Summer Hiatus

Hi all,

I deleted Phoebe's Freebies because I hadn't added anything in SO long and then, like a sign from the heavens, in about a week an a half:

- I attended this in-store event hosted by Vogue magazine and Gap 1969.

- I got a yummy giveaway of Sabra hummus and Stacey's Pita Chips at Union Square

- Fab friend, L, passed me her spot at NYC's first Diner en Blanc and it was magical.

- And generous pal, E, took me to a Nadal match at the US Open with fab seats (see pic taken above) on a gorgeous summer evening.

Given the abundance of freebie fun it seemed criminal not to resuscitate the blog. Apologies for my fair weather blogging!!!

Thinking Theater

Slowly, but surely, the freebies are returning from the immediate post-holiday draught! Hooray!

Last week, cousin T brought me to see Encores! staged concert of Kurt Weill's "Lost in the Stars." It's a rarely-performed piece set in South Africa. Really heavy, serious material that weighs in on issues of class, race, culpability, and moral vs. legal judgment.

Though "Lost in the Stars" doesn't leave you humming any tunes, Encores! did a really nice job of casting and staging this tough piece, and bringing something onstage that wouldn't ever get a big buck revival in today's Broadway market.

Thanks, Cousin T, for a one-of-a-kind night out and some mentally challenging musical food for thought.

Pythons, Peonies, and Pretty!

Makeup guru pal, L, has yet again passed along a fantastic freebie of this Bobbi Brown collaboration with stylish label Tibi - The Peony & Python Beauty Set!

THANK YOU L!!!!!!!!!!

The set will help me achieve one of my main goals for 2011: learn how to use bronzer, with the "Pink Peony Illuminating Bronzer" inside. If you see me looking more glowy than usual, it's probably because I've been "peonized" - hm. That doesn't sound good.

Also included in this amazingly cool-looking case:

-Black Mauve Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner (can't wait for my first foray into gel eyeliner!)

-Pink Lilac Brightening Gloss

-Two adorable mini brushes

And an additional mini-brush set that's perfect for work.

I'll review the SAG Awards fashion tomorrow, but for today...it's the return of the freebie!!!

Museum Freebies

Last night was a delightful evening of NYC museum freebies!

At 6pm, I attended a free lecture at the Frick Collection: The lecture was called, "The Other Versailles: Where the Decorative Arts Became Modern" by Joan DeJean, a UPenn French professor. It was really interesting - all about the early palais at Versailles and the nascent years of the first "decorateurs interieux" (probably butchering that spelling). Thanks, L, for letting me return to my college days of Art History for an hour inside the blissfully decked out Frick Mansion!

But the best was yet to come.

UVA pal K had invited me to take her spare ticket to hear the Chanticleer Christmas concert at the Met Museum!

Chanticleer is an all-male a cappella group that sings rather classic/medieval songs in 4 part harmony.

The concert was in the medieval hall with the giant Met Museum Christmas tree, and it was fantastic! The group was really tight musically, and they sang some wonderful stuff.

And FAMOUS PERSON SPOTTING: Chelsea Clinton was there with her new husband, Marc Mezvinsky. I guess she's a fellow a cappella Christmas carol lover!

Here is a pic I took of K and me after the concert in front of the Christmas tree in all our blurry holiday joy:

And here's a better one of just the tree - gorgeous!

Theater Freebies: Bells Are Ringing and Brief Encounter

My fever cold hellaciousness has been sandwiched by fantastic theatrical freebies.

It's only today that I've felt well enough to tell you of my exciting night at Encores! For those who don't know, Encores! stages readings/pared down performances of less-performed musicals in a two week whirlwind rehearsal and performance schedule, with big Broadway star casts. It's a great way to see musicals you've never seen before, and very exciting for actors and audience alike.

This was my first Encores! experience, and the show was Bells Are Ringing by Comden/Green/Styne. It was a wonderful piece, and cast members Kelli O'Hara, Will Chase, and more did not disappoint!

Cousin, T, let me be his "plus-one" to the dress rehearsal and it was full of Broadway personalities. Top on my list: I got to shake hands with Hal Prince! Life goal!!

...insert FIVE DAYS OF FEVER AND COUGHING...

And now tonight, T's fab daughter A is taking me and M to see Brief Encounter, which I have been dying to see!!!

Thanks to the whole C clan for singlehandedly making this the best fever freebie theater week ever. :)

Burt's Bees freebie

A little surprise landed on my doorstep on Saturday.

A tiny tube of Burt's Bees Rejuvenating Lip Balm with Acai Berry!

For some time, I've been regularly entering the Lucky Breaks sweepstakes that Lucky Magazine offers online. Sometimes the prizes are grand like vacations or thousands of dollars shopping sprees, but often they are regular sizes of beauty products, like this.

