Curb Alert!

What Recession Girl doesn't need a little singing and dancing in her Wednesday night?

Respond to the craisglist ad below to get free tickets for tonight to a new musical, "Sessions."

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/zip/1059877766.html

Recessionista Swindle of the Day

During my twice-monthly clearance-rack leggings haul, a Ryan Seacrest-channeling GAP salesman let me in on a few little secrets ...
1. Keep you receipt. At most stores, if the item you bought goes on sale within the following 14 days after purchase, you may simply bring in the receipt and be returned the difference. (We love free money!)
2. At the GAP, Banana Republic, Old Navy or any of it's other sister stores, there is a trick to discovering whether the item will be reduced. If your item's price (even sale price) ends in a 0 or a 9, (as in $45.50 or $12.99) the item will continue to go down. If an item ends in a 7 (like the fab shirt i got a few months ago that cost $2.97), that is the final price.
3. Green tights really look flattering on no one.

We're all in this thing together

Per usual, Time Out New York has the most wonderful Stimulus Plan for 2009 to get us eating, drinking, laughing and enjoying the community that is this most expensive city of ours. Get it now - hot off the press, or check it out right here:

"New York made cheap! Just because you're broke doesn't mean you can't get out and enjoy the city. We've got the ultimate guide to low-cost life in NYC. From delicious recession specials to the best free music, TONY has you covered with a live Twitter deal feed and a chatroom box to share tips."
http://www.timeout.com/newyork/articles/make-money-save-money/71931/your-2009-stimulus-plan?cmpid=TONY022609

The Lunchbox is the New Clutch

Recession Girl’s Most Fantastic Black Bean Soup

5 cans black beans, drained (or 1 bag dried black beans,* soaked overnight and drained)
7 cups vegetable broth (you can use vegetable bouillon cubes - 1.5 cubes to each cup of water)
4 stalks celery, chopped into smallish pieces
1 medium sized onion, chopped
1 head spinach
2 dried chili peppers
4 carrots, cut into coins (but not too thin)
5 cloves garlic
1 tblspoon basil, oregano
olive oil
lemon
cilantro
2 avocados

sauté garlic and onion in olive oil for about 10 ten minutes (which means olive shouldn’t be too hot and you should be stirring regularly). Add onion, sauté for about 3 minutes; add celery, sauté for about 1 minute. Add black beans and vegetable broth, oregano, basil, chili peppers. Bring to boil and then simmer for 1.5 hours if using canned beans and 2.5 hours if using “formerly” dried beans. Serve hot, top with a squeeze of lemon, a few slices of avocado and some bits of chopped cilantro.

*Recessiongirl’s “make it cheap” tip: use dried black beans – they are much less expensive than canned and all you need to do to prepare is soak them overnight and cook for just a bit longer. This is a great tip to save some pennies – soak beans, and then freeze them in their water until you need them!

If you have extra avocado, make sure you store it with some extra lemon - keeps it fresh.

Buen provecho!

Curb Alert!

If the winter blues have you down, a (free!) pair of pretty parakeets may have you singing a new tropical tune!

Check out this craigslist ad:
http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/zip/1056059897.html

Low Roller Fun

Literary Libations at (Le) Poisson Rouge,
158 Bleeker Street, NY, NY
Wednesday 03.04.09

Join InDigest Online Lit Mag for their monthly reading series, featuring authors reading their own works as well as the works that inspired them.
Free, including drink specials from 6-10pmas well as a

FREE ABSINTHE TASTING from 6-7pm.

http://www.indigestmag.com/events.htm
Jibade-Khalil Huffman and Paul Dickinson
6pm doors 7pm reading
http://jibadekhalilhuffman.com/http://www.electricarcradio.com/about/cast-crew/paul-dickinson/
Jibade-Khalil Huffman was born in Detroit and raised in Florida. His poetry, fiction and photography have appeared in Boston Review, Court Green, NOON, Aufgabe, and Encyclopedia, among others. Educated at Bard College and Brown University, his awards include the Grolier Poetry Prize and fellowships from the Millay Colony for the Arts and the Ucross Foundation. “19 Names For Our Band” is his first book.

Paul D. Dickinson is a poet based in Minneapolis/ St. Paul. His work has appeared in City Pages, The St. Paul Pioneer Press, Request.com, and Conduit. Dickinson has read on Minnesota Public Radio, 93.7 "The Edge", KFAI, and 89.3 "The Current". He currently hosts the "Riot Act Reading Series" , a cutting edge literary event that features national and international writers. His latest spoken word CD is "Lord Byron Gets Busted" on Speedboat Records . He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from UMASS Amherst.

Recessionista Swindle of the Day

We've all seen how the recession has impacted airlines. There was the time you almost starved to death on a six hour cross country flight because the flight attendent insisted that no they did not even have that bag of peanuts you knew they were hiding back there somwehere. Or the time you shamelessly flirted with the older (ahem) gentleman at the airport bar in hopes of not having to foot the bill for the $15 cocktail you ordered to calm yourself while waiting for the next available flight - after you got bumped from yours due to "overbooking." And then there's the checked bag fee. I have to pay $25 to wait forever at baggage claim, because I can't squeeze my rolly into that tiny tiny box? A way around this fee has been discovered thanks to Recession Girl's habit of accidently packing things like large bottles of hair gel, knives (from the picnic in the park last weekend!), and other no-nos into her carry-on. Even if your bag is too big to ever be allowed to be carried on to the plane, keep it with you until the security check. Then, when they discover that juice bottle in your bag that you absolutely refuse to have thrown out, you can begrudgingly allow to have them check it for you - at no fee.