Hi, Voula here:

December has finally arrived! The crisp days and cold, cold nights of hot chocolate and red wine by the fire are here; And those visions of sugarplums dance in my head. Road rage, shopping madness and holiday parties have are here ladies and gentlemen!

As promised, here is a list of some fun events to do around the city with your partner and/or loved ones this holiday season. This great list of events (compiled by www.smallfriendlyplanet.org) are sure to put you in that great holiday spirit we sometimes forget.

1. FEATURED EVENT: 30th Annual Logan Circle Holiday House Tour
2. DOING GOOD: OAR Project Christmas Angel
3. Member In Focus: Drew Potterfield, Long View Gallery Manager
4. Yoga for Good
5. Mount Vernon by Candlelight
6. Parade of Lighted Boats
7. Date Night at ZooLights
8. Washington Area Bicyclist Association Holiday Party
9. Holiday Embassy Series Event: Denmark
10. Let’s Dance! Movie Screening
11. Grands Vins: ChampagneBlanc de Blancs
12. National Symphony Orchestra: Handel’s Messiah
13. A Special “It’s A Wonderful Life” Screening
14. 3rd Annual Rock for Kids Benefit
15. Washington Symphonic Brass Holiday Celebration

1. FEATURED EVENT: 30th Annual Logan Circle Holiday House Tour
When: Sunday, December 7, 1-5pm
Where: Logan Circle neighborhood in Washington, DC
Cost: $15 in advance through LCCA’s website
More Info: www.LoganCircle.org

The Logan Circle Community Association (LCCA)invites DC area
residents and visitors to attend the 30th Annual Logan Circle Holiday
House Tour, a self-guided tour of Logan Circle homes which concludes
with a Wassail reception hosted at the Long View Gallery, 1302 9th
Street, NW from 3 – 5:30pm the day of the tour, featuring raffle
prizes from local merchants. This year the tour will include eleven
properties in the Logan Circle neighborhood with an emphasis on East
Logan. As always, the properties offer a variety of architectural
styles ranging from contemporary to Victorian. Seven stops on the
tour are located within or lead to the alleyways of the Blagden
Alley/Naylor Court Historic District. The alleys were once a
labyrinth of dwellings, stables, and trades workshops and were once
considered the city’s underbelly. View last year’s tour: http://tinyurl.com/LoganCircleHouseTour2008

2. DOING GOOD: OAR Project Christmas Angel
When: Thursday, December 18, 6:30-8pm
Where: St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
4000 Lorcom Lane, Arlington, VA
More Info: www.arlingtonredcross.org/clubred/calendar.html

Club Red will help OAR (Offender Aid and Restoration) with Project
Christmas Angel, an event to provide holiday gifts to children of
incarcerated parents. During the event, members will select and wrap
presents for the kids. Volunteers are encouraged to bring donations
of toys or gift cards. Club Red is a group of volunteers in their 20s
and 30s benefiting the American Red Cross by assisting in fundraising
for local, national, and international causes, providing volunteer
services to the community, and facilitating social networking and
educational advancement.

3. MEMBER IN FOCUS
Read online interview with SFP Member in Focus Drew Potterfield,
manager of the Long View Gallery. A Very Cool Person – Find Out Why!
Access interview at www.smallfriendlyplanet.org

SFP Editor: What about the Long View Gallery is unique to the DC
gallery scene?

Drew Potterfield: I think our commitment to supporting the local art
scene is one of Long View Gallery’s most unique qualities. By
focusing on supporting artists living in and around DC, we feel we
are investing in our community. Additionally, we feel the subject
matter of the majority of our artists is different from the usual DC
gallery scene. We work almost exclusively with figurative artists,
steering clear of the ever popular abstract pieces that
hang on many DC gallery walls.

4. Yoga for Good
When: Friday, December 5, 6-7:15pm
Where: Sun & Moon Yoga Studio
3811 Lee Highway Arlington, VA
More Info: www.yogasetfree.com/seva.html

On the first Friday of each month at Yoga for Good, you can
practice yoga, promote awareness, and raise funds for a variety of
very important causes. Each month experience an all-levels, donations-
only class taught by a different teacher. All donations will go to
the charity selected by the teacher for that month. Sun & Moon Yoga
Studio is generously donating the space to hold these classes. On the
first Friday of December, donations — in the form of money or
nonperishable food items — will go directly to AFAC, which supplies
supplemental groceries to Arlingtonians who cannot afford to purchase
all the food they need.

