If it's free, it's for me

So yesterday was pretty awesome. I was having a normal day at work when representatives from David Babaii (an all-natural, organic product line with Kate Hudson as their spokesperson) came by to meet with us and talk about their new products (without Kate). They gave us all great swag bags with lots of great, well, swag. We got these sweet ceramic hairdryers that retail for over $120, an organic notebook, volumizer and a $25 gift card to Starbucks. They said they might send over their flat irons for us too, which would be beyond awesome because mine's about to die. I know, I know, it's not "ethical" to take gifts, but I don't work for a newspaper anymore and magazines have different rules. And I really needed a new hairdryer. 

Then Leighanne and I went to a free movie screening of Cherie. It was one of those way-in-advance screenings to get audience feedback and make final changes. It starred Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathy Bates and an unknown leading man, Rupert something. It was set in France at the turn of the 19th century (I think) and followed two retired prostitutes (Michelle and Kathy). Michelle falls in love with Rupert, Kathy's much younger son, and trouble arises when Kathy sets him up in an arranged marriage. It was an okay movie, more like a longer Lifetime movie. The only really good thing about it was Rupert (he was really hot) and the costumes. But hey, it was free and it was the first movie I've ever seen in New York. Oh, and we got free popcorn because we came in the cold. Who said New York was expensive? 

Other thoughts: No, I didn't see the plane crash into the Hudson. It happened around 3:30 while I was at work, and I only heard about it because I was bored and happened to go to NYtimes.com where it was the main story. Chris, however, got an up-close view. He does PR for the Army Corps of Engineers and just happened to be on the Hudson working on another project when the plane crashed. He spent the rest of the day helping with the rescue efforts and didn't get home till around 11:30. His parents are coming in today to visit for the weekend, so I get to meet them.

I don't really have any plans for the weekend, besides going to Sunday brunch with Thierry. I'm sure I'll hang out with Chris and his parents some. I have Monday off because of MLK day. Tuesday, Meredith invited me to Yelp's Inaugural Ball. She's a big foodie and writes a lot of reviews for Yelp.com and they invited her to the ball, and she invited me. It's an evening of free food and drinks and we get to dress up. Exciting!