Category Archives: News

Business and Money, News, The Daily Feed
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DC is #3 City

Photo courtesy of
‘Washington Monument – East View – 7-15-08’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

Kiplinger’s has named DC the 3rd Best City in 2009, just behind #2 Albuquerque and #1 Huntsville (really guys? Huh?). It all comes down to job growth, income growth and housing, it seems. With the government here, and with all the associated business related to the government, we’re picking up jobs, and picking up stimulus funding and growth.

They also talk a lot about the tourist economy, but the best of it all? “One drawback to Washington’s popularity: No matter the time, day of the week, starting point or destination, you will hit traffic. Try the Metrorail and buses instead of driving. Just remember: On Metro escalators, you stand on the right and walk on the left.”

Bout time that message got out to the masses…

News, People, The Daily Feed
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Real Housewives of DC

Photo courtesy of
‘Bianca Gascoigne ( THE SAME HIGH HEELS and NAILS’s COLOR )’
courtesy of ‘Andre Portfolio’

This just in from EW and Just Jared – Bravo has announced the development of a Real Housewives of DC. (Because Blonde Charity Mafia was not enough, as Belle from Capitol Hill Style says.)

“We’re tapping personalities who are among Washington D.C.’s influential players, cultural connoisseurs, fashion sophisticates and philanthropic leaders – the people who rub elbows with the most prominent people in the country and easily move in the city’s diverse political and social circles,” said Frances Berwick, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Bravo Media.

“These leading members of D.C. society will be attending important cultural events, political galas, gallery openings and fundraisers in Washington society.”  Sigh. Really? I’ll bet you one million dollars they all live in Georgetown and lunch at the Four Seasons.

News, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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Rashomon at the White House

Photo courtesy of
‘Crying baby’
courtesy of ‘_Nezemnaya_’

There’s a story going round this morning about the Evil Evil White House and the Evil Evil Steelers that ran off a kindergarten class from a White House Tour because they were 15 minutes late. Interestingly enough, all of the media mentions from one family, the Stines.

More interesting was the second half of that same story that says they weren’t just 15 minutes late, they were an hour late, and the White House told them their window would end at 30 minutes.

Folks, if you don’t plan ahead for traffic in the DC area, there’s not a whole lot you can expect in the way of sympathy. While it’s definitely a huge bummer for the kids, and they’re certainly not responsible for the lateness, they do get to pay the price because their parents, and the bus company they hired, couldn’t plan ahead. Actions have consequences. Turn this into a teachable moment about the responsibility of being on time, not an excuse for entitled whining.

Entertainment, Food and Drink, News, Night Life, The Daily Feed
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DC’s Beer Week!

Photo courtesy of
‘Polish Embassy Beer’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

Young & Hungry’s beer aficionado’s the Lagerheads rounded up a glorious schedule of beer events surrounding Savor, the beer and food event at the National Building Museum on May 30. Apparently, with all those beer crafters in town, other events (that you don’t need tickets for) have sprung up.

The highlights, in my mind, at least? Thursday, May 28th: Flying Dog “Meet the Brewers” at RFD and Bourbon, H Street Beer Bar Tour beginning at The Red and the Black and Palace of Wonders, Dogfish Head Cooking Class at CulinAeri. Friday, May 29th: Magic Hat Tasting at Dixie Liquors, Meet the Brewers Roundtable at Birreria Paradiso. Tuesday, June 2nd: Beer and Chocolate Collaboration at Brasserie Beck.

Check the whole schedule to see if I missed something you would love.

News, The Daily Feed
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Capital City Diner and DCRA Square Off On Twitter

diner.jpg
boulevard diner
courtesy of Paul Keleher

You might’ve caught the Washington City Paper’s piece this morning on the soon-to-be delivered Capital City Diner, about an old rail-car-style diner from upstate New York being moved to DC to be put up in Trinidad. If you missed it, it’s well worth the read, so head on over, and then click back.

Today, as it turns out, is the move-in day for the diner itself, being delivered to its new home over in Trinidad on the back of a semi. One slight problem: DCRA has not, and apparently will not, approve the foundation that the diner is due to be sitting on. According to their twitter feed, at one point a DCRA inspector came and left without approving the foundation, and after a few back & forth tweets, it seems that DCRA themselves headed out to the site to get things resolved, but not before the diner was given a parking ticket by the city. Now, I’m not exactly sure the last time an entire restaurant was given a parking ticket, but I have to feel for Matt Ashburn, who must feel like insult is being added to injury at this point. Young and Hungry has some more detail as well.

