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Note, not everyone can pull this look off.
If you ever find yourself flush with cash and in Tribeca, go spend your windfall on some new eyebrows from Jimena Garcia at Tenoverten salon — she’s a bona fide artiste and just the coolest. (This we know from our heady fashion magazine days.) Alas, if your budget, like ours, is more in the range of the tip at a fancy place like that, where do you go in Brooklyn? We want to make a list of reader-recommended eyebrow joints, so we’ll kick things off with a find from Nikki Jo Grossman’s South Brooklyn beauty guide: 
Careers,
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Alexis Bledel: Brooklyn resident, aspiring riveter.
It’s easy for us ladies to get shut out of jobs requiring manual labor or technical expertise. For the females out there who are sick of being hostesses and secretaries, Nontraditional Employment for Women will help you get a job in the construction, transportation, energy or other physical industries. They offer career development programs and trainings, as well as casework and childcare. It should be noted that these jobs tend to be physically demanding for women OR men, but NEW also assists in physical fitness training. They estimate you could earn between $10-17 an hour your first year, but that can go up to $45 after an apprenticeship program! These are secure union positions with medical benefits and pensions (seriously, they still exist). Presently, only 3 percent of construction jobs are filled by women. This obviously needs to change, although it does make for good odds on the after work drink front…
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Shopping
A dollar here goes a long way there.
You could feel twice as good the next time you give in and purchase a group deal. The Mutual is the latest group-buying service joining the dozen already filling up your inbox. But this one has a charitable twist: Billing itself as the “Groupon for good,” The Mutual rewards philanthropic giving with sweet hookups on VIP events, early product releases, discounts and more. The Brooklyn-based start up is simple enough: You pay a monthly $10 fee for access to the perks. Of that, 80 percent is donated to an environmental charity, with the rest going back to The Mutual. Perks right now include a VIP Brooklyn Brewery party, a free Sustainable NYC totebag and steep discounts to Broadway shows, which means you might recover your monthly fee in just one use.
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Edith reacts to your neck tattoo. Photo by Chris Bonanos.
I was on a date this summer with another writer who folded her arms and rolled her eyes when the subject of a certain lady blog editor came up. ”I think I’m going to pitch a Thought Catalog piece titled ‘Please Stop Talking to Me about Edith Zimmerman,’ ” she said, clearly frustrated with the number of dudes who are infatuated — romantically or professionally — with The Hairpin editor, NYT Magazine columnist and renowned Captain America chest-toucher. Why is that? Because dudes probably imagine hanging out with Edith is as fun as reading The Hairpin itself, which feels like crashing an girls-only whiskey party instead of a giggly sleepover.
Brokesters probably have more of a shot than we should with gals like Edith: women outnumber us (with 149,219 more ladies than dudes in NYC), make more money than us (17 percent!), and just generally seem to be killing it. I ran into Edith — who is 28 and lives in Cobble Hill — while I was working at Trader Joe’s, and she was checking out … a 20-year-old cashier, which proves you don’t have to be a superhero or a lovestruck scientist to get a girl’s attention.
The Ediths of New York seem like they have enough going on to even bother with dating, what with starting memes, popping by This American Life and writing what me and several friends agree are the friendliest pitch rejection emails around. So how do you catch their eye, especially when you’re sleeping on an air mattress or forced to ration a single High Life for the whole night? Read on to find out how Edith thinks your Occupy banner might not be as attractive as your Scrabble skills, and how sometimes even a successful girl just wants a good pickleback.
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Oh, my good iPod was in there.
Enough time has passed since Christmas that you can ditch all that crap you immediately broke with your clumsy, nog-drunk hands. As you well know by now, e-waste doesn’t go in with your regular trash, unless you love the tangy taste of chemicals in your water. Instead, take them to one of the e-waste recycling events in Brooklyn in this weekend: one is at McCarren Park (Bedford Ave. at North 12 St.) on Saturday and another at Prospect Park (Prospect Park West at 3rd St.) on Sunday, both from 10am-4pm. The list of accepted items is below, which includes most things (not your fridge).
