The Art Parade Comes to Town!

Some days I ask myself, where can I find glittery half naked people hula hooping on roller skates, wal mart protestors "asking" for lower wages, blow up purple octupi and an all out crazy art filled explosion? and on those days I am answered "the art parade of course!" Lucky for us it comes to town tomorrow, Saturday the 8th at 4pm. Running on West Broadway between Houston and Grand it truly is a sight to be scene (and loudly yelled into), get there early for a good spot!

The greatest love story ever told....for FREE!

Another one of summer's all too sweet perks in the city include the infamous Shakespeare in the park presented by The Public theatre. Featuring top notch in-city and imported (from hollywood that is) actors, the shows promise to be filled with big stars, breathtaking sets, and some of the best Shakespeare and classical theater this side of the Rose. Yesterday I had the (ahem) pleasure of waking up at 6am to get in line for the coveted free tickets being handed out at the Delacorte Theater in central park (where the show takes place). Arriving at 7 40 (fucking A train on the weekend) made us number 143 in line, on a Sunday and on opening night. With Scattergories, novels, Othello, cards, blankets, pillows, H and H bagels, hand fans and comic books in tow it ended up being QUITE an enjoyable six hours (thanks Zach and Linds for the great company)! Then, at 1, we were finally given the precious tickets. Our seats were actually quite good, a little off to the right and up but definitely full view, and we brought supplies (you can eat and drink (yes even wine, Shakespeare would be proud, no glass bottles though so be ready to transfer at the gate to a nalgene) in the theater! The set was breathtaking, a water landscape circular and moving (which lead to a hilarious incident when Juliet's bed fell into the fathoms below and the show had to be stopped in the middle, quite wonderful fun!) with various bridges guiding the story's way. Starring Lauren Ambrose as Juliet (and many other wonderful people whose names I do not know off the top of my head) it was probably the best production of R and J I have ever seen. Something about the way the leads were played was just so YOUNG and not in a hurrah I am skipping and have a teddy bear young but I am falling recklessly and passionately and irrationally into love young. And, instead of coming off as TRUE LOVE, it presented itself as a sort of wonderful depiction of that very first time when all bets are off and you'd do anything to be a glove upon that hand.

Here are my tips for the show!

Get tickets Tue- Sun, they are given out at 1pm at the Delacorte in Central Park (near 81st street and west entrance) and at the Public theater at 425 Lafayette just below astor place. They are also distributed throughout the boroughs but you'll have to find that on your own! I would say def get there by 9 if you'd like decent tickets but on other days you can get there much later and still snag a seat! Just beware of the weather, if it rains and the show is canceled you're out of luck! Definitely bring a pillow and a novel and LAYERS. I went in between a sweatshirt freezing to a bikini boiling (and tanning!) throughout the day. They say you all have to arrive at the same time, which is nice for the line but they don't REALLY start monitoring until around 10. That's all my advice, remember 2 tickets per person so if you have an extra give me a call!!!

oh, and the show runs through July 8th, go now!

More blissful gardens!

I took my own advice this morning and enjoyed breakfast at incredible atlas before heading to the 6 and B garden (see previous posts) to enjoy an afternoon of reading and relaxation. To my dismay, however, 6 and B did not open til 1 and it was 12 30 and my current read, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, weighs approximately 30 pounds! What's a girl to do? Discover another garden right near by!

On 6th street between avenue A and B lies "The Creative Little Garden". Fitting into the space of a townhouse or two, this joyful little area hosts a variety of benches and tables, little design elements and sculptures, small areas of flowers and a birdbath with one VERY bold blue jay. Sitting underneath a towering tree, hearing birds chirp around me in this quiet sanctuary was exactly the sort of respite I was looking for within which to indulge my novel side. Go immediately, I say, just don't tell EVERYONE you know, at least not while I'm there!

The garden is open Sat and Sunday, 12-5

Shakespeare on the Run!

Welcome to the beginning of summer and the plethora of events occurring right in NYC which are outdoors, fun, entertaining and best of all free! I'll kick off June with my absolute most favorite of events, Shakespeare on the Run brought to you by The New York Classical Theatre.
This twist on Shakespeare summer loving is that you get to move through Central Park throughout the show! While the story begins at 103rd street and central park west (take the C to 103) right inside the park, you run after actors as they show progresses (ok ok, not actual running but you can make it into a sport by dodging trees and bikers!). They actors use the scenery of the park well, are dressed in full period costume and incorporate flashlights as dusk settles. PLUS it's a great introduction to classical theater for kids as you can move around the park! grab some Bombay Frankie's before the show and bring a blanket that you can easily scoop up and move along!

