Dating on a Dime

Movie Mondays

2011-09-04T14:14:00.000-07:00

Another quick Movie Monday post with help from redhotcookinmama. This week's meal is Pasta with Sausage and Cherry Tomatoes.

"This meal was not only absolutely delicious, but it was also very easy and simple to make. It had a lot more flavor than I expected. The tomatoes are awesome! We plan to make it a regular!"

The first movie that came to mind with this meal is Julia and Julia.

Image from Amazon

A wonderful movie that will make you want to eat and enjoy good food...especially butter!

Movie Mondays

2011-06-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

Another yummy meal from redhotcookinmama for my version of Movie Monday. This meal is called Healthy Nachos! Yes, sounds weird, but looks really good!

To me, nachos remind me of sports and a good, summer sports movie. This is a fun movie to watch with friends or a date...Friday Night Lights.

Enjoy!!!

Movie Mondays

2011-06-12T20:18:00.000-07:00

My cousin writes a great blog called redhotcookinmama. She writes about great meal ideas for a busy family; I am going to combine her meals with a great movie idea for a fun Movie Monday.

Here is a bit of her blog about Bean and Beef Burritos:

Monday nights can be a bit crazy around my house with homework, etc for Sweetie Pie, and she goes to bed later now, so making dinner with my sister has gotten a bit harder. I decided I wanted something I could fix on Sunday, and not have much to do on Monday. My sister brought over her ingredients on Saturday and I had the insides of the burritos cooked and ready Sunday night!

Click here to read more.

Pair your dinner with a fun summer movie...I Love You Man.

Image from Amazon

Enjoy some laughs and a great meal!

Downtown Art Walk

2011-06-09T13:15:00.000-07:00

The 2nd Thursday of each month is one of my favorite days because that means it's the Downtown Art Walk. This was one of our first dates years ago and it has grown tremendously since then. I've written about the Art Walk before, but I can't recommend it enough!

This event used to be solely about art, but it has become a huge gathering for Angelinos.

There is art,

food trucks galore,

music, wine tastings, and anything else you can possibly imagine. Best of all it's FREE!

I would recommend parking a little further from the center of Downtown and be prepared to walk. Enjoy!

Friday Night Grand Performances

2010-06-30T10:44:00.000-07:00

Image by Grand Performances

Most weekend nights you will find us at Grand Performances in California Plaza enjoying the free concerts, plays, dance and all that they have to offer. This Friday the event is Lula Washington Dance Theater; one of LA's treasures. This group has been in LA for 30 years and will be performing both new and revival works. The show starts at 8pm and should be a really great time!

Click here for directions. Parking at California Plaza starts at $7.50, however after 8pm all of the street parking is free. Now here is a little secret free parking area: head north on Olive (toward 1st) and there will be a street called Kosciuszko, turn left and after the tunnel you will see an underpass. You can park on the left or right and this parking is free after 6pm. This is on the back side of California Plaza so you do have to walk a couple blocks, but it's not $7.50 worth of walking! Map the Parking.

Image by Dating on a Dime

Thursday Movies in the Park

2010-06-29T22:54:00.001-07:00

Image by The Grove LA

Yes, I know another movie, but they're just so much fun when they're free! This venue is at The Grove LA every Thursday and it's also free! For early access, and to bypass any line, pre-order a from gourmet picnics from any of The Grove's restaurants or purchase gourmet picnics in The Park. Bring a blanket (no chairs.) The event opens for general grass and bleacher seating at 7:15pm. This week the movie is Shrek! Parking can also be a bit pricey here without validation.

Movie schedule is below.

Image by Free Wallpapers

Movie Schedule:

July 8: Star Trek (2009)
July 15: Monsters vs. Aliens
July 22: Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade
July 29: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
August 5: Twilight
August 12: The Twilight Saga: New Moon
August 19: Alice in Wonderland (2010)
August 29: Up

Wednesday Movies on the Terrace

2010-06-29T22:48:00.000-07:00

Image by Westfield Century City

Head over to the Westfield Century City for Wednesday Movies on the Terrace. The movies start at sunset and are on the second level in the dining terrace. The movies are FREE and the seating is first come first serve. This mall has one of the best dining areas I've seen...it's really an upscale food court. Spend $20 in the Dining Terrace and enjoy the beer & wine bar free. This week the movie will be Desperately Seeking Susan and you can possibly win an 80's inspired outfit! See the rest of the schedule below.

