What: Kick-off party for the Smithsonian Young Benefactors Polo Cup fundraiser in September. The party marked the beginning of ticket sales for the event and raised funds for the Smithsonian Associates’ educational programs.

When: Thursday, June 5, 7:30 to 10 PM

Where: Embassy of Argentina at 1600 New Hampshire Avenue, Northwest

Ticket price: $40 for members; $60 for non-members

Attire: Most of the women turned up smartly clad in cocktail attire, the men in suits sans ties, or slacks and blazers. The dress code wasn’t specified, but an unspoken mantra—dress to impress—seemed to rule.

Who: Overall, boldface names were hard to spot, but a few notables popped up here and there. Socialite blogger and polo cup host-committee member Pamela Sorensen made an appearance, as did current and former Miss DCs Kate Grinold and Kate Michael. We saw tech entrepreneur Michael Saylor making the rounds, and nearby we spotted our old pal Fletcher Gill, whom we met earlier this year, of the veterans nonprofit Luke’s Wings.

Washington’s political elite dressed to the nineteens for the annual Ford’s Theatre Gala Sunday night. It wasn’t at Ford’s (that’s under renovation, so the show was moved to the National Theatre), and it wasn’t actually a gala (more of a show and a late buffet supper at the National Building Museum), but it always attracts a great crowd. One reason: This is one evening event that the early-to-bed Bushes never miss. What’s more, they sit in the audience like ordinary folk, albeit with the Secret Service nearby.

Cheap Eats: 100 Best Bargain Restaurants Slideshow
The Washingtonian's annual guide to the area's 100 Best Bargain Restaurants just hit newsstands! We've got 27 new restaurants on the list, which you can read about in the June issue.

100 Best Bargain Restaurants: Gourmet Dining on a Budget
Here’s how you can enjoy the cooking of some of the region’s most celebrated chefs without busting the budget.

Sex and the City—and the Best Drinks to Have Beforehand
In celebration of the release of the Sex and the City movie, we’ve put together a list of favorite spots to break out the swizzle sticks and sip that are (relatively) near area movie theaters showing the film. Put on your favorite dress, gather the girls, grab a drink at one of these places, and then take in the movie.

Looks like the finger-crossing worked after all: Fort Reno Park has reopened after new tests revealed arsenic levels in the soil to be within safety limits...

...But maybe not: The City Paper reports that "one of the test readings revealed high amounts of lead" in the northwest area of the park.

Sex and the City's tagline may read "get carried away," but we've been feeling more swept away than carried by the film's media onslaught. This past weekend, the Post's Robin Givhan profiled Patricia Field, and today both Ann Hornaday and Monica Hesse have bylines about the movie. Hesse's piece profiles a group of fans who—holy Jimmy Choo knockoffs!—gathered for drinks at a Maggiano's before catching an early screening of the film. Seriously, girls? You can't celebrate Sex and the City by getting drinks at a family-style restaurant. That's, like, against the rules of feminism or something. To prevent similar tragedies from occurring this weekend, we've compiled a list of bars and spots where you can grab a drink in style, just the way God Manolo intended. 

The National Museum of Crime & Punishment officially opens today, but last night we got a sneak peek of the latest addition to DC’s Penn Quarter neighborhood at a preopening reception and museum tour.

We had no idea what to expect—the museum’s name told us everything and nothing at the same time—but the invitation promised a go-round on a high-speed-police-chase simulator, so we were game. And apparently, we weren’t the only ones: The doors opened at 6:30, and when we arrived at 7 a long line had already formed and was snaking halfway down Seventh Street.

Out on the sidewalk, we were greeted by McGruff the Crime Dog and orange-jumpsuit-clad museum staff. Inside, we found a well-stocked open bar—not a usual fixture of the kid-friendly museum—where we helped ourselves to a glass of red wine before being ushered upstairs to the exhibit hall.

The museum follows a similar track as the International Spy Museum, its neighbor, where exhibitions start at the top of the building and work their way downward. They snake through Disney-like exhibit halls built like movie sets, complete with soundtracks and appropriate lighting, to make a visit feel like more than just a few hours at a museum—it’s an entire “experience.”

We won’t spoil the whole thing, but the National Museum of Crime & Punishment boasts a number of high points. Our favorites:

Ellen Miller wants to open up Capitol Hill to outside eyes.

Ellen Miller has spent decades around Capitol Hill looking at money’s influence on Washington. In the process she founded two groups focused on money and politics: the Center for Responsive Politics—the force behind the campaign-donation-disclosure database OpenSecrets.org—and Public Campaign. Now, as cofounder of the Dupont Circle–based Sunlight Foundation, she works to combine the open-source-technology movement with the open-government movement.

• Sunlight was founded two years ago to harness the Internet and social media to shine more light on Congress, to digitize existing political information and put it online and into the hands of citizens. We want to create 21st-century-style accountability for lawmakers and help facilitate better connections between lawmakers and their constituents. We think about our work as handing out tens of thousands of flashlights to people rather than focusing one single spotlight on the inner workings of the Hill.

• One of our goals is to have every report filed by a member of Congress posted online in real time. We want to expand the reporting requirements too so that the work of Congress is an open book. We know there are some on Capitol Hill who are open to using technology, but there’s a cultural resistance—slowly, slowly breaking down—to revealing more and revealing it faster.

We've got fresh reviews and early looks at two buzzed-about spots in DC: Pete's Apizza and Cork. Check them out.

Sad news: Senator Ted Kennedy was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.

A ban against late-term abortions in Virginia was ruled unconstitutional by a federal appeals court.