Hip Young Things

Bethesda, Maryland is a pretty small city located just outside of Washington DC. It is continually becoming a popular relocation destination for people that are retiring from their careers in Washington, or who are also willing to make the commute because they choose to live and raise their family in this beautiful community. And while it is not a large city and has a population of just over 55,000 people, there is actually a lot to do and see there. It is not just a quiet getaway from DC, it is an entire city with all the trimmings and basic features on its own. In fact, Bethesda receives its own population of tourists and here are some of the time attractions and landmarks for people to visit.

Farmers markets are popular with almost everyone and Bethesda has its fair share. The Montgomery Farm Women’s Cooperative and the Bethesda Farmer’s Market are the two primary recognized markets that take place in the city and are regular favorite of the residents, though tourists enjoy their offerings as well. Another great activity is viewing the monuments that are located in the downtown area. Among these are the Madonna of the Trail . In addition, there are great shopping opportunities in the downtown area and it is lit up and alive at night.

The AT&T National, which is Tiger Woods’ golf tournament takes place in Bethesda. But this only occurs during the Fourth of July weekend, so if you’re visiting the city and want to watch, you’ll have to be there at this time. The Capital Crescent Trail is another attraction that begins in the downtown area of the city. It is an eleven mile multi-use path that is also the busiest of its kind in the entire country. Every year more than one million people either walk, run, jog or roller blade its path and a number of these are tourists in Bethesda . The entire trail spans from Washington DC to Silver Spring, Maryland. These are just a few of the fun and relaxing attractions and things to do while you are visiting the beautiful city of Bethesda, Maryland.

The New York Philharmonic presents numerous concerts throughout its season at Avery Fisher Hall in the Lincoln Center. In addition, the renowned orchestra performs numerous additional concerts in parks and alternative venues throughout the year. The organization performs at parks in Queens, Staten Island, Long Island, Brooklyn and the Bronx, in addition to Manhattan and the greatest park of all, or at least the most popular and well known, Central Park . Outdoor summer concert events can be a great way for friends and families to share a beautiful evening under stars while listening to some of the greatest music from classical canon.

This is usually a popular and sometimes unexpected encounter for many of the tourists who travel to New York during the summer season. The Great Lawn in Central Park is one of the primary locations to experience an outdoor concert by the philharmonic as well as many other bands and musicians from a variety of music genres. There are some standard recommendations that will contribute to your overall enjoyment of these concerts as well as others.

Some of the generally recognized aspects of the concerts include deciding where to sit in relationship to the stage tent shell. The closer you are to the stage the easier it is to see the individual performers and have a more intimate experience. Attention to the music is also greater in this area. However, it is important to arrive early to ensure you are able to find a good spot. In addition, you are welcome to bring food and snacks as well as drinks. Candles are also popular as it will get dark during the evening. Please, be cautious and responsible if using them. Citronella candles are particularly popular as they also serve the purpose of reducing bug and mosquito problems. A blanket is a great asset to any outdoor concert. A helpful hint is to bring a plastic bag to place between the ground and your blanket. This makes a great insulation factor between the damp cold ground and your blanket.

January 12 was a devastating day for Haiti when an earthquake rocked the country and killed almost 250,000.  Since that time there have been many relief efforts to help the country get back on its feet.  From fundraisers to raise money and groups going to lend aid, everyone has stepped up to help Haiti.  The U.S. government sent 22,000 troops over to help with aid as well as maintaining order; however a recent release from Washington stated that it is time for the troops to pull out.  By June 1 only about 500 troops will remain.  To read the entire release click here.

Many of us have good intentions when it comes to volunteering and helping make our communities better but with our busy schedules it is hard to fit it all in. As we celebrate and take part in National Volunteer Week, one company is going the extra mile to get their employees involved. Exelon, one of the nation’s leaders in energy production and owner of the most power plants, has set up many opportunities for their employees and their families to get involved in things like helping at the Humane Society and Habitat for Humanity. If you would like ideas on things you can do in your community or for more information on Exelon, click here.

New York City is full of famous streets, and most of these are representative of major cultural landmarks and establishments that are related to them. From Broadway to Wall Street, the names themselves carry the major symbolic association to the industry and institutions for which they are known. There are other great city iconic establishments that frequently take up an entire block or series of blocks and are known by their famous intersection, or dominate cultural establishment that is associated with them. With a bit of knowledge of the major landmarks that are associated with this city, it can be extremely easy to find your way around. This can be extremely convenient and also fun for many of the guests in New York hotels .

The Rockefeller Center and Times Square and Lincoln Square are great examples of this. And while each of these major cultural centers are known throughout the world by name, they also include multiple entertainment, shopping and dining options within them. Spending an entire afternoon and/or evening at The Rockefeller Center will provide all the cultural experiences you could expect from one evening. This is also true for Times Square where you can find not only great shopping, entertainment and dining options, but it is also the epicenter of some of the nation’s most popular cultural events.

Central Park is also a great way to orient your place in the city. The reason for this is in addition to the obvious fact that it is conveniently located in the center of Manhattan. The borders to the park also serve as alternative names for the streets that line it. In addition, the famous Park Avenue runs parallel to the park on the east side going north to south. As was previously mentioned about Wall Street , it is incredibly symbolically relevant to the city. However, this wasn’t always the case, and when considered in terms of its origin, which was that it served as a literal wall in Lower Manhattan along the East River, it is easy to remember its location as well. Throughout New York, street names, intersections and landmarks also serve as guideposts for mapping your way through the city.