Image by Gabrielle Theatre

This event is free, but parking can be a bit pricey without validation. Try to get validated, but if not just remember that the event was free! Enjoy!

Movie Schedule:

July 7 - Anchorman
July 14 - Sixteen Candles
July 21 - Joe Versus the Volcano
July 28 - Jumanji
August 4 - My Big Fat Greek Wedding
August 11 - Babe
August 18 - Teen Wolf
August 25 - 50 First Dates
September 1 - Jaws
September 8 - Karate Kid

Dance Downtown!

2010-06-03T16:31:00.000-07:00

Image by Dating on a Dime

Head downtown LA to the Music Center and get a free dance lesson. Each Friday through the summer there will be a different type of dance. Best of all it's FREE! Bring a partner or bring your friends and meet a partner there; it's great fun for everyone. The lessons are held on a makeshift dance floor in the middle of the Music Center, which sits between the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Mark Taper Forum, and the Ahmanson Theater and across the street from the Walt Disney Concert Hall. See the summer schedule below.

Fun facts about the Music Center:

Great place for a picnic
Allows you to bring drinks
Offers a lot of free summer events
Great location!

Head out to 135 North Grand Avenue, Los Angeles and dance the night away. Dancing starts at 6:30pm and ends at 10pm. Parking is $8-$9 in the lots nearby. There is also street parking that is free after 8pm if you can find a spot. This week is Ballroom (Cha Cha, Foxtrot, Rhumba, and Viennese Waltz.)

Image by Dating on a Dime

July 2   Bollywood/Bhangra
July 16   Argentine Tango
July 30   Zydeco
August 13   Disco Night
August 27   Throwback Night - 60's Dances
September 10   Samba

Earth Day at LA Live

2010-04-21T12:57:00.000-07:00

Image from LA Live

Head out to LA Live on Thursday 12pm-6pm and enjoy a free Earth Day celebration! There will be live music and entertainment and info about Going Green in LA.

12pm: Recyclebank Press Conference

1pm-2pm: "Go Green with AC Green"

Recycle awareness program with canvas bags

4pm-6pm: Live Radio broadcast on ESPN 710

Be sure to bring along your "gently used" sneakers, sporting goods, and old cell phones, and receive a free gift and a $10 game card from ESPN!

If you decide to stick around after 6 be sure to refer to my post about the happy hours available at LA Live.

Meetup tonight!

2010-04-08T10:15:00.000-07:00

Join us tonight for Happy Hour and Trivia at WEILAND BREWERY UNDERGROUND at 5:30pm. The trivia starts between 6:00 and 6:15 and happy hour lasts until 7pm. Weilands has a great happy hour menu with drinks and enough food to fill you up for dinner. We're headed to the Art Walk afterward so feel free to join us!

The bar is actually underground in one of the buildings in downtown. Read the directions here and make sure to enter driveway on right immediately past 5th Street to enter parking garage.

This meetup is being sponsored by your local KICKBALL TEAM! Come out join the kickball team for athletic fun....then we drink up at a local bar!

How to find us? Look for our WAKA KICKBALL shirts.

Hope you can join us!!

Enjoy Easter at LA Live (and stay for happy hour)

2010-03-31T22:37:00.000-07:00

Celebrate Easter at the Nokia Plaza at LA Live in Downtown LA!

Sunday, April 4th
12:00 PM - 2:30 PM

Kids under 6 get a free Easter egg basket and Easter egg hunt
Get your picture taken with the Easter Bunny
Join in Arts and Crafts or get your face painted

Parking available in the West garage: $5 for 2 hours. Map It.

LA Live is a nice place to walk around, be outside, grab a Starbucks and just enjoy the nice Southern California weather. There are restaurants and a movie theater in the area if you want to hang around after the activities are finished; the food can be a little pricey, but many offer happy hour prices!

Happy Hours!

Image by Silver Oak Casino

ESPN Zone: 4pm-7pm daily

Fleming's Prime Steakhouse: 5 cocktails, 5 wines, and 5 appetizers. $6 each, served daily at bar until 7pm

Katsuya: Special happy hour menu daily from 4pm-5pm

New Zealand Natural Ice Cream: 4pm-7pm M-F 25% off ice cream

ROCK'N FISH: 3pm-6pm and 9pm to close daily

Rosa Mexicano: 5pm-6:30pm daily

The Farm of Beverly Hills: 4pm-7pm daily

Trader Vic's: 3pm-6pm M-F

Yard House: 3pm-6pm M-F and 10pm-close Sun-Wed

New Meetup-Trivia and Happy Hour!

