Laura Schwartz is a licensed Realtor in VA, D.C. and MD with McEnearney Associates in McLean. Reach the office at 703-790-9090.
Welcome back Nats fans!
Baseball season is back in session. My husband and I took our kids to Opening Day at Nationals Park last week and I always love the excitement of going to a game, especially on a nice day. The kids are excited, there’s fun music, good food and the hope for a winning season.
We make it to a lot of games throughout the season. Here are my favorite tips and tricks (with or without kids).
Tips For A Kid-Friendly Trip
Drive. The metro trip from Vienna is long and waiting for the train at the end of the game when it’s packed, the kids are tired and coming off their ballgame sugar high is no fun. Buy parking ahead of time. Check pricing between Spothero and ParkWhiz.
Get there early to get food. The lines get long once the game starts. Check the full list of concessions here to scout food. You can buy bottled water outside for $1 and bring it in with you as long as it’s unopened (1 per person). They also do allow outside food as long it’s served in single serving bags or factory-sealed containers can be brought in.
The Nats offer a $5 discount on tickets for Military, Seniors, Government Employees, and students under 18 with valid ID at the box office on the day of the game.
The Presidents race in the middle of the 4th inning. It’s one of the highlights for kids, so make sure you don’t miss it! As soon as the race is over, head over to section 131 where the President’s line up for a photo opportunity with fans during the 5th inning.
If you have kids who need to get some energy out, there’s a PenFed Kids Zone for kids under 10 on the 100 level of right field. Slides, climbing structure, place to run etc. One tip though: it’s all plastic, so on hot days when the slides are too hot, they close it to the public.
On Sundays, the kids can run the bases after the game, ages 4-12. From the Nats site:
Kids will start their run at first base and they will be directed around the bases to home plate. Sliding into bases is prohibited. An adult must accompany each participating child to the field – adults will drop children off at first base and meet them near home plate. Please note that adults may not accompany children as they run the bases. One adult will be permitted onto the field per child participating in Kids Run the Bases. The line for Kids Run the Bases forms outside the ballpark on the First Street sidewalk – participants should exit the ballpark through the right field gate and proceed to the line. The run will begin approximately 20 minutes after the conclusion of the game and the event usually lasts about an hour. Jr. Nationals Kids Club members age 12 and under receive access to an exclusive line that goes onto the field first.
Parents start lining up early because the Kids Club (see below) get in first and way worth it.
For $20, you can join the Nationals JR Kids Club. We did this for my son and it was totally worth it. They get coupons for free food at the ballpark, a Harris Teeter coupon, free birthday message on the screen during the game and other freebies.
Keep your eye out for special kid-friendly days at the park, like Bobble Head giveaways, kids watch giveaways, etc.
If you are bringing a diaper bag, make sure you read the new bag policy. You can bring a diaper bag but it must be smaller than 16″x16″x8″. There’s a nursing lounge for mother’s to feed babies, pump, change diapers or cool off with the air conditioning. You’ll find that space adjacent to section 223.
Kids under 2 are FREE
Adult Only Tips
Ignore steps 4-11 above. Grab a beer/cocktail in the right field bar and have a great time!
Go Nats!
This is a sponsored column by attorneys John Berry and Kimberly Berry of Berry & Berry, PLLC, an employment and labor law firm located in Northern Virginia that specializes in federal employee, security clearance, retirement and private sector employee matters.
By John V. Berry, Esq. and Melissa L. Watkins, Esq.
Federal employees, whether part-time or full-time, with a qualifying disability are entitled to reasonable accommodations.
Reasonable accommodations are changes in the work environment or in the way things are done in the workplace to assist disabled individuals in participating fully in the employment environment. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has a nice article on the subject here.
Examples of potential reasonable accommodations:
- Making existing facilities accessible
- Job restructuring
- Part-time or modified work schedules
- Use of leave
- Acquiring or modifying equipment
- Changing tests, training materials or policies
- Providing qualified readers or interpreters
- Reassignment to a vacant position
- Accommodations to access benefits and privileges of employment. Examples of benefits and privileges of employment include training, services, credit unions, cafeterias, lounges, gymnasiums, auditoriums, transportation and parties or other social functions.
A federal agency does not have to eliminate a fundamental duty of the position or lower production standards in the reasonable accommodation process, but the agency may have to provide an accommodation to enable a disabled employee to satisfy the duty or meet the standard if it is reasonable.
