Saturday at 3 PM, the Chicago Cultural Center hosts When You Wish Upon a Star, a free program of Disney holiday songs performed by local singers including Chicago cabaret staples Beckie Menzie and Tom Michaels. The show takes place in the Preston Bradley Hall. Admission is free, but space is limited so arrive early.

Thursday from 5 to 8 PM, the Morton Arboretum gift shop will be serving beer from Two Brothers Brewing Company and snacks including barbecue chicken and bacon skewers, potato skins, and brownies to attract male shoppers; gift wrapping is free, too.

Admission to the arboretum is free from 4 to 5 PM daily through December 23 and all day for kids 17 and under accompanied by one paying adult (members excluded) through January 4.

Tuesday night at 6:30 PM, 2nd Story, "a hybrid performance event combining storytelling, wine, and music," takes over Puck's Cafe at the MCA. Featured performers include Khanisha Foster, Bobby Biedrzycki, Julie Ganey, and Deb Lewis. DJ White Russian spins. You can watch videos of past shows here.

Angels & Kings will be serving free Drambuie cocktails tonight from 8 PM for a preholiday party featuring performances by Belmont Burlesque and music by DJ Davila. RSVP here.

You may have seen the McDonald's ads for McCafe Mondays, but a rough survey of ten downtown franchises revealed a Free Shit scandal to rival Blayola: Less than half the outlets--at 233 W. Jackson, 119 N. Wabash, 186 W. Adams, and 600 N. Clark, aka the Rock 'n' Roll McDonald's--are prepared to make good on the promise of free 8-oz drinks. (Note: An employee at the Jackson store admitted that participation is contingent on the presence of someone who can actually figure out how the new McCafe machine works.) Of the remaining locations, some were still waiting for their machine to arrive, others had theirs still in the box awaiting someone to install it, one flatly refuses to participate in the promotion, and the Merchandise Mart store did not pick up their phone. The campaign's scheduled to continue through the end of January. Come Monday, will we find more franchises have jumped onboard? Will McDonald's edge ever so slightly closer to bourgeois respectability like in some Dickensian bildungsroman? And will Estella, er, Starbucks ever care?