NYC

Two Meatballs: The Clubs Blowin’ Up…On a Tuesday!

February 12, 2015health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,9th Street Espresso, Buddakan, Chelsea Basket's, chelsea market, Dos Caminos, girls trip, happy birthday kelly, hi katie, hi kelly, meatpacking district, NYC, Posman Books, reunited and it feels so good, SaraBeth's Bakery, Scarpetta, SoHo, super best buddies take over the city, The Dream Downtowntwomeatballsgetfit View all 8 comments

Who plans a girls weekend/birthday trip to NYC in late January/Early February!? These idiots!

But 12 degree weather and snow/sleet and walking pneumonia and colds can’t stop these girls from having a good time! We all left early in the morning! Kelly and me from Raleigh and Katie from DC!

Our flight was delayed because of Snowmagedon…so what are two besters to do!? Try on all of your warm clothing!?! Airport fashion show…don’t mind if we do!

Take our meds to feel better before the big trip!?

Ok time to get on that plane!

Smooth flight…cab time!

And on to our favorite hotel in the city…The Dream Downtown! And look who we bumped into in the lobby! #perfecttiming

Look at this room… who wouldn’t love this place?!

Time to get spiffed up and head to Chelsea Market, but not before some photo ops and a peek and chat with the sexy doorman Jose!

This last one is my favorite pic of the trip! It’s so nice to be together! Ok off to our happy place…first stop in Chelsea Market…9th Street Espresso!!!

I mean look at this place #heaven

Second stop, Posman Books…what a gem this is!

Then it was off to a local art and clothing pop up shop!

Then a little more drive by shopping…

#fascinatorsarefascinating Gosh, all this shopping and we’ve worked up an appetite. Guess what you can find in Chelsea Market…homemade cake pops…I did not need to know about these!

I def went into this trip with a “When in New York Mentality” which means I ate whatever I wanted…why is food so comforting when you are sick!? On the way home…we judged the dirty snow!

Then, we regrouped and took stock of our finds!

#thosewhitesockskatie #woof #bestpurchasesoflife

This day was going by so quickly! We waited too long to make dinner reservations so we had an early bird dinner at Buddakan to get ready for!

This place is beautiful!!! And super yummy…and conveniently located across the street from our hotel since it was 20 degrees and windy at this point!

Cheers…Happy birthday Kelly!

Ok onto the good stuff…we love sharing, because sharing is caring. So we ordered lobster egg rolls, carrot dumplings, spicy cauliflower stir fry, dungeonous crab stick rice and a moo shoo type pork dish!

Everything was soo good! And how cute are the carrot dumplings!? There was no room for dessert and I had already eaten 50 cake pops!!! What a fun dinner!

Then I was pooped…pneumonia is no fucking joke! So Kelly and Katie went downstairs to the bumping little clubby bar at the Dream and I had my nightly dose of narcotic cough syrup and got into bed! These were the messaged that corresponded…please notice the time…baby tired!

I was still up when they got home and we did some serious snuggling and then put in our ear plugs and went to bed!

Katie and I snuggled in one bed and the birthday girl got her own bed! The next morning we decided to hit up our favorite Mexican haunt…Dos Caminos…it was 12 degrees today!

We got some plantain empenadas, the girls got guacamole and chips and I got a hell of a spicy burger and fries!

So much yum! And even more fun!

Then it was off to shopping!!!

No photos of this exist bc it was too damn cold to think!!! WE went into this specialty bra store where they calculate your armpit fat into your cup size…hello! Then we popped into every local bag and clothing store we could find…I love SoHo!!! We all walked away with new bags, bras and outfits! If you are ever in the area…do yourself a favor and go to NU…they have the best leather bags and coolest weirdest more awesome clothes and jewelry! Time for a little break before getting ready for tonight!

Then it was time to shower…warm up from the frigid day and get ready for the best meal of life at Scarpetta! My new style inspiration is Princess Elsa…Katie nailed a fishtail!

I forgot how fun it is to get ready as a group of girls…having people tell you what looks good or what looks like shit is the living best!

