New Blog Site
I have moved to a new blog address, not much different from this one. But please go to it for I will no longer be updating this one. THANKS!
Walking
Walking. It doesn’t cost anything, therefore it is CHEEP. It gets you out of the house, gives you exercise, you get your daily dose of vitamin D, and it’s fun. It is especially fun if you go on a walk with the right person. It was a beautiful 77 degree day out today prime time weather for a walk. It was also a smelly good day I noticed. New flowers in bloom, lilacs filling the air, people bbq-ing, and I’m pretty sure I smelled baking. Luckily we only smelled poo once. Walking can be an adventure, you never know what you are going to see or run into. With my trusty boyfriend by my side we started out on a stroll and ended up going to 3 yard sales. Yard sales are like treasure hunts, you get to look at peoples unwanted junk and sometimes you see the neatest things or find something awesome to purchase that you didn’t know you needed. For example I found bookends with a worm coming out of them, a vase shaped like a curvy lady, bongos, and underwear. I can see why the underwear was for sale, the skid mark style has been out for years! I didn’t purchase anything, I wanted to but kept reminding myself that I am moving in a month and that Ace Venture tape and bongos wouldn’t fit into the cardboard box I might be living in. We saw many a dogs, and a lady watering her house. I’m not sure why, I felt the house was already tall enough. We did get some tomatoes on our walk, free tomatoes! Free sidewalk tomatoes! There was a small bag with 3 perfectly fine tomatoes lying on the sidewalk, not wanting to waste food and realizing that the 3 second rule doesn’t apply here, we picked them up. Our walk took us to Division street, Wicker Park is so hip. If you are looking for a good place to have a drink or eat outside, this is the street, any of the restaurants would be a perfect outside eating spot. Quite a few of them have lunch specials, just make sure you go before 2:30 when they end. We wandered into Renegade Handmade, which is now my new favorite store. Super cute, artsy, fun underwear, and you guessed it handmade.
Lets recap- My Walking Adventure May 23: 3 garage sales, sweet smells, many a laughs, free tomatoes, quality time w/ the bf, vitamin D, exercise, and one mustache button purchased for $1 at Renegade Handmade. Now I would say that was one fun packed cheep day.
Chicago Art Institute (and others)
- The new wing in the Art Institute is opening next week and to celebrate they are having free admission May 16-22.
- It also seems that on Thursdays there is free general admission from 5-8
- Free admission for holders one of 820 Chicago Public Library museum passes for up to four visitors
- Starting May 23rd the price of admission goes up, BUT that now includes all special exhibits. Bring proof of residency and there is $2 off your admission. I did the math and I think we win.
- Also coat check will now be free. Coat check is a great thing to tell out of towners, especially if they fly in and can’t meet up with you until later, they can go check their bag at the Art Institute for free and don’t have to carry it around all day.
- The entire month of February is free
- Since it is getting nice out here are out door areas of the museum that are free of charge———-The North and South gardens * The new sculpture terrace on the third floor of the Modern Wing
I love going to the art museum! It makes me feel cultured :) You could make a big to do night of it. Get dressed all artsy fartsy or classy and then have a picnic of wine and cheese before you go. Or have grapes and cheese on the train ride there while you discuss Mc Donald’s golden arches as one of the most influential works in modern art. You then can use that admission $ you just saved to grab a slice of pizza, share an app, get dessert, grab a bottle of wine, or have some beers and tots.
See you there!!
For those of you with families or who frequent the museum a lot you might like to get a membership, which really isn’t too shabby of an idea. They start at $80 and include all children. There are also student memberships for $40
Non Chicago Residents:
My Kansas City friends try the Nelson-Atkins Museum, For free admission then stop off at their cafe for a cookie and coffee.
Oklahoma City friends: OKCMOA Admission is $10 but check out the skyline roof top cafe. The National Cowboy Museum is $8.50 for students and free parking.
My fashionable New York friends: the Met is $10 but will be worth it for the Model Exhibit. The MOMA has Target Free Friday Nights
Game Night
Game Night doesn’t require that you leave the apartment, although you can, there are a few bars that have a TON of board games in them to play. Or you could have a scavenger hunt! This will be next on my list of things to do.
Anyway, last night an impromptu game night happened at my place. This cost me $0. Although at some point I had spend money to purchase things used, but that money was already out of my pocket.
Let me start from the beginning…..
I decided to make 7 layer bars. This is an easy cheep dessert. Basically I use leftover sweets from previous desserts I have made; chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, health bar crumbs, coconut, and grahm crackers. I have just saved them in my frig or freezer so I won’t eat them. So I have gotten the 7 l.b’s all ready to go, it is time for the last step to pour a can of sweetened condensed milk over it all. I just barely get the can open when it oozes what looks like puss. Now for those of you who haven’t used condensed milk, it should look like a little thicker version of milk, white and creamy, NOT cream colored and as thick as pudding. SICK!!!!! Then I notice the date- best if used by Nov 2006. Now what do I do? Make my own, that’s what I do. I looked up a recipe and it is basically dissolving sugar in milk on the stove. I give making your own condensed milk 1 cheep bc it isn’t that hard and it is cheaper. But I did something wrong, I think I put too much of my homemade condensed milk on the bars, because they weren’t so much bars, you couldn’t eat them like a cookie, you needed a fork bc they fell apart easily. But boy were they TASTY!
