Like taking food from a creepy plastic faced man

Burger King sued over $1 double cheeseburger

When franchisees sue their franchise it makes one take pause. When one reads the fine print and finds out that to produce a $1 BK double cheeseburger in South Bend, Indiana it costs $1.10, one takes an even longer pause.

A pause to think, "The cost of living in Indiana and the cost of living in New York are slightly different." A little different enough to think: "If I eat one of those double cheeseburgers in New York City, BK really must be taking a hit!" YAY! I WIN! Locavores unite and stuff your faces with delicious $1 double cheeseburgers!



In case you were wondering, (for the sake of research) I had one of these today. And I enjoyed it.

Papa Papa Paparazzi

Oh you know, it's New York City so we hang out with famous people on weeknights.

First: Wes Anderson on a Manic Monday
While designing some top secret new handbags, Windnie found some time to cruise the twittelator at work... only to discover there was a screening of Fantastic Mr. Fox at the MoMA followed by a Q&A with Wes Anderson! GASP! (thanks @pulsejfk). This was exciting for 2 reasons: 1) Wes Anderson seems like a kool kat and 2) Movies in NYC usually cost like $12 and we could get into this one for $6! Somehow MoMA thought it would make going to the movies more awesome and then lower the price. They're just so modern.

We sweat it out for awhile in the standby line while Windnie played with her new iPhone and ignored me. Just kidding, she only ignored me a little. So as you may have guessed we did eventually get into the screening! The movie was pretty great! It was both a great family film and a Wes Anderson film. Every good parent should start their kids on Wes Anderson young :) Once the film was over Wes Anderson popped out of the audience and ran up to the stage to talk to us! (Windnie wants to make sure to note that he was wearing a sweet taupe-ish corduroy suit, what a little fashion designer she is!)

Wes seemed like a pretty normal guy and was happy to answer lots of questions from the audience. He said he was surprised to get Meryl Streep to be in the film, but that it was easy to get Jason Schwartzman, Ha. Perhaps the most interesting comment was that George Clooney and Bill Murray became good friends while filming and he believes they have such a good rapport that they should definitely make a movie together. You heard it here first!

If you're in the city be sure to check out the upcoming films in The Contenders series. These films are all less than 12 months old and MoMA thinks they're going to be remembered for a long time. The lineup looks pretty solid to me! And don't forget that student ID! Also the movie ticket price can be applied to the cost of admission to the MoMA within 30 days of purchase! This may be a good option if you don't want to fight the crowds during the free Fridays!

Hello Wes!

Second: Joe Buck and His Stage of Sporting Spectaculars on a Typical Tuesday

So after one celebrity citing on Monday we decided to up the ante on Tuesday. We attended our second freeeee filming of Joe Buck Live. Though our seats were a bit worse than last time (when we had to make sure our heads didn't get clipped by the center stage camera), we still had a good time hanging out with Joe Buck, Brian Westbrook, Brian Urlacher, Pedro Martinez, Floyd Mayweather, and Michael Strahan! After the Brian's talked about how awesome it is being named Brian (Just kidding, we don't need to remind everyone of our awesomeness, they mostly talked about concussions), Pedro talked about how he really loved New York and basically ended up charming the crowd who had booed him on the way in. Last up Floyd Mayweather talked about how amazing he was and Michael Strahan was psyched about it. (You heard it here first: Floyd is going to beat Marquez, he told me so). It was good times :) Both guys were hilarious and charismatic and it's easy to see that they have big futures away from their respective sports. But don't take it from me... take it from surprise guest: "Marky" Mark Wahlburg! Yeah, we just upped the celebrity ante some more. We're cool like that.

Hello annoying camera contraption!
(we forgot to take pictures while people were actually on stage...)

So if you want to be cool like us, you should come along next time! We're on the mailing list now so we find out as soon as tickets become available! And let us know if you've got ideas for more free/cheap events, or have topics you want us to explore! We'd also love to join you in your freevents and vice versa!

Until next time,
Later days!

