Holiday Freebie: A Little Humbug

Bah Humbug!

Come support cousin M in a free reading of Charles Dickens' classic "A Christmas Carol!"

When: Monday, December 20th at 6pm

Where: All Souls Unitarian Church on 80th Street and Lexington Avenue

It should last about an hour, and has a bunch of actors playing the voices. Just the thing for the last few days of work before Christmas!

Upcoming Freebie Events: mid-November

Two more freebie events in the coming week and a half. Feel free to RSVP!



The Wedding Salon (aka BIG wedding event!!!):

Monday, November 15th (4-9PM) in Manhattan

I just got an email from NY Magazine giving a free entrance code for two tickets, available for Brides at this event, which usually costs $25 to attend. Click on the image above to see the Code and Website you need to enter. Forward to any NYC engaged pals!

Second, another Williams-Sonoma book signing event. I'm going to try and attend this one!

Featuring Christine Hanna, of The Winemaker Cooks: Menus, Parties, and Pairings.

It's at their NYC Columbus Circle store, Wednesday, November 10th at 5pm. I assume wine will be involved somehow, right?

Zombie Book Reading

The Carrie Ryan zombie book reading at the Williams Club was a mixed bag...and I don't mean bag o' trick or treating candy! (terrible...terrible...)

Lovely friend and lovely cousin, A & A, joined me at the Princeton Club for Friday's book reading. When we got there, there was nary a "Halloween goodie" or "cider" in sight! The event organizers lied!!! This was a bare bones book event, with a carafe of water on a table set with glasses.

So, it gets a D for food and drink.

However, Carrie Ryan was charming, funny, and truly excited about her success as a NYT bestselling author of zombie teen lit. She did a reading from her upcoming novel, "The Dark and Hollow Places," and it was dark and suspenseful. I'd buy it!

A for entertainment at this freebie event!

And as I left the Williams (aka Princeton) Club, I was blindsided by a spectacular freebie view - one of those awesome NYC moments.

At first glance, just a view of the Chrysler building through a NYC sidestreet...


But the way the sunset reflected off the top of the building and the golden bath of sunlight on that gorgeous skyscraper - I had to stop and take another close-up picture:
Sometimes walking the NYC streets is the best freebie of all. :)

Chef Event

Williams-Sonoma is great with their chef and cooking class events (more on those soon!), but I wanted to put this freebie event to meet chef Michael Chiarello at a book signing in NYC next week:

Date: Tuesday, Nov 2nd (I will be at a not-free Broadway show!)

Time: 5pm

Location: The W-S on 59th St just west of Lexington Ave

These events usually have yummy food and some kind of beverage. And if you buy the cookbook, you can get a signed copy - a great holiday gift!

Halloween Weekend Events

There are two NYC events this weekend that I hope you'll consider.

The first is a Zombie Book Reading event!

FRIDAY, Oct 29th at the Princeton Club from 6-8pm: Williams College alum and NYT bestseller Carrie Ryan '00. Apparently she writes novels set "after the zombie apocalypse." ooooooh! Halloween goodies and cider provided - yum!

Call (212) 596-1261 to rsvp

The second event (which I sadly cannot attend!) is the launch of

The Wedding Shop at Lord & Taylor

See evite here:



Bridal events are some of the very best lifestyle freebie events out there, so I hope some of you will attend this Saturday, from 1-3pm this weekend!

RSVP via email to: rsvp@lordandtaylor.com with "Weddings" in the subject heading.

This is a good time for me to emphasize the importance of RSVPing at freebie events.

a) It's good form. If these businesses and hosts are going to be nice enough to welcome you to a freebie event, RSVP! It gives them an idea of what numbers to expect.

b) Even though some freebie events just appear on the floor of a department store and anyone can walk in, there is often a velvet rope and lady with a checklist. If you're not on the list, you're not allowed in. And all this embarrassment could have been avoided with an RSVP.

c) It gets you on lists for future freebie events! Once you prove yourself to be a valued freebie shopper/attendee/supporter/etc, you will be invited to more lifestyle events. I'll never forget how a quick cocktail event at the Judith Lieber store transitioned my name onto a list for an insanely glitzy tourism event for the principality of Monaco at the Conde Nast building. Ditto a Michael C. Fina/Whitney Port party that yielded a personal invitation to Ivanka Trump's jewelry launch. I'm not pulling your leg, people!