Food & Fitness

Yesterday was one of those perfect days where I got to relax, play and get a great workout in. If every weekend could go like this, I would be a happy gal. Since there was SO much fun stuff its gonna be a two-parter. Let’s start with the food!

Breakfast

What I am calling “Peaches & Cream Smoothie”

       

1 Peach

1 frozen Banana

1 scoop protein powder (vanilla)

about 6-10 ice cubes

splash of almond milk

This was sooo delicious! As a kid, my family would often make peach milkshakes and it is one of my favorite flavors! (I AM a georgia peach after-all… hardy har har!)

But seriously, you should try this. It is so summery and tasted like dessert for breakfast.

After my wonderful smoothie, I hung out around my apartment, repainted my nails and caught up on Breaking Pointe (New Obsession- It’s so amazing how hard they work)

Then I went grocery shopping at Trader Joes. Since I had broccoli, peanut Butter and ketchup left for food (yummy right?) It was hot as balls out today…and I know everyone in the south was experiencing temps of 10o and above, while here it was a mere 94 degreees. However, in Atlanta, I dont walk over 10 blocks to retrieve my groceries. Although on the plus side, I now officially count grocery shopping as a workout seeing as I carry all my groceries 1 mile back to my place.

The love I have for TJs is hard to even verbalize. I am definitely a Trader Joe hoe…or bitch (as perfectly put by another blogger I started following haha!) Everything is…just…amazing!  They always have fresh produce, come out with great new products, have the friendliest staff and have really cheap prices for being here in NYC.

I love their 99 cent Greek yogurts, kettle corn (which was eaten devoured in 2 sittings) Salt & Pepper Rice crisps and Queso dip.

           

Workout

Then I came back to my place…de-sweatified in the glory of my AC and got ready to take another pole dancing class!!!

This time I went to Body & Pole (classy name…I know)

The class started with a 30 min floor warm up of stretching, dance, flexibility & ab exercises. Then we learned a couple of different moves and spins. I really liked this studio. Unlike the previous class I took, it was more focused on the specific moves and technique as opposed to learning a choreographed routine. Some of the moves were the same (there was a variation of the slutty pushup…so I pretty much nailed that move haha!) and then we learned some new ones like a spin

Not sure what this one is called, but it wasn’t easy

a fan kick, and some ways to grip the pole that use the best leverage. (yeah yeah..TTWS…I know) I got a discount for being a first time student, but seeing as each class costs $40 I unfortunately won’t be going back unless Living Social comes out with a great deal. I honestly felt like some of the moves were pretty easy, and wished I could get into more of the acrobatics of it. I know there’s such a stigma with this and its definitely kinda awkward to to tell people, but it really is so exciting, challenging and fun and I already made some friends from that class because everyone is just there to have fun and try something new.

Also if anyone has any preconcieved notions about it being too taboo, check this woman out! This is what inspired me to take this class in the first place. She is a beast!

By the way, my father was the one who showed me this video! haha!

Anyway, I hope I have maybe opened some ppls minds or at least got you curious about this and will be back with the events of my night/morning!

TTFN!

Dance Day

Sunday after our night out, I had a relaxing morning.

I made Pancakes!…with more peanut butter maple syrup! yummo!

I make my pancakes with Trader Joe’s multigrain pancake mix, almond milk, 1/2 a mashed banana, 1 egg, cinnamon, vanilla and some stevia. Sooo good!

My roommate is a dance major and is interning in the dance field as well. It’s awesome to be surrounded by people who are in a field other than fashion. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE to talk about the newest trends, latest displays in Bloomies, and picking apart the fashion week shows, but it’s also great to get to know people from another world and learn about  someone else’s passion. (I really do feel like I’m in my own little fashion bubble during the school year haha) So with that said, I’ve been so happy to be exposed to different dance performances this summer! First we saw a dance documentary First Position, which was amazing and very inspiring. Then on Sunday, we went to the Joyce Theater (which is apparently a modern dance hot spot, but I always thought it was an indie movie theater haha oops!) We saw a performance by the Jose Limon company (I think it’s a company…feel free to enlighten me dance ppl) It was pretty great. The first few numbers were a little slower paced, but the last performance was joyous and made me smile nearly the entire time. Especially since the male dancers all wore different colors of these pants! : )

It was so much fun. 

