05.06 - except for the fact it was my birthday
what’s going on in d.c.
Friday: White Ford Bronco, the DC-famous ‘90s cover band, performs at Union Stage (8 pm)
Saturday: The Around the World Embassy tour returns, with about 30 embassies opening their doors and hosting events for visitors (9 am - 4 pm) | Black Cat hosts “Mario Prom,” a Super Mario Bros themed 80’s dance party (9 pm)
Sunday: Opera Outside, a free concert by Washington Concert Opera, sets up at Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park (11 am) | Lots of Mother’s Day events - Yoga at the National Building Museum (10 am), brunch specials | Blast from the past singers Aly & AJ (very popular in the 2000s Disney Channel days) perform at The Fillmore (8 pm )
All weekend: A flower market returns to Washington National Cathedral today and tomorrow, with carousel rides, flower displays, and vendors. | Broccoli City Festival returns to RFK with 21 Savage and Ari Lennox among the headliners. This is the first time the music festival will have performances for two days instead of one.
looking ahead: Jazz in the Garden returns for the summer to the National Gallery of Art on May 20. One big difference is that you will need to reserve tickets in advance.
Washingtonian compiled abortion rights protests that are occurring into next week.
let’s talk food and drinks
my weekly best bite: Campanelle verde at The Red Hen
The Pop Up Grocer opens this weekend at Union Market for a month’s run. The shop aims to “be the place for consumers to discover new, innovative food and beverage brands in a fun, boutique setting” and will carry about 400 instagrammable products.
Local bakery favorite Rose Ave Bakery will have its own space soon, with a lease on Connecticut Ave in the Woodley Park area.
Michelin awarded stars to four additional D.C. restaurants - Navy Yard’s Albi, Imperfecto, Oyster Oyster in Shaw, and Georgetown’s Reverie
what’s on our minds?
Tourists began to return to D.C. in 2021 - with 18.8 million domestic visitors on the year (down from 22.8 million in 2019, but unsurprisingly, up from 2020). Spending also didn’t reach 2019 levels, as visitors spent $5.4BN in the city in 2021. Destination DC, which promotes tourism in the city, hopes to redouble their advertising campaign and increase events around the city. Downtown D.C. also seeks to reshape its identity as telework remains, with increased residential conversions and programming.
Quick links to other weekly #goodreads:
I Went To Former Fitness Influencer Brittany Dawn’s Conference And I Guess I Understand Her Now - per BuzzFeed, “Fellow attendees told me they were ready to ‘get wrecked.’”
Inside elite transfer admissions: From community college to U-Va. - per Washington Post, “More prestigious schools, including the University of Virginia, are seeing transfers as an engine of diversity.”
I Live Under Constant Death Threat for Performing Abortions Late in Pregnancy - per Vice, ““I know that if somebody is determined to kill me, they will.”