http://brokelyn.com Food, restaurants, shopping and cheap fun on a budget in Brooklyn NYC Mon, 20 May 2013 20:13:03 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 http://brokelyn.com/the-mutual-groupon-for-good/ http://brokelyn.com/the-mutual-groupon-for-good/#comments Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:00:33 +0000 Vanessa Londono http://www.brokelyn.com/?p=33608 Read More]]>
A dollar here goes a long way there. You could feel twice as good the next time you give in and purchase a group deal. The Mutual is the latest group-buying service joining the dozen already filling up your inbox. But this one has a charitable twist: Billing itself as the “Groupon for good,” The Mutual rewards philanthropic giving with sweet hookups on VIP events, early product releases, discounts and more. The Brooklyn-based start up is simple enough: You pay a monthly $10 fee for access to the perks. Of that, 80 percent is donated to an environmental charity, with the rest going back to The Mutual. Perks right now include a VIP Brooklyn Brewery party, a free Sustainable NYC totebag and steep discounts to Broadway shows, which means you might recover your monthly fee in just one use. The five charities currently available include CarbonFund.org, Ecoliteracy, World Resources Institute, Oceana and The Trust for… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/the-mutual-groupon-for-good/feed/ 0 http://brokelyn.com/25-gifts-under-25-no-16-bacon-chocolate-pancakes/ http://brokelyn.com/25-gifts-under-25-no-16-bacon-chocolate-pancakes/#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:43:41 +0000 Vanessa Londono http://www.brokelyn.com/?p=32892 Read More]]>
One Christmas break, I tried to educate my southern brother-in-law on the trendy food fad of chocolate-covered bacon. Unfortunately, my attempt to recreate the amazing combination of salty meat and sweet chocolate was foiled by using hickory smoked bacon. But I am giving it another go this year: he is getting Vosges Mo’s Bacon Choco Chip Pancake Mix in his stocking. There is no better setting for mixing flavors than in an all-natural buttermilk pancake (the secret is Vosges Chocolates’ famous Mo Bacon Bar chips). Breakfast experiences combining maple syrup and sausage have taught us that. 16oz pancake mix, $16.50 at Fred Flare … Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/25-gifts-under-25-no-16-bacon-chocolate-pancakes/feed/ 3 http://brokelyn.com/25-gifts-under-25-no-6-scratch-off-map/ http://brokelyn.com/25-gifts-under-25-no-6-scratch-off-map/#comments Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:27:31 +0000 Vanessa Londono http://www.brokelyn.com/?p=32549 Read More]]>
You know how your sister-in-law loves posting countless albums of her “exotic” cruise trips to Facebook? And how your roommate likes to put pins in a map to show how well-traveled and “worldly” he is? This awesome gift will keep them both busy logging destinations in a new way. A map of the world feels more like a lottery ticket when the shiny metallic suface scratches off. It’s a fun — and humblebrag — way to keep track of travel adventures. Meanwhile you can internally gloat over all the culture accessible in your borough. Measures about 16.5″x12″ when unrolled and about 5″x2″ in its travel tube. $25 at Fred Flare. … Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/25-gifts-under-25-no-6-scratch-off-map/feed/ 1 http://brokelyn.com/25-gifts-under-25-no-2-upside-down-agriculture/ http://brokelyn.com/25-gifts-under-25-no-2-upside-down-agriculture/#comments Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:54:21 +0000 Vanessa Londono http://www.brokelyn.com/?p=32449 Read More]]>
Your cousin wants a rooftop greenhouse but she can’t even keep a house plant alive for a week. A self-watering Boskke Sky Planter under the Christmas tree should help move things along. The stylish planter is made of recycled polypropylene and it hangs upside down from a ceiling hook. The self-contained water reservoir is foolproof, even for your cousin’s green thumb of death. The planter comes in an off-white color and even has a locking disc to defy gravity and can support a large variety of plants. $18.75, at Sprout Home at44 Grand St., Williamsburg. … Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/25-gifts-under-25-no-2-upside-down-agriculture/feed/ 0 http://brokelyn.com/holiday-shopping-deals-at-brooklyn-boutiques/ http://brokelyn.com/holiday-shopping-deals-at-brooklyn-boutiques/#comments Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:33:20 +0000 Vanessa Londono http://www.brokelyn.com/?p=32215 Read More]]>
