Friday, December 24, 2010

Advent and Christmas Services

If you have recently moved to the area, you might be searching for a church where you can attend a Christmas Eve service.  Here's a list of several churches that are walkable from within the neighborhood, or are easily accessible by bus or metro:

The Washington National Cathedral on Wisconsin Avenue will be holding services tonight at 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.  Both servies will be webcast live for those who cannot attend in person.  The National Cathedral's 2010 Christmas schedule and more details about the webcasts are available here.

Capital Memorial Church, located at 3150 Chesapeake Street, N.W., will hold services Saturday, December 25 at 10:50 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.  You can find more details here.

National Presbyterian Church (NPC), located at 4101 Nebraska Avenue, N.W., will hold a Family Nativity Service at 5:00 p.m. today and Christmas Eve services at 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.  More details are available on the church's website.

St. Ann Roman Catholic Church will hold mass at 6:00 p.m. today, and at 7:30 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. on Christmas, Saturday, December 25.  St. Ann's is located at 4001 Yuma Street, N.W., near the intersection of Wisconsin and Albemarle and the Tenley-AU Metro Stop on the Red Line.  You can find more information about the church here and St. Ann's 2010 holiday mass schedule here.

St. Paul's Lutheran Church, located at 4900 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., will be holding a service today for families at 4:00 p.m. and a candlelight serve at 10:00 p.m.  More details are avaliable here on the church's blog.

Wisconsin Avenue Baptist Church is located at 3920 Alton Place N.W., near the Tenley-AU Metro Stop on the Red Line.  More information is available on the church's website.

Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Your Neighborhood Holiday Gift Guide

Christmas is quickly approaching, but don't fret if you haven't finished -- or started -- your shopping.  You can still find many great gifts without even leaving the neighborhood.

One of my personal favorite ideas is the Politics and Prose Book-a-Month Gift Program.  Each month, your loved one will receive a new hardcover or paperback book personally selected by Politics and Prose staff, who identify a book based upon the recipient's interests.  Enrollment in the program is free, and costs are the price of the book plus shipping, charged to your credit card each month.

Chevy Chase Gallery is located on the same block of Connecticut Avenue as Politics and Prose.  You might want to consider having that old wedding photograph, the college diploma tucked in a drawer, the finger-painting hanging on the fridge or other personal memorabilia professionally framed for a loved one.  The store's owners Bill and Jackie do all the framing on site and will work with you to find the perfect glass, mat and backing.  Most orders take two weeks to complete, but some items can be rushed.

In Tenleytown, you'll find Hudson Trail Outfitters.  Get a Gear Card for the outdoor enthusiast in your life, and let him or her select from a large stock of bicycle equipment, camping gear, canoe/ kayak gear, knives and tools, outwear and snow sports equipment.

Next door to Hudson Trail Outfitters, you'll find Middle C Music.  Middle C carries a large selection of sheet music, as well as guitars, music equipment and concerts on DVD.  Middle C also offers music lessons in guitar, piano, woodwind and brass, percussion, string and voice for those aged 6 and older.  This could be the perfect gift for someone in your life who is considering rediscovering an instrument he or she gave up years ago, or for someone who has always wanted to learn.

A good bottle of wine always makes a great gift.  You'll find Calvert Woodley Wines & Spirits located about a block north of the Van Ness-UDC Metro Station.  You'll also find a knowledgeable staff able to recommend a bottle of wine to match any taste, budget and occasion.  Pair the bottle with a set of wine glasses from Pier 1 Imports, located at nearby Van Ness Square.

While you're shopping in the Van Ness area, don't dismiss your local grocery store Giant for Christmas gifts.  Giant has a wide selection of magazines for sale, and subscriptions are something your loved one can enjoy all year long.  Giant sells the magazines you'd expect, such as People, Sports Illustrated and Time, but the store also carries a surprisingly large selection of architectural, food, health, news, music and photography magazines, including Acoustic Guitar, The Economist, Runner's World, and Scientific American.  You'll be able to find a magazine for almost anyone.  If you can't, Giant also sells gift cards for Home Depot, The Gap and other retailers.

And to help your loved ones meet their New Year's resolutions, you can always give them a Gold's Gym Van Ness gift card, redeemable for personal training sessions.

Good luck as you complete your Christmas shopping, and happy holidays to all of our readers!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

UDC To Host Campus Master Plan Community Meeting December 8

The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) will hold its third campus master plan community meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 8 at 6:00 p.m.  The meeting will take place in Room A-03 of Building 44 on the Van Ness Campus.  You can find more information on the UDC website

Here are our postings on UDC's first and second campus master plan community meetings.


Thursday, December 2, 2010

2010 Holiday Shipping Deadlines

If you haven't already mailed your Christmas cards, you still have time to make sure they're delivered before December 25.

Shipping with the U.S. Post Office? Domestic first class mail must be posted by December 20, priority mail by December 21 and express mail by December 22.

First class international mail to most locations must be postmarked by December 10.  First class mail addressed to Africa and Central and South America must be sent by December 3.  For international express mail, you have until December 11 for Africa and Central and South America, December 16 for most other locations, and December 17 for Canada.

Sending to a care package to a member of the U.S. Armed Forces this holiday season? Military mail sent to most APO address via parcel airlift must be postmarked by December 3. First class letters and mail must be posted before December 10 for most APO locations, December 4 for select addresses.

You can find additional holiday shipping details on the U.S. Postal Service website here.  Here's a list of U.S. Post Offices in the neighborhood:

Cleveland Park
3430 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008

Friendship Heights/ Tenleytown
4005 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20016

To find a U.S. Post Office near you, click here.

You can also find a UPS store at 4401 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., which is less than one block from the Van Ness Metro.  You can contact the UPS Store at (202) 244 - 7299.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Friends of Rock Creek's Environment Host "Volunteering 101" Event Tonight

Soapstone Stream
Friends of Rock Creek's Environment (FORCE) host a "Volunteering 101" event tonight, December 2 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the Nature Center, 5200 N.W. Glover Road.

National Park Rangers will teach about the park, and attendees will also have an opportunity to learn about volunteering with FORCE's "Stream Teams."  Read more about volunteering with a "Stream Team" here.

You can learn more about tonight's event on the FORCE website. If you plan on attending, contact Joan Furlong at (202) 215-4637.