This restaurant is also in our neighborhood…so we bundled up and trekked the two blocks in the coldest wind tunnel of life!

And had the living best dinner! Again we shared, bc when in Rome! We had the yellowtail, scallops, creamy polenta with truffles and the Spaghetti dish! Also instead of bread, they bring you out stromboli bites!!! Yummy…bye bye paleo!

And then we had an epic Espresso dessert that was in a word…heaven!

And the birthday girl had an espresso with her espresso dessert!

Then we went home and packed up a bit bc tomorrow morning will be check out!!! Man time flies! We all slept like champs and after packing up and stowing our bags, we went back to the homeland for the remainder of our NYC time…Chelsea Market here we come!

We sat outside of SaraBeth’s Bakery and enjoyed our coffee and our last little moments together! You guys…this was the living funnest trip and I’m so glad we got to celebrate your birthday this way Kelly!

Then my Boss Joelle, and co managers Kait and Mary arrived! We all said hello and then a quick and hard goodbye with Kelly and Katie!

Goodbye Katie and Kelly!!! Our story will end here today, but more about my work trip tomorrow! Xoxo

#itssohardtosaygoodbye #itslikeadonut #theytakeacakeicedandputitinablender #yourbuttsblowinuponatuesday #dontputthatnutinyourbutt #theladygodiva #mysocksarewet #itstheonlypairihave #TasinTedrow #Wasinwhatwhatwhatwhat #fartsthatlinger kellybrokemytoe #syzurpblackout #katiecuddles #earplugsaretheshit #missyallalready

Two Meatballs: Holy Pneumonia Batman!

January 30, 2015health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,adventures in the city, apple of my eye, baby sick, girls trip, hi kelly, katie kelly sara, life besties, meatpacking district, neighbors, NYC, snowmagedontwomeatballsgetfit View all 4 comments

I’ve mentioned before that I was a sickly child/teen/adult!

And that I had really begun to identify myself as someone who was sickly. But ever since I quit smoking and drinking and started eating healthy and exercising, I’ve barely gotten sick! And when I do get sick it doesn’t seem to debilitate me the way it used to. I was probably on antibiotics every other month for ten years. Eeeek…not good! #mypoorvagina So when I started feeling bad last week I just assumed that I could juice it away. But I was wrong!!! I called my dad to tell him that it was walking pneumonia and he said I thought we were past this! I laughed bc I was under the same assumption! But, just bc I’m getting healthy doesn’t mean that I will never succumb to illness ever again. Lesson learned. This one really took me out. I’ve been following all instructions bc I want to get better!!!! I have been silent, sleeping, housing fluids, taking my meds, eating healthy, staying calm and low key. I hate missing work but I was so exhausted that I couldn’t even get myself ready in the morning without irrationally bursting into tears and laying down. I’ve literally been waking up all week from naps that I wasn’t aware that I was taking! Ha! But now it’s Thursday night and I am finallyyyyyyyyy feeling a little bit better…my fever has broken…I don’t feel as crazy and I don’t want to cry anymore!!! Hallelujah! This weekend I’m headed to NYC with my sister Kelly and my bestie Katie to celebrate Kelly’s birthday! I mean somebody look at this cutie!

#appleofmyeye

Kelly, Katie and I have been friends our entire lives. That is a bold faced lie…Kelly wanted nothing to do with us buuuuut we are all so close now that that is how I like to remember the past! #youreonlylyingtoyourself Growing up next door to each other for 15 years was such a gift!!! You can’t manufacture that kind of closeness. I mean look at us!

Despite my ridiculously drawn out pneumonia and smowmagedon up north…we are so excited!

We will visit all of our favorites…Chelsea Market, 9th Street Espresso,

Scarpetta, Buddahkhan (sp?!), The Natural Science Museum

and all of our little haunts in the Meatpacking District…the most important of which is the sexy doormen at the Dream Downtown…swit swoooooo! We got to spend so much time together over the holidays as you’ll remember from such posts as Nobody Skips to a Cockfight!

