One of my favorite parts about living in Washington D.C. was participating in Stonewall sports — billiards, darts and flip cup.
I often felt ridiculous rushing out of the office to pre-scheduled recreational sports, but it was a great way to meet new people. D.C. is also unique because there are so many young professionals interested in networking.
The D.C. Eagle’s naming rights are for sale, but is the price worth it?
After the failure of the D.C Eagle, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia hired an auctioneer to sell the naming rights to the business.
As of today, the bidding price topped $4,000 for the “tradename, logo, domain name, website, Facebook page and other social media access.”
The final Nellie’s Drag Brunch diva of the day is, of course, Chanel Devereaux!
Chanel is the longtime host and HBIC of Nellie’s Sports Bar drag brunch. She is a powerful performer, popular costume designer, viral TikTok star, and a much-loved icon of the D.C. drag community.
Chanel’s impact extends far beyond Nellie’s — her brunch is a platform that helps support many local LGBTQ artists who go on to inspire and support others. Chanel’s investment in her community has a positive rippling effect that cannot be measured in ticket sales or a day’s tips (although those are plentiful!) Chanel’s work is one of the reasons why D.C. remains a top city for drag performers in the U.S.
Today’s featured Nellie’s Drag Brunch diva of the day is Celestia Cox!
Celestia is a Richmond-based drag queen who performs all over Virginia and frequently in Washington DC. I always enjoy seeing Celestia perform because she brings big hair and show-stopper outfits when she makes the trek up to the District.
In addition to the bright outfits and feathers, Celestia adds interesting variety to Chanellie’s brunch with country numbers (probably because she feels like a woman! 🎶🎶)
You can keep up with Celestia’s bookings and charitable work on her website, Instagram and Facebook.
Here are photos from brunch!
Today’s featured Nellie’s Drag Brunch diva of the day is LaBella Mafia!
LaBella is one of the first performers that I met in Washington, DC and I have always looked forward to seeing her at different venues like Nellie’s. Her style is ever-evolving, and LaBella is never afraid to try a new music genre, costume style or dance routine.
LaBella has a fiercely loyal fan-base that won’t hesitate to take a 2-hour road-trip to Delaware to watch her perform. Labella Mafia also remains one most-booked queens in the city because she is well-respected by other performers and somehow avoids the drama that DC’s drag scene is known for.
Today’s featured Nellie’s Drag Brunch performer is Deja Diamond Jemaceye!
From music selection to outfits, Deja knows exactly what she’s doing. Deja is gorgeous and has the unique ability to give the essence of a celebrity impersonation while retaining her own unique style. I particularly love her Whitney Houston and Mary J Blige numbers.
Keep up with Deja’s bookings on Instagram and Facebook.
Here are photos from brunch!
Today’s featured Nellie’s Drag Brunch performer is Savannah Rae Kelly!
Savannah is one of Nellie’s dancing divas — known for splits and drops. She’s a very technical performer and always thinking about how to improve each number. Savannah is also one of the most interesting performers to watch because she constantly experiments with different costume styles and music genres. This keeps her shows fresh and exciting for the audience.
You can keep up with Savannah’s bookings on Instagram and Facebook.
Here are photos from brunch!
Today’s featured Nellie’s Drag Brunch performer is Holly Whatt!
Holly is the pink princess of Chanellie’s brunch. She’s known for well-made costumes, blonde wavy wigs, and lots of bright colors. Holly also does a tumble-move that is straight out of Tomb-Raider. Somehow she never seems to lose a wig or rhinestone during her Lara Croft tumbles, which is some sort of witchery.
You can keep with Holly’s bookings on Instagram and Facebook.
Here are photos from brunch!
Almost exactly three years after leaving Dallas to earn my Georgetown Tax LL.M. degree in Washington, D.C., I was headed back to Texas.
The pandemic triggered an exodus from the District among my social network. Despite the ubiquitous “diversity and inclusion” marketing among D.C. employers, LGBT and brown people are still the first ones to get fired when there’s economic uncertainty. Many of my friends working in politics, nonprofits, and the service industry got the chop pretty early. They abandoned their apartments and moved back to their hometowns at the beginning of the summer.
Then a larger group of people started trickling out of the District as months ticked by and leases came up for renewal. With fully-virtual office environments and most amenities shuttered, why pay a premium to live in the District?
Some buildings are still boarded up from the George Floyd protests, and I am not sure whether they are still actually worried about break-ins or just went out of business entirely. In the case of Hikari Sushi, I suspect that it’s the latter.
This is perhaps the most Washington D.C. PSA ever. I’ve seen several of these COVID-19 safety PSAs in the Adams Morgan neighborhood, and agree that wearing a mask for Ruth Bader Ginsburg is totally worth it.
There were also less-successful PSAs about some dude named Ryan.
Washington DC COVID warning.
Indiana Bones is today’s featured performer in my ongoing photo gallery series of Nellies Drag Brunch stars. Indiana is one of the newest performers in D.C.’s drag scene and has already secured bookings that other queens wait years to get.
Indiana’s obvious edge over many performers is her tiny stature and natural beauty. This is how Indiana Bones can perform Ariana Grande numbers without looking ridiculous.
One thing that must drive the other drag queens crazy is that in addition to being petite and beautiful, Indiana Bones is also one of the nicest people you can meet. You have to love her!
You can keep up with Indiana’s bookings on Instagram and Facebook.
Here are photos from brunch!
The Ivy City neighborhood is rapidly gentrifying, so it is not unusual to see brand new developments abutting shells of former buildings. But this pair of buildings on Capitol Avenue NE looks mighty familiar.
Surely it is not a coincidence that they match perfectly? Perhaps this is what progress looks like.
Gentrification in the Ivy City neighborhood of Washington, DC.
Gentrification in the Ivy City neighborhood of Washington, DC.
There are a lot of random facades being propped up in this manner around the neighborhood. I am not sure why they are worth keeping, but at least they are providing inspiration for new buildings?
Aside from a dramatic life-saving rescue, and bi-weekly fires, the view from my desk is mostly the mundane, slow construction going on across the street.
It took weeks for the construction workers to put up the giant sign for the Compass Coffee roastery. For an hour, it hilariously read “ASS COFFEE,” which my inner 13-year-old found hilarious.
Then, when the sign read “MPASS COFFEE,” an actual impasse happened and the construction workers started a full-on screaming fight in the middle of the street.
Continuing my photo gallery series on the stars of Nellie’s Drag Brunch, today’s featured performer is Synchottia Diamond Blue.
The strong main cast of Chanellie’s Drag Brunch is why it remains one of D.C.’s most popular shows (and why there is little turnover). However, there are always rotating Washington D.C. performers on cast that I want to see more of. Synchottia Diamond Blue is one of those special performers.
I am always glad to see Synchottia at brunch because she delivers classic, put-together drag and always knows her angles for photos (and more importantly, the words to the songs). You can find Synchottia on Instagram and Facebook.
I hope to see more of Synchottia at Nellies and at other bookings around town.
Here are photos from brunch!
For today’s photo gallery of Nellie’s Drag Brunch superstars, the featured queen is Angelle Zhané!
There are many dancing divas at Chanellie’s brunch — some grind with audience members, others swing from the ceiling, but Angelle Zhané will hit the kicks and splits until her costume falls off — and no one cares because everyone’s too busy screaming!
Nellie’s is not a huge space, but Angelle can somehow do vertical slides and death drops in the narrowest of spaces — Marie Kondo stunts! Angelle Zhané also perfectly mixes the stunts crowd interactions, so she can collect her tips while keeping everyone entertained. Getting the mix right is truly an art.
Here are photos from brunch!
It’s been a very rainy summer in Washington D.C., and sometimes we get caught in the showers.
At least in D.C., the fashion trend for the past few years has been very short shorts.
The problem is that with my “pandemic 15,” the short-shorts tend to make me look like a fat baby. However, now every time I try to wear what used to be normal-length shorts, I feel like I’m dressing like the lead singer of a late-90s rock band.
I may be old, but these biscuits are not definitely limp, so, fat baby look it is. 👶
This week, I am posting photos of the amazing performers at Nellie’s Drag Brunch. Today’s featured performer is Alexa Shontelle, who is known for high-energy performances, taking her drag show onto the streets in front of the bar, and literally hanging from the ceiling during numbers.
I spotted another mural by Lisa Marie while walking in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington D.C.