Rhodeside Grill - Friday fundraiser

Thanks to an old friend Ban Kirma for this tip.  This restaurant is in my neighborhood and is a good place to dine and cocktail, now especially for the following reason:

Fans of Rhodeside Grill in Arlington know there are lots of things to love there — great food, live music, tons of sports and a cool little patio. But the best thing is the great staff. One of our favorites, Priscilla Velasquez, was seriously injured in a car accident recently and remains in the hospital in a coma. This Friday, June 27th, there will be a fundraiser at Rhodeside to raise money to help cover what are bound to be staggering medical bills. There will be live music featuring Claire Gilbride and Brother Shamus, DJ Dan-O spinning, $1,000’s in raffle prizes and all of your Rhodeside friends and family. The event gets going at 7 p.m. Can’t make it by on Friday? Stop by anytime and drop of a contribution if you’re so inclined — it will be greatly appreciated.

Rhodeside Grill is located at 1836 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA. www.rhodesidegrill.com

Wednesday evening event

Tonight, is Stop Traffick with Fashion!  If you have not yet purchased your $65 ticket, there is still time.  Just go online http://www.stoptraffick.com/, hit the Paypal button on the bottom and register.  We are so very excited to announce that not only is the new Miss DC, Kate Marie Grinold involved, but so is Donna Rice Hughes, the President of Enough is Enough.  I also just found out that my dear friend and shoe designer Lacey Kirstein, will be providing the footwear for the models (LaceyK Shoes).  Hope to see you there at Lima (6pm-8pm)!

Interstages Fundraiser at Marvin - June 30th

Thanks to Cami Mazard for giving me the heads up on this upcoming fundraiser.

Please come out to support Interstages on June 30th for an event that Sheldon Scott from Restaurant Marvin put together to benefit Interstages.  Interstages provides arts and music education after school to 6th-8th grade women in Anacostia.  Marvin, by the way, is one of the hottest, most talked about U Street restaurants. 

The set-up this month is similar to last month’s event, which raised over $2100 for Pediatric AIDS/HIV Care Inc. in one night.  Sheldon waits tables and donates 100% of his tips to charity.  Due to the overwhelming success of last month, Sheldon instituted a 25% match program.  If he gets multiple 25% matches, he feels it more evenly spreads the burden of donation among his ‘matchers’ and ultimately makes the night more profitable!  But he’ll take whatever his ‘matchers’ and donators can give.  Basically, just come for dinner, drinks, conversation and fun with friends.

This month, Sheldon has chosen Interstages as the charity.

Interstages: Success is in the Experience

Interstages is a nonprofit after school youth development program designed specifically for middle school girls in Southeast DC.  Founded three years ago by two former D.C. Public School teachers, Interstages provides opportunities for early adolescent girls in low-income neighborhoods to discover talents, strengthen and develop skills, and heighten self-awareness, setting the stage for a successful transition into young adulthood.  Three key elements make the Interstages model uniquely effective in engaging 6th-, 7th-, and 8th-grade girls: (1) exclusive focus on early adolescence; (2) academic personalization; and (3) connecting to history through music. Please call (202) 824-0740 to learn how you can get involved!

We Want You To

help change the name of the Wisconsin Ave boutique: We One You Two.  The New Name Campaign has been extended, so all you creative folks out there who have a hidden talent for coming up with catchy names and phrases, come out of the closet.  Should your name be "it", you can win yourself a boatload of prizes:

A $250 cash prize
Dinner for two at the trendy Hudson Restaurant & Lounge                               Two first row tickets to a Nationals game located directly behind the visitors dugout
Haircut, Highlight and Styling from Salon Nadar
and Phyto Skincare products from Erwin Gomez Salon & Spa

Enter today at www.weoneyoutwo.com and great luck!

Also, check out the nice article in The Georgetowner.

Oh Canada!

Come celebrate our northern neighbor’s national day, actually, its 141st birthday, on Tuesday July 1st at the cool Canadian Embassy.  The event is free, open to the public, and during lunchtime (you gotta eat, right?) so you have no excuse not to come.

What you can expect: Meet Bravo’s Top Chef’s Spike Mendelsohn, who is now the Chef of Good Stuff Eatery, experience music, entertainment, tons of food and drinks, and activities for the kids.  These Canadians know how to party, eh?

Interested in attending? Subscribe to www.Connect2Canada.com to receive your invitation.

The Embassy of Canada is located at 501 Pennsylvania Ave, NW.

(Pictured: Explorer Samuel de Champlain, who started the first permanent colony at Quebec City in the early 1600’s, holding what appears to be a bowl of french fries)

How much is that building on the corner …. ?

