Posts Tagged ‘Northern Virginia’
Jazz Illuminates Mason on Saturday Night
Posted by Matt Basheda / Friday, February 24th, 2012
Hey, Buddy Rich is the greatest drummer of all time. Check it out:
And you can see a slice of that this Saturday, Feb. 25, at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts. The Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra will be paying tribute to Mr. Rich’s version of the “West Side Story” soundtrack. Legendary tunes from Woody Herman and Stan Kenton are also on the bill.
The MJO is headed by Jim Carroll, professor and saxophonist at GMU, and he’s gathered some of the best musicians in the country to play with him on stage.
“The importance of this concert is that it’s Black History Month,” says Carroll. “Even though ironically I picked three white bandleaders … I know Woody because I played in Woody’s band for three and a half years. Who was his hero? Duke Ellington. So [the show's] gonna be in celebration of Black History Month, as well.”
Music is not just about performance, though. Music is an opportunity to learn. Carroll is passionate about musical education, and so all ticket holders are welcome to arrive 45 minutes early for a pre-performance discussion about the songs, the bandleaders and jazz culture.
The show will even include dancing. So get fired up for a hoppin’ show.
Tickets range from $20 to $40 depending on the seats. Mason students can also get in on the action–there’s a limited number of student tickets available. The show starts at 8 p.m., though the preceding discussion should be lively and useful.
–Matt Basheda
Posted by Lynn Norusis / Friday, February 24th, 2012
College student and LRB reader, Lost, faces a predicament that many of you can relate to. She’s dating a guy but also has the option to date his best friend. They both like her, are flirtatious and pay her attention, which she admits is flattering. Lost is tempted to date both guys but those of you who have been through similar experiences say get real.
“Back in high school I went out with a guy who was perfect in my eyes, but there came a moment when we decided to take a break…I told my best friend everything. I trusted her so much that I wanted someone to hear me out…As the days progressed, my best friend started to talk to my ex-boyfriend. I thought it was wrong but I believed she would never do anything to hurt me. A few days later, one of my friends asked me how I was with my best friend dating my ex-boyfriend; I asked my ex-boyfriend and he confessed that the rumors were true. From that day on, I never talked to my supposed best friend. From my own experience, these kinds of situations are heart breaking. Not only did I lose a guy I still had feelings for, but I also lost my best friend…When you decide to date someone your best friend likes, you are getting yourself in the middle of a friendship and are willing to hurt the other person, regardless if you already broke up. Choose someone else to date and weigh each benefit and consequence.” –G
“I had two best friends, and we experienced a similar situation. We had the same passions, hobbies, and similar goals. However, our relationship changed quickly when a girl appeared and both of my friends liked her. We stopped talking in a group and hanging out together. They became kids fighting over a toy by trying to get the girl’s attention. I do not know if it was right or wrong but it caused a complex relationship. The girl wanted to keep a relationship with both of my friends. In the end, our friendship ended and no one won that game.” –Khang
“This type of issue is complicated on both sides of the situation, but all parties should put themselves in each other’s shoes. If “Lost” does not have strong feelings and does not see a future with one of them, they are not meant to be, and the situation might cause more problems than grant happiness. I have been on the other side of this issue after my ex boyfriend and I broke up; I was still in love with him. He, my best friend, and I started to hang out more…She started liking him and he started liking her. Therefore, I knew that I should step out of the picture totally so that they could give it a try. And I am glad I did. All the parties need to weigh their options and see what is best for all.” –M
Make sure you can trust your partner and your best friend. Universal code: avoid dating your best friend’s partner. Because real friend’s aren’t fair-weather friends. E-mail me at littleredbook@northernvirginiamag.com with your stories and experiences.
–Katie
Posted by Lorin Drinkard / Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
So funny. / Photo credit: Shutterstock/ Sergery Furtaev
If “Why so serious?” is a question coworkers and heck, even strangers, have asked you in reference to a furrowed brow or deep frown lines, it’s time for some funny. Riot Act is the name of the game and everyone’s a winner. You get to laugh, you get to laugh and you get to laugh! Oprah would just be so proud.
