Capital Transit

Lately we've been hearing a lot of talk about the DC Streetcar. I love public transportation and I look forward to (someday) having another option around. GreaterGreater Washington Blog has a lot of information about the storied history of public transit in DC but I find that Wikipedia does a nice job too.

Washington, DC used Streetcars for about 100 years, from 1862-1962. They started out horse drawn then they experimented with cable cars before going to a fully electrified system. Lines were owned by various companies before the "Great Streetcar Consolidation" in 1933, effectively creating Capital Transit. Not long after that, they began to scale back because of the popularity of the automobile and a strike in 1955 the company changed ownership to become DC Transit with very explicit instructions to switch to buses and by 1962 the lines were dismantled.

By 2012, fifty years after we demolished the old system, we should start to see service on our new, modern Streetcar lines to supplement our Metro and Metro Bus system. I'm looking forward to hearing the "ding ding" as the cars arrive (I hope they "ding ding") and the ability to get around the city in a new and hopefully improved way.

Before we start fresh, I encourage you to take a look at the history of Capital Transit and enjoy some of the older pictures our city. DC is constantly changing, mostly for the better, but it's always interesting to look back at where we used to be and the funny way history has of repeating itself. Plus, in the old days, the Capital Transit passes were their own little pieces of artwork, there is an entire website devoted to them!

Links:
Capital Transit Weekly Passes
Streetcars in Washington, DC
DDOT Streetcar Plan
GreaterGreater Washington

Buttoned Up

I never cared much about buttons. I never noticed them or bothered with them. I would get annoyed when extras came with a sweater and I had to find a place to store it. I didn’t find them interesting or at all important. I was seriously ‘meh’ on buttons.

Then I started buying cardigans. Lots of them. And suddenly I started noticing buttons! This probably has more to do with the fact that stores began getting creative with buttons and realized that at sweater, with a more unique set of buttons looked much snazzier than plain, old flat ones.

I get annoyed when I see an otherwise beautiful sweater ruined by blah buttons. I start thinking about how much better it would look with pretty pearl, enamel or brass. So rather than pass over the sweaters I liked, I started buying my own buttons and replacing them (the same goes for coats and blouses.) I would snip the extra button out of the shirt and go to the craft store and find buttons of similar sizing to replace them with. Most blouses and cardigans hold a standard 8 buttons and most buttons can be bought in twos or threes, I always end up with an extra button just in case.

If you feel the need, you can take the new buttons and sweater to a local dry cleaner or seamstress and they can replace the buttons for you but I’m a firm believer that if you can do something for yourself, you should. So, unless it’s a heavy material that requires special needles, you can probably do this for yourself in around half an hour. I don’t profess to be good with a needle and thread and I can still manage to secure a button.

Most buttons cost starting at about $1.00 a pack and up to $8.00 a pack (Check out Jo Ann Fabrics), and I’m sure more depending on what you’re buying. Service at most dry cleaners to have the buttons switched would cost about $15.00.

A little extra time and money can easily update a sweater you don’t wear anymore (as in this ambitious case) or add a unique and personalized twist to a mass produced sweater that fits well.

Links:
How to sew on buttons
Buy Buttons

No Reservations

I’ve been intrigued by Zola Wine & Kitchen since it opened in the cute little 9th Street Corridor in Penn Quarter a little over a year ago. I remember walking past it in December 2008 and noticing how clever their window display was (red ornaments hung in suspended egg beaters) and wondering what the modern space was.

After some research I realized that Zola Wine & Kitchen is a one stop shop for wine classes, cooking classes, wine shopping and dining. It’s a veritable do it all kind of place. Monday through Friday between 11:30 AM and 2:30 PM you can stop in for a $10 pre-determined lunch (Tomorrow: Lamb Cassoulet, Cranberry Beans, Red Pepper Sauce) and if you’re not one for surprises the menu is always online or you can opt to have it emailed to you. The $10 is quite the steal considering it's partner restaurant, Zola, is a bit more expensive to dine at.

If you can’t make it there for lunch, they offer a FREE wine tasting every Friday from 5-7 PM. The tasting is with one of their reps and includes their weekly pick paired with their artisan cheeses. If wine isn’t your thing (it’s my thing) Zola W&K also provides several options for cooking classes. There is a class for everyone (like Pizza Time!) and the prices are rather reasonable, considering you get to take the class, use their ingredients and eat your creation! If you don’t think your creation is worth eating, however, you might want to stick to the wine class.

All the information you need can be found online, including ordering lunch for pick-up or securing a slot in one of the cooking classes.

