This story appears in our weekly Things to Do newsletter, sent to subscribers every Monday. Get it in your inbox by signing up here.
By Katie Bianco, Jess Feldman, Holly Gambrell, Michele Kettner and Jennifer Zeleski
Making the most of our “studio”
A few weeks ago, I lamented here (only for a little), about how much art was being created in my apartment. The fridge? Covered. Our notebooks? Filled. The walls? Not painted, but featuring two canvases by yours truly. We have watercolors, acrylics and even colored pencils, and we spend our evenings covering the kitchen table with our palettes. But what we still need more than anything is practice. That’s why this week, my partner and I have registered for Meg Biram’s virtual art classes. With her guidance, we’ll use up old magazines for fun collages, get painting tips from the muralist herself and hopefully find some new resources for how-to videos and inspiration. We’re hoping we’ll have some really cool artifacts from how we spent this historic time to show our kids one day. They’ll be impressed with us … right? -Jennifer Zeleski, Editorial Assistant
Not a barber
If I ever switch career fields I can confidently say it will not be to the hair industry. Two weekends ago, frustrated by the hair growing over his ears, my boyfriend asked me to cut his hair for him. (Please note, I had never cut hair before.) He gave me an electric hair clipper and I got to work. The ending result wasn’t awful … but I cut too much off in the back and the sides were a tad uneven. It made him look a good decade older. In about another week he’ll need a trim, and this time around I’ll be using tips from John Hall, the founder of The Ultimate Barber in Alexandria, and Tommy Cheung (owner and barber) and Alina Sananikone (manager) of The Standard Barbershop in Fairfax, on at-home haircuts. I’m excited to try my hand at it again and to see what my boyfriend’s hair will look like this time around. Cutting your partner’s hair too during quarantine? Find the barbers’ useful advice here. -Holly Gambrell, Digital Editor
Mom’s day the right way
Since this self-quarantine process began, my mom and I have basically been living in the kitchen after the work day concludes around 5 p.m., which is very new to us. While we’ve always been good at making basic meals, we’ve refined our skills in the past month, creating dishes like sesame orange chicken paired with rice, white-wine braised chicken thighs over orzo and charred sweet potatoes with hot honey butter and lime. We’ve been relying on Tieghan Gerard’s Half Baked Harvest Super Simple and Bon Appetit recipes, so I decided to purchase a few new cookbooks for my mom’s collection for Mother’s Day. This weekend, I’ll be serving up dishes from The Defined Dish and Simply Laura Lea: Balanced Recipes for Everyday Living, both of which are part of our healthy-ish selection of recently released cookbooks you may want to consider purchasing if you’re getting skilled in the kitchen. Plus, I also added The Mini Bar—a petite book full of cocktail recipes—to the gift pile, as a bar cart can never be too full of knickknacks. -Jess Feldman, Editorial Assistant
A comfort food feast for Mother’s Day
I am always telling my husband he’s a lucky man because I am a woman who does not wear much jewelry. With the exception of my beautiful wedding ring, he has saved untold amounts of money throughout our courtship and marriage because jewelry is just not a gift I ever ask for. On the flip side, he likes to joke that this actually makes his life harder because he never knows what to get me. (True story: He got me tickets to a Britney Spears concert after the birth of our second child. He’s doing just fine in the gift department as far as I’m concerned). For Mother’s Day, I usually request a gift certificate to a local spa. While that’s out this year, all I really want is to sleep in and eat something that I haven’t cooked myself. I’m asking him to surprise me from this list of local restaurants offering special carryout Mother’s Day menus. And maybe he and the kids can bring me a mimosa in bed. And, when spas do reopen, I’ll be the first in line at one of my absolute faves: The Ritz-Carlton Spa at Tysons Corner. And you should too! Check out the Mother’s Day sweepstakes we’re currently running for a spa day and tea package at the luxury hotel here. -Katie Bianco, Editor
Science rules!
Like many adults my age, my favorite part of science class were the days we were able to watch Bill Nye the Science Guy. I just remember kids going absolutely crazy when the theme song started playing. I am happy to say I am still a Bill Nye fan to this day. Channeling my inner Nye, I have decided to order a few volcano kits for this week’s entertainment. I have never had the experience of building my own paper mache volcano for the science fair and I thought there is no better time to create the classic project than while in quarantine. Being the fun aunt I am, I’m going to drop off some kits for my niece and nephews so they can join me and I can give them a break from online school work. Hopefully I’ll remember a few things from middle school and it won’t turn out to be a total disaster. Find more science kits for all ages here. -Michele Kettner, Editorial Assistant
