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A healthy pregnancy and the joy of a new baby is certainly a reason to celebrate this new year. Virginia Hospital Center has your health and safety as our top priority, with enhanced safety protocols for pregnant mothers and their babies. Find the OB/GYN online that’s right for you at virginiahospitalcenter.com/OB. We are better together.
A FAMILY FRIEND recently asked our oldest daughter how her senior year of high school was going. She thought for a second and then replied, “It’s all the work without any of the fun.” In many ways, that sums up 2020.
My dad just turned 92 and my mom is 85. This was the first year since 1990—when I was living overseas—that I didn’t visit my parents on Thanksgiving. I’ve only been able to see them twice in person since March. This weighs on me, especially given their ages. I know that many of us are sad about not being able to spend time with our parents and extended families, particularly during the holidays. Traditions have been suspended and joyful occasions are being missed. Worse, people are sick and dying. As my mom often states, “It’s the pits.”
Those of you who know me are aware that I am an optimistic person. Even though 2020 was a very difficult year, I continue to find small happy moments. Many of us were forced to slow down and spend more time with our immediate families and close friends (our “pods” or “quaranteams”). Pre-Covid, I never would have taken a mid-afternoon workday break to go for a walk with my wife and daughters or grab a football and play catch with our youngest—who, at 13, still has not grown tired of tossing the pigskin around with her dad. Pre-Covid, we never would have had the time for a fire pit or an impromptu game of cards (our family favorite is “Oh Hell”) on a weeknight and the leisurely conversations that follow. PreCovid, we didn’t watch much TV and rarely got into a series. This year, my wife and I have enjoyed Ozark, The Crown, Schitt’s Creek and Cobra Kai. Next up: The Queen’s Gambit.
Which leads me to our January/February issue. There is still a lot to be thankful for in our wonderful community. I love the Best of Arlington issue because it celebrates the best places, services, people and organizations that Arlington, McLean and Falls Church (the three communities we cover) have to offer. It is a terrific resource, featuring reader picks from our annual survey, as well as editor picks from our editorial staff. From obvious categories, like Best Pediatrician and Best Builder, to pandemic-specific ones, like Restaurant You Missed Most During Quarantine and Restaurant That’s Giving Back, there are so many positives we can point to. We are fortunate to live in a great community with people who are thoughtful and supportive of one another. It’s certainly not a utopia (we have our problems), but I believe we’re lucky to be here.
On behalf of my colleagues at Arlington Magazine, I wish you and your families a joyous holiday and a healthy, happy and prosperous new year. Thank you for all your support in 2020. We’re looking forward to a (hopefully) much improved 2021. As always, I can be reached at greg.hamilton@ arlingtonmagazine.com and our editor, Jenny Sullivan, can be reached at jenny.sullivan@arlington magazine.com.
All the best,
Greg Hamilton Publisher
LIVES IN: Arlington Ridge
ROOTS: Born in Bogota, Colombia, Frum was adopted from an orphanage at age 1 and grew up in Arlington. He is a graduate of Oakridge Elementary and H-B Woodlawn.
FAMILY TIES: “I am now reunited with my birth family in Bogota. I found them a few years ago. It’s a huge relief for me, knowing where I come from.”
IN THIS ISSUE: A Best of Arlington editor pick for “Community Art,” Frum designed the graffiti-style iconography on our cover. Common to his work are “indigenous themes and themes of connectivity across the Hispanic diaspora.”
ART WORLD: His street murals can be found in Arlington, D.C. and Baltimore, as well as Pakistan, South Africa, Brazil, Australia, Jamaica and other points around the globe. He has done work for MoMA, Nike, the Sierra Club, the Smithsonian, the Freer and Sackler Galleries, National Geographic, South Block and Cowboy Café.
FAVORITE CHILDHOOD ARTIST: Bob Ross
ONLINE: maspaz.co, @maspaz
LIVES IN: Fairfax (previously lived in Ballston for eight years)
ORIGINALLY FROM: Hollywood, Florida
IN THIS ISSUE: Writes about several of this year’s Best of Arlington award winners
PERSONAL FAVES: “Gold’s Gym in Ballston has a special place in my heart. My husband and I went there religiously before we moved. It’s where I decided to get certified to teach spinning. I also love Clarendon’s mix of mom-and-pop shops and larger retailers.”
PANDEMIC LIFE: “Outdoor adventures with our two kids—ages 10 and 8—have kept me sane. During the warmer months we hiked, kayaked, canoed and waded in the pools of a waterfall. Now that the weather is cooler, we are enjoying the outdoor movie screen my husband built. We light the fire pit, snuggle in some blankets and eat popcorn.”
ALSO WRITES FOR: “The parenting and fitness sections of The Washington Post, various publications focused on government information technology, and The Washington Diplomat.”
PUBLISHER & PARTNER
Greg Hamilton
PARTNER
Steve Hull
EDITOR
Jenny Sullivan
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Susan Hull
ART DIRECTOR
Laura Goode
DESIGNER
Kari Mason
WEB PRODUCER
Erin Roby
DINING CRITIC
David Hagedorn
COPY EDITOR
Sandy Fleishman
WRITERS
Matt Blitz, Sydney Johnson, Stephanie Kanowitz, Rachael Keeney, Tamara Lytle, Rina Rapuano, Lisa Rabasca Roepe, Madelyn Rosenberg, Amy Brecount White
PHOTOGRAPHERS & ILLUSTRATORS
Audrey Androus, Mary Bell, Christie Bernick, Stephanie Bragg, Skip Brown, Håvar Espedal, Federico Frum, Heather Fuentes, Shelly Han, Lisa Helfert, Darren Higgins, Chris Langford, Tony J. Lewis, Rey Lopez, Ernesto Maldonado, Jody McKitrick, Matt Mendelsohn, Brian Oh, Greg Powers, Chase Price, Hillary Schwab, Kelli Scott, Joseph Tran, Michael Ventura, Dixie Vereen, Jenn Verrier, J. Michael Whalen, Darko Zagar
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Time to bundle up and have a little fun outdoors. Pentagon Row’s ice rink is open, but is operating at 50% capacity to ensure safe physical distancing. All skaters must wear masks. Tickets ($9-$10, plus $5 for skate rentals) are required and can be purchased in advance online. Bonus: Adults can now enjoy boozy beverages from nearby restaurants rinkside, thanks to a new “sip and stroll” permit that allows to-go drinks in designated areas. 1201 S. Joyce St., Arlington, pentagonrowskating.com
Editor’s Note: At press time the following events were still moving ahead as scheduled. Check the latest status before you go. An asterisk (*) indicates that the event is all or partially online.
THROUGH JAN. 3, 5:30-10 P.M.
Meadowlark Winter Walk of Lights
Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
Competition is tight for timed tickets to this half-mile lights display. Order early if you want to catch a glimpse of the twinkly lights before tours end Jan. 3. Tickets $9-$16. 9750 Meadowlark Gardens Court, Vienna, novaparks.com
THROUGH JAN. 4
Virtual Visits with Santa*
Ballston Quarter
Covid-19 isn’t stopping Santa from talking to wee ones about their wish lists, but the usual perch on his knee is off limits. For kids who have a few thoughts to share with St. Nick, Ballston Quarter is offering the opportunity to set up a live call, participate in story time with the Clauses and request a prerecorded, personalized video. See website for prices and details. facebook. com/events/1366873883520500
JAN. 5-26
Cookology
If “learn to cook” is one of your 2021 New Year’s resolutions, Cookology in Ballston is offering virtual culinary classes on
topics ranging from knife skills to soups, stocks and sauces. Classes are streamed at 5 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Participants will learn how to whip up a variety of dishes, from beef bourguignonne to quiche. Tuition is $350 per household. cookology.live
JAN. 18
Last year, more than 1,300 local residents took part in the annual MLK Day of Service in partnership with Volunteer Arlington. Let’s see if we can beat that number in 2021. The day promises plenty of safe and socially distanced opportunities to give back and make a difference in your local community. volunteer.leadercenter. org/MLK
JAN. 23-MARCH 26
McLean Community Center
Looking to start the new year on the right foot? This annual fitness festival is still happening, albeit virtually. Health and wellness exhibitors will share their know-how online, and the content will be available through early spring. Free. mcleancenter.org
THROUGH JAN. 2
Petite December 2020
The Art League
If you’re still searching for the perfect— and perhaps belated—little holiday gift, consider one of the tiny works in this Torpedo Factory exhibit juried by the chief curator of the Baltimore Museum of Art. All items are priced below $150 and admission is free. 105 N. Union St., Alexandria, theartleague.org
THROUGH FEB. 20
Staged in the McLean Community Center’s Emerson Gallery, Vertical Interval: New Works is a collection of physical and digital landscapes by McLean artist Joseph Cortina. In the Atrium Gallery, Beginningless Endless features pieces inspired by artist Shanthi Chandrasekar’s background in psychology and physics. Admission is free. 1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean, mpaart.org
JAN. 8-30
Hidden World
Del Ray Artisans Gallery
Artists envision various intangibles—from emotions and sounds to microorganisms— in this member show. Entry is free, but visit the website to reserve a half-hour time slot on opening day (Jan. 8, noon8 p.m.). 2704 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria, delrayartisans.org
FEB. 1-26
Gallery Underground
Some make no sense. Some are so vivid they continue to occupy our minds hours or days later. The featured works in this exhibit centering on dreams and nightmares may leave you feeling the same. Admission is free. 2100 Crystal Drive, Arlington, galleryunderground.org
JAN. 8-9
Matteo Lane
Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse
Comedian Matteo Lane was previously an opera singer and oil painter living in Italy, so odds are you’ll be entertained. Lane’s comedy career has landed him appearances on Netflix’s The Comedy Lineup, The Late Show with Stephen
Colbert, Late Night with Seth Meyers and Will & Grace. $20. 2903 Columbia Pike, Arlington, arlingtondrafthouse.com
FEB. 8, 7 P.M.
Sigworks: One-Shot*
Signature Theatre
Signature Theatre has taken its Monday Night Play Readings virtual, and this script by Andrew Rosendorf hits close to home. In the play, a McLean video store is vandalized with a slur, and issues of race, sexuality and identity are cast into the spotlight. Free. sigtheatre.org
FEB. 13, 7:30 P.M.
A Russian Valentine*
Gunston Arts Center
Join Bowen McCauley Dance Co. and the National Chamber Ensemble in this seasonal embrace of romantic works by Russian composers. The performance will include Tchaikovsky’s Overture Fantasy “Romeo and Juliet” and his popular “Serenade for Strings,” as well as Borodin’s String Quartet No.
2. The event will be live streamed if in-person attendance is deemed unsafe. $18-$36. 2700 S. Lang St., Arlington, nationalchamberensemble.org, bmdc.org
JAN. 8 - MARCH 6
Creative Cauldron
Curated by Ken Avis and Lynn Veronneau of the acoustic jazz band Veronneau, this live streamed series will deliver an international sampler of traditional music, plus performances by fusion bands and contemporary artists who draw inspiration from world music. See website for details. creativecauldron.org
JAN. 8, 9 P.M.
State Theatre
Relive the ’80s with this tribute to the new
wave band known for hit songs such as “What You Need,” “Suicide Blonde” and “Mystify.” $20. 220 N. Washington St., Falls Church, thestatetheatre.com
JAN. 9, 7:30 P.M.
Jammin Java
Clem, a bluegrass artist who now lives in Charlottesville, returns to his old stomping grounds alongside Speidel, whose music career started at the University of Virginia. $25. 227 Maple Ave E., Vienna, jamminjava.com
JAN. 10, 7 P.M.
Jammin Java
The ensemble performs traditional songs honoring members of the Jewish community who descended from those exiled from Spain in 1492, the Sephardim. $15. 227 Maple Ave E., Vienna, jamminjava.com
JAN. 21, 7:30 P.M.
International Rolling Stones Tribute
The Birchmere
You can’t always get what you want, but you can rock out with a band that has toured the world and performed Stones tunes more than 4,000 times over the course of 20 years. $29.50. 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria, birchmere.com
FEB. 25, 7:30 P.M.
Christopher Cross
40th Anniversary
The Birchmere
The ve-time Grammy winner wrote the Emmy-nominated theme song for Growing Pains and nabbed an Oscar for the theme song for the 1981 movie Arthur This show was rescheduled from an earlier date, but tickets are still available for $59.50. 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria, birchmere.com
JAN. 6, 7 P.M.
Stacie Murphy
A Deadly Fortune*
One More Page Books
Northern Virginia writer Stacie Murphy highlights two other metro areas—New York and Philadelphia—in her latest novel, in which main characters Andrew and Amelia discover a conspiracy that could prove fatal for Amelia. Free. onemorepagebooks.com
JAN. 21, 7 P.M.
Masha Gessen*
Arlington Public Library
A staff writer for The New Yorker, Gessen has also written 11 books. The latest, Surviving Autocracy, offers insights that may help you recover from the political
• Multidisciplinary team approach
and societal turmoil of the past year. Presented by the Arlington Public Library, this author talk is free on Facebook and YouTube. library.arlingtonva.us
JAN. 26, 7 P.M.
Authors Mona Shroff and Cara Bastone*
One More Page Books
In the lead-up to Valentine’s Day, hear from two romance authors with new releases on the way. Maryland writer Mona Shroff’s newest novel, Then There Was You, brings together a helicopter medic and a bartender. Cara Bastone’s novel, Flirting with Forever, unites a boutique owner and a public defender. Free. onemorepagebooks.com
Got a calendar event we should know about? Submit it to editorial@ arlingtonmagazine.com
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IN SEPTEMBER, Cristian Michel was going about his day when he spied a couple of men comically attempting to capture a parakeet in the middle of the street in Shirlington. He grabbed his phone to record the mayhem, but then thought of his mom, who loved parakeets. He’d had several as a boy.
After the bird was retrieved, Michel, a youth soccer coach, offered to take it to the nearby Arlington Welfare League of Arlington, but the nonprofit was closed. So he took the little creature home for the night and posted a photo on social media.
By the next day, helpful Arlingtonians had found the bird’s owners, leading Michel to the doorstep of Farzal Ahmed’s house in Alcova Heights. That’s when he learned that the bird was named Bluey, and that it was one of three brandnew pets that had escaped the day before when their cage was accidentally left unlatched. Ahmed’s children, Muzammil, 4, and Maira, 2, had been crestfallen. “Even though the other two are gone, at least we have [Bluey] back,” Ahmed says. “[My son] doesn’t want to let him go.”
LAST YEAR, Lara Reid’s family moved to Lima, Peru, for her husband’s job with the State Department. They’d been there six months when they were told to return to the U.S. due to the pandemic.
They temporarily settled into a Lyon Park rental house, where a friend welcomed them back to Arlington with toys, bikes, household items and a large, handpainted rock that read “Love.”
A few weeks later, Reid and her children, Sophie, 11, and Mateo, 9, began handpainting their own rocks and leaving them on their front steps for passersby to enjoy. Reid, a former teacher at Saint Charles Early Childhood Education Center in Clarendon, says the project kept them grounded during a time when they were living out of suitcases and constantly adjusting.
The stoop has become a neighborhood landmark, of sorts. Reid says she overhears people commenting on their mini masterpieces. One visitor told her that finding new rocks had become a highlight for her and her toddler. “It’s therapeutic for me to make them, but it’s even more therapeutic to see the reactions when people walk by,” she says. “It warms my heart knowing they make people smile.”
AFTER LOSING HER nonprofit job due to the pandemic, Adriana Sagrera volunteered to help out at a local Real Food for Kids distribution site. She knew food wasn’t the only thing area kids needed.
She posted a request for arts and crafts supplies on Facebook and received a flood of donations. She then sorted and grouped the materials—everything from colored pencils and buttons to construction paper—into activity packs that could be handed out to students in tandem with free meals, averaging about 175 packs a week throughout the summer.
WHEN ARLINGTON SCHOOLS shifted to remote classes last spring, 8-year-old Fleet Elementary student Ixel Blandon McIntire had trouble with the change. Her special needs made it difficult for her to focus in her family’s small Penrose home. So her dad devised a solution.
In September, she had another idea. “I was trying to figure out what to do with bags and bags of old, broken crayons, and I thought, Why not make them into something fun!” She started melting the crayon nubs down and resurrecting the wax into new shapes, first with Lego molds, then branching out with holiday-themed molds, like skulls for Halloween. At press time, her activity bags had been distributed to students from three Arlington elementary schools—Claremont, Randolph and Drew.