[Update]: DCist has talked with Ashburn, and he’s gotten permission to put the diner on the foundation. We’re still waiting to hear back from @dcra on Twitter, here’s hoping we can get to the bottom of what happened.

[Update 2]: DCRA has put up a couple public replies about what happened today: “But he had some serious issues with architect who took advantage of them.” and “But architect essentially forged engineer’s signature. The REAL engineer confirmed this.” Ouch! That’s shady shady shady! Fortunately, DCRA & Capital City Diner are kissing & making up. From @dcra: “The @capcitydiner guys are great and are now doing the right thing. We’ll do anything they need to make it happen.”

News, The Daily Feed
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Mei Xiang Not Preggers

Photo courtesy of
‘The Look’
courtesy of ‘Daniel.Techie @ 127.Ã�.Ã�.1’

Staff at Smithsonian’s National Zoo confirmed late yesterday that female giant panda Mei Xiang (may-SHONG) is not pregnant but was experiencing a pseudo, or false, pregnancy during the past several months. We knew this was possible, as Mei’s pulled this stunt before, but still, I’m sad about no baby cuteness.

The National Zoo says, “Female giant pandas almost always undergo a pseudopregnancy when they ovulate but fail to conceive. During a pseudopregnancy, hormonal changes and behaviors are identical to those of a true pregnancy, making it very difficult to determine if a giant panda is actually pregnant or not. This is the fifth time Mei Xiang has had a pseudopregnancy. She had her only cub, Tai Shan, in 2005. Giant pandas ovulate once a year—Zoo scientists will determine whether Mei Xiang should be considered for breeding again in 2010.”

At least we’ve still got those Cloud Leopard cubs to aww at.

Downtown, Food and Drink, News, The Daily Feed
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Three Additions to Art & Soul’s Patio

Photo courtesy of
‘art and soul happy hour’
courtesy of ‘needlessspaces’

Three exciting things just in from Art & Soul:

1) A new Crab and Beer Wednesdays happy hour
2) The introduction of a (gasp) fire pit on the patio (love!)
3) A Puppy Patio Menu complete with doggie drinks, treats and desserts

Let’s start with 1. A Crab and Beer Wednesday includes three super jumbo crabs, corn on the cob or seasonal vegetables, hushpuppies and potatoes, price will vary depending on the market price of the day. I’m sorry, did I just type hushpuppies? YES I DID. Continue reading →

News, The Daily Feed
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Very Possibly: ROCKETS!

Photo courtesy of
‘Glow Sticks’
courtesy of ‘jurvetson’

I know. Two weeks ago, it was looking like there was going to be a rocket launch every night in the week, but weather had other plans for the TacSat-3 launch at Wallops Island Flight Facility on the coast. They’re 150 miles from here, or so, out near Ocean City, but on a clear beautiful day like today, from any high place, you should be see the contrail of the bright Minotaur rocket going up into space with a couple of satellites.

With nary a cloud in the sky, only mechanical difficulties could delay the launch. Here’s hoping the mechanics are all set. Launch is scheduled for 7:35pm, and from DC, look to the East-Southeast.

News, The Daily Feed, The District, WTF?!
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Disney in Maryland?

Photo courtesy of
‘Cinderella Castle4’
courtesy of ‘Definitely Disney’

A 15-acre parcel near National Harbor will be the site of Disney’s next resort hotel. The hotel will sit on Oxon Hill Road not far from the site of the Gaylord resort. The $11-million dollar parcel seems an odd choice in this economy, but would house a 500-room luxury hotel amongst a cluster of other large hotels at National Harbor. While designs and construction timetables won’t be available for some time to come, it’s clear that National Harbor will be rivaling the downtown Convention Center for business in the years to come. This would, though, bring a number of new jobs to Prince George’s County, both as part of the length construction phase, and then to the hospitality sector.

