Happy Macaron Day! Enjoy Free Sweets!

Credits: Julien Haler

It seems as if the macaron has replaced the cupcake as the baked good dujour. This is true, it has. So why not celebrate its deliciousness. Today is Macaron Day and throughout New York City, you can get your macaron on for free. Sponsored by François Payard Bakery and benefiting Cityharvest, the following participating bakeries are giving out free, yes FREE, macarons while supplies last. This is just a few of the participating bakeries:
Bisous, Ciao. Macarons, 101 Stanton Street (212) 260-3463, and 235 Bleecker Street (212)-675-6366
Bosie Tea Parlor, 10 Morton Street (212) 352-9900
Bakery at Time Warner Center, Ten Columbus Circle, Third Floor, (212) 823-9366
Bouchon Bakery at Rockefeller Center, One Rockefeller Plaza, (212) 782-3890
Butterfield Market, 1114 Lexington Avenue (212) 288-7800
Épicerie Boulud, 1900 Broadway, (212) 595-0303
Francois Payard Bakery, 1775 Broadway/3 Columbus Circle, (212) 956-1775
FP Patisserie, 1 W 59th St, (212) 759-1600
Macaron Café, 161 West 36th Street (212) 566-8300, 44 E. 59th Street (212)995-0888, and 750 Third Avenue (212)995-0888
Macaron Parlour, 111 St. Marks Place (347) 979-6023
Mad-Mac “The Authentic French Macarons” at Bernardaud, 499 Park Avenue at 59th Street, (973) 225-0930
Mille Feuille Bakery and Café, 552 Laguardia Pl (646) 626-6472
Todd English Food Hall at The Plaza Hotel, 1 W 59th St, (212) 986-9260
For the full list click link. So cancel the rest of the day and put that unlimited Metro card to use and Macaron hop. Come back here and tell the readers which are the best in town.

A sampling of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals to get you excited

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If you are willing to brave the crowds or deal with a slower page load here are some Black Friday and Cyber Monday beauty deals that cannot be missed:

Beautysage.com: They are offering 20% site wide until Saturday, November 24th.

C.O. Bigelow: They are offering 20% off site wide now through Tuesday, November 27th.

Sabon: Starting Black Friday through Cyber Monday enjoy 20% off our entire collection.

Bath and Body Works: They are having VIP Black Friday goodie bags that are filled with the following:

• Cashmere Glow Body Lotion
• Cashmere Glow Shower Gel
• Paris Men’s Shower Gel
• Paris Amour Body Lotion
• Sparkling Pink Champagne Anti-Bac Foaming Hand Soap
• Mini Candle in Cranberry Bellini
• Gauze Sponge

WHAT IT COSTS: $20 with any $40 in-store purchase (over $100 value)

INGLOT Cosmetics: Starting at 3AM on Black Friday receive 20% off your entire purchase until 3AM on the 27th. 

Bobbi Brown: Every purchase until Sunday receives a trio of deluxe sized samples, free shipping and a specially sized lip gloss. Starting Monday, orders will receive 5 free samples and free shipping. 

Nature’s Gate: For their new Facial Care Collection they are offering 40% off any product in honor of their 40th anniversary. Enter code CYB40 at check out

Hitchin a ride

Side Car

Stick your hand out in San Francisco and it may become a tad tired.  No you are not competing to get the world record for keeping your arm out, but trying to hail a taxi.  Twenty minutes pass and nada.  Well low and behold if you have a smart phone (you do this is San Francisco) download the app Side Car.  Side Car is your answer to a taxi drought.  It is a community based service where prescreened, approved drivers use their own vehicles to drive you from point A to point B for a price significantly cheaper than taxis. 

So what you do is tell Side Car where you are, and where you are going.  It will then tell you the average community price and the closest driver.  When a driver accepts your route a picture of said driver and their vehicle will pop up.  Additionally, it will tell you how far away your ride is.  Gone are the days of sticking your hand out and in are the days when you know you can go back and grab a bottle of wine before your ride comes (true story).  When you arrive at your location, you pay through your phone and rate the driver.  The driver rates you as well.  How else will someone agree to pick you up next time, or you choose that driver if they don’t have stellar reviews.  If you pay the community average and are not a bumbling idiot you will get your four stars.

Skeptical?  So was I, but I just returned from San Fran and used Side Car the whole trip.  After dining with a friend who lived in town she suggested used Side Car to go get ice cream.  Since I was with a group, I agreed and the rest is history.  After our fabulous driver got us there safely I downloaded the app.  Because my friend recommended me, I got $10, and so did she.  Talk about incentive, especially since the average ride is around $10.  For the rest of the trip before heading to dinner we would tell Side Car where we were going.  In less than 10 minutes our clean, safe ride was there.  As I took my last Side Car ride to the airport I longingly hope for the day where Nashville is the next city they choose to start service. 

