Another short break...

There has been a death in the family and I will be out of town so I will not be blogging for a little while.  

Festival of the Arts

This weekend is our annual Festival of the Arts and there is nothing but FREE events going on. Click here for their adult activities list. If you'd like to see some info on kids activities than go here. If you have no idea what I'm talking about and you'd like to find out what Festival of the Arts is than you can click here.

Garage Sale at the Mall???

I don't think I've ever heard of this before. The Centerpointe mall is said to be hosting a Second Best sale from June 5-7th. The hours are from 10am-5pm. I wish I had some more information but that's all I got. This is one crazy and intriguing event. I'm bound to buy something!

Doughnut Day!

June 5th is national doughnut day and I've heard rumors that Krispy Kreme will be offering a FREE doughnut that day. The only location we have is on East Beltline across from the Woodland mall right near Ucello's. Let's hope this rumor is fact because I'm craving a delicious glazed doughnut.

Special Day at North End Plumb's

Plumb's grocery store on 4 mile rd. off Alpine will be having lots of specials on Friday. For the little ones they will have Bozo for entertainment at 1:30 & 4:30pm. They also will have what they're calling the "Hot dog wagon" at 11am & 7pm. You can buy hotdogs 3/$1, pop for .50 cents & chips 3/$1. They've also advertised some kind of meat sale but I'm not sure what that involves. It's no festival of the arts but it's not bad for going grocery shopping.

FREE Schuler's Concert

Nathan Kalish & Wildfire will be playing at Schuler's Downtown on Friday at 5:30pm. This will be a FREE concert and is open to the public.

Schuler Books & Music
40 Fountain N.W.
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Phone: 616 459 7750

Guys & Dolls at the Library

The East Grand Rapids KDL will be showing the film Guys & Dolls at 12:30pm. This is a FREE event and a great start to a fun filled weekend.

746 Lakeside Dr. SE
East Grand Rapids, MI 49506
(616) 647-3880

Aerie June Freebie

For all those a-listers out there your June FREEBIE is ready for you to pick up on Thursdays. This month they're giving away floral notepads. If you haven't become an a-lister yet it's easy to do. Just head into the aerie store in the Rivertown mall and tell them at the counter that you'd like to join. If you go on a Thursday you'll get signed up right away and get your freebie.

Two New FREE Magazines

Here's a couple more FREE subscriptions:

Road & Track
Business Week

Mothers & More Garage Sale

This is another multi-family sale happening this weekend. It starts Thursday at 4pm and goes until 8pm. Friday it will be open from 8am-7pm and Saturday from 8am until noon. The profit of this event will benefit GR Mothers & More.

6167 Del Cano Dr. SE
Grand Rapids, 49546
For more information please call 312-485-0485

Neighborhood Garage Sale

This Thursday through Saturday your garage sale coins can be put to good use by spending them at the Tripoli Ct. Neighborhood Garage Sale. They have around 20 confirmed houses participating and some of those will be donating the profits to the Race for the Cure / Susan G. Komen. The sales start at 8:30am and you can find maps for this sale at 3517 Tripoli Ct. SE. This will be off Cascade Rd. - Thornapple to Burger. Get there early spend what you can!

FREE Drink at Arby's Today!

If you're heading to a fastfood joint for lunch why not go somewhere that you can get a FREE drink? Arby's is offering a FREE iced Fruitea with any sandwich purchase today as part of their Wednesday FREE program. I personally prefer the days they give away FREE sandwiches so I'll wait until next week. You shouldn't need a coupon for this because they have signs up all over town talking about it. Just let them know that's the deal you'd like when you're ordering.

Summer Fun Activities

If you're looking for some FREE or inexpensive kids and family activities for the summer than follow the advice from Big Binder and myself and check out Love Inc.'s Summer Fun Guide here. There's 48 pages of info to devour and sort through. If you're looking for vacation bible schools to keep the little ones busy than look no further! You'll find several pages of churches offering VBS camps. You'll also find info. on activities in surrounding towns. I don't usually blog on them because I'm to broke to drive to Holland or even Rockford. But if you've got the gas money than fill up your schedule with this great little guide. They have events listed for Holland, Rockford, Ada and even Lowell. So check it out and enjoy the FREE life!

Cheap Kids Meal at Buffalo Wild Wings

Every Wednesday night Buffalo Wild Wings offers kids meals for $1.99. This is for kids 12 and under.Here's what grkids.com had to say about it:
Here are some of the things that have been done in the past: crafts, prizes, balloons, clowns, musicians, face painting, magic tricks, and more!Hours vary by location.

