1st Night Alexandria 2014

First Night Alexandria is a family oriented, non-alcohol New Year's Eve celebration held on December 31 at dozens of venues throughout historic Old Town Alexandria. I have attended a few time before with more jazz and world music. I decided just to watch the firework before the new year even final count down since I did not find any programs interesting for me.

I met with a friend in old town to have some take-out food for dinner. We found this  interesting Peruvian chicken restaurant with a wall full of photos of celebrities and all sizes of chicken craft art.

I had a lot of Peruvian grilled chicken when I visited Peru. This iconic regional dish is intensely flavored marinade, deeply seasons the meat, and the grill gives it a beautiful sear. 

After dinner and some TV, we started 4 miles walk to the King Street and saw the firework.  We were behind some trees so we did not get to see the firework very well.

After the firework, we stopped by a restaurant to dance a little and had some free Champagne.  Here comes 2014!

Holiday parties and Comedy clubs

There are a lot of holiday parties going on in December. I attended 2-3 each week. If I run into interesting people, I stayed longer. Otherwise, I went to a comedy club thereafter. There are some really funny comedians in town. Check them out!

The Last Resort Comedy Show at ODB Live!

Max Rosenblum

Weekly Event - Every Tuesday: 9:00 PM to 10:30 PM (EDT)

Old Dominion Brewhouse

Underground Comedy at The Big Hunt

Underground Comedy

Weekly Event - Every Wednesday & Friday: 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM (EDT)

After Class @ The Science Club: Weekly Educational Comedy

Max Rosenblum

Weekly Event - Every Thursday: 8:30 PM to 11:00 PM (EST)

Science Club

I also attended some meet ups for recreation, including one bowling event in Falls Church. I bowled pretty bad that night but had good time (The best score was 167, and mine was 41). The group went to a restaurant across the street for dinner after the game. I had one hard apple cider with ~5% alcohol. 

Watch a play "WOODY SEZ: The Life & Music of Woody Guthrie"

I enjoyed the play Woody Sez that is full of toe-tapping music, rich emotion, and powerful messages that illuminate the life and works of American folk music giant Woody Guthrie, who wrote more than 1000 folk songs in his life time, including the famous "This Land is Your Land," etc.  Each of the four cast members was mufti-talented, who can sang and dance at the same time and played more than 30 songs with several kinds of instruments via out the play.  Here is the link to a review of the play.

http://dctheatrescene.com/2013/12/04/woody-sez-life-music-woody-guthrie/

Here is a link to BCC feature on Woody at Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EnXnFgnkUc

I went to a friend's house for a holiday party thereafter.   It was a
POTLUCK (great food and deserts), and we played dry ice and took photos. We also played a white elephant game to exchange zanier gifts. I took home a gingerbread kit.

Office party at Georgetown Powerhouse

At the water front. I was in my office party Friday night wearing a wig, singing songs, gambling, wining, and dining. 

I almost settle in my life in DC after coming back from my three month trip in the Middle East two days ago. Life is fun.

Pleasantly packed Saturday Night

I found out two events at the last minute, and persuaded one friend to join me for both: Kulinary Concepts Launch Party and grant opening of 1350 a new Saturday night party. We had a great time. 

Kulinary Concepts is an events innovation company that hosts kitchen wars and other food events throughout The weather was cool and pleasant to eat outdoors, and the Upper Courtyard of the Letelier Theatre at Georgetown was perfect for the setting.  The theater is dedicated to the vision and ideals of former Chilean ambassador, Orlando Letelier.  I did not know about the Theatre until Saturday. I am looking forward to attending film festivals, screenings, cultural events, and private functions there.

 

We enjoyed freshly prepared mini-burgers, sausages, salad, wine, cheese, great dissert, and mingled with new friends.  One gentleman met his 16 yrs neighbors who never knew each other at Glen Echo until Saturday.  It is amazing how people connected in person via events instead of their communities.

While walking toward the Georgetown water front park, we run into a Shakespeare play in a Church front yard. We walked back to her car to get a blanket and enjoyed “As you like it” for ~45 minutes before the next event.  I took a nap and energized for the next event.

The dance bar opened door around 11 pm, and we took complimentary cocktails and finger foods until the dance floor got busy.  Another friend joined us around 12 pm. Most of the guests are African Americans. We were the only Asians and Caucasian.  People were really friendly and engaging. We danced until 1 pm ended a Saturday with a great note.