By 
Man vs Cupcake
courtesy of LaTur
If you’re one of the unfortunate ones to be back in the office today, maybe there are some food trucks roaming that could cheer you up.
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Monthly Archives: February 2012
By Brian Mosley
Weekend Flashback: 2/17-2/19
Glass musician
courtesy of vpickering
For some of us, the weekend isn’t over. For others, it’s done. For all those who are celebrating George Washington’s and Abe Lincoln’s birthday, either at home or in the office, we salute you! Here’s what people saw over the weekend; enjoy! Continue reading
By Patrick Pho
On Ted Leonsis, Wizards Bloggers, and Why I Haven’t Written About The Team Recently
Ted Leonsis
courtesy of Keith Allison
It’s weird when my friends and co-workers walk up to me eager to talk about basketball and the Washington Wizards, because two years ago I didn’t really pay much attention to the team.
Now my interest in basketball has risen faster than Jeremy Lin’s jersey sales.
In a city where the Hockey, Football, and Baseball teams reign supreme, the Washington Professional Basketball Team has been an afterthought among the locals. Now in their fourth straight year of sub .400 play, the only memorable item that pops in most minds is the never ending argument that the team should change their name back to the Bullets. When WeLoveDC’s fearless leader gave me the assignment to provide coverage of the team for WLDC, I took it on as an opportunity to learn about the game and a team that doesn’t get as much attention in the D.C. Sports Scene. The beat was also another hat to wear among many. Besides holding down a 9-5 to pay the bills, I also cover theatre for the site as well.
Blogging isn’t as glamorous you would think. Unless it is a full-time gig, it is often a job of passion.
By Mickey
Hot Ticket: The Dead Milkmen @ U Street Music Hall, 2/18/2012
The Dead Milkmen, enduring critics of the status quo, bring their jangly punk rock to U Street Music Hall Saturday for an early show. Best known for their 1988 single “Punk Rock Girl,” which epitomizes their irreverence for societal norms, the group likely will present their classics and new material from last year’s self-published The King in Yellow.
Shows like this don’t come around too often, especially if you’re someone who grew up listening to various punk and new wave acts in the mid-1980s. The Dead Milkmen are not in the midst of a full-scale tour, so it’s a great one-time opportunity to relive the contributions the mid-Atlantic region, including DC and the Milkmen’s hometown of Philadelphia, made to the vibrant punk scene.
Tickets to this all-ages early show are still available online for $18. Philadelphia-based psych-poppers Bleeding Rainbow open.
By Why I Love DC
Vietnam Memorial Cloudy Sunrise courtesy of A B Pan
It is pretty dificult to put in words the various things that make me absolutely Love DC, and really an image of this picturesque place speaks volumes for itself. As cheesy as it may sound, this city and I have had quite the love affair. At first I was hesitant, restrained, even judgmental (being a third culture kid will do that to you). But it took very little time to start falling for it. And when I fell for it, I fell hard.
I was lucky enough to go to Georgetown, where a break from studying took us down historic cobblestone streets, past movie-set ready houses, to a buzzing M street with a range of bars, restaurants and shops to choose where to go broke from. But that was still the infancy of my relationship with DC, and we did have some great first dates. It was once I started exploring life outside my student bubble and into the real world that I truly began to appreciate the range of love this city had to give, and gave it back in return. As I have said before, Georgetown brought me here, but the city kept me here.
fountain in fall courtesy of ekelly80
Food Truck Tracker
Fojol Bros Trucks
courtesy of mediaslave
End of the week calls for a little celebration! Head out to where the food trucks are!
By Tom Bridge
She Loves DC: Lindsay Largent
Last week, amid having my car broken into, and the dreariest weather of the winter, I got a letter from a reader that lifted my spirits immensely. As a result, we wanted to introduce you to the light of our winter. Lindsay Largent, born in the District, and living in North Canton, Ohio, sent us this piece on her love of the city of her birth. We’re pleased to reprint it with her photos.
Sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste: the five basic senses that we all learned about in first grade. We use our senses everyday without even knowing it. It has turned into an ability of ours that we can sometimes take for granted. Have you ever just stopped and stared at the world around you, inhaled the air you breathe every second of every day, listened to the voices of your neighbors, felt the rain drops hitting your face, or thought about the taste of that bagel you get from the bagel shop on the corner of ninth and E street before you go to work every morning? If you live in the District of Columbia, I envy you. You have the chance to stimulate these senses in the most beautiful city in the world every day. Yeah, there are hundreds of historical sights to see, entertainment all around to listen to, and an endless count of good restaurants to critique, but what about the simple things? The little details are the aspects of Washington D.C. that I fell in love with from the moment I set foot in the city.