In mid-June, after planning and pricing out how much it would cost to build a study shed in the side yard, John McIntire posted a request for twoby-fours in his local “Buy Nothing” Facebook group. His food truck, Mac’s Donuts, had been sidelined at the beginning of the pandemic and money was tight. Crowdsourcing seemed like the best option.
Neighbors donated spare wood. One directed him to a pile of discarded materials up for grabs near the former Patrick Henry Elementary. Someone had paint. Others offered a chair, a heater and a clock. In the end, more than 25 neighbors contributed to the effort. “People came out of nowhere and were ready to help us,” says Ixi Barrios Blandon, Ixel’s mother.
Ixel herself helped with the building process. She carried materials, helped dig the foundation hole, hammered nails and painted, naming the shed Rainbow Elementary—a reference to its hand-painted, corrugated plastic roof, which allows soft sunlight to shine in, whereas windows at eye level would have been distracting for the young student.
In August, Rainbow Elementary was complete, with a desk, a reading corner and a list of affirmations hanging on the wall—basic building blocks for a successful (albeit atypical) school year.
my life
n by Ebonie WarrenThis
I am a fifth-generation addict. I’m more than a statistic.
I REMEMBER WALKING home from school by myself on one of the rare occasions that I actually went. My mother had not shown up to get me. I was 6.
I could see the house up ahead. Maybe she’s not home, as usual , I thought. But as I approached, I could sense that something was wrong. When I walked into the basement— which was part shooting gallery and
partly our living space—I immediately started looking for my twin sisters. When I found them in a corner, rocking back and forth, I knew this day would change my life.
Then I heard a man’s voice. I followed it to the back and there, on her knees, was my mother with three men standing in front of her. One of them had a gun. I realized in that moment I could deny her nothing.
I had taken care of her when she was drunk. When she nodded out with a needle in her arm, I pulled it out.
So when she looked at me that day and said, “Mommy needs a big favor,” I somehow knew that my needs didn’t matter. Everyone else came first, and sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the survival of everyone involved, even at the expense of your very existence. I traded my innocence for her life
that day while she held my hand through it all.
I was living through an epidemic long before the world acknowledged it. I’m not talking about Covid-19. I am a fifth-generation addict.
Addicts are beautiful, misunderstood people who just want a break sometimes, because life can be cruel. We assume our realities are all-consuming and our feelings will strangle us.
Jail has given me the opportunity to be clearheaded long enough to see that my life can change. My mother’s life was not a prophecy for my future. I don’t have to die a statistic. I almost turned into one, but only I can change that.
I am not evil. Evil was just done to me. I am not my mother. I just came from her. Life is bearable. Being in recovery is only one dimension of the many that make up me. I am an integration of all my experiences, failures and successes. I am a mother, a sister, a good friend and a fragile woman. I mess up sometimes, but that only makes me human.
Get to know the stories behind this epidemic. That’s where the healing starts. Every one of us has a story to tell. We are more than numbers and statistics. We want help managing our disease. n
Ebonie Warren is the 2020 “Best Essay” winner in the ACDF/Heard/ OAR Creative Writing Competition, an annual literary contest organized by the Arlington County Detention Facility in partnership with the restorative justice nonprofit OAR and Heard, a nonprofi t program of the Del Ray Community Partnership that brings creative arts to marginalized adults. Read more of this year’s winning entries at heardnova.org/galleries/cre ative-writing-gallery and heardnova. org/galleries/poetry.
Abi-Aad & Khalil Azar, co-owners of Me Jana restaurant with Sonia Johnston, Regional President - Arlington
Me Jana Restaurant is famous for their traditional Lebanese Cuisine made from authentic family recipes. Established since 2007, they are located at 2300 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA. Rabih and Khalil have over 30 years experience in the food industry, delivering exceptional service. John Marshall Bank is pleased and honored to serve Me Jana Restaurant as their banking partner.
At 23, she arrived on U.S. soil with little more than the clothes on her back. Today she’s a bank president.
GROWING UP IN South Vietnam, Sonia Nga Johnston wanted to learn English so she could communicate with the American soldiers she saw on the streets of Can Tho. It was her passion, she says.
One day, Johnston (whose name then was To Nga) noticed a soldier carrying a bag on his shoulder. “My Mamasan do laundry,” said the 14-year-old, attempting to make conversation by finding something in common. The soldier fol-
lowed her home, assuming she meant that her mother did laundry for soldiers.
“My mother said, ‘I don’t know how to do American clothes!’ ” Johnston recalls. But she took his laundry anyway. The soldier kept coming by, and others, too.
“That’s how we started,” says Johnston, now regional president for John Marshall Bank in Arlington County. She still laughs at the misunderstanding. “We started doing a laundry business
and I started learning English [from the customers]. When you learn a foreign language, you cannot be shy. You have to be willing and able to make mistakes.”
From then on, she was always armed with a Vietnamese-English dictionary. Little did she know English would become her ticket out of a country ripped apart by war.
During her teenage years, Johnston’s language skills earned her a
job at the U.S. consulate in Can Tho, where she served as a translator and accountant, and assistant manager for the commissary.
When the outlook turned dire for the South Vietnamese—“there were bombs, people running, people dying in the streets,” she says—the consulate offered her a chance to leave the country. She had to decide quickly whether to take it.
“Go,” said her parents.
So it was that on April 30, 1975, Johnston found herself standing on the roof of the American Embassy in Saigon, waiting for a helicopter. She was 23.
“I was scared,” she says. “You have no idea where you are going. I never left home before.”
She carried a small handbag with a change of clothes, a nightgown, pho-
tographs and a personal directory of the family she was leaving behind. The pilot said he could take her or the handbag; not both.
She boarded the helicopter, and then a 747—her first time on a plane. Engine problems forced the plane to land near Con Son Island, home to a prison camp for North Vietnamese political prisoners known as the “tiger cages.” The plane’s passengers sat in the darkness, waiting for other transportation.
At last, a helicopter arrived, carrying Johnston to a U.S. Marine ship with an opening for planes to land—“a huge mouth, like a fish.” It was 11:45 p.m. when she boarded the Marine vessel and heard the radio announcing the fall of Saigon. “The communists had taken over our White House; our palace,” she says. “We lost our country and I would
never be able to go home. It was the saddest day of my life.”
From the Marine ship, Johnston was transferred to a bigger American ship packed with thousands of refugees who would come to be known as “boat people.” Many were getting sick—from starvation, the heat, the rolling ocean waves and the food on board. Again, Johnston saw death. Again, she used her English.
She told the crew the food was part of the problem—that they were serving things Vietnamese people were not used to eating. The ship captain asked for ideas and Johnston had them. She asked if the ship’s galley stocked rice, chicken and vegetables. “I ran around and asked for women volunteers who could help me,” she says.
They gathered in the kitchen, cooked for 24 hours, and handed out cups of
rice and chicken soup to passengers— not enough to ease their hunger, but enough to sustain them.
After a 10-day voyage, the ship arrived at Wake Island in the Pacific, more than 3,800 miles from Vietnam. Johnston again volunteered to translate, this time on behalf of American officials in the refugee settlement office. She asked a steady stream of asylumseekers: “Where do you go? Who do you know in America?” (Her own answer to that question: Her former supervisor from the consul’s office, Glenn Rounsevell, who lived in Falls Church.)
It was nearly the Fourth of July, 1975, when Johnston flew to California to start a new life. She was anxious to reach her family in Vietnam, but had been cautioned not to send letters directly, for fear that her parents and
brothers would be killed if the communist government knew she’d escaped.
She wrote to a friend in France, who then mailed her letters to Can Tho. She didn’t know if her family was still alive. “Many did not make it,” she says of other South Vietnamese citizens who had tried to leave.
After six months stateside and still no response, Johnston visited a Baptist church. She’d been raised Buddhist, but she was feeling desperate and prayed to anyone who would listen.
“I said, ‘God, if you want me to believe…I want to find out if my immediate family is alive.’ I just cried for help.”
The next day, she received a letter from her father.
“I felt a miracle in my heart,” she says. She asked the pastor to save her
“I have
properties in a different state and have never had the service that Donna provided. And she seemed to
able to accomplish anything even in the middle of a pandemic!”
Judy C. Smith
and was baptized a few weeks later. But it would still be years before she saw her family again.
In 1976, Johnston moved to Northern Virginia, following her former boss from the consul’s office in search of career opportunities. Three more years would pass before the first 14 of her family members finally fled Vietnam on a fishing boat.
It was a tough voyage. They were raided by Thai pirates, who stole everything. They finally made it to a refugee camp in Malaysia, only to be turned away because it was already fl ooded with people.
Then, while being towed to another camp, the rope holding their fi shing boat was cut, leaving them stranded at sea until a fisherman helped them to a small island off Indonesia. They stayed
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there for almost a year, building a shelter and eating fish.
A letter—with no stamp—finally reached Johnston’s Fairfax home in December of 1979. In it, her brother had drawn a map showing the island’s location.
Johnston had no idea how it had gotten to her without postage, but she took it to the American Red Cross in Arlington and asked for help tracking down her family. “They searched every island for six hours and finally found my family and brought them back to the refugee camp,” she says.
Over the next month, she lined up four Baptist Church sponsorships to bring her loved ones to the United States. Two of her sisters-in-law were pregnant. She was able to bring them all to Northern Virginia with the help of
a refugee settlement program, and was personally waiting at the airport when they arrived. Today, her family in the United States numbers 50.
In 1992, she married Warren Johnston, an American soldier she had known in Vietnam. “The love of my life,” she says.
In America, Johnston’s career has been in banking. She started as a teller and worked her way up. She says she loves helping her community and connecting with peers. Even during Covid, she spends her days in the office. She misses her customers.
Johnston also serves on the boards of the American Red Cross (which helped locate her family so long ago), the Arlington Chamber of Commerce and the Arlington Community Foundation.
“It’s the American dream,” she says.
“I am so grateful for everything this country gives to me.”
For years it was hard for Johnston to talk about the experience of leaving her homeland and the life she knew. Recently, her niece Mary—born just after the extended family reached America—began asking questions about their family history.
Mary, now living in San Diego, made a YouTube video about the family’s against-all-odds journey to the U.S.
“I asked her where she learned all of that,” Johnston laughs. “She said, ‘From you, Auntie.’ ” n
Madelyn Rosenberg is the author of the children’s book Cyclops of Central Park and co-author, with Wendy Wan-Long Shang, of Not Your All-American Girl She lives in Arlington with her family.
Sponsor Anonymous Presenting Sponsors
Geva and Jane Real Estate § Home First Mortgage/Lari Anne & Greg Kundinger § Maria & Jon Jackson
Daphne Papamichael § Reinsch Pierce Family Foundation by Lola C. Reinsch § Tobi & Bobby Rozen § Nancy E. Snell
Friends of NVAL
Beth & George Albright § Katherine M. Breaks § Caroline & Ken Broussard § Robin Buckley & James Olds § Janice L. Burch & Michael Platner
Melissa & Ian Burris § Burton Video Productions § CP Terry & Associates, LLC § Anne & Jamie Doll § Beth Franklin § Beth Gouse & Jeff Beatrice
Suzanne & Edward Griesmer § Susan & Mike Hutsell § Bettie Joy § Tricia Lyall/Lyall Interiors § Marymount University § Mary Ellen & Colvin Matheson Meany & Oliver Companies, Inc. § Janet & Tim Mountz § Melissa & Scott O’Gorman § Susan & Matthew Pascocello § Penguin Graphics Hee Sun Rotondo § Kathleen Gilles Seidel § Total Wine & More § Eileen Tramonte § Linda Vandenberg Whittington Design Studios § Lauri & Ken Willner § Nan & Bob Woody
1765 Greensboro Station Place, Suite 900, McLean, VA 22102
703-520-2777 | info@ oringroup.com | www. oringroup.com
Q: What kind of relationship do you have with your clients?
A: It is a privilege to help our clients and their families make smart nancial decisions and grow wealth together, across generations. We believe building wealth and planning for the future is an inspiring adventure that is done with joy, compassion and kindness. Once you gain control over your nances, you can do a lot with your wealth. Whatever your dreams, we can help make them a reality.
Q: How would you describe your wealth management philosophy?
A: I am passionate about the holistic comprehensive approach to wealth management. I grew up in a multigenerational family, helping them with their nances and senior care planning. I will help you with the challenges every family faces and customize the proposal that best ts. Whether your needs include growing wealth, socially responsible investing, inheritance strategy, women in transition or aging parents, we’re ready to help you begin your adventure towards nancial security.
Damon White, Eric Schaefer, Elizabeth Larson, Andrew Sponaugle, William Pitt
“Your future is bright. We’ll make sure you’re ready for it.”
1776 Wilson Blvd., Suite 520
Arlington, VA 22209
703-822-5696 www.evermaywealth.com
Q: What services do you provide your clients?
A: Evermay provides financial planning and investment management for individuals and families. We believe that a comprehensive approach, including an initial review and ongoing advice surrounding retirement, education, tax, insurance and estate planning, allows us to provide the guidance our clients need to help reach their personal and financial goals.
We work with executives, entrepreneurs, individuals and families that often have complex financial situations. No two personal or financial situations are the same. Each client deserves individual attention and recommendations tailored for their specific needs and goals. Our typical client has in excess of $1 million under our management and care.
Q: What is the biggest challenge in your job?
A: The world is ever-changing. Whether it is a global health crisis, financial crisis,
or the loss of a job or loved one, our role is to prepare our clients for success in an uncertain world. We also realize that significant financial decisions have tradeoffs, and we help our clients weigh these costs and benefits before committing their time or resources. Helping people plan for and reach their personal and financial goals is the most rewarding aspect of our business. We develop meaningful relationships with our clients and are invested in their success.
Q: What makes your client experience unique?
A: As an independent boutique wealth management firm and a fiduciary, we put our clients first. We do not believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead we learn what is important to our clients and focus our efforts on achieving these goals.
From Left:
Toby Haggerty, Philomina Rimi Gomes, Jacob Snider, Jeff Rubery, Lindsey Rheaume, Eric Miller, Andrea Connolly, Alex Chacaltana 4420 N. Fairfax Drive Arlington, VA 22203 571-319-4800
ContactMe@EagleBankCorp.com www.EagleBankCorp.com
Q: What were the biggest challenges for the bank this past year?
A: Amid the convergence of the health and economic crises over the last year, EagleBank proactively and successfully recognized the emergent situation faced by so many clients. We pulled together as never before to provide the professional support and hands-on guidance for which we are known. We estimate that we were successful in processing over 1,330 PPP loan applications—equating to over $491 million—which saved around 41,000 jobs in the metro area.
When the devastating pandemic dispersed our workforce, we seamlessly transitioned over 400+ employees to work remotely. Thankfully, we had established tools and necessary infrastructure to quickly and securely engage employees and clients.
The EagleBank Foundation also took a leading role in supporting our community, including distributing $100,000 to 10 local area organizations fighting COVID 19—notably hospitals, food banks and
first responder aid philanthropies—to secure PPE, hospital in-room technology for healthcare staff and meals for families in the Washington area. In addition to the efforts from the EagleBank Foundation, the Bank allocated $50,000 in emergency aid to George Mason University students displaced by the COVID-19 crisis.
Q: What piece of advice do you most frequently get asked and what's your answer?
A: In recent months, many commercial clients asked us how they’ll be able to move forward amid these unprecedented and challenging times. Our answer is simple—EagleBank remains dedicated to our distinct and long-standing customerfirst culture. Even a global pandemic does not change how we approach working with clients and supporting our local community. We're a true partner who provides flexible lending solutions and approaches all challenges with a “yes we can” attitude.
7501 Wisconsin Ave, 15th Floor Bethesda, MD 20814
240-497-5008
www.chevychasetrust.com
All investing involves risk of loss, including principal. The investment strategies of Chevy Chase Trust Company ("CCTC") are not guaranteed or insured by CCTC and/or any governmental body. Please see CCTC's ADV Part 2 for more information.
Q: What separates Chevy Chase Trust from other firms in the industry?