Reasonable accommodations must not be unduly burdensome (feasible or plausible), effective in meeting the needs of the disabled individual and they cannot cause undue hardship (significant difficulty or expense) for the agency.
Agencies are not required to provide the exact accommodation that is requested but the accommodation provided must be effective in meeting the needs of the federal employee.
Example of Reasonable Accommodation — A federal employee has an eye disability that makes it difficult for the employee to read small font on a standard computer. The employee requests a computer software tool that magnifies font sizes to make documents easier to read.
This accommodation is reasonable because it is a common-sense solution to remove a workplace barrier when the job can be effectively performed with a larger font size. This accommodation is effective because it addresses the employee’s eyesight disability and enables him/her to perform the job duties. The accommodation does not cause undue hardship because the software is easy to obtain and the cost is minimal to the agency.
Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation
In order to obtain a reasonable accommodation a disabled employee must inform the agency that an accommodation is needed. The request for an accommodation can be made at any time during employment. The process for requesting a reasonable accommodation is very informal and usually occurs through conversations between the employee and the agency.
The request does not have to be in writing, but it is recommended that something in writing be provided for the purposes of record keeping. Agencies may also have a designated form that is provided to federal employees making a reasonable accommodation request. An agency may not cause unnecessary delay in responding to a request for accommodation.
An agency’s failure to participate in a dialogue (otherwise known as the “interactive process”) about accommodation after a request is made or the causing of undue delay could result in liability for failure to provide a reasonable accommodation.
Generally, a federal employee requesting a reasonable accommodation is not required to submit medical evidence. However, in certain instances, an agency may require reasonable documentation to verify the disability and the type of accommodation that is necessary.
The agency is not allowed to require any more documentation than what is necessary to establish a disability and that the disability necessitates a reasonable accommodation. Agencies may not demand documentation when the disability and the need for reasonable accommodation are obvious.
It is very important for federal employees in need of a reasonable accommodation that they seek the advice of an attorney regarding their request in order to ensure compliance with agency-specific procedures.
Legal representation can also be beneficial in addressing reasonable accommodations as they relate to adverse employment actions or termination.
Our law firm represents federal employees seeking reasonable accommodations and in other federal retirement matters.
Conclusion
If you are in need of federal employee retirement law representation, please contact our office at 703-668-0070 or through our contact page to schedule a consultation. Please also visit and like us on Facebook or Twitter.
Joining the latest and greatest at Ballston Quarter, 5 Wits officially opened for business earlier last month, bringing its unique style of interactive entertainment to the Arlington area.
Located in a 15,000 square foot facility within the mall, 5 Wits creates deeply immersive, theme park-style adventure experiences. Guests travel through real, physical environments, interacting with their surroundings through challenges, puzzles and elaborate special effects.
Each adventure tells its own story, with its guests’ performance deciding the outcome: the ending actually changes depending on how well its participants perform.
While the technology that runs this massive $2 million venue is cutting edge, the company behind it isn’t exactly new — in fact, 5 Wits is celebrating its 15th year in business. Its arrival in Ballston Quarter signals a shift toward entertainment-based offerings that set the redeveloped center apart as a destination.
“5 Wits is excited to bring our adventures to the Arlington area in such a unique and dynamic project. Ballston Quarter is curating an experience that the community is going to love,” says Frank Cerio, the company’s COO.
As Nothern Virginia’s newest dining, shopping and entertainment destination, the revitalized Ballston Quarter’s focus on experiential entertainment retailers continues well beyond 5 Wits. Offerings like play space Nook, entertainment complex Punch Social Bowl and Onelife Fitness compliment new expansive gathering spaces and fresh retail and culinary brands.
Community members and visitors are invited to experience the new heart of Ballston with continued openings, spring and summer holiday celebrations and seasonal programming that make Ballston Quarter a year-round community experience.
Welcome to Luxury For Less, a weekly column highlighting the best deals in luxury real estate. Written by Brandy Schantz of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, Luxury For Less offers tips and tricks navigating the competitive real estate market and securing the home of your dreams. To learn more, visit ttrsir.com.
One of the most common requests I get from clients is to help them build a custom home.
Building a custom home has many advantages. The first advantage is choosing your own location. Buying a lot for a tear down means you can choose the neighborhood, size of lot and lot configuration. The next advantage is building exactly what you want.
When you buy a spec home (a home built by a builder with no specific buyer in mind- speculation), you may get something you really like but might have chosen different finishes than the builder or added rooms that worked better for your family. When you build custom, you can get the home gym or even cigar room (I’ve seen that built!) that you’ve always wanted.
