Architecture Week

Some of this year's Architecture Week events are a little pricey and may only appeal to hardcore architecture enthusiasts or people planning on building their own homes. But if you keep meaning to pay a visit to the National Building Museum, this event's a good excuse:

Sunday, September 14, 10-4
Student Competition
Meet the next generation of Washington architects and watch them at work. Students from local architecture schools are challenged by an intriguing design problem (which remains a closely guarded secret until a week prior to the competition). They will work all day to come up with a solution.

Location: National Building Museum | 401 F Street, NW
Metro: Judiciary Square

FREE.

Apartment Therapy: Event Alert: DC Architecture Week

Big Bear Anniversary Party

What goes better with coffee than a whole roasted pig? To celebrate its one year anniversary (a few months late), Big Bear Cafe is throwing a little shindig on Sunday evening with the aforementioned swine, a keg, and some live music. It's not clear from the website when exactly it starts, but apparently there'll be another barbecue earlier in the day at Big Bear to benefit the Haitian Boys Choir.

Big Bear Cafe
1700 First Street NW

Big Bear Year Anniversary Party, this Sunday Evening 9/14

Going Out Gurus bachelorette party guide

Planning a bachelorette party can be a daunting task if you've never done it; and if your friend isn't the penis straw/scavenger hunt type, it can be even trickier to give her a memorable night. The Washington Post's Going Out Gurus have published a handy list of places to take a bride-to-be. The format- grouping agendas by categories like "Wild Child" and "If you put a tiara on me you'll regret it"- is a little reminiscent of a quiz for finding your perfect fall bag in Cosmo, but you can mix and match or use the list as a jumping-off point to craft the perfect sendoff.

DC Libary Downloads

The DC public library system has plenty of issues, but it still beats shelling out $25 for a book you'll probably only read once. And even the greatest program in the world wouldn't be able to remove the hassle of actually going to a library, right? No longer! The truck pictured here is the "Digital Bookmobile," which has partnered with the DC public library to raise awareness about the library's digital media collection. On the Digital Bookmobile you can download free audiobooks, ebooks, music, and video to your laptop or some portable music players, including the iPod. It's parked at the site of the old convention center on H and 10th. After it leaves town, you can access the library's digital collection by downloading software from the library's website. You're not going to find every title on your Netflix queue or reading list, but it's worth a look.


Downloadable Media at the DC Public Library

Drama at Mayorga Lounge

So I'm not the only one who's sad about the closing of Mayorga Lounge- turns out Mayorga isn't so thrilled either. A press release posted on the company's blog states "It is unfortunate that Sonic Boom [the company who had the license for Mayorga Lounge] has chosen unilaterally – and we believe in violation of our contract — to change its business from a coffee lounge to a sushi restaurant. We are heartened by the many customers who have expressed their appreciation for and enjoyment of Mayorga Coffee. While we share your concern that the neighborhood is losing an important, locally-owned small business, the simple fact is that we did not operate this store and had nothing to do with its abrupt closing.”


Mayorga Coffee Talk: Mayorga Coffee Comments on Sonic Boom, Inc.’s Unauthorized Closure of Tivoli’s Mayorga Lounge

A Street Car Named Desire

"Stella! Hey, Stella!"

Can't put your finger on the 45th most recognizable quote in film history (according to the American Film Society)?? Well, you should be heading over to the Smithsoniam American Art Museum. That is, if you work in the Penn Quarter area (or for some lucky reason aren't sitting in an office at quarter-to-six). The free film begins Wednesday, September 3rd at 6pm.

Smithosonian American Art Museum
Address: 8th and F Streets, NW
Metro: Gallery Place/Chinatown (Red, Yellow, and Green lines)

Mayorga Lounge closing

Prince of Petworth reports that the owner of Mayorga Lounge, the coffee shop in the Gala theater on 14th and Park, is turning it into into a sushi restaurant. According to PoP, the franchise owner faced high rents, pressure from Mayorga to expand, and stiff competition from the Starbucks down the street. I'm profoundly bummed about this. I'm all for sushi but Mayorga Lounge was a great space to hang out in, had tasty teacakes (has anyone ever seen those outside D.C.?), and was generally a nice locally owned alternative if, like me, you need the occasional break from Starbucks. Let's hope the sushi plan works out better for the owner. I don't want to hate on chains but it'd be a shame if such a lovely location turns into a Subway.

Free Salad at Chop't

I'm inclined to say that Metro Center has all the soup/salad/sandwich joints it needs, but that's no reason to pass up a free salad. To celebrate the opening of its new Metro Center location, Chop't will be giving out free salads there between 11 and 2 today.

Chop't
618 12th Street, NW

Penn Quarter Living: Metro Center Chop’t…There Is A Free Lunch

Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future at National Building Museum

The National Building Museum got some exposure a few months ago when Hillary Clinton conceded to Barack Obama in the museum's cavernous atrium. It's also widely believed to have one of the best museum gift shops in the city- heavy on innovative kitchen utensils and design books, light on umbrellas printed with Monet's "Water Lilies." I highly recommend their Washington: Symbol and City exhibit to anyone who wants to know more about the city; and I still elicit eye rolling when I start gushing about the oddly fascinating exhibit on cement I saw there a few years ago. On my last visit I saw Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future, which I thought was very well done. The exhibit gave a survey of the structures (which included terminals at Dulles and JFK, and the St. Louis arch) and furniture he designed throughout his short but illustrious career, and conveyed the post-war sense of possibility that his work embodied. I could have been misreading his handwriting, but I'm 95% sure that if you look closely at some of his papers you might catch what appears to be an extremely vulgar anatomical reference.

National Building Museum
401 F Street NW Washington, DC 2000

Mandu Happy Hour

Last night I went to Mandu, a Korean place on S and 18th. My friend and I were both very happy with our meals, but the happy hour- over, alas- also caught my eye. From 4 to 7, their selection of Asian beers are just $2 a bottle (normally $6), and mandu, the dumpling from which the restaurant takes its name, are just $3 for a plate of 6 (also $6). If you can snag a set of the small cold vegetable dishes that accompany meals, you're set for the night. Yelpers have griped about the lack of culinary purity, but if you've got a craving for dolsot bibimbap and can't make it to Annandale or are just looking for a happy hour that goes a step beyond Miller drafts and soggy nachos, this is a good bet.