Quick 2AM FRI Picks: )

A GA friend is in town this weekend (hi Chris B.!: ), and he wanted to know a few fun things to do today Fri 3/23, of course!  It's past 2am, so here's a few quick picks that I pulled from newyorkology.com, The Skint, and TimeOut NY:

FRI 3/23

• Free Central Park walking tour at 12:30 p.m.
• Free 3 p.m. screening of “A River Runs Through It” at the Sony Wonder Technology Lab
• Viva and her Power Trio play a free BAMcafé Live show at 9 p.m.
• Thru 3/24 - 1st Annual NYC Improv Festival - featuring troupes from around the country, free-$15
• Just FYI: ) - Empire State Building lights up white, red and white for the New York Red Bulls’ Opening Day (through March 25)
• Walk the High Line if you haven't already - love doing that any day!
• Stop by Jamba Juice for a $2 smoothie (coupon)
• ...and then make a new friend and get Buy 1 Cone Get 1 for 99 cents @ Baskin Robbins (coupon)!
• Dine In Brooklyn - $20.12 for 3 course Lunch, $25 for 3 course dinner - we went to Cadagues last night, it was yummy: )

Hope to have more to post, but here are two more things to put on your calendar for now:

SAT 3/24 - Harry Houdini's Birthday!

SUN 3/25 - Opening of Macy's Flower Show @ Herald Sq, featuring the beauty of Brazil!  Free and beautiful (for a new FB profile pic hehe: ).

Spring Freebies!

Happy First Day of Spring  (and Nat'l Wildlife Week)!

What better way to kick off this new season with some freebies (most deals are today Tues 3/20 only; click on the names for more details)?

• Free RITA'S ITALIAN ICE - Only one location in NY, any flavor of your choice! [12pm - 10pm | 2486 broadway, bet. 92 + 93 Streets]
• MACARON DAY - Stop by one of 16 locations around the city to get your free macaron (say you're there for Macaron Day!).  All pretty convenient locations (see link for more):

• Bouchon Bakery - Rockefeller and Time Warner
• Dominique Ansel Bakery - Soho, near work, yes!
  
• Macaron Cafe - St. Mark's
• Mad Mac Macaron - 59th and Park Ave S.
• Free CHILI's - App or Dessert with Entree (exp. 3/21) - looks like closest is in Jersey City?
• Free OUTBACK - bloomin' onion w/ any purchase! 
• 2 NYC locs: 6th and 23rd, 3rd Ave and 56th St
• Free TWO BOOTS Earth Mother Pizza [4-6pm | many locs - Bleeker St, UWS, W. Village, see here)
• Free GEORGETOWN CUPCAKES from the new Soho loc.  Check the Twitter for the daily secret flavor! [Mercer b/t Spring and Prince]
• Free SKEEBALL  (plus free hot dogs or pretzels w/ every drink) - Tues and Thurs @ Full Circle Bar [318 Grand St, Williamsburg]

I predict a sweet day tomorrow!  ENJOY!

It's the Weekend!

YES - new month, another weekend!  Don't let the rain get you down - get out there and play:

• SAT 3/3

• Ends Today: Japan Week!  Celebrate Japanese food and culture @ Grand Central Terminal.  Yum! [website]
• 5-11pm: BK Museum Target Free Saturday, "Fierce, Phenomenal Women".  Enjoy live music, art, dance, FREE! [website].
• DATE IDEA: Watch 5 Oscar-winning movie The Artist at Nitehawk Cinema in W'burg with food and drink in hand [website] : )

• ALL WEEKEND

• Renttherunway.com sample sale = dress heaven!  I love dressing up...so I'm going back for more tomorrow.  Up to 95% off designer dresses.  Seriously. [250 5th Ave bet 28 and 29th; Sat 11am-6pm, Sun 11am-3pm] - stop by Ktown after for a meal: )
• Jim Henson's Fantastic World @ Museum of Moving Image in Queens, $12 - Oh Kermy! [website]
• 10a-5pm: NYC Vegetarian Food Festival - veggies deserve some lovin' too!  And we like free samples! [$5 gen admission tix at the door, Metropolitan Pavilion - 125 W 18th St.  website]

psst. party themes on my mind: sock hop, ice cream social, black tie - yay: )

Have fun!

