Free reading of 'Living Out' and a free cup of coffee

I had a fantastic free afternoon in uptown Charlotte today! Since, it's Sunday and I was lucky enough to find a street-parking spot, even my parking was free! 

I started out by heading to Starbucks for a free cup of coffee. They are giving a free tall coffee (I love the Pike Place Roast) to anyone who pledges to volunteer 5 hours of their time in conjunction with the inauguration and Obama's call to service. All I had to do was fill out my pledge card and the barista gave me my delicious cup of coffee. 

From there I headed over to the Levine Museum to meet my friend, Erin. Not only is the Levine Museum free every Sunday, today they were doing a free reading of the first act of the play 'Living Out,' which will be performed at the Great Aunt Stella Center starting February 19th. The best part is that Sheri Lynch from 107.9's Bob & Sheri show was taking part in the reading and the discussion afterwards. Living Out is a comic look at the relationships that exist between mom's and their nannies. There was then a discussion afterwards about this relationship, especially pertaining to Latin American nannies, and the historical aspect of this. The museum has a fascinating exhibit right now up about domestic service in the gilded age south, and the tie in was enlightening. The discussion was great and the play was hilarious, I hope to be able to go see the play in its entirety next month!

Cheap & Free Weekend with Mom & Dad

My parents came to visit this weekend and we did so many fabulous cheap & free things!

We started the weekend off on Friday with a delicious dinner at Cantina 1511, and, of course, we used a coupon. Charlotte Citipass strikes again, and we got buy one get one free entrees. We were supposed to then go the the Glue Fest for the Community Mosaic Project, but unfortunately the timing just didn't work out. 

The first order of cheap and free business was a free breakfast. My parents were staying at The Hampton Inn at Phillips Place, and if you have ever stayed at the Hampton Inn, you know that they have a fantastic breakfast. No reason to go out for breakfast! 

We then went and picked up my dog, Mandy and headed over to the Tailgate Farmer's Market to have our starstruck time for the day by meeting Spike and Andrew from Top Chef. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get tickets for the cooking demonstration, but we got to meet them, and I got my cookbook signed and photo taken. They were so super nice and they loved Mandy, which, of course, I loved. This is one of my favorite shows and these two were my favorites from last season, so this is definitely the coolest thing I have gotten to do in a long time!

There's nothing better to me than when someone loves my dog! From there, my dad went and got himself some lunch at Price's Chicken Coop. For $8 he got a ton of food, 3 pieces of chicken, hush puppies, tater tots, slaw, and a roll. My dad is a huge lover of fried chicken, maybe even a connoisseur, so this was awesome for him. 

Next stop was uptown for the Blues, Brews & BBQ festival. We took the light rail so we could save money on parking, plus it's just a great thing for out-of-town guests to get to experience. The festival was a ton of fun. I won a free UNC Charlotte 49ers T-shirt and I entered to win a Saturn car, so I'm crossing my fingers on that one. My mom and I ate delicious BBQ plates from Mac's and we stuffed for not much money. While we ate, we got to enjoy some fantastic blues music too. It was a ton of fun!

On our way walking back to the light rail, we noticed that the Levine Museum was free so decided to head on in. My dad is a big history buff, so this was great for us to get to do. They both loved the museum, and I just think it's a great one.

We were pretty tired after all of that and decided to chill at home and watch some college football for the rest of the day. I definitely love that I got to show my parents so much of our fabulous city!

Challenge Day 2- Volunteering at Hospitality House, afternoon in Uptown Charlotte

Day two of the challenge was a busy one. I started out my morning by volunteering with Hands on Charlotte at Hospitality House. Hospitality House is a place where families can stay while they have a family member staying in the hospital, a very worthy cause. Many of these people would end up sleeping in the hallways or waiting rooms of the hospital if it weren’t for Hospitality House. I spent time taking inventory of the items in the room and just helping out with some general organizing. You’ll come to notice me mentioning a lot of volunteering in my blog entries, and it is definitely a huge part of my life. I’ll just take a few quick sentences right now to give you all a little piece of advice from me, if you aren’t doing any volunteer work right now, start. I know that everyone is busy, but even if you can find one hour a month to give to a worthy organization, your life will be enriched in ways you can’t even imagine. The director of Hospitality House told us a fabulous Native American saying this morning: The greatest gift that you can give is your time because you can never get it back. Email me at Kelly@cheapandfreeincharlotte.com if you would like some help finding a great volunteer opportunity. 

Ok, back to my fun and busy day. I came home from Hospitality House, hung out for a bit and then headed into Uptown Charlotte. If you are a Bank of America customer, the first weekend of each month, at least until the end of the year, your museum admission is on them at select museums throughout the country (I’ve placed the link in my list). I chose to go to the Levine Museum of the New South. Fascinating! Did you know that the sit-in started in Greensboro or that air conditioning started in North Carolina? Another great thing at the Levine if you go with children, they have two different scavenger hunts that the kiddos can fill out with a little adult help and when they have completed it, take it to the front desk and get a prize. Free souvenir! 

After the museum I headed to the Wachovia Atrium where the Bon Odori Japanese culture festival was going on. I was able to watch the Matsuriza drummers (http://www.matsuriza.com/). These guys are crazily amazing! I was mesmerized. 

From there, I headed to the Uptown Culture Fusion event put on by Art Angel
Events (http://www.artangelevents.com/) in the Brevard Court. If you haven’t checked out, Brevard Court, do. I had no idea that this little gem was hiding in uptown. I tried a sample of Water Ice (http://www.whatswaterice.com/). Delicious! I suggest the Green Apple! There was a super-talented street musician roaming around, serenading the beautiful art that was all around. It was an event for emerging artists, and, let me tell you, there is some talent brewing here in Charlotte, NC.

I then pretty much stumbled upon the Criterium all-female bike race. These women are inspiring (and fast!). Culture is definitely in abundance in uptown Charlotte. Oh, and did I mention that I didn’t even spend $1, not even on parking. Plus, I tried my very first Cheerwine (free handout, they sponsor a cycling team) and that is one deliciously cherry soda.