Posted by Rebekah Lowe / Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
One winter night a young Northern Virginia woman went to bed healthy and happy but nearly died the next morning.
By Lily Wade with photo by Jonathan Timmes
On Feb. 14, 2010—Valentine’s Day—I woke up in the Intensive Care Unit at Georgetown University Hospital. I had no memory of how I arrived there.
During the next few days as I slipped in and out of consciousness, family, friends and hospital staff helped me piece together why I was so sick I could barely move.
I had gone to bed at the usual time 11 days before on Feb. 3. The next day I slept unusually late, and my mother, Joyce Saxon Wade, came to wake me up for work. “You were asleep, and I tried to wake you. I pulled you into a sitting position, and you woke up for a minute. I asked you what your work number was so I could call in sick for you, but you mumbled and went back to sleep,” she says, explaining how the day I nearly died began.
After being laid off from my job as a government contractor in May 2009, I’d been living with my parents in Mount Vernon. I worked part-time as a contractor for the Joint Strike Fighter program and was eagerly seeking full-time work. I went to the gym four to five times a week, ate healthy, and had never had any significant health problems. As far as anyone (myself included) could tell, I was a 29-year-old in excellent health. As a part-time employee, I did not have health insurance, but since I felt good and was in the prime of life, I wasn’t concerned.
I Can’t Get Lily to Wake Up
Lily Wade
Mom called my father, who talked to me on the phone and momentarily roused me, but I responded with gibberish. He rushed home and tried to wake me, but by then I was comatose. Stunned and frightened, my parents called 911, and an ambulance rushed me to Inova Mount Vernon Hospital. They listened in shock as the emergency room doctors used terms like “liver damage” and “transplant.”
I was soon boarded onto another ambulance to Inova Fairfax Hospital. After more tests, I was transferred to Georgetown University Hospital. Only after my doctors determined that I needed a liver transplant did my family learn that I had acute liver failure.
Snowpocalypse
On Feb. 5, 2010, as I slept while fighting for my life, the skies dumped nearly 20 inches of snow over Washington, D.C., and paralyzed the region. Four days later, it snowed again, burying the Metro-D.C. area under a total of 75 inches of snow in some areas. The postal service stopped delivering mail, and Metro Rail service was sharply curtailed. The federal government and local schools all closed. Businesses did not operate, hundreds of thousands were without power, and the press was calling the consecutive blizzards “Snowpocalypse.”
Most of Georgetown Hospital’s staff was snowed in, and as my parents, sister and her boyfriend kept a 24-hour vigil, every bed or couch where patients’ relatives usually slept was occupied by a doctor, nurse or resident. As my father, Gregory Wade, says, “I found a conference room that was empty at night, so I got pillows and sheets from the nurses, and we all camped out there.”
More Common Than You Might Think
Dr. Thomas Marlon Fishbein of Georgetown Hospital says more than 6,291 liver transplants were performed in the United States in 2010, but that number is lower than in recent years because of the decreasing availability of organs.
According to Dr. Fishbein, the average wait can be six months or more, or as short as 16 days. Because of the high population density on the East Coast, there is a particularly high demand for livers and other organs. Dr. Fishbein says 1,800 Americans die every year waiting for transplantable livers to become available. The death toll for all organ shortages combined is much, much higher.
“A liver disease patient’s place on the transplant list is determined by tests such as Model for End-Stage Liver Disease, or MELD scoring, which tests liver function and determines how likely the patient is to die in 90 days,” Dr. Fishbein says. “The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) uses these criteria to assure that livers—rare and finite assets—are given to people who will die the soonest without them. These are almost always acute liver failure patients.”
Acute liver failure is the rapid deterioration of liver function over a period of weeks or even days. In a matter of days a patient can exhibit confusion, altered consciousness, or fall into a coma and, without treatment, die. According to Dr. Fishbein, 90 percent of acute liver failure patients die within a week without a transplant.