What to see: M Street at night. Almost everyone has been in the heart of a city at night, but Georgetown isn’t like any city. It has a sweeter, warmer, and calmer glow to it. I walk down that street at night and my eyes are drawn to so many things: the people in front of me, the cars parked bumper-to-bumper on the street, the vintage street lights, the light coming out of the windows and doors of the shops and restaurants, or the endlessness of M Street. And it’s impossible to rush down these sidewalks. There’s so much to take in while walking along with thousands of other people. No matter how many times I find myself on M Street, I make sure that I never miss a thing.
By Brittany
Hot Ticket – For a Cause: A Benefit Show for DC Vote
Interested in hearing some cool music while supporting the work of DC Vote? Head over to DC9 on February 23rd for the next in the on-going Monument Music and Arts series of benefit shows which have previously supported other great local non-profits like 826DC, We Are Family, and Common Good City Farm.
The line up on the 23rd features Raleigh, NC’s Heads on Sticks and the DC-native-fronted Farewell Republic. Both bands specialize in takes on buzzy, psych-inflected rock that should appeal to a wide audience. Before and after the band sets, local artist and DC voting rights activist Adrian Parsons will DJ – under the moniker Jeanne Pierre le Douche.
Tickets are only $10 and are available now.
By Don
We Love Weekends: Feb 17-19
6.8.10
courtesy of Paige Weaver
Marissa: I look forward to three day weekends like a person on a low-carb diet looks forward to ravioli night. So much to do and see and make the most of! Saturday I’ve got plans to check out the 5th Annual Rooting DC Urban Gardening forum, since friends and I have been talking on how to best grow tomatoes and cucumbers in their backyard this summer. Hearing some good buzz about Mintwood, I’m going to try to head over there for dinner one night. Come Sunday, if the weather’s nice, I aiming to re-conquer the Billy Goat Trail.
Harper’s Ferry Bumble Bee
courtesy of lonny.gomes
Food Truck Tracker
This is your stomach. It’s telling you to close the laptop and get some fresh air. The food trucks are calling.
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A Look at the New Menu and New Chef at Evening Star Cafe
Shrimp & Grits at Evening Star Cafe
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie
Anytime a long-standing restaurant with an already stellar reputation “revamps,” I have to hold my breath a little and scrunch my face waiting to see what the outcome is. That’s not to say I don’t trust the judgment of the fine folks over at Neighborhood Restaurant Group, because I do. But there are so many variables that go into renovating a space and renovating a menu. The result at the new and improved Evening Star Cafe? Fantastic.
For starters the newly decorated digs are eclectic, funky and inviting. The warm yellow, textured wallpaper make this neighborhood gem feel cozy, while remaining completely cool. And I’ve already mentioned the mason jar light fixture in the back bar at the Majestic Lounge that I’ve fallen in love with. If you’ve been to other NRG restaurants, you’ll feel right at home in the new Evening Star Cafe.
Under the direction of executive chef Jim Jeffords, the Del Ray restaurant has definitely augmented its southern feel with dishes such as boiled peanuts, shrimp and grits and of course, a buttermilk fried chicken. I’d describe Jeffords’ menu as elegant southern with a twist–the portions are southern-sized, but the presentation is beautiful and nothing falls into the stereotype of southern food being oppressively heavy and over-fried. The menu is organized so there are a few snacks (think kind of like bar bites), small plates (appetizers), entrees and then there are sides available to share if you’re really craving more grits or sunchoke mash.
By Brittany
We Love Music: Sharon Van Etten at Black Cat
Kevin Hill, chunkyglasses.com
Guest review by Jeffrey Lamoureux
All photographs courtesy of Kevin Hill
Sharon Van Etten was recently featured in the New York Times Magazine in a piece that took stock of her new neighborhood in Brooklyn and its “oddly charming florist/speakeasy.” The article is accompanied online by a video of her performing in said florist/speakeasy. Ms. Van Etten sings while gazing at the floor, the ceiling, and occasionally the camera or her backup singer, cracking a slight smile as she does. It’s a spare and intimate portrait of her music, the appeal of which is its honesty. Ms. Van Etten’s music embodies transience, heartbreak, and, ultimately, strength. When she sings, “I’m alright,” you’re not inclined to believe her, until she grins at the end of the song.
