Vapiano’s Bethesda Location Open with VIP Party

Post and Photos by Punch Preview Correspondent Whitney Stringer whitney.stringer@gmail.com, Twitter @whitneystringer

With a spirited grand opening party Tuesday night, Vapiano’s newest location opened its doors in downtown Bethesda. Showing off their beautiful dining room for 200+ and their spacious show kitchen, the fresh casual restaurant treated customers to tasty “house-warming.” With an array of samples from their expansive menu dishes like Chicken Alfredo, Pesto e spinaci, and a Bruschetta pizza pie there was something for everyone.

You can visit them at their 70 locations worldwide or in our neck of the woods at 4900 Hampden Lane; Bethesda, MD; 301.215.7013

www.vapianointernational.com

Manchia!

Johnna Rowe of Johnna Knows Good Food & Dachia Williams

Vapiano CEO Bill Bessette & John Asadoorian of Asadorian Retail

DC VegFest 2010

It happened the winter of 2008 after years of bragging that while some people treated their bodies like a temple, I winked and said I treated mine like the garbage dump and ha, ha, haaaa. I could get away with it.  One day the rubbish facilitator hung a “Sorry We’re Closed” sign on the shop shrugged and simply stated: “Deal with it.”  So, for about a year or so, I after decades of a blessed high metabolism and an appetite for destruction, I had to face the fact that my luck had run out.

It was a very uggy feeling. I felt unclean inside and out and frankly no diet in the world could be the fix.  Then I read the infamous “Skinny Bitch” by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin.  Say what you may about that book, the two gorgeous authors and their brand, I was hooked.  You see, at that time, I was also practicing yoga and the intake of junk into my body while twisting out the toxins was a contradictory process.  So, I had my ceremonial last kiss with lobster, shellfish, and meat on the little island of Mustique the night before we were leaving to go back to the states. Oh…what an error that was.  It was one painful morning.  At any rate. I figured I had eaten enough of all of that in one sitting for at least a year.

In January of 2008, so began my adventure as a vegetarian turned pescatarian turned a bit of organic free-range chickenarian.  Still no shellfish nor red meat, pig, you get my drift.  Don’t take away my cheese nor eggs though.

Are you a veggie and raring to celebrate being meat free?  This SATURDAY is the DC VegFest 2010: Washington, D.C.’s Largest Free Vegetarian Celebration.

It will take place on Saturday, September 11th and celebrate the best of everything vegetarian in and around the nation’s capital.

Offering something for everyone, this annual event attracts thousands of people in one place to try free food samples, hear from dynamic speakers, explore meat-free cuisine from some of the region’s best restaurants, attend cooking demonstrations, visit dozens of educational booths, shop from several different commercial vendors, and much more.

WHERE: University Yard at George Washington Univ. (2000 block of H. St., NW) in Washington D.C.
METRO: Four blocks from the Foggy Bottom/GWU Metro station (orange and blue lines)
WHEN: Sat., Sept. 11, from noon to 6:00 pm (rain date is Sun., Sept 12)
COST: Free!

The DC VegFest, co-organized by Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organizations Compassion Over Killing and the Vegetarian Society of D.C., will feature more than 50 different exhibitors as well as speakers including:

·         Celebrity Chef Tal Ronnen,  author of New York Times bestseller The Conscious Cook
·         Miss D.C. Mackenzie Green, winner of the 2010 Miss District of Columbia pageant
·         Robert Cheeke, champion vegan bodybuilder
·         Tracye McQuirter, M.P.H., public health nutritionist and author, By Any Greens Necessary
·         Colman McCarthy, former Washington Post columnist journalist, professor and author.
·         Wendy Rieger, NBC4-DC news anchor

The first 400 visitors will receive a free commemorative tote bag filled with food samples, coupons, and information about vegetarian eating.

“OpenSkies Satisfaction Guarantee”

OpenSkies just announced this morning an unheard of “satisfaction guaranteed” campaign for its passengers running effective today through November 30th.  If you recall, this all business-class unique airline with its signature light purple and gray colors flew me out to Paris and back in July during its first summer out of IAD direct to Orly.  As OpenSkies continued to gain popularity and traction with frequent fliers, they discovered through a survey that 96.85 percent of passengers of 4,250 people polled would recommend the airline.

During a time when customer service and much less satisfaction is diminishing and practically laughable in the airline sector, OpenSkies dared to kick start a program called “OpenSkies Satisfaction Guarantee”.  They are offering its clientele the opportunity to fly the airline and receive reimbursement if not satisfied with the experience.  That’s just crazy talk. But really, they are going through with it.

