There’s No Free Lunch, But…

4th November, 2009

A Lunch Break Isn't Just for Lunching!

There ARE plenty of free activities you can do on your lunch break from school or work.

Alexandra and I like to try to take a walk during lunch every day. It breaks up the monotony of sitting at one’s desk (or in the copy-room, sigh, I love my life) all day long. On a class day where I have a strange break between classes- not long enough to go home, but long enough to cause severe boredom, I need to find ways to entertain myself. Here are some of the things we’ve done in NYC, besides the walking itself. What do you do?

- Go to Bulgari, Cartier, or Tiffany. Try on their jewelery, and let them clean and polish your small items (rings, earrings) for free!

- Check out some of the higher end designer stores, you’re likely to get a glass of champagne and maybe a cupcake or cookie while you browse, and stay on top of the latest fashions as well.

- Walk by the frozen yogurt shop, try every flavor’s free sample. Tiny portions = way less calories, but you still satisfy your sweet tooth, and your curiosity!

- Walk into a Sephora store, and play around with the makeup. At many stores, they have a new “express” station near the front where their in-house makeup artists will make you over free of charge. None of this “let me do half of your face so you can see the difference” business either. Granted, it was a little strange returning to afternoon class with blue, pink, and purple eyes complete with shimmer, but it looked great a couple of hours later when I went out!

- Go to a bookstore and read all your favorite trashy tabloids. No, I don’t need to spend $3.99 to read about Brangelina’s new alien baby from jupiter, or the fact that they will soon be adopting Jon and Kate’s entire 8, but that doesn’t mean I’m not interested!!

- Browse a street fair, pet a horse, play with a puppy. Sit by a fountain, (this actually costs a minimum of $.01 since you clearly need to toss some kind of coin in and make a wish!)

You’re pretty much only limited by your imagination and ingenuity. If all else fails, naps are free, find a spot to hide and don’t forget to set your cell phone to wake you up with enough time to touch up your makeup and get back to the desk!