A: We are an independent and privately owned investment management firm with roots in the Washington, D.C. community that date back more than 100 years. We specialize in thematic investing— building long-term portfolios of companies positioned to exploit powerful, secular trends, disruptive ideas, innovation and economic forces. Our client portfolios are managed internally, using individual stocks and bonds. We avoid mutual funds, ETFs and outside managers, so there are no layers of additional fees. And clients understand what they own.
Personalized financial planning is done in-house and informs each client’s investment strategy and asset allocation. All plans are updated regularly as client circumstances, market conditions and tax laws change.
With more than 90 employees—with an average of 20 years’ experience—we are big enough to offer world-class expertise and service, but small enough to offer a personal approach to comprehensive wealth management. Client retention rate exceeds 98 percent.
Q: What is your investment approach?
A: Chevy Chase Trust’s investment process is organized around global themes rather than standard industry classifications such as market capitalization, geography, style or specific benchmarks. To develop a theme, our research analysts begin by taking a broad view of the global economic landscape and identifying secular trends that are most likely to influence corporate performance across multiple industries. Themes can be driven by disruptive technologies, demographics, cultural shifts, changing consumer behaviors or new business models.
Once an investment theme is established, we conduct in-depth research on companies positioned to benefit from the theme, and just as importantly, companies that will be negatively disrupted by the theme. We assess each company’s strategic direction, competitive position, valuation, financial condition and management. Every portfolio company is the product of fundamental analysis. Ultimately, a client portfolio is comprised of 40-50 individual stocks.
Arlington’s Hometown Home Loan Team— and Your VA Loan experts!
From Left: Robert Martinson, Joe Prentice, Ru Toyama, Colin Myers, Scott Gordon Specialties: VA loans; Construction Loans; First Time Homebuyers; Conventional Loans; Renovation Loans; USDA Rural Development Loans; Reverse Mortgages; Mortgage Down Payment Assistance; Mortgage Refinancing
4075 Wilson Blvd., Suite 823, Arlington, VA 22203 703-650-7431 | www.monumenthomeloans.com info@monumenthomeloans.com
Robert Martinson, Branch Manager NMLS #470762; Joe Prentice, Sales Manager NMLS #1610163; Ru Toyama, Loan Officer NMLS #1528382; Colin Myers, Loan Officer NMLS #1473250; Scott Gordon, Processing Manager NMLS #483765
A division of Mann Mortgage LLC NMLS#2550 Equal Housing Lender. NMLSconsumeraccess.org
This ad is not from HUD, VA, or FHA and was not reviewed or approved by any government agency.
Q: Why choose Monument Home Loans instead of a bank?
A: Home mortgages are what we do— and all we do. Instead of juggling auto loans, ATMs, and asset management, we focus solely on ensuring that every client has a smooth and predictable financing experience. As a company, we are committed to hometown values, solid partnerships, streamlined processes and cutting-edge technologies. We are experienced in working with clients from a wide range of backgrounds— first-time buyers, experienced buyers, refinancing, jumbo loans, self-employed, credit-challenged—and can easily find the right options for any situation for our customers. Regardless of your circumstances, every member of our team shares a common objective—to close your loan on time, as expected, and as efficiently as possible.
Q: What sets Monument Home Loans apart?
A: Our service. While our interest rates are quite competitive, our customer service is what sets us apart. From your first phone call until your final signature, our loan officers and processing team are fully accessible whenever needed, day or night, weekday or weekend. We also understand that mortgages should not be one-size-fits-all; that’s why we offer one of the widest arrays of mortgage products in the DMV, and work closely with each client to identify the program that best meets their needs and goals. As a result, we enable people from all walks of life to experience a smooth, predictable process that results in the best mortgage for their circumstances—and to have an experienced loan officer with them every step of the way.
ARLINGTON COMMUNITY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
The team at ACFCU stands by, smiling under their masks, eager to listen to our members’ stories and support them at every turn of their financial journey.
Honors/Awards:
Arlington Cares, Distinguished Corporate Service Award 2020; Sun Gazette, Best Bank 2020; Arlington Magazine, Best Community Bank 2020-2021
2130 N. Glebe Road Arlington, VA 22207
5666 Columbia Pike Falls Church, VA 22041
703-526-0200 www.arlingtoncu.org
Q: Why do your clients choose ACFCU?
A: At Arlington Community Federal Credit Union, our members are the inspiration behind our motto: We’re With You. It is our mission, every day, to find solutions for our members’ financial needs at every stage of their journey.
We have the same goals and dreams that you do, which is why we work so hard to make yours a reality. We are passionate about providing remarkable service, supporting our local businesses, and providing the tools and education to empower the financial well-being of our members. When our members prosper, our community thrives.
As a part of our member-owned financial cooperative, your money is always reinvested in the products and services that support your dreams—low-rate loans, creative solutions for first time borrowers, checking accounts that pay YOU every month (not the other way around), and powerful digital banking services that keep you safe and connected as you conduct your financial business.
Q: How do you serve the community beyond financial services?
A: ACFCU’s core purpose is to improve financial lives throughout our community. We provide free financial education programs on topics ranging from buying your first home, saving for retirement and improving your credit score. Our staff passionately gives back through volunteerism, nonprofit board leadership and in-kind financial support for local organizations that need it most. We collaborate with community partners to provide solutions to community goals and challenges.
For nearly 70 years, ACFCU has served and supported the greater Arlington community—including Falls Church, Fairfax and Alexandria—and we take great pride in making a difference. We love this community as much as you do.
The entire ACFCU team looks forward to connecting with our current and soonto-be members in 2021!
Top Left-Right:
Renee Aldrich, Rich Sobonya, Jenny Shtipelman
Bottom Left-Right: Kathy Speakman, Keshaun Clark
Awards/Honors: Washington Business Journal Corporate Philanthropy- Small Companies by Volunteer Hours and Giving, 2017, 2018 and 2019; Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) Community Service Award Honorable Mention, 2017 and Top Home Loan Lender, 2020
2505 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA 22201 571-982-5460 www.nationalcapitalbank.com
Q: What do you offer that the competition might not?
A: As a local bank that has been a part of the Washington region for over 130 years, we know firsthand the importance of strong relationships. Generations of families and businesses have trusted NCB for all their banking needs. That history is important to us, and our tradition of providing personal service is what sets us apart from other banks. These times are no different and we are committed to continuing to serve our customers and community.
That is why we devoted maximum resources towards the Small Business Association’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). We anticipated receiving requests from many of our existing small businesses and nonprofit organizations in need of assistance. As a result, in a very short period of time, the Bank approved 100% of the more than 360 loan applications received from both existing customers as well as new customers, for a total of over $63 million.
Q: What might satisfied clients say about you?
A: We strive to exceed our clients’ expectations and ensure they always have a great experience. Hear from some of our clients about working with us to receive their PPP funding:
“NCB came to our rescue when we were desperate to secure a PPP loan. We were getting nowhere with other banks and they secured last-minute funding for us that really helped give a boost to our business at a very critical and uncertain time.”
“NCB literally rescued us during the process of the PPP funding. They returned every message in person (sometimes late at night), they facilitated an easy and userfriendly application process, and, most of all, approved and funded our loan within days of the request. I have never been more thankful for such stellar customer service in a time of crises.”
Buckingham Mortgage LLC is a familyowned business that has been passed down from generation to generation. We were founded on the core principle of providing excellent service, while keeping the customer's benefit paramount. Our core values will always be rooted in Buckingham’s culture, even as we seek to command a national presence.
1593 Spring Hill Road, Suite 100 Vienna, VA 22182
301-793-1713
yousuf@bfgusa.com www.bfgusa.com
Q: What made you want to become a professional advisor?
A: This business has always been in the family and continuing that legacy is important to me. From a young age, I was always curious about the business my father created, and I learned the ins and outs as I got older. It was a natural progression.
One of my natural strengths is connecting with people. So, getting to know clients and being able to help them achieve their home ownership goals is a very rewarding experience. Also, being able to build and grow my own company and seeing my vision come to fruition is something that drives me daily. As a leader, I seek to create a diverse culture that nurtures each employee so they become an integral part of our operations as a whole.
Q: What services do you provide your clients?
A: As a licensed mortgage lender, Buckingham Mortgage provides all mortgage products under one roof,
namely Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac loans, jumbo loans, stated income loans and bank statement loans. Additionally, we provide special reduced and noincome document loans for investment residential properties for self-employed investors. We specialize in working with all kinds of clients, including employed, self-employed, foreign nationals, diplomats and visas with ITIN numbers. Our typical loan amounts range from $100,000 to $5 million. We strive to help make our clients’ dreams come true, whether helping renters become first-time homeowners or helping current homeowners reduce their mortgage payments by lowering their rates and seeking out zero closing-cost loans.
freshimpactfarms.com
Before Covid, Ryan Pierce’s high-tech, hydroponic operation, tucked into the back of a Lee Highway strip mall, wasn’t on the radar of most consumers. Its focus was on selling high-end herbs, microgreens and edible flowers to D.C.-area chefs. Then restaurants shut down, “and we went from 100% to zero, literally over the course of a weekend,” Pierce says. So he shifted and launched a community-supported agriculture (CSA) delivery service, giving home cooks the opportunity to get in on bespoke crops ranging from artisanal lettuces and sunchokes to rare kinds of basil. Because the farm (being indoors) operates year-round, so does the CSA, which delivers to addresses throughout Northern Virginia and the District. Pierce also offers a la carte orders with curbside pickup and is currently in talks with his landlord about expanding his space. “Sometimes the biggest opportunities come out of the biggest struggles,” he says. “We hope this drives education around a more localized food system.”
–Jenny Sullivan
smokecraftbbq.com
Smokecraft’s late July opening almost felt prescient, given that barbecue and its sides are perfect comfort foods to soothe our pandemicweary souls. Restaurateur and pitmaster Andrew Darneille produces some mighty fine wagyu brisket, St. Louis pork ribs, pork butt, whole chickens, chicken wings, turkey and sausage from his Southern pride smokers, and he has a few other tricks up his sleeve, too. Among them: deviled eggs made with smoked avocado; pork belly burnt ends; a smoked beef tri-tip for a riff on the traditional French Dip sandwich; and a s’mores dessert made with a cedar plank-smoked brownie, toasted marshmallow, vanilla ice cream and chocolate-orange ganache. D.C.-based GrizForm Design Architects masterminded the Clarendon restaurant’s rustic space, which, as of press time, had socially distanced seating for 52 inside and 38 outside. Be sure to sip on some of mixologist Lauren “LP” Paylor’s clever cocktails, such as Smoke on the Water, which features Catoctin Creek rye, spiced honey and angostura bitters. –David Hagedorn
Other top vote-getters: Café Colline, Maya Bistro, The Renegade, Ruthie’s All-Day, Salt, Sfoglina Rosslyn, Thompson Italian
The Carolina-born chef who earned his bona fides at Charlie Palmer Steak, Range and, most recently, The Liberty Tavern Group (where, as executive chef, he oversaw the kitchens of The Liberty Tavern, Lyon Hall, Northside Social and Liberty Barbecue) now has a place of his own. In September, Matt Hill opened Ruthie’s All-Day in Arlington Heights with business partner and beverage director Todd Salvadore. Centering on a Southern “meat ’n’ three” concept, it’s a homey, easygoing spot serving happiness in the form of house-made biscuits, fried chicken, mac ’n’ cheese (a family recipe passed down from the chef’s grandmother, the restaurant’s namesake) and a few choice surprises, like crispy Brussels sprouts in fish-sauce vinaigrette and charred kimchi dirty rice. On the protein front, Hill is cooking with serious fire power, courtesy of two smokers and an Argentine-style grill, and his barbecue (brisket, ribs, pulled pork shoulder and more) is some of the best in the area. Don’t leave without ordering the “campfire cookies” made with smoked butter. –Jenny Sullivan
Other top vote-getters: José Andrés (Jaleo), Andrew Darneille (Smokecraft Modern Barbecue), David Guas (Bayou Bakery, Coffee Bar & Eatery), Saran Kannasute, aka “Chef Peter” (Yume Sushi), Tracy O’Grady (Green Pig Bistro)
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS: Arlington Kabob District Taco Green Pig Bistro Lost Dog Café Pupatella Sushi-Zen OUTDOOR DINING WESTOVER BEER GARDEN
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS: Ambar Clarendon
Clare & Don’s Beach Shack
Fire Works Pizza SER
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS: Bob & Edith’s Diner Metro 29 Diner Silver Diner Ted’s Bulletin DOUGHNUTS DUCK DONUTS
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS: District Doughnut Good Company Doughnuts & Café Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe WINE SHOP ARROWINE & CHEESE
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS: The Brew Shop Dominion Wine and Beer
The Italian Store
Screwtop Wine Bar Total Wine & More
arlbrew.com
“People used to go out Friday and Saturday nights,” says Beth Helle, co-owner of The Brew Shop in Courthouse, but Covid has changed how and where we imbibe. Nowadays we’re stocking up on beer and wine to consume at home, by the fire pit or during socially distanced driveway happy hours. When the pandemic began, Helle and fellow proprietor Julie Drews moved their retail operations online and began meticulously posting photos of every item they carry—not an easy undertaking given that small-batch brews and wine are their stock in trade, and their inventory is constantly changing. “Maintaining [the website] has been
a labor of love,” Drews says. Each week they have to swap out 40 or more craft beers, once the latest blackberry gose or seasonal stout is tapped out. The shop also carries thousands of home brewing SKUs, including at least 70 different kinds of hops and malts—items that have become hot commodities as a growing number of suds lovers are trying their hand at beer-making. Helle and Drews have some expertise in that area. Both are former CPAs who met while working as litigation consultants, but after a weekend of home brewing together with their husbands, the women decided to venture into retail in 2016. “We wanted to make the shop appealing for everyone and break the boundaries of what the stereotypical home brew store looks like,” Helle says. “We wanted to make it a place where everyone feels comfortable.” –Lisa Rabasca Roepe
Other top vote-getters: Arrowine & Cheese, Dominion Wine and Beer, Lost Dog Café, Total Wine & More, Westover Market
EDITOR PICK
thompsonitalian.com
When in doubt, you can always find solace in pasta and dessert. Gabe and Katherine Thompson, who previously owned a string of successful restaurants in Manhattan, opened their Falls Church City trattoria to rave reviews in August 2019—just enough time, Katherine says, to gain a footing and build a loyal clientele before the world turned upside down. In March, the husband-and-wife chefs (she does pastry; he oversees the savories) shut down for two weeks before reopening on April 2 as a takeout-only operation. Now, in addition to the a la carte carryout menu, the kitchen packages up fresh, house-made pastas and sauces that customers can assemble at home; fully cooked or oven-ready supper trays that feed four to six; and spectacular dolci, sold in single-servings or whole ensembles. If Gabe’s garganelli with beef Bolognese sauce doesn’t inspire you to place an order, Katherine’s Oreo-ish cookies—crispy dark-chocolate wafers filled with vanilla white-chocolate buttercream—will. (They come 10 to a box.) Thompson Italian is aiming to resume on-site outdoor dining in March of 2021. –David Hagedorn
Taqueria el Poblano’s classic margarita
taqueriapoblano.com
If there’s one thing we can all agree upon, it’s that 2020 called for a few stiff drinks. When an April governor’s order gave restaurants a green light to sell cocktails to go, this local cantina—coming up on 18 years in business—kicked into gear, its staff putting in the hard work of hand zesting and juicing thousands of limes for takeout margaritas. All we had to do was close our eyes and imagine a warm ocean breeze. Lindsay Michel, who co-owns the chainlet’s Columbia Pike and Lee Highway locations with her husband, Dan, says the classic marg is the most ordered, although variations infused with jalapeño or habanero do give the original a run for its money. The latter obviously turns up the heat. “Habanero will burn you down!” she says with a laugh. Bring it. –Rina Rapuano Other top vote-getters: Big Buns Damn Good Burger Co., Fire Works Pizza, The Liberty Tavern, Tupelo Honey
greenpigbistro.com
Regulars were bereft when the Harlan family’s Clarendon bistro closed in late March after two employees tested positive for coronavirus. But both staffers recovered and the restaurant came back better than ever, reopening in May with a new chef at the helm—Tracy O’Grady, whose beloved Willow restaurant ended its 10-year run in Ballston in 2015. “What makes Green Pig Bistro so special is that it’s all about the staff and the guests,” says O’Grady, a Falls Church resident whose most recent venture, Campono, in D.C.’s Watergate complex, shuttered in March after the Kennedy Center went dark due to the pandemic. She says she’s happy