Zola Wine & Kitchen

505 9th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20005

(202) 639-WINE

Links:
Zola Wine & Kitchen Website
Critic Review from the Washington Post

The Art of Spring

DC experienced a lovely mid-winter warm up last week that caused me to snap and buy ivory sling backs, lemon-colored silk tops and baby pink cardigans. It’s hard not to buy pretty things when you can smell Spring just around the corner. Unfortunately, as the temperature turns cold again and I put my Uggs back on with disdain, those Spring purchases seem silly and unnecessary, especially since I can’t wear them for months!

I’m not what you call frugal and I often make impulse purchases because they make me happy. After I’ve had time to stew on them a while I sometimes decide they were worth it but more often than not I’ll take them back. It’s a silly little game but usually the anxiety of spending too much money on something unnecessary isn’t worth the few times I’ll wear it. If, however, that item goes on deep discount sometime in the future I snap it up like a vulture because I’ve been stalking said item as such.

One accessory that is a quick and easy fix for Spring fever is nail polish. I’ve had my eye on Essie’s 2010 Spring Collection since before Christmas when I ripped the ad out of a magazine and gave it a prominent position on my Inspiration Board where they will remain until they’re safely on my fingertips! The baby pinks and rich red made me wish I was spring cleaning rather than Christmas shopping. I started day dreaming about all my favorite outfits and my tan trench coat before I snapped out of it and realized that I was a nutcase with a serious problem.

Stopping into a local beauty supply store I inquired about the colors, they didn’t have them. They weren’t online, and the nice gentleman at the store asked me to call him as often to see if they got them in. After calling for three weeks straight I’d grown frustrated with calling and anxious to start painting! I also think the “nice” gentleman at the store was either tired or me or scared of me but I was hesitant to stop in there.

Today I had a nice little surprise. After calling, again, I decided to check the website where voila! The Spring 2010 collection is available for purchase, baby! Adding Tart Deco and Van d’Go into my shopping cart and hitting PURCHASE (said in Oprah’s excited voice) I felt a strange sense of accomplishment wash over me and I knew that I had a BIG problem.

As I wait 3-5 business days for Spring in a box I can contemplate my problem or I can just start counting down the days until the snow from SnOMG 2009 melts completely and the cherry blossoms bloom. I would bet on the latter.

SHOP: Essie The Art of Spring 2010 Collection

Roll Up Market Totes

On January 1st, Washington, DC implemented a sales/charity tax on shopping bags.  This five cent tax applies to any place that sells food or alcohol, which included places like Target, Marshall's, Best Buy (Can't you tell I went to DCUSA?) as well as places many of us stop in on a normal basis such as CVS, corner markets, Safeway and Bed, Bath & Beyond. 

I don't mind paying the five cent tax but what I don't like is getting caught without having a bag! I feel like a environmental grinch! I have plenty of nice totes but none of them can roll up nicely and fit into my purse and unlike, say a trip to Eastern Market, where you know you'll need a bag, sometimes you just have to stop in a place on your way home from work. 

Luckily, I stumbled across the Land's End Website where they had plenty of roll-up totes! 

They're currently on sale for $6.99 - $9.99 and they offer monogramming for $5.  I'm a sucker for a monogram, saving money and, for those times I forget my bag, saving the river. Now I just need to decide what color to order! 

Shop Here and Here!

Mobile Cupcakes

There are few things that excite me more than cupcakes.  Pink shoes, serving pieces and skirts are up there, but cupcakes and skirts often vie for the top slot.  So imagine my excitement when a coworker sent me the following email:

"BREAKING: There is a Mobile Cupcake Unit parked across from the Heritage Foundation. REPEAT: There is a Mobile Cupcake Unit parked across from the Heritage Foundation."

Knowing exactly where the Heritage Foundation is (by Union Station) it took all my willpower to not jump out of my cube and immediately Metro to the bakery on skates.  Instead, I took deep breath and asked the important questions.  How do you know this and how long will it be there? 

Unfortunately, being "mobile" it didn't stay there long, but the far better answer was how she was able to get this information.  Introducing, Curbside Cupcakes, "a mobile Cupcake Truck that brings gourmet cupcakes right to your door!" 

This is the best thing to hit DC since Georgetown Cupcake, it's almost like an ice cream truck for grown up's without the awful music.  I know this idea has taken off in New York and I've often seen the SweetGreen truck giving away free fro-yo samples but the fact that I can be walking down the street randomly one day and fall victim to a cupcake truck is a sweet delight and enough to make me keep my eyes wide open as I peruse the city. 

Also, they're fully integrated into the social networks.  You can find out more below!