Now playing through June 24th, Love's Labour's Lost, Thu through Sunday at 7pm.

More Tag sale lovin on Saturday the second!

Tag sale season lives on in this time of 90 degree days in not-yet-June NYC. I've explained my love of such sales in a previous post (see the Perry Street tag sale boost) but would like to expand upon the type of goodies an astute and able "plucker" can find at such an event. At the Perry Street event (which is all but a carbon copy of what Jane Street holds) I found....

A velvet label never-worn summer dress- $6
A purple striped strapless dress with satin sash $10
A brown and white polka dotted Vivian Tam designer dress $20
Tan leather flats $10
The Kite Runner - $1
Ghostwritten- $1
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - $1
The Plot Against America - $2
Long beaded wooden necklace -$2
In total, three dresses, a pair of shoes, a necklace and four books for a mere 53 bucks!

So you've basically got to go to what may be the last of the grand summer tag sales at Jane street west of Hudson. Enjoy!

THIS JUST IN: BONUS sale right nearby on West 12th between Greenwich and Washington , whoo hoo!

Jazz me up!

Hello loves!

1) Sorry it's been a few days, I would say it was finals week but clearly that is not an excuse!
2) I have recently caught wind of another great event happening this Saturday; Free Jazz! The Jazz center at Lincoln Center's Middle School Jazz academy, which offers scholarships for 14 students in 4 of the five boroughs, is having a free concert at the Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall on Broadway and 60th street at both 1 and 3pm. Sure to blow your mind, it just may be a tinch inspirational too. And who doesn't love summer jazz, for FREE?!

"Garage Sale" on Perry Street

How I love this time of the year, the tulips are out the birds are singing and rich west village people are getting rid of their things for cheap cheap cheap! This Saturday hosts a day long (10-6) street long (on Perry between 4th and Bleecker) street garage sale sure to host some goodies. I've been to many similar events and have found such niceties such as a hardback copy of Freakonomics for 2 bucks and a large comfy 100 percent cashmere sweater for 7. It's always a good place to check out antiques and jewelry and as the weather is supposed to be beautiful, it's just a wonderful way to spend an afternoon! See you rummaging through the stands! oh and rain date is sunday!

POP! kA-pOW! Slam! STREB!

Finally I was able to soak in one of, I believe the most innovative and heart pumping shows in NYC, STREB! A "modern dance" group around since 1985, Streb's pieces take the form of pop action where members through themselves from incredible heights, slam themselves into planks of wood, run and tumble into and off of what can only be described as a giant hamster wheel and crash, bang, fall and amaze in their SLAM (Streb Lab for Action Mechanics) studio. While the place is always packed with kids I assure you this show is not only awe inspiring (see how far water can be flung and how many different ways to jump into a pool with splsh) and gasp inducing (dance between concrete blocks as they swing inches from your face anyone?) But also is beyond inspiring in showing what our bodies can take and in how many different ways they can take it. It just urges you to move and explore what can be done with yourself as well as we push the bounds of not only imagination, but ourselves.

The show runs Fri- Sun until June 17th. Find out more info here. Watch video demos here. (just watch them, even if you don't want to go) You're truly missing out if you don't catch this show and don't forget to get CLOSE!

When: Fri and Sat at 7, Sat and Sunday at 3pm through June 17th
Where: SLAM, 51 North 1st street in Brooklyn. Take the L to Bedford walk down to first, take a right onto first and walk towards the water. (If you want to grab food before hand I suggest the Bagel Place, when you get to Bedford and first (before the studios) take a right on Bedford and walk two blocks, the BLT's (4.25) are to die for.
How much: 20 adults, 10 kids.

6 and B, How I love thee

It's a gorgeous day and I'd like to honor my favorite community garden in all of NYC, 6 and B!
Located on avenue B and 6th street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It's a little fairy village with tumbling plants cascading over the narrow paths winding around the garden. Tiny little hideouts, a gazebo and one amazing sculpture of wood reaching 60 feet in the sky (though the hanging stuffed animals creep me out it's very whimsical in a return to childhood sort of way).