to be cooking closer to home for a small, independently owned business that takes good care of its people. “The Harlan family made sure everybody got paid, even before PPP [loans],” she says. “People consider this their neighborhood restaurant.” Pork is still king here (per the name), and we could make a habit of O’Grady’s crispy Gruyere-stuffed schnitzel with mustard sauce. But she has also introduced a few new dishes to the menu, including some enticing vegetarian and pescatarian options. –David Hagedorn
Other top vote-getters: Ambar Clarendon, Lyon Hall, SER, Sushi-Zen
READER PICK
bayoubakerryva.com
Early in the pandemic, Bayou Bakery chef/owner David Guas reluctantly downsized his staff and tried to make a go of it with takeout only. The model was unsustainable and the eatery closed to the public on April 1, but its kitchen didn’t go dormant. Instead, Guas joined forces with the nonprofit Real Food for Kids (which promotes healthy school lunches) and launched Chefs Feeding Families, an operation turning out nutritious, plant-based grab-and-go meals for local kids and their families, with a no-questionsasked policy and a commitment to turning no one away. Come summer, other restaurateurs signed on to the cause, including Pizzeria Paradiso chef/owner Ruth Gresser and
EDITOR PICK
Silver Diner chef/co-founder Ype Von Hengst. Bayou Bakery reopened for business in late August after undergoing a renovation, but Guas stayed the course with his philanthropic mission. As of Nov. 1, Chefs Feeding Families had provided more than 100,000 meals, and the effort continues. Donations are still needed, Guas stresses, “so we can continue to provide meals to those who need them.” Visit realfood forkids.org for more information. –David Hagedorn Other top vote-getters: A Modo Mio Pizzeria Napoletana (formerly Joe’s Place Pizza & Pasta), Good Company Doughnuts & Café, Jaleo/José Andrés (World Central Kitchen), Lebanese Taverna
wildtigerbbq.com
When Scott Chung and Kevin Tien started dreaming up the concept for Wild Tiger BBQ, a pop-up featuring classic ’cue with Asian flavors, they had the recipe for their signature shin ramen rub figured out, but they needed someone with expertise in the art of low-and-slow smoked meats. The problem is, most accomplished pitmasters tend to keep their trade secrets close to the vest. Sloppy Mama’s co-owner Joe Neuman—whom they knew from Ballston Quarter Market, where all three have food stands—was the exception. “A lot of people are secretive about their business and methods, but Joe was an open book,” says Chung, who, with some coaching from Neuman, is now smoking ribs and filling Wild Tiger orders from his Bun’d Up storefront in Pentagon Row. Neuman’s team, meanwhile, is tending brisket and pulled pork for Wild Tiger from its smokers on Lee Highway. (Tien remains a partner, but is currently focused on Moon Rabbit, the upscale Vietnamese restaurant he recently opened at The Wharf in D.C.) “Scott and Kevin are good guys,” Neuman says. “It’s hard times and people should help each other out, whether it’s a collaboration or just a conversation on what’s working and what people want.” –David Hagedorn
facebook.com/masilverman
In March, Virginia Hospital Center began to receive its first wave of patients testing positive for the novel coronavirus. People were scared and confused by the mixed health and safety messages emanating from the highest levels of the federal government, so Mike Silverman, chair of the hospital’s department of emergency medicine, stepped in to fill the void. He began posting weekly “Friday Night Updates” on his personal Facebook page, offering a frontline physician’s perspective on everything from case counts and comorbidities to herd immunity and hydroxychloroquine. “I thought the public needed to see and hear about what was really going on inside hospitals without a political agenda,” says the seasoned ER doc. “It speaks to people’s desire to get scientific information.” His page now has thousands of followers, and his weekly posts average anywhere from 250 to 400 shares. –Jenny Sullivan
novaparks.com/parks/washington-and-old-dominion-railroad-regional-park
Sometimes called “the skinniest park in Virginia,” this 45-mile paved trail follows the path of a former rail line extending from Shirlington to Purcellville. The Washington & Old Dominion railroad ceased operations in 1968, but the route remains a well-traveled thoroughfare for runners, walkers, cyclists (including commuters) and equestrians, with tree-lined expanses that seem a world away from traffic snarls and other stressors. Cottage industries—breweries, bakeries, barbecue joints and bike shops— offer pit stops along the way, rewarding athletes for the miles they’ve logged. That includes Arlington’s New District Brewing Co., conveniently located in a warehouse near the eastern trailhead in Shirlington, along Four Mile Run. –Matt Blitz
Other top vote-getters: Arlington Loop, Bluemont Junction Trail, Custis Trail, Four Mile Run Trail, Mount Vernon Trail
READER PICKS
OB/GYN NORTHERN VIRGINIA PHYSICIANS TO WOMEN
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS: Capital Women’s Care Healthcare for Women Obstetrics and Gynecology
NOVA Group for Women Physicians & Midwives
Virginia Hospital Center
OB/GYN Physician Group
PEDIATRIC DENTIST
MICHELLE KEANEY FLANAGAN
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS: Banaji Pediatric Dental Specialists
Growing Smiles of Northern Virginia
McLean Pediatric Dentistry
Edward J. Nelson
Oasis Pediatric Dental Care & Orthodontics
Christine Reardon VK Pediatric Dentistry
PEDIATRICIAN NORTHERN VIRGINIA PEDIATRIC ASSOCIATES
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS: Capital Area Pediatrics Metropolitan Pediatrics Pediatrics of Arlington Virginia Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine
READER PICKS
URGENT CARE
INOVA URGENT CARE
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS:
Old Dominion Urgent Care
Patient First Falls Church
PMA Health Immediate Care
Urgent Care Center of Arlington Virginia Hospital Center Immediate Care
PERSONAL TRAINER
ANDY SHIN FITNESS
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS: Cordaro Fit Excel3rate
Kinematics/Joe Tryon
Ronald Thermil
HIKING TRAIL POTOMAC OVERLOOK PARK
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS:
Billy Goat Trail
Donaldson Run
Great Falls Park
Potomac Heritage Trail
Scott’s Run Nature Preserve
Theodore Roosevelt Island
Windy Run Trail
pentagonmma.com
Running a martial arts studio was destiny for Kru Vivek Nakarmi and Diana Nakarmi. The competitive fighter and ex-lawyer met at one 12 years ago, married and then opened their own in 2012. Today, they serve 500 members with children’s programs, women’s kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai, or Thai boxing. Usually class participants pair off for drills and sparring, but during the pandemic the studio’s 18 instructors have had students work individually. The Nakarmis credit a tight-knit community for their studio’s success, and they reciprocate by working with the Arlington Free Clinic and local school supply drives. “We’re really lucky and blessed, so giving back is just what comes naturally to us,” Diana says. –Stephanie Kanowitz
Other top vote-getters: Jhoon Rhee Tae Kwon Do, U.S. Tae Kwon Do College
Founded in 1934, Preston’s has served generals, politicians, media personalities and citizens of every ilk over its nine decades in business. In 2016,
longtime owner John Eklund retired and sold the trusted institution to pharmacists Frank Odeh, Lisa Odeh and Victoria Paesano, and store manager Jorge Pineda, who has worked there since high school. “[Eklund] was looking for an ownership group that would carry on the legacy of his community pharmacy,” says Frank Odeh, “and we think we’ve done that rather well.” Yet, Preston’s has never experienced a public health crisis like the coronavirus pandemic. It has
responded by becoming a major local provider of Covid-19 testing, administering (as of November) an average of 200 drive-through tests per day. Odeh praises his 25 employees as “heroes” who bring old-fashioned customer service to the medical challenges of our time. “We try to address everyone by their name, greet every customer with a smile and bend over backwards for whatever they need,” he says. “It’s all about rolling up our sleeves and getting to work.” –Matt Blitz
vidafitness.com
When you open a gym during a pandemic—in June, to be precise— safety precautions are all you know. Ballston newcomer VIDA Fitness, which offers workouts ranging from personal training and power yoga to
Pilates, is religious about it. Although Virginia does not require face masks for those exercising on equipment spaced 10 feet apart, “we think that’s insane, so we require all of our members to wear a face mask at all times,
period,” says Aaron Moore, director of operations for the gym’s six Arlington and D.C. locations. Members get a bottle of cleaning solution and a microfiber towel to wipe down equipment before and after use, and staff are fastidious about doing extra wipe-downs throughout the day. The facility’s HVAC system circulates in outdoor air, which air scrubbers then filter. “That club is like a hospital operating room,” Moore says.
–Stephanie Kanowitz
READER PICK
dodini.com
If you think you’ve had a tough year, imagine being a therapist and absorbing the collective stress of a pandemic and a contentious election cycle. Anxiety and depression have skyrocketed, and mental health experts are human, too.
“A lot of my colleagues are holding the angst and sadness and grief that’s going on out there in the world,” says clinical psychologist Aaron Dodini, whose 12-member practice offers individual and group therapy, family and couples counseling, and ADHD testing, helping clients estab-
lish long-term strategies for mental and emotional wellbeing. He says he and his colleagues lean on one other when it gets to be too much. What sets this Arlington practice apart from the rest? “Super good-looking, above average, very articulate,” he jokes, before adding: “We try to be real and authentic. We’re involved in our clients’ lives, and they’re involved in ours.” –Rina Rapuano
Other top vote-getters: Georgetown Psychology, Jessica MacNair, Sunstone Counseling, Christina Tripodi Mitchell
This isn’t the first time Michael and Deborah Sauri’s 15-year-old designbuild company has won this award— or even the second. Over the years, they’ve seen trends come and go
(Michael is personally grateful that clients are now moving away from “white, white, white kitchens” and brushed nickel galore), but the firm’s design approach remains constant. Every client conversation starts with questions about functionality and how families actually live in their everyday spaces. Covid hasn’t necessarily changed what people want, he says, but it has sped up project timelines and helped some folks reevalu-
ate not just their homes, but everything: “The pandemic has given us an opportunity to think about the things that really matter, and that’s going to be in style for a very, very long time.”
–Rina Rapuano
Other top vote-getters: Alair Homes Arlington; AV Architects + Builders; BOWA; Bowers Design Build; Case Architects & Remodelers; M-R Custom Homes; Sagatov Design Build; Zimmermann Homes
mirajeandesigns.com
In 2015, Kate Hougen left a director-level job at the Nature Conservancy and started a textile line, applying her hand-painted designs to organic, American-made fabrics for pillows, window treatments and upholstery. Two years later she expanded her business to include wallpaper made with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified materials. “It was a natural evolution,” says the Arlington entrepreneur. “So much of what is happening in interior design now is not just fabrics, but wallcoverings.” Today, Mira Jean Designs (named for the artist’s mom and daughter) has more than 50 patterns in its collection, from botanical and floral motifs to cheeky prints featuring swimsuits, tiaras and popular dog breeds. What’s next? A newly released Olive Branch collection features simple, hand-drawn branches and leaves—a quiet response to these sobering times, to be sure. –Jenny Sullivan
READER PICKS MOVING COMPANY
TOWN & COUNTRY MOVERS
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS:
Certified Master Movers
JK Moving
My Guys Moving & Storage
SENIOR LIVING COMMUNITY
VINSON HALL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS:
Culpepper Garden
Goodwin House
The Jefferson
The Kensington Falls Church
Sunrise Senior Living
EDITOR PICK
spugnardi.com
If a tree falls in Arlington, it may well end up as fine furniture. Storm-felled cherry, maple, cedar and walnut trees have been known to land in Jeff Spugnardi’s Leeway-Overlee shop (after a trip to the kiln), where they are magically transformed into hardwood dining tables, chests, bed frames and—the master woodworker’s specialty—ergonomic, custom-designed rocking chairs with matching footstools. A former Marine, Spugnardi cites furniture designers Le Corbusier, Sam Maloof and George Nakashima among his influences. Letting no scraps go to waste, he also makes smaller items, including valet boxes, carbon-fiber-topped humidors and cutting boards. –Jenny Sullivan
READER PICK
thetoynest.com
If you’re a parent, you know the frustration of buying your kids a new toy, only to watch them play with it for a few days and then lose interest. Lisa Bourven was always bothered by the waste, and loath to clutter her home with more molded plastic. So in June, the Falls Church mom of two opened The Toy Nest, where, for a membership fee (or onetime drop-in rate) families can borrow toys for a couple weeks, give them a test drive and then return them. Bourven’s borrowing library has more than 1,450 toys, games and puzzles in its inventory, all of which are cataloged online, disinfected between uses and available for curbside pickup. And if your kiddo falls in love with that Calico Critters Hedgehog Hideout or Star Wars X-wing pilot costume? Pay the item’s “love it or lose it” price and it’s yours for keeps. The 2,100-square-foot storefront in The Little City also has a drop-in play space. And for each annual membership purchased, Bourven provides a matching membership for a local family meeting federal free or reduced lunch requirements. –Jenny Sullivan
congressionalschool.org
With a 40-acre campus, including a pool, Tripps Run Creek and horses, it’s not surprising that the students at this 81-year-old institution have many opportunities to learn outside the box. The Falls Church school emphasizes active learning, with a curriculum that gets students out of their chairs and outdoors—and teachers dedicated to instilling life lessons along with the ABCs. “We believe in lifelong education,” says head of school Edwin Gordon. “That, I think, is the special sauce that we have.” This year, the school has 403 students (infants through eighth grade) and 69 teachers. Do the math and that amounts to a student-teacher ratio of roughly 6-to-1. During the summer (and when public safety allows), the woodsy campus morphs into a popular day camp that attracts young nature-lovers from around the region. –Stephanie Kanowitz
Other top vote-getters: Full Circle Montessori School, The Langley School, The Potomac School, Saint Agnes Catholic School, The Sycamore School
READER PICK
parks.arlingtonva.us/locations/chestnut-hills-park
This leafy park on North Harrison Street has always been a draw for kids—perhaps now more than ever. The upgrades started in 2014, when county improvements hatched in partnership with the Yorktown Civic Association included new fencing, benches, climbing apparatuses and a cushioned but rideable surface that forms a tricycle loop and makes the playground ADA compliant. (The colorful hardscape also has integrated letters and numbers for elementary learners.) Two years later, Arlington County purchased two adjacent homes and expanded the park’s footprint to almost 4.5 acres. Although it was closed this spring during Virginia’s shelter-inplace orders, the park is now providing a welcome escape for parents and children suffering from cabin fever. “Parks, playgrounds and outdoor spaces are really critical now” for folks looking to blow off steam in a safe and socially distanced way, says Erik Beach, park development division chief for Arlington Parks and Recreation. Indeed. – Lisa Rabasca Roepe
Other top vote-getters: Clemyjontri Park, Lyon Village Park, Madison Manor Park, Quincy Park, Rocky Run Park
READER PICKS
PRESCHOOL CONGRESSIONAL SCHOOL
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS: Children’s House Montessori School
Full Circle
Montessori School
Little Ambassadors’ Academy
Mount Olivet Preschool
Saint Charles
Early Childhood
Education Center
Trinity Presbyterian Preschool
VIRTUAL CAMP CONGRESSIONAL CAMP
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS:
Arlington Independent
Media Virtual Movie and Animation Camps
Educational Theatre Company (ETC)
Encore Stage & Studio
Pentagon Mixed Martial Arts
DRIVING SCHOOL I DRIVE SMART
DOG PARK
SHIRLINGTON DOG PARK
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS: Glencarlyn Dog Park
James Hunter Dog Park
Madison Dogs
EDITOR PICK
mattmendelsohn.com
It certainly wasn’t the finale they’d imagined. When schools abruptly closed last March, a crushing reality set in for Arlington’s Class of 2020: There would be no prom, no spring sports, no parties, no traditional cap-and-gown ceremonies. Matt Mendelsohn’s daughter was still a junior at Yorktown High, but the seasoned photographer (whose portfolio includes world leaders and celebrities) wondered if he could help seniors celebrate the milestone in a different way. In April, he decided to offer free senior portraits—shot outdoors with a long lens—to any member of Yorktown’s graduating class who wanted one. Soon he was booking as many as a dozen shoots per day, including weekends, and making house calls. “I’d ask each student, ‘What makes you you?’ ” he says. “And we’d go from there.” By late June, he had photographed 401 seniors (roughly 80% of Yorktown’s graduating class), taking the time to hear and capture every student’s unique story. His mitzvah of a project, Not Forgotten: The Yorktown Seniors of 2020, was covered by CBS Evening News, the Today show, ABC News, The Washington Post and a host of other national and international news outlets. –Jenny Sullivan
READER PICK
thesycamoreschoolva.org
Reading, writing and math get their due at this small, independent secondary school in Ballston, but Fridays are all about community service. In 2020, Sycamore’s 52 students (in fifth- through 12thgrade) prepared bagged lunches for New Hope Housing and sent letters to troops. That focus on civic engagement represents one of the school’s three foundational roots, along with academics and social-emotional health. Recognizing that kids mature in different areas at different speeds, Sycamore organizes its students in cohorts—three for middle school and two for high school—that blend ages and abilities. “We meet each student where they are,” says head of school Karyn Ewart, a licensed clinical psychologist, “fill in the gaps in their learning and then they move forward at their own pace.”
