Gaga over Giggle

What a perfect name for a baby store: Giggle. When I dropped by the store in Chevy Chase, I was immediately drawn in by the whimsical window displays and bright, cheerful interior. I was impressed by the store's selection of streamlined strollers, clothes, organic linens and toys, organized and labeled on clean white wooden shelves. Standouts were a bright tea set from recycled plastic and a baby rocker made from sleek dark wood fit for the living room. Giggle also offers story time for the little tykes. But be careful, once they get inside this fun store, they may not want to come out. Nor may you. Click here to find 20%-70% savings during Giggle's summer sale.

Excited about Tights

They're back. Fall must-have? Tights. I absolutely love this August Vogue spread on the subject done only as Vogue can do it. Also for more tight-legged fun, check out the many pairs on this local blogger from  the fashion void that is DC. She's nailed the trend like nobody's bizness. (Great haircut too.) Here's a pair to get you started by Free People at Bloomingdale's.  And please, don't be afraid to tell us where to find more. 

Arty Saturday

Today should be good: I'm planning a trip to downtown Silver Spring to check out the reopening of ArtSpring, a center started last year when five local artists got together to display their works in a neighborhood art show, which also included a wine-tasting, cupcakes and live music, provided by an artist's spouse. Proceeds went to a nonprofit. Sounds like a fun group right? They'll be at their new space on Georgia till 10 pm. 

Next up might be a trip to Ibhana boutique on Cindy Lane in Bethesda for a clearance sale and chance to pick up a free scarf. Founder Meena Tharmaratnam showcases unique clothing, hats, jewelry and accessories from around the world. 

Because I've never been to either place, it should be a great day! I'll report back with all the details later.

Friday quick bites from Lifetime to dining to shopping

Anticipate: Look for DC writer Cathy Alter's Up For Renewal on Lifetime in the near future. Yes, our local girl made good and just found out her book has been optioned for Lifetime Television. She's wondering who should play her? She suggests Tori Spelling. I say No Way. How about the lovely Sarah Jessica Parker or a more earthbound Cameron Diaz? Much more Cathy-esque.

Dine and Relax: Don't know where to eat? Try redDog Cafe on Grubb Road in Rock Creek Shopping Center, Silver Spring (very close to Chevy Chase). Chef Michael Chretien, formerly of Rock Creek in Mazza Gallerie, whips up a mean gazpacho served in a martini glass. That, the tender scallops served with cauliflower gratin and a glass of crisp white wine on the patio starts the weekend off right.

Shop: Have you visited the new stores on Wisconsin Place yet? Baby store Giggle is well-organized. Its bright white shelves are stocked with everything from organic baby clothes to all-natural baby skincare to a cute, unique selection of toys. Also in the shopping center are a spanking new BCBG Max Azria and White House Black Market, which just opened yesterday. 

Bon Weekend!

Bethesda is a Snoburb?

Tell me it ain't so. When I checked out Lydia Sullivan's snoburbia.com for my magazine column, I was laughing my head off reading the community satire on her blog. She takes the overachieving lifestyle of the Bethesda environs and turns it on its head, providing a good dose of self-deprecating humor and giving us all a chance to look at ourselves (or for sure our neighbors) and stop overachieving long enough for a good laugh.  She's taken it one step further with T-shirts, including one with a MoCo logo new in July. For you yahoos out there, MoCo stands for the well-heeled DC 'burbs known as Montgomery County where several public schools regularly make Newsweek's Top 100 list and where everyone, well, is just better than everyone else. Lydia is a longtime area resident and loves the city and its people. But she just can't help herself from having a little tongue-in-cheek fun. Soft cotton tees come in sizes for all ages and in a slim cut. Graphics include "hobbies" like Thinker (my son Will, above) and Writer. There's a succinct I Got In with an Ivy leaf emblazoned on the front as well as one that boasts My internship is more impressive. Well, National Institutes of Health is in my backyard: doesn't that go without saying? My own dear MoCo-raised and W-school wunderkind son and his friend Rafi were kind enough to pose in the shirts. Rafi's fave: MD > VA. Lydia is also making some shirts going the other direction. But I won't mention those here.

Joyful Bath cleans up in Hollywood

Not even a year ago, bath-lover Rochel Roland created  Joyful Bath Co. out of a need for good bath salts to soothe her aching muscles (she's a speed skater too). Now the Kensington resident is getting ready for a September trip to Hollywood for Emmy week.  Her all-natural concoctions have not only helped her aching muscles, they've soothed the psyches of celebs like Brooke Shields, Reese Witherspoon, Halle Barry and others as part of Hollywood Moms Swag Bags. (I was the lucky Twitter winner of Ginger Snap, which I love post-workout.) The Citrus Buzz salts were inside The Buzz Girls swag bag at the "Confessions of a Shopaholic" DVD premiere bash. The Bath Mixologist has a background in earth sciences and mixes eco- and skin-friendly ingredients like oatmeal, vanilla and lavender with natural sea and Epsom salts that other eco-minded souls are snapping up by the bucket. What's next? Oprah? Well, yes. The talk show host is one of many high-profile celebs that will get a gift box containing Joyful Bath salts among the swag presented by Grammy-givers Distinctive Assets. Visit the Bethesda showroom on Wednesdays; see the bath salts 24/7 here.

So You Think You Can Dance?

My husband, friends and I stood at the edges of the dance floor Friday night at the Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park with tentative, somewhat queasy smiles on our faces. Forcing bravado, I said, "Let's do it. Let's get on the floor." A friend replied, "Well we are. Once we figure out what to do out there." Oh, that's easy, I thought, in my newfound brazen dancer mode. Because I could cut a mean country-western swing in my Tucson college days, I assumed conquering the group contra would be as easy as a promenade and a dosey do. Wrong.  "No your other left," one man said as he tried to get my arm into the square-circle configuration as I marched to the right. "Now spin!" Right, spin. Struggling to keep moving, keeping left from right, spinning the woman in the middle, now the other guy, now my husband, now line up, stomp stomp stomp, I felt rivulets of sweat trickling down my back, which were quickly flowing into a river. My friends were lost in the crowd. I was dizzy and short of breath. Ecstatic, red-faced and dripping, we twirled to meet the next couple. My husband and I had gone from two spastic stiffs on the sidelines to two dancers among many merged in the graceful kaleidoscope that was contra dance at the (un-air-conditioned) Spanish Ballroom. Our group, first-timers there for a birthday, loved it and is going back--early, 7:30 sharp, for the lesson. For $9 we get to leave our dancing insecurities behind, burn a couple hundred calories and "dance like the dickens" as Joe Ely would say. (Click here to see full lyrics and play the song. Though they didn't play it on contra night, which isn't country swing, Ely's "West Texas Waltz" is one of my all-time dance faves and perfectly captures the spirit of the night.)

Dancing in the Spanish Ballroom, photo courtesy of Bruce Douglas

(from the website)