The new Crumbs Bake Shop in Clarendon (2839 Clarendon Boulevard) will be giving away free cupcakes tomorrow to celebrate its grand opening.
The store, which opened on Dec. 30, will give away 1,000 of its signature size (read: large) cupcakes to its first 1,000 customers. Also, the store is giving away free cups of coffee with any cupcake purchase.
Crumbs is open from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Saturdays.
If you unwrapped one of those hot new tablet devices over the holidays, you’re probably looking for ways to make the most of it without breaking the bank by buying a virtual bookcase-full of eBooks.
Well, if you have a Nook, an iPad, a Sony Reader, or another compatible device, you can actually “borrow” eBooks for free from the Arlington Public Library.
For more information on how the system works, the library is holding an eReader clinic tomorrow night. Library technology gurus will be on hand at the Central Library auditorium starting at 7:00 p.m. Thursday to show how to use the library’s eBook system and to answer frequently-asked questions.
One important caveat: Amazon’s Kindle does not work with library eBook downloads.
It was hard to pick just one winner for our Arlington holiday poem contest, but in the end we went with an entry that tackled one of the most controversial issues in Arlington in 2010: towing.
Our winner, Rich, came up with a humorous and topical take on a towing story we reported on earlier this month, setting it to the tune of a classic Christmas song.
Sung to Oh Holy Night
Oh towing guy!
I found the perfect spot,
It is the night I need to drop off a package!
Though I may sin and error by parking here
I’ll only be a minute.
A thrill to know that I only blocked a few cars
For yonder breaks to beat the towin’.I fall on my knees
Oh to see you lay the hook
Oh why are you towing my car
Oh night 3 days before Christ was born
Oh bye my car
Oh ATM here I come
Rich wins a two tickets to Synetic Theater’s performance of The Nutcracker in Crystal City.
Thank you to all the wordsmiths and songwriters who entertained us with their contest entries. Happy holidays!
Update on 12/23 — We have a winner.
When Synetic Theater offered us two free tickets to their family-friendly performance of The Nutcracker — playing in Crystal City through Jan. 16 — we immediately realized that this was a perfect opportunity for a holiday-themed contest.
Since haiku and ugly holiday sweater contests are old hat, here’s what we’re going to do instead:
Compose a poem about Arlington, in the style of a classic holiday song or story. For instance, you might work brown flip flops into Twas the Night Before Christmas.
Submit your masterpiece in the comments section, and be sure to use your real email address so we can tell you how to claim your Nutcracker tickets if you’re the winner.
Please keep your poem short and lighthearted. Mean-spirited or obscene submissions will be removed.
We’ll pick our favorite and announce the champion around this time tomorrow.
Photo courtesy Synetic Theater
You may have seen the IBM ads on TV talking about “building a smarter planet.” Those ads reference the company’s Smarter Cities Challenge, which seeks to award 50 cities (or counties) in North America with $250,000 to $400,000 in free technology and consulting services to solve a key problem facing each locality.
The company is now hoping that Arlington applies to the program.
“There could be a number of ways for IBM to help in Arlington, from traffic problems to Metro efficiency and safety,” said IBM rep Max Luckey. “The IBM grant could help fund new infrastructure improvements, streamline administration costs, or even help with projects like the Rosslyn Gateway Park redevelopment.”
The solutions provided by IBM are data and technology-driven, but such solutions can be applied to most problems facing local governments, we’re told. Better citizen engagement and improved delivery of services are two other examples of ways in which the Challenge can help.
The deadline for applying to the program is Dec. 31.
If you ran the county government, what problem would you try to solve?
Chick-fil-A expects that some people may start camping out overnight for the “First 100” giveaway at the company’s new Crystal City location.
The company is giving a one-year supply of free Chick-fil-A meals to the first 100 adults in line at 6:00 a.m. on Thursday, when the restaurant officially opens.
Chick-fil-A staffers will start monitoring the line — which will be forming in the park across the street from the store’s 2200 Crystal Drive location — at 6:00 tomorrow morning. If more than 100 people are camped out at that time, a raffle will be held to determine who is eligible to stay.