Catching up

Sometimes there's just too much going on and we don't have the time to keep y'all updated.  Mi dispiace :(

Sooo before going back to San Antonio for Thanksgiving (mmmm!), Brian and I enjoyed some last minute free fun.  The first one was the "Get Local! Shopping Guide to East Village Shops 3rd Edition Launch Party" at an awesome store called Sustainable NYC.  I personally love this place because for the first few weeks after moving to NYC I went here often to use their free wireless internet and eat lots of delicious baked goods from their cafe, Ciao For Now!  Everything is homemade and almost everything is organic, vegan and made using local ingredients.  So good!  (Even Brian thought it was yummy!)  The event they were hosting was a launch party for the East Village Shopping Guide which supports locally-owned businesses and encourages local and fair trade shopping!  (Very inspiring for the holiday gift buying I've haven't started...)  Reverend Billy was even there to give a Local Shopping Sermon!  Inttteerresttinnngg.  The vibe was lovely and the free food and wine was delicious, but one lady there was quite disturbing indeed.  She literally stood in front of the food table during the entire sermon and stuffed her face.  She was apparently really into the hummus because after about 10 minutes of eating it with vegetables, she decided to pick up a straw from the table and continue to scoop it into her mouth that way.  AND she had a plastic cup overflowing with bite-size pastries she was guarding creepily and saving up for dessert.  It was disgusting.  And she ended up with hummus all over the ground around her and hanging from her nose.  Um, gross.  But yes.  It was a nice event and I'm excited to put the shopping guide to use.  They even gave out 10% off coupons for Sustainable NYC (and other neighborhood stores) and I got a free tote bag and small notebook with my discounted purchase!  Here's a link to the online shopping guide.  Save paper!  Shop local! :)

And the night before I left for home, Brian and I spent a romantic FREE! evening at the Empire Hotel rooftop. 

There was some lovely live Jazz and lots of fancy people around to make you feel important.

And to keep the night cheap we got water instead of drinks.

The view and music was enough to make the night enjoyable!

So there you have it.  More good times from your friends Brian and Windnie.  Oh!  And if you are interested in the whole shopping local thing (you are!) here are some links to some great local holiday markets:
From Wined and Dined
From TimeOut New York
Brian and I stopped by Brooklyn Flea's Gifted today (check their hours!  They're open til Christmas!), which was pretty swell but we are hoping to go to a couple other markets tomorrow and discover more goodies.

Oh! and! Brian and I had Dallas BBQ today, which we are both IN.LOVE.WITH.  The prices are excellent and the portions are HUGE!  And you really can't get any better than their Early Bird Special! (Scroll down to the bottom.)  Although I will warn you... I got it one time and thought I was going to die afterwards because it was such an insane amount of food!

NOM!

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Massacre

Macy's Department Store: America's Great Iconoclasts

While Windnie played with her family down in San Antonio, I was left to find my own Thanksgiving fun. On a lovely fall day I set out to join the crowds and celebrate the holiday with a good ol' fashioned parade! Little did I know the horrors I was about to witness...

After the seemingly innocent act of sneaking around a police barricade using subway entrances, my childhood was savagely destroyed in front of my eyes. I took pictures!

I was frozen with disbelief when they dismembered Grumpy Bear (Censored for your sake)...

I think they were collecting scalps...

Then they turned on other beloved characters.
Woodstock lay unmoving on the ground, with Snoopy nowhere in sight...


Hello Kitty was drug to the ground, ripped open and then stuffed into a cart


Next the Pillsbury Doughboy was treated like Gulliver by the Lilliputans...

Same goes for the Smurfs and Horton...

Nothing was safe from Macy's crushing fist.
Patriotism: Dead.

Woodland creatures in hats: Gone.


Not even the big man himself was spared their wrath...

Yes, Virginia, Macy's killed Christmas.

I didn't want to stick around to find out what was next...

My Thanksgiving fun didn't end there. I followed this traumatizing experience with a Friendsgiving where I ate lots of food and watched children's movies with my friends in Brooklyn! My holiday featured a lot of free/cheap events including free pie at work and a meal made by my great friends, it would have been awesome to spend time with Windnie and my family but I really can't complain. I hope your Thanksgiving was as fun as mine!

Later days!

