From Fishbowl to Washingtonian to Politico. Garrett Graff continues to make the rest of us look bad. Congratulations! “Garrett Graff will take over as editor of Politico Magazine. The former editor in chief of Washingtonian, … Garrett has stepped in as acting editor since Blake [Hounshell] and I took on …

Ashley Codianni at CNN played Cards Against Humanity with Members after SOTU. This is only one of the most amazing moments. Rep. Duffy got the question, “What puts a smile on Joe Biden’s face?” None of these Members, except Rep. Sean Duffy, know how to play. It’s incredible. Watch the …

Are you a new member of Congress? This guy has advice for you. 1. When flirting with women who aren’t your wife, DON’T post a pic of your junk on Twitter. http://t.co/gpt8Q21B0I pic.twitter.com/rjVJ2kt2Qn — Chris Moody (@moody) January 6, 2015 2. When you see underage page boys you think are …

#NATIONAL Japan beats Scotland for best whiskey title; Facebook wants to help fight ebola; Grover Norquist is the “winner” this year; the Berlin Wall, made out of balloons; don’t take daylight for granted; where you can’t shop on Thanksgiving day; how to fix Congress; another Toy Story? okay; definition of …

President Obama said he would enjoy having Kentucky bourbon with Senator McConnell.     Let’s hope the #BourbonSummit happens – and goes down smooth. Hope President Obama and Senator McConnell agree. #BourbonSummit pic.twitter.com/08n2OuJmSL — DISCUS (@DistilledSpirit) November 6, 2014  

#NATIONAL Today’s most beautiful story: a kid dressed up in a Teletubby costume, broke into his friend’s house, dumped their leftover Chinese into his man purse, and left; It’s the Giants, again; #nope fake clowns terrorizing France; Starbucks will deliver so you don’t have to walk fifty feet ; J.K. …

