Margin

The first signs of cold started to emerge in early October. The leaves of Ginkgo trees blanketed city sidewalks, and a misguided trip out of the house without a jacket drew immediate regret. Brrrr! Sam and I are self-proclaimed wusses when it comes to the cold and we were mourning the fact that another summer was undeniably over. But then, we had a flash of inspiration. Maybe winter wouldn't be so miserable if we had a sun-filled vacation on the horizon; a date we could mark on the calendar in red Sharpie and stare at each cold winter morning as we ate our breakfast in flannel pajamas.

The new Sofi's Crepes in Fells Point has its grand opening on Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. So, grab the children and the family dog and stroll on down for some crepe specials and stilt walkers. There will be live music from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The new shop,  1627 Thames St. , is in the Brown's Wharf complex, in the walkway next to Fells Point Surf Shop. Miss Shirley's is out with a new menu for spring and summer that sharpens its Southern focus. New menu items include a chicken-fried pork chop, a Big Easy muffuletta chef salad and a crabby deviled egg salad.

When the owners of the Brewer's Art announced it would begin selling cans of their flagship beer, Resurrection Ale, in the summer of 2010, many Baltimore beer-lovers rejoiced. On Friday, those some fans will have another reason to cheer: Cans of Ozzy Ale, another long-time favorite of the Mount Vernon bar, will be available for purchase, partner Tom Creegan announced today. The first can of Ozzy, which has 7 percent alcohol content, will be cracked open on Friday at 4 p.m., Creegan said in an email.

Spring is here. It officially arrived on Wednesday morning at 7:02 a.m. What does it look like? On March 20, between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., The Baltimore Sun will chronicle a day in the life of Baltimore. We want to see how you spent the first day of spring. Picture This, Baltimore is back. Show us how you work, play and go about a day in the life. Of course, I really want to see what you're cooking and eating. Baltimore Sun photographers will select their favorite photos, which will run in the March 25 Sunrise section of The Baltimore Sun. How to submit your photos: • On Instagram and Twitter, tag your photos with #picturethis13 • Upload photos directly to our photo gallery here #sigshell { padding: 10px; float: left; width: 320px; height: 52px; margin: 20px 0px; display: block; }

(Video contains explicit language) The 23-year-old Baltimore rapper Al Rogers has released a new video, "U Must Luv Me. " The song and video are excellent - for Rogers' unhinged, emotive delivery most notably - and should be watched immediately. The song, produced by East Baltimore's Millz Douglas , comes from Rogers' "Almost" EP, which is scheduled to drop on Tuesday. The video was directed by Rogers and DUBRC Films. Rogers included this note in an email: “U MUST LUV ME" is more of a personal track and also a slight rendition to Jay-Z original song and the video portrays that.

Rihanna, who postponed her Baltimore concert scheduled for March 12 due to illness, will now perform at 1st Mariner Arena on April 24, Live Nation announced this morning. Tickets for the March show will be honored at the door. Tickets are still on sale at ticketmaster.com . If you missed it, earlier this month I wrote a story/essay on Rihanna and why she's unlike any other pop star today. #sigshell { padding: 10px; float: left; width: 320px; height: 52px; margin: 20px 0px; display: block; }

Chazz Palminteri talks about acting, writing and his self-named Baltimore restaurant for a web-based show called "Taste Makers. " In the segment , the actor tells host Lisa Mateo about the origin story of the restaurant and says that he is currently exploring expansion opportunities for Chazz: A Bronx Original . "Taste Makers," which also airs on WPIX in New York City, bills itself as the show "that uncovers where the stars love...

Mt. Washington Tavern, which suffered a significant fire in fall 2011 that required more than 60 Baltimore City firefighters to extinguish, has scheduled a special happy hour today from 4 to 8 p.m. to honor the fire department.  The happy hour will take place in the renovated restaurant's SkyBar, and will feature light fare such as wings and shrimp. Responders Ale, from the 16 Mile Brewing Company in Georgetown, Del., will be sold for $3. A dollar from each Responders Ale will be donated to the fire department, according to Mt. Washington Tavern publicist Mikey Monaghan.

Late last winter, Baltimore rapper Test (formerly known as TestMe) signed a deal with Future's FreeBandz Entertainment. Yesterday, he released his first project of original material as a FreeBandz member: "Green Light," which you can download for free here (contains explicit language). (Test released "Jackin 4 Beats" with DJ Big L late last year, but it was him rhyming over already-popular tracks.) Test appeared on the popular FreeBandz compilation mixtape, "F.B.G.: The Movie," from January.

The James Beard Foundation announced the finalists for the 2013 James Beard Foundation Awards, and Spike Gjerde of Woodberry Kitchen is among the five finalists for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic, one of 10 regional categories. This is the first time Gjerde has made it to the finalist level. Among Baltimore chefs, only Cindy Wolf has made it to the finalist round, twice, in 2006 and 2008. “It's exciting,” said Gjerde, who learned about his nomination soon after it happened.  “We were in our managers' meeting at Woodberry, and unbeknownst to me a couple of employees were following the Twitter thread [of the nominations announcement]