Hospitality_Recreation

20111027-163112-pic-326637417.jpg

If your neighborhood isn't down with trick-or-treating, you might as well kill two birds with one stone and take your kids someplace where both of you will have a nice time.

20111027-163112-pic-359396185.jpg

Nearly every bar in D.C. that decides to recognize Halloween does so by offering $50--sometimes more, sometimes less--for the best costume. In most cases, this is enough to provoke half the city's women to walk around in the October chill wearing only their underwear.

20111027-104225-pic-109171527.jpg

The owners of the home at 4424 25th St. N. in Arlington's Lee Heights neighborhood worked with a landscape architect to create stone terraces and walls and garden beds out of the hilly backyard.

20111027-104232-pic-25958978.jpg

The O'Keefe model has three finished levels and includes an open floor plan on the main level with a great room, a central kitchen with a center island and a separate dining room.

20111027-104240-pic-597229503.jpg

The Saxony's dining room opens into the living room, which has a corner fireplace. Also on the main level is a master-bedroom suite.

20111027-104220-pic-728810478.jpg

Photo courtesy of Bob Narod Robert Shields, owner of Robert Shields Interiors, says dark, rich and neutral tones work well for a serenity room.

20111027-104220-pic-641241677.jpg

Photo courtesy of Angie Seckinger A serenity room can be large or small, dark or light. What makes a space ideal is the combination of soft fabrics, coordinated colors and lack of clutter. Kelley Proxmire, owner of Kelley Interior Design, said the most important feature of the serenity room in her home is that the sofa is long enough to lie down on.

20111026-213958-pic-659765512.jpg

Miner Elementary School fifth-grader Keith Herbert, 10, (above) leads the way for Prince Daniel of Sweden during his visit Wednesday, complete with Swedish flags, for Nordic Food Day. London Gray, 5, tries some of the lunch specialties that included salmon with dill sauce and vinegar-soaked cucumbers. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

20111026-184152-pic-262507895.jpg

Jordon Bourque, 23, a pipe inspector from Lafayette, La., has a beer at a bar in Williamsport, Pa., where he works on the Marcellus Shale. The gas boom has brought a wave of hardworking, sometimes raucous workers to small towns. (Associated Press)

Switzerland Koreas Nu_Lea.jpg

Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special envoy for North Korea policy, leaves his hotel for the second round of rare direct talks between North Korea and the United States in Geneva on Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Keystone/Salvatore Di Nolfi)

20111024-200639-pic-394423785.jpg

Veterans and their supporters visit the Jewish Chaplains Memorial following the dedication of the Jewish Chaplains Memorial in the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va, Monday, October 24, 2011. (Rod Lamkey Jr/The Washington Times)

MEMORIAL_1222

Richard Swanson was a Coast Guard storekeeper second class when he helped to rescue the men from the U.S. Army troopship Dorchester on February 3, 1943 off the coast of Greenland. Making the trip from his home in Mead, Ne, he came for the dedication of the Jewish Chaplains Memorial in the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va, Monday, October 24, 2011. (Rod Lamkey Jr/The Washington Times)

MEMORIAL_1221

Members of The West Point Jewish Chapel Cadet Choir prepare for the dedication of the Jewish Chaplains Memorial in the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va, Monday, October 24, 2011. (Rod Lamkey Jr/The Washington Times)

MEMORIAL_1220

Jewish war veterans listen to speakers during the dedication of the Jewish Chaplains Memorial in the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va, Monday, October 24, 2011. (Rod Lamkey Jr/The Washington Times)

MEMORIAL_1219

New York Army National Guard Chaplain1st. Lt. Raziel Amar salutes during the sining of the National Anthem during the dedication of the Jewish Chaplains Memorial in the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va, Monday, October 24, 2011. (Rod Lamkey Jr/The Washington Times)

MEMORIAL_1218

Army Air Corps private (Retired) Ernie Heaton,88, (sitting) of Vero Beach, Fla, is one of two living survivors of the U.S. Army troopship Dorchester, where four chaplains perished along with hundreds of men on the ship on February 3, 1943. Here is joins others during the dedication of the Jewish Chaplains Memorial in the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va, Monday, October 24, 2011. (Rod Lamkey Jr/The Washington Times)

MEMORIAL_1217

Members of The West Point Jewish Chapel Cadet Choir prepare for the dedication of the Jewish Chaplains Memorial in the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va, Monday, October 24, 2011. (Rod Lamkey Jr/The Washington Times)

MEMORIAL_1216

Veterans and their supporters visit the Jewish Chaplains Memorial following the dedication of the Jewish Chaplains Memorial in the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va, Monday, October 24, 2011. (Rod Lamkey Jr/The Washington Times)

Obama___Live.jpg

Stephen Cloobeck (left) of the Board of Directors for Corporation for Travel Promotion looks back at President Obama as he is introduced at a fundraiser at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas on Oct. 24, 2011. (Associated Press)