The brains behind ExposedBrickDC.com dishes on rental tips for DC and reveals her go-to spots Jamie Grigg first got her feet wet in this swamp of DC we all know and love in the summer of 2011, she says, after she “made the mistake of committing to my job in public affairs only two weeks after graduation day.” But what she says she didn’t know at the time was that her move to DC, “played a big part in sparking [her] interest in real estate.” That’s likely how you know her today. Jamie is the housing guru behind the popular website ExposedBrickDC.com, and her real estate chops were cut on experience. “Because my time between school and my job was limited,” she says, “I experienced the apartment scramble that most people dread. As I studied for finals, my mom lined up appointments at several buildings. Her search method? Craigslist. In one day, we saw countless places and signed a lease. It was a whirlwind and I had no idea if I was making the right decision. The second time around, I vowed it would be different. As my lease came to an end, my obsession with Craigslist began. Through my continued obsession with Craigslist and a belief in a better way, Exposed Brick DC was born.” We have searched Craigslist and wished there was a new, more appropriate filter one could apply. For example, it would be so much easier if someone could pick out all the nice places and just put them in one place. If you have never been to Jamie’s site, that’s much of what she loves to do. And apparently it’s working. With over 1 million pageviews in six months, I think she may be on to something. What’s the funniest thing she notices about Craigslist apartment ads I ask? “People using ALL CAPS. It never works,” she replies. I THINK SHE IS RIGHT! Since DC is a town with many renters, I couldn’t let her get away without trying to get some tips. “Get educated and act quickly,” she says. “These two things might not sound like they go together but they do. Sixty days before your lease is up, start doing your homework. Start looking at apartments that fit your criteria and see how much they are going for. This way you won’t end up overpaying. By looking early, you are arm yourself with facts so making a decision is easy. This is where the acting quickly part comes in. When you are ready to commit, go for it. The best deals go fast. If you know it is a good deal, sign the lease.” But let’s talk about food now, shall we? What about living above a restaurant? Are there pros and cons? “Well,” Jamie thinks, “Depends on the restaurant. Le Diplomate is a win. Jumbo Slice is a fail.” I guess she has a point, although if you go out a lot, pretty sure the latter could have some perks too! Hailing from Charlottesville, VA, there are some specific things no perfect apartment can make her forget. “The cobb salad from Keswick Hall, burgers from Riverside, hanger steak from C&O, the chicken, cheddar, and fig panini from Feast, Bodo’s bagel, and Princess cake from Albermarle Bakery.” I ask where in DC she goes where she wants something from home or a good home cooked style meal. “Does this exist?” she quips. Don’t fear for Jamie just yet. She will soon (we hope) be cooking all of her own meals. “I just recently started cooking, she says. “I am a notoriously bad cook. In fact, I found an apartment in an awesome location for minimal rent. The catch was it didn’t have kitchen. I seriously considered it. In hindsight, I am glad I have a place with a nice kitchen. Maybe it inspired me to learn? My skills are limited but I am learning.” Learning is key and everyone can cook something, right? “I recently confused a zucchini and a cucumber. It didn’t turn out well,” she says. Until she can get that whole vegetable thing sorted out, “I have always been a big fan of Ghilbellena,” she adds. “They have the best cheese plate in the city. It’s crazy how hard it is to find a good cheese plate. I am lucky that my office is downtown. I go to a lot of the well-known places like, Zaytina and Graffiato often. Proof is one of my favorites. They have an awesome lunch special. $14 will get you an entree and a glass of wine at the bar.” In a town known for high rent and equally high prices, these deals are one’s no one should overlook. Being a fan of more intimate places, she says, “For dinner, I would much rather go to a quiet hole-in-the-wall than then somewhere new and trendy. My boyfriend and I go to Fainting Goat a lot. They have great cocktails and really laid-back atmosphere.” This U Street haunt does have a great vibe, and I’d also remark, a very good cheese plate. Loving a nice cheese plate doesn’t translate to food snob. “I would [rather] have a fast food burger over a gourmet budget any day. It is hard to beat a Shake Shack Burger,” she says. And after that burger and an equally long day you can find her at Matchbox having one of their cucumber gin and tonics.   Cheers to many more burgers, cocktails, and affordable housing! Moving quickly Jamie conquers the Feasting Famously Fast Five where I say five words and she quickly says the first thing that comes to mind. Craigslist: When I first started EBDC, I got an email from a reader titled “I think you are crazy.” When a complete stranger thinks your Craigslist obsession is nuts, that is saying something. Ramen: When my boyfriend described someone as having “ramen noodle hair.” He meant wet curls. Eggs: During finals week, the dining hall would serve late night breakfast. I was eating a huge plate of scrambled eggs, turned to my friends, and said, “Eggs is brain food.” Clearly I needed to stop writing my final paper. Butter: Got nothing. Worst place in DC: Mad Hatter. I feel like every young twenty-something finds themselves there at one point. You see things that you think are ok at the time. You think, “Oh this just normal city living behavior.” It’s not.   So the next time you’re seeking to uplift your roots and head somewhere else, check out Jamie’s site and let her do the filtering for you. Connect with ExposedBrickDC.com on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

By Abby Matousek I have been baptized by St. Paul. Literally. Baptized. Paul Janeway was on fire (figuratively); pouring water on his white wing-tips to put out the flames (again, figurative). And lo! I was misted with water from the shoes of a most energetic singer-cum-cleric. And I loved it. …

Alright hill friends, here is a PRO TIP. Pay attention to those Press Secretaries and Legislative Assistants down the hall. Because today they may be focused on committee mark-ups and weekly newsletters, but in a few short years they’ll have amazing jobs and basically be running sh*t. Oh, and they …

#NATIONAL Your name can go to Mars; Google hired a camel for desert streetview; skip the jack-o-lantern, make a keg; you have a carefully engineered craving for bacon; yes, your dog heard and understood that; Whole Foods vs. Cracker Barrel – Senate elections edition; Is brunch for jerks? Discuss; Maureen …

Nats fans -Tag/tweet us your pics at @FamousDC / @Famous_DC! We’ll pick the best and give away an hour worth of a free open bar for you and a guest at our next Happy Hour. Make sure you’re on the list here Photo by Keith Allison 1. Tons of OUT OF …

Earlier this summer, longtime Districtonian, Beutler Ink founder and consulting Wikipedia expert William Beutler organized 35 of the world’s top PR firms to write and sign a statement pledging to follow the online encyclopedia’s rules (it’s sometimes a problem). And just this month, Beutler announces that he’s joined with the Council of Public Relations Firms and Institute …

