Holiday shopping not done? Stop by a D.C. museum for gift memberships and presents like Corcoran student art, handpainted scarves, and mini astronaut suits. more ›

Justin Bieber headlined this year's Christmas in Washington show, and the Post was on it. Not to be outdone, the City Paper reviewed Bieber's holiday single. Not to be outdone either, the Post had some outtakes from the Biebs. Not to be outdone, we've jumped on to the Bieber bandwagon. more ›

Tis the season for holiday markets, bringing the work of artists and crafters into D.C., the focus of the latest entry in our series of holiday shopping guides that focus on small businesses and local stores, producers and purveyors. more ›

It's almost time for Christmas, and the National Christmas Tree is slowly taking shape. more ›

Today is All Saints Day, which, according to the laws of American consumerism, means it's time for everyone to start thinking about Christmas. (I know, it's pretty gross.) more ›

Stealing presents from children on Christmas Eve is about as low as it gets. But fortunately for one family, Lieutenant Vincent Turner was working the Christmas Eve shift. more ›

Did you decide to celebrate the Christmas holiday by engaging in the time-honored tradition of cutting down a big piece of greenery, placing it in your home and decorating it with trinkets and various electrical wires, only to take it down a few days after the holiday? Well, don't just throw that tree away -- you can recycle it! The District Department of Public Works says that they'll be collecting trees curbside from treeboxes in front of people's homes between January 3 and 15, but if you don't want to wait, you can also take your tree to any number of recycling centers in the District, Virginia and Maryland and turn that piece of holiday paraphenalia into a soil erosion barrier, a fish or bird feeder, mulch or a path for a hiking trail. Consider it your belated Christmas gift to the environment -- just don't forget to take off the decor. (Yes, even the ugly ornaments.) more ›

We may not have gotten buckets of snow to photograph yesterday, but who cares: blizzard photographs are so last winter. Instead we found some lovely holiday light displays, delicious treats, and naturally, a few adorable animal snapshots in the DCist Flickr pool today. more ›

Tired of last-minute shopping? Need a break from the holiday cold? Just looking for a place to plop down for a refreshing beverage? You're in luck: Washington Post Going Out Gurus editor Fritz Hahn points us to the Facebook page of The Mighty Pint, located at 1831 M Street NW, which says that the bar will be giving away free beer today and tomorrow. Free beer, guys! more ›

Because really, what says Christmas more than elves driving around in powerboats, the Grinch performing tricks on a personal watercraft and Santa Claus waterskiing around National Harbor? Nothing, that's what. more ›

A large majority of people appear to be taking their leave of Washington this afternoon, what with the federal government pretty much closing up for the year and many workers having the day off tomorrow. So whether you're readying to be one of the seventy percent of people who won't get an accurate screening from a TSA agent, preparing to hop behind the wheel or simply thinking about traveling around the region, here's a quick look at how things are going around the area's transportation hubs. more ›

You might think that you've got holiday spirit. But are you willing to go on television during the morning rush like ABC7/TBD weatherman Brian van de Graaff while donning an ugly sweater, apparently this year's holiday trend du jour? I doubt it. Full credit to you, Mr. van de Graaff -- your dedication to holiday merriment through iron-on decals is beyond reproach. more ›

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

How much do we really know about this "Santa Claus" fellow anyway? Recluse, obsessed with kids, employs a massive force of diminutive slaves, annual violator of any number of international aerospace regulations; has Homeland Security checked this guy out? If they had, they might have uncovered some rather unsavory elements of the Santa mythology. (Sorry, under-10 readers, I meant Santa history.) In Finland, turns out he may have been the same character as the "Yule Goat", a horned creature that demanded offerings and was more of the tough love school when it came to getting the kiddies to behave. more ›

Good Morning, Washington. It's your last shopping weekend before Christmas: so get thee out to local stores and markets and buy your last-minute gifts. I'll certainly be heading out to Eastern Market for some shopping and to see a Tommy Claus tomorrow. more ›

Not to depress the whole lot of you, but this story in USA Today -- about how the United States Post Office is receiving more letters to Santa from children asking for basic needs instead of toys -- is one of the most melancholic news blasts I've read in some time. more ›

Omnipresent Christmas music assaults one's ears throughout the month of December. If it does not push you over the edge, you may be the sort of person who actually wants to hear a Christmas concert at this time of the year. Our picks for the season's most interesting holiday concerts follow, mostly free of Christmas chestnuts: much more of the best of the rest after the jump. more ›

It's that time of the year: Thanksgiving is over, you've likely already started shopping for gifts, time to buy a Christmas tree. After all, the Obamas already received theirs. more ›

Want to attend the National Christmas Tree Lighting on the Ellipse on December 9? Tickets for 3,000 seats and 10,000 standing room admissions for the 5 p.m. event are free, but will be distributed through a lottery system that goes online at 12:01 a.m. this Thursday, November 4th (okay, technically, since it's a minute after midnight it's Friday the 5th -- but for most of us that means Thursday night). more ›

The Suspicious Cheese Lords are one of the more original acts in the local classical music world. An all-male choir founded by countertenor Clifton "Skip" West in 1998, the group has made a name for itself singing Renaissance polyphony in its original format, for all male voices, without the usual transposition and rearrangement needed to adapt much of this music for choirs of mixed voices. For its Christmas concert this year, this Saturday at 7 p.m., the ensemble returns to the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center (3900 Harewood Rd. NE), the scene of its private performance for Pope Benedict XVI last April. more ›

When Sheryl Crow dedicated her first song to the troops, I mentally composed a letter to Santa Claus. -star Jordin Sparks, hot Hobbit-music troupe Celtic Woman, an Internet meme and the "President's Own" U.S. Marine Band -- performing a Starbucks mix's worth of holiday cheer to celebrate the lighting of the National Christmas Tree. more ›

Christmas cheer is inevitable this time of year, but when it comes to holiday music, the range of choices can be daunting. Each year, we pick out what we think will be the most interesting concerts, the ones that will (hopefully) not make you roll your eyes. If you want something more traditional — your carol medleys, your Messiah, your Nutcracker — it's all after the jump. more ›

Susie Cambria, via her excellent Budget & Policy Corner blog, reminds us that there are 900 D.C. foster children who are hoping to get Christmas presents this holiday season, and the Child and Family Services Agency needs D.C. residents to help. If you're able to purchase a few gifts for some needy local foster kids this year, you can find more details on this flier. Just tell CFSA how many children you can buy gifts for, and they'll give you the age, gender and sizes for each child. Delivery dates for gifts for specific kids are Dec. 7 & 8, while general toy donations can be dropped off on Dec. 14 or 15. Also on the flier are details on how to put together a Thanksgiving dinner basket for a CFSA family. more ›

Ghosts, demons, and various otherworldly entities populate the plays of Conor McPherson, but the only spirit at work in Dublin Carol, which Scena Theatre is currently presenting in its professional Washington premiere, comes in a bottle labeled "Jameson". Of course, drink is also a staple of McPherson's work: the playwright, a recovering alcoholic himself, has long been concerned with the place of the bottle in the Irish identity. John (Matt Dougherty), the undertaker at the center of Carol is just one of many well soused McPherson protagonists, men for whom there is nothing so terrible as a look at the bottom of an empty glass. more ›

A Peeps store at National Harbor sounded pretty absurd on its face. What does a Peeps store do once Easter is over and the Post's uploaded its last Peeps Show image? more ›

Photo by Darren and Brad more ›

For those of you staying in the city all through the holidays, here's how it's going to work on Metro, via today's press release from WMATA: more ›

Christmas music tends to be pretty polarizing, but we're firmly in the Love It camp. A bunch of local musicians have been keeping themselves busy in the pursuit of holiday music, too. Here are a few gems we've found from our local reserves — from bands that are still knocking around local clubs and those long gone by. Enjoy, and let us know if you know of any others. more ›

Q: What do you call a couple hundred Santas running around the National Mall in broad daylight, singing Christmas carols, stopping traffic, and bringing a healthy amount of Season's Greetings wherever they go? more ›

Remember the Christmas-themed White House Hannukah party invitations the Bushes sent out? Well the New York Post followed up today with news that the hubbub over the mistake forced the first family to send out a new round of invites yesterday, this time with a menorah on them and a note saying, "Please accept our apologies as the invitation you previously received had the incorrect artwork on it." Hopefully however many Jewish leaders there are who actually want to celebrate Hanukkah with the Bush family feel a little better now. more ›

Just how checked out are President and Mrs. Bush? The New York Post reports that they sent out invitations to Jewish leaders for a Hanukkah reception at the White House with a big Christmas tree pictured on the front.

The message reads that the couple "requests the pleasure of your company at a Hanukkah reception," written beneath an image of a Clydesdale horse hauling a Christmas fir along the snow-dappled drive to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.