After a long day at work, and a pleasantly rainy happy hour downtown, we were in search of a dinner spot back on our side of the river. That’s when we remembered that the restaurant that had taken the place of the venerable Toro Tapas was now open. Extra Virgin is certainly an upgrade for Shirlington. With a swank dining room and an extra comfortable lounge and bar, it’s a beautiful place to sit and have a meal.

We arrived late, around 9, and had the place very much to ourselves. See, they’ve only been open about 5 weeks, and the weeknights are still picking up. We got the corner table right in the window, giving us a pleasant view and some wonderful ambience. A glass of JanKris Zinfandel, and some wonderful mozzarella with grilled eggplant and fresh basil that smelled like it had come out of my garden just then. I had the Gargatelli, and Tiff, at the recommendation of our waiter, had the fettucine.

I’ve had some amazing pasta in my day. Sure, I’ve not yet been to Galileo, but I have been to Biba, back west. This was amazing stuff. I was relishing the sauce and the crusty bread when I realized how lucky we were to have such a great place so close to the house. A great spot for a glass of wine and a dish of pasta. This is a great place for a second date, people.

$55 for two, pasta to die for, and ambience not to be missed. Go. You’ll thank me later. They get busy on the weekend, but this might be a perfect weeknight spot.

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We know, we know, we’re late to the game. But would we be a proper DC fan if we didn’t show up late? This year’s Summer Cinema season at the National Theatre is well underway, having started in June with Field of Dreams, and continued on with other famous baseball movies. Coming up Monday is Soul of the Game with Delroy Lindon, Mykelti Williamson and Blair Underwood. On the 25th will be the movie that gave us the famous “There’s no crying in baseball!” and Tom Hanks at his most despicable: A League of Their Own. Followed up by Eight Men Out and Bull Durham, this is a great few weeks of baseball movies on a Monday night. If the Nats are out of town, or if you can’t get tickets, this might be the way to go. Tickets are free, and are distributed to the line outside the theatre half an hour before showtime (6:30pm).

See you at the movies!

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Today, July 14th, is Bastille Day, and what better way to celebrate than watching waiters race down Pennsylvania Avenue attempting to balance a bottle of water and a glass of beer on a tray held in one hand?

Head on over to Les Halles at 1201 Pennsylvania for the 2pm waiters’ race. There’s also a children’s race at 12:30 and a customers’ race at 1pm, which you can join in for 10 bucks (the $$ goes to charity).

And for this evening, there’s always a scene on at Bistrot du Coin in Dupont Circle for Bastille Day.
People even dance on the bar…

Now there may be some of you grinches who scoff and say, “Why celebrate French independence?”

Well, why don’t you go to Lafayette Square at 16th and Penn (located opposite the White House), and ask the Marquis?

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Who hasn’t noticed the tagger around town call Borf? The one who spray painted highway signs as well as walls, bins, and pretty much anything he could on a quixotic quest to tell us about Borf? Well yesterday, the police noticed him in action and we now can put a name and face to the graffiti – John Tsombikos , an 18-year-old art student from Great Falls, VA. An 18-year old they will throw the book at as an adult for defacing public or private property.

Now the debate about his painting being art or defacement aside (I happen to like some of his art), what strikes me most about the WashPost article on Borf are the quotes about his folks:

“he… cut cardboard stencils on his parents’ living room floor. He spoke sneeringly of ‘rich people,’ though sometimes when he parked in the city his parents gave him $14 for the garage.”

So not only did they know he was spray painting all over DC, they even gave him money to do so – Borf’s folks helped Borf to deface DC!! In lawyer terms that’s called aiding and abetting, and I say throw the book at Mom & Dad as well as son. He only recently turned 18, so I say the prosecutors should go after them as either parents (under 18) or accomplices (over 18), but either way, they should be out there doing community service right along with their tagging son.

Parents have a responsibility to control their kids, not give ’em $14 and tell them “go mess up DC, not your own suburb”.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

One of the most frustrating travel experiences of my life came when I flew out of National Airport and I had to pee. Of course, getting up in the first 30 minutes of your flight out of National means getting tackled by air marshals and the flight diverted to someplace like Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I sat in my seat, after we sat on the runway for an hour in a storm, as the plain took off and we reached our cruising altitude, crossing my legs like my life depended on it. Waiting forever like that was frustrating.

Those Days Are Over.