Building a custom home is very rewarding but it can be time consuming. Finding the right lot, tearing down the existing home and building new can take up a lot of time in your already busy schedule. There are many choices to be made and depending on your situation, you are carrying expenses for two households until the home is completed.
Unless you plan on paying cash, custom home building also requires a construction loan. A construction loan is a short-term loan used to build. The lender pays the money out in stages or draws. This loan has a higher interest rate than a typical conventional loan due to risk and is usually refinanced at the end of the build.
Living in the D.C. metro region means there are always plenty of spec homes being built. There are advantages to buying a spec home also. If you don’t want to worry about making any choices at all or waiting to move into your new home, you can find a home that has already been built.
If you want to make some choices for your new home but don’t want the hassle of finding a lot, interviewing builders and carrying the costs of building new construction, finding a spec home already under construction is a great option.
In this case, you can choose finishes and even change certain features of the home but can use your conventional loan to purchase upon completion. Both options are great and either way, you will live in a beautiful home.
Check out this spec home currently being built in Vienna Woods and a home customized by a client from this builder just 2 years ago. It’s amazing what you can do with a little customization!
For more information on building a custom home or finding a spec home to put your special touch on, contact me at 571.263.0206.
Check out all of this week’s Luxury for Less listings here:
- 1655 Strine Drive McLean (Reduced $20,000)
- 1130 Daleview Drive McLean (Reduced $100,000)
- 2616 West Street Falls Church (Reduced $60,000)
- 10420 Van Patten Lane Great Falls (Reduced $50,000)
- 1781 Chain Bridge Road #205 McLean (Reduced $25,050)
- 9709 Brookstone Lane Vienna (Reduced $54,900)
The properties listed are a small selection of properties available in the Tyson’s Corner area. For a full list of properties listed on MLS and private exclusives, please contact Brandy Schantz.
This regularly-scheduled sponsored Q&A column is written by Val Sotillo, Northern Virginia-based Realtor and Falls Church resident. Please submit your questions to her via email for response in future columns. Enjoy!
Question: We are new homeowners and we’re trying to breathe new life into our outdated poorly-functioning kitchen. Do you have any tips for us?
Answer: The kitchen is my favorite room in the house, and not just because that’s where the food is! I believe the kitchen is the heart of the home and I think that’s a great place to start with your home updates.
I spoke with Caroline Goree, a Project Leader with BOWA, a local design build firm that specializes in luxury renovations from kitchens to whole-home remodels. Here are the answers to the most frequently asked questions about kitchen renovation projects:
How Much Does It Cost To Renovate My Kitchen?
There are many different factors that go into the cost of a kitchen renovation. The size of the space, level of finish, design details, appliance package, remodeling partner and trades needed (plumber, electrical, engineer, etc.) all impact what you will spend on your project.
Thinking about what you should invest in your kitchen remodel is about understanding your needs, scope of work and what is the appropriate level of finish for your home. If you want to avoid “budget creep” throughout the project, I recommend finding a partner that spends the time planning up front rather than making decisions as the project is being built.
Laura Schwartz is a licensed Realtor in VA, D.C. and MD with McEnearney Associates in McLean. Reach the office at 703-790-9090.
There are so many good restaurants in and around Tysons, but not all of them are known for their obnoxious birthday celebrations, especially for kids.
Where can you take your family to celebrate a birthday where they’ll totally embarrass you, your kids, but give everyone a good laugh? Here’s a list of places to go if you’re celebrating a big day!
Most are chains, so if you know of a hidden gem that should be mentioned, please mention it in the comments below.
Sakura: Hibachi — Always fun!
Maggiano’s — Candle in any dessert you order.
Chuy’s — They give you a huge sombrero and sing, along with ice cream.
Uncle Julio’s — Chocolate Pinata!
Guapo’s — The waiters sing loudly with instruments and give the kids a large sombrero.
Editor’s Note: This biweekly column is sponsored by Dominion Wine and Beer (107 Rowell Court, Falls Church). This week’s Guide is written by Arash Tafakor of Dominion Wine and Beer.
Making beer is no different than cooking food.
Cooking and brewing are no different than a chemistry experiment. Heating, freezing, mixing and blending are all processes used in the kitchen, brewery and the laboratory. So, what happens when two MIT graduates in environmental engineering come together to open up a brewery? An equilibrium of course.