5-8pm at
2035 28th Street South East
Grand Rapids, MI 49508
Phone: 616-241-2999

5-8 pm at
2720 44th Street SE
Wyoming, MI 49509
Phone: 616-261-9464

6-8 pm at
2121 Celebration Drive NE #100
Grand Rapids, MI 49525
Phone: 616-364-2999

6-8 pm at
3050 Alpine Avenue
Walker, MI 49544
Phone: 616-784-9464

Sounds like a good deal!

Kids Day at the Farm Museum

The Coopersville Farm Museum is having on Kids day every Wednesday for the summer. It's open from 10am - 2pm. They have crafts and activities for kids throughout the day. This ends come August. The cost is $2 per kid unless they are 3 or under.

Coopersville Farm Museum
375 Main Street
Coopersville, MI 49404

Give Blood, Get FREE Food

Michigan Community Blood Centers are doing a fun summer event where teenagers can donate blood and they'll get a $5 gift card to Subway. This is just for teens ages 17-19.

Main Donor Center
1036 Fuller Ave NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49505

An Asparagus Event???

I'm not even kidding about this event. It's actually called Asparagus: A Stalkumentary. A Calvin College grad is the writer, producer and director of this film. This event will be Wednesday at 6pm and will begin with an asparagus open house complete with asparagus farmers, samplings and an expert on food preserving. The film will follow at 7:30pm. I suppose I should mention that it will be at the Wealthy Theatre. Probably a good idea right?

1130 Wealthy SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49506

FREE Redbox Rental

Today is the first of the once a month FREE rentals at Redbox. Here's the code - fm63h7

Swap Books, CD's & DVD's!

Swaptree.com is this fantastic site that I've been using for awhile. It's super easy to use. Here's the skinny on how it works:

1. Go to swaptree.com and sign up for an account.
2. Go to the left side bar where it says add items you have and type in the ISBN # of the item you'd like to swap for something else.
3. If someone is wanting that particular item already a screen will come up telling you what items you could swap it for.
4. If you see something you'd like you just click the button that says get now
5. A new screen will pop up that will show you who you'd be swapping with and where they live plus you'll be able to see what they're rated (this is a lot like ebay)
6. Click the button on the far right that says get this copy and you're on your way
7. They will initiate a trade with the other user and that person will decide if they want to swap or not.
8. If they do you'll get an e-mail saying the trade was accepted and to print your shipping label.
9. You can print off a label at home without using their shipping. It's usually cheaper to just go to the post office.
10. That's it! You send your item to swap and you'll get yours in the mail. The only cost is the shipping. I've been stocking up on all kinds of items for Christmas.

The best part is that swaptree does all the work for you. You can also make a list of items you want so when there's a possible swap they'll let you know. You can always check back at the site to see what items you can swap for as well. It's a great FREE swapping site. Where else can you get a DVD for $1.82??? I can't even find that at garage sales!!

FREE Coffee Cup

CASE is a company that makes contruction vehicles I believe and they are offering a FREE coffee cup when you click here and enter the code CASETLC. There is more than just a short form to fill out so beware! Thanks Free Stuff Times!

FREE Film at UICA

This is a GVSU showing of the film The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court. Here's a description from their GR Now ad - More than 120 countries have united to form the International Criminal Court (ICC) — the first permanent court created to prosecute the perpetrators, no matter how powerful, of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. “The Reckoning” follows dynamic ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo and his team for three years across four continents as he issues arrest warrants for Lord’s Resistance Army leaders in Uganda, puts Congolese warlords on trial, shakes up the Colombian justice system and charges Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir with genocide in Darfur. “The Reckoning” is like a deft thriller: Will the prosecutor succeed? Will the world ensure that justice prevails? An Official Selection of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. By Peter Kinoy and Pamela Yates.

There will be a panel discussion afterward. This is a FREE event! It starts at 7pm.

Urban Institute of Contemporary Arts
41 Sheldon Blvd SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Phone: 616 454 7000

Evil Dead 2 at Wealthy Theatre

And the Meanwhile Film Series continues with Evil Dead 2 on Tuesday night at 8pm. As always the cost is just $5 to get in.

1130 Wealthy SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49506
Box Office
(616) 459-4788 x131

FREE Migraine & Headache Workshop

The ChiroFit Wellness Center in EGR is hosting this hands on workshop. It starts at 6:15pm on Tuesday and is only an hour long. They will focus on natural ways to treat common ailments like neck and shoulder pain as well as migraines and tension headaches. There is no cost for this class but you should call and let them know you're coming.

2249 Wealthy St. SE
Ste 240
458-2348