All I can say is…my bladder thanks you.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

If you were thinking of going anywhere in Northern Virginia by car this weekend just don’t. A 6 mile stretch of the Beltway, between the Wilson Bridge and the Mixing Bowl, is going to be reduced to one lane while crews do some more work on the new Wilson Bridge. You won’t be able to head in that direction from northbound 95. On ramps to that stretch are going to be closed to keep people off it. Other thoroughfares in the area are going to be clogged as they’re used as both official and unofficial detours.

So just stay off the Beltway this weekend, and if you were planning a trip someplace in Northern Virginia, put it off until next weekend. Seriously. It’s going to be ugly.

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Metro trains through Rockville are currently not running as a suspicious package has been found chained to a tree near Rockville Pike at College Parkway, next to a natural gas distribution center. The bomb squad’s doing their thing now. Service for Metro (and CSX trains) is interrupted between Shady Grove and Rockville.

update: We’re safe. It was an “Environmental Monitoring Device” placed there by Columbia Gas. Nothing to see here.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Sure, collusion’s the “in” thing these days, and “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours,” should be the credo of this town rather than the fairly inaccurate Justitia Omnibus. And so it should come as no surprise that last year’s “Hands Free” legislation proves to benefit no one in this city, except for the retailers of cellphone accessories. In the District, if you want to talk on your cellphone while driving (and given the number of people who are surgical attached to their phones, this is everyone with such a device), you have to wear a headset, or you face a $50 ticket.

Of course, now it comes out hands free driving is no safer than just talking to your shoulder while trying to steer two handed.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am simply shocked. Apparently the root cause of such accidents is talking on your cellphone while trying to merge through four lanes of Beltway traffic at 50mph and not just the holding of said phone to one’s ear. This news will likely not spur the City Council into repealing the ban on handsets-while-driving, nor will it likely encourage them to do something to actually help prevent accidents (like banning them altogether while driving).

Ahhhhh DC.

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PNC Diamond Club

Originally uploaded by tjbax.

Last Thursday, Tom and I had tickets to the Nationals’ day game against the Mets. During the game, the Nationals held a “networking event” in the PNC Diamond Club downstairs from our seats.

The game was tied, so we decided to check it out.

Lesson 1: The attendees at a day game are generally either people who don’t work normal business hours, or people who have taken the afternoon off to watch baseball. Neither group is likely to want to stop watching the game in order to network.

Meanwhile, the PNC Diamond Club accommodations made me feel much better about my $15 upper deck seats. It’s way in the outfield over the visitor’s bullpen. The seating consists of cheap-ass metal bar chairs of the sort hanging around in my office, and cafe tables. There are more photos in my Flickrstream.

So the short version is: At RFK, the plebes get better seats than the rich old men. Thank you, Nats.

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The Redskins winning a Super Bowl.
Marion Barry retiring.
Metro Escalators in Working Order.
The MD ICC getting built.

These are all dreams for DC area residents that have just not been possible for the last few years. Of course, the MD ICC is now a step closer to construction, as its route was chosen today. The road itself dates back over 50 years as part of the first Beltway plans (there were going to be three, count’em, THREE Beltways in the early plans), but don’t go getting excited now.

$2.4 Billion is what the road will cost, but expect more than just a few lawsuits between now and when they’ll break ground early next year.

Ouch. And you thought baseball stadiums were expensive!

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The urban oasis, a centering spot for self amongst a busy life in a busy city. Here are a few of our Metbloggers’ choices!

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Sunday night we decided to head out to Adams Morgan and revisit an old reliable for an early dinner. So we stopped into New Orleans Cafe on the 18th Street strip, a narrow place with a cosy and welcoming atmosphere.

With its tin-pressed ceiling, warmly colored walls, and no-frills feel it definitely reminds me of New Orleans, a city we’ve visited often and enjoy every time. I’ve always liked Bardia, the soft-spoken and friendly owner. Though we hadn’t been for awhile he still remembered us.

It was nice to reminisce about our trips to New Orleans over fried oysters and crawfish etouffe.

One of the best reasons to go to the Big Easy is beignets, so of course we had to finish off with a plate of the delicious fried dough, piping hot and sprinkled with powdered sugar. I think that Bardia’s beignets are better than Cafe du Monde’s because they are lighter and not as dough-y. Sacrilege!? Maybe. But whatever your preference, if you love beignets, head on over and try Bardia’s version. They are perfect for brunch or dessert, or anytime in between.

And the sweetest part of the meal – he quietly comped the beignets, and offered a second plate with a smile.

