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By Katie Bianco, Stefanie Gans and Michael Balderston
Writing on a tight deadline
Pretty much every writer believes they have (at least) one great book in them just waiting to spool out on the page, but sometimes what you really need is a deadline. November is National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo, and each year the NaNoWriMo challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel between Nov. 1-Nov. 30. You can hunker down with your laptop and try and pound out your masterpiece by yourself, or you can get helpful tips on undertaking such a task with events like Arlington Library’s NaNoWriMo 101 class on Wednesday. The month-long challenge should be a fun exercise, but we’ll just wait and see if I’ll let anybody actually read mine. –MB // nanowrimo.org
Voting on Tuesday, Nov. 6, and taking advantage of civic-minded restaurant specials
My husband and I are bringing our two little girls with us to the polls on Tuesday, and afterward, will try to check out at least a few of these specials while sporting our “I VOTED” stickers: 50-percent off pho at Roll Play in Tysons Corner; cocktail and food specials at Fish Market in Alexandria; free 12-ounce drip coffee at Junction Bakery in Alexandria; and Cava and Sweetgreen are two of the 300-plus companies offering paid time off for employees to vote, so feel free to get some sort of fast-casual bowl in support of democracy. -SG // rockthevote.org
Getting in the holiday spirit early
Halloween is over, which means most stores are already gearing up for the holiday season. Rampant commercialism aside, I’m ready to get into the Christmas spirit. I wrote about The Old Lucketts Store in our November issue and, I must admit, I absolutely fell in love with its charm when I traveled to Leesburg for a tour and to meet the owners. It was lovely in late summer. I can’t imagine how magical it’s going to be all decked out for the holidays. Luckily, I don’t have to wait long. The store hosts its annual holiday open house and winter market Nov. 9-11 (and again Dec. 7-9). I’ll be there for the shopping, the cheer and the chance to try and get a great Christmas card shot of my kids before Thanksgiving. -KB // The Old Lucketts Store: 2350 Lucketts Road, Leesburg, luckettsstore.com