Get Paid to Spend Money

You know I love to shop.  The majority of my check ins on foursquare are in retail locations, but no one is paying me to set foot in there.  What if they were?  Well we would have a major problem and my spacious closet would be far from it.  However, there are some incentives to get shopping on the interwebs.  Ebates is helping line our pockets for that online shopping addiction.  What is Ebates and how can you get your fix you ask?  Well, Ebates is a free (yes! no  obligation) site where they have partnered with hundreds of stores on the internet to give loyal customers a cash back bonus for the shopping they are already doing.  Stores from the Gap to Groupon give customers a cash back.  Cash back is based on the percentage spent and the deal being offered.  Some stores offer just 1% where others reach upwards of 10%.  The average I have seen is 3-5%.  It may not seem like a lot but think about all that shopping you do.  Ahhhhh its a lot and trust me it adds up.  If you are going to hit the web for a little bit of a shopping spree you need to first log onto Ebates and find the store you are looking to drop some benjamins at.  Click on the link and Ebates notes you are shopping there.  If you hit check out Ebates will shortly notify you that you should expect a cash back.  Ebates pays out 4 times a year and they will deposit the money into your paypal account or send you a check.  Feeling generous, you can dontate it to charity too.  Book mark the site as a favorite so you do not forget it when the urge to splurge strikes.  Now go shop and watch the rewards roll in. 

Giveaway happening over on Examiner

Y'all I have been privileged to offer a giveaway over on my examiner site.  Click the link and enter to win the new innovative Clearasil PerfectaWash before it hits store shelves!

Mas Tacos Por Favor!

I usually come up with a witty title for a blog post, but the place I am about to tell you about it the nail on the head.  Mas Tacos Por Favor is exactly what you will be saying once you finish your meal.  During finals week, I headed over the river and through the hood to East Nashville with a girlfriend of mine.  She happens to be from SoCal, so she knows a thing or two about authentic, delicious Mexican food.  She was fed up with what Nashvillians will accept as “Mexican” and I had heard rave reviews of this place.  In order to fuel up to finish our tech workshop we waiting on line for a good 20 minutes in what can only be described as a well maintained shack.  Thanks to Scoutmob we got one taco for free as an added bonus which was the initial draw.  You order from the counter which has the days menu written around it.  As we were waiting more and more items were being crossed off the board.  I was told the fried avocado tacos and the tortilla soup was out of this world. Well apparently they avocado tacos are not offered during “brunch” but the tortilla soup was unlike any soup I have ever had.  It is not your traditional tortilla soup.  It has a clear broth with wonderful fresh ingredients from chicken to avocado and of course tortilla strips.  But the flavors blend so well together but are still very distinct.  I am getting all Top Chef on y’all but what I should be saying is get the soup when you go.  This hearty winter soup packed a small price tag of only $5.  My soup was followed by fresh, local tacos that only rang up for $3 each (minus the free one).  The combinations are eclectic but not wired and there is an option for everyone.  It changes variety, but I had a breakfast and a fish taco and both were a pow of flavor.  Mas Tacos also has a food truck, so you can follow them around if you are not near East Nasty, but trust me it is worth the drive, the wait for these tacos.  I sure will be back.  Soon!

Marni Many

They are at it again.  Not even letting themselves cool off after the epic Versace for H&M do they announce their next collaboration.  The latest designer collab for H&M will be with the Italian design house of Marni, hitting stores in March of 2012.  Known for their boheminanesque designs Marni is the master of print and patterns.  The collection will be available both online and in over 250 stores, for both the ladies and the fellas.  It will feature both their iconic clothing and accessories.  Like all the past designer collabs not need to invest your life savings in one shirt; this stuff will be affordable.  Looking back on her favorite pieces founder Consuelo Castiglioni wanted to create a true Marni wardrobe by using their signature fabrics and prints. Like the higher priced versions it will have the classic juxtaposition of prints and colors, mixing modern tribal with Bauhaus graphic and adding sporty utilitarian elements, which gives it that classic Marni touch.  This collection will not follow the trends, but rather set them.   