After the performance, we discussed it over froyo : ) 

16 Handles was one block up and I had a $1 off coupon….I didn’t even really have a choice not to go! 

Chocolate, Peanut Butter and plain frozen yogurt with heath Bar and syrupy walnut toppings = Bliss!

And they gave me ANOTHER $1 off coupon I have to use before tomorrow…so I guess I know where I’m going again tonight. I really should just go ahead and work there seeing as I’m sure they know my face by now. 

It was also the day of the Gay pride parade today! It’s always an exciting day. Several streets on my walk there were covered in glitter, and a ton of people dress up and there’s music coming from different shops. It’s kind of like a huge bloc party in some areas, and everyone is just really happy! I usually don’t go to parades because being 5’2″ I am at a great disadvantage and more often than not just see alot of the backs of people heads and/or get stepped on. *sad face* 

The rest of the day was spent eating, reading and resting up before interning the next day. 

Ta Ta For Now! have a lovely week!

Eyeball Martini

Ok, so gross right?

Let me explain…

Well after I showered and prepped my self for going out, me Kat and my roomie hit up Verlaine. This particular spot in the Lower East Side has a happy hour that goes until 10pm! what!? and they serve ridiculously good sangria (white & red) and Lychee (please someone tell me the right way to pronounce this) martinis. This particular fruit has always intrigued me. I’m always the person at Pinkberry asking “what is this thing?!” Well I was a little skeptical about it especially because to me, it looks like an eyeball. I’m sorry if you’ve never had one and probably never will, now that I have put that lovely image in your head.

Did anyone else go to halloween parties as a kid where they put bowls of grapes or spaghetti or jello  in a box that you had to blindly stick your hand into under the assumption that these items were actually “eyeballs”, “brains” and “guts”? Well I did, and I think Lychee would have been much better eyeballs than grapes!! I swear I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference. But, with that said, I still ate it, but all I could think was “eyeball eyeball eyeball!!!” 

However, I DID enjoy the drinks! 

I didn’t get a photo of the full outfit, but here is my obligatory photobooth pic

(fun fact: I have about 870 pictures on my photobooth and about 860 of them are all of ME haha #vainfashionstudent)

Lychee Matinis & white sangria that were surprisingly strong and not too sweet.

($5 each!? what in New York!? this is too good to be true)

Mood lighting in the bar translates to a demon filter in my itouch apparently haha

After a couple drinks, we went to Pianos, then followed a cute group of guys (no they weren’t aware #creeperstatus) to Hotel Chantelle, then decided to go to Santos. It was a pretty good night although our last stop was definitely not as great as I had hoped. I’m definitely not one for clubs. I much prefer bars where I can actually chat with my friends.

What do you prefer? club? bar? lounge? cafe? 

French Toast & Fashion

Why hello again!

My friday was spent interning. I am in love with my internship! After years of retail and hostessing jobs, I was definitely ready to be working on something I was more passionate about. I pulled some sample looks for a presentation for Victoria’s Secret and just did some small errands and helped cut out swatch sample. Pretty easy stuff, but the time also flies by because I’m always busy! I was soo pooped after the week that I just hung out, watched tv (Im obsessed with Desperate Housewives and the new show Breaking Pointe) and chatted with some hall mates.

But my Saturday was wonderful! I met up with Katherine again to go to the Hell’s Kitchen flea market then walked around Chelsea Piers before heading back to our separate places, getting all gussied up and goin out!

French Toast!

I started the day of in a wonderful , way! Peanut Butter Maple French toast!

I love breakfast. It is by far, without a doubt, the best meal of the day, and I usually eat breakfast foods for most of my other meals too. I almost always have  oatmeal, but on my off days or weekends it is pancakes or french toast!

I make my french toast with egg whites, almond milk, tons of cinnamon and sugar free syrup with PB just to keep things a bit lighter. It was really really yummy.

Now I don’t do anything super special except when I warm up my syrup, I melt 1 T of PB in there so it makes a mapley, peanut buttery sauce that is de-licious! Besides froyo, Peanut Butter is my favorite food. The end. (don’t even get me near peanut butter froyo = my demise)  you know the “if you were on a deserted island and could only eat one food what would it be” game? Peanut Butter wins every time. I legit go through a jar a week…yeah…it’s serious!

