Free Stuff!

Good morning, readers! I wanted to get to you bright and early today to make sure you could take advantage of two treats that spring is bearing! Starting at noon at most locations today, Ben and Jerry's will be giving away a free scoop of ice cream! Dunkin Donuts, too, is in on the fun, with 50-cent iced coffee day! Notice the exclamation marks people, this is big news. Enjoy!

Link of the Day

Today's link of the day gets you more of a value lunch than even the ramen quiche below. Yes, we're talking cheaper than $0.85. What could be cheaper than $0.85? A free lunch at Quiznos, that's what. Click here to get yours!

Budget Finds: Remnants from the First Depression

In light of my uber-budget mindset this week, I've found an uber-special budget find. One of my favorite magazines (with a not-so-budget subscription rate) asked a number of contemporary artists to re-envision poster designs and slogans from the great depression era. The results, for the most part, are really cool, and I wouldn't mind having some of these framed in my home. Good thing, because they're free to print right here. Try a little bit of super-cheap lamination at your local Fed-Ex Kinko's and you'll be all set with some uber-budget (and uber-chic) decor!




See all the designs (and print them free!) right here. Enjoy!

Link of the Day/FREE finds!

I know that today isn't budget finds day, but does a free find count as a budget find, necessarily? I think this falls into its own category... and lo and behold, there's already an existing label for "free stuff" here at eatmywords!

Let's not stall any longer... apartment therapy has discovered something that none of you should miss! Unless, of course, you don't like modern interpretations of nature-y designs. I realize that may be a decently sized chunk of you (male readers, perhaps? I don't mean to constantly isolate you boys), but I'm certain that anyone looking for free gifting ideas could make use of this.



Mibo, a really cool design company that does lots of nature-inspired accessories, came out with this cool 2009 calendar--the colors are gorgeous, and it's all online and FREE. There's really no reason not to print yourself out a copy and hang it in the office, the kitchen, or above the desk.

And since all "free" things have some kind of catch, I'll let you know what this one is--all you have to do is sign up for their mailing list. For those of you who hate spam, keep in mind that spam filters are always wonderful for this sort of reason (not that I'm advocating that you exploit the nice little company that gives out free pretty calendars.)

Anyway, enjoy!

Free Food Alert! And Chipotle, Too!

I had a different post planned for this morning, but the budget-consciousness in me had to intervene! You see, a last minute deal came up--something you need to read about, especially if you (like me) happen to work in Midtown Manhattan.

But what could be more important than the post you were so eager to share, Red?

Ahhh, good question. Rarely does Red think about dinner before noon, but today is a special day. Chipotle, everyone's favorite fast-food indulgence, will be giving away burritos from 5-7 at their new location on west 45th between 5th and 6th!




And the best part? It's happening for three weeks! On Tuesdays only, of course, but still!

Happy Burrito!

For the Love of Olive Oil

The last few days seem like a crazy blur, so much was going on around here. On Friday, I had my training day at work, and it was a lot of fun and I acclimated quite well! As easy as it is to roll your eyes at celebrity magazines, I have to say that working for them sure is a hoot--I'm getting paid to read about Miley Cyrus' birthday bash and Hayden Panettiere's love for whales... seriously.

But this weekend was filled with lots of excitement in addition to that. Most notably, the wonderful boyfriend came in for the weekend, and with great timing! I won a raffle for a free olive oil tasting party at the Olive Oil & Co. store in the West Village, and, knowing that the boy's family has been collecting olive oil for decades, I planned the event around his visit.


We learned about the production of olive oil, and were surprised to hear that there's a huge problem with olive oil fraud in the states. Believe it or not, the cheap bottles you see in the supermarket are oftentimes filled with mostly canola oil! According to our super-cool olive oil professor, the profits of fake olive oil trade are equal to (or even exceed!) that of the cocaine market!


We tasted a variety of olive oils and learned about the different tasting notes to look for, which was really unusual and fun! Then we learned about balsamic vinegar, and were equally surprised to hear that it's not really balsamic unless it's certified by the Modena Council (in Modena, Italy). As it seems, balsamic isn't balsamic unless is comes from Modena (much like Champagne and Parmesan are specific to their own regions) and it must be aged in a very specific way as it reduces down to its wonderful, syrupy goodness. Who knew?

After so much learning (and tasting!), we got a chance to eat appetizers made with store products, such as wonderful goat cheese crostini topped with mandarin olive oil and parmesan cheese with cherry-infused balsamic.




I immediately felt inspired and imagined baking a chocolate cake with mandarin olive oil or grilling thai shrimp skewers with chili-infused oil--despite the logical impulse to not spend money on such luxury goods, I ended up bringing both home.

But strangely, what I may have loved most was this clever and beautiful oil lamp... it's a little bit Judah Macabee, but I'm a huge fan!

head's up!

For anyone in the city searching for entertainment tonight, the NY Philharmonic is playing a free concert in central park! It's the last one of the summer, and it's an amazing lineup:

Concerts in the Parks - Great Lawn in Central Park, Manhattan
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 8 PM
Alan Gilbert, Conductor | Lang Lang, Piano
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1
Beethoven: Symphony No. 4
Sibelius: Finlandia

Hope to see y'all there!