Additional survey results confirm the company’s position as a niche airline and the only transatlantic operator to offer a business-class only service at a price that undercuts competition:

* 78.21 percent of participants chose OpenSkies for its unbeatable quality and price ratio
* 72.5 percent of participants chose OpenSkies for its exclusively business class service

May your passport overfloweth.

Reservations can be made online at www.flyopenskies.com or by calling 1-866-581-3596. OpenSkies customers are also eligible to join the British Airways Executive Club customer-loyalty program, allowing customers to earn and burn BA Miles and to benefit from its many advantages beyond mileage. Interested consumers can register at https://www.flyopenskies.com/os/ba_executive_club.

TBD Launches

Ada Polla, Mary Bird and Lynly Boor

The rumors and whisperings amongst Washington media types, journos, producers, reporters, and those in the know and those wanting to be in the know and those thinking they were in the know, were rockin’ for months.  There was something big coming from across the river in the former Gannett building turned WJLA/POLITICO/Allbritton Communications Company media giant found in Rosslyn.  The rumblings started in late winter, I recall that.  “There’s going to be an announcement coming (ala Jon Stewart-style).  Believe me, it’s going to be big!”

Well, it’s finally here.  It crept up quietly and then tah-dah.  TBD aka To Be Determined, Discussed, Defined, what have you, is the mesh of news presented to you via digital and traditional platforms-in other words by internet and television.

TBD’s mission as stated on the its site: TBD is a TV station and website that delivers local news and community information from the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. region. TBD’s integrated newsroom brings together reporters, editors, producers, and community-outreach specialists to produce original journalism; highlight news and information from other media outlets and blogs; and engage our audience in a dialogue on news and culture in the Washington area.

The crowd

In essence, TBD is looking to be the biggest and best outlet in the region that hand delivers up the second accurate information to you 24/7.  That’s quite a challenge to take on in this market, but they do know how to do a launch party.  An open bar, huge spread and TBD caps for all were part of the fun Tuesday evening at the event which was held in Georgetown at Billy Martin’s Tavern and hosted by The Georgetown Dish.  Some of the notables were Sally Quinn, The Dish’s Beth Solomon, Billy Martin himself, and a very sweaty newly engaged Councilman Jack Evans who had just finished running his daily 5 miles.

Beth Solomon and Jack Evans

Check out TBD yourself: www.tbd.com

Speaking of Cleaning out the Closets…

Lady Gaga can get away with it, but let’s face it. Washington women can’t. Nor should they try. Actually, 99.9999% of the females on this planet should not try to deck themselves out in anything remotely resembling anything Gaga wears unless it’s to her concert (and even then that’s questionable) or for Halloween.  So that’s one end of the fashion/style/personal taste or distaste spectrum.  How about the other side? You know what I’m talking about.  The women who still live in 1980, 1990, or some combination of the both with a splash of 1970 or, if we are lucky, some futuristic flair (I just saw a woman in a cutoff jean skirt at the baseball game and I was suddenly catapulted to highschool and it wasn’t a pretty sight) I digress.

We all know someone (and Dornic or Vennett if you nominate me you’d better move to Baltimore) who needs a slight nudge, soft pull, or hard push to get her wardrobe updated and/or she needs some serious help in choosing flattering colors, shapes, accessories, shoes, or basically anything that this person may be seen in on a daily basis.

Well, thank goodness for shows like “WHAT NOT TO WEAR” (seriously? you waited this long to get to DC?). Finally, TLC is coming to the city that may be the most powerful but has rightfully earned a reputation for having some of the worst style east of the Mississippi.  Hey, I’m not making this up.

TLC needs YOU to nominate a friend, family member or co-worker whose wardrobe is screaming for a complete transformation. Think “fashion disaster” and don’t be shy.  This is not a time to hold back (lawyers, lobbyists, moms, recent divorcees, military personnel and wives).

About the show:

“WHAT NOT TO WEAR” provides fashion intervention to people nominated by friends/family/co-worker as someone who desperately needs a style overhaul!  Fashion experts, Stacy London and Clinton Kelly then confront the person and reveal their plan to teach them “WHAT NOT TO WEAR” sorting through the person’s current wardrobe and providing them with rules for maximizing their best assets and personal style. They are given a Visa card worth $5,000, and its time to hit the shops.  After a consultation with Stacy and Clinton on these new clothing choices, along with a dramatic hair and makeup revamp, viewers will see a complete transformation and a stunning reveal.

For fashion before and after photos visit the official Web site of “WHAT NOT TO WEAR” at www.discovery.com and click on TLC.  More then 10,000 people per month are nominated by their friends and family members through the Web.