We love each other sooo much! Last time I was in NYC with Katie we bumped into Ray from HBO’s Girls…And last time I was there with Kelly we went to a taping of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon with Andy Samberg and the Lonely Island guys, Stephen Colbert, and Magic Johnson!!!

Fingers crossed that it’s even more epic this time!!! So in honor of all the fun we’ll have, let’s stroll down the ghost of Katie, Kelly, Sara past and see all the fun that’s been had!

Ugh I love them!!! I love NYC too…it’s my home away from home but to be perfectly honest…I’m mostly looking forward to snuggling up and talking all night!!! #iliveforasleepover #istillhavepneumonia #babytired

So NYC, get ready!!!!

And to Katie and Kelly…I literally can’t wait!!! Xoxo Also, get ready for our 11th weigh in…we will post Monday night at 7!!!! Here’s a sneaky peeky!!!

Two Meatballs: S.Biddy and K.Tiddy take over Tha.City!!!

July 21, 2014Big Changes, Cardio, Family, Fitness, Fitness, Motivation, Plus Size, Health, Beauty, Humor, Friends, Goals, Health, health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,, Life change, motivation, Torridbff's, body by hannahh, chelsea market, friends take over the city, hbo, hbo girls, hbo newsroom, highline, meatpacking district, NYC, paleo on the road, urban cricket, warby parkertwomeatballsgetfit View all 12 comments

You guyyyyyyysssss…so many amazing things happened this weekend! First, I got to spend an entire weekend with my K.Tizzle for her 30th birthday in the greatest city on earth…NYC!!!! Her birthday also marks our friendversary of 30 years since we’ve known each other forever!!! So we began the celebration at Catch…the yummiest place ever!

Katie and I haven’t lived in the same city for almost a decade now and absence really does make the heart grow fonder!!! The conversations never end but at the same time…we don’t actually have to say anything. Our powers of unspoken communication have really taken off…insert judgy face!

Catch was sooooo yummy and there were so many paleo friendly choices! We split some crispy shrimp and a sushi roll called The General…both were amazing and super non paleo and then I had scallops for an entree and Katie had the grilled octopus!!! Best little dinner ever! Then it was off to shopping and coffee…we knew we both had a long night ahead!

It should be noted that even though there is no way you could see our legs in the cheersing coffee picture…we both have one foot up a la first kiss pose!!! I love this girl sooooo much…and I love 9th Street Espresso inside of Chelsea Market!!! Best coffee in the city. Then it was time to go out and celebrate!!! We started at La Botega…

This is me reverse planking at the bar(activity points?!)…we also had spinny stools so that we could look at everyone!! The DJ was playing the most random music and our bartender was totes adorbs! Katie had some amazing looking drinks that I look forward to trying in six months!!! The sobriety thing wasn’t tough at all though! Then we went back to our gorgeous hotel, The Dream Downtown and their DJ was even better. When I walk in to Lauren Hill and then Bobby Brown, this girl is happy! We had a few more drinks there and took in the beauty that is The Dream from our sweet little banquette.

Then it was suddenly very late! We went back to the room and had a sleepover. You guyyyyys….I LIVE FOR A SLEEPOVER!!! I feel like as a grown ass adult, you very rarely get to share the bed with your super best buddy for more laughter, nightly recaps and pillow talk!!??

The next morning we hit the ground running and went straight to Chelsea Market…

We grabbed some coffee…duh and some yummy breakfast!

We had some meatball shout outs…hahahah!!!!

And Katie explained to me why she hates the new Coke marketing campaign!

Then we bought tank tops and art in a pop up art instillation…look at this excellent marketing! A huge sign that just says COME OVER HERE…we did and Urban Cricket….loved everything we purchased! I mean a What Would Dolly Do tank and Good Things Come To Those Who Hustle!?!?! #genius #thatamericanflagisinourhotelanditsbeercans

Then, a friend of my client Meredith reached out to work out with us!!! She is a fitness editor for Cosmo.com and the owner of Body by Hannah…and she slayed us!!! We met her mid day Saturday and got a workout of a lifetime!!! She was adorable and hilarious! I will do a separate post this week about that awesome experience but here is a sneaky peaky.