Give Some, Take Some

For us working folk, sometimes it can be hard to squeeze a little bit of fun-time into the middle of a busy week.  When you just want to sit back and relax... and maybe laugh a little, The PIT is a good place to go!  The People's Improv Theater hosts FREE performances every hour on Wednesdays between 6pm and 11pm (A nice thing to do if you work late!)  Different Improv groups are paired up each hour so you can get a nice mixture of styles and things throughout the night (Unlike ASSSSCAT at The UCB in this way.)  And an important note: the performances at 11pm are done by members of the audience who get together and improv in groups for everyone!  Improv-ed Improv!  How fun!  Here's their schedule.  Notice there are several free performances on other days of the week as well.  Brian and I saw Punch and The Baldwins this Wednesday at 10pm--both quite funny indeed.  And as an added bonus we got 20% off our meal at Canaan Sushi Restaurant, just below the theater!  There is also a participating Subway on the block!  Just mention you are going to The PIT and POW! you get rewarded for going to a free show!  Works for me.  And the prices at both of those restaurants are good to begin with :)

 Wall Art

And Brian and I  participated in another little niceness switch-a-roo today at the Score! Pop-Up-Swap! in Williamsburg.  We RSVPed ahead of time on their website (which I don't think mattered much)  and showed up with a $3 donation each for City Harvest and a few items of clothing to contribute to the swap.  Then, we were let loose into a swarming crowd of people hovering over tables of things that other people donated.  There were areas for clothing, shoes, accessories, music, books, and homegoods.  It was out of control!  Once you're in you can take whatever you want for free!  (So make sure you bring a bag large enough to stuff all your finds into!)  I got 7 items of clothing--including 2 J.Crew sweaters, 2 American Apparel shirts and a Ninja Turtles hoodie.  Brian got 2 shirts, a Chinese childrens book (which I translated for him on the train ride back into Manhattan), Crime and Punishment and a glasses case.  It was also fun to see other people pick up the things we donated and stick them in their bag :)  So yeah, not bad, eh?  And all of the leftover goodies are given to charity!  We are definitely going to keep our eyes out for more of these kinds of things.  Fun!

We even got our hands stamped!

Animals in People Suits... People in Animal Suits

Brian got too excited about Game Night memories and neglected to share our other cheap adventures of the weekend.  Oh Brian.

So after work on Friday, we met up with my friend Sam Washburn who was visiting from St. Louis.  First things first... CHECK OUT HIS BLOG.  I'm serious.  He is one of the most amazing artists I know.  He even has a second blog solely dedicated to presenting you with an illustration of an animal in a suit every day of the year!  It's called... dun dun duuunnn Animals in Suits!  Fascinating, eh?  So anyway, we met up at the Met (teehee), which for your information has suggested donation admission!  We each paid $1 and spent a couple hours roaming the halls.  Current exhibitions of note can be found here.  Oh, and the museum is open til 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays, which makes it that much more worthwhile at the cost of a single Washington.  Sadly, Brian and I got there on the late side and joined the rest of the gang in time only to view Vermeer's Milkmaid (which is in the US for the first time!) and American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, 1765-1915 (which included a painting of a guy fighting a bear!).  Both exhibits were good, but  the latter I have to admit I enjoyed a great deal!  After that we ate dinner at a delicious diner and went on a very long search for Wendy's Frostys.  My friend Ryan had never had one before! For Shame!

 Sam after his Twisted Frosty!

And speaking of "suggested donation" museums along Central Park... Brian and I also went to the American Museum of Natural History!  (We each paid $5) And while it's more Brian's thing to look at scary stuffed animals than mine... I found this trip amazing!  The special exhibitions are expensive so we didn't see them.. but we could have spent hours in the permanent halls we visited!  There is an insane amount of stuff to see... so from this trip (we only explored the 1st floor!) I recommend the "Milstein Hall of Ocean Life", "Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth" and "Human Origins".  So cool and so educational!  Perhaps i'll make recommendations of the other floors once I've visited them :)

  Squid and the Whale!

Child-stealing Northwest Indian!

(You wonder why I think Natural History Museums are creepy...)

Oh and before Game Night, which you read about in the previous post, Brian and I went to the $2 Thanksgiving wine and food sampling thingy!  If anyone was with me in Chianti for that wine tasting... you should be proud of me for not letting myself get so out of hand this time around :)  We sampled different wines with thanksgiving dishes they thought went well with them.  I skipped out on a few of the wines and got seconds of the foodstuffs.  It was delicious!  Mmm roasted brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes! and Pecans!  Mmm!

Wine!

Cheap night? Game night!

A night out in the city can be an expensive venture, why not have a night in? With some friends. And some games... Game night!

Last night, Windnie and I took part in our first game night since coming to the city! We joined our friends Robert, Sarah and Kevin, and our new friends Corey and Corey in a raucous game of Cranium. First we split into teams:

Team Midwest: Young and restless

Team South: The south shall rise again!

