Admit it: When you visit a museum, sometimes the highlight is the gift shop. That's where some of the best knickknacks and gifts are can be found. The annual Museum Shop Around brings together distinctive gifts from more than a dozen of the area's best museum shops, including those from the Kennedy...

Monty Python may have had its way with this classic story in the past few years, but there's nothing quite like the original. There's action (the Knights of the Round Table!), there's romance (the King Arthur-Guinevere-Sir Lancelot triangle) and there's Lerner and Loewe's songs: "C'est Moi," "The...

This 22nd annual festival continues this week with Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," featuring Health Ledger's last film role, Saturday at 9:30 p.m. Other films include Denmark's "Applause" (Thursday at 7 p.m.) and "Deliver Us From Evil" (Friday at 9:45 p.m., Monday at 7) and...

Metropolitan Home joins list of design magazines that closed.

Hanging curtains on bare windows is a quick way to dress up a space as well as add softness and warmth.

Get your dining room chairs ready for holiday entertaining.

Instead of flowers, D.C. floral designer Sue Bluford recommends arranging fruits, vegetables or gourds down the center of a dining table.

A couple buys an apple press and attempts making apple cider at home.

"The hub of our home is threadbare. The window treatments, lighting, carpet, sofa, desk need to be replaced, but I do like the beams."

Niermann Weeks will open its Millersville factory to the public on Saturday for a sample sale.

How to restore and preserve the shine of an old wood floor.

These sales were recorded in Montgomery County and supplied to The Washington Post by Spatial Systems Associates, the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation and the Maryland Office of Planning. To find sale and assessment records for homes in Montgomery and other Washington areas, visit...

Contestants on NBC's weight-loss competition show "The Biggest Loser" undergo all kinds of duress in their efforts to shed pounds. Some of the ordeals they endure -- including a brutal workout in Washington's hot July sun for an episode that aired last week -- seem like sheer torture to me.

The slightest rustle of the Milk-Bone box gets mutts and purebreds alike drooling. But for pet parents who pledge allegiance to Whole Foods and the locavore lifestyle, the number of unpronounceable and unthinkable ingredients in mass-produced canine treats can cause a paw-size pause. So, if cooking...

I often interview educators and gather data to find which high schools are doing the best job teaching kids. It is satisfying work, with the biggest payoff in visiting those schools and telling them how good they are compared to others. This is often a surprise to the teachers and administrators,...

Montgomery County Humane Society has hundreds of dogs, cats, small mammals, birds, reptiles and livestock available for adoption at the Montgomery County Animal Shelter, 14645 Rothgeb Dr., Rockville. To see pictures of adoptable animals, go to http://www.mchumane.org . For a schedule of weekend...

These were among the cases received by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information on the Montgomery County Animal Shelter hours and location, adoption and licensing procedures, rabies clinics and low-cost neutering, call 240-773-5960. That number provides recorded information.

One day in 2007, after a morning spent at Sligo Creek Park removing invasive plants so native plants could survive, Sally Gagne took a moment to look back on the acre of parkland she had proudly worked to save.

Seniors at the Support Center in Rockville have a new screened-in back porch, thanks to area volunteers and businesses.

Miguel Perez has come up with ideas for all kinds of inventions, including construction devices and a microwaveable rotisserie chicken that takes only one minute to heat and eat, in the basement of his Germantown home.

The newest employee at Brookside Gardens boasts a sharper sense of smell than the keenest rose enthusiast, feet fleeter than the most avid runner and an affinity for chasing geese that could outlast any curious school group.

Chevy Chase United Methodist Church , 7001 Connecticut Ave., Chevy Chase, will hold a holiday bazaar from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. The event will include food, photos with Santa, crafts, a silent auction and children's entertainment. 301-652-8700.

The following organizations need volunteer help for a day, for a week or on a regular basis.

Travelers responding to my suggestions [ Dr. Gridlock, Nov. 1 ] about long-term solutions to Interstate 95's traffic congestion had their own practices and policies to propose.

BOOK FESTIVAL, literary programs through Sunday include discussions and appearances by Abigail Pogrebin, Michael Wex, Dara Horn and Hollywood dog trainer Joel Silverman. Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington, 6125 Montrose Rd., Rockville. 301-348-3805 or http://www.jccgw.org for schedule and...

These were among incidents reported by Montgomery County police. For information, call 240-773-5030.

Garden help: boxwood shrubs, sheared blue spruce.

They all seem to be having a good time, the 20 or so girls wielding field hockey sticks on a tree-lined field tucked far behind the Loudoun County campus of Northern Virginia Community College. It's a pleasant fall evening, and the distant hum of cars on Route 7 provides a soothing soundtrack as the...

The countdown is on for the holiday season. It's time to take a good, hard look at your dining room and assess its readiness for entertaining from now until New Year's Day.

Try these designer-recommended colors to transform a dining room's walls:

If your floor is bare or your area rug is worn out, an inexpensive sisal rug will add an instant pick-me-up to almost any dining room.

For holiday entertaining, "move the centerpiece above the table and decorate the chandelier," says New York and Washington designer Ondine Karady.

From our design experts, here are other small things you can do in the dining room.

Now is the time to check your holiday tablecloth and napkin supply.

On defense for flu season? Doctors will tell you your best shot is to get a shot. But that won't cut it for Sue Berman of Silver Spring's Blue Heron Wellness. To keep sniffles at bay, she plans to spend a whole lot more time with needles.

Here is an edited excerpt from Local Living's daily blog, On parenting. Read the latest at voices.washingtonpost.com/parenting .

Los Angeles designer Michael S. Smith has the hottest decorating job in the country: the private quarters of the White House for the Obamas.

From a health perspective, adult mammals shouldn't be drinking milk, especially the milk from another mammal ["Milk's skeptics would like to steer us away from our herd mentality," Eat, Drink and Be Healthy, Nov. 5]. I would do it anyway if I could find a cruelty-free source of milk and milk prod...

What if there was a small, inexpensive device that was proven to boost your fitness, help you lose weight and lower your blood pressure? Would you use it, especially if doing so was nearly effortless?

Dear Dr. Fox: I have two male Westies, ages 6 and 3. They are healthy, happy and look great. No wonder. They are fed your home-cooked brown rice and lamb diet, an occasional hard-boiled egg, some turkey breast and a variety of vegetables. They also get daily Brewer's yeast and garlic tabs. Each dog...

These food establishments were closed because of health code violations. The list, compiled from health department reports, reflects actions taken by the departments.