>> Open City, the coffeehouse, diner and bar in Woodley Park, is celebrating its 2nd birthday tonight by offering diners their choice of a free cup of Tryst blend coffee, a glass of champagne, or a piece of chocolate birthday cake. >> Homegrown online fashion purveyors Unsung Designers are heading to New York, but tonight they’ll be hosting a final D.C. trunk sale from 6 to 9 p.m. at 2412 18th Street NW in…

After reporting last week on a slew of misaligned walk signs plaguing the city, we couldn’t stop spotting them everywhere. At Florida Ave. and R St., NW, and Pennsylvania Ave. and 8th St., SE, all eight pedestrian signals were pointing away from oncoming foot traffic — surely a dangerous state of affairs. While we originally speculated strong winds were responsible, several readers tipped us off on the most likely culprits: construction and delivery trucks. After…

What does a young graffiti artist brought down in his prime do? Go back to tagging of course, but this time for a living. Borf, the notorious Virginia-based graffiti artist that spent the better part of two years brazenly tagging everything in the District from garbage cans to highway signs (a sampling of his work is pictured here), may just have found his dream job. After being sentenced to a month in jail last February…

Now that Black Friday and her bastard half-brother Cyber Monday are behind us, it’s time to ditch mall food court and Internet cafes in favor of shopping among a real, slightly more civilized crowd. On Saturday, several local businesses are partnering to host charity shopping events benefiting oh-so worthy organizations. As if that weren’t reason enough to break out the plastic, the D.C. tax holiday is still in full effect. Suddenly we’re feeling festive… Shopping…

What are the smokeless bars and clubs and restaurants? I don’t go out in D.C. as much as I would (as much as I do in NYC), because of the smoke. D.C has an active smokefree lobbying group, Smokefree D.C., which regularly goes head-to-head with Ban the Ban and other pro-smoking establishments groups (smoking “choice” if you will). So far, efforts to legislate smokefree bars and restaurants in the District have not panned out, but…

Fall catalogs are quickly cramming our mailbox and “Back to Cool” commercials are again making schoolchildren cringe, but the frizz-inducing weather reminds us with a humid slap each morning that it’s still summer. Celebrate the sweaty mess that is a D.C. summer at the Midcity Dog Days of August, a sidewalk sale and festival spanning the U and 14th Street NW corridors this Saturday and Sunday. More than 50 businesses are participating in the sixth…

Despite our lack of a W, D.C. sure has its share of fancy-shmancy boutique hotels. And that’s predominantly because of the Kimpton Group, who operate six hotels in D.C. — their second largest metropolitan hub after their headquarters in San Francisco. As Metrocurean says, the Kimpton Group has done a great job taking ugly D.C. buildings and transforming them not only into swank hotels, but also spaces with fun bars/lounges and fine dining. And now…

Popular late night Dupont Circle pizzeria Alberto’s has been closed since a fire damaged the eatery on Wednesday. Local blogger Brownpau has posted a couple photos on Flickr of Alberto’s, including the one here. When we stopped by the DC Hot! Sandwich Works last night for a late bite to eat (DC Hot! is a local version of Potbelly’s located just next door to Alberto’s at 2004 P St NW), the exhausted attendants said they…

Today will be partly cloudy with highs in the 40s. If you came to our happy hour thanks for stopping by, if not, go see what you missed! If you’re a blogger the MeetUp.com D.C. blogger meetup for March is this Wednesday, and with a couple notable RSVP’s already promises to be an interesting time. This weekend we took a walk around Second Street NE and reported on the controversy swirling around the FEC and…

Here’s a quick sampling of what’s going on around town this weekend. Stay dry! TONIGHT: Music. Local bands you probably haven’t heard of: The Routineers, Two If By Sea, People Who Know People 9:30 @ Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW Movie. Monty Python and the Holy Grail Midnight @ Visions Cinema Bistro (repeats Saturday at midnight) Help Visions kick the keg. $10. SATURDAY: Book Sale Starts 9 a.m. @ Radisson Barcelo Hotel, 2121 P…