Chick-fil-A runs the “First 100” giveaway to build buzz in advance of each restaurant opening.
In another marketing move, the store distributed free chicken sandwiches to Crystal City lunch-goers over the past two days.
Froyo and salad shop Sweetgreen has pushed the opening of its Ballston store back to Monday, Nov. 29, at the earliest. That date is tentative, a company rep tells us.
Despite the delay, the store is moving forward with a plan to celebrate the forthcoming opening by paying for a free yoga weekend at a neighborhood yoga studio.
This weekend, anyone who registers in advance can take free yoga classes at the Tranquil Space yoga studio (3528 Wilson Blvd). Participants will also get a free gift from Sweetgreen.
What better place is there to learn how to salsa than The Salsa Room on Columbia Pike? It’s a natural choice, like ordering cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory.
Now thanks to one of our marketing partners, you can now get salsa lessons for free while mingling with D.C. area professionals.
Local group buying web site So What’s the Deal is offering the two hour, $10 dance lessons for $2. But why pay anything at all? Email [email protected] and get a coupon code to make your ticket free.
The dance lessons, organized by the networking group Professionals in the City, will take place from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 18. Beginner and intermediate dancers are welcome.
When Chick-fil-A does a grand opening, they do it big. The opening of the new Crystal City store at 2200 Crystal Drive will be no exception.
The company is expecting people to start lining up for the Nov. 18 opening at 6:00 a.m. on Nov. 17.
The reason people would brave the cold for a fast food restaurant opening? The store is offering a one-year supply of free Chick-fil-A meals to the first 100 adults in line (a $260 value).
The queue will be set up in the park across the street, so the campers don’t get clog the sidewalk. A company spokesperson said 200 people lined up 24 hours prior to a restaurant opening in Denver last week for the same “First 100” promotion.
If there are more than 100 people in line in Crystal City by 6:00 a.m. on Nov. 17, the first 100 spots will be determined by a raffle.
In advance of the opening, Chick-fil-A will also be doing a big sandwich giveaway. The restaurant will distribute 10,000 chicken sandwiches during the lunch hour of Nov. 15 and 16.
Chick-fil-A says the store, which will employ nearly 50 people, is the result of years of market research.
“With the company having researched locations in the area since 2004, the Crystal City restaurant provides an opportunity for the chain to be a part of the Crystal City streetscape,” the company said in a press release. “The Chick-fil-A restaurant also is conveniently located to mass transit and the Pentagon.”
It seems that we made yesterday’s contest for free Burst @ Artisphere tickets a bit too esoteric. Turns out, no one was able to find unintentional art around Arlington.
So we’ll make this easier.
Compose a haiku about Artisphere and put it in the comments section. We’ll pick the one we like the best tomorrow afternoon. The winner gets their name on the list for free entry to Saturday’s open-bar-and-music extravaganza at Artisphere.
Thank you to our friends at Brightest Young Things for supplying the tickets.
Update at 3:40 p.m. — Congrats to Evan, who wins the two free tickets (a $40 value!) for the following Artisphere haiku:
Newseum no more
But its legacy remains
Spell check confounded
Thank you to all our participants!
Do you like viewing art and drinking PBR? Are you high on creativity but low on cash? Well ARLnow.com and our friends at Brightest Young Things want to hook one lucky reader up with a pair of free tickets to the Burst! @ Artisphere pre-opening event Saturday night.
Held at the not-yet-open-to-the-public Artisphere, Burst will feature DJs, elaborate balloon sculptures, a camera crew from TLC following around the creator of the aforementioned balloon sculptures, and UNLIMITED FREE BEER AND WINE (until the bartender cuts you off).
Since we only have one set of tickets (normally $20 apiece) to give away, we’ll do this contest-style.
Here’s the challenge: find an example of “unintentional art” somewhere in Arlington. Photograph it. Email it to arlnowcontest[at]gmail.com by Thursday night. Include your real name, how you want to be identified on the site, the neighborhood you live in, and a Twitter-sized description of the “art” and where you found it.
We’ll show some of the entries and arbitrarily pick a winner on Friday. Good luck!