Connect with the TLC Audience:
* TLC is in 85 million homes in the US
* 23.3 million viewers tune into TLC each week
* 83 million viewers tune in to watch TLC each month
* TLC ranks #1 in concentration of upscale adults 25-54 and 18-49 in prime time

To nominate someone for the show please send the following info to:  Michael Petrella, Casting Producer, mpetrella@bbcnyproduction.com

Name:
Age:
Size:
Height:
Marital Status:
Occupation:
Home location:
Describer her personality:
Describe her story that makes her unique and deserving of this opportunity:
Describe her style in full detail:
At least 2 pictures that illustrate her lack of style:
Nominator’s contact info:
****REMEMBER THIS NOMINATION MUST REMAIN A SECRET****

May the worst dressed win!

Cleaning Out the Closets

If you could be everywhere, would you choose to be? I used to think that was doable, then it became less enjoyable because you can’t fully be in the now or in the moment if you are constantly envisioning 10 steps ahead or 20 steps behind or 30 steps to the right or 50 steps to the left.  You end up not knowing where you are really right then and there at that present space in time.  After years of trying to be all to everyone and giving as much as you possibly can to your career, clients, friends, family, not a lot is left over for yourself.  You’ve in essence exhausted all energy and resources just to make it all “happy and picture perfect” on the outside because quite often, let’s be real, while we don’t live in LA, NYC, nor Miami, DC has a “thing” about surface appearances.  And I don’t mean plastic (albeit there is that), I mean a life which is just so, just “perfect”. We have to have the right career, right employer, right job title, right job path, right boss, right friends, right social circle, right associations, right charity boards, right charity committees, right appearance in the right magazines, right kid’s school, right hair stylist, right alma mater, right neighborhood, right car, right country club, right private club, right cars, right weekend getaways, right 2nd and 3rd homes, right personal trainer, right credit card, right personal stylist … and so on and so on.

It’s also thrown at us in a frenetic manner, so much so that we are like circus clowns on unicycles juggling the proverbial bowling pins of life while ducking the pies being thrown at us and the entire time, we have a glowing smile on our faces.  Life’s all good!  See! Look at my perfect white smile on my Botoxed face! And I’m wearing this perfect gown from this season as I cycle to the right charity ball which I’m chairing! Did you buy a table yet?

I’m pretty certain any major urban market faces some degree of this type of societal conundrum.  If I were to pick up and move to Chicago, Boston or San Francisco, I doubt I’d suddenly be in Wonderland.  At the same time, as much as I hear friends, colleagues and conversations during cocktail chatter speak more about the pressures of life in DC, I confess without the East Coast energy, pressure points, stress fractures, images to live up to, I’m not so sure I’d know what to do with myself.  “I actually thrive on it,” a friend shared with me recently.  “I’ve thought I would have left by now, but I can’t.  When I went back to visit my family in ‘x-city’, I was bored out of my mind.  We are in the nation’s capital, I mean, the stress gets to me, yes, and the (insert finger quoting action) having to lead some sort of perfect life, but there is no better place to have a combination of education, empowerment, entrepreneurship, culture, and diversity, and yet it’s like a small town.  Especially for a woman.”

After living in the DC area for 20 years (Yes, I moved here when I was 5! Yup. Sure did.) and witnessing the true Washingtonians, the transient community, the lifers, the transplants, the haters, and the converts, I’m coming to conclusion that I can’t imagine living anywhere else, at least not as a primary home.  In the future there’s a possible bi-coastal life for me, but DC is for sure homebase and it’s a perfect one as there’s going to be more travel blogging coming up.

So what’s a girl to do when she gets in an end of summer rut? She pretends she’s moving and she cleans out her closets.  And folks, let me tell you, it’s a cleansing, freeing, almost spiritual ceremony that takes place when one cleans out closets.  Yes, there’s the metaphor that goes along with it, but if you do it right, it’s not only a challenging process, it can also be fun because it takes you down memory lane.  Poring over old photos, gift bags from 2007, stacks of old birthday cards, finding bracelets and rings that were thought to be long gone, cowboy boots from a trip out west years ago, magazine and newspaper clippings, letters from Grandmother who has passed on, boxes of awards, paraphernalia from running for Woman of the Year in 2007, my first Coach briefcase, D&G sunglasses borrowed from a friend, about 30 baseball hats collected over the years – and I hadn’t even gotten to the clothing yet.  Going down the memory lane of the past five years of living here was just what I needed as a solid reminder as to why I love being in Washington.

After the clearing process was finally done, the bags were collected for trash, donation, consignment, and giving away, the organization finished and the dust had settled I felt renewed and re-energized.  I took pride in telling a few of my friends that I had actually completed the daunting task of cleaning out three closets this weekend.  They all said, “I just did that too,” or “I really need to do that, I’ve been putting it off for months. It’s a great feeling isn’t it?”

Well, considering I put it off for 5 years, it is a great, wonderful feeling.