Follow Curbside Cupcakes on Twitter
Become a Fan of Curbside Cupcakes on Facebook
Check out the Website

Happy Cupcaking!

For more Social Networking fun, follow Metropolitan Fairytale on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

It’s a Good Day

As a young twenty-something, when I decided to move to a city it was important to me that said city had adequate public transportation. The Chevy Cavalier that had gotten me through high school and most of college was unexpectedly sold during my Junior Year (thanks Dad) leaving me carless. As I lived in a college town where a vehicle wasn’t really necessary it wasn’t a big deal.

Flash forward five years later and I’m still happily carless. If I can’t walk, metro, bus or cab there then I don’t go there. I love my carless lifestyle and I can feel a little bit smug about my size six carbon footprint. Okay, actually, my emissions are 8.1 CO2/year but I think that as a marketing ploy they should give you a shoe size and show a cute little foot icon – but that’s just me.

Anyway, the more dependable I become on the increasingly Orwellian Metro Transit System the more dependable I become on my iPod. I’ve had an iPod since 2004 and it’s the single most important object I own. If it breaks, I immediately purchase a new one and dread my iPod-less ride down to Pentagon City.

So as such, the music that plays on my iPod as I commute to work can drastically impact my day. As an iPod purest (and lazy person) I prefer to let my iPod randomly shuffle awesome songs. On the days when I start out with David Bowie or Lady GaGa, I’m usually pretty pumped and if I had a measure for such things I would venture to say my work output is significantly higher, or more erratic. Likewise, if the day starts with Dave Matthews Band or Jason Mraz I’m a little bit more laid back – just like in this awesome skit from SNL (foot five!)

Today, a random song I had no idea was on my iPod came on and despite the cold, the annoying people and my bad hair day I managed to walk into work happy and energized. That song was It’s a Good Day by Miss Peggy Lee and I highly encourage it entering your song rotation.

What music do you listen to on your way to work?

P.S. Just in case I wasn't clear, PLEASE watch this clip from SNL so my roommate and I can no longer be the only people to ever see it. 

The Boulevard

Earlier this year I began volunteering as an Art Information Officer at the Corcoran Gallery of Art.  Prior to this I had absolutely no experience with art other than viewing it in museums and what I might have picked up in high school art class.

I felt that art and art history was an area in which I was seriously deficient and I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to study something entirely new without any pressure to make it a career!  My time at the Corcoran, which is several hours per month, has not only become something that makes me happy but also something to always look forward to. 

Since I began, I've had the opportunity to not only learn the amazing history of the Corcoran but also about many of the pieces permanently housed in it.  At any given time you can view about 10% of the Corcoran's permanent collection including a 18th century salon!  This collection includes a fantastic mix of American and European Art, quite a bit of which was donated by William Wilson Corcoran or Senator William Clark. 

Last night I had the opportunity to learn a little bit more about some of the pieces recently reinstalled in the permanent collection and I fell in love with one painting I've never seen before.

Surrounded by the famous Impressionists Pissarro, Renoir and Monet a lovely Jean-Francois Raffaelli painting hung on a wall of its own.  The Boulevard Champs Elysee by Raffaelli was painted c. 1900-1905 and depicts a beautiful Parisian Boulevard and is from the Corcoran's Clark Collection.  The bright blue of the sky and the vibrant orange of the trees give this painting a surreal quality that I can't stop thinking about.  Unfortunately, I can't find a print online to show you so I must encourage you to go to the Corcoran and see this beautiful painting. 

The Hotel de Ville de Paris, similar to The Boulevard Champs Elysee but the coloring isn't as vibrant.

The next exhibition Turner to Cézanne: Masterpieces from the Davies Collection, National Museum Wales opens on January 30th. Until then you can only see what has been installed from the permanent collection, which is definitely worth the trip. 

For more information on visiting the Corcoran please visit their website here. 

Everyone have a wonderful weekend!

UPDATE: I was working at the Corcoran today and found out that I had the name of the piece wrong.  Unfortunately, I still can't find a scan of it online.

Retail Therapy

Remember when I mentioned that the state of the economy can be judged looking at my winter purchases and the deals I scored?  Well, the outlook just got a little less promising thanks to Kate Spade.  While perusing web sales on my lunch break I happened upon quite the bargains at http://www.katespade.com/.  All sale merchandise is basically being given away, add an additional 25% off AND free shipping and you have a very broke, soon to be more broke Heather.

If your funds are in check and you can treat yourself to a not-so-painful splurge, check out the sale.  And next time you pull out your Roland Park Neda wallet in cement, black and tomato I'll just shoot you the stink eye. Graciously, of course.