5. Mount Vernon by Candlelight
When: December 5-7 and 12-14, 5-8pm
Where: 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, Mount Vernon, VA
Cost: $18 for adults, $12 for youth.
More Info: http://visit.mountvernon.org/special_events.cfm

Join “Mrs. Washington” and other figures from the 18th century as
they host an enchanting evening with a newly formatted candlelight
tour of the first and second floors! Experience a traditional
Christmas evening as lantern-lit lanes, hot cider, and ginger cookies
recall the charm of days gone by, while caroling around a roaring
fire and early-American music bring merry melody to the holiday
season. Mount Vernon’s modern buildings include events like live
music, themed Christmas trees, a Mount Vernon gingerbread house, and
the opportunity for holiday shopping.

6. Parade of Lighted Boats
When: Saturday, December 6
Where: Alexandria Harbor in Virginia
More Info: http://visitalexandriava.com/

The Alexandria Holiday Boat Parade of Lights is a weekend of holiday
fun in Old Town Alexandria where dozens of festively decorated
pleasure boats will light up the sky along the Potomac River during
the Alexandria Holiday Boat Parade of Lights. The parade begins at
Alexandria’s waterfront and culminates at Washington Harbour in
Georgetown. 4-6pm: Festivities on the docks at the Alexandria
Waterfront (music and entertainment), 5pm: Parade starts at the
Washington Channel, Water St. off of Maine Avenue, Washington, DC,
6-7pm: Parade at Alexandria Waterfront.

7. Date Night at ZooLights
When: Saturday, December 6, 5:30-8:30pm
Where: The National Zoo, 3001 Connecticut Ave. NW
Cost: FONZ members: $30 per couple, Nonmembers: $40 per couple
More Info: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/

The Zoo and Rosenthal Jaguar/Land Rover introduce Date Night during
ZooLights, the National Zoo’s annual winter celebration. Bring your
sweetheart to ZooLights for a fun and romantic evening! Your tickets
include two passes to ZooLights, delicious treats including hot
chocolate and gingerbread cookies, and a cuddly plush animal gift.
Plus, you can enter to win a weekend lease of a Jaguar, courtesy of
Rosenthal Jaguar/Land Rover. Don’t miss your chance to meander
through the Zoo when it is covered with thousands of sparkling
lights, attend special keeper talks, and enjoy live entertainment.

8. Washington Area Bicyclist Association Holiday Party
When: Wednesday, December 10, 5-8pm
Where: 1803 Connecticut Ave. NW 3rd Floor, Washington, DC
More Info: http://www.waba.org/index.php

Bring yourself and a friend to WABA’s Holiday Party and get to know
the DC area cycling community a little better, make new friends, and
meet the WABA staff. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served, but feel
free to contribute to the celebration and bring other holiday treats.
The mission of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association is to create
a healthy, more livable region by promoting bicycling for fun,
fitness, and affordable transportation; advocating for better
bicycling conditions and transportation choices for a healthier
environment, and educating children, adults, and motorists about safe
bicycling.

9. Holiday Embassy Series Event: Denmark
When: Thursday, December 11, 6:30-8:30pm
Where: Embassy of Denmark, 3200 Whitehaven St., NW, Washington, DC
More Info: https://www.worldaffairsdc.org/wac/events/upcoming

The World Affairs Council’s Embassy Series continues with a very
special evening for member’s only hosted by the Ambassador of
Denmark, H.E. Fries Arne Petersen at the Ambassadorial Residence of
Denmark. The World Affairs Council hosts monthly events for its
diverse membership, which consists of professionals in business,
academia, government, diplomacy, and other non-governmental
organizations, as well as young professionals, educators, students,
and all those interested in the issues facing the international
community. Events – including the Embassy Series, Distinguished
Speaker Series, Meet the Ambassadors Series, Town Hall Meetings,
Author Series, Young Professional Events, and Foreign Policy forums-
feature prominent international experts, diplomats, authors, and
other distinguished speakers. Non-members are welcome to attend most
events.