The garden is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 1-6 (and during other events) and boasts a wide array of free events ranging from sunrise yoga on Mondays at 7am to movie nights and artist photo showings in the summers. They also have a lot of events for kids, craft days, poetry workshops and book readings. Basically, it's a bit of heaven.

Cheap Date edition (Grab sunday brunch at Atlas on 2nd Avenue between 4th and 5th. For $5.50 you can make your own delicious omelet (I recommend feta cheese, sweet onions and mushrooms) with a bagel AND a side salad. Plus, they have outdoor seats on the east village sidewalk. Amazing!

Get OUT! (side)

As I sit here procrastinating from studying and with a new sunburn on my back, I realize how amazing it is to be out of doors and running around without a care in the world. This, my friends, is a post-ode to running around on grass barefoot, wide open spaces and fresh blue air.

Not in New York City you say! Wrong! Wrong wrong!

Today I experienced what was perhaps the most satisfying morning of my life at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens which I have now mentioned in this not even one week old post THREE TIMES. These gardens are not only free on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 10am- noon (except on holidays/ festivals like next Saturdays cherry blossom viewing) but offer wide expanse of spaces in which to frolick, run, and do piggy back races! The cherry blossoms were gorgeous and the mood was perfect in which to celebrate this over 70 degree day!

Now, here are some issues with said park. You are not allowed food (rat problem) blankets (oxygen problem) sport activities aka Frisbees (who knows what problem) or, as Ethan or Ben put it, Mirth. No worries though, get there early enough to stake out a spot at cherry lane and eat your packed lunch (though the cafe's prices were reasonable I am told by my paying friends) when the guards aren't looking, same to frisbee. If you would like a code name to shout out when you see a 'Curity (as Roma called him) guard, you can borrow our code word "Jake" and call it a day. The picture is us playing frisbee at Cherry lane shortly before getting busted.

There are other less-known places to visit in the boroughs, however and so far my favorite has got to be the Alley Pond Environmental Center. While it takes nearly a good two hours to get to this haven from the city (though I was with an 8 year old and we were, I believe, stuck on a train that stopped for a large chunk of time, so, come to think of it, that may be wildly inaccurate, but still it's FAR), this place boasts over 635 acres of woodlands, marshes, and trails which are beyond gorgeous and that's coming from a New England gal. The paths are almost mystical as they wind around bamboo trees and pass by cranes and you can't imagine being farther from the city. My companion and I barely saw anyone else there the entire day and the visitors center boasts a fantastic mini-zoo (v mini mind you) with rabbits and chinchilla's and the like and the workers were all too happy to take the critters out of the cages and let us pet them. For anyone seeking refuge from the city, this is the place to be and guess what? It's FREE. Always. AMAZING!

It's in Queens but the website will do a MUCH better job of explaining how to get there. Just put on some sneakers, pack a book and lunch and go.

Free as I like it (Picasso would too)

Here's a list of museums in the city and the nights they have "pay as you wish" aka free days. Keep in mind that many museums are pay as you wish all the time (ie the Met, though the guards might stare you down if you don't give a buck or two) these are just the nights that museums allow you to go all out on your broke-ness. These nights can be more crowded but enjoy away!

Tuesdays:
Brooklyn Botanical Garden, all day!
Wave Hill, all day


Thursdays:
New Museum of Contemporary Art, 6-8pm (note! I got this one from another website, it might need verification!)
Children's Museum of the Arts, 4-6pm

Fridays:
MOMA, 4: 30- 8: 15pm
Whitney, 6-9pm
Guggenheim, 5:45- 7:45pm (last ticket issued at 7:15)
Asia Society, 6-9pm
Bronx Museum of the Arts, All day!
International Center of Photography, 5-8pm

Saturdays:
Brooklyn Botanical Garden, 10am-noon
Jewish Museum, 11 am - 5: 45pm
Wave Hill, 9am- noon
Studio Museum in Harlem, First Sat of each month

what about the met you ask? sillies, it's ALWAYS "pay as you wish"! ;)

DISCLAIMER: clearly I do not advocate putting these fine fine institutions, least of all the Met, out of business by failing to pay admissions. For the time being while we are broke 20somethings though, I think we could all use a little relief. Those of you who will actually be making big bucks some day can pay back for the rest of us when you wish you were young and eating only mac and cheese again!