Holiday

Power has been restored to Annapolis homes and businesses and other nearby parts of Anne Arundel County after Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. reported a disruption to two main lines servicing the area Thursday night. Off-duty city police officers were called in to help direct traffic at blackened intersections throughout the city, and county officers had to assist in getting people out of the Annapolis Mall, said Lt. Glenn Shanahan, a county police spokesman. Anne Arundel Medical Center ran on generators, awaiting word as to when the power would return, a spokeswoman said.

For years, Jeff Mikula collected United Way donations from his fellow steelworkers at Sparrows Point. On Thursday, he - and 500 former co-workers from the now-closed plant - stood in line to receive them. The Dundalk man, who worked as an ironman for nearly 39 years at the mill, said accepting boxes stuffed by volunteers with chicken roasters and fixings for Christmas dinner was hard for the steelworkers, who were once among the charity's most generous donors in Maryland. "You see the need; you see what people are going through, the heartache," said Mikula, 57. "Steelworkers are proud people.

Prince George's Little Theatre opens its 53rd season with "The Hallelujah Girls," giving area audiences their first opportunity to enjoy this show that celebrates all holidays — from Christmas to the Chinese New Year and ending happily on the Fourth of July. Each scene of this comedy at Bowie Playhouse is set on the eve of a holiday that is observed by frequently outrageous characters — including a quartet of well-ripened Georgia peaches who support one another as they strive for success in love and business.

For many Baltimoreans, it's not the holiday season until the lighting of the Washington Monument or a stroll down Hampden's 34th Street. But for fans of chaotic, sweaty, dance-fueled scenes, it's not Christmastime until the Baltimore Bass Connection's Xmas Party. Now in its ninth year, the annual concert is organized by creators Naeem Juwan, the 31-year-old rapper and Baltimore native better known as Spank Rock, and Emily "Rabbit" Wilkes McDonough, his 34-year-old road manager, who lives in Charles Village.

Yes, two bar blogs in two days. It's Christmastime, I'm feeling the holiday spirit (or holiday spirits, as it were). I wrote a piece last week talking to a scout who briefly broke down the Orioles and the AL East for me. At the time, R.A. Dickey was still a New York Met, and the scout still predicted that the Toronto Blue Jays would leapfrog the Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays and finish second in the AL East, just behind the New York Yankees....

Leather couch needs a face-lift before the holidays I am expecting lots of company this holiday season, and my leather couch isn't up to the task. Short of buying all new, do you have any tips on how I can hide or repair the damage? Should I just throw a sheet over it? The people at Fibrenew, which specializes in the repair and restoration of leather, offer this advice: Don't use any products that contain alcohol or acetone. Alcohol seeps into and damages the protective surface of furniture leather.

I hope your holiday gift-giving included some books, and if you're still looking, here are the best coffee-table books I've seen in the past month of so. These are the sort of photo- and graphic-rich editions that look great in a living room -- and that overwhelm Kindles or other e-readers. Some favorites: -- "History's Greatest Images" by TIME, is billed as a compilation of "the World's 100 Most Influential Photographs. " The classics are all there: the flag-raising at Iwo Jima, Babe Ruth, JFK, school desegregation, the World Trade Center.

Sullivan's is throwing a "Naughty and Nice Party'" holiday event on Friday night, and it has all the makings of a Jack Lemmon movie. The Jon Birkholz Band will play festive holiday music in the "Naughty Lounge," and two custom cocktails -- the Naughty "Other Mrs. Claus and the Nice "Santa's Little Helper" -- have been created just for the party. Drinks and appetizers will be available for $6 each, and guests can contribute an unwrapped toy or nonperishable food item to a charitiable donation drive.

More Marylanders will take holiday trips this year, and most will drive — even though gas prices are the highest they have ever been entering the holiday season, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic. "Gas prices do not appear to be deterring motorists from hitting the roadways," said Ragina Averella, a spokeswoman for AAA, which released its annual holiday travel predictions Tuesday. Many of the state's nearly 2 million travelers are going without the kids, and without family visits at the top of holiday to-do lists — breaking with traditional patterns in Maryland.

When Southern Living magazine asked Baltimore botanical artist Meg Page to create dinnerware that can bridge the fall and winter entertaining seasons, she asked them to send her clippings from branches in their own backyards so she could get it right. Page then arranged the nandina, boxwood, holly and mistletoe on the edges of white china, as she would a natural garnish, and began to create. The result: dinnerware and serving pieces that have the same effect "as you would have if you ran out and clipped some holly for your cheese plate," said Page.