Since Kele’s show at 9:30 has been cancelled, we now have a PAIR of tickets to give away to see Marina & the Diamonds on Monday, September 6th at 9:30 Club. Comment below with your FULL NAME to enter for a chance to win.

Unfortunately, this show has been cancelled. We will have another ticket giveaway very soon.

We have a PAIR of tickets to see Kele of Bloc party w/ Does It Offend You Yeah? on Thursday, September 2nd at 9:30 Club. Comment below with your FULL NAME to enter for a chance to win!

All photos by Victor Zapanta.

With the end of this brutal summer drawing near, the light at the end of the tunnel just may be DC’s many street festivals. The Columbia Heights Day kicked off street fair season this past weekend with it’s yearly gathering at Harriet Tubman Elementary. Local eateries from throughout the neighborhood shared their offerings outside the event while many vied for primo seating+discounted booze around the corner at Wonderland. This DC blogger couldn’t resist spending the majority of his time enjoying the performance by DC’s own Batala [http://www.batalawashington.com/ ], the amazingly talented women’s drum band. (more…)

Whether you accept it or not, the end of summer is here. Tonight The Pink Line Project invites you to the End of Summer White Party at the Phillips Collection, a Caribbean style white party featuring interactive art by Kenny George and Alberto Gaitan and music by BLUEBRAIN. BLUEBRAIN has spent the past few weeks compiling your stories from the snowpocalypse to create a one-of-a-kind multimedia presentation. Check out the Phillips Collection’s website for more information. (more…)

All photos by Brandon Bloch

I rarely venture to Capitol Hill, not that I don’t enjoy the neighborhood. That couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, I find the area quaint, charming and full of  historic homes that are warranted of envy. Naomi Davis and her husband Josh (and Kingsley) live on Capitol Hill  after relocating to DC from New York. The trio are the focus of Naomi’s blog The Rockstar Diaries, part pleasing photography and part lifestyle blog. Naomi and gang were kind enough to give us northwest-lovers a tour of their dear Capitol Hill and the famed Eastern Market. With Kingsley in tow, we set out to peruse vibrant flower stands, sample goodies and talk to the vendors, some of whom have been in business for 35 years. The friendly nature of market-goers is infectious and our tour was halted for adorable impromptu puppy play dates and conversations with fans of the blog. The sweet smells of ripe peaches and the welcomed slow pace are just a few reasons why Eastern Market is a perfect place to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon. Naomi answered a few questions about the Rockstar Diaries and her feelings on DC, her new found home.

RSDC: What are the Rockstar Diaries?

The Rockstar Diaries is our own little personal blog where we share bits and pieces of our day to day adventures here in D.C., and the little things we love about life.

RSDC: Why did you start the blog?

I started our blog shortly after we were married in summer of 2007 as a way to keep track of photos and share updates with family and friends about our life in NYC (where we were married and lived before we moved to D.C. last spring.)

RSDC: Describe your blog’s aesthetic and style.

Other people have described our blog in a lot of different ways. I mainly try to make it clean-looking and visually appealing.

RSDC: When you moved from New York to Washington, DC, what sold you on Capitol Hill? What is so special about the neighborhood?

I think we could have ended up in a number of different neighborhoods in the district, but what sold us on Capitol Hill was all the historic charm, the quaint little well-kept row houses and the neighborhood’s overall feel. It’s also incredibly accessible which was important to us.

RSDC: What is your favorite thing about Eastern Market?

The friendly vendors, the atmosphere, the local produce, all the silly attention our dog, Kingsley, gets when we take him there on weekends! Hard to choose just one!

RSDC: What is one thing that is quintessentially DC that you love most?

Living just a few blocks from the Capitol makes it a permanent fixture in our lives.  We can’t believe how beautiful it is and find it difficult to imagine living in DC without seeing it every day.

Here’s a great video about the great neighborhood of Anacostia.

“Merlindia defense dept. has been put on notice. Future curry may not be served,” the Fojol Bros. announced on Twitter.

“Fight for your right to lunch!” tweeted the sandwich food truck El Floridano.

“Keep the sweets on the streets!” tweeted the mobile café Sweetbites.

Food truck vendors have been concerned these past few days. The news of some Business Improvement Districts (BID) proposing to modify the mobile street food vendor laws has quickly spread throughout social media. (more…)

AND they will be on sale tonight at FIFTY-ONE: Be The Tourist for only $15. There will be only 51 limited edition first run shirts, so get there early to grab one!

You can get your ticket to FIFTY-ONE for half-price in advance. Tickets are HERE.

Recently, the Washington Post Magazine featured some local friends in the design community; Dana Ayanna Greaves of Artistic Aya, the gentlemen of Hugh & Crye and the lovely ladies-turned-designers at Treasury Boutique. All well deserving of the notoriety, and nice to see some off the radar talent getting real recognition.