And then the Cranium commenced! The games went back and forth with both the midwest and the south winning one game. The third and decisive game was also a fiercely contested match with both teams battling back and forth. But with only a few questions remaining...

This happened...

And this...This too...

So I guess game night ended in a tie, but I don't think anyone minded. It was a fun, cheap night with good friends and will almost certainly become a regular event. We've even started brain storming themes for future game nights... so far Clue, TV, and sleepover. If you have any suggestions let us know!

Editors note: Brian's handsome new do is compliments of Ed Lampley! Who reminds us that when keeping things cheap it's important to have friends with skills. Thanks Ed!

More Bookstore Events

And to go along with Brian's latest post... Guess what?!  It's Indie Bookstore Week!  I'm sorry this is so late :(  We've been slacking since I've been sick.  Maybe you can still find something to go to:
Bookstore Events

For Your Shopping Pleasure

Some coupons:

30% off at Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy! 11/12 - 11/15
Print this coupon and take it to any of their stores.  5% will go to Teach for America.
40% off Seven for All Mankind!  Now through 11/15
I'm not really into Sevens but most people are.
use code: 7FAMILY online or print coupon linked above.

and some links:

 NYC Sales and Shopping
I don't even know what to make of this very long list... but shop away!
An NYC Guide to Getting Rid of Your Old Stuff
and I don't know what to make of this either... but here you go!

Um, and eat some pie:

Free Slice of Pie at Waffle House! Now through 12/15
This looks kinda sketchy, but I don't know.  Someone give it a try.

Haha sorry.  I need to pull myself together and get organized.  Those links were just open in my browser waiting for me to make sense of them... but I'm just too tired.  Enjoy? :)

Book Store Bums

A great place to find free entertainment in New York City (and maybe learn something too) is the bookstore! You could be sneaky and just go read the books at a book store but I don't know if they really condone that sort of thing. For a more encouraged free event, keep an eye out for readings, signings and discussions. These events usually coincide with the release of a new book and in a city like New York you never know who will show up!

Since I arrived in the city I've been to 3 such events (Windnie joined for the last two!):


9/25: My first try at free book signing was a discussion with Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan, prolific PBS film makers, at Barnes and Noble on the Upper East Side. I love PBS documentaries and have actually been watching a lot of Ken Burns on Netflix. It helps fill the void of not having school after 19 years of continuous education. These guys were promoting their new film The National Parks: America's Best Idea which was debuting on TV the week after their visit and also includes a companion book.

Burns and Duncan told stories from their travels through the National Parks and then answered questions about their processes and techniques in making films. Many people in the audience apparently thought that the 2 were now experts on all things national parks and asked questions about their vacation plans. The film makers then signed their books which I didn't buy because they were expensive and I am cheap. Overall it was really interesting and enjoyable and wet my appetite for more free events. (As a side note Ken Burns is almost creepily pleasant, like he came out of the Truman Show or something.)



11/9: The Teacha, KRS-One, stopped by the Barnes and Noble in Tribeca last night to discuss and sign his book the Gospel of Hip Hop. Click the picture above to read an article all about this interesting project by a hip hop pioneer. KRS gave a rambling, yet thought provoking, lecture about hip hop, Martin Luther King, globalism and the creation of an authentic American religion. Heading into the event I figured the Gospel of Hip Hop was just a history of Hip Hop culture, boy was I wrong. KRS believes that in the future hip hop will be recognized as it's own religion. From what he said it follows the God of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, but is rooted in the American urban experience. KRS often paused while he spoke to make sure we understood the weight of his words, often reinforcing this by telling us how controversial his last comment was. It was interesting to say the least. Also in the audience was Charlie Ahearn, director of Wild Style, which KRS called the "First Gospel of Hip Hop" because it taught the world what hip hop was and gave them a common language. I'll have to check it out! Interesting night... Oh I also didn't buy his book to have signed.



11/10: Tonight was Chuck Klosterman at Border's in Columbus Circle. I've never read anything by Klosterman but I'd heard of him and his books before. I actually kind of confused him with Chuck Palahnuik because I mean, how many contemporary writers could be named Chuck??? Well anyways, this began as an actual book reading. He read a story directly from the book. (As opposed to KRS who obtusely talked about his book). The story was amusing and Klosterman has an amusing voice so it was a good time. Klosterman also answered a wide variety of questions from the audience, from the life expectancy of magazines to his thoughts on Ritchie Blackmore from Rainbow going classical. He also answered some questions about his actual writings, go figure! The event ended with a book signing! Which we did not attend.