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After a hilarious meeting of the DC Metrobloggers (see below) at Love Cafe, hopped up on a particularly good dose of buttercream icing, I decided what better way to spend my walk home than by indulging in some Fantasy Shopping!!

For those of you who don’t know, Fantasy Shopping is basically a more involved form of window shopping, where you lift your spirits by bringing yourself right to the point of purchasing, but you don’t actually allow yourself to buy because, alas, you have no $$$.

(I know, I know…)

So I headed into Wild Women Wear Red at 15th & U, a lovely little shoe boutique that has been open for three years and has an adorable selection of very different shoes, bags, and jewelry.

Shoes are usually a safe Fantasy Shop for me because I am that female anomaly, a Girl Who Doesn’t Like Shoe-Shopping (gasp!). Unfortunately, owner Toddre is currently having a 50-60% sale, and I just had to try on a pair of mismatched Mary Jane’s from Spain, and they were so cute I just had to buy them (I blame the buttercream icing high). I recommend Girls Who Do Like Shoe-Shopping to check out this very unique boutique.

Feeling flush with the excitement of having broken my Fantasy Shopping rule, I headed into Pink November at 12th & U, a clothing store whose flamboyant window displays I’d been eyeing since it opened. I almost went into overload. Feminine, flirty tops and skirts, yet with an edgy, urban chic – it was all too much stimulus and as the sugar high dropped I wistfully admitted my cha-ching-less state and that I would have to come back, “with my husband.”

Which makes me a Girl Who Lets Her Husband Dress Her Up.

Ouch.

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“She’s just lips and ass. That’s what goes into sausages!”
— Desert Island Boy, on Angelina Jolie

“I’d do Angelina Jolie.”
— Tiffany, after Desert Island Boy

“Crikey! A douchebag in their natural habitat.”
— Tom, on the guy in the lavender polo, with the collar popped

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Sitting over at Cake Love’s Love Cafe this afternoon, I came across the annual rankings for “Top 100 Unwired Cities“, which puts DC in the number 14 slot, behind our friends in Chicago, Boston, Orange County, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Austin, San Francisco, and Seattle.

Of course, for Top Unwired Universities, American ranks #9 and Howard ranks #24. Georgetown, GW and UDC had better get working if they want to get on that list. Unwire!

For airports, we’re 5th for BWI, 14th for Dulles and 19th for Reagan, which I find terribly odd, seeing as there is no terminal-wide wireless for either Reagan or Dulles. Such is the state of wireless in our nation’s airports. Clearly, some things need improvement.

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The Baltimore-Washington Parkway headed North from DC is currently closed due to a massive sinkhole that popped up after the rain storm.

No, we’re not referring to Charm City herself, the hole popped up beneath the roadway just north of Laurel near Route 32, and while repairs were expected to be finished overnight, it looks like they won’t be finished until somewhere around Midnight Tonight. Expect delays going North on 95. If you’re headed up to the Nats/Phillies game that starts in about 30 minutes in Philadelphia, you’d better be prepared to be late!

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That’s right, our famously finicky pandas are now Momma Mei Xiang and Papa Tian Tian. A tiny baby panda “the size of a stick of butter” (thanks Washington Post, that line was too good NOT to use) was born at 3:41 this morning. Zookeepers are quite nervous as the Pandas are just as bad at parenthood as they are at the whole “mating and breeding” thing.

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The 10th Annual “Made in Hong Kong” Film Festival opens tonight at the Freer Gallery, with Johnnie’s To’s “Throw Down.”

The Festival runs every Friday and Sunday now through August 28 and is always a great way to catch both classics and recent hits of the genre. This year’s group includes the first all-CGI entry, “Dragonblade,” which I definitely want to catch.

Films are shown in the comfortable Meyer Auditorium, with free tickets distributed up to one hour before showtime. It’s usually very popular so get in line early.

The Freer is also currently showcasing “Bollywood Noir” films. Take advantage.

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Every time I ride the bus, I’m always annoyed by the folks who congregate around the back door. These folks not only block access to the back of the bus, they cause overcrowding in the aisle in front of them, restrict exit access for those behind them, and generally stop efficient movement within the bus.

Usualy it starts with one person who decides that they want to stand, but don

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We are flying the Union Jack in solidarity with London this week.

The State Department felt so moved by the tragedy today that they raised the Union Jack on their flag pole, making it the first foreign flag to fly over our State Department.

Thanks to Jeff Harrell for the art.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs