I've been having so many great conversations with people here recently about how much Washington has grown and changed over the last few years, and how exciting it is to feel a part of it. A couple of days ago, I gave my thoughts on the subject to writer (and photographer!) Alex Ogle, who quoted me in this piece, published on Wednesday.

Some wonderful, flattering stories have been written about Washington (and my neighborhood!) recently, including this New York Times piece on our town's booming restaurant scene.

Now, off to be overwhelmed by the events and awesomeness of this city and this incoming administration. Let's get to it, Washington. This is our time to shine!

Xo
Rachel

{Above: Hermes is staging a pop-up shop in the library of the Sofitel Lafayette Square Hotel tomorrow through Tuesday from 10 a.m. til 6 p.m. Expect accessories in patriotic shades of red, white and blue. Just in case you need to pick up a lil sumptn-sumptn on the way to the Ball!}

Brain Scan

Posted on January 15, 2009
Filed Under Everything Else | 1 Comment

I just got an email from a friend reminding me to vote in Daily Candy’s Sweetest Things contest, so I voted for Ginger in Style and Athena’s Olive Tree in Pamper (I wrote that one, happily road-tested some products, and am utterly addicted to the scrubs). Voting for Ginger (Gretchen, the owner, is so cool and laid-back) reminded me of meeting Cathy Alter there late last week, buying her book, and talking blogs. She’s decided to put hers to bed for the time being, even after I convinced her to read Andrew Sullivan’s excellent essay, Why I Blog, which I had somehow missed til now. It really puts into words the challenging and rewarding aspects of blogging, and is the first well-done explanation of why both print and online media are and will continue to be essential.

Give and Get Goodwill

Posted on January 15, 2009
Filed Under Only in Washington, Shopping Events & News | 1 Comment

It never fails: when someone asks me about something I have on and, invariably, the answer is "Goodwill" or "vintage," I get typically get an I-can-never-find-anything-at-those-places sort of reaction. This makes me sad, because the hunt is the part that I love the most. There's nothing like unearthing something unique, that no one else will have, for just a few bucks. It becomes an addiction, and because of it I'm pretty bored whenever I walk into a regular store with rows and rows of the same top in as many colors and sizes as the number of girls who will buy it.

DC Goodwill's Inauguration Donation event on Saturday is the best of both worlds: vintage and thrift items, handpicked for stylishness by Goodwill Fashionista Em Hall but priced just like any other item you'd normally find at a local Goodwill. No rummaging! No breaking the bank! I walked away with a few serious scores (long-chain evening bag, Anthropologie-esque skirt, nautical-inspired jacket) at the last event and spent maybe $25.

And if you're like me and have waited til um, today, to decide which inaugural events to attend, you probably haven't figured out what to wear to them all. There's an article in The Washington Times about inauguration shopping on the cheap - check that out here.

I plan on bringing a bag full of things to donate...and getting there early. In the meantime, who else adores this Chanel brooch on sale in DC Goodwill's eBay shop? It would be awesome with a cluster of other pins on the striped shirtdress I bought the other day at Annie Creamcheese. Very Michelle Obama...

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Hats Off to the President!

Posted on January 15, 2009
Filed Under Around Town | Leave a Comment

What a great blend of fashion-marketing genius for a good cause: the Hat For Obama campaign. Yesterday I received a note from Josh Shayne, a recent graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, who is on a mission to hand-deliver a Stetson hat to President-elect Barack Obama, all in the name of bringing back the inaugural hat. What is the inauguration hat, you ask? As Huffington Post explains, it was once customary for the soon-to-be-sworn-in to don a top hat for inauguration festivities, and the last prez to do so was JFK in '61. I doubt that Obama will wear a top hat of course, but if he does wear one, what kind will he wear?

Speaking of hats and Obama, there are some great, arty photos of Obama in college at Occidental via TIME:

Josh and his friend James Darling (James! Dahhhling! sorry) will brave this effing freezing weather from now til the 20th, and you can follow their adventures - blogs, video, etc - at www.hatforobama.com. If you buy a Stetson on the site, the company will donate a portion of the proceeds, up to $50,000, to Hats Off For Cancer, a non-profit providing hats for children who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment.

Hats off to Josh and James!

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J.Crew’s sketch for Michelle Obama

Posted on January 14, 2009
Filed Under Everything Else, Only in Washington | 1 Comment

Did anyone else do a little double-take at this cover of the January 2009 J. Crew catalog? Everyone from Diane von Furstenberg to Katie Ermilio, who won Robin Givhan's inaugural gown design contest, wants to dress Michelle, so I love this obvious riff on the sketch madness. The media attention and new role will certainly be intense and Michelle will definitely need to get away for a beach vacation. But do you think we'll see her in a red bikini?

Speaking of Robin Givhan, and Michelle Obama, what do they have in common with me and a certain not-so-small news channel? Stay tuned.

Xo,
Rachel

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I Heart Artistic Aya.

Posted on January 13, 2009
Filed Under Around Town, Events, Think Runway...Shop Beltway | 1 Comment

OK, so this was weeks ago, but I stumbled over the photos of the Artistic Aya fashion installation I hosted at Civilian Art Projects just now and realized that I never shared. And you deserve to see, because Dana is just ridiculously talented; not to mention smart, self-effacing and just plain cool. Dana graciously gave me the long paper chain necklace I'd been coveting as a thank you for hosting, and it has gotten me more compliments than any other thing I've worn recently. People are so drawn to it.

The three hosts - Dana, and Teresa Watts from Lettie Gooch and I - all showed up wearing black dresses and purple tights, all without planning it like my friends and I used to do in middle school. We spent plenty of time after the show was all over goofing off.

The clothes are such a celebration. I love the draped construction of the striped dress (very Vivienne Westwood), the exposed zippers and the all of the chiffon. I adore chiffon!

One of the models, Loren Bray, got really into the posing. She was so much fun to watch.

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