10. Let’s Dance! Movie Screening & Closing Party
When: Sunday, December 14, 7pm
Where: Aaron & Cecile Goldman Theater, 1529 16th Street, NW
Cost: $10
More Info: http://www.wjff.org/

As part of the 19th Annual Washington Jewish Film Festival, Let’s
Dance was nominated for 2008 Cesar Awards of France for Best Actor,
Best Supporting Actress and Best Music Written for Film. Eighty-year-
old Salomon Blinks (Jean-Pierre Murielle) lost his family in the
Holocaust, but has worked throughout his life to maintain his joie de
vivre. He refuses to surrender to his age and spends his days dodging
funeral obligations of friends, taking tap dancing lessons inspired
by his favorite actor Fred Astaire and dating a much younger woman,
the charming but insecure Violate (Sabine Abeam). He also visits
Genevieve (Bulled Osier), his ex-wife of 25 years who is disappearing
into the final stages of dementia, attended to by her devoted
caregiver Mr. Mootoosamy (Bakary Sangare). Genevieve has developed
the bad habit of giving away all her money to strangers. Through all
of these emotional intersections, Salomon and Genevieves’s 40-
something daughter Sarah (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) is still trying to
figure out her parents, her marriage and her own life. The
captivating characters refuse to surrender to self-pity as the jam-
packed script moves along with insight, compassion and humor to a
musical score by jazz great Artie Shepp. Closing night party to
follow the screening.

11. Grands Vins: Champagne Blanc de Blancs
When: Tuesday, December 16, 6:30-8pm
Where: 806 15th St. NW Washington, DC
Cost: $85 members, $99 non-members
More Info: http://www.frenchwinesociety.org

Discover through this “Grands Vins Series” tasting seminar 10+ great
expressions of Champagne Blanc de Blancs and learn how to understand
and describe their identity. This tasting seminar will be led by
Hugues Mialhe, Oenologist and Education Programs Coordinator for the
French Wine Society. It will include a tasting of 10 Blanc de Blancs
champagnes, ranging from non vintage to vintage and prestige cuvees.
For more than 270 years, Champagne have been the precious sparkling
guests of the good tables all over the world. Do you know that almost
15 000 owners grow around 74 000 acres of noble grapes aimed to
create these fine nectars. The varietals used in Champagne, either
single vinified or blended, are essentially red-skinned Pinot Noir
and Pinot Meunier, and famous white Chardonnay, plus rare white Pinot
Blanc, Arbane and Petit Meslier. The wines of Champagne can be as
diverse as white and rosé, brut nature to sweet, years-blended or
vintage.

12. National Symphony Orchestra: Handel’s Messiah
When: December, 18-21
Where: 2700 F Street, NW Washington, DC
Cost: $20 – $80
More Info: http://www.kennedy-center.org/

Get in the holiday spirit with Handel’s epic masterpiece, performed
each year with a fresh perspective by the NSO and acclaimed guest
artists. Born in Halle, Germany, in 1685, George Handel was one of
the greatest composers of the late baroque period (1700-1750).
In 1742, Messiah was first performed in Dublin. Since then Messiah,
which did more than any other single work to establish the great
English oratorio tradition, has been the most widely beloved specimen
of its genre throughout the world, and it has been loved in various
sizes and shapes.

13. A Special “It’s A Wonderful Life” Screening
When: Thursday December 18, 8:30pm
Where: Montgomery Cinema & Drafthouse
11006 Veirs Mill Road, Silver Spring, MD
Cost: $6
More Info: http://www.arlingtondrafthouse.com/?page=event&eid=542

Join in a Drafthouse Holiday Social and a special screening of It’s A
Wonderful Life – A Christmas Classic! All gate proceeds go to
Children’s Hospital and attendees will have a chance to win prizes
from a special raffle. The theme for the social is “wear your ugly
sweater” so don’t miss out on the fun or fashion! Donations and toys
will be accepted at the door.

14. 3rd Annual Rock for Kids Benefit
When: Saturday, December 20, 7pm
Where: State Theatre, 220 N. Washington, Falls Church, VA
Cost: $12 advance / $15 day of show
More Info: http://www.thestatetheatre.com/

The 3rd annual Rock for Kids event benefits the Children’s National
Medical Center’s Dr. Bear’s Closet which provides toys for children
in the hospital over the holidays. In the spirit of the holidays,
come out and help make a difference for these children, even a small
contribution will go a long way. Gifts for Dr. Bear’s Closet will be
collected the night of the show.

15. Washington Symphonic Brass Holiday Celebration
When: Monday, December 22, 7:30pm
Where: Music Center at Strathmore
5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Cost: $29-$40
More Info: http://www.strathmore.org

National Philharmonic Music Director & Conductor Piotr Gajewski
conducts the critically-acclaimed 17-member Washington Symphonic
Brass as they ring in the holidays with majestic arrangements of your
holiday favorites, including Greensleeves, Twelve Days of Christmas,
selections from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, and a very special
Hanukkah Medley.