We could barely make it down the stairs after this hour with Hannah…I felt like a Batman villan!!! So we went to lunch to refuel! We chose the Green Table and it was delish!

We had market fresh veggies, a salad with grilled chicken and then I got a fresh pressed juice for dessert!!!

Then we got ready to meet Abbie…a college pal from Raleigh and her husband Pat and friends Matt and Ronnie (haha) at a bar called the Drop Off Service.

This night and this group of people ended up being so fucking fun that we cancelled our reservations at Buddahkan and schlepped it to Brooklyn for the night!

We had an amazing diner at Walter Food’s and then ran into Ray from HBO’s Girls and we was the living nicest!!!

This little group of people…the A team as it were ended up being the funnest part of the trip! I love when people just get along sight unseen! The childhood references and unstoppable laughter was the tits. I love smart people! Can’t wait to see y’all again! xoxoxo

The next day we slept in and recovered from our late night in Brooklyn. We decided that brunch was a great way to go and our super hot doorman told us to go to Bubby’s. You guys I’m not kidding about the doormen at The Dream…ladies do yourself a favor. I DIGRESS, I love a recommendation! And it was excellent!

Then we walked The Highline!!! This was gorgeous!

Then on our way to Warby Parker we noticed that someone was shooting something! But we couldn’t figure out what it was.

I got some sunglasses and she got some adorbs glasses glasses and this total creep helped us out!

He was hilarious and insulting in the best way! He told me one of the pairs of glasses that I tried on looked like I stole them from a childs face…bahahahahhhahahaha! And as we were leaving we found out that they were filming HBO’s The Newsroom…hello Olivia Munns who I was just talking about last night! HBO you made my trip!!!

Then Katie wanted a power lip and we went to Sephora…

Then we decided to google what a 30 year anniversary gift is…turns out its diamonds…so we treated ourselves to some earrings!!! Happy friendsversary!!!!

Then it was time for second brunch at Dos Camino’s…the yummiest Mexican on earth!

My flight was quickly approaching after this yummy meal! We walked our little Meatpacking District neighborhood one last time, walked back to the hotel to get our baggage and then had the best goodbye hug of life! I wish someone had captured it!!! Katie I just love you so much! I am thankful everyday to have you in my life and I hope that everyone is so lucky. Happy 30th and Happy Anniversary!!! I miss you already!

Here are some outtakes!

Two Meatballs: An Ode to the Irreplaceable Krilfistilfina!

June 10, 2014health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,best cousins, best friends, besties, bumble, Bumble and bumble, career change, Childhood, cousin bestie, cousins, Family, family first, family friends, family love, House of Bumble, love, Mary Poppins, MOMA, more like sisters, NYC, pig latin, relationships, relationships change, rihanna, salons, seperation anxiety, stay at home mom, stay at home moms, travel, work with family, working with family, Your cousins are your first friendstwomeatballsgetfit View all 6 comments

I talk a lot about my friends and family…they are my life! But my cousin Kristina was mos def my first built in friend. I had the greatest childhood and Kristina is a huge contributing factor to that happiness !!! Look how sweet we were!?!? And Uncle Marty…those shorts…hellllo!

We are only 2 1/2 years apart and we spent soooo much time together that she was always another sister to me…

Another sister that would actually play with me! (yeah I’m talking to you Kelly! xo)

This is us on Christmas morning at our Grandma Apple’s…we spent a ton of time together with our grandparents splashing in puddles during storms, spending countless hours at the library and in the cemeteries, sitting outside of haunted houses, playing in the camper, playing Old Maid and Chutes and Ladders on repeat, going to the Piggly Wiggly and playing at the park across the street. They even took us to Disney World where we spent more time in the motel pool than in Disney and we created our own language to fit in with the international fans of the park! Look at those fanny packs! #toocoolforschool #shegotgumstuckinhersantradedwithme #peopledontforget #sneakysnake #sushihead

We also went to Sea World…we didn’t know back then…no judgement!

