We Love Resolutions: 2010 Edition

Photo courtesy of
‘Comet-looking Fireworks over DC’
courtesy of ‘ianseanlivingston’

Well, hello, 2010, so nice to meet you! While you, my dear reader, are busy recovering from your hangover, the We Love DC authors have banded together yet again to bring you our second-annual We Love Resolutions feature (here’s 2009’s). Here is our list of things we resolve to do in our fine city during 2010. For those of us who have been around for a year (our staff doubled in 2009!) we’ve even held ourselves accountable to last year’s resolutions by reporting on our score.

Rachel:
1) Finally go to the Spy Museum. I’ve lived here since August of 2005, it’s really time I get there.
2) See a Wizards or Capitals game at the Verizon Center. As a baseball junkie, I went to Nationals Park AT LEAST 15 times in 2009. It’s time to broaden my horizons.
3) Wake up early enough to get the full-effect of a Saturday at Eastern Market.
4) Spend a day on Roosevelt Island.
5) See the sunrise AND the sunset while sitting on the Lincoln Memorial steps, facing the reflecting pool and Washington Monument — AT LEAST 5 times each.

Corinne:
1) Go to the top of the Washington Monument (as a DC-area native, I think it is finally time I check out the panormaic view from our city’s most iconic landmark!)
2) Check venues off my must-eat list like brunch at Tabard Inn, a burger at Ollies Trolley, custard at Dairy Godmother and Korean feasts in my hometown of Annandale (anyone have any good suggestions?)
3) Visit the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum
4) Take more day trips and weekend jaunts to explore nearby gems-seafood in Annapolis, live music in Baltimore, hiking/camping in Virginia’s gorgeous mountain ranges
5) Attend more embassy events, maintain my dwindling language skills and continue my hunt to befriend Scots/Irish folk in DC!
6) Write more, photograph more, yoga more, volunteer more

Tom:
1) Move into the District.  Yes, that’s right, it’s time to move inside the line.  We’re looking in Eckington, Bloomingdale and Shaw.  Seen anything that’s awesome?
2) Finally get an exercise plan together.  Maybe it’s time to map out some walks within the city?  I’d like to try some of the bike trails, as well
I know, two doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s time to focus on what’s really important and getting things moving.

How’d I do in 2009?  Well, I caught a Wizards game, and I got my Snowy Iwo Jima shot, but I still haven’t made it to Marvin.
Photo courtesy of
‘Just Another Sight’
courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’

Max:
1) Get the ball rolling on some photography ideas bouncing around in my head.
2) Eat at Thai X-Ing.
3) Go on more bike rides along the Mount Vernon Trail.
4) Continue to add art from local artists to my collection.
5) Eat at some of DC’s more popular restaurants like Citronelle, Blue Duck Tavern, and Kinkead’s.
6) Expand my software development business.
7) Play Obama in a game of basketball.

Katie:
1) Visit more hole-in-the wall and under-the-radar restaurants
2) Discover new thrift and vintage stores for one-of-a-kind clothing
3) Make it out to foodie destinations Volt or Trummer’s on Main
4) Take a cooking class from my girl-crush Carla Hall
5) Tour the White House
6) Take a day trip to Smith Meadows Farm for Farm Day to see where my meat is raised
7) Take advantage of my residency to swim laps in our public pools

Last year’s resolutions completed score: 5 out of 7 – still missing a show at the Millennium Stage and (gasp) dining at City Zen/Citronelle. (I’d like to think my 84 restaurants make up for missing that resolution, though!)

Rebecca:
1) Check out Capitol Hill’s rscene
2) Attend a DC Roller girls match
3) Take a trip to Catoctin Mountain Park
4) Compete in one of the many DC road races or triathlons
5) Go to an Opera performance at the Kennedy Center
6) Learn to make sushi
7) Enroll in a sewing class

Last year’s resolutions completed score: For 2009, instead of making a list I wrote two short, but sweet sentences.  I did fairly well exploring Adams Morgan, Dupont, Foggy Bottom, K Street, etc. but as my 2010 resolutions show I missed out on Capitol Hill.  Hopefully this year I can really focus on learning/loving that area of DC.

