Author: PoP Sponsor (a)

Searching for a unique and wholesome way to bond with your family this holiday season? The Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum’s Annual Holiday Card Workshop may be just what you’re looking for! Perfect for visitors of all ages, this open-house event will be held from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on both Saturday, December 8 and Sunday, December 9.

The museum provides a bountiful spread of patterned papers, postage and rubber stamps, gems and other 3-D embellishments, special cut-out scissors, washi tape, stickers, markers of every color and more!

Following their own creative instincts, kids can choose whichever supplies they would like to design one-of-a-kind greetings for any holiday, or even just a wintery “Hello!”

Once finished, cards can then be placed in envelopes, addressed and adorned with a distinctive National Postal Museum postmark at the museum’s stamp store. In keeping with educating children about the postal service and how mail works, kids can pop their own cards in an official USPS mailbox that is decorated to exactly resemble — none other than — SpongeBob SquarePants!

Of course, visitors are also welcome to explore the whole museum and everything else it has to offer!

The workshop takes place in the museum’s lower-level Atrium, which, for those new to the National Postal Museum, is full of various postal transports from over the years, including a real train car, semi-truck (yes, kids can climb in and pretend to drive!), a horse-drawn carriage and airplanes hanging from the ceiling. Thanks to Smithsonian Gardens, the Atrium will be decked out in festive foliage, as well!

The layout of the card-making stations and supply tables encourages sharing, friendliness and a sense of community, which is particularly important in this day and age. And the museum’s pleasant staff and volunteers are always available to answer questions, provide examples of completed cards, or help in any other way!

Remind children of the real reason for the season: giving! And impart in them the tried and true lesson: It’s the thought that counts. Sometimes a handmade gesture can mean so much more to a friend or a loved one than any store-bought gift.

What better way to get into the holiday spirit than taking the time to express your love and gratitude for the important people in your life with a heartfelt greeting? The Annual Holiday Day Card Workshop is free and requires no advance registration. Learn more at https://postalmuseum.si.edu/visit/Holiday-Card-Workshop.html.

Get ready for the most memorable holiday party of the season with singing, dancing and… zombies?

Join Smithsonian Theaters and the National Air and Space Museum on November 29 for an exclusive preview of the soon-to-be holiday movie classic Anna and the Apocalypse at the Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater.

Critics are calling Anna “an enthusiastic coming-of-age musical” and “the zombie high school musical you never knew you needed.” The screening will be followed by a discussion with Anna star Ella Hunt and the only holiday party in town with music, drinks and a zombie horde.

Drink with the undead!
Dance with the undead!
Eat with the undead!
Make gingerbread cookies of the undead!
Take photos with themed backdrops with the undead!
Become the undead (in the zombify-yourself station. No zombie attack required)!

6:30 p.m. Pre-reception
7:30 p.m. Film screening
9:00 p.m. Party

Early-bird tickets: $50

Remaining tickets: $60-$70

*There are limited tickets available at each price range. Once they sell out, the price will increase.

Purchase tickets here: https://www.si.edu/imax/movie/anna-and-apocalypse

About the film:

A zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven – at Christmas – forcing Anna and her friends to fight, slash and sing their way to survival, facing the undead in a desperate race to reach their loved ones.

But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and with civilization falling apart around them, the only people they can truly rely on are each other.

Happy Monday! The following is our featured event for the upcoming week, as submitted to our event calendar.

Van Ness Holiday Pop Up Shop
Saturday, November 24 from Noon to 5 p.m.
4340 Connecticut Avenue

We’re taking over an empty storefront on Connecticut Ave for three festive Pop-Up weekends with 10 local artisans featuring incredible handmade works, and festive activities such as sip & shop drink specials, Santa photos with your dog, gingerbread decorating with Bread Furst, caroling, sidewalk Christmas checkers, wine tasting with Calvert Woodley, holiday cooking demo with Jonathan Bardzik and many more!

And, we’re super-excited to announce D.C.’s own Olde City Farm & Garden will be set up just outside of the pop-up. They’ll have Christmas trees, table-tops and holiday decor for sale every Saturday & Sunday.

So skip the malls and online shopping this holiday season and take the pledge to shop local! See the latest vendor photos and festive event information on our Facebook Event page.

This column is written by Marcus Correll, the Marketing Coordinator at RLAH Real Estate. He is not a licensed agent, nor intends to be portrayed as such, but he is entrenched in the industry helping approximately 200 agents with their marketing.

Every year I hear the friendly debates in our offices amongst the agents and sometimes with their clients on whether the holidays are a good time to list a property.

After some research, I found that there are dozens of articles conflicting with each other to best serve their own sales and brokerage interests. While we won’t try to sway you one way or the other, we thought we’d share the pros and cons along with some tips should you decide that now is the best time for you to list.

Cons of Listing Your Home During the Holidays:

• Many people out of town or focused on holidays
• Winter is cold and dark, meaning nighttime showings and lack of landscape appeal
• Those “Holiday” days/weekends add on to the property’s “days on market”
• Making time/keeping home clean for showings is difficult if you’re hosting gatherings
• The different parties involved to facilitate a real estate transaction can be “out of office”
• Animals growing in their winter coats are more likely to shed
• Boxes of presents, wrapping paper and other gift items are often hard to hide
• Contractors and condo boards could be difficult to reach for questions
• Some buyers biases and prejudices could infringe on their decision with overly religious decorations

Pros of Listing Your Home During the Holidays (more…)

The holidays are upon us, PoPville readers!

Everyone wants to make sure their homes are set to “WOW” mode, but we all know how difficult it is to coordinate a remodeling project before or during the holidays.

We don’t want you to sweat it.

That’s why if you book a project with remodelmate before December 31, we’ll give you $500 off your order and a free Nest or Ring camera — your choice! — to monitor your remodeling project from anywhere in the world.

You can start your project whenever you want, before or after the holidays. All you have to do is book it with us by December 31.

Start 2019 off with an amazing new kitchen or bathroom, or get those windows or floors looking spiffy for next year’s holiday season.

The best part? With remodelmate, you pay as you go. Our metered payment system only pays contractors when work is complete. Say goodbye to throwing up 30-50% just to get a contractor to show up. This means you have more money for holiday presents! Woohoo!

But hurry — our community of contractors are getting busy, so book them now!

Visit remodelmate.com and enter code HOLIDAYS when you book your free virtual consultation.

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This year, So Others Might Eat (SOME) hosts its 17th annual Trot for Hunger 5k in downtown D.C. on Freedom Plaza.

A time honored tradition, the Trot for Hunger brings together up to 10,000 participants from across the D.C. metropolitan area and the country. This fundraiser helps SOME provide critical services such as food, clothing, shelter and medical care to thousands of men, women and children struggling with poverty, hunger and homelessness.

It’s a meaningful way to remember people in need this Thanksgiving, while also getting in that pre-Thanksgiving meal workout. Registration ends November 20th, so hurry and save your spot for D.C.’s one and only Turkey Trot!