Check out this video for ArtAya, Dana Ayanna Greaves newest endeavour and be sure to snag some designs from these talented Washingtonians.

All photos by Chris Svetlik.

Last night, The Pink Line Project presented PM@ The TM: Mod Madness at the Textile Museum.  The event fit nicely with the Textile Museum’s current exhibit of textile designs from the 1950s and 1960s, “Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain”. The Mad Men craze is everywhere you turn and Mod Madness further spotlighted the phenom. Event goers dressed in their best interpretation of the period’s pieces, all competing for the title, “best mid-century dressed.”  The whole glamorous-yet-conservative Betty Draper-look was prevalent, as was the fedora. And, of course, there were cocktails–Gin Rickey’s to be exact. The rain held off as guests poured in, gallivanting around the museum’s interiors and the courtyard, enjoying tours led by WE ARE SCIENCE and music by DJ Jahsonic.

All photos by Ben Droz.

On Monday night, ‘Art x Law’, a salon conversation on the relationship between law and the arts, went down at Affinity Lab’s U Street location. Hosted by Allyson Behnke and Max Fowler Cohen, the discussion was vivacious, provocative, entertaining, as well as at times raw and uncomfortable. The conversation revolved around the question, “How do you experience the interface between, art, law and social codes?” Five panelists responded, including Rachel Dickerson from DCCAH, Sherwin Siy from Public Knowledge, street artist BYPO, local artist and intellect Adrian Parsons, and street artist GAIA, who gave a last-minute special Skype-in from New York City to be a part of the talk. (more…)

We have TWO PAIRS of tickets to “DC’s BIGGEST Dress Like A Tourist Party”! The release of the new “DC LOVE” shirt, music by HIP HOP DAN and DJ Phil Real, sushi and TWO BARS. All for $5, but for two lucky readers FREE!

Comment with your full name to enter.

We have a PAIR of tickets for the Distant Relatives Tour w/ NAS and Damian Marley on Monday, August 30th at 9:30 Club. Comment below with your FULL NAME to enter for a chance to win!

Photo by Mr. T in DC

Capitol Hill-based Peregrine Espresso, one of D.C’s popular coffee purveyors, announced last Friday of a second location in Logan Circle. The new coffeehouse will be located at 1718 14th St. NW, a spot once occupied by Flowers on 14th.

“It’s going to be many months before we open but we are very excited to be joining that vibrant retail and dining corridor and couldn’t keep it in any longer,” according to the announcement on Peregrine’s Web site. (more…)

“Max Fowler Cohen and Ally Behnke are co-hosting a salon discussion on public art, street art & the legalities surrounding it from the point of view of street artists, lawyers and DC government, with support from ReadysetDC. What kind of messages are sent to the community when street art is in a public space vs. on an abandoned building. What is the ‘code’ behind street art? What were the gaps in communication that resulted in commissioned street artwork by local favorite GAIA being whitewashed over, as discussed in WORN Magazine’s recent hot-button blog post? We’d also really like to take the conversation into the realm of copyright law, and the intersection between street culture and intellectual property, so if you have friends who like to geek out about copyright issues, be sure to let them know.

There will be a reception and mixer at 6:00PM- Food and beer will be for a small donation. At 7:00 PM, we’ll hear from an expert panel of artists and lawyers. If you’re interested in speaking as a member of the panel, please get in touch with us.”

FIFTY-ONE: Be The Tourist is this Friday (the 20th) at DISTRICT, a spacious two-level lounge SAKI’s intimate basement lounge in Adams Morgan. The (re)DC winning design, “DC LOVE” by Alex Slater (NATAKO) will be available for the first time. HIP HOP DAN and DJ Phil Real will be at the DJ Booth, keeping the party going until 3am. Tickets? Only $5 if you buy them in advance here.

But you say, ‘What will will I wear?’ Well here are five simple rules (guided by photos) for how to be a REAL tourist.

1. Coming in a group? Make sure you have the exact same shirts so that you can easily find each other.

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Creative inspiration from around the world. Not necessarily DC, just necessary.

What do you DC DJs think about this?

Photos by Tracy Clayton

Last night, a Mr. Jason Wu met his maker—sort of. Last night’s Phillips After 5 event was centered around the connection between Robert Ryman’s current exhibit, Variations and Improvisations and fashion designer Jason Wu. Wu, the White House darling, recently named Robert Ryman’s works as inspiration for his fall 2010 collection for TSE. Neiman Marcus provided Jason Wu and TSE pieces worn by models and attendees were welcomed to participate in a Wu/Ryman scavenger hunt with questions like, “Upon graduating from Parson The New School for Design, Jason Wu Interned For…” and “Find Project Beltway’s Rachel Cothran. Ask her who she is wearing.” (more…)