Photo courtesy of
‘Caramel Chocolate at Veritas’
courtesy of ‘InspirationDC’

Donna:
1) Paddle to see the eagles at Pohick Bay.
2) Find the grotto at the Capitol.
3) Learn more about chocolate from ACKC.
4) Bike up a stretch of the C&O Canal one morning and take pictures of the lockhouses.
5) Catch a few exhibits at the museums.

Ben:
1) Drive more, Metro less.
3) Get a WeLoveDC lunch club going near Franklin or McPherson Square.
3) Convince more museum officials to let me photograph exhibits before they go public.
4) Eat at Hawk and Dove simply to eavesdrop and pretend I’m a Hill intern.
5) Attend more special events at the National Museum of the American Indian.
6) Be nicer to tourists, even when they don’t pay attention to our handy tips.

So how’d I do regarding last year’s resolutions? Not bad, actually, considering I had quite the laundry list. I still need to attend a Kennedy Center event, visit the Capitol Visitor’s Center and hit the Igloo up in Pittsburgh one last time, but I was successful in all my other resolutions. Especially in continuing my ignorance of baseball. (But then again, around here it’s not that hard…)

Cathy:
1) Act more like a tourist in this town and get down to business: I still need to see the American History Museum, Holocaust Museum, AND THE NATIONAL ZOO. These are some basics, I mean come on, really.
2) Find and join a CSA Farm Share program, picking up or receiving local produce on a weekly basis, and then figuring out what to do with a bushel of turnips.
3) Check out some of the restaurants I’ve been meaning to visit: Cork, Ray’s the Steaks, Cashions, Blue Ridge, Churchkey/Birch & Barley, and Masa 14.
4) Get down to the National Harbor for a visit.

Photo courtesy of

courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

Darpino:
1. Watch Ivan ‘Pudge’ Rodriguez catch a Nats game in person.
2. Visit the DC homes of Ambrose Bierce in one afternoon.
3. Somehow convince Jawbox to do a reunion show at the 930 Club.
4. Flip the bird at touron-crapping SUV’s when they block the single-lane in front of the Lincoln Memorial (seriously, this is a bad, idiocy-caused accident waiting to happen).
5. Have a meal at the Library of Congress subterranean cafeteria.
John:
1) Hit at least one new bar/restaurant a month downtown. I’ve gotten stuck in my go-to places and need to expand. First up? The Passenger. Second? Bourbon Steak DC.
2) Visit Roosevelt Island
3) Go to more Capital Pecha Kucha events
4) Get more sleep
Kirk:
1) Get closer to my food, which means caring for a garden and getting my hunting license.
2) Go to a few organ recitals at the National Cathedral.
3) Watch the fireworks from the VA side of the river, this July.
4) Go to more Nats games.
5) Learn a few DC gang signs.
6) Take a trip to Fallingwater

Photo courtesy of
‘a lot to see…’
courtesy of ‘dr_kim_veis [”o ]’

Jenn:
1) Continue learning bellydance at Saffron Dance and get into the local tribal scene
2) Fly solo more, frequenting my friendly local haunts like The Passenger and MidCity Caffe
3) See more dance performances and attend more art exhibits
4) Get a smartphone. Seriously.
5) Breathe deeply, relax, and have fun!
Karl:
1) Explore more of the natural areas of our area. Arlington especially has some awesome nature parks and trails that 99% of the area doesn’t even know about. When you can drive two miles and go hiking in an area that feels like you are hours away from DC…you know you picked a great city to live in.