But, will it look like a hotel? Or maybe look like Cinderella’s Castle? I’m hoping for the latter, as it would counterbalance the oddly-amusement-park-esque Mormon Temple on the northern side of the Beltway…

News, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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South Moon Under, National Harbor Style

Photo courtesy of
‘Gaylord at Night’
courtesy of ‘rgb48’

I just returned from a ridiculously lovely weekend in Rehoboth, and brought with me some inconvenient sunburns (Behind the knees? So comfortable.) and also some new adorable clothing from the outlets and the totally chic store South Moon Under. I arrived home last night already missing the beach and checked my email, only to find out that South Moon Under followed me home, and is opening a new store at National Harbor.

Joining the ranks of the Bethesda and Clarendon stores, the new SMU at National Harbor is right up your alley if you’re already enjoying an afternoon at National Harbor, which I would highly recommend. Join them for a grand opening party this Wednesday May 20 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. and Receive 20% off your entire purchase, and be entered into the drawing to win the Ultimate Girls Night Out gift package which includes limo service, a salon makeover and a $300 South Moon Under gift card.

Food and Drink, News, The Daily Feed
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Bittman & Andres Online Live at Noon

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_3377’
courtesy of ‘jwalsh’

One of DC’s superstars of food, Chef José Andrés, will be along side one of the world’s most awesome food writers, Mark Bittman, at the Center for American Progress at noon today (just in time to make you hungry!) talking about nutrition, and food. I love both of these guys, and this couldn’t be a topic nearer or dearer to my heart, so I’m pleased to see people talking about this in a national and public forum.

We’ve got their stream embedded below, so check back in with us at noon or so, and you can watch the appearance. Bittman’s How to Cook Everything is probably one of the most awesome cookbooks of all time, so if you’ve got tickets to today’s little shindig at CfAP gig, you are officially totally on my “Jealous-Of” list.

Continue reading →

Essential DC, Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed
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Eastern Market to Re-Open June 26th

Photo courtesy of
‘Eastern Market!!’
courtesy of ‘erin m’

The fire at Eastern Market two years ago was a horrifying event. It took from us one of DC’s best places. Renovations at the Eastern Market building are almost complete and a re-opening date has been set for June 26th. Vendors will start to move back into the beautiful brick South Hall on June 14th getting ready for the Friday opening on the 26th.

This is absolutely marvelous news, and just 10 weeks away! Many thanks to Claudia from Brunch and the City for passing on the awesome news! Read on for the full email from the Mayor: Continue reading →

News, The Daily Feed
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Thousands of Nerds Cried Out…

Photo courtesy of
‘Google Business Card’
courtesy of ‘TwisterMc’

…and then as one, were silenced.

It seems Google is down in spots up and down the Eastern Seaboard, with our agents in the West reporting no difficulty, while DC suffers without Gmail, Google Talk, and even Google Searches. People, I am going into withdrawal here, I’m actually having to figure stuff out on my own. This is just simply unacceptable!

Are you jonesin’ for a fix? Or are you being productive today without the distractions of yore?

Downtown, Entertainment, News, People, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Fierce Fashion

Photo courtesy of
‘Christian Siriano in person’
courtesy of ‘sue blue’

It is physically hurting me that I will be missing seeing Christian Siriano in Bethesda on Friday, I almost cried when I had to turn down my invitation to his fashion show at Redwood.

The Project Runway star is coming to town as part of The Front Row, a three-day, five-block fashion event including runway previews, in-store style and beauty events, designer appearances, trunk shows and more at the fabulously fashionable retailers and restaurants at Bethesda Row.

But even if I won’t be there, you can go and make me jealous. For a full list of events happening this weekend at The Front Row, click on through to the event listing (PDF).

News, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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That’s Some Tasty & Addictive Queso You Have There

Photo courtesy of
‘Queso’
courtesy of ‘newsongNY’

Feds at Dulles Airport yesterday arrested a guy for smuggling cocaine hidden inside moist cheese dip. Now, it was only a few ounces inside the cheese, but after the Borders & Customs crowd found his little stash, they also found a brick of over a kilogram taped to his person. Looks like you’re going to have to work harder than that, mister smuggler guy.

Arlington, Food and Drink, News, Night Life, The Daily Feed
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Domasoteca to Close, Domaso to Shorten Hours

Photo courtesy of
‘Hotel Palomar Rosslyn’
courtesy of ‘NCinDC’

Bad news for Rosslyn – Domasoteca Wine Store, located in the Palomar Hotel, will be closing its doors on May 30. Also, effective immediately, Domaso restaurant will be closed for lunch and dinner service on weekends.