Other faves are the Disco Fever stud earrings and the Carina slide!

P.S. Don't you just love the Kate Spade ad campaigns? I devour them - they have such a beautiful, vintage quality that makes me long to be the girl in the ad!  All inspiration board material for a happy, fine-leather  goods filled life!

Fight the Winter Blues and Combat Homelessness

Soup Kitchens as we know them today began in 1929 with the Great Depression, although some argue that we can attribute this charitable act all the way back to the Founding Fathers and a gentleman by the name of Benjamin Thompson. Regardless of when the concept started, it continues to be a noble one and now as we sit here in 2010 during the Great Recession the need for those charities has risen.

In 1970, Father Horace McKenna, S.J. and a group of ministers, priests and lay-persons founded So Others Might Eat to help feed those in Washington, DC who couldn't feed themselves. In the years since SOME has expanded to continue to help the growing poor and homeless population of DC all while managing to serve over 1,000 meals a day. The history and the success of SOME are much greater than what I can put into this post but please take the time to visit their website and find out more about all that they're doing for the District.

While you’re there, please consider attending the SOME Junior Gala to be held at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and Design on Friday, February 12th. This is a wonderful event hosted at a beautiful venue and while you’re combating your Winter Blues with dancing you’ll also be combating homelessness in Washington, DC.

Click Here to Purchase Tickets

Proceeds from the Junior Gala will benefit the Anne Cooper House which provides safe, substance-free housing for low income adults. Read more about it here.

So Other Might Eat, Website

The Curious Case of the Pink Satin Ballet Flat

A few weeks ago I went shopping with some old girlfriends from college. We stopped into J. Crew after lunch just for a quick look around. I love J. Crew! I work in non-profit and still have pesky student loans so oftentimes the ridiculous price tag at J. Crew keeps me away (Examples: One, two and three! Absolutely uncalled for, and sequins are my favorite!) Luckily, J. Crew does amazing things with their sales. I think you can tell the true state of the economy by what I buy in winter; last year I got Banana Republic silk shirts and silk taffeta dresses for $7 and $15 respectfully, this year I’m getting them for $15 and $30. Likewise, J. Crew isn’t exactly giving things away quite like they were in January of 2009.

Perusing the sale rack I felt disappointed, until I got to the shoes. Of the dozen or so shoe boxes lying around only one was marked in my size and it was marked down the lowest of all of them. I picked up the pretty yellow box expecting ugly sandals or painful pumps but instead I saw the prettiest little pair of satin ballet flats.

They were a light camel with black piping and small bows, the gold insole just screamed “wear me!” The price was right and they were beautiful so I stood in line for 15 minutes to buy them. During my wait I thought about a few things. The first was, these are a winter shoe but they’re satin. Satin stains like silk but I don’t wear silk on my feet. Where would I wear these? The second was, I should have tried these on (I was wearing riding boots that were too hard to remove) but they should fit, right? And the third was the voice of my dear friend Natalie telling me about a similar the same shoe that she bought at J. Crew and had to return because they fit silly.

Everytime that I considered not buying them I looked at their pretty, delicate bow and changed my mind immediately. If I didn’t buy them I would think about them and be upset with myself for not buying them because that’s what I do.

So, I made the purchase and took them home. But I didn’t wear them for two weeks, still torn on whether I should return them or just wear them already.

Yesterday, I grabbed the box determined to return them, they were silly and impractical. I could only wear them around the office and they were kind of uncomfortable. But then I noticed the outfit I had on which was A LOT of black with a light pink polka dotted cardigan and I realized that my shoes would be absolutely PERFECT with this outfit. Plus it was cold and I had a slight hangover from a self-induced wine pity party the evening before and the shoes just looked, well, happy!

A day later, I can’t tell if I regret the decision or not. The shoes were cute and I received lots of compliments but they were uncomfortable and I basically tiptoed all day to avoid destroying them also, I’m not sure they go with anything other than the outfit I had on yesterday. But, for approximately 9 hours I was happy with my footwear and that should make me happy, right? Ask me this weekend when I’m scraping the barrel for wine money! I should just repeat to myself, "things that make me happy, things that make me happy..."

Do you have an abnormal, shameful love affair with any of your clothes or accessories? Thanfully, so did the always fabulous Elizabeth Taylor and her affair was so extreme that she wrote a coffee table book! 

Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair with Jewelry, Amazon

Room to Grow

Occasionally, when I visit my home state of Ohio and the friends I have left living there I'm often struck by the different paths we took.  I have friends at home who are married and have young children, mortgages and storage space. These things are about as foreign to me as Canada (not a joke, I don't understand Canadian culture AT ALL) and I often get fed up living paycheck to paycheck, crammed into a small apartment and dealing with normal roommate problems usually revolving around dishes or mail. The point of this blog is to look at why I live my life the way that I do and what things in my life make me happy.  Today, I read an article that rather clearly put this thought into perspective for me.

Politico did a nice piece about politicians and journalists who used to be roommates in DC, they're all successful now but they used to be just like me and my friends!  So read up and pretend to act surprised that Katie Couric was kind of a pain in the ass roommate.

Before They Were Stars, They Were Roommates, Politico

Damn the Man, Save the Mall!

In 1791, Pierre Charles L'Enfant envisioned a plan for what became the great city of Washington, DC. In that plan he envisioned a grand avenue, approximately a mile long, lined with gardens and ending with an equestrian statue of George Washington.

Rather than an equestrian statue we got the much grander Washington Monument (upgrade) so needless to say, this part of the L'Enfant plan never came to fruitation and due to the McMillan Plan of 1901 we got much of the National Mall that we see today.

Each year approximately 24 million people visit the National Mall for several reasons. Whether they're marveling at the monuments or attending a protest, the mall still serves its planned purpose as a grand avenue. Unfortunately, it's much less grand than it should be. The National Mall is something that we should be proud of. It truly is "America's Front Yard" and it deserves to look its finest.

The Trust for the National Mall is a non-profit partner of the National Park Service and is dedicated to "restoring and improving the National Mall while providing new educational opportunities to connect visitors to the Mall's rich history." They also helped saved the much loved HBO Screen on the Green last year and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to watch Close Encounters of the Third Kind surrounded by monuments. The L'Enfant Society is their young leader’s society and I encourage anyone who harbors a love for the National Mall to consider joining this society. There are several giving levels and 75% of your membership is tax deductible.

Go to the website to find out more and if you're interested join me and the L'Enfant Society for their kick-off Happy Hour next Thursday, January 15th at K Street Lounge. Registration is now open online.

By the way, if you really have your heart set on a George Washington equestrian statue, you can see one on the Capitol Grounds, just northwest of the Capitol building.

For further reading about the National Mall:
The New McMillan Plan
L'Enfant Society Membership
This History of the National Mall
The New National Park Service Plan for the Mall

Make Just One Someone Happy…

A new year is generally the time when we all take a look at ourselves and resolve to change whatever we don’t like. It always seems like a good idea but on New Years day you’re likely coming off a major alcohol binge and the only thing that will save you is eating greasy food, not, regrettably, working out. Regret being, well, the regrettable word.

I benefit by having my yearly reminder of mortality come a few short days into the year. Four to be exact. Today I’m 26 and rather than spend the next six weeks resolving to kill myself to fit into my college jeans before giving up in a fit of rage that ends in a pile of ice cream and pizza, I’m resolving to make 2010 my happy year.

What does that mean exactly? Happy year? I know that I can’t be happy for the next 365 days and I’m not resolving to be (plus, some girl already did that on another blog and got a book deal). This little online diary is going to be about what makes me happy. By sharing these things with an unknown readership I hope to constantly be forced to remind myself why I live the life that I do and I hope that you, unknown reader, will one day find yourself realizing that something that makes me happy might also make you happy too.

Of course, I can’t do this alone. As wonderful as it would be to acknowledge that my word is the harbinger of happiness, it’s just not possible. So, I’ve enlisted some friend’s dutiful contributors to bring in other angles and viewpoints. This blog is principally set in and around Washington, DC. It’s a city I have fallen in love with so, naturally, it’s my happy place and I hope it can be yours too. But, happy Washingtonians travel, and we travel mostly along the Atlantic seaboard so I’ve asked Renie Rogers to be our New York correspondent. Renie is a much better writer than I am and she will undoubtedly make you jealous that you aren’t a fabulous New Yorker. Likewise, Natalie Stevens, another Washingtonian, is so well versed in matters of pop culture and entertainment that I’ve asked for her help. Natalie will chime in from time to time with wonderful reviews of music, television, movies and anything else that makes her auditory and visual senses happy. This girl knows her stuff and has never steered me wrong (but I am dragging my feet on Avatar).

So, Ladies and Gentleman(?) that’s what Metropolitan Fairytale is all about. It’s not about a handsome prince climbing a skyscraper and freeing a damsel in distress, it’s just about trying to be a happy twenty-something living in an American city.

Tomorrow I’ll begin by attempting to be happy another year older, and another day colder.

…and you, will be happy too.