–Stephanie Kanowitz
Other top vote-getters: Commonwealth Academy, Full Circle Montessori School, Oakwood School
To our residents who continue to trust in our promise
To our families who show patience and exibility as we adjust our routines and procedures to preserve the well-being of their loved ones...
To our team* who goes above and beyond to keep the morale of our residents as high as possible...
To our rst responders who sacrice time with their families to help us tend to ours...
To all others in and around the community who rise to the call to lend a hand, every time that call sounds... You are fearless. You are generous. Your spirit is indomitable. YOU ARE OUR HEROES.
READER PICKS
RUNNING STORE PACERS RUNNING
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS: Potomac River Running Road Runner Sports
GARDEN CENTER MERRIFIELD GARDEN CENTER
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS: Greenstreet Gardens Meadows Farms
PICK
HARDWARE STORE AYERS VARIETY & HARDWARE
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS: Bill’s True Value Hardware
Brown’s Hardware
Cherrydale Hardware
McLean Hardware
Twins Ace Hardware Arlington
RETAIL CURBSIDE PICKUP
ARROWINE & CHEESE
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS: Covet
One More Page Books
Pandemic economics haven’t been all bad—certainly not for bike shops, which have seen an avalanche of demand for cycling gear and equipment. In April, nationwide sales of bikes, helmets and other accessories were up 75% over the year prior, according to The NPD Group, a market research company. “We saw an unprecedented demand for the product we carry,” confirms Steve Beheler, operations manager for Spokes Etc. in Ballston, which, as of early April, had a waiting list of interested bike buyers. The frenzy caused a backup in Spokes’ repair shop, too. “If you had a bike in the garage you hadn’t pedaled in a few years, you suddenly had a reason to bring it in and see if it was safe to ride,” he adds. Still looking for a new ride? Most Spokes stores (all six are in Northern Virginia) now have 300 to 400 models in stock, including mountain, hybrid and road bikes, as well as kids’ bikes and electric bikes. For serious road warriors, the shop will even build a custom bike with exacting specifications, components and fit. Beheler believes the cycling craze is here to stay. “Bikes allow people to socially distance safely and get healthy,” he says, “and they are also great for the environment and the climate.” –Lisa Rabasca Roepe
Other top vote-getters: Bikenetic, Conte’s Bike Shop, The Old Bike Shop, Papillon Cycles, Trek Bicycle Clarendon
covetinarlington.com
You want to let your bestie or your better half know how much you care—but not in the saccharine-sweet way of your average grocery store card. Autumn Clayton’s edgy Bluemont boutique, occupying the upper floor of an old farmhouse, can hook you up. Attitude is part of the draw here, where greetings by makers such as Sapling Press, The Mincing Mockingbird, FineAss Lines, Colette Paperie and Arlington’s own Little Goat Paper Co. skip the cute baby animals and are more apt to feature Richard Simmons, Lizzo, sloths, dumpster fires, gallows humor and the occasional splash of profanity. Because nothing says love like a heartfelt and well-delivered F-bomb. –Jenny Sullivan
EDITOR PICK
quinnsauction.com
It’s a buyers’ market for vintage finds, says Matt Quinn, executive vice president of Quinn’s Auction Galleries in Falls Church. And with public health concerns driving the bidding process online, it’s easier than ever for auctioneers to play matchmaker, connecting folks with similar passions for, say, rare books or chinoiserie. “Baby boomers and their parents collected items with a greater density than people do today, so there’s a lot of material out there,” says the local dealer, whose family business now stages an online auction every Wednesday. (The sales team also does in-home sales, and Matt’s father, Paul, owns the Falls Church Antique Annex a few blocks away.) If you’ve never participated in an auction, now’s a good time to try, he says. “The key is understanding what you’re bidding on and what you want to pay for it.” Online tools allow would-be buyers to set their top bid and then wait to see if theirs is the highest—minus the intimidating verbal acrobatics of a fast-talking broker. Quinn suggests starting out small with a $15 bid to see how it works. “You’re able to buy things and decorate your home for a fraction of what other people have originally spent on the item,” he says. “If you’re willing to do the treasure hunt, you will benefit from all that buying power.” –Lisa Rabasca Roepe
fairtraderoots.com
Sadly, it looks like we’ll be wearing face masks for a little while longer. The silver (organic cotton?) lining is that these essential accessories offer new and creative ways to express yourself, and Lisa Ostroff’s Westover boutique has quite the selection. Known for its fair-trade wares, the shop carries masks (both adult and kid sizes) featuring Kenyan kitenge cloth, Guatemalan embroidery and reversible block-prints from India. Alternately, you can state your allegiance to Anthony Fauci, RBG, UVA, GMU or Virginia Tech with a handmade number by local seamster Sandy Tevelin. While you’re at it, grab some calming citrus hand sanitizer made by Virginia-based VC Naturalz, a minority-owned hemp company based in Manassas. –Jenny Sullivan
Culpepper Garden is proud to provide quality, affordable housing and assisted living services for Arlington seniors.
Culpepper Garden and Arlington Retirement Housing Corporation, the nonprofit owner, wish to thank the greater Arlington community for your continued support over the last 50 years!
To learn more about our community and our mission, call today or visit our website, www.culpeppergarden.org
READER PICK
Men’s
beardedgoatbarber.com
The idea for Bearded Goat came during—what else?—a haircut. Eric Renfro was giving entrepreneur Scott Parker (co-owner of Barley Mac, Bronson Bierhall and other local ventures) a trim when “casual conversation turned into brainstorming.” The plan took time to grow, but in March 2019, Renfro, Parker and fellow barber Jon Dodson opened their salon for gents in Ballston. Like so many other local businesses, it took an unexpected hiatus during the shutdown this spring, but reopened in May with heightened safety protocols and a steady stream of clients booking appointments for cuts and a little armchair therapy.
“You get to be part of people’s lives,” Renfro says of his chosen profession. “First dates, job interviews, weddings, graduations. You share these intimate moments.” –Matt Blitz
Other top vote-getters: Hendricks Gentlemen’s Barbershop, The Neighborhood Barbershop, Pete’s Barber Shop, Westover Barber Shop
George Floyd’s murder prompted thousands of local residents to mask up and march against systemic racism and police brutality. But that moment in late May was neither the beginning nor the end of Arlington’s awakening to racial injustice. Many local advocacy groups remain actively engaged in facilitating tough conversations about race and critiquing broken systems, including the Arlington Branch of the NAACP (arlingtonnaacp.com), the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization; Challenging Racism (challenging racism.org), a workshop program that helps participants develop a deeper and broader understanding of racism and its effects on our society; Black Parents of Arlington (facebook.com/the bpoa), which provides advocacy and a safe space for Black parents; Arlington for Justice (facebook.com/arl4justice), a citizens’ group pushing for criminal justice reform; and the Leadership Center for Excellence DMV Diversity & Inclusion Institute (leadercenter.org), a training program that dissects dynamics surrounding race, gender, sexual orientation, political affiliation and other factors in the workplace. In November, Arlington County adopted a restorative justice plan that establishes a framework for school and legal reform. These efforts will surely continue to gain momentum as the community strives to build a more equitable future for all. –Jenny Sullivan
EDITOR PICK
memphisgoldblues.com
Could there be a more appropriate musical genre for our present circumstances than the blues? When Covid-19 arrived, guitarist Chester Chandler, who performs under the stage name Memphis Gold, took to his eighth-floor balcony in Ballston and began serenading his neighborhood with free weekend concerts. “It really brought my spirits up to see people on the sidewalk enjoying the music,” says the 65-year-old Navy veteran, who, in normal times, plays gigs at JV’s Restaurant and the annual Tinner Hill Music Festival when he’s not touring internationally. Each hourlong set in his five-month impromptu concert series began with the national anthem, then segued into “gutbucket” blues classics, plus a few of the Memphis-born artist’s own songs. People started making donations through his website, which Chandler and his wife, Barbara, have since shared with local nonprofits serving homeless and veteran populations. An Arlington resident since 2001, Chandler walks with a cane—the result of a 2008 tree-trimming accident in which he fell 30 feet and broke his back. Music, he says, is good medicine. “When I’m playing onstage, I have no pain.” –Jenny Sullivan
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS: Clarendon Wealth Management
Evermay Wealth Management Florin Group Rocco Russo/ Edward Jones Washington Wealth Advisors
ACCOUNTING FIRM
WENDROFF & ASSOCIATES
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS: Klausner & Company The McGruder Group
CAR DEALERSHIP KOONS ARLINGTON TOYOTA
OTHER TOP VOTE-GETTERS: Brown’s Arlington Honda Mercedes-Benz of Arlington
maspaz.co
His name is Federico Frum, but in the art world the Colombia-born artist is known as MasPaz, which in Spanish translates as “more peace.” Common themes in his large-scale murals, which have electrified urban spaces in Arlington, D.C. and beyond, include nature, connectivity and the Hispanic diaspora. His latest local installation, “Community,” depicts a maternal figure holding the neighborhood in her arms and awaiting the arrival of a dove. (Painted on an exterior wall of Cowboy Cafe, it’s an outgrowth of this summer’s “Words to Art” project and anchors a place-
making initiative of the Lee Highway Alliance.)
Though his talents are in considerable demand—his portfolio includes household names such as Nike, National Geographic, the Sierra Club, the Smithsonian and the New Museum in New York City—the Arlington Ridge resident and H-B Woodlawn graduate maintains a soft spot for his hometown and is dedicated to making it more beautiful. In 2019, he collaborated with fifth-graders at Hoffman-Boston Elementary School to design and paint a legacy mural along one of the school’s hallways, featuring plants and animals indigenous to the local ecosystem. During the pandemic, he began offering a series of free online art workshops, encouraging art as an outlet for mental health. –Jenny Sullivan
potomacpaddleclub.com
Arlington natives Jack Maher and Jack Walten have been best friends since preschool. Now they own and run two party-boat-meets-spin-class pontoons called Cycleboats. Upon boarding, passengers mount the 10 bicycle seats that face a mahogany bar and pedal (thus contributing to the boat’s propulsion) while enjoying BYO food and drink. Granted, the pedalers aren’t doing all the work. A paddlewheel in the back also helps move the eco-friendly vessel down the Potomac. Each boat can hold up to 16 people—12 during the pandemic—and has a lounge area at the front for a lazier view of D.C.’s iconic monuments during the 90-minute cruise. In recent months, the pontoons offered a fun outing that was Covid-safety-friendly. “We are such a good alternative to going to bars,” Walten says. “With the whole open-air layout, we can space people properly.” –Stephanie Kanowitz n
Jennifer Bethel has been legally blind since birth. It didn’t stop her from pursuing the career she always dreamed of.By Tamara Lytle | Photos by Matt Mendelsohn
Jennifer Bethel moved smoothly from grand plié to relevé as her friend Afton Mormann watched in astonishment. It was 2013 and the two were trying out a class at Adagio Ballet, a dance studio (now closed) on Lee Highway. Mormann remembers struggling to follow the instructor’s movements while Bethel executed the sequence perfectly after hearing the choreography only once, and with no visual cues. Bethel is legally blind.
“She did not miss one beat in that class,” says Mormann, who lives in McLean’s Franklin Park neighborhood. “She must be more in tune with her listening than your average person. That
carries over into her friendships and her business.”
Bethel’s business—however unlikely for a blind person—is graphic design. Her career choice speaks volumes about her refusal to accept limitations, her problem-solving abilities and her creative gifts, including some that have emerged because of her blindness, not in spite of it.
Now 40, Bethel was born with a rare disease, ocular albinism. That means her retinas and irises lack the pigment needed to aid vision. She can see things extremely close up and can make out colors, but her vision in both eyes is 20/600—worse than the 20/200
threshold that qualifies a person as legally blind.
That friend or neighbor most people can recognize waving from 60 feet away? Bethel can only see from a distance of 2 feet.
Mormann still recalls the nerves she felt that first day in ballet class, about not knowing what was coming next, and the realization that came after.
“Jennifer is doing it every second of her life,” says Mormann, who has known Bethel for 12 years, ever since they both lived in the same apartment building in Courthouse. “The second she walks to the sidewalk, every day is new for her.”
BETHEL WAS A BABY when her mother noticed her eyes moving rapidly back and forth (a condition called nystagmus) and set out on a medical maze to identify the cause. Although ocular albinism does not come with the reddish-looking eyes sometimes associated with general albinism, Bethel did have very pale skin and white hair as a child—unlike the other members of her Sephardic Jewish family. “I was always the ghost with the white hair,” she says. Her appearance made her a target for bullies, but her resolve to not let blindness define her was born even earlier.
“My parents, they never stated it as a problem that would keep me from doing anything,” says Bethel, whose mother, Carol Froehlich, was a school counselor. Her father, Rick Froehlich,
“I feel very fortunate I had parents who weren’t afraid to let me try and fail, and brush off the bruises.”
was an accountant and CFO of the private company that developed the Dulles Greenway. They moved to Fairfax County from Atlanta when she was in fourth grade.
“I have an older sister. She rode a bike, I wanted to ride a bike,” Bethel recalls. “Doctors told my parents I wouldn’t go to a regular school...that I wouldn’t do things like gymnastics or dance that required a lot of balance. And my parents just pretty much said, ‘We’re not going to listen to that. She’s a kid and if she wants to try, we’re going to give her that opportunity.’ That’s what they have done for everything in my life.”
That meant frequent-flier points in the emergency room—a broken arm, broken foot, head cut open on a playground slide, fingers cut by art scissors.
But the injuries were better than the alternative. “I feel very fortunate I had parents who weren’t afraid to let me try and fail, and brush off the bruises,” Bethel says during a Zoom call from the loft office in her Clarendon home, a box of markers nearby for doodling.
Her hair and skin have darkened with age—markedly so after two pregnancies—and her strawberry-blonde hair now frames a creamy complexion set off by bright lipstick. Her eyes seemingly reflect the colors around them, appearing greenish from her desk, but
bluer when she switches locations and walks into the sunlight downstairs.
Bethel describes her love of the arts as innate. As a girl, she would ask people what fashion styles they liked and draw them outfits. She painted Disney movie posters. If her uncle offered to buy her a gift, she always picked an art kit. She later took up competitive dance, somehow keeping in synch with her teammates.
Her sister, Rachel, was her shield against an insensitive world. Other kids in their school ridiculed Bethel’s rapidly darting eyes and unusually pale skin and hair. They stuck their feet out to trip her and pulled chairs out from under her. Rachel would invite her younger sister to eat lunch at her table, with the older kids.
“My sister was always the popular, gorgeous one and people feared her,” Bethel says. “She would not allow anybody to be mean to me.”
When Rachel left for high school, Bethel was alone in middle school and had to fight for herself—quite literally. One day she struck back against a longtime bully, kicking the boy hard enough to drop him to the ground. He never bothered her again. (He would later tell her he respected her for standing up to him.)
Suddenly, other kids saw her as spunky. The incident opened the door to making friends.
She continued to find refuge in her art, too. She was in high school at Hayfield Secondary School in Alexandria when one of her art teachers taught her to draw using an unlikely tool.
“I would look at a still life close up through a telescope and I would draw it,” Bethel says. “It made my art more interesting. Things looked a little different when I painted them, but you could still tell it was a banana or a flower. I started expressing myself through color. It wasn’t so much the color I saw but rather the color I felt.”
