Hey everyone! This week’s extended BEST WEEKEND BETS are, as always, hand selected from BYT ALL CITY and carefully calibrated for maximum fun and minimum stress, and will be punctuated with inspirational images of the OTHER seminal murder and revenge in high-school movie: JAWBREAKER. Pucker up:

A COUPLE OF PSAs before we start:

• OUR WINTER GUIDES have been popping up all week. Enjoy: FILM + LOCALLY GROWN GIFTS + MUSIC + THEATRE + FOOD+ STYLE COMING SOON.
  
• BYT UPCOMING EVENTS ARE:
• OUR NYE PARTY is coming up!!!!!!!!! DETAILS  + TICKETS HERE! WE HAVE JD SAMSON (from MEN & LE TIGRE) & ANIMAL COLLECTIVE DJing and more! Tickets are $70 now, but will start going up by $5 every Friday from now till NYE-so GET THEM NOW!
  
• Read up on food here, our amazing movie reviews are here, STYLE Licks can be found here, and as always, GAY Best Weekend Bets are coming right up.

THURSDAY

• This is the last weekend before Christmas hits so, plan wisely:
• if you want to go all out: Windian Records is hosting their XMAS party @ Pharmacy Bar. Warn your liver.
• Keeping things a little classier? There is Nutcracker shows happening all over town, but check out a different play on the classic with the Nutcracker Confidential @ Dance Exhange
• then: DEVO are @ State Theatre!
• Lyle Lovett is @ Rams Head
• and LIFE kicks of their two-nighter Visionquest take over of U Street Music Hall with a set by Seth Troxler
• plus, with the weather finally cold, load up on ramen with So Pho So Good official after hours party @ Instant ramen
• + other stuff

FRIDAY

• after work, head to Millenium Stage and have yourself a free US Royalty concert. Thank you Kennedy Center!
• then, kick the night off with some great theatre: our Winter Theatre guide can be of help there, naturally-Billy Eliott just opened, You, Nero is hilarious, BUST is about to close and Second City returns to Woolly Mammoth.
• the big party tonight is Benoit & Sergio @ U Street Music Hall (check out our interview with them here)
• and also plucked straight from the WINTER MUSIC GUIDE is the EMPRESARIOS show @ Rock’n'Roll Hotel
• Then, full on nostalgia: relive your teen ska memories with The Pietasters @ 930 CLUB
• relive your 80s memories (even if you didn’t really have any to relive) with 80s Mayhem @ Black Cat
• and for those into something a little less wholesome, the New York Grind Peep Show stops by @ Red Palace
• + other stuff

SATURDAY

• Did we mention that this is the last weekend before Christmas? Well, last weekend we jetted around town and you have our promise that you can hit all the shops in our BYT NEIGHBORHOOD GIFT GUIDE in one day. You’re welcome. Now, what are you waiting for?
• maybe take a mini break and see Santa’s running amok the National Mall since it is SANTARCHY time again
• alternative daytime activities: catch a movie adaptation of SWAN LAKE @ National Gallery of Art (free!) or make a reservation to hang out at one of the future supper clubs @ Seasonal Pantry (delicious!)
• shows: Penguin Prison is in town . and local favorites Exit Clov are playing Black Cat
• then, pick your cross-cultural dance party to attend: there is a Carnival Fiesta @ St. Stephen’s Church, a Dubmarine & See-I show @ State Theatre, and there is a Balkan Dance Party going on @ Zeba.
• For, good old fashioned American raging though, we’d like to point you in the direction of FATBACK and/or BLISS and/or Right Round
• or just cozy up tom someone you like and watch “It’s a wonderful life” @ Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse.
• + other stuff

SUNDAY

• eat some brunch (if you would like for that brunch to be fancy- The Art Soiree has you sorted with their “le marche de noel“, a French-themed holiday market and food orgy. The event will feature a brunch buffet, Chef’s tables (with over 10 amazing chefs participating), wine, mimosas, an art exhibit, silent auction, and live musical performances…
• then, hang out mid-day @ Luce Unplugged series with John Davis of TITLE TRACKS
• catch up on your reading, go see one of the kick-ass movies opening this weekend (everything from Young Adult to Dangerous Method to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy to Sherlock Holmes 2 will be reviewed on these pages tomorrow)
• check out the new HAMILTON bar/restaurant which opens today (click here for our first look photos, which are gorgeous)
• and then-do something nice for yourself and the kids by going to The 5th annual Kicks For Kids Charity Shoe Drive & Concert featuring Meek Mill & Friends @ 930 club. Tickets are available the door. Last year they raised over 400 shoes, this year they’re looking to beat that number and you can help.
• + other stuff

REMEMBER: THERE ARE A BAJILLION OTHER THINGS TO DO LISTED IN BYT ALL CITY, so use it (to both post your events and search for them) and if you think we may have missed something, comment away–you know you want to.

and a parting note: