• The holidays are upon us, and this week-long sprint from holiday party to holiday party likely has us all feeling a little ragged. Need a fun mini break? Here, take this Washington Post quiz to find out which holiday cookie you are!
• Or perhaps the thought of baking cookies is too much to bear? You’re not alone. DC-based New York Times congressional reporter, Jennifer Steinhauer, posted a rant on folks bringing store-bought cookies to bake sales.
• Cookie spats aside, perhaps the biggest news to come out this week is that Mario Batali’s Eataly will indeed be coming to DC. After some real estate-related drama, Michael R. Zacharia, SVP of retail services for CBRE, who is leading the real estate search for Eataly in Washington, reportedly said to Washington Post’s Capital Business Blog, “I’ve never seen developers clamor for anything like Eataly.” Eater DC published a list of the few spaces in DC that are large enough to house Batali’s massive temple for Italian food.
• Something to look forward to in the New Year: District Taco, a favorite Virginia food truck, announced via Twitter last week that they’ll be opening a brick and mortar somewhere near Metro Center.
• In related happy 2012 news: Barry Koslow, of Mendocino Grille and Tallula fame, has applied for a liquor license to open a Jewish deli in Dupont Circle. Koslow will reportedly smoke all his meats in-house. Enough to make transplanted New Yorkers chomp at the bit for this deli to open.
• Winter Restaurant Week has finally been announced: January 9-15^th will bring the young, the restless and the curious out for a bite of DC. Let’s not forget that Restaurant Week is a busy time — be kind to your hosts, servers and chefs!
• All this talk about New Year’s Eve has me slightly stressed about making plans. What do you guys plan to do this year? CityEats gives you a few ideas in their Ultimate New Year’s Guide.

If you have any more ideas about how to ring in 2012, hit Alejandra up on Twitter.