Winter JazzFest NYC: 1/6-1/7

I've been on the fence about going - not because of the event itself because I love jazz, but just because of scheduling.  In the end I decided to get a 2 day pass - and mostly because I think I'd regret it more if I didn't go!  

Thanks to Melanie C. for the heads up and for organizing a group to go.  In her words: "I went last year, and it was awesome. You pay one fee for the night and then get unlimited entry to multiple jazz venues in the west village area.  It's a lot of fun, and the music is good."

ABOUT: "The 2012 NYC WINTER JAZZFEST will continue to redeem the rich jazz heritage of the Village and again will bring jazz fans back to Bleecker Street.  The 2012 NYC WINTER JAZZFEST includes over 60 of today's most interesting jazz groups from New York, Brooklyn, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Switzerland, Israel, Cuba, Morocco, Turkey, and Italy."

 

Thankfully, I know an insider to the jazz world (an accomplished musician himself!) Victor L. who gave us the following recos for sets to see tonight, most of them his friends:

• 745p @ Sullivan Hall - Julian Lage Group  (I've met and heard him before - seriously amazing).
• 845pm @ Zinc Bar - saxophonist Miguel Zenon 
• 945p @ Le Poisson Rouge - violinist Jenny Scheinman has a great band called Mischief and Mayhem
  
• 1200am @ Kenny's Castaways - saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa
• ...and if you're REALLY up for it, go check out Big Sam's Funky Nation at 200am @ Sullivan Hall.

For the full schedule, click HERE.
To buy a 1 day or 2 day pass, click HERE - and use discount code CAAL to get $10 off (NOTE: consider getting a 2 day, it comes out cheaper than just getting a 1 day!)

Have a great, jazzy weekend!

Happy 12th Day of Christmas!

Interesting fact of the day - it's the 12th Day of Christmas aka Three Kings Day/El Dia de los Tres Reyes!

Contrary to popular belief, or at least what I knew, the 12 days of Christmas are actually after Christmas, from the day after (Dec. 26, 1st day) to Epiphany or Three King's Day (Jan 6, 12th day).

Epiphany is celebrated as the day that the 3 wise men came to Jesus and presented gifts (Matthew 2: 1-12) and is for some the true day that gifts are given (so the bf and I were not too off by giving each other gifts after the holidays: ).  And as with any celebration, the King's Cake is often had on this day as well.

Of course, there are differences on how and when to celebrate, but I think what's most important is that we do - and also to take the time to reflect and be thankful for all of God's blessings in our lives, for that in itself is a gift.

Read more about the history and a breakdown of what "The Twelve Days of Christmas" song means: HERE.

Here are a few events you can go to commemorate this day (see more details here):

1. Three Kings Day Parade – East Harlem
Friday, January 6 at 10:30am
Begins at 106th Street and Madison Avenue and ends at 115th Street and Park Avenue
FREE

2. Three Kings Day Celebration – Lower East Side
Teatro SEA, 107 Suffolk Street between Delancey and Rivington Streets
Friday, January 6 3-5pm
FREE 

3. Three Kings Day Parade in Brooklyn – Williamsburg
Sunday, January 8 at 2pm
Starts at Meeker and Graham Avenues
FREE 

--> 3 Kings and live camels...and as the parade "godfather" - Tito Nieves , who sang an old fave cha-cha "I Like it Like That" - cool: )

4. Three Kings Day Festival – Williamsburg
El Puente Center for Arts & Culture, 211 S 4th Street between Roebling and Havemeyer Streets
Sunday, January 15 at 1 and 5pm
FREE

Eddie on Cooking Channel!

