Metropolitan Home joins list of design magazines that closed.

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

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

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.

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.

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 .

Garden help: boxwood shrubs, sheared blue spruce.

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

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...

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.

The Disney animated feature "Aladdin" represented, along with "The Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King," the apex of Disney's pre-Pixar cartoon-movie dominance. Relive those days with this musical production by Pied Piper Children's Theatre. The plot is the same: A genie in a...

Nov. 12 THE HEATHENFEST Swiss folk metal band Eluveitie headlines this show. With Belphegor, Alestorm, Kivimetsan Druidi, Vreid, From the Ashes of My Sins and Gomorrah. 6 p.m. Jaxx, 6355 Rolling Rd., Springfield. 703-569-5940 or http://www.jaxxroxx.com . $20 in advance, $25 at the door.

These Oklahoma-based rockers are touring to promote their latest album, "When the World Comes Down." The alternative-pop-punk-rock group, made up of frontman Tyson Ritter, Nick Wheeler, Mike Kennerty and Chris Gaylor, has produced such movie-montage-ready singles as "Swing, Swing," "Dirty Little...

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

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

These were among sales recorded recently in Prince William County and supplied to The Washington Post by the Prince William County Real Estate Assessments Office. To find sale and assessment records for homes in Prince William and elsewhere in the Washington area, visit...

Woodbridge Senior High School freshman Tina Warner said math never came easily to her, until a unique teacher sent her in a new direction.

Prince William County police will focus on vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian violations from Saturday through Nov. 21 during the Street Smart education and enforcement campaign, which aims to reduce the number of motor vehicle crashes with pedestrians and bicyclists.

Residential sales in Manassas are up, and home prices are beginning to rebound -- two heartening changes, city officials said, for a city that has been plagued by foreclosures.

Action in the Community Through Service needs volunteers for Operation Turkey, which provides Thanksgiving food baskets to local families. Food donations are needed, as are volunteers to sort the food and distribute the baskets. Financial donations will also be accepted. For information, call...

St. Mark's United Methodist Church , 7803 Well St., Manassas, will hold a craft bazaar and bake sale from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. 703-368-5790.

MULTIMEDIA ART EXHIBIT , works by Lu Wyer Harris and watercolors by Catherine Hillis. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, 1-5 p.m. Saturdays, through Dec. 17. Reception, 6-8 p.m. this Saturday, Center for the Arts, Caton Merchant Family Art Gallery, 9419 Battle St., Manassas. Free. 703-330-2787 or...

The following incidents were reported by Prince William County police. For information, call 703-792-7245.

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.

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

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

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

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...

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...

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?

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.

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,...

In late October, my history class for Loudoun County public school teachers was mesmerized listening to Anne Frazer speak of 1937, her initial year in Loudoun County. As an 18-year-old from Pembroke, Giles County, she taught first grade at Hamilton Elementary School and took full advantage in off...

The largest park proffer ever received by Prince William County is officially open to the public after sitting idle for several years.

Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative is collecting nonperishable food for its Operation Turkey drive.

News that appeared Nov. 1 to 7 in The Washington Post and on washingtonpost.com that is of interest to readers in Prince William.

With the Woodbridge offense stuck in neutral late in the first half of Friday's game against Gar-Field, Interim Coach Kevin Smith decided to try something new: He shifted his players into a hurry-up offense, a rarity at the high school level.

12 AND YOUNGER: Virginia Patriots travel team seeks players. Coach John Flaherty, 703-969-2915, 571-261-1338.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, 2-3 p.m., Conference Room 2/3. Potomac Hospital, 2300 Opitz Blvd., Woodbridge. 703-494-5763.