As soon as you get settled back on campus, there are always a few things you know you should have brought from home. As the new semester draws near, Vox has picked four things you should remember to pack before you come back.

Laptop lock

After last semester’s surge of laptop thefts, it might be a good a idea to invest in a laptop lock. The Apple store has a good selection. Prices range from $30 to $50. Of course, you could always just lock your doors.

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This week, Vox wanted to offer the Class of 2014 a few recommendations of places to visit in the Georgetown neighborhood. Today, we cover daylife—check back later this week for what to do on nights and weekends. Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments!

When you’re really sick of Leo’s …

Clyde’s: The original location of the Clyde’s Restaurant Group, Clyde’s offers upscale, traditional American food in a casual setting. Clyde’s claims that its appetizer menu inspired “Afternoon Delight,” but we’re pretty sure songwriter Bill Danoff (FLL ’68) had something else in mind—no matter how much we love the restaurant’s crab cakes and chili.

Sweetgreen: Opened in 2007 as the brainchild of three recent Georgetown alumni, Sweetgreen specializes in creative—and in our opinion, delicious—salads, as well as Sweetflow frozen yogurt. Sweetflow, which tastes like frozen nectar handed down from God himself, is even sold on the streets of D.C. via the Sweetflow Mobile.

Qdoba: Every Monday night, hungry students flood into Qdoba on M Street. Why? Because it’s half-price burrito day! The large meals, free sodas, and 50 percent discounts at this chain fast-food restaurant are an inexpensive alternative to Leo’s.

Tackle Box: ”To-go” and “seafood” don’t often work well together, but Tackle Box pulls it off. As the casual, cheaper version of parent restaurant Hook, Tackle Box offers fresh fish prepared to order and available for dine-in or take-out. (Our favorite meal? The fish tacos.)

Martin’s Tavern: If you’re looking to dine at a restaurant that has served every sitting president from Harry Truman to George W. Bush—Barack Obama hasn’t been there, yet—then Martin’s is the place to go.

1789: The most upscale of the Clyde’s Restaurant Group restaurants, a meal at 1789 is a popular option—if your parents are in town. The pricey restaurant is a favorite of a number of famous Washingtonians and politicos, including Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman, but is also more than a little bit out of most students’ price ranges. But if you want to go, try making a reservation while they offer their prix fix summer special.

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After many stores closed their doors in recent months, it seemed that the recession had finally hit Georgetown. However, many this summer’s grand openings may be a sign that our cozy little corner of the District has pulled itself out of the depths of recession.

Two of the newest additions to the Georgetown shopping scene are Camper and Charm. Camper, which is located at 3219 M St., is a Spanish line of shoes for men, women, and children. This is the first Camper store in DC.

Charm, which recently opened at 2910 M St., is an accessories boutique with a wide range of products, including purses, jewelry, and travel accessories..

When you consider all of the new businesses in Georgetown (Morso, Crepe Amour, Serendipity 3, Apple Store, and now Camper and Charm), those pesky rumors about Chop’t and Good Stuff moving into the neighborhood, and even the expansion of Moby Dick and the reborn Ristorante Picolo, it appears that Georgetown consumers are ready opened their hearts—and their wallets—once again.

Image from Flickr user M. V. Jantzen used under a Creative Commons license.

This week, Georgetown Metropolitan, ever more meticulous in his reading of long, boring Advisory Neighborhood Commission agendas than Vox Populi is, discovered that UGG Australia is opening up a shop on Wisconsin Avenue.

The store of the eponymous bootmaker (or as GM likes to call them, the “purveyors of a canklefied silhouette”), will be located at 1249 Wisconsin Avenue, which was formerly home to clothier Diesel. But GM is not as concerned with UGG’s future location or impending arrival as he his with the curiosity that is UGG fashion:

“If there’s one thing GM doesn’t get, it’s the appeal of Ugg boots. They’re bulky and not particularly flattering for most women,” he wrote.

Seriously, ladies, do not dress down around GM.

Photo by Flickr user UggBoy (photographer without borders) used under a Creative Commons license.

A few of you who land fancy-pants jobs upon graduating may need to upgrade from polo shirts with eagle insignias to higher-quality shirts with an insignia of a limp sheep hanging from some sort of ribbon getup.