So…on with another passion in my life (yes…I definitely count PB as a legit passion)

Fashion!

I mean I DO go to fashion school…so rolling out in the streets of NYC in sweats and uggs…I think not.

Here is what I wore for a hot flea market/park stroll in the city

I am in love with the coral/ turquoise colors popping up everywhere and took a loose inspiration from these two mood boards (I made these for a presentation last semester…I don’t make mood boards for my outfits haha not that hardcore fashionista)

Shirt, shorts and tank all Forever 21 items. I want to say my wardrobe is 50% F21, 40% H&M and 10% Goodwill. I’m thrifty and I like it!

Sorry the quality is so poor on these. I definitely took these picture with my circa 2008 samsung slide phone.

The accessories (aka the 2 wrap bracelets I never take off) and my favorite turquoise earrings.

my wonderful $6 purse I got at DSW

And girls…this picture is to show my frustration at my baby hairs that can NEVER decide where they want to go. Please tell me others get irrationally frustrated by these too??? just me?

Are they bangs? what side of the part to they belong to? will they ever truly go away? It’s an eternal battle.

The rest of my afternoon was spent at the flea market and walking along the water. It was wonderful as always.

Fruit smoothies, cookies and sodas                                     My favorite pen! obvs!

        

B

There’s so much great jewelry here, I always have to restrain  myself from getting too much.

Well I think that’s more than enough pics for one post, but I’ll be back to detail the event of our saturday night! have a lovely day!

Foodie Thursday

My Wednesday was pretty chill and consisted of interning, making dinner, napping, watching the end of SYTYCD then sleeping. Twas glorious. My Thursday was an amazing, relaxing day. 

I went to the gym at my school (SO lucky to still be able to use this!) There’s one in the basement of my building, but it’s really small and has no free weights at all. I Usually like to do some weightlifting and the just cardio on my other days. I love being able to use this gym in the summer because there is NO ONE there. Its maybe me and 2 or 3 other people. No waiting, no crowding, no hot gym, no starers, grunters or stinkies! I don’t know about anyone else, but when I go to the gym for me, it is my time and I like to really zone out. I love to go to classes and be part  of a group, but I also love my me time to just stretch, workout and listen to my music. 

I had breakfast 

strawberry & banana oatmeal 

steel cut oats, almond milk, 1/2 banana, strawberries, topped with roasted almonds

went grocery shopping, hit the gym & had lunch 

whole wheat toast with egg, topped with cheddar cheese

Then I met up with my friend Kat in Bryant Park. We were gonna grab some dinner at a cafe and eat in the park, but seeing as it was hot, and my walk through Time Square just brought back humid, unpleasant memories of being at Seaworld & Disney World (is it me or is it just always uncomfortable hot there?) Kat had the great idea of looking on Scoutmob for dinner. 

Now, I love a good deal. Sample sales, free samples…actually really any sale or anything free makes my day.  (Hey I’m on  a student’s budget here and most of my $ goes towards fabric, lace, elastic trims and crystals)

I should work for Scoutmob, seeing as I promote their business to everyone I meet. It’s a college kids gem! And seeing as there are sooo many great restaurants in NYC, it’s a great way to try a bunch of different places without killing your savings. It’s truly Amazing. Well we found one close for the Broadway Lounge. At first I wasn’t sure. I though hmmm “lounge” sounds a little fancier than the jean cutoffs and tube top I was currently sporting, but we went for it anyway. We spent so long looking for it before realizing it was on the 8th floor of the Marriott hotel in Times Sq. I was skeptical, but quickly changed my tune when I saw the place. It was awesome. The restaurant overlooked all of Time Sq. and was very chill. 

Check out the view!

 

We got the fried pickle appetizer with some awesome tasting sweet sauce

These pickles were cut thick and slightly sweet, which I loved. I like when there is more pickle and less fried breading. 

 

They specialized in a tapas/ street food menu with small plates of food. We both got the grilled shrimp tacos. 