The most common cause is acetaminophen toxicity. Viruses and autoimmune hepatitis are sometimes responsible, but sometimes the cause is unknown. In the weeks leading up to my hospitalization, I took acetaminophen tablets every day for headaches at the listed dose but had no idea that acetaminophen is an ingredient in so many over-the-counter products that a person can easily—and unknowingly—exceed safe levels of ingesting the common drug.
Dr. Raffaele Girlanda of Georgetown University Hospital saw me when I was admitted on Feb. 4. I was comatose and swollen from ascites, an accumulation of fluid that often is a major symptom of liver failure. My condition met the UNOS criteria, so within 12 hours, I was listed as Status One for emergent liver transplant.
As I hovered near death, my family prayed, and my doctors scrambled for a liver. Dr. Kirti Shetty of Georgetown University Hospital says, “America is divided into nine regions for the purpose of organ procurement. When an organ procurement organization gets a liver, two criteria determine where it goes: patients’ MELD scores and their diagnoses.
“Because acute liver failure patients die so quickly without transplants, they are given priority over chronic patients, even if a chronic patient may have a higher MELD score. A computer database matches livers and recipients by blood type, and Status One patients are given livers as quickly as possible,” Dr. Shetty adds. “So if a liver becomes available in a region and there are chronic liver patients on the local list but no acute liver failure patients, the liver will go outside the region to acute liver failure patients nationally.”
An Organ Donor Dies, I Get to Live
My new liver came from Puerto Rico.
According to Dr. Girlanda, Puerto Rican organ procurement organizers telephoned Georgetown University Hospital’s Transplant Institute, and the physicians here decided to accept the liver for me. The liver was then flown by an anonymously funded private jet into Dulles Airport, which had been closed the day before on Feb. 7. The Feb. 9 snow had not yet reblanketed the Metro-D.C. area, so the plane was allowed to land. Had the plane tried to fly in two days later, Dulles would have been closed, and I would never have gotten my liver in time.
An ambulance rushed the liver to Georgetown, where I underwent an emergency liver transplant from 8:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. The surgeons could not close my abdomen at the end of the transplant because it was so swollen, so they took me back to the operating room four days later to close the abdominal wall. I had waited only three days for my liver, but, in Dr. Girlanda’s estimation, had the surgery not occurred that day, I would have died in 48 to 72 hours. I remained comatose after the surgery, and no one was sure if I would ever awake.
When I opened my eyes on Feb. 14, I was barely alive, and I didn’t know where I was. I had a breathing tube in my throat; I could not speak or swallow. As I fell in and out of consciousness, I thought I was dreaming. Eventually, after a few days, I looked down at the huge incision on my abdomen, and the reality of surgery hit me. I was overwhelmed by terror.
I also learned that my kidneys had failed, a common problem that often comes along with acute liver failure, and I was embarking on a dialysis program that would last about eight weeks. No one would give me anything to drink, and I was permitted only wet dental sponges to moisten my lips. I was almost completely immobile and could barely press the call button to summon the nurse. Although I had been a strength training and fitness fanatic only two weeks before, the toned muscles on my arms and legs had vanished, and when I was finally permitted normal food, I couldn’t hold a fork.
The capillaries in my fingertips, toes and eyes had burst. My toes were so black and swollen the doctors thought they might have to be amputated. The whites of my eyes turned purple, and ophthalmologists feared that my vision was impaired. Luckily, my vision was undamaged and my toes, like the rest of me, began to heal so slowly that I didn’t notice.
A Long, Slow Recovery
The following months were filled with very frustrating days, days when the side effects of my many medications made me incapable of eating, days when my fingers were so weak I couldn’t button a shirt, days when dialysis made me too tired for physical therapy, days when walking up a short hall exhausted me, and the idea of walking up stairs terrified me. My triumphs, such as graduating from a wheelchair to a walker, and the day when I came home in May, were counterbalanced by losing 20 pounds and becoming clinically underweight.
