NYC Part Deux!

This past weekend my friend Olivia and I had a quick getaway to NYC for Galentine's / President's Day weekend.  We decided we wanted to skip the traffic of getting out of the city on Friday rush hour, so I still got a good Friday night out in DC.  I hit up pre-dinner drinks at All-Souls, then met girlfriends at B Too.  This had been one of the few 14th street spots that I had yet to try, so I was so happy (and even had a Hummer uber take me there!)  I am a big fan of Top Chef so having Bart walking the dining room made it so fun.

Olivia picked me up at 10am sharp the next morning.  To pass the drive I had downloaded some new podcasts (pulled from the NewsHour's recommended list).  Our favorites were Criminal and The Dinner Party Download.  We made it into the city around 3, checked into our Airbnb, then headed back out.

From there we met up with our friends Becca and Jon.  The restaurant we went to took Valentines very seriously.

Then we headed to Koi in SoHo to meet up with Zach, then saw an amazing dj at the Brooklyneer.  Sunday morning we went to Barney Greengrass for breakfast, where I got my celebrity sighting in by seeing Adam Sandler (and Elliott Gould and Tim Meadows)!! who were all in town for SNL40.

From there we went to Chelsea Market - which was a huge hit.  I could do some serious damage there.  It's like Union Market, but times 10.

Then we hit the shops hard - were especially successful with Lilla P and Joie, and Olivia got some new specs at Warby Parker.

We finished out our successful afternoon with cocktails at the Standard, then went back for a disco nap, before meeting new friends at the Smith - a great spot in the East Village.  At this point the wind chills in NYC were around -10, so while we tried to walk the seven blocks to a recommended bar, we couldn't last more than a block and a half before ducking into the first bar we saw.  The bar was nearly empty because everyone in their right mind was hunkered down, but we had fun watching and learning the sport of supercross.  

All in all, a very successful weekend, made even more successful by this pit stop on the way home: 

Apartment revamp!

I've been in my current apartment for four and a half years now. and it's definitely time for a revamp.  Over the holidays I sat down and made a list of all the various projects I want to get done over the next year.  Some are big and some are small:

1. First things first, I need to replace the ceilings and windows throughout the apartment.  I've finally gotten the go-ahead from the condo people on this, so things are moving forward
2. New lighting - recessed lighting throughout? Chandeliers in the bedroom and over the dining room table, and some type of pendants over the bar
3. A corner piece in the "dining room."  This will be tricky to find since I haven't seen many corner pieces out there, and my dimensions are very specific
4. New bedside table with more storage space
5. Repaint the kitchen.
6. Redo the bathroom - new shower curtain, rug, storage
7. Get a headboard!
8. Make better use of the long hallway
9. New bedding!
10. Install new blinds

Let's start with the kitchen:
I mostly love the bold colors, but after four years, I'm ready to tone it down a little bit.  I'm planning on getting rid of the yellow paint above the cabinets and maybe going with a gray.  I also want to find a way to better display my large serving platters and bowls.

Here's some before shots:

Weekend in Pennsylvania

 This weekend I went up to the mountains in Pennsylvania.  Some friends have a cabin up near Seven Springs resort in western Pennsylvania so Sara and I packed up Emi and met everyone up there.  We weren't planning on skiing and coordinated it to meet up with the others at the Foggy Goggle for some beers and nachos.

After some time back at the cabin watching Pitch Perfect, building a fire, and Facetiming with Kelvin.

Then we headed out to Joe's in Ligonier.  This place is one of the craziest places I've ever been - I really can't do it justice by even trying to explain. "Dive Bar" doesn't begin to describe the place.  When you first walk in the first thing you notice is the smoke, and then all the locals staring you down.  We ordered $1 Bud Lights and made our way to the back.  The entire back room is dedicated to the previous owner's hunting career.  There were probably 30 stuffed deer on the left side of the room, and the right side had a giraffe, polar bear wildebeest, and many other animals.  Then, we ventured upstairs where there was room after room after room stuffed (get it) to the brim with taxidermied animals.  Literally any animal you can think of - buffaloes, bald eagles, wolves, many different bears, and all of the Big Five.  The centerpiece of the whole place was the giant stuffed elephant's head.  The guy even had a real human skull.

We went to bed after some Louisiana King Cake.

And woke up to fresh doughnuts.

After playing in the snow for a while we decided to head out early in order to make it back to DC to enjoy some of the 70 degree weather.

Not so fast.  When we went to take off Greg's car couldn't make it more than 20 feet.  We worked for hours shoveling / ice axing, running a makeshift salt truck out the back of the polaris, and spreading shavings from the horse barn.  We were so strategic in everything - planning the exact route to take along the driveway and even put Sara in the trunk to try and get more weight on the back tires, but no luck.  Greg's Mercedes is still in the driveway back in Ligonier, PA.

The dogs just thought we were crazy.

Super Bowl Snackadium

For the past three years I've hosted a Super Bowl party and attempted to build a snackadium.

2012:

 2013:

 2014:

This year I let my friends Sara and Kelvin give the snackadium a shot:

It was an excellent party - lots of good food, commercials, and football.  Halftime show was the highlight for me - especially Missy Elliott.  Today I worked off all the eats with my first ever reformer class at Toolbox.  It was great exercise - I'll be feeling it tomorrow!

Park City Wish List

I love almost everything about traveling - the one thing I constantly have issues with is packing.  I never feel like when I arrive at my destination that I have the goods to be properly outfitted.

I have an upcoming trip that I've been looking forward to for months.  In March I'm going to Park City for five days with my best college girlfriends to visit another friend who is doing her residency in Logan.  We're doing AirBnB and gonna do it up.  

Though this trip is still 6 weeks away I'm going to force myself to start planning outfits.  I just know that once I have the perfect get-up I'll also be certain to take more intentional pictures.

First, here's my Park City winter getaway wish list:

1. Biltmore & Madewell Floppy Felt Fedora

2. Anthropologie Mountain High Beanie

3. Lululemon Cuffins Jacket 

4. Patagonia Down Sweater Vest