2) Expand my ethnic food horizons. This one is going to be hard to do because, as you can read in my “About Me“, I’m a huge fan of the ethnic food group. But there are still a ton of exciting and delicious DC/Arlington hole-in-the-wall restaurants out there just waiting for me to eat them. I’m thinking I need to tackle Venezuelan, an African cuisine other than Ethiopian, Eritrean or Egyptian, and maybe Russian.
3) This is kind of my recurring “I wish” goal, but I really want to do more events. I stay way too busy with work, social stuff and volunteer/political stuff that I hardly ever do normal people events – other than a few Nats and Redskins games that people begged me to take free tickets for. Concerts are on the top of that list, as it catching a Caps game or too. And I love finding neighborhood or cultural festivals. They be the best.
4) Watch every episode of Real World DC and live blog it.
Carl:
I don’t do resolutions. However, I do have some goals:
1. Exercise 3-5 times per week and thus lose this beer gut I have acquired over the years. Let’s be honest – I am not going to give up beer. May as well give up sloth.
2. Write more for We Love DC. I have slid into not writing as much for the past year and a half and for that I need to make good.
3. Finish my book. It’s been too long. I need to get that manuscript finished by the end of March.
4. Plan and execute weekly or bi-weekly photo projects. Anybody want to join?
5. Start a photography class. I have been asked to teach again for a while and until now have not had time. It’s time to make time.

Photo courtesy of
‘Demo’
courtesy of ‘The Ardvaark’

Tiffany:
1) Embark on some kind of photo project, like a 365 day photo project, to get out and use my camera more than sporadically. (Your suggestions are welcome in the comments.)
2) Classes! I’ve got a shiny new Smithsonian Resident Associate membership and a gift certificate to CulinAerie burning a hole in my pocket, for a start.
3) Take advantage of the plethora of cocktail-specializing bars cropping up around here to finally break out of my Jack’n’Coke rut.

Paulo:
I’m not a resolutions kind of guy, so I didn’t make a resolution in 2009, but I have this one thing:

1) Learn to drive and get a car. I’ve survived without any driving for this long because of Metro and my old location, but sadly the suburban area I’ve moved out to is almost completely unwalkable. The infrastructure makes pedestrian life a wasteland for the few places at a walkable distance, and even with a nearby Metro in the equation, WMATA has become so unreliable — and even so *deadly* — that I’m going to have to bite the bullet and spend the money on an auto.

Don:

1) Do more long-form reporting and investigative writing for We Love DC. I’ve let my responsibilities as chief sysadmin and bottle-washer put self-imposed stumbling blocks in the way of my more lengthy writing but there’s not really any legitimate reason for it. Writers write, regardless, and I took up blogging as a creative outlet. Time to get back a little of that aspect of this project.
2) On a related note, I’m going to be quicker to pick up the phone and annoy the Powers That Be to get information. I’ve rarely had trouble getting our local authorities to share the information we as the public deserve, so why check my impulse to get an answer on the record?
3) I’m going to go to more of our local small theater productions.
4) I’m going to visit the zoo, arboretum, botanical gardens, Rock Creek Park, and other local nature spots more often. Rain, heat, humidity and cold be damned.
5) Lastly, I’m going to work at being better at resisting Katie’s demands that I write resolutions. Thankfully I have a whole year to work on that one – I think I’m going to need it.

Katie moved to DC in 2007, and has since embarked upon a love affair with the city. She’s an education reform advocate and communications professional during the day; at night and on the weekends, she’s an owner here at We Love DC. Katie has high goals to eat herself through the entire city, with only her running shoes to save her from herself. For up-to-the-minute news and reviews (among other musings), follow her on Twitter!

8 thoughts on “We Love Resolutions: 2010 Edition

  1. Tiff – I’m also trying to come up with some kind of photo project. I’m very task oriented so my goal to “take more pictures and develop my skills” isn’t going to cut it with a project. Let me know if you come up with anything.

  2. Wow, as someone who has lived here a long time… You guys have really proven that I shouldnt take advice from y’all. What have you done in this town? A lot of those seem like basic events, espcially for people who write “here’s what to do” columns..

  3. I think you’re really not considering context, ChrisK. There are 15+ of us- is it really so hard to believe that each one of us has 1 or 2 classic DC things that we haven’t *personally* done?

  4. ChrisK, I’ve lived in DC for twenty years, and yes there are still things I haven’t done that others would consider “basic” … but what’s wrong with people being humble and admitting it? We all learn from each other – writers and readers.

  5. Despite Metro’s abysmal record last year, I’m pretty sure the LAST thing the DC metro area needs is more cars on the road. Think outside the box guys!

    So much for going green, huh?

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