Morning Notes
Whitman Senior Wins Congressional Art Award — Rep. Chris Van Hollen’s office announced Walt Whitman High School senior Kai Valencia as the winner of this year’s Congressional art contest, organized by the Capitol Arts Network. Valencia’s acrylic painting will be displayed with winning entries from other Congressional districts in the U.S. Capitol for a year. Two hundred students from 26 schools in the 8th Congressional District entered the contest. [Rep. Chris Van Hollen]
California Tortilla Offering ‘Virtual Pinata’ For Cinco de Mayo — The fast casual burrito chain’s website will have a virtual pinata from Friday through Sunday which customers can swing at for prizes including free chips and queso and catering for 20. The flagship CalTor location in Bethesda (4871 Cordell Ave.) will offer coupons for a free taco for next week. [California Tortilla via Facebook]
Wall Park Expansion Might ‘Take A While’ — County Parks planners hope to expand Wall Park, home of the Shriver Aquatic Center, into a major park that will serve the growing White Flint area. Gables Residential, the developer that owns land for a potential parking garage that would serve the park, wants the county to put the new roads planned in the 2010 White Flint Sector Plan into the capital budget. [The Gazette]
DC Yoga Week — Many Bethesda area yoga studios are taking part in the event, with some offering free and $5 classes during the next few days leading up to a large yoga session on the National Mall from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday. [DC Community Yoga]
Flickr photo by sylmellon
extendYoga Bringing Back Yoga and Tasting Event
After the success of its wine and chocolate tasting event last year, extendYoga (12106 Wilkins Ave.) is bringing back the unique yoga and tasting event.
The North Bethesda/Rockville yoga studio’s Arlet Koseian said Facebook fans voted for a cheese tasting this time around. And from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 6,, participants will get a 75-minute yoga class before Virginia vineyard Chateau O’Brien shows off its sampling of wines and cheeses.
Kensington-based Trifecta Wellness will provide homemade goodies after the class and all levels of yogis are welcome.
Koseian expects the event, which will run you $35 or $20 for just the tasting, to sell out. For more information, visit the event Facebook page. For tickets visit extendYoga.
Chevy Chase Resident Puts On Inaugural Yoga Ball
Chevy Chase resident Ajay Bhatt is using his love of yoga as inspiration for a unique type of inaugural ball this weekend.
Bhatt came up with the idea for an inaugural yoga ball, in partnership with Off The Mat Into the World and YogaVotes.
The event, on Sunday at St. Francis Hall (1340 Quincy Street, NE, Washington, DC), will include an asana yoga practice with D.C. yogi Faith Hunter, vegetarian meal provided by D.C. Central Kitchen, live music, meditation and Kirtan — the call-and-response spiritual chanting that’s growing in popularity.
“Yoga practice — on and off the mat — inherently cultivates awareness, compassion and sustainability. These qualities draw us together as a community and lend themselves to healing divisiveness and disengagement,” Bhatt said in a press release. “Our goal is to offer the community here in the nation’s capital a chance to set the most positive intention possible for the new term, in hopes for a productive and cooperative future for local and national governments.”
Bhatt is hoping for 150 attendees. Tickets are $50 in advance and $60 at the door and proceeds will go to support Off The Mat Into the World, the nonprofit organization that uses yoga as inspiration for volunteerism and humanitarian projects around the world.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the event’s ticket website.
Morning Notes
MoCo To Study Later High School Start Times — Montgomery County Public Schools leaders promised to study the possibility of moving high school start times from 7:25 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. or later after 10,000 people signed a petition to move school starts later. [Washington Post]
Cost of Purple Line Goes Up Again — The projected cost of the Purple Line, the 16-mile light rail that would connect Bethesda with Silver Spring and College Park, is now $2.15 billion. It’s the second increase in the last two years. It is unfunded. [Washington Examiner]
Chevy Chase Drive Parking Meeting Set For Next Week — Montgomery County Department of Transportation officials will be at the Bethesda Chevy Chase Regional Services Center on Thursday, Dec. 20 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. to discuss parking plans for Chevy Chase Drive and Offut Lane.
New Yoga Studio Opens — CorePower Yoga, a Denver-based studio that plans to open in Georgetown next year, opened its first area location at 6800 Wisconsin Ave. [Washington Business Journal]
Flickr photo by ehpien
Free Election Day Yoga Promises to Unite, Not Divide
It’s two weeks to election day and if you can navigate your way through the barrage of ads down the home stretch, some local yoga studios are hoping you’ll come in to enjoy a day of free classes.
On Nov. 6, a number of area yoga studios will hold free classes.
“On Election Day, Nov 6th, the Washington DC area yoga community stands for unity by bringing people together in complimentary yoga classes all day,” reads extendYoga’s website.
The North Bethesda studio (12106 Wilkins Ave.) will be one of five Bethesda studios to participate.
Bikram Yoga Bethesda (7832 Wisconsin Ave.), Down Dog Yoga (4733 Elm St.), Simon Says Yoga (4701 Sangamore Rd.) and Yoga Fusion (4609 Willow Lane) will also take part.
Flickr photo by bgill02
Yoga Spot Combining Yoga With Wine Tasting
North Bethesda’s extendYoga (12106 Wilkins Ave.) is putting on a special yoga program/wine and chocolate tasting on Saturday, Sept. 29.
The program beings with a partner yoga class (come solo and they’ll match you up with a Yogi) before a wine and chocolate tasting produced by Virginia winery Chateau O’Brien.
The event, which starts at 6:30 p.m., will include refreshments from Trifecta Wellness. The cost is $35 for both the yoga class and wine tasting, but only a few spots are left. The wine tasting alone costs $20.
Visit the event’s Facebook page for more info.
Redwood Bar and Restaurant is hosting its “Bark & Wine” event to benefit the Montgomery County Humane Society tonight.
