WE HEADED TO PETWORTH a few days ago for coffee + convos with some of Upshur Street NW's small business owners, and had a blast taking a peek inside Willow Fashion, Nh.D Studio, and the very, very cool Upshur Street Books. Coincidentally, we spent yesterday evening at the Gordy's Pickle Jar space, just a few blocks down the road, gathering with a group of DC's women-in-small biz. A Creative DC co-hosted a dinner + conversation with our dear friends at El Camino Travel (with help from Cava Grill and Early Mountain Vineyards); focused on resource + experience-sharing around the topic of funding, we could not have enjoyed the dialogue more. We're looking forward to offering more opportunities to commune and connect in the near future, so please – introduce yourself. Y-O-U make this city a better place to be, and we want to know who you are, what you do, and how we can include you in the A Creative DC project.

TO DO. Things-on-our-radar include a clothing swap this weekend at DC's only Goodwill location; Flashpoint Gallery is showing Anthony Cervino's "Ejecta," open through September 12; and we should all probably snag tickets for BYT's Bentzen Ball before they're gonzo – The Most Very Specialest Evening With Tig Notaro sounds, well, just like it sounds.

COOL FEATURES (on some cool DC people): an interview with Comet Ping Pong/Sasha Lord Presents designer Sophie McTear (at BYT), and our favorite burger pervert Mathew Ramsey got some shine at Compound Butter. 

TGI (NEXT) FRIDAY – we'll see you soon for A Creative DC x Maketto: IRL! Open to all and, maybe most importantly, open for lunch. Sneak out from 11AM - 2:30PM, say hi, and get to know who's in your city. And stay tuned – we've got a few more IRL-related announcements COMING SOON. Have a great weekend!