When Ricardo Petroni and Peter Oates decided to open up Equilibrium in 2016 they set out to make better beer than the rest based on “scientific principles focused on balancing drinkability and massive flavor.”
“It’s about achieving equilibrium in each beer,” said Oates.
Did I mention these guys got their PhDs at MIT? Peter Oates literally started home brewing by building his own automated brewing system… making six batches of beer a day… just for fun.
Peter who claims brewing beer is seven eighths science, one eighths art, is part of a new breed of brewers (Sapwood Cellars) that are literally laboratory scientist studying “distributions of thousands of compounds and which one does what and how it effects your sensory profile.”
Sounds good to me.
Since opening, Equilibrium has quickly amassed a huge following in the craft beer community and quite frankly, Equilibrium Brewery is one of the best and most exciting breweries in the game right now.
Currently holding one of the highest overall average ratings on Untappd, world-wide. A widely respected brewery within the industry, with a reputation for producing highly sought after world-class hazy IPA’s, fruited wild ales/sours, stouts and more.
With that said, we couldn’t be more excited to share their work with the DMV this Saturday, March 23 at our sister store Downtown Crown Wine and Beer in Gaithersburg starting at 10 a.m. We will have seven of their canned beers for sale as well as three bottled and seven drafts on tap.
Cans available:
- ‘Photon’ American Pale Ale
- ‘Vulgar Dsiplay of Flower’ DIPA
- ‘MC²’ DIPA
- ‘Intermediate Dance Moves’ DIPA
- ‘Fluctuation Wave’ DIPA
- ‘One Time For Your Mind’ DIPA — Finback Brewery Collab
- ‘Dreamwave Fluctuation’ DIPA — Other Half Brewery Collab
More details can be found here on our Facebook page Downtown Crown Wine and Beer.
Welcome to Luxury For Less, a weekly column highlighting the best deals in luxury real estate. Written by Brandy Schantz of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, Luxury For Less offers tips and tricks navigating the competitive real estate market and securing the home of your dreams. To learn more, visit ttrsir.com.
Urban Turf, a local D.C. real estate blog, wrote an article in December of 2015 declaring that $2 Million is the new $1 Million in D.C.
They wrote this article based on a blog post by District Measured that asserted $1 million should not be used as a threshold for the luxury market because it is now too commonplace. The Tysons Corner area is certainly not Washington, D.C. but the real estate market is quickly becoming just as expensive, maybe just with some extra space.
It’s difficult to define luxury because it is so subjective. When I moved out of my college dorm room into an apartment, that two-bedroom apartment with its own kitchen and my own bathroom was luxury as far as I was concerned. As I’ve aged, I now look at luxury with a different lens; high-end professional appliances, great location, my own gym in the house and separate closets and bathrooms for me and my husband.
I have worked with clients whose idea of luxury is no less than an unobstructed view of the Potomac and every luxury imaginable including a wine cellar, elevator in the home, a kitchen for the family and another one for the caterer, and private space for each member of the family and guests.
District Measured’s Steve Giachetti justified the new threshold with the fact that in 2015, over 18 percent of all single-family home sales in the District were over $1 million compared to 3 percent in 2001. In that same year, only four percent of homes in the District were over $2 million, making it a more “luxurious” price point.
In the Tysons Corner area, which I’m defining as Falls Church, McLean, Vienna and Great Falls, there are currently 557 detached homes on the market. Detached homes are most often considered the standard for suburban living so I’m using this type of home for the purposes of looking at luxury in our area. The lowest priced detached home currently on the market is priced at $437,000 in Falls Church. The highest priced detached home currently on the market is priced at $24 million in McLean. The chart below shows the breakdown of detached homes currently on the market in the area.
Over half of all detached homes currently on the market are listed for between $1 million and $2 million. Since only 30% of detached homes on the market are under $1 million while almost a quarter are over $2 million, it may even be said that luxury in the Tysons Corner, that $3 million is the new $1 million.
Don’t worry, there are still deals to be found and there are still some pretty great homes on the market well under $2 million. This week I’m featuring a home that I also featured last week with an amazing backyard. 8518 Wedderburn Station is now below $2 million and still just as breathtaking.
Check out all of this week’s Luxury for Less listings:
- 8518 Wedderburn Station Drive Vienna (Reduced $187,000)
- 1412 Wynhurst Lane Vienna (Reduced $15,000)
- 6928 Butternut Court McLean (Reduced $76,000)
- 316 Riverbend Road Great Falls (Reduced $10,000)
- 9890 Windy Hollow Road Great Falls (Reduced $50,000)
The properties listed are a small selection of properties available in the Tyson’s Corner area. For a full list of properties listed on MLS and private exclusives, please contact Brandy Schantz.
