RKG’s Recommendations: bus to NY, hot cocoa, and bookstores!

I’ve decided to try a new type of blog post -- RKG’s Recommendations. These are some of my favorite things to eat and do in and around Washington, D.C.! Here are three to start off with – my favorite bus to NY, favorite hot cocoa location, and favorite independent bookstore. Enjoy!

Best bus to D.C. from New York: DC2 NY. Yes, it’s a few dollars more than Bolt or Megabus, but you get:
1. A less crowded bus. 2 of the 5 times I’ve taken DC to NY, I’ve had the whole seat to myself!
2. A bottle of water (which I never remember to bring for myself and am always grateful for, even if I’m a touch anti-bottled water in theory)
3. GOOD movies. Last time, I watched Toy Story 3. Which of course revealed the disadvantage of this particular DC2NY feature: if it’s that wonderful of a movie, sobbing may occur.
4. Drop-off in Dupont Circle. This one is key. It’s actually only 5 minutes closers to my apt as the 10th and H Bolt Bus drop-off, but it feels so much closer.
5. a bus that is not as awful as Megabus. After a very cold, poorly managed 2-hour wait in the cold in NY last month, I will not be taking Megabus again. Even if I do like the double decker thing.

Best hot cocoa: Okay so this is tough, because I love Coco Sala. But it’s expensive and fabulous and you feel like you need to be wearing heels there. The winner is ACKC, or Artfully Chocolate Kingsbury Confections (But that is too long a name, so ACKC it is.), a perfectly comfortable, decidedly lovely cocoa shop just one block from my apartment. This perfectly cute shop is home to gorgeous art (I think one of the owners is a stained glass artist?), delicious looking – I have yet to sample – truffles, and best of all The Divas. The Divas are hot cocoa/ice cream dessert/milkshakes, each of which are inspired by a famous diva. My favorite is the “Lucy”, which features chipotle, cinnamon, and semi-sweet chocolate. This is the Brigitte Bardot and the Marilyn Monroe (with Oreos and Crème de Menthe!), which we sampled during his visit last week.

Also, they have free wireless. Amazing.

Best independent bookstore: Politics and Prose
As the granddaughter of independent bookstore owners Hilda and John Gold, I am a bit of an exacting connoisseur of bookstores. Okay, that’s a lie. I really like bookstores, and if you put me in one, I’ll likely be happy no matter what. DC has an abundance of lovely book shops, but my favorite is far and away Politics and Prose. I like Kramerbooks (delicious food, and they curate their book offerings thoughtufully) and I like Capitol Hill Books in Eastern Market for the ramshackle, piles-o-books-and-therefore-happiness feel and the slightly crazy owner. But Kramerbooks is consistently expensive, and Capitol Hill Books is decidedly claustrophobic in the summer months. Politics and Prose, is practically perfect in every way (Name That not-as-good-as-the-original Musical!).

So why Politics and Prose? Oh, SO many reasons, my friends. I’ll list them for you.
1. It’s a Chevy Chase mainstay, and was a mere 5 blocks from my first apartment here in D.C., so it has nostalgic value. It has a well-curated upstairs, just like Kramerbooks,
2. Any night of the week and sometimes twice on the weekends, they have wonderful author talks – and they get great folks, too. Walter Isaacson and Taylor Branch were particular favorites (and I still haven’t forgiven myself for missing Tim Flannery, an Australian mammologist and author of one of my favorite books of all time, The Eternal Frontier. It’s a geological-time-scale history of North America’s evolutionary patterns. It’s a good thing I love my family, or I am not sure my cousin’s wedding would have been a good enough excuse to miss Tim Flannery. But I digress).

2a. sometimes they co-host events with Sixth and I. These are inevitably wonderful, but Sixth and I is another favorite place (we'll talk about that another time). The last one I went to involved Mark Bittman, and the one I went to before that was Barney Frank. Love.
3. The downstairs sale section is heaven on earth. And fundamentally Dangerous To My Wallet. So many well-priced books. So little time. Also, there is a cute café down there and they make a lovely latte.
4. The best birthday gift of all time. For my Dad’s birthday last August, Alli and I got him a P&P shirt with this quote:

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.

Groucho Marx

Seriously, we are the best daughters of all time. And Politics and Prose is a glorious bookstore.

Assessing the Wreckage: my 2010, month by month!

Happy New Year, everyone! The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of travel and friends and work and wonderful things, so I didn’t get a chance to sit and do a yearly wrap-up. But I think it’s still a useful exercise even on the second day of the new year, so here goes! What follows is the best stuff that happened in each month of the rather tumultuous 2011.