We put on little plays for our family…

But mostly we just played…for hours on end…

We even Trick or Treated together…

And around this age there was just tons of driving around in her car, smoking Newport Mediums…woof and singing Fiona Apple, No Doubt and the Dixie Chicks…and being completely inseparable! We went to 100,000 movies, the zoo, watched Miss America while eating chocolate chip mug cookies (which Kristina invented), forced ourselves to watch every scary movie ever made, had one bazillion sleepovers, beach vacations, riding on the nose of Uncle Al’s boat singing Walking on Sunshine, getting whelps from sitting in Jellyfish poison, rv-ing in the mountains, seeing outdoor plays, played Family Feud non stop on our ancient computer, she would call me sushi head and I would cry(this was on the way to Disney so I was much younger but it still stings! haha), playing on our bicycle built for two and our super cool crutches, we played every game and put together every puzzle known to man and sooo much more! Like any family relationship/friendship there were def rocky times and lots of games where we hit each other violently but the good times always outweighed the bad and I always knew she had my back and I knew I always had hers.

We just remained really close and eventually our circles of friends all merged into one. Kelly and Katie, Kristina and myself were together most weekends….we celebrated recitals, birthdays, graduations, weddings, babies and just generally enjoyed spending time together.

Then the most amazing thing happened…we both became hairstylists and ended up both working at Samuel Cole Salon…for the past nine years! Who is this lucky to get to work with their best friend cousin sister Kri Kri K-Dog X-Tina five days a week…every week!?!? Working together has afforded us so many opportunities that we got to share together. We have trapesed all over NYC together taking the best classes at the House of Bumble, going to Broadway shows, MOMA, eating at some of the best restaurants, performed Thai Chi in Times Square, created a living art instillation, almost got murdered at the Hotel Chelsea #rapeportal #theshiningmeetscsi, and stalking…I mean bumping into Rihanna at the W #thereisnophotobcwereidiots!

We’ve been through promotions and title changes, countless Bobbies, Grand Re-openings, salon moves and newer Grand Openings, awards, she was even my model for an editorial submission…but most importantly we just got to spend time together! When Kris first came to work at Samuel Cole, I was so excited I found myself hugging her everyday…no shocker for me right Melinda, but for those who don’t know my cuz that well…hugging is not her jam. She had to impose a once a week hug mandate on me…bahahahahahaha! I tried but failed!

Kristina has the most contagious laugh…she literally cries she laughs so hard, she has unbridled joy for cookies, she so fucking smart and I believe she could perform surgery just through sheer will and determination, she is the best mom and an awesome sounding board with great advice. Those are the things I’ll miss the most…because my sweet friend after having her third child has decided to stay home with her kids. I love hate this decision soooo much. But I couldn’t be happier for her and I will just have to trek it out to Wake Forest a little more often…to see her…and her fun kids…and her husband Tim whom I adore #winwinwin!!! So, to Kristina…I have cried at least three times writing this. I feel so lucky that we are sooo close and have all this amazing history together. I love you to the moon and back and then back to the moon again. So many of my fondest memories involve you and I wouldn’t want it any other way. You are the reason I went to hair school and I just couldn’t thank you enough. I’m so glad that we get to be a part of each others lives forever. Love you cuzzy wuzzy.

Ps if you are wondering about the title…Our Grandma Apple made up her own pig latin and that is how you say Kristina…Krilfistilfina…Mine is Sarlfara. Get it..nope we don’t either but we can all speak it fluently somehow! I LOVE YOU KRIS! #bffffffffffffffs #bestcousins #luckytimesinfinity

Two Meatballs Get Fit

We had so much fun getting fat together. Now we're going to have even more fun getting fit!

NYC

Two Meatballs: The Clubs Blowin’ Up…On a Tuesday!

Two Meatballs: Holy Pneumonia Batman!

Two Meatballs: S.Biddy and K.Tiddy take over Tha.City!!!

Two Meatballs: An Ode to the Irreplaceable Krilfistilfina!