Friday, March 23, 2007

Weekend Picks - What Not to Do

Don't try to drive, take the metro or take the bus Saturday morning. DC will be coming to a standstill for the National Marathon. Of course now instead of it being this grand patriotic and iconic marathon, it is now the Wirefly National Marathon. Seriously - does everything now days have to have a corporate name?? To find out about road closures and metro delays click here.

Don't go to Lucky Bar to watch the soccer games Saturday- it will be a $20 cover!

Don't avoid the bars just because you might not be interested in watching basketball... here is a list of tv-free bars.

Don't stay inside Sunday. While it won't be 70 degrees, it will be sunny and that's not worth missing!

But Don't go looking for the Cherry Blossoms yet. T-minus eight days until the kick-off of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Stay tuned for more details about that next week!

Exploring Antarctica


If you guys haven't checked out Washington Post's interactive section on Antarctica, make sure that you do! It is amazing! The pictures are truly breathtaking and unreal. I really thought it was just one big ice shelf but there is a desert and a volcano and the most beautiful turquoise lakes. Check it out! Just a warning though, the music can be a bit too dramatic.

Shout Out to the Secret Service!

Who knew the Secret Service patrols Adams Morgan! Last night Donnie, Adam, Mona and I learned the hard way that they do. Now, I know what you're thinking, and no, Adam wasn't arrested for flashing.

While we had been hanging out at Reef and T.S. Muttleys during an extended happy hour, someone broke into Donnie's car a few blocks away. They smashed the passenger-side window and stole an amp from the back seat. They went through the rest of the car, but nothing else was taken. We called the DC police, who told us it would be an hour before someone could come and write up a report. Lucky for us, there were a lot of friendly (and admittedly bored) Secret Service agents in the area. We flagged down Eric, pictured below, and the next thing we knew, there were five of them there, photographing the car, taking fingerprints and hanging out. Apparently the Secret Service is responsible for protecting embassies, hence the seemingly random patrol that found us sitting on the sidewalk at 11:30 pm.
According to Eric the AM does have a crime problem. Someone even mugged a French diplomat recently. So be careful out there. And say hi to your friendly neighborhood Secret Service agents. They're nice guys.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Weekend Picks: All about the green

Friday Night

Celebrate SPE (St. Patty Eve) at Fado's where they are celebrating New Year Eve style. They will be having Guinness giveaways throughout the night as well as a countdown just before midnight to get everyone geared up for the best Holiday of the year!

Saturday

There are too many bars around DC to get green beer to name so I'll just send you to this list by the Washington Post.

The mayhem will be starting early so plan accordingly!

SoberRide is back for St. Patty's Day. Between 4 p.m. March 17 and 6 a.m. March 18, you can get a free ride home from SoberRide if you dial 1-800-200-TAXI. You may have to wait for your cab, but a 30-minute wait is better than getting into a dangerous situation.

Sunday
Chances are you had a pretty crazy Saturday so I suggest laying on the couch and catching up with everyone's good friend, ti-vo. At least that's what I'll be doing!

DC Snacks

For those of you who don't subscribe to the DC Daily Candy listserv, here's a cool link from today's email. DC Snacks will deliver food, drinks and a lot of random stuff. Serioulsy, who among us has not desperately needed Solo Cups and/or Ben & Jerry's at 1 a.m.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

One ugly building!

With the Metro having major issues this morning on the red line, I decided to walk to work from Chinatown instead of standing on a crowded platform for 30 minutes. I realized after I started walking that it may not have been the best idea given the amount of blisters I got gallivanting around Georgetown last night but it was still nice to be outside enjoying the weather instead of suffocating waiting for the red line.

Anyways, I've done the walk down H street before but its always been after work with co-workers heading to a happy hour in Chinatown, so I never really noticed what an eyesore the buildings on that road are! Specifically, the Government Accountability Office (GAO)... the picture does not do this building justice! I truly feel sorry for anyone who has to work there. It was built in 1951 and doesn't look like it has been renovated since.
According to its history, the GAO used to be in the old Pension building, which is now the National Building Museum - one of my favorite buildings in DC. I'm guessing they wished they stayed there. The most shocking thing to me is that in 1995 the GAO building was named to the National Register of Historic Places as a symbol of modern block-type federal office design. Modern?? I think not! That side of Chinatown is so run down and now I realize its because no one wants to build next to this ugly building. DC is filled with so many beautiful places, they really should start tearing down the eye sores before they give it a bad reputation.

Monday, March 12, 2007

its all about the silhouette, maggie...


as maggie and i hoofed it back towards the green line from happy hour thursday, we simultaneously noticed a girl with almost impossibly skinny knees. as maggie voiced this observation aloud, i immediately quipped "well, its all about the silhouette, maggie...". let me explain.

shoe trends this year are very noticeable. you have the option of poofy boots paired with the skinny pant, flats paired with the skinny pant or anything peep-toed, platform wedge and/or metallic paired with the skinny pant (obviously, the skinny pant is in). this particular woman had opted for the poofy boot option. the contrast of the pant fitted through the knee and the bulbous boot top created the illusion (or silhouette) of this girl's knee being about the size of my elbow. it is grotesquely fascinating and the trend doesn't seem to show any signs of tapering off despite the rising temperatures. the skinny knee creates the impression of skinniness overall.

in a similar vein, the pairing of a pant with a high heel shoe creates a longer leg (also making you look thinner) and a pointed toe on said shoe puts on the finishing touch, as it creates a tapering effect in the viewers vision. hence, the silhouette that your shoe creates goes a long way towards shaping an outsiders immediate impression. i learned most of this while i was watching a late night run on QVC (the home shopping network's rival).

so ladies, if you want to look like you lost 5 lbs. without actually hitting the gym or dieting, its all about the silhouette...