I’m speaking of course, about Brooks Brothers clothing, and the impending opportunity to shop for it in Georgetown. Georgetown Metropolitan scoured the upcoming Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E agenda to find that the uppity clothier is applying for permission to make cosmetic changes to a storefront at 3077 M Street, which Smith and Hawken has recently vacated and Pottery Barn will soon abandon, too.

So, Brooks Brothers is coming to Georgetown. About the same time GM discovered this, Carol Joynt noticed that urban-chic favorite Up Against the Wall, located on M Street, is about to close its doors and become the latest of several recent business casualties in the Georgetown area. Up Against the Wall management did not respond to Vox‘s calls about whether it was relocating, but those “Up to 80 Percent Off,” “Total Liquidation” signs in the window do not look promising.

With the Wisconsin Avenue Safeway out of commission, are your shopping needs just not being met by Whole Foods/Safeway Delivery/Trader Joe’s?  GUTS has your back!

According to Georgetown’s Director of Media Relations Andy Pino, GUTS will be offering runs to the Rosslyn Safeway on weekends.

The change will combine the Rosslyn and Dupont Circle routes; GUTS buses will go from campus to Rosslyn, stopping on North Oak Street near the Safeway there, back to campus and then to Dupont.  Weekday service will not change.

Last year, the Voice got excited by the prospect of Bloomingdale’s setting up shop in the Shops at Georgetown Park on M Street, but now it looks like it’s not to be: the department store has pulled out of the project, according to a recent article in the Georgetown Current [PDF].

According to the Current, Bloomingdale’s—which was going to be the main attraction in a revamped Georgetown Park complex—backed out because of on-going litigation over the ownership of the development:

A Bloomingdale’s spokesperson declined to comment on the change, but an attorney for Western Development, which owns the retail-residential complex, confirmed the news.

“It is our understanding that given this litigation, Bloomingdale’s will not be proceeding as the anchor tenant,” said attorney Scott Morrison.

Economic hardship: not just for the common folk anymore!

This weekend the Washington Times reported that the poor economy is having and impact on everyone—even chic Georgetown boutiques! Disbelievingly, they tell tales of outrageous, unprecedented retail behavior, like sales starting in July rather than the end of August and napkins retailing for a mere $35 rather than $125. The horrors!

They have some sad stories from Nakita McLelland, the owner of The Dutch Lady, a linen store on M Street, who has seen her “sophisticated” loyal customers stop coming in because they’ve lost so much money in the stock market, as well as some quotes from consumers bragging about all the good deals they’re getting.

The most absurd quote of the article, though, comes from Sharon Amar, the manager of Celine de Paris, a boutique on M Street:

“I am normally against sales. Americans go crazy for them, though. I have always felt that if a woman waits until a product is on sale to buy it, she has lost months where she could be wearing it and loving it,” said Mr. Amar, a native of France.

Photo by Flickr user ehpien, used under a Creative Commons license.

Want a shot at your own 15 seconds of internet micro-micro-fame?  Start following us on Twitter (GtownVoxPop) and, if you’re connected to Georgetown, we’ll return the favor and you’ll automatically be in the running!

Former Voice Publisher Michael Keller graduated, magna pun laude.

Malin Hu put that econ training to practical use.

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Hardy party!

RRL is gone, and Apple is in limbo. But it looks like prep and funk aren’t going to be without their respective champions in Georgetown for long: blogtalk says we’re getting The North Face and an Ed Hardy store!

Ever astute, East Side blogger Georgetown Metropolitan noticed that this month’s ANC 2E agenda includes a design proposal for a store at 3333 M Street. He notes that this “huge space” was formerly the site of Artefacto furniture, and the week-long event Foto Week DC after that.

Meanwhile, “D.C.’s Arbite of All Things Lush and Lovely” Capitol B says Ed Hardy is coming to 1250 Wisconsin Avenue. On Saturday, a grand opening party which EH designer Christian Audigier plans to attend (and maybe Hardy himself? B hints) will inaugurate the store’s opening, the first D.C. location (we can’t but inaugurate here in D.C.).

Photo taken from Flickr user ross.grady using a Creative Commons license