supporter and founder of the Save the Screen on the Green Facebook group Jesse Rauch is asking fans to vote for Screen on the Green as Best Festival in CityPaper’s annual Best of D.C. contest. You can cast your vote at the CityPaper’s webiste.

Want to stay updated on the latest news concerning Screen on the Green? Check out the Facebook group.

Life in the Capital, Sports Fix
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Curling: Sweeping the Nation’s Capital

Photo courtesy of
‘Dave Drags the Foot 3’
courtesy of ‘tbridge’

I’ve talked a very big game all week when it comes to curling. Inspired by the perfect combination of Norwegian pants, live broadcasts online and the sheer novelty of the sport, I have tried to throw all of my perceived curling expertise around whenever I got a chance. I’ve made my puns about throwing rocks at houses and bacon curling in pans (including overusing the #CurlingRocks hashtag). I have cheered loudly and emphatically for the US teams in Vancouver, and have conversely made criticisms of John Shuster that would make Byung-Hyun Kim say, “alright, easy there.”

It’s been a wonderful hobby for the week; part of the appeal of the sport is not only how often it is on during the Olympics, but the accessibility of it. “That totally seems like something I could do.” I gave it in my first run on a modified, synthetic sheet on Friday afternoon at the Hilton Garden Inn’s weekend long expo. After a well-documented victory over DCist’s Aaron Morrissey, my confidence was at an all time high. I still believed I had a handle on the sport.

And then I took my first steps on the sheet out at Potomac Curling Club in Laurel, Md., and I finally had to admit that this whole thing is just a tinge harder than it looks. Confidence swept away, all my hopes and dreams for a birth on the Sochi 2014 team were on thin ice.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Essential DC, Fun & Games, Inaugupocalypse, Life in the Capital, Night Life, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Lincoln Theatre To Screen Documentary “Marching Band” on Feb. 20

courtesy of www.changethenextday.org

courtesy of www.changethenextday.org

This Saturday, February 20, at 6pm, the Lincoln Theatre will host a FREE, one-time screening of Marching Band, a documentary that captures the spirit of the 2008 Presidential election through the young and talented students of the University of Virginia and Virginia State marching bands.

While the film centers around the Obama campaign, politics is not the focal point. The film really tells the story of these two collegiate marching bands, the kids who love playing music and marching, and their experiences of the change facing their country and themselves. Continue reading →

Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed
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Pimp Your Peeps: 2010 Peeps Contest

Photo courtesy of
‘sugar overload’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Unless you paid special attention to this weekend’s Washington Post magazine, you probably missed the opening of the 2010 Peeps Diorama Contest. This will be the contest’s 4th year, and I can’t wait to see all of this year’s entries.

If you’re interested in entering, the first step is to brainstorm ideas and come up with a historic, current, or future occurrence and/or a pop culture related concept. You know an idea that is comprehensible by more than just you and your tight knit group of friends.

Then construct your diorama, keeping to the shoebox sized regulations, snap two high-resolution JPEG photos and send them to peeps@washpost.com by Monday, March 1, at 11:59 p.m. Continue reading →

Business and Money, Essential DC, Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed, The District
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Georgetown Shops Continue To Take A Beating

Photo courtesy of
‘Lotus #49’
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

The shops lining M Street and Wisconsin Avenue have had a turbulent year. We’ve lost American Eagle, Commander Salamander, Up Against The Wall, FYE, Smith and Hawken, Nathan’s, etc. However, we have gained North Face, True Religion Jeans, Arisu, etc.  A full survey from late January of the closings and openings can be found at Georgetownmetropolitan.com.

Now comes word from Georgetown blogger Carol Joynt that more stores are closed or in peril. According the Joynt, Benneton has already shuttered, Sisley is soon to follow and the Aldo’s “remodeling” is suspect.

Continue reading →

Crime & Punishment, Life in the Capital, People, The Daily Feed, WMATA, WTF?!
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The Most Annoying Metro Person

Photo courtesy of
‘day144 :: year three’
courtesy of ‘erin*carly’

People cause me great consternation on my commutes in and out of the city. I have this vision in my mind of how everyone should behave on the metro in order to make a perfect commute.  People would be kind and considerate, they would move briskly, no one would tote rolly book bags, and those two teenagers at the end of the car would stop their shouting.  But no, it’s not like that.  Maybe I’m just growing cynical, but the longer I take the metro, the more it seems like a virulent trap of obnoxious types intent on making commute as unpleasant an experience as possible.  It’s gotten to point where I’ve started grouping people into certain personalities.  There’s the “stand in the doorway” guy, the “pole dancer“, the “I’m sorry my bag is sitting here” guy, and so on and so forth.  It’s really been weighing on me for the past few days.  I’m sure this is something that you rehash this with your peers every so often, but let’s share: who is your least favorite metro personality? Mine: rolly book bag person, without equivocation.

Adams Morgan, Arlington, Food and Drink, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed
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In Search of a Decent Bagel 2: The Consensus

Photo courtesy of
‘bagel – before’
courtesy of ‘staceyviera’

Did you see how good I was? I almost made an “Electric Boogaloo” reference in the header, but I restrained myself.

Anyways, the bagel question really brought out the comments, so I thought it would be worthwhile to share the reader’s consensus.  Brooklyn Bagels in Courthouse seems to be the almost universal favorite, but So’s Your Mom and Bethesda Bagels also got some significant love. I think that fairly settles it: the best bagels in DC are actually in Arlington.  Now I’ve got to get over to Brooklyn Bagels to see for myself.  I feel that this has been a useful exercise and one that I must repeat for all of the other major food groups.  Well done, readers!