So cool - Eddie Huang from my Tugboat trip (i.e. the other Love Boat - aka the summer camp in Taiwan for American Born Chinese - yeh yeh!) just kicked off his new show CHEAP BITES, which I randomly came across and am watching now on Cooking Channel.  Super entertaining, and he takes you to check out some good cheap eats around the country.  My kind of show!

Here's an interview he did with Food Republic: "Eddie Huang Got A TV Show.  Earned It" and see the promo vid on his blog The Pop Chef.

You should also check out his NYC spot Baohaus, which the bf and I frequent quite often: ).  I like the Chairman Bao the best - made with pork belly (pictured @ right) - or the Haus Bao with braised beef cheek. Very yummy!

Congrats, Eddie! 

Kick Off 2012 on Broadway!

2012 is already proving itself to be a fun year, especially with these 2 awesome show deals that I just found out about today and couldn't wait to share with you all.  Thanks to newyorkology.com for the post - btw love this site for all things NYC!

SHOWS IN PREVIEW - Only $10!

SHOW 1: Don't Dress for Dinner
IN PREVIEW: Mar 30-Apr 1 shows
DISCOUNT CODE: Access10
TIX: Purchase HERE, $10 total (reg. $67-$117)!  Choose Mezzanine seats for the deal.
WHY I'M EXCITED TO SEE IT: This is the sequel to one of my absolute fave b'way plays, Boeing-Boeing, which won the 2008 Tony for Best Revival.  I saw it at least twice when it was still on broadway.

ABOUT: From Roundabout, it's "about “a husband, a wife, a lover, a mistress and a cook thrown together in the same house for one riotous weekend - and it’s going to be an affair—or three!—to remember."

SHOW 2: Harvey
IN PREVIEW: May 18th -20th shows
DISCOUNT CODE: Access10
TIX: Purchase HERE, $10 total (reg. $37-$122)!  Choose Mezzanine for the deal. 
WHY I'M EXCITED TO SEE IT:  Stars Golden Globe and Emmy Award® winner Jim Parson (of "Big Bang Theory"!) as the invisible 6-foot-tall rabbit friend.  Love: )

ABOUT: Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy by Mary Chase, first showed on broadway in 1944.  Parsons stars as one of modern theatre’s most lovable characters, Elwood P. Dowd. Charming and kind, Elwood has only one character flaw:  an unwavering friendship with a six-foot-tall, invisible white rabbit named Harvey. In order to save the family’s social reputation, Elwood’s sister Veta (Jessica Hecht) takes Elwood to the local sanatorium. But when Dr. William Chumley (Charles Kimbrough) mistakenly commits the anxiety-ridden Veta, Elwood—and Harvey—slip out of the hospital unbothered, setting off a hilarious whirlwind of confusion and chaos as everyone in town tries to catch a man and his invisible rabbit. 

OTHER THEATER DEALS in Jan+Feb
And there's more! 

• Broadway Week - 2-for-1 tix go on sale JAN 4 to see more than 20 shows from JAN 17 - FEB 4, including “Wicked,” “Lion King,” “Jersey Boys” and “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.”
• Off-Broadway Week - same deal, tix also on sale JAN 4, different timeframe - JAN 30 - FEB 12, including “Avenue Q,” “Blue Man Group,” “Rent” and “Stomp.”
• 20at20 - JAN 18 - FEB 16, get $20 tix to over 30 off-broadway shows, 20 min before the show!

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
I have seen some great shows with many of you while they've been in preview (The Importance of Being Earnest (one of my fave), Death Takes a Holiday, Present Laughter), all with the Roundabout Theatre Company, and there isn't a much better deal (except free, which happens occasionally too: ) to experience Broadway.  Seats are in the back, but you see the show all the same!  And if you really like it, you can pay full price and see it again : ).

No thinking involved - just get the tix, take a friend or two (or make it a nice dinner + show date), and enjoy an afternoon/night out in NY! 

Email me (nycolorislife@gmail.com) or check the NYColor Facebook page to find out exact dates I'm going, if you want to meet up with us: )