These were soo yummy and right up my alley! And can we please talk about the adorable presentation of these bad boys!? I like the taco rack. No toppings spilling all over the place : )

 

Corn tacos with guacamole, red onions, radish slivers, grilled shrimp, cilantro and lime with a spicy green chile sauce on the side. 

 

I’m definitely going to have to make these on my own for dinner one night!

 

And seeing as the scenery was so lovely of course we had to get some photos in. 

and because I can never end the night without making a ridiculous face. 

 

TTFN and have a wonderful evening!

Can’t Stop the Chop

That would be the Atlanta Braves tomahawk chop!

After my day in the BBG (Brooklyn Botanic Garden, but in my head I say BBG like a gangsta..errr just go with it) I met up with Katherine to go to a Braves vs. Yankees game. She is a big Braves fan (I’m more partial to football, but still enjoy baseball too) so when I found cheap tickets, it was a done deal! We got on the train to Yankee stadium, found out nosebleed seats, purchased WAY overpriced refreshments and then settles into our seats. The weather was perfect…warm, but still breezy to  not be a schweaty mess. It was so nice to get away from fashion for a bit and settle in my jeans and t-shirt and just enjoy the game. It really reminded me of being home in Atlanta and seeing them play in our own Turner Field.

Bare Feet  and Happy  : )

well until the guy pictured to the left accidentally grabbed them. haha I guess its a new way to meet someone that I haven’t tried yet haha

Well guess who wonnn??? Our Boys did!

 

We were such proud fans, and Im not gonna lie, I felt a little smug when the braves fans were cheering for our victory. It was some good ol’ southern camaraderie. Although, I will say the Yankees fans were great sports and there was very little trash talking going on. All in all it was a great day with great people, and for most of it, I forgot I lived in this city!

 

Botanical Garden

So on my day off, me and the roomie planned a trip to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden since its FREE on Tuesdays! Perfect! I am all about free stuff seeing as Im only interning for now (no complaints about that fir sure…I’m enjoying my free time!) and if you play the days right NYC has TONS of freebies. Museums, movies, the zoo, concerts, wine tastings, classes etc. It’s out there. The botanical garden was gorgeous and a perfect way to experience the void of nature in my life. I felt like it was when the Wizard of Oz switched over to color. Haha I was a little overwhelmed. I mean trees!? Grass!? Shade!? what are all these things!? So I’m going to stop writing now in order to share many of the wonderful pics from the day (there are a ton)

Japanese garden. Doesn’t it look like a fairy tale? or a really expensive mini golf course?

I want to put a swing inside this tree!

Fishies! A feeding frenzy (it was actually kinda creepy. They were literally going BANANAS swimming over each other)

Gorgeous color. If anyone know a good nailpolish in the color Please let me know!

I had a fun time pointing out the many finny flower names. This one was my favorite…among several which we deemed the stripper flowers (Wild Girl Ginger, Buffalo Gal, Wild pussy ears (im serious)

who knew cabbage could be so pretty?

So this tree was amazing! It was completely enclosed by the branches and everyone had engraved their names, initials etc on the trunk and branches.

 My beautiful dancer roommate showing off her talents

And I will leave you with this last picture…my ultimate favorite of the bunch. Literally caused me to have a laugh attack on the train (which I’m pretty sure everyone noticed)

Let me explain this first.

I like to take pictures of people on the streets. Mostly it’s fashion related, and most of the time I will ask and some say no and some are happy to pose and show off their style. Sometimes I take pics of awesome pets or someone’s wonderful dance/music/acrobatic talents in the park. All acceptable. And many times I like to capture cute moments. Whether its an elderly couple holding hands in the park, a kid feeding the ducks, I just like to capture those scenes and I don’t think its really that creepy.  Well this man and his son were both crouched down in the same positioin looking down at the fish in the lily pad pond. It was a very adorable father son moment. So I though “oh hey this would make a great picture” (which, I’ll admit might be a more appropriate statement if I actually knew these people)  well I took a wee bit too long focusing my camera, the dad noticed me, and apparently was not pleased.

 now…let’s take a closer look

What was intended  as an inconspicuous act of snapping an endearing moment, turned into a CREEPER ALERT! I mean he is literally thinking “WTF ar you taking my picture” I actually thought I had gotten away with it until I looked back thorough my pictures. Clearly I was mistaken. hehe oops!