Virginia Tech’s Evening MBA program moved up three places to No. 14 in U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 rankings of the best part-time MBA programs.
The Northern Virginia-based program now ranks as the top public university part-time MBA in the Washington, D.C. metro area. The report assessed more than 300 part-time MBA programs across the country on factors such as student quality, peer reputation and the ratio of part-time to full-time students.
“This marks the fifth consecutive year that the Evening MBA has featured in the top 20 programs nationwide,” said Dana K. Hansson, director of MBA programs. “We believe the faculty expertise and high level of flexibility we offer are key factors in continuing to attract high quality students to our program.”
The Evening MBA is one of three MBA programs offered by the Pamplin College of Business. With many shared courses and faculty, the Executive and Professional MBA program options offer a similar academic experience to the Evening program, but with alternate formats and locations to better serve a range of students.
“What we did at Virginia Tech a few years ago was to say that we really want to focus on the working professional — someone who wants to enhance their career or make a change in the direction of their career, but not at the expense of continuing to be a business professional,” says Pamplin Dean Robert Sumichrast. That allows those students to come into the classroom, he adds, “and use what they’ve learned as part of the experience of the MBA program.”
This commitment to serving part-time students contributed to Virginia Tech’s highest ever overall score in the ranking. Another contributing factor was a strong appraisal by other programs.
“We’re particularly proud of the peer assessment score given the high quality of other programs in the nation,” said Dr. Parviz Ghandforoush, associate dean for graduate programs at Pamplin. “In part, we believe the high rating is due to our commitment to offering cutting-edge courses in areas like innovation and entrepreneurship, machine learning/AI and cybersecurity that aren’t available to students in more traditional MBA programs.”
This is a sponsored column by attorneys John Berry and Kimberly Berry of Berry & Berry, PLLC, an employment and labor law firm located in Northern Virginia that specializes in federal employee, security clearance, retirement and private sector employee matters.
By John V. Berry, Esq.
If you hold or are seeking a security clearance, and you own or work in the ever-growing marijuana industry, you are likely to have difficulties obtaining or keeping a security clearance.
We have been counseling clients about this issue since at least 2010. This principle also applies to individuals that work part-time or are otherwise involved in marijuana-related businesses.
Owning stock or working for a marijuana enterprise is a reportable clearance activity when holding a security clearance and can lead to the loss of a security clearance or in one obtaining a clearance. The current marijuana policy comes from the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), by way of an October 2014 memorandum which explains current government policy.
Investments in marijuana-related companies can constitute involvement in illegal drug activities. This can be the case even where the individual does not directly choose their individual stocks and even in states where marijuana businesses are completely legal. The federal government’s current view is that an individual has a duty to know about their investments and to be knowledgeable about federal drug laws.
2014 Memorandum and Other Federal Directives
The 2014 memorandum led to Security Executive Agent Directive (SEAD) 4 in June of 2017 which provides the current basis for not granting or revoking a security clearance based on drug involvement, including investments in marijuana under Guideline H:
- Conditions that could raise a security concern and may be disqualifying include:
. . .
(c) illegal possession of a controlled substance, including cultivation, processing, manufacture, purchase, sale, or distribution; or possession of drug paraphernalia;
. . . .
Marijuana stocks have been touted as the new Amazon investment, according to a number of articles. However, the problem is that until the federal government changes federal drug laws or creates a caveat for marijuana businesses, individuals that invest or otherwise become involved in marijuana investments can put their security clearance (and career) at risk.
We have seen a lot of confusion on this issue since at least 2012 when a number of states started legalizing the use of marijuana. We have represented many clearance holders who have traveled to Colorado or elsewhere, where marijuana is legal, to simply try it. In some of these cases, the experimentation has cost the individual their security clearance.
It is advisable that individuals seeking to hold or obtain a security clearance refrain from investing in marijuana stocks until federal law changes. Eventually, we believe that the federal government will change their position on this issue, but for the moment investing in companies or stocks that are involved in the dispensing of marijuana can cause one to lose a security clearance.
Conclusion
If you are in need of security clearance representation, please contact our office at 703-668-0070 or through our contact page to schedule a consultation. Please also visit and like us on Facebook or Twitter.