HER FIRST YEAR of college, however, was a disaster. At James Madison University, where Bethel was accepted on a portfolio scholarship, accommodations for blind students 20 years ago were slim to none, she says, and she felt like an “artsy weird person” in a sea of preppy.
Technology also wasn’t what it is today. Bethel struggled to follow lectures using overhead projections she couldn’t see. She made few friends (though she did meet her future husband, Sean) and stopped dancing. She lost interest in food and dropped to 90 pounds.
“It was the one time in my life I really gave up,” she says. “I felt like I was in a black hole.”
Though her father was skeptical of art as a viable career choice, her mother and sister, seeing Bethel’s spiral into depression, convinced him she would be better off in art school. He insisted she go first to Northern Virginia Community College to make up the classes she had failed at JMU. The unexpected boon of that experience was a class in disability law that helped Bethel learn how to advocate for herself.
She subsequently won another portfolio scholarship in 2001—this time to the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Georgia. Soon her work was so good it was gracing the walls of the
school and she was working with real clients on class projects.
SCAD’s campus was very accessible, she says, giving her the freedom to walk around without assistance. Teachers spent extra hours with her, devising creative work-arounds for tasks that her vision made difficult, like cutting presentation mats without slicing off a finger.
The college had a good support structure for students with disabilities. When teachers presented information at the front of class, Bethel had a monitor right in front of her to follow along.
She’d found her paint-splattered tribe. Bethel graduated in 2004, just five years after finishing high school and despite the detours at JMU and NOVA. After college, she did design work for a defense contractor and then at an ad agency specializing in issues advocacy.
Along the way, she married and had two sons—Connor, now 10, and Liam, 2. (Neither inherited ocular albinism. Connor sweetly serves as a guide for her when they are out walking.)
Around the time Connor was born, she left behind the unpredictable hours
of agency life and opened her own business, JMB Design Center. Her homebased studio holds a rainbow of art supplies, with brightly colored paintings of hers on the walls.
CLIENTS DESCRIBE BETHEL as an exceptional listener with a gift for distilling complex ideas in graphic form.
“From the start, she got us,” says Marty Stone, a former client whose D.C.-based political consulting firm, Stones’ Phones, got a new website and full rebrand from Bethel in 2012. “She did a much better job than I did in explaining what I do, then she was able to graphically represent that.”
Stone still remembers being struck by Bethel’s unorthodox creativity—like her suggestion to present a proposal in story form, chronicling the steps of a political candidate on the path to victory.
“Maybe she gets people’s stories and translates that on paper because she is absorbing it in total,” he says, “not just visually.”
Kevin Corcoran, CEO of the D.C.-
based Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA), which organizes donations of ocular tissue, agrees. “She listens more carefully than other designers I’ve worked with—I’m not sure if that’s her vision impairment or her nature. It results in better work.”
This past spring, Bethel was organizing a photo shoot for EBAA in Texas with a young cornea recipient and the transplant team that had helped her. Then the pandemic hit, making travel next to impossible, especially for someone who needs a guide to get through airports. Social distancing also threw a wrench in the plan for a group shot.
Bethel was unfazed. She hired a photographer in Texas to shoot photos of each person individually against a green screen, remotely art-directing the angle and pose she wanted each person to assume. Then she painstakingly stitched the images together in Photoshop to make it look like the people had all been photographed together in one place. “She brought her heart into this work as much as her skills,” Corcoran says.
It’s not the first time Bethel has diverged from the designer’s usual playbook. She recalls an ad campaign that sent her traipsing around a forest in the dead of night with her husband, Sean (who guided her over rocks and tree roots), to set up a photo shoot depicting the splendor of a lakeside campground at sunrise. The project had a tight deadline a few hours later, so she set up a mobile design studio right there in the woods and finished the layout on location.
The magnifying functions on today’s smartphones and design applications are both her friend and nemesis. An admitted perfectionist and stickler for details, she uses them to painstakingly tweak the tiniest visual elements, from color gradations to typography. She once kerned an entire report, line by line, making infinitesimal adjustments to the spacing between letters.
ARLINGTON IS A good place to be if you are a blind person, Bethel says. Many essential services are within
walking distance, and Uber and Metro are readily available, although she’s been reluctant to use public transportation in Covid times.
Thanks to mobility training (whereby she learns to walk set routes with a coach), she can navigate solo to certain locations she visits regularly. “You live your life by memorizing one path,” she says. “If the path gets messed up, you freak out sometimes.”
Bethel doesn’t have a service dog. With two young kids and a business to run, she says she doesn’t have time to care for an animal.
And she’s too stubborn to use a cane. She occasionally pays the price by tripping off curbs and walking into parking meters, “but I never do it twice,” she stresses. “Once I walk into something, I remember it is there.”
(Don’t dare challenge her to a game of H-O-R-S-E. Her spatial memorization skills are so good that once she
learns the angle of the shot, she can sink each basket thereafter from muscle memory.)
What little vision she does have disappears with the sun. When she has to walk home in the dark, she clips flashlights to her pants, backpack and other spots to create a ring of light to walk in.
“I can’t wrap my head around thinking of Jen as someone who’s visually impaired. I don’t think of her that way,” says her onetime dance class companion Mormann, a former real estate agent (who, for a time, also became one of Bethel’s clients).
If she were pointing Bethel out to someone new, Mormann says, she wouldn’t think to use blindness as an identifier. Instead, she might characterize her friend as the one who looks like a buff pop star: “I would describe the really fit blonde with Madonna arms and great shoes.” (Bethel does confess to having a weakness
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for footwear—even 4-inch heels that would trip up a fully sighted person. She loves the different colors and designs, and keeps a special closet with glass shelves for her collection.)
But her biggest shortcoming may be her unwillingness to ask for help.
She says it’s ingrained. Fighting back against that bully nearly three decades ago made her feel like she was in control and able to protect herself. “Sometimes it puts me in survival mode, like I have to do everything on my own.”
Lyon Village resident Kendra Liebert met Bethel five years ago while the two were working on a school auction for Arlington Science Focus Elementary. (At the time, both had kids there; Bethel’s son Connor now attends Congressional School.)
A year passed before Liebert even realized her friend was blind. They were having lunch one day when Bethel held her phone so close to her
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face that Liebert asked why. She was stunned by the answer.
“She was like, ‘You know I can’t see.’ ”
They started running together, with Liebert as a guide. Bethel went on to complete two triathlons.
It didn’t matter that she’d taken a nasty tumble years earlier while running the Army Ten-Miler. The pavement texture changed and it threw her off.
“I fall a lot and you get over it,” Bethel says matter-of-factly. “I’m like a toddler learning to walk.”
During that race she’d pushed on, not realizing she was bleeding, to what she considered the most stressful part— finding her family at the finish line. Unable to see them in the crush of people, she hopped on top of a golf cart and waved her arms until they found her.
FOR OCULAR albinism wasn’t an option when Bethel was a kid. Today there are procedures that
mitigate nystagmus (those involuntary eye movements), but they don’t improve vision. Bethel dismisses the option as mainly cosmetic. “I am so past caring about my appearance at my age,” she says.
Being visually impaired has an upside, she adds—in that her other senses are more attuned. She calls it her “superhero power to see things differently.”
Says Stone, her former client: “In a city where everyone is looking over [your] shoulder to find a more important person, she concentrates on the person she’s talking with. When she’s talking to you, it’s as if you’re the only one in the room.”
Bethel’s older sister, Rachel Froehlich, says she has a newfound appreciation of her younger sibling’s resilience. Froehlich recently underwent surgery that resulted in accidental nerve damage and has been coping with intense pain.
“[Jennifer] really taught me many things about not letting any physical disability slow you down or stop you from reaching your dreams,” says Froehlich, now a consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton based in California. “As soon as you start identifying yourself as a person with a disability or a person with pain, it can really limit you.”
Some potential clients might summarily dismiss the idea of hiring a blind graphic designer, says Eye Bank Association of America CEO Corcoran. They are missing out.
“I would hope this gives a message to anyone with visual disabilities or another challenge,” he says. “There really aren’t insurmountable barriers to doing what you love. There are just different ways of getting to the same outcome.” n
Tamara Lytle is a freelance writer in Northern Virginia.
When you spend a lot of time at home, you want rooms that are functional, personal and cool. This redesign covers all the bases.
Every design project has a starting point, and in this case it was a photo of Roberto Clemente.
The framed shot of the legendary Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder (see right) was one of the few things that was working in the home office Tara Haney sometimes shared with her husband, Gary, a Pittsburgh native who played baseball in college. Aside from that, the first-floor bedroom they were using as a makeshift work space back in 2014 was less than inspiring.
“I had a desk in there, a printer on the floor and a metal file cabinet, but it wasn’t functioning well,” says Tara, who was then working remotely as a consultant for Accenture. (Today she’s with the Department of Justice; Gary is at the Department of Commerce.)
Add to that the chaos of two young kids. At the time, their sons, Ben and Grayson (now 14 and 13), were in elementary school and wanted mom’s at-
tention. Sometimes they needed help with homework. “I love for things to be organized,” Tara says. “The boys would come home from school and we’d just have stuff everywhere.”
At one point the Haneys had added French doors to the office, thinking they could close them for noise control, but the view into the front hallway proved distracting. The setup just wasn’t good for concentration.
So they invited over a friend, designer Kelly Holland—whose son played Arlington Babe Ruth Little League with their sons—for a walk-through of their 1940 Cape Cod-style house in Bluemont. Holland asked questions about their needs, likes and dislikes, and sketched out a design plan for the
office. It included built-in desks, display shelves, a window seat and plenty of storage.
Choosing the finishes is where things got fun. The built-ins, which featured side-by-side workstations for the boys, have a desktop made of ash—the same wood used to make baseball bats—and leather drawer pulls that evoke the look and feel of a well-worn ball glove.
Across the room, a two-gallon glass jar on a freestanding desk holds a collection of souvenir balls from Major League ballparks, as well as from home runs hit by the Haney boys. (Although Grayson stopped playing at age 10, Ben played travel baseball through the end of eighth grade and is now an Arlington Babe Ruth umpire.)
The Clemente photo now hangs next to a nifty sliding barn door that can be closed off for privacy. But otherwise the sports references are subtle, like an inside joke. “I always love designs where there’s more than meets the eye,” says Holland, who opened her Arlington business, KPH Studio, in 2012.
Once the office was finished, the Haneys asked Holland to tackle the living room across the hall. Most of their
furniture was ready for retirement, so the designer gave the entire room a refresh, pairing neutral seating with pops of color and pattern.
Office built-ins by Kiwi Custom Carpentry feature Spinneybeck leather sling drawer pulls, cork bulletin boards, an ash wood desktop and desk chairs from Evolution Home. Electrical outlets hidden inside cabinets and drawers help to minimize clutter from cords.
Multipurpose space-savers were key in the not-so-big room. Two upholstered swivel chairs can be rotated inward for conversation, or outward for watching TV. A colorful ottoman with storage space inside can be used as a tabletop, or as extra seating. Holland’s eye for pieces that are both unique and
practical is further evidenced in a small chest turned sideways against the arm of the sofa, which faces the front door. “Each family member has their own drawer [in that chest],” Tara says, “where we can keep all the junk we need before we walk out the door—keys, sunglasses, masks. It’s perfect because it also functions as an end table. You can put drinks on it. Kelly found it at some antiques shop on Cape Cod. Everywhere she goes, she is thinking about what might work in a certain space.”
A sliding barn door separating the office from the front hallway is painted orange on the office side, but stained on the foyer side for a more formal look. The foyer features “Tunisian Leaves” wallpaper by Arlington textile designer Kate
from Etsy.
Next up to bat: the couple’s master bath, where the awkward layout (a casualty of a previous owner’s renovation) included a massive and seldom-used tub next to a generous shower stall. Nixing the tub freed up space for a vintage buffet that Holland repurposed as a bathroom vanity.
“We had to reduce the depth of the second drawer to accommodate the plumbing underneath,” says the designer, “but otherwise it offers nice his-andhers storage on either side.”
Now the Haneys are considering a
Creative touches in the living room include vintage factory molds repurposed as wall art, a rustic coffee table/bench from Chairish and sconces from Cedar & Moss. The round-backed chair was an Etsy find that designer Kelly Holland had reupholstered locally (Flowers Upholstery).
makeover of their master bedroom, which Tara describes as a jumble of “builder-gray carpet, mismatched furniture and Ikea dressers” that, frankly, disappoints in contrast to their sleek, new bathroom. Gary has always wanted to add a small balcony—a spot for morning coffee—off of the bedroom,
which overlooks the backyard. Working from home during the pandemic, he has had time to dream about it in between conference calls, which of course he’s juggling from the comforts of that home office, under the gaze of his baseball hero, Roberto Clemente.
In July, Tara and the boys surprised Gary with a second photo for the office. This one captures the Hall of Famer facing the crowd after nailing his 3,000th career hit. It would be Clemente’s last game before his untimely death in a 1972 plane crash.
“The Haneys really have been the ideal clients,” Holland says, “honest about what they know they want, and also what they don’t know they want. They trust us and are open-minded. Give us that trust and we run with it.” n
Jenny Sullivan, editor of Arlington Magazine, is a Nats fan with office envy.
PROJECT CREDITS
INTERIOR DESIGN
Kelly Holland, KPH Studio kphstudio.com
CONTRACTOR (BATHROOM)
Julio Berrios, Berrios Handyman Services julioberrios2011@aol.com
CARPENTRY
Campbell Wood, Kiwi Custom Carpentry Kiwicustomcarpentry.com
CINDY EYL WAS a high-school social studies teacher for 15 years, but friends and neighbors always admired her sense of style and said she should start a design business. So, finally, she did. In 2018, she left teaching and launched Jefferson Street Designs.
Her neighbors, Ding and Warren Postman, who lived just a few doors down in Arlington’s Bluemont neighborhood, were among her first clients. They knew each other socially and their kids were pals.
“We had lived in our house almost 10 years, but never had time to work on the interior,” says Ding. “We like contemporary, midcentury modern style,
but beyond that we told her anything goes. Just play with it.”
The launch point ended up being the first space you see upon entering the front door. “It’s an old Arlington house, so there’s no transition,” Ding laments, “no mudroom, no closet, no place to put boots, coats, bags, shoes.” Functionality was a priority.
But aesthetics were also in play. Though the living room had south-facing windows and plenty of sunlight, its finishes—including a faux-stackedstone fireplace that everyone hated— made it feel dingy. Eyl hired a mason to reface the fireplace in concrete and added a simple reclaimed wood mantel
sourced on Craigslist. A remnant piece of leathered black granite in front of the hearth protects the red oak floors from embers.
To address the lack of a closet, she installed a wall of hooks by the front door and a console table with storage baskets underneath for shoes. The light-colored sofa and chairs are upholstered in Perennials fabrics (easy to spot clean), and a translucent acrylic
coffee table from CB2 makes the small space feel airier.
The adjoining dining area holds one of the few pieces of furniture that the Postmans kept in the makeover— a solid redwood table they’d found in an antiques market in Beijing. (Ding, whose maiden name is Ding Huijun, grew up in China’s north-central Ningxia region.) “But we didn’t like the original wooden legs,” Ding says. They
hired a welder on Etsy to make a new metal base for the massive, 4-inchthick tabletop.
Eyl tends to champion buying original art, and the Postmans were on board. The walls feature paintings by artists Juniper Briggs (based in Manassas) and Lesley Grainger (California), plus a quartet of simple botanical prints (not pictured) that Eyl and Ding scored on the cheap while comb-
ing a local flea market. “Cindy has great taste, is very resourceful and goes out of her way to find unique pieces,” Ding says. “It doesn’t feel like a showroom. Everything is very personal.” n
Drs. Munasifi and Economides are passionate about sharing their extensive knowledge in the field of plastic surgery. A member of the clinical faculty at Georgetown’s School of Medicine, Dr. Munasifi presents at conferences worldwide. Dr. Economides reviews and writes scholarly articles and textbook chapters in the field and has delivered lectures to colleagues internationally.
1635 N. George Mason Drive, Suite 380, Arlington, VA 22205 703-841-0399 | www.advancedplasticsurgerycenter.com info@advancedplasticsurgerycenter.com IG: @advancedplasticsurgerycenter | IG: @DrEconomides
Q: What makes your practice unique?