January began sunburnt and happy after an amazing vacation in Costa Rica with Mat S. and Jonathan H. I started my Economics class at GW, which was fun and challenging and just-what-I-needed. Mat S. visited for an MLK weekend adventure, during which we celebrated Alli’s belated birthday, and had a memorably fabulous Cathedral galumph with Will.

In February, Snowpacalypse part #2 happened. It was ridiculous and crazy, and I ended up getting lots of time with my Van Ness folks. It also involved a fabulous President’s day weekend visit from Stern, and a great NY weekend (in which I saw Our Town, celebrated Purim for the first time this year, and experienced my first Barney Greengrass lox!).

March began with my second Purim celebration of the year, this time at the Israeli embassy, and with the lovely group of people who would become my neighbors a few months later. Ridiculousness ensued. March also contained an absolutely perfect New Haven Shabbat with Ronis and Mat, and a weekend at home with the Mom and the Bub.

April began with Pesach at Bubbie Rose and Pop-pop Sol’s, Cherry blossom fireworks in SW Waterfront and an epic Cherry blossom fail with Jason (they were all in the water by the time we got there. Also, I turned 24, finished my econ class, and went to Baltimore for Seth’s birthday!

May was one of the busiest months I can ever remember experiencing – work was crazy, Alli graduated from college and kicked ass at it, and I had my first White House experience (the Mexican State Arrival, thanks to Emily P.G.!). I also went to NY for a crazy weekend of helping Mat and Katherine-bear move, seeing Sondheim on Sondheim, and introducing Katherine to the finest things in life (pastrami sandwiches at Katz’s, obv). And most importantly, I moved into the new apartment with Rooms!

In June, Jason F., David K, and I headed to Chicago for B-deis friends Ilana and Jeremy’s beautiful wedding! The next week, I went to the James Taylor/Carole King concert and reveled in the happy folk-ness. June also featured a visit from Miriam to DC in between Israel years and a gaggle of amazing people moving into town. In the middle of the month, I had one heck of an inspiring and fun day – I saw [title of show] at Signature Theater and participated in Relay for Life with RAC friends.

July was fun and hot – highlights included the 4^th of July at Ben and Rachel’s, my favorite date of the year -- Signature Theater’s Open House, and rooms' triumphant return to D.C. after weeks of being away!

August featured my first trip west of the Mississippi – I vacationed in California with Momma Mona for a week, spending time in San Francisco, in Santa Rosa wineries, and most importantly, with the redwoods! The next week was my first ACEEE Summer Study, an intense week of energy efficiency and good times with my colleagues. After all that travel, I was still up for more, so the last weekend, I visited NY for Schutz’s triumphant return to the United States and to visit my Dad on Long Island.

September was a mashup of Labor Day BBQs, a glorious Shaked/Missy visit, and the addition of Sarah K. to DC! Mat visited for a much-anticipated Sukkot with Jonathan’s family, a weekend that also included Kate B’s going away party and Emily P.G.’s housewarming.

October began with a Katherine-bear visit to D.C., a lovely weekend of Capitol visiting and Beirgarten adventures. The next weekend, I picked apples and successfully navigated a corn maze in Virginia and went on an awesome White House Garden tour. At the end of the month, I got to see Idina Menzel and Marvin Hamlisch rocking the NSO Pops, and had a ridiculous weekend at the Rally to Restore Sanity and Halloween!

On the night of the election at the beginning of November, I distracted myself with the very-fun Hair at the Kennedy Center, and then promptly saw the defeat of most (but not all!) of the candidates I cared about. Oof. The next weekend, I had a lovely gallump in NYC with Sara R. for Jonathan’s birthday. This was followed by an amazing G3 Thanksgiving, and then by the actual Thanksgiving at home. Also, my great-aunt and godmother, Aunt Li, passed away this month – she was a CHARACTER, who really lived life loudly and vigorously, and she will be missed.

December began with Hanukkah parties galore, followed by my first Holiday Cookie Bakefest Spectacular experience. Yum. The second half of the month featured the first half of the Mat/Rachel month of glory (in which we see each other 4/5 weekends), with a trip to NY for family stuff, and then my NY/Boston adventure. Details to follow, but needless to say, last week involved a Stern/Skrevsky/RKG reunion, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, a snowstorm, and reunion-izing with TBE folks and Leah!

Whew! 2010 was intense! I’m beat! (also, thanks to Seth K. and WildNCrazyPearl for the fabulous pictures)