02.18 - step right up
what’s going on in d.c.
Friday: DC9 hosts a “Lost Birthday Club” to jointly celebrate the birthdays of everyone in attendance (assuming we all lost out on celebrations due to COVID). Party hats and cupcakes will be provided.
Saturday: Union Market’s Songbyrd hosts a combo dance party - “22 & good 4 u” featuring Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo tunes. Tickets are $28 for the 10:30 p.m. event.
Monday: If you’re one of the lucky ones with a three-day weekend, here’s a list of spots serving brunch
All weekend: Disney on Ice hits Capital One Arena, perfectly synced with the four-year cycle of interest in figure skating. Tickets are available for shows today through Monday.
looking ahead: Erik Larson, the author of the acclaimed “The Splendid and the Vile” about Churchill during WWII, “In The Garden of Beasts,” and “The Devil in the White City,” will be at Sixth and I on Tuesday. The $25 ticket includes a signed book.
let’s talk food and drinks
my weekly best bite: Ajaruli at Shaw’s Supra
Boardwalk Bar and Arcade opens today at the Wharf. The spot, which couldn’t have timed opening day weather better, features 30+ arcade games, carnival-style food (aka cotton candy), and a large outdoor patio. Boardwalk’s owners also own popular Shaw spots Takoda and Cortez.
The Glover Park Whole Foods reopened this week, adding in the “Just Walk Out” technology that lets Amazon Prime members scan in and then skip the in-person payment at the end (an email receipt will follow your trip). While Amazon Go and Fresh stores have been adding in this technology nationally, this is only the second Whole Foods to incorporate the feature.
Tea time is an underrated daytime activity - here’s 8 places in D.C. to try (strong rec for The St. Regis - my bf and I have gone there for the past five Valentine’s)
what’s on our minds?
The Washington Post investigated a systemic issue in D.C. - a lack of heat in many apartment buildings exacerbated with a lack of enforcement. Thus, for many D.C. dwellers, particularly those in low-income buildings, the cold temperatures can last for winter upon winter. The D.C. attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit against some of the most egregious landlords, but for most residents, their best hope for livable conditions arrives with spring weather.
The Nike store may be leaving Georgetown for greener H St NE pastures. It’s only a rumor at this point, but the company didn’t renew their Georgetown lease.
Quick links to other weekly #goodreads:
How Bots and Fake Accounts Push China’s Vision of Winter Olympic Wonderland - per ProPublica, “Online, the country’s propagandists have promoted a vision of the Games free of hostility or controversy.”
It’s Your Friends who Break Your Heart - per The Atlantic, “The older we get, the more we need our friends—and the harder it is to keep them”
Why in the year of our lord 2022 am I still getting robocalls??? - per Vox, “They made a Covid-19 vaccine in less than a year but I still get robocalls.”
what are we watching/reading?
Severance on Apple TV. This dark “comedy” features an employer that severs its employees’ primary selves from their work selves into “innies” and “outies” who don’t know their other half exists. The show sounds pretty surreal and intense (The Guardian said it “might make your mind explode”), but the reviews are overall very strong if you’re up for the ride.
Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy on Netflix. A new documentary series pulls viewers into Kanye’s world with 20+ years of footage. The later episodes provide a window into how his talent and fame acted as conduits and enablement for his spiraling mental state (his ongoing harassment of Kim/Pete is genuinely scary).