Adventures, Entertainment, Fun & Games, Special Events, The Features

Murder, BBQ, and a Creepy Hospital…and You’re Invited!

Photo courtesy of Tony DeFilippo
Old Naval Hospital – 1
courtesy of Tony DeFilippo

Labyrinth Games & Puzzles shop is doing another mystery party. “The Mystery of Aorta Springs” unfolds on Sunday, October 21 from 5 to 8 pm at the Old Naval Hospital in Southeast DC.

“Lately the town of Aorta Springs, Maryland has been plagued with terrifying trouble. But the crazy rants of a few townsfolk about ‘real’ vampires aren’t stopping Buffy Chaste, the homecoming queen, from celebrating her Halloween birthday! She’s invited you to celebrate with her at a fabulous BBQ at the home of her boyfriend, the reclusive rock superstar Killian Killagan.”

Kathleen Donahue, owner and proprietor of Labyrinth, says the party “is like a live-action Clue mixed with vampire rock and light horror.” When you purchase your tickets, you’ll be given a character role so players can prepare and dress appropriately. During the event, players will receive clues to share and are encouraged to work with other party-goers to solve the mystery. Prizes will be given for Best Costume and Best Mystery Solver. Food will be served, courtesy Inspire BBQ.

For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Labryinth Games at 202.544.1059. If you mention you saw this article here on WeLoveDC, they’ll even knock $5 off the ticket price of $45! Don’t wait too long; the last mystery party Labyrinth hosted completely sold out.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed

Gift Card Giveaway to Seasons 52


Courtesy of Seasons 52

Now and then it’s nice to have someone treat you to dinner, no? Well, maybe this next one will be on us.

Seasons 52 has provided We Love DC with two $52 gift cards to give to two lucky winners. Should you win, you’ll get to check out the restaurant’s new autumn menu which launches on September 18th. Or you can also take advantage of the “flight and flatbread promotion” through September 30th, which offers a personalized wine tasting/selection and flatbread for $15 per person until 6:30 PM daily. Seasons 52 has locations in North Bethesda and McLean.

Here’s how the giveaway works:
For a chance to win a gift card, leave a comment on this post using a valid e-mail address between 8 AM and 4 PM today. One entry per e-mail address. We’ll close the comments section at 4 PM and two winners will be randomly selected and notified by e-mail. If you’re chosen as a winner, you must respond to the e-mail within 24 hours or you will forfeit the gift card and we’ll select another winner. Good luck!

The Features, We Love Music

The Winning Ticket: A Q&A With Dawes

The “next big thing” is thrown around a lot in music culture. What you hear about less often is the next great thing, the next band that’ll knock your socks off not just because all the cool kids love them but because they are just that good. If there is a musical god out there doling out success to those most deserving, Dawes, a rock and roll quartet from Los Angeles who will be appearing at the Rock & Roll Hotel on Wednesday, will be just one such band. Their 2009 debut, “North Hills,” was praised by critics as wide-ranging as Rolling Stone and the Wall Street Journal (!); Daytrotter’s Sean Moeller calls lyricist Taylor Goldsmith “as magnificent of a songwriter as there is currently creating.” Goldsmith has a knack for crafting beautiful lyrics that make order out of the chaos of our lives, and the men sharing the stage with him — his brother, drummer Griffin Goldsmith; Wylie Gelber on bass; and Alex Casnoff on keyboards — excel at setting those lyrics to music. On stage, the result is an improbable blend of melodic folk and high-energy rock and roll.

And they need that energy to get through a tour schedule that seems endless. In the last year and a half, the band has appeared at such festivals as South By Southwest, Newport Folk Festival, Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza, and opened for artists including (deep breath here): Josh Ritter, Corey Chisel and the Wandering Sons, Edward Sharpe, Langhorne Slim, She and Him, Jason Boesel, Deer Tick and Delta Spirit. Dawes has hit the road hard in support of “North Hills,” and the legwork has paid off. The tour that brings them back to D.C. for their fourth show in the area in a year is their first as headliners.

As a special thanks to We Love DC readers, we’re giving away a pair of tickets to Wednesday’s show. See the bottom of this post for rules of the giveaway.

I talked with Taylor Goldsmith about the band’s rising star, musical influences and future plans:

Continue reading

The Daily Feed

Stay Cool With A Lil’ Something For You

Photo courtesy of
‘what. a long. day.’
courtesy of ‘staceyviera’

Summer is here in DC and so is the heat.  I am sure that you are already thinking of a thousand different ways to stay cool, so here is one more to add to your list.  Re-decorate your space!

With a new, super comfortable sectional sofa you could invite all of your friends over for movie night. With some interesting accents tables from Miss Pixies you will be ready in no time to whip out all of your board games.  And with some additional unique lighting and decorations from and BeigeMuléh, or M29 Lifestyle, your home will instantly transform into the perfect place to enjoy a relaxing dinner or lively cocktail party.

To help get you started, CSN is giving one lucky We Love DC reader a $60 gift certificate to use at any of their 200+ online stores!

To enter, leave a comment on this post by Wed, June 9th at Midnight letting We Love DC know how you plan to stay cool this summer.

The winner will be randomly selected.  Only one entry per person please!

Special Events, The Daily Feed

See Cute Boys Play Soccer For Free!

Photo courtesy of
‘Ready, set..’
courtesy of ‘BehindTheBadge.com’

Oh hai, cute soccer boys! It’s going to be Ladies Night on Saturday, May 9 at RFK when DC United takes on Toronto FC. And we’re giving away two tickets to said Ladies Night for the best Barra Brava chant. We’re looking for the best DC United-related cheer, chant or song for the stands, which you can leave in the comments now. Writing your drum solos and illustrating your song with streamers and flags and smoke bombs is optional.

Ladies Night will be full of soccer, but also frivolity. Ladies get the chance to try a couple of beers, partake in a wine tasting, chocolate fountain, appetizers, manicures, chair dancing lessons and the chance to go field-side after the game to meet Devon McTavish and rookie Chris Pontius (and get their jersey!). Hawt. (Sidenote: Chris Pontius was recently in CosmoGirl. Seriously.)

So, let the chanting begin in the comments… the deadline for entries will be noon on May 7th, the ever-enthusiastic WLDC staff will vote on the winner, and we’ll announce it on the 8th so the winner can plan thier Saturday evening accordingly. For examples, you can check out Barra Brava’s songs and chants site. Men, you can enter too.

Special Events, The Daily Feed

Win a Ticket to the DC RollerGirls Championship!

Photo courtesy of
‘Cherry Blossom Bombshell Victory. Washington, DC. April 2009.’
courtesy of ‘stuzehner’

Beloved WLDC readers, it is your lucky day! We have 2 tickets to give away to the upcoming Championship bout of roller derby. The match-up pits the DC DemonCats against the Cherry Blossom Bombshells on Saturday, May 9th, at the Armory. Doors open at 4, match begins at 5 p.m. 

How do you score yourself a sweet ticket to this madness? Answer below, in the comments, if you were a DC RollerGirl, what would your roller derby name be? An explanation of why it suits you afterward would be added fun.  For those unfamiliar with the sport might want to check out the league rosters for example names. Fun fact: there’s a national database of registered player aliases, and no two names and numbers can be the same. 

The top 2 names — as selected by the judicious WLDC staff — will win a ticket. We’ll announce the winners at the end of the week. Get crackin’!