A second hospital stay in July and a second surgery in November capped off a year of moving one step forward and two steps back. I wondered if I would be able to work full time or have a life of my own ever again.
Two years later, I am now healthy, working full-time, and living on my own. I know how extremely fortunate I am to have gotten a liver when I did, and that excellent medical care has allowed me to return to normal life and with far more appreciation than I had before my organ failure.
With little to occupy my mind during those long months in the hospital, I realized that when I’d had a job and an apartment I’d had everything I needed and how petty my complaints and dissatisfactions had really been. I am very grateful for the life I have rebuilt, and my struggles have made me more compassionate and less judgmental toward others.
I have also become acutely aware of how vital the need is for organs. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, more than 100,000 Americans are on transplant lists, and an average of 20 Americans per day die waiting for organs. As Dr. Fishbein says, “Most medical care requires funds and facilities to function, but little from the wider community. Organ donation should be considered a civic duty, because transplantation cannot happen without organ donors, and the field will not reach its life-saving potential unless more people participate.”
He adds that current research focuses in particular on developing organs in laboratories.
“We are very hopeful that within a number of years it will be possible to regrow a patient’s damaged organ,” Dr. Fishbein says. “But there are so many people right now who need organs and cannot wait a few days, let alone a few years, that everyone should sign up to be an organ donor and clarify this intent with their families. It is one of the few opportunities that most people will ever have to save another human being’s life.”
Posted by Rebekah Lowe / Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
Sharing a bed may have some surprising benefits.
Phase4Photography/Shutterstock.com
By Jenni Terry
If you’ve never slept with a dog before, I highly recommend it.
Until my husband and I started dogsitting six years ago, I had only slumbered with my cousin’s overactive Boston terrier, who was guilty of some of the most offending bedfellow traits: bad breath, space-hogging tendencies and long toenails.
My sleepless nights with Cecil definitely gave me a bad impression of bunking with dogs, but that all changed when I met Coco.
Before our first dogsitting assignment, my husband and I were invited over to meet black Labradors Coco and Cleo (Cleo has since passed away). I distinctly remember Coco’s “mom,” Brenda Hatton of Arlington, telling us that Coco was a “cuddler.”
Boy was she.
We also remember Brenda and her husband, Bruce, telling us that the well-behaved dogs “knew their places.”
Turns out Coco’s place is right next to you—on the couch, in the bed, or even on your lap while you’re sitting in an armchair if you’ll let her hop on up there.
“We had to buy a king-size bed because our queen bed was just not large enough for the four of us!” Brenda says.
“For a long time we kept Coco’s bed on the floor in the bedroom and pretended that she slept at least part of the night there. But after a while, we swallowed our pride and admitted that she never put her paw on it anymore, so it is now in the garage.”
At first, sleeping restfully with Coco and Cleo in the room was challenging for my husband and me; even a light jingle of their collars would wake us up. However, after a couple of nights, I discovered that the sounds and presence of a dog are more comforting than they are disturbing.
The obvious reasons for that sense of comfort must be that people love their dogs—or, in our case, the dogs they are caring for. Or that people feel safe with a dog nearby—not sure if that theory stands up for small breeds.
Of course, there is probably more to it than that—at least the powers that be who conduct all those random studies always seem to think so.
And as with many matters (big or small), “The Government” claims to have the answer.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), pets can decrease a person’s blood pressure, cholesterol levels, triglyceride levels and feelings of loneliness.
This claim also stands for cats, but they are a toss-up as bunkmates.
Take my cat, for instance, who is affectionate to the point of perplexity during the day. But at night, she’s completely different.
Suddenly, the basket on my bedside that contains lip balm, my glasses and other such trinkets are of huge interest. At night, she can’t wait to knock it off the table and paw the contents across the floor like a soccer ball—why she doesn’t do this during the day baffles me. She is also prone to spontaneously jumping on us, and she knows the “money spots,” if you know what I mean.