Sounds like Domaso is going to get a bit of a face lift to focus more on the folks who work in the neighborhood – “Based on the increasing success of its lounge and in response to clientele for a more casual dining experience, the lunch and dinner menus will be updated significantly, and the bar will serve an expanded selection of signature cocktails and lounge menu items.” Spokeswoman for Kimpton restaurants, Charissa Benjamin, confirms, “The restaurant is very busy during the weeks with the work crowd but it did get slower over the weekend.” Stay tuned for more coverage of the new revamped menu and bar experience, I’ll have the scoop for you when it happens.

As for Domasoteca Wine Store, you can snag some good deals. Starting May 11, Domasoteca will have a closing sale, with 20% off all bottles, 30% off mixed half cases and 40% off mixed full cases.

News, The Daily Feed
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HBO’s Screen on the Green cancelled for 2009

Photo courtesy of
‘Screen on the Green – Movies Under the Sky – 7-14-08’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

HBO has cancelled the long-running Screen on the Green program for 2009, according to a representative from HBO’s consumer affairs department.

Reader TJ tipped us that we should look into this; someone at the National Mall permits desk told him HBO was no longer sponsoring the event. A call to the hotline at 877-262-5866 still yielded the old 2008 schedule, but if you stay on the line all the way through you can get connected to consumer affairs. Representative Melana confirmed for me that the program had been cancelled. No word on if it will return.

UPDATE: If you’re looking for a replacement outdoor screening option Katie wrote about two happening just across the river in Crystal City and Rosslyn, both metro-accessible.

Life in the Capital, Media, News, The Daily Feed
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Scary Landings At National Airport

Photo courtesy of
‘Gravelly Point – Competing Transportation – 12-29-08’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

Travel + Leisure Magazine recently named the runway at Regan National Airport the third scariest in the world. Calling our airspace “fraught with peril” and taking-off “a white-knuckle event”, Travel + Leisure apparently shudders at flying into and out of DC. I too have heard people express fright at our airport, I’ve even heard a pilot call the landing at DCA one of the toughest, “makes sure you’re awake” he said.

But the third scariest? I was terrified flying into Charleston, West Virginia in heavy winds on a prop plane earlier this year, and would call that much more scary than the decent into NoVa.  I’ve also had a crazy landing on a dirt runway at the airport in the Bahamas, and my boss tells a story about an airport in the South Pacific that had a wrecked plane wing as the rain shelter, with a cow pasture serving as the runway.

So, what do you think? Is DC really the third scariest runway in the world, or is Travel + Leisure just being a drama queen?

News, The Daily Feed, The Great Outdoors
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Rocket Launch in Virginia Tonight!

Photo courtesy of
‘Space shuttle liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center: Merritt Island, Florida’
courtesy of ‘State Library and Archives of Florida’

When we were coming back from Phoenix in March, we were passing through Terminal 5 in JFK as they were doing a sunset launch of the Space Shuttle. I stopped and stared and watched as the rockets fired and the shuttle went up and up and up. I’ve never seen a shuttle launch live, or a rocket launch of any kind. Tonight, though, we may get a clear view of a rocket launch at the NASA Facility on Wallops Island. They’ll be launching a rocket tonight between 8 and 11. If the rain keeps them down, they’ll be trying again each night this week.

Wallops Island may be 120 miles to our southeast, but Wired is saying that “this particular rocket, a Minotaur I, is noteworthy for the brilliant intensity of the fire it gives off. NASA claims that, conditions permitting, the rocket could be visible up to 800 miles away” which means we should have a pretty good view, especially if thing clear up. Check out their Twitter feed for the latest details.

News, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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Swine Flu Case Suspected in DC

Photo courtesy of
‘The World Bank Grou’
courtesy of ‘maxedaperture’

Bloomberg is reporting that one case of Swine Flu is now suspected at the World Bank. The employee had recently travelled to Mexico, and has fallen ill. He was in the office on 20 April and may have infected several coworkers through direct contact. All exposed to the individual have been asked to work from home until further information is available.

This would be DC’s first case of the pandemic virus that is currently causing havoc all over the globe. Except in Madagascar.