Cheap Chick NYC Weekend Cheap and Free Event Picks, Jan. 18-20, 2011

Hi all, the Cheap Chick has had a v. crazy week and fell asleep in front of her computer at least three times in the middle of working on the blog and other stuff (apologies for sleepytime errors on last post...) Here are the full weekend picks, sorry for the delay! Happy President's Day weekend NYC!

Friday February 18, 2011
A ton of great museum exhibits open today including Set in Style: The Jewelry of Van Cleef & Arpels at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum (runs through June 5, 2011), Drawn From Photography at the Drawing Center (runs through Mar. 31, 2011), and Tipi: Heritage of the Great Plains at the Brooklyn Museum.

Don’t let a T-Rex eat you on the way out of the theater after this screening of Jurassic Park! Midnight, Landmark Sunshine, 143 E. Houston St, $9.99! This time the Harlem Globetrotters didn’t have to travel too far (at least not to Gilligan’s Island or a spooky outpost populated by the Scooby Doo gang) for their 4 Times the Fun World Tour! 7 p.m. Friday, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Madison Square Garden, $15. Buy tkts here: http://www.harlemglobetrotters.com


Future Project Runway contestants display their wares at Williamsburg Fashion Weekend, 8 p.m., Glasslands Gallery, 289 Kent Ave., bet. 1^st and 2^nd Streets, $8!

Saturday January 19, 2011

It's Carnaval time at El Museo del Barrio's Super Sabado event! Programs include art, crafts, storytelling, and a concert! El Museo del Barrio, 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., 1230 Fifth Ave. at 104th St., free! For a complete sked of programs, please go here: http://www.elmuseo.org/en/event/super-sabado-carnaval

Truffle-hunting is not just for pigs anymore! Join NYC Food Crawl for a search through the urban forest for the chocolate type of truffles, not the porcine's mushroom booty. 2 p.m., meet at the NE corner of Rockefeller Center Ice Skating Rink! Pay-as-you go!

Sing-a-long with your favorite 90's drag queen at the The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert sing fest tonight. 10 p.m., 92ndY Tribeca, 200 Hudson St., $13, buy tkts here: http://www.92y.org/shop/92Tri_event_detail.asp?productid=T-MM5FF17

Saturday and Sunday February 19 and 20, 2011

Salute our founding fathers with Discovery Walking Tour’s Washington and the American Revolution walking tour! Stops may include “Federal Hall, where Washington was inaugurated president; Fraunces Tavern, where he bid a tearful farewell to his officers in 1783; St Paul’s Chapel, where he attended services; and Trinity Church, site of the graves of Alexander Hamilton and Declaration signer Francis Lewis.” 2 p.m., Call 212-465-3331 for reservations and meeting place, $18.

Get your non-Red Bull caffeine fix this weekend at the Coffee and Tea Festival, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (both days), 7West, 7 West 34th St., tkts start at $20 and can be bought here: http://www.coffeeandteafestival.com/coffee-tea-tickets.html


Swords aren’t just for Pirates afraid of clocks ticking or boys who don't want to grow up anymore! This weekend they’ll be wielded by Half Moon Sword, a local all-female sword dancing troupe, as well as troupes visiting from around the world! Performances will be held at various venues around the city for a variety of prices! For more info please go to halfmoonsword.org.


Gear up for next weekend's Oscars with a screening of this year's Oscar-nominated Animated and Live Action Short Films and Documentary Short Subjects , Academy Theater at Lighthouse International, 111 East 59th Street, bet. Park and Lex., $5. For more info re times and tkts go here: http://www.oscars.org/events-exhibitions/events/2011/02/shorts-and-doc-shorts.html


Learn about Washington’s exploits in Van Cortlandt Park during the American Revolution at the program Washington’s Troops on the Hill, led by the Urban Park Rangers. 1 p.m., Van Cortlandt Nature Center (in Van Cortlandt Park), Bronx, free!

Celebrate the second-largest state in the Union at the Bell House’s Texas State Fair! Events include a queso cook-off, the “Everything’s Bigger in Texas” belt buckle contest, and country music. Those with Texas ID’s get $2 off beer. 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., The Bell House, 149 7^th Street, bet. 2^nd and 3^rd Avenues, free!

Monday February 21, 2011-Happy President’s Day!

Just $5 for 10 rounds of trivia (50 questions covering any and all subjects, plus quirky theme questions such as "Canadian or Not Canadian?) sounds like a good deal to me! Flex those brain muscles after a day of relaxation at Last Exit’s Pub Quiz! 9 p.m., Last Exit Bar, 136 Atlantic Ave., $5!

Big Onion is paying homage to the city’s role in the American Revolution with its Revolutionary New York Walking Tour! Stops may include “Fraunces Tavern, the graves of Alexander Hamilton and General Richard Montgomery, Federal Hall, and sites associated with George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay and Albert Gallatin.” 1 p.m., Meet at the intersection of Broadway and Murray Street, at the gated entrance to City Hall Park.

Hail to the Chief indeed (!) with the Big Quiz Thing's Presidential Quiz Spectacular! Crash Mansion, 199 Bowery, 7:30 p.m., $10! ($300 worth of cash and other prizes to be won!)

Don't forget that the Met is open today as part of its Holiday Mondays program!

Shark, shark! Jaws is screening at midnight Fri, Sat, and Sun at the IFC Center as part of their Waverly Midnight series (For more info and tkts, go here: http://www.ifccenter.com/series/waverly-midnights/when-animals-attack) and Geeks beware (!) Housing Works is hosting a Geek Week Sale from Sat. the 19^th thru the 25^th! (http://www.shophousingworks.com/eventsdetail.cfm?entry=3955)