Don't just eat mixed nuts for dinner! Read this blog instead!

The New York Times, this week, published an article on the 1385432434 twenty-somethings living in New York on a budget...a budget for many of them meaning peanut butter sandwiches for lunch and no dinner (let me just make it clear right now that i love pb&js...but i also love dinner). "Every year around this time, tens of thousands of postcollegiate people in their 20s flood the city despite its soaring expenses. They are high on ambition, meager of budget and endlessly creative when it comes to making ends meet"...and I was one of those people, except strike New York and replace it with Washington DC. In fact, I have to say that I think DC, excluding real estate, gives New York a run for its money when it comes to expenses. While food carts are quickly popping up (see Anne's posting below), but they are far fewer cheap food options here, and there is much less of a competition when it comes to sales.

The supposed endless creativity of these neoteric New Yorkers is more of a laundry list on how to skimp on meals, name-brand clothes, getting strangers to buy drinks, and yes, tapping the friend-keg. And, I say, why be the DC-equivalent? Why just eat grapefruit for lunch? Especially, when you can read this blog. :) But I guess if you are reading this posting, you are in fact, reading this blog, so way to go you.

...there is something, something great, about finding a good deal and knowing that you have a few extra dollars to buy one more drink (or whatever) later. To read the article, click here.

Jazz in the Garden

Okay, okay. So you probably know this already...Jazz in the Garden at that National Gallery of Art is one of the many great things about living in a city like DC. But, now it is your responsibility to R.E.M.E.M.B.E.R. I feel like Jazz in the Garden is one of the those things - because it happens so frequently throughout the summer - that you put off and you put off again, and snap! Somehow you let another year slip by and you didn't take advantage of this great FREE(!!!) event.

It is partly sunny, with a high of 82, so start the summer of right.

Also, I would just to use this reoccurring event as an opportunity to remind you about the GoneOutDC calendar. You can subscribe to it, and it will automatically update your personal google calendar. We won't blog about events like this every week, but they will appear in the calendar for easy access. Enjoy!

Jazz in the Garden
National Gallery of Art
5:00pm-8:30pm
7th Street & Constitution Ave NW
http://www.nga.gov/programs/jazz/

Benefit for the victims of Cyclone Nargis

I have noticed that the media, the American news media sources in particular, have been covering the issue less and less, but the relief effort in Burma is far from over, and in some ways just beginning. The Burmese government is finally letting aid workers into the country, and hopefully into Irrawaddy Delta, where the cyclone did some of the worst damage. On Wednesday, May 28, 2008, Cafe Meze is sponsoring a happy hour to benefit the victims of Cyclone Nargis. A $15 donation will get you the following:

• One complimentary beer or wine
• Raffle entry to win door prizes
• $4 beer and $5 wine drink specials (all night long)

Yes, normally, 15 bucks for one drink and a raffle entry may not be the cheapest deal around town, but think about the warm feeling in your heart...think...feels pretty good just thinking about it, right? Plus, Cafe Meze is supposed to be really good, and now you have an excuse to check this place out.

For ongoing coverage of Cyclone Nargis, click here.

6pm-9pm
Cafe Meze
2437 18th Street
Washington, DC