That can be sung to the tune of "How much is that puppy in the window?" Or you can sing it to the tune of $18 MILLION.

According to restaurant owner Carol Joynt herself, the landlord of  where Nathan’s (corner of M & Wisconsin, one of the original Georgetown bars/restaurants - in fact, it was the first bar where you could stand and drink) is found, is selling for $18 million.  That figure is not including the $2-3 million in renovation plus whatever else for taxes and insurance. 

We don’t want to lose Nathan’s, the modest institution with the original wood on the bar, where we listen to icons chat with Carol at the Q&A Cafe. 

If you are interested and have the dough - please contact Jon Moss at 202.338.2000.. Great luck…

Stay tuned …

…for:  dinner at Domaso, Nathan’s lunch with Ted Sorensen, a wine dinner at Teatro Goldoni, the upcoming Vans Warped Tour and so much more (think Eco initiative).

Birthday wishes

The proud owners of this week’s birthdays fall into the "social butterflys" category.  Vanessa Meccarielli, Jennifer Murawski, Tony Hudgins, Marybeth Coleman and Melissa Squire get a Punch shout out.

Enjoy your celebrations and I will expect to see plenty of pictures on Facebook.

pink, pretty people, polo, philanthropy and ponies

The 5th Annual Meadow Matches benefiting Work to Ride was played this past Saturday out at the Great Meadow Polo Club in The Plains, VA.  While you had the “usual DC suspects” who support Courage Cup, the First Chukkers, the polo community and non-profit community, a few new sponsors were on board as well. The Meltzer Group, AKA, MicroStrategy, and the Legal Times all stepped up, so thank you to them. 

(Pictured above: the scene on the field; below right: newly engaged teammates Amy Angelo and Tripp Donnelly)

The kids who played in the tournament had a blast.  This fundraiser has gotten some great national press over the past few years, including The Today Show, Worth Magazine, and hopefully (crossing our fingers) one very popular daytime talk show in the future.  With Keri Ann Meslar back in the saddle (so to speak) with Andrea Rodgers to help run the charity itself as well as the yearly event, we hope it only continues to grow.

Thanks to the great host team who went out of their way to work with the sponsors, Work to Ride, the kids, the press, and the attendees.  The amount of time and attention they put towards the catering, setting up the decorations and every other detail was fantastic.  I know it was a skeleton crew and all volunteers.  A few shout outs: Wright Sigmund, Lindley Thornburg, Ryan Tripplette, Lara Driscoe, Seda Atam, Michael Saylor, Jose Garcia, Joseph Allen, and of course, the lovely and talented Andrea Rodgers, who worked tirelessly on this day and night, even with a full-time job (please forgive me if I missed anyone!).

(Pictured above left: First Chukkers Roby Penn and Ray Regan; below right: Chris Rothstein, Rodrigo Garcia and John Cecchi)

For more information on the Courage Cup, Meadow Matches, or Work to Ride, please click through each to their respective websites.

(Pictured below left: Andrea Rodgers and Gatsby; below right: Project Beltway’s Rachel Cothran)

Know it all!

Today, Monday the 23rd of June, marks the official launch day of DC Girls in the Know Online.  I had the privilege of lunching with co-founders Chris Jacobs and Julie O’Brien last week and got the skinny on this cool concept:

DC Girls in the Know launches online bringing exclusive offers from select, ultra chic DC area businesses to its subscribers.  Salons, spas, restaurants, boutiques and more -  at introductory offers of up to 50% off retail prices.  Best of all, it’s free to subscribe and DC businesses pay nothing to participate, an especially attractive business model given current economic conditions.  Consumers get the services and products they want at an introductory discounted cost, and businesses get exposure to a new audience without prohibitive advertising fees. 

SPECIAL OFFER - TAKE ADVANTAGE!  it takes 2 seconds to do.

Pamela’s Punch readers that sign up for DC Girls in the Know now through Wednesday, June 25th, will get a $10 credit on their account to be used toward a future purchase.  Please note, one $10 new subscriber credit per person and the credit must be used or it expires in 6 months. 
To take advantage of this offer, sign up at:  http://www.dcgirlsintheknow.com/signupPP.asp?pr=1009

Right now, the focus is in the never ending hot spot of Georgetown.  Please check out their Current Deals: http://www.dcgirlsintheknow.com/currentdeals.asp

If you know of a retailer that should be involved with DC Girls in the Know, please contact one of these lovely ladies at info@dcgirlsintheknow.com.