The fifth anniversary of DC Yoga Week runs from May 15th- May 22nd.  I’m not the workout type (unless there are somehow cocktails involved),but I hear locals look forward to DC Yoga Week because it gives a brief respite from having to pay high prices for yoga classes.

The best part?  Yoga on the Mall!!

Yoga on the Mall will take place at the NE corner of the Washington Monument, near the intersection of 15th St. and Constitution Avenue, on Saturday, May 15 from 1-5pm. Nearest metro: Smithsonian. Participants are encouraged to wear loose, comfortable clothing and to bring the following:

• yoga mat or blanket
• snacks and drinks
• your family and friends!

Photo by: Cassandra Corrales & Daniela Schrier

Other DC Yoga week specials include free and $5 dollar yoga classes at some of DC’s hottest yoga studios. Participating studios include Bikram Yoga Capitol Hill, Bikram Yoga Dupont, Bikram Yoga Tenleytown, Boundless Yoga, Capitol Hill Yoga, Circle Yoga/Budding Yogis, Flow Yoga Center, Past Tense Yoga, Quiet Mind Yoga, SomaFit,  Spiral Flight Yoga, Studio Serenity, Tranquil Space, and Unity Woods Yoga Center.

According to one of my top yoga sources (you don’t keep those handy? you should!), the DC Yoga Week special not to miss is a Free Level 1 yoga class at Capitol Hill Yoga on Sunday Morning. Boundless Yoga is offering a $5 class on Wednesday May 19 at 7 am with one of her favorite Yoga instructors in DC, Erin Dowdy.

It’s time for DC to rethink public spaces!  Is that a parking spot?  No, it’s a glorious park!  Yes, Park(ing) Day DC is coming!!!

The concept is to pay for the parking spot for the day and use the space as a park!

Hon, go grab some sandwiches and a bottle of wine and let’s sit here in this parking spot!!!

Lauren asks: HELP! Summer is rapidly approaching and if I want to enjoy some rooftop happy hours, I must counteract by kicking up my workout routine.  Any suggestions for fun, young fitness classes in DC?  Red line is a plus!

Since my idea of exercise is either walking the halls of Congress or shopping in Georgetown, I had to call in some help for this one.  Thanks to my friend and fitness wonder Alexis for these great tips…

- Gyms: City Fitness, Washington Sports Clubs, and Vida Fitness all have young clientele and unique and interesting class offerings such as Zumba!, Budokon, and Bhangra as well as a menu of traditional classes such as spin, step, pilates and yoga.

- Yoga: DC’s Yoga community is young and vibrant, with studios and classes to match every personality type and skill level. Fun red line options include: YogaChai in Adams Morgan, Yoga District in Dupont Circle, Evolve in Dupont Circle (brand new!), and Shakti in China Town.

- Dance: Dance classes can be a fun and social way to get a great work out. DC Dance Collective is located in Tenleytown, and  Joy of Motion has 3 studios on the red line.  Both studios offer classes in a ton of different styles (too many to list!) and are very beginner- friendly.  All classes are pretty much “drop in,” so no long term committment is necessary– in fact, you could just try a different style of dance every week!

Finally, I also highly recommend checking out Graceful Edge.  Its like the Daily Candy of activities for sassy, hip, and adventerous women, and is a great resource for finding cool groups to run, hike, kayak, do yoga, etc. with.

Kevin asks:  Where do you recommend to watch a soccer match?

Sports bars are not my core expertise so I approached a soccer addict (although he probably prefers “expert”) for the best bars to watch soccer in DC.  Apparently its almost always soccer season between England playing Aug-May and European Cups and World Cups alternating years.  Who knew? 

So his first choice was Lucky Bar.  They do some great authentic English breakfasts (like beans and toast) since international games tend to be at weird hours.  His other insider tip – try to sneak in some Starbucks  if you need a caffeine fix because their coffee can be a bit subpar.  

Next runner up would be Capitol Lounge on the Hill.  

And despite my NoVa protests, Summers in Courthouse gets a very honorable mention for this amazing online schedule of the soccer games.  Plus, they even show Cricket matches!

Scott asks: “Where would Sarah Palin hang out in DC?  Do we even have a shooting range?”

Should there be a MCain/Palin administration [shudder], then Sarah Palin will no doubt need to do some serious searching to find places in DC to make her feel at home.   While we don’t have any shooting ranges that are open to the public in downtown DC, there are quite a few in surrounding areas, including Gilbert Indoor Shooting Range in Rockville which is the largest indoor shooting range on the east coast!

Palin will promptly become a member of the University Club of Washington.  It’s a very old-school elite club at 17/H (which has been allowing women to become members since the 1980’s) where she can enjoy their lounge, dining, networking opportunities, etc, in the comfort of a strict dress code and designated cell phone areas.

For eating out, Palin will likely hit Fuddruckers for their buffalo burgers and other all-American family fare.  And for special occasions she will likely go to Dr. Granville Moore’s for their endless bison options including bison tartare, bison burgers, bison brisket, or bison sirloin.  She might need to bring her own Budwieser though because I don’t know how she’ll do with their extensive Belgian beer list .

For looking good, Palin will likely stay grounded by going to Bubbles on Capitol Hill, but she’ll splurge to keep her eyewear current and designer thanks to the experts at Georgetown Opticians.

Readers, any other recommendations for the Palin crew?