These events have certainly been varied and engaging and we plan on going to many more! Almost everyday someone is reading the book they wrote somewhere in the city. Keep an eye out for when your favorite author, hip hop legend, or documentarian are coming through town.

Of course interesting talks are not limited to bookstores, sounds like a blog post for another day...

We <3 Animals (Brooklyn)

I'm sick again!  How wonderful!  But it's okay, because Brian and I had a lovely day of free fun in Brooklyn.  He's still there watching the UC game at a friend's place... but I called it a night and came home to snuggle it up with my blanket... and you know, write this.

So first for your viewing pleasure: a picture of Brian from Halloween day--free "boo-rito" in hand!  Please take note of his amazing bib.  We bought a little roll of foil from the grocery store across the street and made our "costumes" literally as we walked over to Chipotle.  I made a bracelet and he made this bib.  We're good, i know!

And here we are in our real Halloween costumes, which I'm not going to lie... are kind of sad.  We went to the thrift store the morning of and I bought that shirt for $1.99 and Brian bought his overalls for like $10.00?  I was a farm girl (i've got freckles and pigtails...) and he was some sort of factory worker (i used my mascara to dirty up his face...)?  I don't know.  We were confused too... but whatevaaaaah

Now on to today's fun activities!
Brooklyn Animal Resource Coalition
We woke up semi-early and went to "BARC" to walk dogs and play with cats!  Not only free, but fun!  and not only fun but nice!  This is how it works:  You show up to the place, fill out a form if it is your first time, they hand you a dog and give you a little bit of their background, behavior summary, and things to watch out for.  Then you walk the dog around the neighborhood for about an hour and enjoy the scenery!  Easy Peasy!  Just make sure you check their volunteer hours on the website so you actually have a dog to walk when you get there.

Here are pictures of Brian and I walking Jenny.  (He was very proud of the 2nd photo so I had to post it for him ;) )  She was so cute and liked to play in the crunchy leaves (like me!).  Most dogs are actually much bigger and stronger... typically Pits and things.  We were given this little one because I told them I had never walked a dog before.  If you go, you'll most likely get handed something a little more challenging :)

On Saturdays you can walk dogs from 9am til noon and you can start playing with cats at noon, conveniently!  So after we finished walking Jenny we went into this cat room type thing and loved on a bunch of cats.  I had a lot of fun, but Brian was a little frightened.  A handful of the cats scratch and/or bite people for no apparent reason.  Luckily, my cat at home does both so I'm used to walking away with a few miniature wounds. (Today, I left with a scratch from a cat named Scratch...)  But don't be afraid.  Most of the cats are super friendly and the ones who might harm you are labeled with caution signs!

Prospect Park Zoo: $7 Admission, Free with membership!
After BARC we made our way over to Prospect Park.  We took our time strolling around and crunching the leaves.  So beautiful and relaxing!  We even ran into our friend Robert May who was also enjoying a day in the park.  Eventually the 3 of us made our way over to the zoo, which we got into for free because we have memberships (totally worth it for zoo lovers like ourselves!  go here for more info: Bronx Zoo Membership. We have the "Individual" one... which is really for 2 people because you can always bring a guest for free.)  But if you don't have a membership, admission is only $7!  This zoo is great.  Very manageable in size and very interactive (Take your kids!).  You can see everything in about 2 hours. Fun!

Brooklyn Museum: Target First Saturdays
And since we were in the neighborhood we walked over to "BAM" for free art!  Every first Saturday of the month, entrance is free and they have fun activities and events going on.  Today there was a great band called The Beats playing and all sorts of booze and foodstuffs (which cost money, so no thank you.)  On the website, all of the events are listed that happen between 5pm and 11pm... which I just now noticed.  You can really make a whole night out of this thing!  Calendar marked for next month!  I suggest getting there a little early since there may be lines for events that you need tickets for.

So yeah, that was about it!  The only thing we spent money on today was our brunch at The Bagel Store in Williamsburg.  This place is so delicious and reasonably priced.  They also have day-old bagels that they sell 7 for $2.25, which I had to buy.  I got all sorts of specialty bagels that I cannot wait to eat!!  (I'll write a blog on bagels soon... because i love them...)  And for dinner I'm eating leftovers!  Today was a cheap success!

Who wants to be on TV?