Since her nighttime presence actually raises our blood pressure, she is sadly banished from our room at bedtime. But if the folks at the CDC are right, it does make sense to lie next to a less mischievous pet at night while your body restores itself and can soak up all those inexplicable health benefits.
That is assuming, of course, that the canine friend doesn’t have bad breath and long toenails.
source: www.cdc.gov/healthypets/health_benefits.htm
(February 2012)
Posted by Rebekah Lowe / Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
Gregg Helvey’s journey from Loudoun County Public Schools to the Academy Awards and beyond
By Matt Basheda
Oscar-nominated director Gregg Helvey grew up in Northern Virginia, and graduated from Loudoun Valley High School. He even took his first film class at Monroe Technology Center in Leesburg as a teenager. His master’s thesis, a short film called “Kavi,” took him all the way to the Academy Awards. But an Oscar nomination was not the conclusion of Helvey’s goal for “Kavi.” “Kavi” is the story of a young Indian boy who is enslaved, and works at a brick kiln. Helvey is now a prominent activist in the fight to end modern-day, worldwide slavery, his website for which is kavithemovie.com. Helvey sat down to talk about how this area helped his cause, why he’s glad he didn’t study film as an undergraduate, and how everyone has the power to help shape the world.
Gregg Helvey (Photo Courtesy of Gregg Helvey)
Was it challenging to try to develop as a young director in Northern Virginia, an area not known for producing film?
“I was just having fun, so when it came to making films, they were for high school projects. … I wasn’t ever really thinking about a career in film. Creative people always find ways of being creative, regardless of where they are.”
How did your film class at vo-tech [Monroe Tech Center] help you?
“It was a good opportunity to … have fun and create … and … to learn to not worry about the results but be willing to experiment.”
You majored in French and English in college. Why did you choose these majors? Was it simply because UVA didn’t have a film program at the time?
“I studied English because I just love good stories, and I wanted to become a better writer and a better storyteller. … And as far as French goes, I spent five years learning French before I went to UVA, starting at Blue Ridge Middle School [in Purcellville] all the way through Loudoun Valley High School [in Purcellville], and it really didn’t make sense to me to give it up once I got to college after … investing all of that time in it. I continued taking French … also because I love traveling and exploring other cultures and meeting people along the way. … I got to study abroad in Paris, and teach French at a boarding school in England, and … it’s opened up doors for traveling in Tunisia and Rwanda and other African countries. And I do love meeting people and … learning people’s stories; and with a second language, I can hear even more stories and explore even more parts of the world.”
How did those majors help with your filmmaking career?
“I really value a diversity of life experiences. And that’s why I’m thankful to have not studied film during undergraduate. I think different life experiences and studying things other than film is what will make films richer. … But I’m a little torn sometimes when younger people ask for advice about going to film school right after high school, because I think it’s really important to study other things and maybe do a graduate program or something for film, because that other life experience will inform what you do.”
At what point in your life did you begin to consider professional film as a potential career?
“Basically, once I took my first film analysis course at UVA, everything clicked for me. And everything just made sense. And I loved everything that I was learning, and everything came naturally for me, and it was a great fit. … The issue was that UVA didn’t have any production courses at that time, so … that summer I applied to NYU and did their summer film production workshop. But still, film didn’t seem like a realistic option after college, because unlike most professions, there’s really no clear path to get into the film business. But I guess … everything in film is unpredictable, and … it’s a risky career path. But it can be really rewarding.”
Do you have other jobs besides film?
“I do a lot of speaking engagements, and workshops, and that’s my day job, while I’m getting my next film ready. I really enjoy … being able to share my story and my journey and hopefully encourage other people who are interested not only in film production but just following their passions and their dreams to do what they have always dreamt of doing. … I will often do a screening of “Kavi” and give a talk or a workshop based around the film that can be directly related to filmmaking or it can focus on modern-day slavery and using it as an opportunity to raise awareness, and looking at ways that we can all use our gifts to serve causes bigger than ourselves.”
