The coupon business apparently isn’t enough for the folks over at LivingSocial. They are expanding their virtual world into the real world of hosting live events and hands-on experiences with food, art, and fitness for the whole family. They’ve set up at 918 F Street, Northwest, a 28,000-square-foot building with six floors and a basement, an endeavor they admit is an “ambitious test for the company.”

While the public opening isn’t until Monday, the company notified the media today with a two-page press release.

LivingSocial executive Doug Miller said, “918 F Street will serve as a venue for special experiences where local residents can try the hottest pop-up restaurants, take a yoga or painting class, learn to make sushi, or participate in scores of other social activities. We believe this is the next step in the evolution of local commerce and complements our existing offerings.”

The food offerings are vast, including an evening with Top Chef contestant Mike Isabella, who’ll offer a preview of his soon-to-open Georgetown Mexican spot, Bandolero; classes on sushi rolling or chocolate making; cocktail and mixology courses; and a cooking lesson for children. There will also be painting and wine-tasting events. Attendance vouchers can be purchased through LivingSocial, because while the company is expanding into new ventures, it is, yes, still in the coupon business.

Brendan Sullivan. Photograph by Vincent Ricardel.

Everyone in the Washington area who rides the Metro has an escalator story, and generally it’s about them not working. Brendan Sullivan, senior partner at the law firm Williams & Connolly, is no different—except for what he does when they are working.

The Williams & Connolly building is located at 12th and G Streets, Northwest, above the Metro Center station. More than 600 employees work for the firm, many of them commuters. Sullivan says, “We’ve been here ten years, and the escalators have been broken 80 percent of the time. There’s always one working, but only one. It’s pathetic how often they’re broken.” He says the firm has complained “hundreds of times.” In fact, Williams & Connolly has staffers who keep track of the breakdowns.

But Sullivan says a “miracle” happened this week: Both escalators were running—one up, one down. How did he mark the occasion? He sent a $100 bouquet of flowers to Richard Sarles, the general manager and CEO of the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority. An accompanying letter said, “Williams & Connolly thanks you and your team. This week marks the first time since June 2011 in which both escalators are working at the same time, up and down.”

We tried to get a comment from Sarles, and phoned the WMATA main number three times, but each time, after dozens of rings, there was no answer.

Update: Friday afternoon, we heard from Dan Stessel, director of communications for WMATA. He said, “If this sparks a trend, it’ll be a boon for florists in town with all the work we’re doing fixing and replacing escalators.” Bold words to put out there. He added, “We’re glad to see good work get noticed."

Alas, WMATA did not accept Sullivan’s flowers due to a “no-gift” policy.

The DC government said on Thursday evening that it will “take steps to seek a court order” to prevent Albrecht Muth—who was arrested last summer and charged with the Georgetown murder of his wife, Viola Drath—from starving himself to death.

Even John Wall's great performance wasn't enough to save the Wizards. Photograph by Flickr user Keith Allison.

I recently adopted a young puppy named Lana.

I trust that she’s going to be a really good dog sometime soon. But for now, she’s very much a work in progress. One minute she’s delighting people with her precociousness, and the next she’s peeing all over the carpet. She’s smart, she’s fun, and oh, my God, why is she biting my toe?

Watching the Washington Wizards play basketball makes me think of my new puppy.

Last night, the Wizards blew a perfectly good chance to secure their first back-to-back wins of the season when they hosted a depleted Knicks squad at Verizon Center. With Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony out of action, the Wizards fell victim to the NBA’s latest sensation: Linsanity.

Photograph courtesy of Ivanka Trump.

The Trump Organization scored a big win this week when it was chosen to redevelop the historic Old Post Office building on Pennsylvania Avenue. The late-19th-century building and clock tower were last redeveloped in the 1980s. The architect at that time was Arthur Cotton Moore, who is also the architect for Trump. What it will mean to Pennsylvania Avenue is another mixed-use development, similar to the J.W. Marriott hotel complex and joining the also historic Willard Hotel and the W, which for decades was the Hotel Washington.

Photograph courtesy of Flickr user twid.

Whether you’re single or coupled this February 14, nothing puts Valentine’s Day in perspective like hearing about when other people’s relationships crashed and burned. A few weeks ago, we asked for your breakup stories, and you delivered some doozies. Here are our favorites.

Freedom of Speech?

I deployed to Iraq for six months, and was there for my birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I didn’t get a phone call from my boyfriend for any of those days but thought maybe he was just busy. (Oh, he was busy, all right.) Finally in February, when it was time for me to come home, he told me he couldn’t pick me up at the airport. I was livid but couldn’t wait to see him again to work things out. We weren’t living together, so I kept calling for a week after I got home. At that point I knew something was going on, but we had been in a relationship for a year and a half; he had all my stuff at his place. Eventually I got in touch with him—or rather, his new girlfriend. She broke up with me while he sat next to her; he’d never had the guts to do it himself. Loser.

Photograph by Jeff Martin.

It’s a keeper of a Washington party when the after-dinner band is soulful and kicking it, the publisher of the Washington Post is among those dirty dancing, and your dinner partner reveals she’s bucking to become one of the city’s first weed merchants. We expected nothing less from the annual Kennedy Center gala for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. For 13 years it has maintained a standard of beguiling fun. Before dinner there was sensational dancing on the stage of the Opera House and, after dinner, a dancing sensation among the more than 800 rollicking guests.

The evening began at 7 PM with the sold-out show. Tickets for the benefit started at $500 and went up to $25,000. The acclaimed New York–based troupe performed “Arden Court,” “Home,” “Takademe,” and “Revelations.” First Lady Michelle Obama and her daughters, Malia and Sasha, were in the audience, though they stayed pretty much in their box and did not linger for the after-dinner hoopla. It was a school night, after all, but also, notably, the first time Mrs. Obama has attended the event as First Lady.

As soon as the show was over, guests in black-tie attire filed along the red carpets before ducking into the elevators to get up to the roof, where they were instantly and irresistibly put in a dancing mood by the horn section and the soaring voices of Free Spirit. Many hit the dance floor before heading to their assigned tables for dinner. Just as the meal was served, Alvin Ailey artist director Robert Battle led his dancers through the three rooms, in a procession of physical beauty and grace that left us mere Washington mortals breathless, picking at our salads and wondering if we should eschew the beef and have the salmon instead, or maybe just fast.