What did you do with your Wednesday night? I spent mine with Windnie at a FREE live taping of Comedy Central presents! Actually it was 2 episodes, we all had to switch seats in between sets so all y'all wouldn't get suspicious when you watch them on TV. Anyway, we got to enjoy the comedic stylings of Bret Ernst and Benjamin Owen. I thought I had heard of Benjamin Owen before but now I don't think so. But it was fun and mostly funny and maybe we'll be on TV! We were seated in the 2nd row and then the 1st row but off to one side of the stage. We actually had better seats before we were deemed not pretty enough and vanquished to stage left. (I'm not exactly sure that's what happened but I guess some guy and his kids were more important or something, they were lame and didn't laugh that much by the way... watch the episodes and look for the uncool kids and imagine my pretty laughing face instead)

All you faithful blog followers may be thinking, this is the 2nd free live taping you've been to! How do you do it??? Good thing I'm here and can tell you everything I know!

Generally not so much! I found out about the Joe Buck Live taping from tweetjfk on Twitter and I found out about Comedy Central through Timeout New York. Both are good resources for free things going on in the city and will keep you busy for cheap any day of the week, but that's a post for another time.

So here's what I know:
1. First of all live tapings don't necessarily happen at the time the show airs. Actually they usually don't. Live TV is risky business and people are wusses. So with that in mind most late night shows tape in the middle of the day which probably won't work with your work schedule but will work just fine if you're unemployed or just visiting!

2. The best place to get tickets is from the shows themselves. Their websites have instructions, some of which require you to mail them a self addressed stamped envelope (you'll feel special when you get a letter from yourself!), but others that have gone digital. Networks also have instructions for many of their shows and sometimes a 3rd party is in charge of ticketing such as http://www.ocatv.com/shows/

3. Plan ahead! Last time I checked the Daily Show's website there were no free dates listed for the next couple months. Saturday Night Live only accepts requests in August though the season doesn't begin until September. While flexibility is a generally good you'll still have to list specific dates so know when you're going to be available.

4. If you're a last minute sorta lady or fella (like yours truly) be ready to wait. Often times standby tickets are available the day of a show. Be ready to show up early, be ready to wait, and there are no guarantees! Once again, for you working folks this may be out of the question but all you bums go for it!

Here's a list of shows filmed in NYC. Obviously not all have a live studio audience but maybe you can stop by their filming anyway and maybe even get thrown in a scene as an extra? I dunno if that actually happens though I may swing by the Rescue Me filming happening down the street tomorrow to find out...

TV Shows Filmed in NYC

That's what I know, I hope you learned a little though I know it's not much. Hopefully in the coming months I'll figure out some new insight on how to get you into your favorite shows. And if you've got any tips clue me in! I like free and I like being on TV!

Sick & Finding Cheap Goodies

Bottlerocket Thanksgiving Dinner! ($2 Donation) 11/14/09 2pm-6pm
Prepare your tummies for that huge Thanksgiving Dinner with this little test run.  Register for a time slot now before it's too late!  Brian doesn't know it yet, but I signed us up for 5pm :)

J.CREW Sample Sale! This Week Only
So i might suck it up and make my way over to this sale... but only because it's close by... and if I'm going to buy anything, it might as well be classic and good quality.

Fred Perry Sample Sale! This Week Only
And perhaps sometime this week I may check this out?  Still may be too much money for my little pocket...

Quick One For You Austin folk

Free Amy's Icecream 11/02/09  2pm-6pm
So this one is coming to you a tad late... and only for you people living in Austin... aka my brother and cousins... and Catherine... so I hope you see this in time to get your free small icecream! Go go go!

Happy Halloween!

Here are a few treats for you!  (even you non-New Yorkers!)

$1 Boston Market Chicken Meal! Deal Ends 11/01/09
Hopefully this link still works!  Due to the success of this promotional coupon the restaurant has experienced a shortage of chicken.  They removed the coupon from their website, but they will still accept "already printed coupons"....oooorrrr a coupon you find elsewhere, like the one we've provided you here!  So print away and head to your nearest Boston Market!  You may even get lucky like Brian and I and meet a friendly old woman standing in line behind you who reveals her passion for the "comfort food" that is Boston Market and point out all of her favorite choices and warn you against the saltier foods...

Free Chipotle BOO-RITO! Every Halloween! 
Dress up like a burrito and Chipotle will feed one to you for free!  Rumor has it you can get as many as you want if you keep returning to the line... but don't be like Brian and get greedy!!  You might end up losing your free burritos to the floor... 