You grew up in Northern Virginia, but now you live in LA, and you’re involved with the film industry—pretty different from NoVA’s lifestyle. So now when you visit, what do you think of this area?
“Yeah, it’s very different from Los Angeles, but … I enjoy this area the most in the fall and in the spring, but mostly the spring because the air is, at least out in the countryside, it’s just so sweet, and obviously you don’t get that in Los Angeles. And I grew up out in the countryside on gravel roads and kind of in the middle of nowhere, and … I really like the quiet.”
Film still: Kavi at the brick kiln where he is forced to work as a modern-day slave. (Photo courtesy Gregg Helvey)
Has Northern Virginia influenced your film at all?
“I think being close to D.C. was fundamental for me because it was the … location that made it possible for me to go work … at National Geographic Traveler magazine right after I graduated at UVA. And working at the magazine was so important because it was there that the editor I was working for, he was part of a nonprofit started to help save kids forced into sex labor in Eastern Europe, and that’s how I first learned that slavery still exists. And I was, you know, shocked to learn that, and since that moment had always wanted to tell people that slavery still exists, and that partly informed my approach to filmmaking, in terms of using stories to raise awareness, to make a difference, but also to entertain and engage people in a way that can lead them to want to make changes.”
You tend to film in exotic locations, at least in relation to the American suburbs, but would you ever consider filming here, in NoVA?
“Yeah, I would consider filming in Northern Virginia, if the story calls for it. … But … there’s always got to be a reason; it always has to be motivated. And I’m sure it’s possible to find an interesting story that ties into Northern Virginia that people may not be aware of. For me, when thinking about the films that I want to make, my priority is to tell a powerful story that takes the audience on a journey emotionally, and leaves the audience better off for having seen the film, and as long as I can still do that, then it doesn’t really matter where it’s shot.”
Have you ever run into serious danger while filming [overseas]?
“I produced a film in Kenya, and we had to have armed guards with AK-47s on set, because there was a lot of expensive film equipment. … And there was one point where we were [filming] in a small village … and we found out that there were some armed bandits heading our way, so we actually had to get armed reinforcements from another village and set up a perimeter as a deterrent. … So luckily we had a great line producer who was a local, and able to make that happen really quickly.”
Do you think “Kavi” has succeeded so far as a call to action?
“I used to think that the idea of raising awareness was a cliché until I realized that I couldn’t have even made “Kavi” without someone else raising awareness and telling me that slavery still exists. … Don’t underestimate the power of awareness, because you never know how someone else will respond and how they may take action. … “Kavi” has made a concrete difference. “One in particular is Sagar Salunke, who plays Kavi. … The Indian government … made a commitment to pay for Sagar’s education for the rest of his life. So that was a huge difference for a 12-year-old boy who didn’t have the benefit of this before. “And one of the other things is that I’ve been able to partner with International Justice Mission, which is based in Northern Virginia, and they have licensed the film, and translated and dubbed the film into three more Indian languages. And so what they’re doing … is screening it for 10,000 schoolchildren and law enforcement and local government officials all across southern India. “One other thing is that [“Kavi”] was used to help pass legislation in the California Senate requiring businesses to examine their supply chains for any elements of slavery.”
What advice do you have for kids who are currently in the same situation you once were—starting a film career from scratch in the suburbs?
“In no particular order: Work hard. Be nice. Be humble. Get a job working as a production assistant on a film set. Move to Los Angeles. Study a variety of subjects. Travel and experience the world. Watch great movies. Read great scripts. Learn how you can serve others. Make lots of short films. And learn by trial and error.”
(February 2012)
Taste Summer All Winter-long: Smoked Sea Salt
Posted by Sally Traynham / Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
Who’s heard of 60 degree weather in February? While the next few days are hopeful to remain warm, next week brings back the (relatively) cold winter temperature.
The good news? You can taste summer anytime, any season and anywhere (as long as you are within the radius of Whole Foods).
Last year, I discovered the beauty of smoked salt. Its aroma is intoxicating as you open the container and the flavor it imparts on everything it touches reflects the deep, earthy essence of the hickory wood with which it was smoked.