Then a few people came over, we had 2 1/2 bottles of wine between us. And 1 1/2 of those bottles were free- gifts. We played Apples to Apples whilst we drank our free wine. Super fun game! Now I bought this practically never been used game last summer at a garage sale for $3. I was stoked, but when I got home I realized why it only cost me only $3, it was the junior version, Apples to Apples Junior +9. Eh, it is still a fun game, just a dumbed down version, which kinda made it more entertaining.
So pretty good random night, only one glass was broken. Game night is such a good cheep way to hang out with friends without having to deal with the annoying bar crowd. You don’t have to have a board game, you could have cards, or dice, or sticks, or marbles, or spoons, or………
can you say party foul… or party fowl? CHEEP!!
To read about the wine’s we drank and what we ate with them go to the wine page.
Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day is May 10th, that is this Sunday people! Incase you had forgotten I have some easy and cheap things you can do!
1. card, they can be super cheap and if you don’t live in the same state it is the easiest way to go. She will be glad that you remembered. You could even make a card! Whether you go old fashion and use construction paper or do a little computer/photoshop/indesign work, you will definitely rack up the points with that one!
2. Breakfast in bed! Pancakes and eggs are inexpensive. Revert back to when you were little, except it will be less messy this time, hopefully. And if you make breakfast at her house, you can use the food in her pantry. One Mother’s day when my dad was out of town, we brought my mom corn pops on a paper plate in bed. We were afraid to use the real plates, incase we broke one, and afraid to pour the milk incase we spilled it. We didn’t want to make mom mad. She likes to throw that mother’s day in our faces quite a bit.
3. Flowers! If you don’t live in the city, you should totally pick wild flowers. I think my sister and I did that every mother’s day when we were little, we probably included weeds, but it is more thoughtful than buying because you took time out of your day to do something for her.
4. Look at old photo albums or watch old home videos while sipping on lemonade or sangria. Get a cheep bottle of wine, some juice or club soda, a dash of sugar, chop up some fruit and you are in business.
5. Help clean around the house.
6. Don’t forget to tell her you love her.
7. Dead animals. Actually I don’t recommend this. But my sister and I thought it was so funny to wrap up dead birds and give them to mom, we liked to see her scream and run for some reason. One mother’s day we even put a deer head on a platter and brought it to her in bed. 
Burger Night
This happens every Monday night with a certain group of my friends. This isn’t something I always participate in, but wish I did. If I wanted to go to a reliable place to get good food this is where I would go every Monday night. I went this past Monday and it was perfectly awesome. I had been craving a hamburger for a week now, which might suggest I need iron, and thus I made the trek to Lincoln Park. I left hours before hand hoping to get to Jen and Dave’s early for some much needed catch up time. But I am not so lucky……
I needed to go to Walgreens to get a script filled. This is something that usually takes 5 min. Well it took 40 min which resulted in a creepy guy following me around the store. Finally I get out of there and catch the Ashland bus within 10 min. But this isn’t without this smelly guy distracting me, and not the gross old homeless creepy guy, but the I live down the street, smell like I put a car freshener in my pants guy. This is the guy that made me get CONFUSED! (like I need help)
I get off the bus at Division, I needed to get off at Diversy.
My trip just got longer and more confusing……..
Next bus: Division to LaSalle. This is where a “pregnant” lady wants me to drive her to a non existent hospital or give her money for a cab (for those of you not living in a big city- this was a scam!) Well, I did not give her a ride in my nonexistent ambulance, or deliver her nonexistent baby, I did not sell that nonexistent baby on the black market, and by black market I mean Stein Mart. I hear they are into gold plated babies. And unfortunately I didn’t take the bag of avocados she was carrying as payment. Why this lady was carrying avocados I don’t know.
Baby Guacamole………
Finally my 3rd and last bus and I am burger free!!!
Matisse. Monday night is $4 any cheese you want burgers. May I suggest the blue or feta cheese with chipotle mayo and sweet potato fries. $4 beer of the month. And if you live in the area it is your lucky day, they have specials every night!! It is near the Diversy brown line stop and the Diversy bus.
I give this night 3 Cheeps. 1. for food 2. for drink 3. for friends.
BURGER NIGHT is a great way to keep up with friends. They usually take place during the week when drinks are cheaper and crowds are smaller. It is a cheep way to catch up, get your iron, and throw a few back.
Other Places in Chicago with burger nights:
Side Street Saloon- Cheeseburger $4.50- Fri & Sat. OR HELLO Grilled Chicken Sandwich Tuesday $3.50
Casey Morans- $1 burgers- Fri & Sat (i’m sure you pay extra for toppings) $3 Absolute cocktails & Heineken,$15 buckets and martinis.
Waterhouse- Monday $3 burger, $3 beer of the month. And many many more specials throughout the week
Something for my NYC friends:
Epstein- Monday nights- $5 burgers, $4 jager, $3 bud light
Hog Pit- Wed night- Happy hour 5-8, $3 PBR, ladies 2 for 1 drinks. There isn’t a food special but i say get the $11.95 hamburger, which includes 2 sides and split with a friend. I’m sure it will be enough food and you’ll be full on PBR.
This is happening
I, Colette, started a blog. Crazy I know. This shall be a fun, hopefully informative blog that will give you insight in how to make the best of the small things, and rock the socks off the big things. I will always appreciate feedback on my blogging skills as I am no Vanessa or Jen. And as this blog has the word cheep instead of the word cheap, I am kicking myself for not buying that baby chicken over Easter. It could have been my mascot, and his name would have been Ralph now it’s name will probably be dinner. 
