Carrie Laven - Pretty Penniless

Watch Badass Dance Battles at the Step To the High Line Festival
Teenage dance battles: could there be anything more awesome? No, definitely not. Which is why you should check out the FREE Step to the High Line Festival, taking place this Wednesday through Friday on, duh, the High Line. Each evening, two high-energy step teams will battle it out for the

Weddings: A Broke-Ass’s Dream Party
Recently, I had the honor of being a bridesmaid in my BFF Kate’s wedding to her longtime main squeeze, Jason. Besides an awkward moment where the Mother-of-the-Bride looked down at me while I was adjusting Kate’s train and said, “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride!” (way to send shivers down

The 2025 SF Beer Passport is Here!
Step into a world of adventure with the San Francisco Beer Passport. There’s no better way to explore San Francisco than to literally drink it in. This passport is amazing! Each one contains 28 coupons to buy one beer, get a second beer FREE at 28 of the finest locally

Enjoy the Sweet Sounds of the Accordion– FREE in Bryant Park
Throw a baguette under your hairy armpit and slap a beret onto your head– it’s time for lunchtime accordion concerts in Bryant Park! Enjoy the sounds of Paris with FREE musette-style accordion music every Tuesday, from 12:30-2:30pm. Pack a picnic lunch, and pretend you’re on a lavish European vacay– all

FREE Guided Tours of the High Line Every Tuesday
The High Line is a pretty great place to hang out and sip a lemonade, pose for photos against some awesome NYC backdrops, and even learn about space from amateur astronomers. Like a lot of other people, it’s one of my favorite places in the city, which is why I

Broke-Ass Rant: If You’re Not Oprah, Then You Have Time To Hang Out
Like a lot of people my age who are trying to Make It Happen, I’ve kind of got a lot of shit going on right now. I work a full-time job that I don’t love to pay the bills, work at an online fashion magazine after my office job everyday,

How to Be a Dancing Queen on a Budget
The answer to this question is easy: smear on massive amounts of lipstick, back-comb your wig into voluminous perfection, climb up onto a table, and shake your thing because hips don’t lie, honey! Oh, wait. So you just want to learn how to dance like a pro, but don’t have

Listen to FREE ‘Bach at Noon’ Organ Concerts on Your Lunch Hour
As someone who couldn’t even handle learning the recorder in the fifth grade, I give mad props to anyone who is even remotely musically inclined. If you even kind of play the guitar, you’re a total superstar in my eyes. If your clarinet skills recall that of a snake charmer

How to Celebrate a “Friend-a-Versary” (You Know, Like an Anniversary, Except with People You Don’t Smooch)
I’m a big ol’ fan of celebrations: parties, holidays, the “happy dance” that I perform in my room after I do my laundry and realize that I don’t have to wear ratty underpants anymore. It doesn’t take much for me to throw my arms up in the air, and praise