2010-03-30T14:33:00.000-07:00

Join us next Thursday night for Happy Hour and Trivia at WEILAND BREWERY UNDERGROUND at 5:30pm. The trivia starts between 6:00 and 6:15 and happy hour lasts until 7pm. Weilands has a great happy hour menu with drinks and enough food to fill you up for dinner.

Image by LA Times

The bar is actually underground in one of the buildings in downtown. Read the directions here and make sure to enter driveway on right immediately past 5th Street to enter parking garage.

Weiland Brewery Underground

505 S Flower St, Suite B-410 Los Angeles, CA 90071 213-622-1125

Hope you can join us!!

Read more about our meetup group and sign up to join us here.

Cheap (and fun) fashion

2010-03-29T17:21:00.000-07:00

If you're into inexpensive kickoffs then head to Downtown LA to the Fashion District. The Fashion District starts around FIDM and continues into street after street of good deals. My cousin was in town visiting and we spent a good part of the afternoon near Santee Alley and walking through all of the shops. Our focus was shoes, but there is everything from magazines to jeans to luggage.

Image from Grace Magazine

If you're in the downtown area then jump on the DASH for 25 cents and save on parking. If you're coming from outside downtown, there are parking lots in the area starting at about $8. Saturday is the busiest day, but there is lots to see and plenty of food so hang out for the day and pick up some great steals. Map it here.

Have fun!!!

Thursday Lunch at Tito's

2010-03-24T22:42:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard of Tito's Tacos then you probably aren't living on the West Side. It's a little taco place off the side of Washington Place (not Blvd) and it has great, cheap food. It's also a great place to walk if you're stuck in the never ending DMV line. There is always a line, but it's a great place to grab quick bite and not spend much.

Tito's is open from 10am-10pm Sun-Thurs and 10am-11pm Fri and Sat.

11222 Washington Place, Culver City, CA 90230

MeetUps (Better Late Then Never!)

2010-03-24T17:03:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to write an update on our first two meetups so I finally decided to make myself sit down and update on how they have gone so far. I wasn't quite sure if the meetup group would appeal to the masses, but after the group was announced to Meetup.com we went from 6 members to nearly 200 members literally overnight. It's been so exciting! Right now we're at 223 "frugal daters."

The first meetup was a 50's theme with Happy Hour at D-Town Burger Bar and a Drive In Movie. Read more of the original blog here.

We met up at D-town and hung out for a couple hours before heading over to the Drive In to watch John Waters' Hairspray.

The diner is small, but has great 50's decor and $2 grilled cheese, fries, shakes, and onion rings on happy hour. They also just started serving breakfast all day.

We all hung out around in the back and it was fun...we just needed a bit more space.

We headed over to the Devil's Night Drive In to watch Hairspray. It was so much fun! Before the movie they had a whole show with fire dancers and we all learned the dance from the movie.

We sat outside on the astro turf with blankets and pillows, but many people had picnics in their cars and there are always some 50's cars there.

This is a shot of the screen before the movie started.

The bf even walked home and got his roommate's dog to hang out with us outside.

The second meetup was a Happy Hour and Comedy Night. Read more of the original blog here. We met at O'Brien's Irish Pub and Restaurant, but we "lucked out" and there was another group there doing a pub crawl...with over 100 people! We found the only available table and ordered some food and drinks. It was much noisier than usual...especially earlier on a Saturday night. The food and drinks were pretty good and cheap, but the location and timing wasn't quite as optimal. We'll have to try this meetup again and hope for less people at the bar.

We'll be scheduling our next meet up soon and we hope to see all of you there!

To join our meetup click on the badge in the right hand column.

Trivia Night at Casey's Tonight!

2010-03-24T15:33:00.000-07:00

This post is coming a little late in the day, but I just found that Casey's Irish Bar has Trivia night on Wednesday nights! This is a fun bar that has pool tables, Irish music on the weekends, and plenty of seating. Trivia starts at 6pm tonight with no entry fee and you can win prizes! I wish I would have known sooner...I'm going to have to check this out, hopefully next week.