A: Dr. Munasi : We are very patient-focused. We truly care about our patients’ wellbeing and always have their best interests at heart. We personally call our patients on the night of their surgeries, follow up with them in the of ce the next day and are the ones to see them for all follow-up visits throughout their recovery. We also prioritize patient safety and operate under the highest standards of safety.
Dr. Economides: Our practice is unique in that we have two experts who specialize in both facial and breast/body surgery, while also having a wide range of nonsurgical tools to ensure our patients get the results they want. Still, we maintain a small practice feel and spend time getting to know our patients, who truly become like family to us.
Q: What is one thing you wish more people knew about plastic surgery?
A: Dr. Economides: I wish people knew that plastic surgery is almost nothing like what they see in the media! People only tend to notice the “bad” outcomes or “overdone” looks. The best results don’t stand out for a reason—if you choose the right surgeon, people won’t know you’ve had work done.
Q: What brings you the most satisfaction in your work?
A: Dr. Munasi : The bright smile on my patients’ faces when we take the dressing off after surgery. In a few hours, we can take patients back to the way they looked 10-15 years ago, and it’s rewarding to see their transformation as their con dence improves.
Dr. Shuman earned her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the George Washington University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Children’s National Medical Center. She teaches as an adjunct and clinical assistant professor at GW’s Medical School. Mindful Solutions offers individual/ group therapy, psychological assessments, adoption evaluations and more
2000 14th St. N., Suite 780 Arlington, VA 22201
703-527-1200 drcarla.messenger@gmail.com www.drcarlamessenger.com
Twitter: @DrCarlaMShuman
Q: What made you decide to become a psychologist?
A: I pursued a career in psychology to support people as they work to improve their lives. I’ve faced my own obstacles and am a big proponent of being a fighter, bouncing back and being resilient. Everyone has challenges. It’s important to lean into those struggles and find healthy ways to deal with them so you can have a good life with healthy relationships. Rather than merely acknowledging my patients’ challenges, I help them become more self-aware and develop strategies for resilience.
Q: What makes Mindful Solutions unique?
A: I think the time we spend with our clients and the personalized care we provide really set us apart. As the director, I return every phone call and email. I use brief phone consultations to match clients with the therapist with whom they will best connect: each
of us has a slightly different training background. All treatment plans are evidence-based, supported by science, and designed to meet the specific needs of each individual. It’s important to us to connect to our clients by building rapport and trust.
Q: Are you seeing patients in person?
A: We are offering in-person treatment and testing on a case-by-case basis, and we have also launched several virtual support groups to help clients navigate this strange and difficult time.
Q: What brings you the most satisfaction in your work?
A: Seeing clients transform themselves and live out their resilience is the most rewarding part of my job. True personal change and growth requires reflection, and helping patients find their resilience is a collaborative process.
One of the DMV’s premier personal trainers, Andy has helped more than 800 individuals achieve their fitness goals. He’s impassioned to help clients from all walks of life and takes particular interest in helping people with chronic illnesses or injuries, or those preparing for major life events. He also specializes in prenatal/postpartum fitness.
5130 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA 22205 571-550-1042 contact@andyshinfitness.com www.andyshinfitness.com
Q: What makes you different from other personal trainers?
A: At Andy Shin Fitness, it’s all about you, the client. I create customized programs, taking into account each client’s individual goals, capabilities and any physical limitations. And my interaction with clients extends far beyond the gym. I hold my clients accountable every step of the way and take a vested interest in their successes — and there are many opportunities to achieve success because fitness is a journey measured by progress. I will always strive to do my best. The catch? My clients have to promise to do the same.
Q: What is one thing your clients should know about you?
A: I’ve dealt with some major setbacks in my life. I lost both my parents, one to cancer, have experienced obesity and depression, and recently had my own health scare that required chest surgery.
But I have persevered despite these obstacles and now seek to help clients overcome their own adversities.
Q: How has Covid-19 impacted your business?
A: After shutting down in March, I reopened for in-person training in October. I have been offering virtual boot camps and private sessions from home since the beginning of the pandemic, and I will continue to provide these services as part of my hybrid schedule.
Covid-19 has impacted everyone and, as we navigate this pandemic together, I encourage people to stay positive and do their best to keep active. Go for a walk, take virtual classes — keep moving and get those endorphins going! Remember, exercise is powerful medicine and can be used preventatively and for healing.
CLARENDON DENTAL ARTS
In 2009, at age 17, Dr. Grover was one of three candidates accepted to VCU School of Dentistry’s prestigious eight-year guaranteed dental program. While there, she volunteered with Missions of Mercy, providing free dental care to underserved communities in rural Virginia. She completed her residency at the New York Medical College at Metropolitan Hospital.
2700 Clarendon Blvd., Suite R480 Arlington, VA 22201
703-525-5901
cdarts@clarendondentalarts.com www.clarendondentalarts.com
Q: Why do you do what you do? What motivates and inspires you?
A: Helping our patients live healthier lives! Oral health is directly linked to systemic health, which is why, through our “Mouth, Mind, and Body” philosophy, we empower our patients to include dentistry in their overall health plan. Rather than treating patients reactively, we offer conservative and proactive treatment options based on real-life challenges, genetic risk factors and science. Demonstrating to patients why they are where they are in their dental journey helps us move past the old drill-and-fill model and promote healing for a lifetime.
Q: How do you employ new technology to help your patients?
A: We have invested in the latest tools and technologies, which not only help us diagnose our patients but allow us to show them what patterns are visible and explain the story their mouth is telling. Delving into each individual’s oral biome
enables us to uncover a comprehensive picture that includes eating habits, health challenges, breathing patterns, alignment issues, and other variables that impact oral and systemic health. Taking the time to gather such extensive data and explain the results to our patients is crucial in developing plans for long-term health.
Q: What is unique about your practice?
A: Our team members are dental health experts, and our focus is on creating a caring, personal, calm and comfortable environment, while providing the highest quality of dental care. Our office has a spa-like feel and we strive to pamper our patients. We enjoy getting to know each of our guests as individuals.
DISTRIBUTOR, SENEGENCE INTERNATIONAL mottrobin2@gmail.com www.senegence.com/lipsforgrace
Q: What brings you the most satisfaction in your work?
A: SeneGence offers long-lasting makeup and antiaging skincare and it excels in ingredient quality, product efficacy and affordability. I love working one-onone with women, addressing their skincare concerns and helping them choose the right colors and products so they can have more confidence and let their natural beauty radiate.
Q: Why do you do what you do? What motivates and inspires you?
A: I overcame poverty and an abusive childhood because I could envision a better life, and I am thankful to have had helpers along the way. My business allows me to offer that same encouragement and support to other women. We all need cheerleaders and people to help us look our best.
CRYSTAL CITY DENTAL CARE
2800 Crystal Drive, Suite 320, Arlington, VA 22202 703-415-0555 nasrdental@gmail.com | www.crystalcitydentalcare.com
Q: Why are regular visits to the dentist important?
A: In addition to oral diseases, the mouth provides clues to many illnesses, including diabetes, cancer, sleep apnea, cardiovascular disease and Covid-19. Since the only constant in life is change, regular dental visits become essential in a dynamic environment like the mouth.
Q: What brings you the most satisfaction in your work?
A: I love providing treatment that changes people’s lives, increases their confidence and enhances their lives. In my 32 years of patient care, I have enjoyed watching people transform when their mouths and smiles become healthy. These patients no longer hide their smiles. They fully enjoy their meals, and they laugh with passion. The increased sense of confidence associated with a healthy mouth and smile is indisputable.
Dr. Brown is a graduate of Georgetown Dental School and an international speaker for TMD. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Craniofacial Pain and holds memberships with many academies. His extensive knowledge in the combined fields of TMJ, sleep and orthodontics gives him a unique perspective.
2841 Hartland Road, Suite 301 Falls Church, VA 22043
703-821-1103 office@sleepandtmjtherapy.com www.sleepandtmjtherapy.com
Q: What makes you different from other dentists?
A: Unlike other practices, we focus solely on treating craniofacial disorders and sleep-related issues. Limiting my practice to these areas of care has allowed me to concentrate on what I do best. Every day we see patients of all ages who are searching for help with developmental growth, airway improvement, relief for the symptoms associated with TMJ/TMD and movement disorders. I truly enjoy seeing our patients get their lives back. Once in treatment they can resume normal activities like work and sports, and they sleep much better. That is what it’s all about! To help identify problems early on, we offer complimentary consultations for patients 18 and younger.
Q: What is TMD and how do you treat it?
A: Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction is an internal imbalance of the jaw joints that causes symptoms throughout the body. Symptoms include popping and clicking, limited mouth opening, ringing in the ears, headaches, pain or tenderness in the upper body, and much more. One way we treat TMD is with the use of a bite splint to take pressure off the joints. Another appliance we use is the ALF, which is designed to “align and level” the bones in the skull. Achieving balance and symmetry internally helps the patient feel much better.
Q: How do you help with sleep issues?
A: We provide customized dental appliances to promote healthier breathing habits by opening the airway. Our appliances are comfortable, easy to wear and can fit in the palm of your hand. Having this support while sleeping reduces the symptoms of snoring, frequent pauses in breathing, fatigue, irritability and waking up with headaches.
Dr. Paesani graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine and completed his General Practice Residency at Veterans Affairs Medical Center in West Palm Beach. Looking to move closer to his hometown in western Maryland, he started NOVA Dental Studio in 2012 following four years of private practice in Florida.
200 Little Falls St., Suite 101 Falls Church, VA 22046 703-237-7725 info@novadentalstudio.com www.novadentalstudio.com
Q: How do you measure success?
A: One word: Happiness. To me, success means a life balance where you enjoy your work as much as you do your personal life. Throughout my career, I have been blessed to be surrounded by an exceptional team. And, as a result, I look forward to going into the office every day. My team makes the office an enjoyable environment for both our patients and for me. We spend most of the day feeding off each other’s positive energy and good humor. Interacting with my patients and coworkers is truly the highlight of my day.
Q: What qualities do you think a successful dentist should have?
A: Being a great dentist requires a multitude of talents. In my eyes, the two traits that stand out the most are compassion and attention to detail. Demonstrating genuine concern is the key to making patients feel comfortable, especially when they are anxious or in pain. The relationship between doctor and patient can only flourish when a sincere connection exists. The interaction between dentist and patient, however, is only one component of the dental experience; the other half is the actual practice of dentistry. To be a successful dentist, extreme precision and a watchful eye for detail are vital to guaranteeing effective, long-lasting treatment.
Q: Advice for someone entering the profession?
A: Take as much continuing education as you can. Once you find a dental niche that interests you, learn everything you can about it. Keep learning because the field is ever-changing, and advances are made continually in technology, materials and techniques.
31 N. Jackson St.
List Price: $2.29 million
Sale Price: $2.25 million
Days on Market: 161
Listing Office: Right Address Realty
Neighborhood: Ashton Heights
Year Built: 2020
Bedrooms: 5
Full/Half Baths: 4/1
1301 19th Road S.
List Price: $1.38 million
Sale Price: $1.38 million
Days on Market: 133
Listing Office: Berkshire Hathaway
HomeServices PenFed Realty
Neighborhood: Arlington Ridge
Year Built: 1979
Bedrooms: 5
Full/Half Baths: 4/1
504-K N. Thomas St.
List Price: $1.03 million
Sale Price: $1.05 million
Days on Market: 3
Listing Office: RLAH Real Estate
Neighborhood: Ballston
Year Built: 2000
Bedrooms: 3
Full/Half Baths: 3/1
3000 12th St. S.
List Price: $1.3 million
Sale Price: $1.28 million
Days on Market: 82
Listing Office: RE/MAX Allegiance
Neighborhood: Douglas Park
Year Built: 2015
Bedrooms: 5
Full/Half Baths: 4/1
This information, courtesy of Bright MLS as of Nov. 13, 2020, includes homes sold in October 2020, excluding sales in which sellers have withheld permission to advertise or promote. Information should be independently verified. The Bright MLS real estate service area spans 40,000 square miles throughout the mid-Atlantic region, including Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. As a leading Multiple Listing Service (MLS), Bright serves approximately 95,000 real estate professionals who in turn serve over 20 million consumers. For more information, visit brightmls.com.
2012 N. Madison St.
List Price: $1.45 million
Sale Price: $1.6 million
Days on Market: 1
Listing Office: Optime Realty
Neighborhood: Highland Park
Year Built: 2020
Bedrooms: 5
Full/Half Baths: 4/1
1424 S. Dinwiddie St.
List Price: $1.35 million
Sale Price: $1.38 million
Days on Market: 5
Listing Office: KW Metro Center
Neighborhood: Claremont
Year Built: 2016
Bedrooms: 5
Full/Half Baths: 4/1
3717 27th St. N.
List Price: $3 million
Sale Price: $2.95 million
Days on Market: 80
Listing Office: Long & Foster Real Estate
Neighborhood: Riverwood
Year Built: 2013
Bedrooms: 5
Full/Half Baths: 5/1
1881 N. Nash St., #2009
List Price: $2.5 million
Sale Price: $2.4 million
Days on Market: 22
Listing Office: Washington Fine Properties
Neighborhood: Rosslyn
Year Built: 2009
Bedrooms: 3
Full/Half Baths: 3/1
6620 32nd St. N.
List Price: $2 million
Sale Price: $1.98 million
Days on Market: 5
Listing Office: Long & Foster Real Estate
Neighborhood: Berkshire Oakwood
Year Built: 2014
Bedrooms: 5
Full/Half Baths: 5/2
1609 Crestwood Lane
List Price: $3.35 million
Sale Price: $3.35 million
Days on Market: 1
Listing Office: Keller Williams Realty
Neighborhood: Simpson and Mays
Year Built: 2020
Bedrooms: 6
Full/Half Baths: 6/3
1061 Spring Hill Road
List Price: $2.5 million
Sale Price: $2.5 million
Days on Market: 2
Listing Office: Washington Fine Properties
Neighborhood: Spring Hill
Year Built: 1935
Bedrooms: 4
Full/Half Baths: 2/0
3614 Boat Dock Drive
List Price: $3.6 million
Sale Price: $3 million
Days on Market: 169
Listing Office: TTR Sotheby’s International Realty
Neighborhood: Lake Barcroft
Year Built: 1966
Bedrooms: 6
Full/Half Baths: 6/1
3120 Beechwood Lane
List Price: $2.25 million
Sale Price: $2.15 million
Days on Market: 19
Listing Office: Keller Williams Capital
Properties
Neighborhood: Sleepy Hollow
Year Built: 1997
Bedrooms: 6
Full/Half Baths: 6/2
7627 Lisle Ave.
List Price: $1.4 million
Sale Price: $1.33 million
Days on Market: 115
Listing Office: Samson Properties
Neighborhood: Pimmit Hills
Year Built: 2016
Bedrooms: 8
Full/Half Baths: 8/1
6333 Beachway Drive
List Price: $1.59 million
Sale Price: $1.51 million
Days on Market: 175
Listing Office: Optime Realty
Neighborhood: Lake Barcoft
Year Built: 1976
Bedrooms: 4
Full/Half Baths: 3/1
22046
6709 Osborn St.
List Price: $1.7 million
Sale Price: $1.7 million
Days on Market: 173
Listing Office: Focal Point Real Estate
Neighborhood: Z B Groves
Year Built: 2020
Bedrooms: 7
Full/Half Baths: 6/0
22213
22101 Number
22102
Number
Karina is a North Arlington native and grew up with her mother’s love of real estate. She has been licensed since 2004, and in her first 2 years of selling real estate earned Top Producer status as well as membership in the elite 10+ Million Dollar Sales Club. She is also a member of the NVAR Lifetime Top Producer’s Club. She holds a B.A. degree from Dickinson College and a Master of Public Administration from George Mason University. She, her husband, and their 3 children reside in North Arlington.
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When I was in 10th grade, I made quiche lorraines (they were terrible) for a French Club bake sale and thought myself a hero. Let’s just say that today’s teenage culinary entrepreneurs have elevated the craft.
In July, Wakefield High School rising seniors Farah Bahr and Sithiya Reshmee (who goes by the nickname “Resh”) founded F&R Sweets, a line that includes chocolate-dipped strawberries, churro cheesecake
(made with croissant dough, cream cheese filling and cinnamon sugar) and hot chocolate bombs. F&R stands for Farah and Resh.