#THANKS We had an amazing night with you! A very special thanks to our generous sponsors, The New Republic, CampaignGrid and Photox who made the night possible; oh and check out your FamousDC HH photos, you beautiful people; #NATIONAL Where is Kim Jong Un?; we’re all shellshocked; it’s so sweet …

If you watch the news, or have even been in a lobby on K Street waiting for someone long enough, chances are you’ve seen Erin McPike on CNN. Or perhaps you thought it was Jennifer Aniston. Regardless if you’ve seen her or not on television, I can assure she’s as funny and charming as she is intelligent and fierce on the tube. But don’t fret; she undercooks shrimp and chows down on Chef Geoff burgers just like the rest of us. [end clip, cue music]…our own Brian Johnson has the story. Growing up in the Midwest, Ohio to be exact, and attending college at DC’s American University, Erin’s transplanted D.C. roots are like many of ours. While they started somewhere distant, they have taken hold in and truly embraced D.C. I asked Erin where, in her college days, she liked to and hang out, or grab a bite to eat. “Chef Geoff’s,” she immediately said with a smile, “because that’s where I worked for three years and met my good friend Nora O’Donnell.” I thought supermugs of beer and $5 cheeseburgers drew her to their Monday night happy hours, but actually, she said her favorite thing to order there is, “The cashew curry humus. But I am not sure if it’s on the menu anymore. Hopefully it comes and goes.” You heard it here Geoff, bring back the curry humus – the people have spoken.

Don’t fret; she undercooks shrimp and chows down on Chef Geoff burgers just like the rest of us.

We D.C. transplants all find ourselves longing for food that reminds us of home, and our backgrounds. Where does Erin turn when she is craving something from home? She thought for a minute and said, laughing, “Um, I think I would embarrass my parents if I answered that totally truthfully. But I loved going to Don Pablos, there was one around the corner from my house in Ohio. But, I do not try to capture Ohio here in DC, I can say. Well, other than I do love Skyline Chili.” Uh-oh, here comes the crazy chili rant, I think to myself.  She continues, “And I wish everyone would stop knocking it and just try it. And I love also the BBQ sauce from Montgomery Inn, which is world famous and all these Southern boys need to get off their high horses and try some Cincinnati BBQ sauce.” Double-punch! When I remind her that I am Southern, and ask if I should get off my vinegar-based high horse and try it, she responds, “Precisely.” I said I’d take her word for it. To date I have yet to obtain some, however, if said sauce was procured, yours truly would happily make Cincinnati BBQ sauce ribs (Carolina sauce on the side, of course). In an attempt to redeem herself, she continues, “And I’ll tell you one other thing, so Cincinnati is a pretty lard-tastic town. We’re famous for Montgomery Inn, Skyline, and then ice cream. Oprah talks about Graeter’s, but no, Aglamesis Brother’s is the best ice cream in the mid west.” She schools Oprah and coins my new favorite word, “lard-tastic,” all in one sentence.  Redemption granted.

I remind her that I am Southern and ask if I should get off my vinegar-based high horse. She responds, “Precisely.”

Erin is currently attempting to broaden her culinary repertoire. However she admits her strengths on camera well outweigh her expertise in the kitchen. Does she cook? “I try a little bit. I am just beginning to learn. I used to bake when I was in high school, you know, for comfort I guess, but I can barely cook. I try to use the slow cooker. I am really trying to learn, but I am not great.” She handles her kitchen escapes with great humor and patience. She said recently she cooked an amazing meal, and everything was perfect…except the shrimp. “I did a really good job making everything else, it was my first attempt and making dinner, and my boyfriend could not even eat the shrimp. So my mom sent me a baking sheet and a grate and said ‘better luck next time’.” Before you go sending her online gift certificates for The Palm, never fear, she isn’t going hungry. Her boyfriend grills, and is pretty good at it too. “He grills a lot,” she said. “He has a Big Green Egg [hey, so does Amos!] and a Webber and he just made a pork shoulder and he just made a brisket last week. He is really pretty damn good at it I guess!” I decline to mention the benefits of a proper vinegar sauce on pork in the smoker and we move on – because brisket is amazing and I want an invite. Aside from a variety of what sounds like amazing smoked meat options, her culinary preferences are really a bit of a mixed bag – much like DC. So when asked what her favorite type of food to eat is, she replies, “That’s a hard question for me to answer because I basically like everything at diff times. I love Italian food like lasagna, but I also like sausage, egg and cheese biscuits in the morning. And I really like Thai food. ThaiX-ing is one of my favorite places. I also really like Rice as well, over on 14th Street, plus it’s one of the original 14th Street restaurants. So, yeah, I think that’s where I would go first: Italian or Thai.” I think Italian-Thai fusion is the one genre that is not on 14th Street.

