01.28 - pups and peonies
what’s going on in d.c.
Winter lanterns abound at The REACH at The Kennedy Center. To celebrate Lunar New Year, the venue is hosting nightly displays (through next Sunday) of 100 highly lit lanterns.
It’s the last weekend of the Betty White Unites! show at Zenith Gallery (in the Shepherd Park neighborhood). The show features 20 pieces of art inspired by the comedy icon.
On Wednesday, Suns Cinema is showing a double feature of Groundhog Day to celebrate the occasion. Also in movies, for the next few months, AFI Silver is showing 2021 films that may have been overlooked (2021: A Second Look).
looking ahead: for the second year, She Loves Me is partnering with Lucky Dog Animal Rescue to deliver Valentine’s bouquets with a side of puppy playtime. Deliveries are on February 13 (and there’s only nine spots left!)
let’s talk food and drinks
my weekly best bite: a tofu and cauliflower bowl from fast casual Indian spot RASA
Mt. Pleasant’s Each Peach Market will have a raclette (melted cheese) pop-up on Saturday from 12-3.
A bunch of restaurants have opened in D.C. in the past few months - here’s ten of Washingtonian’s top choices. Magpie and the Tiger looks particularly tasty. Not on the list, but also a recent opening, is Picoletto, which features Asian-inspired pastas.
what’s on our minds?
In an emotional ANC meeting, a queer café and bar planned to open in Capitol Hill received its final approval. The As You Are Bar, designed to be a safe and inclusive space for D.C.’s queer community (at a time where the number of gay and lesbian bars are declining), received some pushback related to potential noise issues. The bar plans to open in March.
D.C.’s COVID cases dropped another 50% over the past seven days, although cases remain higher than prior to the omicron surge. Mayor Bowser also extended the city’s mask mandate until the end of February. In Virginia, the majority of public school districts continue to require masks despite recently elected Governor Glenn Youngkin’s order that districts make masks optional.
Quick links to other weekly #goodreads:
Is Ginni Thomas a Threat to the Supreme Court?- per The New Yorker, “Behind closed doors, Justice Clarence Thomas’s wife is working with many groups directly involved in controversial cases before the Court.”
What fast fashion costs the world- per Experience, “Many clothing donations end up in an unexpected place — African landfills.”
Inside Jerry Falwell Jr.’s Unlikely Rise and Precipitous Fall at Liberty University - per Vanity Fair, “Jerry Falwell Jr. was the Trump-anointing dark prince of the Christian right. Then a sex scandal rocked his marriage and ended his lucrative stewardship of the evangelical education empire founded by his father. In a series of exclusive interviews, Falwell—accompanied by his wife, Becki—describes the events that led to his ouster, their fallout, and why he’s finally ready to admit he never had much use for his father’s church anyway.”
what are we watching/reading?
Two mystery comedies dropped today - Kristen Bell’s The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window on Netflix (try saying that one fast) and The Afterparty with Tiffany Haddish on Apple TV+. The Afterparty looks particularly clever - a group of former high school classmates try to piece together a murder that occurred the night of their reunion.
The Fallout on HBO Max. Jenna Ortega and Maddie Ziegler (of Dance Moms fame) star in a drama about a group of teens in the aftermath of a school shooting. The teens manage grief, PTSD, and anxiety in this intimate film.
Are you on Goodreads? Let’s be friends! Although full disclosure, I’ve been mostly reading young adult mysteries for the last few months….