Esther: My ancestors are British.  I’m one of those rare people who isn’t a mixed breed of nationalities.  I’m almost pure bred British isles (7/8 to be exact, and 1/8 Swedish), so I would be remiss to not take advantage of the bloody good opportunities DC offers me to connect with my ancestry.  So I will begin my weekend with a Boddington’s and bangers & mash at The Queen Vic on H Street NE and soak in true British pub atmosphere.  Saturday afternoon will find me viewing the temporary exhibit, Here is a Play Fitted, at the Folger Shakespeare Library, where scripts, designs, letters, and reviews of productions over the centuries show how the Bard’s works have shifted over time.  Now William Shakespeare is certainly brilliant, but British poet William Blake is also worth honoring, which I will do Saturday night by attending There is Happiness That Morning Is, one of the shows playing the closing weekend of the DC fall Fringe Festival.  Sunday morning, I fancy a jaunt to the Virginia countryside to enjoy tea and scones at The British Pantry, located about 45 minutes outside DC in Aldie. And to make sure I show off my British pride, my final weekend stop will be back to H Street NE, where Brit tattoo artist Paul Roe, owner of Britishink, is going to tat me with my custom designed union jack, capping off my Anglophile-d weekend and paying tribute to those awesome relatives of mine who had bad teeth, yes, but spoke with a freakin’ cool accent.

Rachel: My weekend started early with my last “big” solo acoustic full-set show at Ebenezers Coffeehouse in NW DC on Thursday night. That show featured fellow local ladies Brittany Jean and Jamie Kathleen as well as Philly-based Suzie Brown. The weekend continues with a stop at Iota in Arlington for the Deleted Scenes show on Friday followed by band practice with Jason Mendelson & the Open Doors in preparation for our show at The Dunes on November 20 (aka next Wednesday) with Two Dragons and a Cheetah and Star FK Radium. Lot’s of stuff on the plate these days. Hoping to see some of you at a show around town!

Tom: After spending last week amid the bustle and warmth of Southern California, I find myself craving, of all things, a run through H Street Country Club’s mini-golf course. I know it sounds crazy, but a night out on H Street sounds like what I need. Sadly, Charlie’s too young to join me on the links yet, so we may have to skip it. As we get closer to Thanksgiving, my mind is turning toward Turkey, and that means Red Apron Butcher’s delicious poultry. First up, though, is a community meeting about the Brookland Middle School construction progress. I know, I know, my weekends are just so full of awesome.

Fedward:  Against every natural impulse I have to avoid the spotlight, I’m looking seriously at DC Startup Weekend.  I have an idea – a good idea, the sort of idea I could actually see getting funded – but I haven’t gone so far as to turn it into a pitch.  I’ve got until noon Friday to put my own $99 where my mouth doesn’t want to be. Other than that, we’re meeting friends for dinner at Casa Luca on Saturday, and we’ll have our usual brunch at the Passenger on Sunday.

Jenn: Tired, cranky, cold. That’s been my week so far, and I’m sick of my own whining. Time to pull up the bootstraps. That means getting my cold cyborg heart pumping at Tropicalia for Friday night’s Congo y Castro Pura Viba dance party. There’s even more steam at the Shakespeare Theatre these next few weeks as Mies Julie burns up the set with a forbidden love tale. Or is it hate? Either way, the temperature is almost unbearably hot in this re-telling of Strindberg’s ultimate battle of the sexes/classes, now set in South Africa. Believe me, you’ll debate the play for days. Another hot ticket (closing the 17th, so move on it) is Michael Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty, bringing this hot choreographer’s subversive artistic magic to the classic ballet at the Kennedy Center. Only a few years back DC missed out on his Swan Lake, considered too much for us. Prove ’em wrong this time around. Hell, we can handle even more now. To round it all out, I’ll be searching for the perfect hot chocolate, and I bet I’ll find it at the new Palena Cafe, which I hear serves Bicerin – my all-time favorite chocolate, hazelnut and espresso drink. I’ve longed for it ever since my first sip in Venice. Yes. Happy dance.

Don: Most of my weekend is going to be sucked up with the continuing effort to block off the chaos that darned baby from certain sections of our home, so the leisure time will be a little sparse and need to serve dual purposes. Namely shoveling food into our faces. So in that vein I thought we’d maybe finally see what the fuss is about and go by SUNdeVICH on Saturday when the weather is supposed to be kinda nice.