With the cold weather setting in, the bombs ($3-$10 each) grabbed my attention. They are bonbon-like orbs filled with mini marshmallows, Swiss Miss cocoa mix (regular, caramel or peppermint) and sometimes other add-ins. The cookies-and-cream bomb has crushed Oreos inside. An elaborately decorated “white unicorn” bomb features a vanilla-flavored
coating with multicolored sprinkles. Place one in a mug, pour hot milk, water or coffee over it, and watch the coating melt as you stir the ensemble into an enticing wintertime beverage.
“The way we present…sweets and our hospitality and kindness with our customers was taught by our foreign backgrounds,” says Reshmee, 18, whose family is Bengali. She says she caught the cooking bug from her grandfather, who was a restaurant chef in Maryland.
Bahr, 17, is Egyptian and grew up cooking with her mother, making traditional dishes such as stuffed grape leaves and kanafeh, a syrupsoaked pastry dessert.
Both girls live in Arlington’s Barcroft neighborhood. They’ve been marketing their venture on Instagram (@fnrsweetsss), Facebook and Snapchat and love to customize orders—especially the strawberries.
“Oreos, nuts, coconut, sugar sprinkles, Hershey mini bars, M&Ms, edible sugar flowers. Whatever the customer wants, we’ll go get it,” Reshmee says.
To order and arrange pickup (they sometimes deliver in Arlington), contact the duo via their website or DM on Instagram. Just be sure to give them plenty of lead time—school comes first and they limit orders to seven a day. (I had to wait for hot chocolate bomb samples because they were studying for the SAT.)
Both have applied for college scholarships. Reshmee’s dream is to attend Georgetown University for undergraduate work and medical school, while Bahr has her eye on the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. F&R turns a profit, which goes toward their college funds. Their goal? $10,000. Ah, kids these days. fr-sweets.com
Thereasa Black credits her daughter, Isabella, 4, with her decision to forgo a legal career and open a gelato shop instead. Amore Congelato arrived in Pentagon Row (1201 S. Joyce St.) in late-December 2019.
After four years of active duty in the U.S. Navy, ending in 2014, Black came to Washington, D.C., to attend law school at George Washington University. She graduated in May 2017 and passed the Maryland bar that same year. In 2018, she was deployed as a reservist, for 13 months, to a combat zone in Djibouti in East Africa. She and Isabella moved in with a cousin a month before she left.
“I threw [Isabella] a birthday party on the night before I left. I’m strict about sugar, but I made ice cream cake and she loved it,” says Black, 34, who cried every day that she was away from her daughter. “It took me a day to realize I could never deploy again and couldn’t work 80 hours a week as a new attorney. That’s when I decided to start my own ice cream business.”
While deployed, Black researched her intended career shift. She settled on making gelato because she considered it superior to ice cream—it’s naturally lower in fat and is denser. (There’s less air in it, so the flavor is more concentrated.) Upon her return to the U.S., she started experimenting with a small commercial gelato machine, took gelato-making classes and perfected her recipe. In lieu of cane sugar she uses organic date
syrup, a natural sweetener fortified with vitamins and antioxidants that’s lower on the glycemic index. Some of her gelati are made with oat milk.
“Our gelato has 21 grams of protein per pint, and 47% less fat than other premium ice cream,” says the chalkboard menu at Amore, where the flavors include s’mores, banana pudding, salted-caramel pretzel crunch and chocolate turtle. Pints are $14.
Some may find that price high, but quality costs money. “I don’t use premade mixes. I make everything from scratch—the cobbler, the turtles,” Black says. “I couldn’t afford a big pasteurizer, so I make small batches.”
The packaging for Amore’s pints includes factoids, such as this one on her best-selling We Woke (chocolate espresso) gelato: “412,000 innocent people sit in jail daily. Many are there because they can’t afford their bail, in violation of the Constitution’s prohibition against excessive bail.”
“My mission,” explains the entrepreneur, “is to spread knowledge about social injustice.”
She says her own childhood in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, steeled her resolve to fight for change. “There were KKK rallies in my backyard. When I came to D.C. for law school was the first time people saw me, not my skin. I was finally able to be seen as Thereasa—not the Black girl in the class. I felt accepted.”
Amore Congelato means “frozen love” in Italian, but the feeling you’ll get from tasting it is warm and fuzzy. amorecongelato.com
When Sharon Macorol worked at makeup counters for Bobbi Brown, Marc Jacobs and Shiseido (with stints at Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s), she says clients often wanted to look like one celebrity in particular: Kim Kardashian.
“Okay, I’m not a magician, but I’ll try!” she laughs, recalling the request. Nowadays, she says, people are more focused on skin care because they aren’t going out a whole lot. But she does have a few makeup tips for those looking to glam up on the rare
occasions when they leave the house. Or, you know, for a Zoom call.
“I would do dramatic eyeliner and a lot of mascara so your eyes stand out,” advises the Philippines native, who moved to this area with her family at 14. “I love defining the brow
when I’m doing someone’s face. Brows are very important for giving them a nice framework.”
Lips are tricky with face masks. She suggests using a translucent powder and a setting spray to keep lipstick in place, adding that you can even apply the same powder directly to the inside of the mask to help prevent smudging.
Macorol lives in Falls Church with her photographer husband, Håvar Espedal, and their Flemish Giant rabbit, Lapu-Lapu (named after a 16th-century Filipino ruler who resisted Spanish colonization). She does makeup for Espedal’s photography business, Princeps Studio, in addition to getting gigs through Kingsley Model + Talent Management in D.C. and DC Elite Image. Private bookings run from $150–$250.
She sells LimeLife by Alcone beauty products on the side and strives to stay up on trends and newly released products. “I’m always curious to see what’s out there,” she says.
And she does offer a few tricks of the trade. Among them: looking inside your lip to reveal the proper shade of blush you should be wearing; testing foundation colors on your chest to find the right tint; and noting the color of your veins to determine whether your skin tone is warm or cool. (Greenish means warm; blueish means cool.)
“I just want to bring out whatever is the most natural that makes a person more beautiful,” Macorol says. “It reminds me why I became a makeup artist every time I do someone’s makeup and they feel happy about it.” facebook.com/ sharonmacorolbeauty
The first hint that pottery is your calling might be when you bring a throwing wheel into your 600-square-foot apartment so you can work on your passion project in the wee hours, after your day job. But for Fairlington resident Victoria Truhn, who launched Tried & Truhn Ceramics nearly two years ago, it didn’t even take that long.
“I took a class in college and got immediately obsessed with it,” Truhn says.
Since then, she has developed a style she describes as “comfortable to use and functions well”—and a following that has helped her weather the storm of running a small business during a pandemic.
“The most consistent feedback I get is, ‘I go for this mug every day,’ ” Truhn says. “People tell me that the mug they bought from me or the bowl that they use for ice cream is their go-to piece. To me that speaks to a sense of comfort and consistency they have in their day-to-day routine.”
These days, Truhn continues to sell items like mugs, planters and ring holders ($10–$50) in various shops and on Etsy while she waits for outdoor markets to return. She’s currently working on a line of four-piece place settings she plans to debut in January.
Her most popular items are mugs (particularly the ones with a Virginia silhouette peeking out of the glaze) and—unsurprisingly during these homebody times—planters for people looking to feather the nest. “I get asked a lot about planters, something small where they can bring a little bit of greenery into their room without having to commit to a huge tree,” she says. “Planters have been popular in quarantine.”
She jokes that she would make everything white if she could, but realizes people like a pop of color. More important to her is how her dishwasher-safe, microwavable pieces will stand the test of time.
“I want to make something that is made well, will last a lifetime, and that you’ll be drawn to because it’s comfortable and comforting to use,” she says. “I make pieces for the people.” triedandtruhn.com
THERE’S STILL TIME TO FIND THE RIGHT EDUCATIONAL PARTNER FOR YOUR FAMILY.
Flint Hill is the school that encourages students to blaze their own trail by modeling innovative thinking. Visit flinthill.org/admission to learn how your child can blaze a trail at Flint Hill.
Application deadline: January 21, 2021
3320 Jermantown Road n Oakton, VA 22124
admission@flinthill.org n 703.584.2313
FLINTHILL.ORG
At Burgundy, we believe children learn best in an inclusive, creative, and nurturing environment that engages the whole child. Our students are active partners in their education, and learning is joyful.
Little Ambassadors’ Academy believes children learn best through discovery. As teachers & administrators, we provide a safe, nurturing, and creative environment in which students develop intellectual curiosity and outstanding moral character. We celebrate the individuality of each child & work with them to reach their full potential. We believe in a supportive learning environment where children can become active and engaged learners. LAA is dedicated to building a solid foundation for lifelong learning. Early Learners: 2-3 years
Craving an escape? The following resorts offer skiing and a whole lot more. At press time, all remained open with heightened safety precautions, although some amenities (such as indoor game rooms and public hot tubs) are currently unavailable. Advance online booking (both lodging and activities) is a must. Some resorts are not offering walk-up rentals or walk-up lift tickets for the 2020-2021 season; others are issuing lift tickets only to season pass holders on certain days. All require masks on lifts and in public indoor spaces. If travel feels too risky this winter, put these destinations in your idea file and start planning a getaway for winter 2022, or perhaps for spring or summer. All of the resorts listed offer year-round recreation.
The Allegheny Mountains in West Virginia are home to Snowshoe, a mountaintop village with gorgeous views, more than 60 ski trails, 40 bike trails and lots of shopping and dining options. Enjoy heated indoor and outdoor swimming at Split Rock Pools, or choose from a menu of massages, facials, body wraps and other services at the spa. The snow tubing hill features a multicolored LED light display. Snowmobile and off-road vehicle tours (available in oneor four-seaters) are popular. Visitors can tour the ski slopes by snowmobile after 4:30 p.m., or explore the backcountry, snow permitting. Autumn Breeze Stables (wvtrailrides.com), located 4 miles from the village, offers year-round, scenic horseback tours. 10 Snowshoe Drive, Snowshoe, West Virginia, snowshoemtn.com
Rising above Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Massanutten offers 14 ski trails and is known for its large indoor waterpark featuring body slides, a lazy river and indoor bodyboarding and surfing. For a brain challenge, try its three Escape Rooms. Or treat yourself to pampering at the spa, which offers massages, body treatments and nail care. Two recreation centers have indoor pools and basketball courts, and the resort offers weekly art and fitness classes when it is safe to do so. Night tubing at Northern Lights Tubing is accompanied by pumping music and flashing neon lights. Other seasonal activities include fishing, horseback riding, hunting, ice skating, kayaking and river tubing, mini golf and mountain biking. 1822 Resort Drive, McGaheysville, Virginia, massresort.com
This village-like resort in Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands is home to more than 35 ski slopes and trails (including a giant slalom course), plus non-skiing options such as snow tubing, an indoor pool, a roller-skating rink, three sporting clay courses (participants can shoot clay pigeons while guided by a “trapper”) and an enclosed clay shooting area. A cozy spa housed in a repurposed chalet offers the chance to unwind with a massage or mani-pedi. Snow permitting, the resort also has snowmobile and snowshoe tours and horse-drawn sleigh rides. The stables provide guided horseback rides and horse-drawn wagon rides on select weekends. Popular among the village’s 11 watering holes and restaurants is the venerable Foggy Goggle bar. Venture offsite to explore the charming nearby town of Ligonier, or spend half a day at the Flight 93 National Memorial honoring the passengers and crew who lost their lives on Sept. 11 (nps.gov/flni/index.htm). Nearby Laurel Ridge State Park also has cross-country skiing, snow permitting. 777 Waterwheel Drive, Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, 7springs.com
Head to western Maryland near Deep Creek Lake for 33 ski slopes and trails
(90% of which are lit for night skiing), or take a wild ride on Wisp’s Mountain Coaster—a cross between an alpine slide and roller coaster that allows you to control your own speed with hand brakes (max is 28 mph) through 3,500 feet of corkscrews, dips and plunges. The mountain park also offers cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and 12 chutes for tubing. In warmer weather, visitors can try zip-lining and challenge courses, mountain biking, archery, disc golf, hiking, chairlift rides, whitewater rafting, kayaking, pontoon boat tours and water sports. Wisp also has two Escape Rooms. 296 Marsh Hill Road, McHenry, Maryland, wispresort.com
Perched on the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains, this Virginia destination offers both indoor and outdoor tennis, yearround hiking and golf, along with zip-lining (in season), spa packages and 24 ski slopes and trails (14 of them lit for night skiing). The resort’s hiking trails are known for amazing spring wildflower displays and autumn “leaf peeping,” as well as snowglobe-like vistas during the frosty season. The Plunge tubing park offers a chance to slide (on snow in winter; grass in summer)
from 10 stories high at speeds up to 30 mph. For fine dining, try Devils Grill (open Friday-Sunday; reservations required for on-site dining; curbside pickup available) overlooking the mountaintop golf course. Stoney Creek, also part of the resort, is 8 miles down the mountain and 10 to 15 degrees warmer, with hiking trails, outdoor tennis courts and 27 holes of year-round golf. Lake Monacan is ringed by a 2-mile walking path. In nearby Nellysford and along the route known as Nelson 151 (nelson151.com), you’ll find a bevy of breweries, wineries and cideries. Route 664, Wintergreen, Virginia, wintergreenresort.com
Tucked inside West Virginia’s Canaan Valley State Park, this resort in the Allegheny Mountains offers both crosscountry skiing and snowshoeing (snow permitting) with rental skis and snowshoes
available, plus 47 trails for downhill skiing and snowboarding. Other pastimes include tubing on a 1,200-foot-long, multi-lane course, and ice skating at an outdoor covered rink. The spa offers a variety of massages and facials, and resort guests can access the gym and an indoor heated pool, along with a variety of dining choices.
Other winter events may include paintand-sip classes, guided winter strolls and yoga. In summer, guests can enjoy tennis, golf, mini golf, sand volleyball, wagon rides, sporting clays (clay pigeon shooting), archery, hiking, biking and scenic chairlift rides. 230 Main Lodge Road, Davis, West Virginia, canaanresort.com n
IN THE MIDDLE of the Potomac River, surrounded by urban development, sits a wild island that’s teeming with birds, wildflowers, turtles—and history.
Rising from the waters between Rosslyn and the District, Theodore Roosevelt Island has become a popular place to decompress during the pandemic. Most weekends the 88-acre national park is filled with hikers, runners, bird-watchers and dog walkers.
“You walk across that bridge and you can feel your blood pressure...and cortisol levels lowering,” says Melanie Choukas-Bradley, author of the book Finding Solace at Theodore Roosevelt Island
It also has a fascinating, layered past.
In the late 17th century, Nacotchtank Indians (also known as the Anacostans) called it home. Then, as they were known to do, colonists claimed the island as their own, alternately referring to it as Analostan Island or Necostin Island—both Anglicized variations of the name of its early inhabitants. By 1792, the island had landed in the hands of John Mason, fourth son of
founding father and wealthy plantation owner George Mason. It soon became a stop on a family-owned ferry system that transported tobacco, livestock and passengers between Georgetown and Virginia—including, by some accounts, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. During the War of 1812, then-Secretary of State James Monroe boarded the ferry and fled a burning D.C.
Eventually a series of bad investments caused the Mason family to lose the island. It bounced through a succession of different owners who built gambling halls and racetracks there, and became famous for hosting, of all things, jousting tournaments.
Once the Civil War broke out, the Union Army occupied the island to keep tabs on Confederate activity along the Virginia shore. The island also held a training camp for the 1st U.S. Colored Infantry, one of the first all-Black regiments. Later, it became a refugee camp for former enslaved people fleeing north.
During the Spanish-American War of 1898, the island (by then abandoned)
was used by scientists as a secret testing ground for powerful explosives. Loud noises emanating from the middle of the river reportedly frightened neighboring residents so much that they thought Spanish warships were coming to invade the District.
In 1932, the island was designated a monument to the nation’s 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt, a renowned naturalist and conservationist. A large statue of Roosevelt on its northern end was dedicated in 1967.
Choukas-Bradley says remnants of the island’s storied past still remain, including bricks from the Mason family mansion and the occasional unearthed spear point from the Nacotchtank tribe.
Like so many other locals, the author has found herself retreating in recent months to the island’s roughly 3 miles of pristine trails.
“I think the inability to travel has helped people to discover the embarrassment of riches that are right here in our backyard,” she says. “Theodore Roosevelt Island is definitely one of them.” n