Black Jack Taco!  Halloween After Dark
You've seen the commercials... and you loved them!  Right??  From 6pm to midnight on Halloween night Taco Bell is giving away free Black Jack Tacos!  Chipotle kinda trumps Taco Bell like a ton, but if you're still hungry after free burrito #1 and are a.) too embarrassed to get back in line for a second or b.) can't handle a whole second burrito (coughbriancough) then get one of these little guys to help top off that meal and make your tummy super satisfied.  Yum!

Introductions

This is Windnie and Brian speaking... just two kids who moved to New York City and refuse to let lack of funds interfere with our fun.  We hear it's tough to live cheaply here, especially in this economy (blah blah blah), but we're here to prove that with a little research and imagination you can enjoy the Big Apple on an itty bitty budget.  People are often surprised by all the free and cheap things we discover.  We kinda surprise ourselves sometimes, but here we are to share our finds with you.  Maybe with a little help from us, you too can pay rent and feed your tummies with a little room left over now and then for some fun :)

 (This blog also helps appease our friends and family back home who want to know why we're not calling daily to update them on our whereabouts, HELLO FRIENDS AND FAMILY!)


We've got things to do today (It's Halloween and we need to figure out cheap costumes) but we thought we should start by catching you up on some of the cheap fun we've had in the 2 months since Brian moved up here:

Joe Buck Live: We got free tix to see Joe Buck Live which is an HBO show that airs once every three months or something. Our seats were directly underneath the center stage camera so anytime someone wanted to look into the camera it was like they were staring into our souls. Guests included: Dan Marino, John Elway, Joe Namath, Mark Cuban, Jerry Jones, and Curt Shilling. (FYI Windnie didn't know who most of these people were- except Mark Cuban who she hates! But sometime you have to suck it up in the name of free!)

Old Navy Pumpkin Patch: Last weekend Old Navy had a free pumpkin patch in the middle of the Meatpacking District. We decorated  free pumpkins, and ate free candy, popcorn, cotton candy (but skipped the apples and pears). We also got to meet their creepy mannequins. OH! Brian also posed in one of those face cut out boards as a small, black girl :)

Upright Citizens Brigade: Every New Yorker/visitor should know about this place. All their shows are cheap ($5, $10), but some are also free including the late show on Sunday night. It's improv comedy with some funny folks including members of SNL and 30 Rock. Right now Horatio Sans is a regular, last year Amy Pohler was too. And sometimes other guests stop by including a lot of writers for shows you know and love. Last summer we even saw the Mac guy, Justin Long, taking in a show (He's cheap too I guess).

TGIFridays: We all know NYC is expensive and even cheap standards like the dollar menu are bastardized here, but occasionally national chains run their promotions in the city making them even more incredible! This includes Subway's $5 footlong and Burger King's $1 Whopper Jr (I also found a corporate BK with better prices than all of the other BK's). But the greatest story of this type of deal is one night at TGIFridays... I found out that there was a promotion for $5 Jack Daniel's burger or chicken sandwich. We show up and look at the menu, these sandwhichs are usually $18! The deal isn't listed anywhere but our server reluctantly says that they'll honor the deal. The menu says the sandwich comes with either fries or a side salad and we both opt for the side salad. Next thing we know, huge side salads are placed in front of us which we eagerly eat. Then comes our entrees... with a full side of fries! We were a little concerned about how this was all going to be charged on our bill (cause we're cheap) so we asked for some clarification. Turns out the deal was only for sandwich and fries and the server thought we wanted the side salads extra. Now we like salad and all but these things were on the menu at $7 each, noooo thanks. Our server said he had planned to cut us a deal and only charge us $3 for each (which was awefully nice of him since he just planned on doing it on his own before we asked or anything) but then decided since we didn't really order them that he would give us one free! And that my friends is how you get $50 worth of food for $15. Nom nom nom.


Seedy Seeds: We're too cheap to go pay for most shows but Cincinnati's own Seedy Seeds were in town for the CMJ festival and staying with our buddy Robert May! At the end of their stay they decided they wanted to play one more show and set up in someones basement! It was like being 16 all over again! And even better it was free and we met some new friends. AND they threw in CDs, stickers, and pins to make sure we got our money's worth. We're good at this.



We've just scratched the surface of what we've done and what we'll undoubtely be doing. Stay tuned to hear about our free furniture, all of the free/cheap food we eat, and more! Woop!