Cincinnati is a pretty lard-tastic town. We’re famous for Montgomery Inn, Skyline, and then ice cream. Oprah talks about Graeter’s, but no, Aglamesis Brother’s is the best ice cream in the mid west.

Erin loves the DC food scene and even has a great idea for an Americana-fusion inspired place. On her thoughts on the DC food scene, she said, “I think it’s exploded in the last 5 years. I do think they need to revitalize Dupont Circle and Georgetown because there is so much new on 14th Street now and so much on H Street now, and on 8th Street Southeast in Eastern Market now that I think anyone who is crabbing about that [DC not being as good a food city a New York] now is well in the past.” I agree about Dupont and Georgetown falling a bit behind some of the recent trends. She continued with a vision, “One thing that I would like to see is – and I think this is right place for me to say this publically – you have people in DC from all over America, and maybe this goes on 14th Street, but there should be some sort of restaurant that brings together all the local American cuisine. Like the famous green chilies from New Mexico and buffalo wings from Buffalo, New York. And, this may be my way of getting Cincinnati chili somewhere, but you have staffers on the Hill from every state in the country. So I think we should have something that brings together all parts of America; and DC is the only place you could have it.” Erin could really have something here. Think about it, a different region of the country each week. You could literally go to the same place, once a week, for a month, and have something totally different. You’d never get tired of the menu, and with seasonal ingredients changing; the menu could stay remarkably interesting. “An American bistro is one thing, but they don’t drill down and get local stuff that I would like to see,” she added.

“If I’m going all out,” she said, “I want a cocktail that’s made with whipped eggwhites.”

Until her Americana mecca is conceived, she does have some favorites. “I live near Le Diplomate (however she recently sold her condo to our pal and former Feasting Famously interviewee, Jenna Golden), so I don’t need to give them anymore attention than they have already gotten in the past year. However I do know the best times to walk over and sit at the bar, so that’s good. I really like Hank’s Oyster Bar, the original one. I have not yet tried Rose’s Luxury, sadly. But I really am pretty partial to Chef Geoff’s, but I don’t get to eat there that much anymore. Talk about something that reminds you of home, I think Chef Geoff’s is just a great place like that. The food is good, Geoff is there a lot, it’s a friendly atmosphere, and so if I could only answer one thing it’d be that one.” If you think about it, Chef Geoff’s likely comes closest to the all-American transient place she spoke of creating earlier. They have a bit of everything, representing various cuisines or regions. Maybe Geoff Tracy should look into this regional mega restaurant concept. When hungry, she’s grabbing her dream burger with jalepenos, gouda, bacon, and chipotle mayo (no veggies on this burger for her)! After a bad day, she’s heading for a craft cocktail bar like The Gibson and whipping it up. “If I’m going all out,” she said, “I want a cocktail that’s made with whipped eggwhites.” Good day or bad, everyone likes to play with their food. We’re laughing and I ask if Erin was to get into a food fight with anyone, who would it be. “It would be Matt Dornic from CNN,” she said, laughing, “because it would be the most raucous food fight I could possibly imagine. And I’d want to throw spaghetti covered in tomato cream sauce,” she said – still laughing. She added, “You know, because it sticks!” We ended our interview with what came easily to a seasoned anchorwoman like Erin – the Feasting Famously Fast Five rapid-fire questions. I tossed out five words and she responded with the first thing that came to her mind: Chef Geoffs – Favorite Restaurant Champagne – favorite drink Ohio State – gross K Street – good times MSNBC – uuummmmmmm……just leave it at that If you don’t catch her on CNN, you just may see her waiting in the ever-growing line at Rose’s Luxury soon. As for presents and flowers from fans…I think a few cans of Skyline Chili may be better received. Stay hungry Erin, and keep up the great work!

Photographer Navin Sarma submitted this photo of gorgeous evening light on the Capitol, saying almost in a whisper (if emails could communicate whispers), “Fall is coming.”