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By Moses
We Love DC Checks Out the International Wine & Food Festival
Sweet Teensy Booth at IWFF
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie
Introduction and Wine Coverage by Moses
Food Coverage by Marissa Bialecki
The 13th Annual International Wine and Food Festival Grand Tasting delighted Washington wine explorers on February 11-12, 2012. Keeping with tradition, the spacious and inviting Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center provided a welcoming venue to host the festivities.
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Food Truck Tracker
Soft shell crab taco
courtesy of yostinator
Aw, did you not get a nice steak dinner with champagne last night? Well then go get yourself a nice lunch from a food truck and a little fresh air. Go ahead. I’m telling you it’s okay to eat some feelings.
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By Alexia
Hot Ticket: Zola Jesus @ U Street Music Hall, 2/16/2012
photo courtesy of Zola Jesus
Goth/synthpop princess Zola Jesus will be performing her enchanting, dark tunes Thursday night at U Street Music Hall. She has toured with Fever Ray and The XX, and collaborated with M83, LA Vampires and Burial Hex, among others. Check out her video for “Vessel,” off of her 2011 album Conatus, out on Sacred Bones Records.
7pm/$15/All Ages
By Ben H. Rome
Come for the Murder, Stay for the Masquerade
This Sunday, Labyrinth Games is bring some Louisiana charm liberally mixed with a masquerade, murder, and mystery to the DC area. Kathleen Donahue, the store’s owner, is throwing the doors open to area residents and inviting everyone to join in the fun of a good old-fashioned murder mystery party. The event is this Sunday at The Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital in Southeast from 5 to 8 pm. Just make sure you have a ticket to get in!
“This will be a mix & mingle event with all attendees receiving minor character roles and clues to share with other attendees,” said Donahue. “It will be like live-action Clue! Festival carnival garb (and Mardi Gras masks) are encouraged but not required.” Several area actors will play the roles of the major characters for the evening; just because they’re major doesn’t mean they’re not exempt from being a suspect, either. Continue reading
By Alexia
Q&A with Justin Trawick
Justin Trawick is a local singer-songwriter, band frontman, and musical entrepreneur. In addition to his exhaustive solo performance schedule he has created a series called The 9, that packages nine singer-songwriters into one show, joining their forces to create a theatrical and diverse night of entertainment. We Love DC’s Alexia Kauffman sat down with Justin to talk about his endeavors.
Alexia Kauffman: So first can you tell us a little bit about who you are, what you do, and what is on your plate right now?
Justin Trawick: I’m a musician in the area. I’ve been doing music full-time for about four years. I live in Arlington, and I play most of my shows in the Washington, DC area, and then I go out of town, a lot of east coast shows up and down from Boston down to Georgia. And I play in a lot of cities around the country via airplane- I go to Austin and L.A. a lot. Continue reading
By Brittany
LOVE in Honor of Love: Exclusive Hair Products on Sale
On this day of romance, I want to share with you a love story of my own. It began last week, when I was sent some review samples of a the LOVE product line from Davines, exclusively available in D.C. at one80 Salon.
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By Jenn Larsen
We Love Arts: Blood Wedding
Deidra LaWan Starnes in Constellation Theatre Company's production of Blood Wedding. Photo credit: Scott Suchman
Somewhere it must be written in a Surrealist manifesto that Death steals every scene. In Constellation Theatre Company‘s production of Blood Wedding, he stalks them too. A shadowy figure swathed in a black tulle hat, his manifestation gradually gains power until at last, veil cast off, he’s revealed as the primal force behind love, lust and revenge.
Through both his poetry and plays, Federico García Lorca explored the tragic beauty of deep primitive myths – only to become one himself after his murder in 1936 at the start of the Spanish Civil War. Three years earlier he’d written Blood Wedding, a play whose themes go beyond folk superstition to uncover the dark pagan nature within us all.
Constellation is normally very much at home in the realm of Surrealist drama and epic theater, however, this production can’t seem to find a cohesive vocal or physical style for Lorca’s poetic dance of death. The result is a lot of discordant emotive vocality that threatens to overwhelm the action and the poetry, even while director Shirley Serotsky presents us with some eerily beautiful tableaux by a talented ensemble.
The story itself is a simple one: a mother has misgivings about her son’s intended wife. Add in a spurned lover, repressed passion and a blood feud, and mother turns out to be terribly right. She always is, isn’t she?
By Tom Bridge
Play at Fort Reno this summer!
The Evens
courtesy of yostinator
Do you want to play as part of the Fort Reno concert series this summer? It’s your lucky day. Get your demo together and submit it to Fort Reno’s Amanda MacKaye, and that does mean physical media, so get your record on, garage bands of DC and get ready to play DC’s most awesome free stage.