Ladies, be prepared for vivid colors mixed with bold prints.  You may be drawn to the simple color block patterns that scream Marni or the African inspired prionts.  Sillouettes are going to be in the Marni staple from full pleated skirts, dresses, cropped pants to jacquard knits.  Top the look off with jewelry, shoes, bags and scarves.  Boys, the prints will be more subtle for you, but it will be 100% classic Italian quality.  The Marni for H&M collaboration is the perfect way to start your spring wardrobe out on the right foot.  Since Nashville does not have an H&M (COME ON!),  March 8th, I will be glued to my computer adding the whole collection to my cart.  Hopefully, this won't be another Missoni for Target crash down situation. 

West Egg is Over Scrambled

So I am visiting the bestie in Atlanta this weekend and we wanted to chow down on Southern food.  Sure I can get it in Nashville, but I do not get out much.  Being a grad student is time consuming.  So we first try JCT, 2 hour wait.  Since my stomach was about to eat itself we made a reszzie for a different night and moved on to West Egg which was just down the street.  Well let’s say this place was promising.  I looked at the menu and nothing pushed 15 bucks.  This budget queen was happy as a clam.  Then we sit down and everyone is so excited to order their Southern favorites.  Then the waiter is chipper to take our order and kindly tells the party they are out of a good portion of items on the menu.  No soup, no chicken and dumplings, no this and no that.  Since half the menu is basically wiped out we start to get creative with what we would like to order.  Since we have the world’s largest Deviled Egg fan at the table we think maybe we could scarf down some of those while we rethink our order.  Those pesky eggs are served on a platter with other Southern delicacy we just could not get behind.  Thinking the waiter would be accommodating, we asked if it were possible to just order those eggs, but he just could not.  The pathetic excuse we got, the computer can’t key in a special request.  We ordered what we could; the food was tasty.  We moved on to dessert. The banana pudding was outstanding and the red velvet cake was how it’s supposed to taste.  I do not understand the red velvet cake, but I do understand the rest of the world loves it.  Being adventurous we also ordered the Coca Cola cupcake to honor our meal in the ATL.  Well someone else must have gotten the cupcake because our table was served a brick disguised as a cute little dessert.  So the moral of this story is, West Egg needs to keep their eggs on the stove just a tad longer; no one likes runny scrambled eggs. 

Hair Soft As Clouds

I do not know why I did not immediatly post this here.  Last night I let my Examiner readers in on my new favorite hair treatment.  Its amazeballs, and is so affordable.  What is it you ask?  Well it is Pantene’s Professional Level Damage Ampoules and it will only run you 8 bucks from your local drug store. Pantene offers two Ampoules one for Medium-Thick hair and another for Curly Hair.  After shampooing take one ampoule and apply it to your hair.  In just five minutes time hair will never look better.  Pantene uses a potent amino-polymer formula to work fast by structurally reinforcing and helping to repair hair along its weakest spots.  Do I know what an amino-polymer formula is?  Absolutley not, but do I like what it does?  Hell yes!  The professional level formula smooths the hair cuticle, protecting it from micro-fractures and breakage.  Dry hair is strengthened and is no able to withhold damage and breakage.  When hair dries it is soft and light as a cloud.  Color looks rich and shine is restored.   Unlike other deep conditioning treatments, hair is not oily within eight hours of use.  Even after stroking your new healthy hair it will stay clean. It feeds hair the nutrients it so desperately needs.  After use hair is much more manageable which is what every busy woman so desperately needs.    The benefits of the Ampoules last; days after using the treatment hair will still feel soft. Trust me get to the Duane Reade, Target, CVS and buy these ampoule.  I accept almost anything in the form of thank yous. 

Image via Pantene

Spare Me One

So if you follow me on twitter you will see I am no longer Living the Life...on a budget in New York City. I've taken the mantra to a new extreme as a poor grad student down in Nashville, TN. However, when I was up in NYC trying to live that life I always wanted to get together with friends and hit up the bowling alley. Like everything in NYC bowling was redonkulously expensive, as in $24 for one round. No thanks.  Take a trip off the island and head to Astoria for some king pin action at Astoria Bowl.  They have some amazing specials that go on throughout the whole week.  On Sundays from ten in the morning to one in the afternoon, you can bowl for just a buck.  That is less than a subway ride, a dirty water dog, or a pack of gum.  Then at night $1 games resume from nine until midnight.  Looking for midweek action?  Tuesday and Thursday nights, the Astoria Bowl has the same buck special from 9 until 12.  There is also a practice special, which you need to all ahead before showing up.  You can get 2 hours of bowling for $10 based on availability.  Celebrate your birthday at Astoria Bowl and if you are with a group of 10 or more, those fun bowling shoes are on the house.  Bowling is a great alternative when you do not want to participate in your standard evening fare.  Change it up and send one down the alley.  Also on your way back pick up a gyro at BZ Grill, you won't be disappointed.

Image via Jonathan Keelty