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This is exactly what coding looks like, as we understand it.
Coding (noun): A system of words and numbers jumbled together that form secret messages that only computer geeks and hackers understand … until now. If your new year’s resolution is to secretly take over the world, you might want to learn computer coding first. And you’re in luck! Code Year presented by Code Academy, is the free way how to learn how lines of HTML create a patterned background or JavaScript strands could help restore a failing link. It sends you a weekly tutorial so you can learn how to code at your own pace. There are eight lessons and 41 different exercises, ranging from counting words in a document to putting your own personal spin on pop-up messages. And even Hizzoner is taking part.
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Bed Stuy/ Bushwick
Donna's Hair Salon in Bed-Stuy offering free haircuts. Photo by Sarah Bradley.
Times are tough and finding employment can feel like a full-time job itself. Once you’ve managed to actually land an interview, don’t let the hours spent submitting resumes, writing cover letters and desperately refreshing Craigslist go to waste when you walk in with a shaggy DIY-do. Donna’s Hair Salon, at 481 Nostrand Ave. in Bed-Stuy, wants to help you impress potential employers with a fresh (and FREE) haircut. The generous salon is offering free haircuts on Mondays and Tuesdays between 10am and 1pm. It’s not clear what kind of haircut is best for doughnut-making or astronaut jobs.
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Windsor Terrace/ Kensington
Yes, this is a terrible picture but you get the idea.
Unless you’re doing a rose petal hoohah at D’mai, Brooklyn nail salons can blend into one another, with better or worse colors, cleaner or crustier foot baths, more or less sadistic technicians. But here’s an inexpensive neighborhood place that deserves a Brokelyn shout out. A basic mani-pedi at Nails by Amy, a newish nail salon on Ft. Hamilton Parkway in Kensington Windsor Terrace, includes a foot massage to rival big-name Manhattan spas, all for the low low price of $19.99 Tues. – Thurs., and $21.99 Fri. – Sunday. Both times we’ve been, were assigned to Jimmy, Amy’s husband. That Amy is one lucky gal — this dude knuckles and kneads your feet into a state of higher being for nearly 20 minutes, and his other pedi skills are up there too. Word from the other massage chairs is that the ladies are just as badass. By the way, Nails by Amy is right around the corner from another Kensington Windsor Terrrace reader fave, Haircare by Yolanda.
Nails by Amy, 2907 Ft. Hamilton Parkway at East 4th St., 718-436-2898
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Bloomberg finds an alternate use for his protester shredder.
This weekend is Mulchfest 2012, which is the chance to do something good with that fire hazard of a Christmas tree, and not, as you might have worried, the most awful smelling jam band concert of all time. Bring your tree to one of the chipping locations throughout the borough either day from 10am-2pm. The city will chip it and use the mulch to nourish trees on streets and gardens citywide. Or you can get your own bag of mulch for your own garden type thing. If you can’t lug your tree, there’s also drop-off sites and curbside pickup you can take advantage of. Check the official Mulchfest site to find a drop off or chipping location.
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Wait! You can resell that jerk's stuff!
A new startup has a solution for dealing with your relationship’s baggage and making a few bucks while you’re at it. Never Liked it Anyway is an online marketplace specializing in the treasures (trash?) of past loves. People sell no-longer-wanted gifts from relationships past at a steep discount. Whereas traditional methods of retail therapy only seem to toss a person from one romantic hole into another financial one, this site is intended to dig you out of both. It doubles as a support group for the recently dumped, with member-generated tips for moving on and a forum for ranting.
It’s like an anonymous therapy session, made even better by the chance to turn your spiteful memories into cold cash. But if these four items are an indication of things to come, I hope more happy relationships end in 2012.