Do you ever take pics of strangers? and do you usually ask or has one ever noticed you?

Psycho with a side of Guac

Hello yall!

So my Monday was pretty busy. I interned from 9 – 5:30 then ran all the way uptown to deliver a very important panty and babydoll set to an Intimate Apparel company. Well I wasn’t sure if there would be enough time before their mailroom closed, so I sprinted up there anyway to see if one of the employees was able to meet me in the lobby. Well no luck. Mail room closed & everyone left, so I set back in the other  direction with my top secret package to meet some friends at Bryant Park. On my way, I went through Times Square. Now usually I try to avoid this area because of what I call “Disney walkers” (you know who I’m talking about…Walks .08575 mph while looking up, with a roller bag and three children all of which are in a horizontal line taking up the entire sidewalk so you can’t possible go around! <—I definitely have some unresolved anger haha)  but sometimes it’s cool  to walk through and just see how exciting it all really is! I mean broadway, the lights, the stores, the diversity. It really is an awesome place, and I refuse to become a jaded New Yorker and lose my sense of wonder. I mean if 50 bajillion flashing lights and singing naked cowboys (yes he was there and I took a pic) don’t entertain you at all, then life is too serious!

By the by, I had lunch at a hummus place near work which had the best, softest, chewiest pita bread and really fresh hummus.

mmmmm….yes I ate it all!

So Bryant Park does free movies every Monday and this past week they showed Hitchcock’s Psyco…which I had never seen! crazy! In one word, movies in the park are lovely. Everyone brings picnic blankets, snacks, beer, wine and sets up on the lawn to watch a free movie. Believe it or not, this was my first time doing this! Why I have lived here for nearly 3 years and not taken advantage of this is beyond me! Before the movie started, I need food and fast…well I wanted Chipotle…and apparently so did everyone else in the city because 45 minutes later, I had a yummy burrito bowl in my possession.

I got a veggie bowl with brown rice, corn, black beans, hot salsa (makes my mouth burn, but i love it) cheese and guac. I haven’t had Chipotle in a long time, and it was sooo delicious! I am in love with their guacamole.

Once it was dark, the movie started, everyone settled in to watch. There’s something about laying out barefoot on the grass watching this old movie, while surrounded by skycraper lights, car horns and city noise that’s oddly peaceful. Its like everyone comes together to relax and just be in the center of all this buzzing go go go city. I actually had to go an hour into the movie to meet my roommate with our key card since she left hers in the room, so I didn’t get to see the infamous shower scene. Its on my list to see for sure!

Well my next morning consists of waking up to deliver this package again, which is actually a way for me to get in my walking and exercise since I won’t have gym time tonight, so I’m happy to do it. But I have another exciting, but very relaxing day planned tomorrow.

Have a lovely evening and eat some guacamole!

Slutty Pushups

How’s that for an interesting title? Scared yet? haha

So on Sunday, I got to realize one of my lifelong (that would be weird) years-long dreams! Are you ready?????…………….

I got to dance on a pole!

Ok, maybe it’s not that crazy, but I had a blast and I’m officially obsessed!  On sunday, me and my roommate decided to take a pole dancing class. I have always been pretty active and did gymnastics from a young age and then cheerleading in High School, but since starting college I don’t have tons of time to work out and really miss tumbling as my physical outlet. Ever since I heard about pole dancing classes, I always said “I should do that someday”. If you’re like me, you say this about 50 times a day, but hardly manage to actually DO any of these said activities. I am SO glad I finally took a class. We went to Shockra Studios. It was 6 people in the class, which was nice and small and our teacher was amazing. I really enjoyed getting back into some sort of dance/acrobatics activity and, as corny as this sounds, felt like I was energizing my spirit again. You know how some things just feed your soul? About our teacher, 

#1. Girl was in AMAZING shape

#2. She was HI-larious and made everyone feel comfortable, even when we were doing things that definitely felt awkward. 

#3. Knew her stuff and was super great about going over moves and making sure everyone was being safe. 

