Ballston Common is a smallish mall that's clean and easy to navigate. It's in the closer-in suburbs of DC, so there is a pay garage. On the weekends, parking is only $1, which is great. Not much in the way of stores -- standard mall stuff for the most part. My favorite is a small gallery of artisans that do weaving and glass jewelry/ gifts: Woodmont Weavers. Definitely the highlight of the mall.
Ballston in general is a trendy, fun area to walk around. Like lots of the area, there are multi-use buildings with condos/ apts above and restaurants and shops below.
Ballston Common is nothing special in the way of malls, but if you're looking for a quick lunch or to get in out of the heat and do a bit of shopping, it's there. They used to have an Express Outlet store, which made it special, but it may have gone away since then. Basically, your standard suburban smaller mall.
This nifty neighborhood mall offers more than one hundred stores, including Macy's, Curious Kids, B. Dalton, and Champs, plus twelve movie screens, a large food court, and seven restaurants. Comedy Spot, a comedy club featuring family-friendly “clean” humor, is a nice place to spend an evening.