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By Katie Bianco, Holly Gambrell and Stefanie Gans
Birthday presents for Mom, aka me
I labored for 36 agonizing hours with my firstborn and I’ll be damned if I wasn’t going to buy a present for myself on her first birthday. My second child came out in a three-hour flash of searing pain—yes, three hours from first contraction to first cry—and I need to find myself another prize for her first birthday. With that, I’ll be shopping for jewels at She’s Unique’s anniversary party, replete with discounts and a bonus gift with purchase. -SG // She’s Unique’s party at Periwinkle Courtyard: April 25, at 6 p.m.; 111 S. Columbus St., Alexandria
How does your garden grow?
We just moved to a new house in McLean. While I’m excited about decorating the house (Currently, it’s a 1970s time warp with lots of room for improvement.), my husband is most excited that we finally have a yard. He spent all last weekend tilling the front yard and seeding it with new grass. This weekend, I’m going to tear him away from yardwork for some inspiration. I wrote about Virginia’s 86th annual Historic Garden Week in our April issue. It’s a statewide event, with local garden clubs putting on tours. You can check out Alexandria on Saturday, and Leesburg shows off their best on Sunday and Monday. The Garden Club of Fairfax is hosting five home and garden tours in McLean on April 30. All these gardens are stunning and I can’t wait to see them in person. I just hope my DIY-crazed husband doesn’t get inspired to start digging a pool in our backyard. –KB // Historic Garden Week; tickets vary by tour, $25-$55
Life in color
I have a pretty extensive bucket list, mostly consisting of travel destinations and world events I want to attend before I die. One of those bullet points is, “Travel to India during the Holi Festival to see colorful paint thrown all over the place.” I didn’t travel to the Asian subcontinent to celebrate the big event last month, but I will be attending the Festival of Colors at Bull Run Regional Park on Sunday, April 28. There’ll be live music, food, dancing and plenty of options to dip yourself in bright (washable) paint. -HG // Bull Run Regional Park: 7700 Bull Run Drive, Centreville; $5-$100