We learned a small routine which included climbing the pole, a couple spins and pole slides, dips, waves, wiggles, shimmies (obviously not the technical terms haha) and my favorite….”The Slutty Pushup”. Its kinda like a pushup, but instead of pushing up you pretty much do a boobs down on the floor, butt up in da air kinda deal…very alluring ; ) haha!

Me and the roomie!

 To anyone who has ever considered this, but been too apprehensive to try…just go. Its  a great workout, (my arms are still sore!) it’s fun, a great class to take with some girlfriends, and its a great confidence boost too. I mean it’s not everyday that we are allowed to let out our inner vixen without being judged. 

After getting my pole on (yes, I did just write that) I met my lovely friend Katherine for dinner. She had just flown in from Atl to start her summer dance intensive at Steps.  All  my friends are super talented and always amaze me! We met up at The Boat Basin on the west side right by the water. It was absolutely beautiful and the perfect day to eat outside. We both had the veggie burger and it was pretty dern good if I do say so myself! 

View from our table. The atmosphere was really relaxed and I great place for groups, families or even a fun date. I love awesome spaces with zero pretentious attitude. 

As you can see, it was quite tasty : )

Well I am off to see more of the city! let me leave yall with a little tidbit of a project i have been working on as of late. Im doing a gift box for my friend’s 21st and decided to paste on my own images paper because, the store bought wrapping paper is way too boring and appropriate. 

We have many inside jokes about many attractive men…ahhh single girl life haha

Well if anyone has any more hot guy/quote combos, im all up for suggestions. 

Ta Ta for now

Sara

A Day of Sleep

Literally all day yesterday, I spend lying down in various places…and it was FANTABULOUS! After a night of a very sub-par comedy show (and that’s me being nice. It was painfully awkward.) I needed a drink! I went out to a near by bar with friends from work. I hadn’t seen so many of these wonderful people in so long, it was a great tipsy reunion!

So I am  by no means a heavy drinker, and seeing as I’m 5’2″ and just a tiny person all around, safe to say I am a 2 drink kinda girl. I’m pretty good at handling myself and rarely every get drunk and never get “crunk” (does anyone actually say this?) but on this particular night, when yummy drinks seemed to generously appear in my hand, I definitely got my party on! We danced, sang, (I may have rapped a little) and as the bar light were coming on, we headed home. I chugged my body weight in water then fell straight asleep. 

Seeing as how I had many drinks with way to many kinds of alcohol in them, I should have felt worse, so I was a fairly happy, camper. Me and my ex-roommate Sydney (we used to live together, but sadly she has decided to get an apartment, so we are no longer roomies) went to lay out by the water on near the Hudson path. 

The day was PERFECT! warm enough to wear my bikini (well I actually don’t have a bikini here, so it was a bandeau and hot shorts) but still breezy from the water to not be sweating balls the whole time! we laid out, chatted and I read more of Fifty Shades of Grey. Yes…you can judge me…I judge myself every time I open the book. Shame. It’s actually written just horribly! The dialogue, and plot are pretty terrible, but I just…can’t…stop! 

After hours of gettin our sun on, we decided it was time for a froyo break. Now, let me pause and explain for a minute the love and…ok… I’ll admit it….obsession I have with ice cream and frozen yogurt treats. I”m pretty sure I have froyo at least 2-3 times a week. So my favorite second favorite froyo place is 16 Handles, and it just so happens that about 3 weeks ago they opened one 10 blocks from my place! What!? The amount of joy I had! It was like Christmas…but frozen and covered in sprinkles, cheesecake bites, peanut butter sauce and cake crumbs. Re-Diculous!

This would be plain, strawberry and pistachio froyo topped with almond crunch, crumb cake crumbs (best part!) and peanut pieces. 

After this joyous treat I headed back to my place to lay down some more, make dinner, read more porn  Fifty Shades and get caught up with all the So You Think You Can Dance auditions. I was so proud of my Atlanta people, I LOVED the popping a locking guys…mind blown! 

Well I’m out until tomorrow! I have a very exciting venture planned for today that I can’t wait to talk about! 

Here Are some fun Pinterest nuggets for ya!

Something to make you think

Something to make you laugh!…Oh the overalls! haha

 

And something to make you drool on your computer! : )