Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center

I recently realized I have never written about the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center. Every night at 6 PM, thank to Target, the Kennedy Centers offers free performances ranging from Irish Step dancing to Jazz to Lesbian poetry. You can look at the schedule of what's going to be on the stage in advance on their website.

You can get to the Kennedy Center by taking a free shuttle that leaves every 15 minutes from Foggy Bottom Metro and takes you to the Kennedy Center's front doors.

While the majority of the shows are in the back foyer of the Center, sometimes you'll get lucky and the show will be in one of the theaters.

For example...

Monday, December 7, 2009

Norwegian Visions: Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Håkon Kornstad
Håkon Kornstad
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten
IN THE THEATER LAB
Double bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and saxophonist/flutonettist Håkon Kornstad have established themselves as two of the most driven young musicians on the world jazz scene. On their recent album, Elise, the duo uses unique Norwegian hymns as a basis for their improvisation. Created in 1995, Norwegian Visions is a cultural partnership program initiated by the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Politics and Prose

Near Comet Ping Pong, on the border of DC and MD is the 25- year old book store, Politics and Prose. Quite different than Busboys and Poets, offering social justice events and open mic, or Kramers, offering a chance to socialize over a great piece of pie, Politics and Prose has a different author every day and night come in to speak about their recent book. In fact, Julie Andrews did a book reading there with her daughter earlier this week. Their book reading events are free- so enjoy!

To see their event calendar and which authors are coming up, click here.

Their address is: 5015 Connecticut Avenue NW, a 15 min-walk from the Van Ness Metro or they have a small parking lot for customers.

Terra Cotta WARRIORS @ Nat Geo

You may have recently walked over some warriors on the metro grounds recently. Well, these were an ad for a really neat exhibit at the National Geographic. Sadly, for the first time Nat Geo is charging an entrance fee because these life-size warriors are pretty expensive to ship.

While the normal cost is $12 for adults, I present good news for us frugal people below!

Free Wednesdays presented by The PIMCO Foundation

With generous support from The PIMCO Foundation, 200 free day-of tickets will be available for the 6:00 p.m. exhibition viewing every Wednesday. Tickets will be distributed at 5:30 p.m. with a limit of two tickets per person.

Ebates!

I know I've written previously about the magical ebates.com but now that I just received my second "big fat check" in the mail I realized I had to insist all of my followers join now.

Basically many websites link themselves to ebates and when you are going to buy anything online (airline ticket, computer memory, blinds, clothing) if you click through to the website through ebates, you get 2-10 percent cash back!

To join click this link: http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=gLRlWG0ngWiOGXPRtcqOXQ%3D%3D . You even get $5 in your account just for joining!

Oh Metro how you failed me....

The other day I walked into a metro station, swiped my card, and then received a call that a friend was nearby and would give me a ride home. So I left the station without using Metro. My friend suggested I call Metro to ask for a refund since they can easily see my card's history and that I entered and exited the same station within minutes.

I tried doing this today and learned about their unjust policy.

The only reason Metro will issue a refund is if your train is more than ten minutes late because of Metro's mistake. If you enter and leave the station by mistake they will not issue you a refund.

I'm quite disturbed by this policy and think we should call call to issue a complaint: 202-637-1328.

FREE PIE Today

FREE PIE TASTING TODAY!

Make your day extra sweet with the perfect lunchtime treat. Stop by for free pie and the chance to win great prizes. All are invited.

FREE PUMPKIN PIE TASTING
Tuesday, October 20th from 11:30am - 1:30pm
Outside of the Marriott at Metro Center (12th & H, NW) and the JW Marriott (14th & Pennsylvania, NW)
(Supplies are limited so stop by early!)

www.foodandfriends.org/pielaunch

(Copy and Paste the info above or use the Forward to a Friend link to invite your friends and colleagues to attend)

Just for stopping by either location, you can enter to win great prizes -- such as Roundtrip Airfare.

In addition to the pumpkin pie you'll be tasting, we are offering four other delicious flavors -- apple, sweet potato, pecan and a creamy chocolate cheesecake. Each pie purchased through Slice of Life will provide one full day of meals for a neighbor in need. Buy Your Pies!

Travel Internationally for Free!

My husband Shawn and I avid travelers and love to go abroad. This past summer we went to Argentina but I didn't pay for my ticket. I got it free with American Airlines points. Last summer Shawn and I both went to a wedding in Los Angeles. Again both of our tickets were free because of our American Airlines points. We don't travel enough to have earned these points ourselves. We got them through the Citi American Airlines credit card.

Every year we both get credit card offers for Citi American Airlines. Basically they waive the credit card fee for the first year and if you spend $750 on the card in the first four months you get 30,000 bonus miles in your account. I sign up for this card, get the 30,000 miles, and then cancel. Every year I do the same thing. It costs 60,000 miles for international travel so every two years Shawn and I get a free international trip!

Some friends have stated that they are concerned that this plan will hurt their credit score. I definetely would not suggest this idea for my friends who have credit card debt or are about to purchase a home or who only have a $3,000 available in credit to them. However, your credit score is affected by your available credit to debt ratio. So if you have 50,000 available in credit and only have a $1,000 balance that you pay in full each month opening and closing one card a year probably isn't going to be detrimental to your score.

Decide for yourself. Know your credit score. Don't carry credit card debt. Buy your first home before the $8k first-time homebuyer credit expires this November!

Free Birthday Treats in the Washington, DC Area!

My birthday was this past week and I will be celebrating the entire month due to all the birthday meal free entree coupons I've received.

Here is a list of the free birthday treats I take advantage of every year.

Benihana's: Free entree (up to $30 value) for the month of your birthday. What you need to do: Join their online chef's table. The Benihanas in the Georgetown mall closed so you need to go to the location in Bethesda or Dulles.

Mei's Asian Bistro: This place is located in Arlington and they will mail you a free entree for the month of your birthday (up to $15). I received mine by signing up for their birthday club at Mei's. Their address is 2424 Washington Blvd, just a few blocks from the Claredon Metro.

Bangkok Bisto: Bangkok is located in Georgetown on Prospect and Wisconsin. This is the one place that will only give you a free entree (up to $12.99) on your birthday only. You just need to come in with an ID that has your bday on it and one other person (who has a different birthday than you!).

Capitol Restaurant Concepts, which ownes Neylas, Georgia Brown, Old Glory, J Pauls, Pik a Pita, and Paolo's, will give you a free appetizer along with your entree purchase. This deal is for anyone who signs up for their email list and isn't for your birthday. Sign up here.

Unos Chicago Grill also offers a free appetizer with the purchase of two entrees and other offers throughout the year. Sign up here.This offer is for signing up for their email list. For your birthday you will get a coupon for $10 off a $$25 purchase.

Ted's Montana Grill offers birthday people on their listserv a free cookie and ice cream dessert. However for a better value, you can usually get buy one get one free entrees at Ted's through their website email offers and more discounts through restaurants.com. Sign up for their email list here.

For dessert, you can sign up for MaggiMoos email list to get free ice cream on your birthday (value for a few weeks past your birthday too. Thee is a Maggi Moos in Adams Morgan on 18th Street.
You can also sign up for Cold Stone Creamery e-list to get free ice cream with one mix-in on your bithday month. Sign up here.

I suggest creating a junk email account for all these email lists and checking it your birthday month so you can take advantage of all the free food!

Let me know what I missed!

Stephanie