The great thing is, they usually give a ton away. I've gotten items from Ole Henriksen, Elemis, Dove, and now... Burt's!

I encourage everyone to enter monthly here. You win something fairly frequently, I swear!

Holiday Freebie: Elf on Broadway

M & I have a college friend who is actually a bona fide Broadway star! And I try to see him in all his productions, to support his skyrocketing career.

Anyhow, he is currently the star of Elf, a holiday Broadway musical based on the Will Ferrell movie.

Earlier in the week, Broadway cousin, T, invited us to tag along to a preview of the show! Free tickets to see our fellow alum sing in green tights and curly tipped shoes? Yes, please!

I don't think I'm allowed to write anything about the show, since it hasn't officially opened yet, but we had so much fun. Afterwards, we strongarmed our way backstage and got to congratulate our friend on his new role.

Ho ho ho! Two holiday shows already, and it's not even halfway through November. Overkill?

Who cares?!? Ho ho ho!

p.s. Fashionable cousin Z was also at the show, and she gave me a full blow-by-blow of her experience getting the aforementioned free $50 gift certificate at American Eagle earlier this week. She actually skinned a knee in the melee, but also managed to get a free shirt. Freebie Rockstar!

Holly Jolly Freebie: Radio City Christmas Spectacular

What do you say when someone asks if you'd like to drink a huge swig straight from the fount of holiday cheer, you say "Of course!!!" and you gulp, gulp, gulp.

Well, that is precisely what incomparable pal, S, did when he gave me a free ticket to last night's dress rehearsal of the one...the only...

RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR!

Yes folks, I went every year with my grandma as a child. But Grandma never sprung for THIRD ROW TICKETS!!!! Our view before the curtain rose:

Needless to say, there is a sacred, cheesy place in my heart for this time-honored cornball NYC tradition.

And yes, I know it's only early November, but it felt like December 23rd once the fake snow started falling, the REAL fireworks started blasting onstage, the ice rink was rolled out for actual ice skating routines, live camels, sheep and donkeys traipsed the Living Nativity, and the Rockettes did their infamous tin soldier routine:

S invited lady friends T, J and moi. I arrived with bagged treats from Momofuku Milk Bar, which recently opened on 56th St. You must have sweets at the sweetest show in NYC!

There's ample fodder for comedy in a show that bastardizes "The Nutcracker" by having mascot-like bears dance the steps:

For more mockery, check out the QUOTE VOTE on the upper right hand corner of the blog. :)

But you'd have to have a heart of stone to not be at least partially charmed when the Rockettes do their NY at Christmas routine on a double decker tourbus!!

The seats and scale of this freebie were off the charts: A+ Did I mention we were in the THIRD ROW?!?! Let's just say I could tell which Santas were actually roly-poly and which were Rockettes dressed in padded Santa suits!

Thank you, S, for an amazing kick-off to the 2010 Holiday Season!

Holiday Sparkle

A very sweet friend who works for Bobbi Brown arrived at our apartment Friday, and gave me two fistfuls of BB freebies! Hooray for beauty freebies!

These are not-yet-available pieces from Bobbi's holiday 2010 collection, and they look divine.

I cannot wait to try a different clown look every day. I will use every set if it kills me.

Pictured:

modern classic lip and eye palette

day to night warm eye palette

day to night cool eye palette

sparkle glamour quad (eye shadow - this one looks awesome!)

lip gloss trio

THANK YOU, L!!!!!!!!!

Raw Deal

Perhaps in an effort to ameliorate the moon cake cinder block in my stomach, I took up a lovely friend on her offer to use up a gift certificate she had to NYC's premier vegan raw food restaurant, Pure Food and Wine (Irving Pl and 16th).

This was my first foray into the world of raw food. And Pure Food and Wine is arguably the preeminent raw food restaurant in NYC and the world, so I figured it was a good place to start.

Let's get one thing straight: I love raw fruits and vegetables. Almost universally, I prefer them to cooked ones. My mom makes some of the best salads on the planet, and I could specifically eat raw apples, carrots, cucumbers, green beans and apricots until the cows come home.

But Pure Food and Wine ended up costing more than $100 for two people to have four glasses of wine and two appetizers. WHAAAAAA....?

This seems like highway robbery for RAW VEGETABLES. The wine was organic (vegan? not sure this is possible...) and good.

The better of our two dishes was the Green Papaya Salad. It had a spicy, tangy zing and fresh tomatoes ringing the edge. However, I've had better papaya salads at several hole-in-the-wall Thai places, though. At half the cost.

And don't forget the weird health food smell inside (maybe this was in my head, but my friend validated this!), and the creepy Madonna/Courtney Cox arms on most of the patrons.

Thank you lovely friend, E, for a free raw food adventure!