My Whole Foods (in Clarendon) hides Salt Works’ Durango Hickory Smoked Sea Salt behind the gourmet cheese counter, an insider find that might be one of food’s best kept secrets. After approaching the counter, they will hand over a small deli container with as much or as little smoked salt as you’d like. It costs $12.95 per pound, but let’s be real: If you are asking for a pound of salt, the price is the last of your concerns.
Use this summer-inspired, naturally smoked salt on fish or to season sweet potatoes before roasting. For the more adventurous, try it mixed into brownies, as a substitute for regular sea salt in a salted caramel or even to flavor the base of dark chocolate ice cream (I tried the latter this past summer and it was rather interesting).
However you eat it, it’s a definite must-try.
Photo: Salt Works
[tips for the food desk]
Posted by Joey Hernandez / Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
Pho lovers recognize the bright red bottle at the table: Sriracha.
Sriracha is a Thai hot sauce that is simply delicious and for some like me, addictive. This magical bottle comes in two sizes 17oz and 28oz and can be found in stores ethnic markets, such as Lotte and Hmart, as well as mainstream supermarkets.
Travel size bottles of ketchup, mustard and tabasco can be found easily but finding travel size Sriracha is simply impossible. What is a girl to do, carry a 17oz bottle of sriracha in her purse?
In search of baby Sriracha. Please help a heat addict out!
Photo by Joey Hernandez
[tips for the food desk / follow @JoeyHndz]
Posted by Lindsey Leake / Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Former Gov. Tim Kaine says General Assembly’s actions have ‘turned Virginia into a laughingstock’
New Amazon.com sales tax charges could earn Virginia $24 million a year
State Senate considers bill that would eliminate teacher job protections
Kaine hosts roundtable discussion in Old Town Manassas
Man breaks into 82-year-old Alexandria woman’s bedroom, steals car and cell phone
More Wawa stores heading to NoVA
Do you support George Huguely’s recommended sentence? Voice your opinion on the outcome of the UVA murder trial…
(Compiled by Lindsey Leake)
Spring on Sale: the Season’s Hottest Styles for a Steal
Posted by Natalie Kaar / Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
One of the new spring stunners available at Old Town's Treat. (Photo courtesy: Facebook)
Hello there, shoppers!
If you somehow missed the weather report and haven’t stepped foot outside yet today, now’s the time to take a break and head for the door — after reading this post, of course. We’re to see 70 degrees today and plenty of spring-like sunshine! (February, sorry I used to say such horrible things about you; you’re pretty awesome.)
And, to make things all the more glorious — perhaps to even make giving up chocolate for Lent not so difficult — stores all over NoVA and online are offering stellar spring sales. Shoppers, get ready to score the season’s hottest styles for a steal!
A few examples:
If you’re ready to test-drive some of the season’s best beauty buys, now’s the time to hit Neiman Marcus for its legendary beauty event. With a $100 purchase, you’ll get a free spring-tastic tote full of high-end samples from Tom Ford, Kiehl’s, Fekkai, Kate Sommerville, La Mer and more.
Shoe obsessed? Gilt is having a spring preview espadrilles sale today full of sandals that are right on trend and at prices to please! And on the flat side of the spectrum, Anthropologie is doling out deals on ballet flats.
Also on Gilt today, for the little tykes, don’t miss the Jacadi spring sale – beyond sweet and adorable looks for Easter, Mother’s Day and general spring fun. Something to tide us moms over until DVF for Gap Kids hits stores March 15.
As for the iconic Diane von Furstenberg, have you checked out her new spring duvet collection, now on sale at Bloomie’s? The home needs a little love as well, and not just in your closets.
Back to clothes, ASOS is offering a 20-percent-off-site-wide sale in honor of this year being a leap year!
And at Old Town’s Treat, where the season’s hottest styles are always 40-60 percent off, you won’t believe how amazing their latest shipment is.
Happy shopping!
–Natalie Kaar