Get 15 percent off animal butt magnets at Future Perfect. We’re not going to tell you how to shop this weekend. We’re going to tell you how not to shop. For the love of [insert deity here], does anyone  really need to: 1) Shop on Thanksgiving, when some retailers (Old Navy!) are forcing their employees to come to work? 2) Shop at midnight on Thursday, when Target, Best Buy, Kohls and Macy’s are forcing their employees to come to work? 3) Get up at 4 a.m. on Friday to stalk big-box stores for $10 DVDs? Why not roll out of bed at a reasonable hour and head to the boutique down the block? Some of Brooklyn’s independent retailers are making it even easier this year by having holiday sales. A number of merchants have jumped on the Small Business Saturday bandwagon, an effort by AmEx to promote local shops. Dumbo in particular is doing a big… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/holiday-shopping-deals-at-brooklyn-boutiques/feed/ 6 http://brokelyn.com/hey-bartenders-a-volunteer-tip-for-you/ http://brokelyn.com/hey-bartenders-a-volunteer-tip-for-you/#comments Wed, 14 Sep 2011 16:46:37 +0000 Vanessa Londono http://www.brokelyn.com/?p=29998 Read More]]>
If you can make a mean martini and don’t mind volunteering to show it off, TASTE Williamsburg Greenpoint needs your help. The local foodie event is looking for experienced bartenders for the waterfront block party this Sunday, is partnering with BurnedGreen, the folks behind that free Williamsburg waterfront concert volunteer offer. Payment comes in the form of drinks, a TASTE t-shirt and free food from  the more than 40 local restaurants that will be on hand serving appetizers, including Cubana Social, Dressler and Juliette. If you’re interested, you can bypass the hefty ticket price that ranges from $35 to $90 and munch on Calyer’s chicharones with romesco sauce between shifts. There are a few four-hour shifts: 11am-3pm and 3pm-7pm. Volunteers should email Les Brown at community@nthccc.org. … Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/hey-bartenders-a-volunteer-tip-for-you/feed/ 2 http://brokelyn.com/taskrabbit-to-earn-quick-cash/ http://brokelyn.com/taskrabbit-to-earn-quick-cash/#comments Fri, 19 Aug 2011 14:59:52 +0000 Vanessa Londono http://www.brokelyn.com/?p=29236 Read More]]>
TaskRabbits get paid to shop, clean, assemble and more. In the past, you walked your neighbor’s dog or mowed their lawn for an extra Andrew Jackson in your back pocket. Nowadays, TaskRabbit can get you double that just for doing what other people are too busy/unskilled to do themselves: grocery shopping or waiting in line at the DMV. The site, which launched in NYC last week, pairs the odd job with the eager doer. Some people can make a living running several tasks daily. Dropping off and picking up a hat at repair shop can rake in about $13. Bigger tasks like website design and implementation pay more — picking up $1,000 in some cases. Tasks available right now include a husband who needs someone to meet his wife with flowers and a poster on the Brooklyn Bridge. Another requested a grillmaster who would plan a menu, purchase the ingredients and prepare the meal… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/taskrabbit-to-earn-quick-cash/feed/ 2 http://brokelyn.com/8-cheap-and-free-summer-activities-for-kids/ http://brokelyn.com/8-cheap-and-free-summer-activities-for-kids/#comments Fri, 12 Aug 2011 09:48:56 +0000 Vanessa Londono http://www.brokelyn.com/?p=29019 Read More]]>
Kayaking at Pier 1. Photo by Jonathan Barkey, courtesy of Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy. Filling a kids’ summer with camp is like putting a full-size sheet on a queen-size bed — no matter how you try to stretch it, there just isn’t enough to cover the whole thing. If you’re a parent or a babysitter like me, you’re about to enter the gap between the end of camp and the beginning of school. Maybe mom and dad were smart enough to plan a trip, or maybe you’re trying to fill the time with local outings, which can cost as much as a vacation if you’re not careful. Here are some inexpensive ways to squeeze the most out of the season before school starts. And if you’ve got ideas, as always, please leave them in the comments. RIDE A BIKE / ROW A BOAT By now, you’ve heard about, and probably experienced, the… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/8-cheap-and-free-summer-activities-for-kids/feed/ 1 http://brokelyn.com/bookscouter-test-run/ http://brokelyn.com/bookscouter-test-run/#comments Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:36:16 +0000 Vanessa Londono http://www.brokelyn.com/?p=28657 Read More]]>
Stoop books: easy reads or quick cash? A light bulb went off when when I heard about BookScouter, a website that scours the Internet for used book sellers, at a recent Brooklyn Brainery event. By simply typing in the ISBN code of any used book and getting an aggregated list of online sellers willing to buy it, I could be making easy money. But instead of selling my prized book collection, I wondered how much I could get selling my neighbor’s castoffs. I decided to try it out for myself to see if I could turn a bit of stoop scavenging into some real cash. HOW IT WORKS You simply plug in the ISBN code, found on the back or inside jacket of most books. BookScouter pulls information from up to 44 online vendors including textbooks.com, bookstores.com, and bookbyte.com. They tell you whether the vendor has free shipping (most do) and if you… Read More]]> http://brokelyn.com/bookscouter-test-run/feed/ 4