If you can't make it tonight check out Casey's on another day of the week. Monday happy hour is 3pm to close and Tuesday and Saturday there is happy hour from 3pm-7pm. There is a full food and drink menu and the prices aren't too bad if it's not happy hour.

You can find Casey's at the bottom of the stairs at 613 South Grand Ave, Los Angeles 90017. There are lots nearby and some metered street parking, but if you live off the Metro there is a Red Line stop close by (7th and Metro.) On a side note, we stop by a lot and they seem to be filming the show 24 near here often. As someone who is a big fan it's always fun to stop and watch for a minute.

24 filming

Huntington Library and Botanical Garden

2010-03-23T17:01:00.000-07:00

Every first Thursday of the month The Huntington offers free tickets, but they must be reserved ahead of time. Beginning the month before you can reserve tickets online or by calling 800-838-3006. For example if you'd like a ticket for May you can start reserving on April 1st. Their are two arrival times to choose from: 10:30am and 1:30pm. No more tickets are available for April 1st, but tickets for May 6th are available starting April 1st at 9am.

If you'd like to visit another day the tickets are $15 for weekdays (closed Tuesday) and $20 for Monday holidays and weekends. Use this coupon through the end of March for 2 for 1 admission.

The location is:

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
626.405.2100

Parking is free!

Image from Cal State LA

If you like museums check out the Museum of Tolerance, Travel Town Museum, or MOCA.

Weekday Bowling

2010-03-23T15:58:00.000-07:00

Bowl your heart out!

Image from Concourse Entertainment

Sunday through Thursday Concourse Entertainment Center offers $2 games and $2 shoe rental from 9pm to close. The Concourse is 21 and OVER on Wednesday Nights after 10pm. Late night games are first come first serve with no reservations so be sure to come early.

The Concourse Entertainment Center

3364 E. La Palma Avenue

Anaheim, CA

If you like being active you might want to read about joining your local kickball team.

Museum of Tolerance

2010-03-22T22:34:00.000-07:00

My favorite museum in LA is the Museum of Tolerance.

It is an amazing story of perseverance, strength, and of course heartbreak. Nearly every day they have Holocaust Survivor Testimonies that absolutely incredible and inspiring. Adults are $15, students $11, and seniors $12. Present this coupon to receive 2 for 1 admission!

Simon Wiesenthal Plaza
9786 West Pico Blvd (southeast corner of Pico Boulevard and Roxbury Drive)
Los Angeles, CA 90035

310-553-8403

Free parking is available underground.

Free Cone Day at Ben and Jerry's

2010-03-22T15:07:00.000-07:00

Pick a free scoop of ice cream on Tuesday, March 23rd, at your local Ben and Jerry's. Find your location

Free Pastry Day at Starbucks

2010-03-22T15:00:00.000-07:00

Get a free pastry at Starbucks, Tuesday, March 23rd before 10:30am.

Print out this coupon or show it to the barista on your mobile device and get your free pastry!

High Voltage Tattoo

2010-03-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

When my cousin was in town she asked me to take her to High Voltage Tattoo because that's where they film the show LA Ink. It's not a place that I would have gone without her here, but it was really a cool place to check out! The decor is really nice and you can buy merchandise at the front counter. They also take walk ins so if you decide you want a tattoo you can set up an appointment for later in the day.

There is metered parking along the street. Map it.

Angels Flight Reopens!

2010-03-19T17:50:00.000-07:00

Last Monday the Angels Flight Railway reopened after being closed for the last nine years. Angels Flight first opened in 1901 and served the residential community of Bunker Hill, providing an easier way to get to the commercial and civic district below.

The rail was relocated and now sits between Hill and Olive streets. It's a great way to visit Grand Central Market and not have to climb the brutal stairs back up the hill. The rail will be open 6:45am until 10pm; 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The best part is a one way ride is only 25 cents!

Venice Canals

2010-03-18T19:01:00.000-07:00

A fun place to visit is the Venice Canals. Walking into the canals makes you feel as if you've stepped out of the busy world of LA and into a calm and serene vacation.

Park on one of the side streets (for free) and take a nice walk or jog through the canals. There are beautiful houses to look at as well as a nice jogging/walking path with bridges. Map it here.

Have fun!

Join Kickball

2010-03-18T13:43:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post about a great, and fun, thing you can do in the LA area. Join a kickball team! Yes, that's right a kickball team like the game you played in the 3rd grade. Read more about the info and how to sign up here.