Global warming has become a very hot topic in recent years.  Many environmentalist, scientists, and even politicians believe very firmly in global warming and that there will severe consequences if we don’t do anything about it.  There are also many on the other side of the debate that feel global warming is somewhat of a conspiracy and nothing that we should be worried about.

Whatever side you are on, it is hard to ignore the facts.  A recent report showed that there are in fact several glaciers that have shown a significant decrease in size in recent years.  Warmer weather is the most obvious culprit  for this decline in glaciers from Alaska to Greenland.

The pictures are hard to deny.  Click here to see for yourself.

New York has one of the most prestigious and well-known art museums in the world, and in addition it has numerous other galleries and museums that contribute greatly to the overall cultural atmosphere of this great city. There is always a great deal of main attractions to visit and guests in the Manhattan hotels frequently have a harder time fitting everything into their schedule rather than trying to find something to do. Meanwhile, visiting at least one of the fabulous galleries or museums is usually essential. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the city’s main cultural establishments and it is visited by millions of people from around the world every year. Another one of the premiere museums of this city is the Museum of Modern Art, which also earns an enormous amount of respect and visitor interest.

The Met is located on the eastern side of Central Park and is frequently considered to be one of the park region’s major attractions. The permanent collection in the museum consists of over two million pieces. The main exhibition building is one of the largest museums in the world. There is a secondary gallery in Upper Manhattan, which specializes in medieval art. The permanent collection of the main building includes art from various eras and cultures. The Museum of Modern Art , also known as the MOMA, can be found on 53rd Street in Midtown and is one of the area’s most prestigious institutions. It has one of the most extensive collections modern art and includes works from architecture, sculpture, painting, film, literature and electronic media. This collection is unparalleled and the museum stands alone in its importance. These are just two examples of the extensive list of museums that can be found in New York, though they also represent the significant extreme of Manhattan’s cultural establishments. In acknowledging just two of the city’s museums, it demonstrates the importance of the city’s cultural scene.

San Francisco is one of the nation’s most dynamic, diverse and well loved cities. It has a great entertainment and cultural arts scene and the city itself, though geographically small is full of people and a diverse collection of neighborhoods. A city map is extremely helpful to the numerous tourists in San Francisco as well as periodic visitors and even residents. It can be pretty easy to get lost in this virtual metropolis and a map will also help to define the various neighborhoods, which are frequently the key to many major landmarks and cultural elements. San Francisco is small and composed of numerous neighborhoods and each one has a particular historical and cultural relevance. Finding them on a map can not only provide for a greater overall awareness of the city but also help to create a generalized cultural puzzle map.

Some of the neighborhoods can be categorized by where they will fall on the map. The basic divisions of San Francisco are the downtown area as well as the northern, eastern, western and southern regions. There are also outer lying neighborhoods and of course the East Bay is an entirely separate though associated region. Some of the most commonly recognized and popular neighborhoods in San Francisco are Fisherman’s Wharf, Union Square, Haight Ashbury and Russian Hill. And while there are numerous others, these cover some of the major map regions and culturally significant aspects.

Fisherman’s Wharf is one of the most popular tourist centers in the city and there are numerous restaurants, markets and attractions in the area. It is in the northern regions of the city and Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum and Ferry rides out to Alcatraz are located here. Union Square is in the downtown region and comprises much of the great shopping centers of the city. Haight Ashbury is in the western section and is well known for its association to the Hippie movement of the 1960s. Russian Hill is one of the nice residential neighborhoods and contains the famous Lombard Street, which is known as the most crooked street in the world.

I’m not the most technologically savy person I know—I don’t have an iPhone or iPod Touch—but I do own an iPod and can attest to its ease of use.  While I can see why everyone wants the latest touch screen device, I personally have never seen the draw.  Well, Apple does.  The release of their latest iPad has fans rushing out to buy one and critics wondering “What’s the point?”  While it offers many of the features of the iPhone and iPod Touch, it is larger and is rumored to be a device that is somewhere between iPod and a laptop.

Whether you are a fan or not, this video is sure to give you a good laugh.

Ladies Day in any race holds a special place, but there is no comparison in great events than Ladies Day at the Aintree John Smith Grand National horse races. The prizes for the fashion show are great and include packages such as a trip to London where you will spend the night at a luxury hotel, a photo shoot with Jeff Banks who will also give you his advise to help you spend the £500 Matalan voucher, handpicking a new wardrobe just for you, and dinner at the Ivy where you will meet a number of celebrities, or another package which includes an all-inclusive 10 night stay for two at your choice of Almond Resorts. There are also smaller prizes like a Boodles Raindance Diamond Ring, or one pair of Christian Louboutin shoes. Needles to say there will be a number of women competing for the chance at any of these great prizes. You will need to register with them, and they have not made it clear yet if there will be fashion scouts looking about for lovely women who look lost. There are a limited number of spots in the competition, so you will want to head to the table as soon as you get there. Below is a video of some of the contestants from a few years ago.

There are a few tips on how to win the competition, but there is no way to guarantee you are the winner unless you absolutely look your best. The thing to remember here is that spring has now come, with the start of these races and the best outfits to wear should match accordingly. This means that it is up to you to determine the new spring fashions, coming in your trendiest clothing. Keep the outfit to spring colors, pastel yellows, blues may want to be the focus of your dress, but don’t forget the vibrant reds and greens in your accessories. If you dress down the main part of your clothing, you can show off the accessories better.