Astorian Weekend Edition 20.12.07

Well, this is your last weekend to shop before the big day! A number of local Astoria places are having sales, too. Candy Plum (30-98 36th St) has a special on earrings - with every purchase of $50, receive a free pair of selected earrings! They also have gift certificates. The Museum of the Moving Image (36-01 35th Ave) is holding a store-wide sale with discounts of 10% (and 25% for Museum members) - they've got collectibles, books and DVDs (that Bladerunner DVD looks particularly good!). And Vine Wine (12-09 Jackson Avenue) in LIC is offering a 15% discount on cases (their Wednesday night tastings are pretty great, too).

For wellness related gifts, head over to the SPAce website (29-09 Ditmars) and order a gift card online! I hear very good things about the massages there, and their haircuts are extremely reasonable and well done. The Yoga Room (32-32 Steinway) is offering a number of discounts through December 31, too, for you and a friend.

For good eats, stop by Mundo (31-18 Broadway), which also has a new art exhibit up. They've got some new menu items, and the same wonderful ambiance. And gift cards! Il Bambino (34-08 31st Ave) just celebrated their one year anniversary in town - I was there last night and the food was delicious, as usual. They've been making soup lately, and the butternut squash soup I had was phenomenal. I've heard lots of good things about their other soups as well (I believe they change daily). Finally on the eating front: fantastic meatballs. The newly opened Philoxenia (32-07 34th Ave) makes excellent, almost tubular shaped meatballs (in a Greek style) which are very good, and Cassino in LIC (47-18 Vernon Blvd) makes some of the best Italian meatballs I think I've ever had. Really nice people run it, too.

This weekend also marks the Winter Solstice. This marks the shortest day and longest night of the year, and that just means more sunshine will come our way each day, bit by bit. Happy Eid, too!