Christmastime In New York City
January 23, 2017
In early December, Tara and I spent a girls weekend in New York. It was our first time seeing each other since September when she moved there, so this was a very important (and necessary) best friends trip! We didn't really have a concrete plan going into it. We had a few things we wanted to do and see, but we played it mostly by ear. The one thing I HAD to do though was go to Black Tap. It's been on my bucket list since last year, so around 10pm we jumped in an Uber and raced to Soho. Black Tap can have horrifically long lines so we had our fingers crossed that it wouldn't be bad since it was so late, and when we pulled up there was no one in line! The place was packed though (it's pretty small to begin with). But the guy there said if we came back in 20 minutes he would save the 1st spot that opened up for us (even though he technically wasn't allowed to). So we walked around the block a few times to kill time.
I don't know if you all know this, but NYC is filled with rats. Tara and I walked past a pile of garbage and she says to me "there's a rat in that pile" and I was in shock! Then, right on cue, a rat ran out right in front of us! I jumped like 10 feet in the air and screamed. Then I heard a voice say "relax it's just a rat", I thought it was God telling me everything would be alright, but it was just some weirdo drinking wine on a rooftop. Needless to say I'll never trust a pile of garbage again.
Anyway, we were able to get a seat once we came back and right away we ordered the Cotton Candy Shake and some french fries (because you have to dip fries in a shake, it's like the law). Let me tell you, it was everything I could have ever wanted and more! The shake was delicious, the place itself was really cool, and, an added bonus - they played The Backstreet Boys - so basically BEST DAY EVER. But seriously, look at this shake, it is to die for!
Friday we made plans to go to Laduree so get some tea and macaroons (because we fancy). Tara has been there a few times already, but I've never been there myself. It was very lavish and sophisticated and that's obviously what we're all about so it was a must. It also wasn't very expensive - which was awesome. We sat out in the garden area instead of the main room. It was so perfect, they had white fur throws on the seats and the Christmas tree was outside in the courtyard, so it definitely felt very cozy.
After watching a few episodes of Fuller House, we ended the day with a dinner in Soho at a restaurant called Emporio. It's very limited on space so I would definitely recommend getting reservations, but it is well worth a try. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was relaxed. Note: It's a relatively expensive restaurant so we filed this under a #treatyourself moment, but we all need one of those every once in a while.
SATURDAY - We planned to go uptown and see all the Christmas decorations. We had to hit up Rockefeller Center and 5th Avenue to look at the decorations. But first, we had to figure out how to get there. The regular trains weren't running (inconvenient much), so we had to figure out an alternative route. It also didn't help that the city was PACKED. SantaCon was that day so we saw so many Santas - 267 to be exact, seriously we counted.
We made it up to Grand Central Station on the subway and walked the rest of the way up. Since we had leftover pizza from the night before for breakfast (so adult of us) we were starving. We made a quick stop at Schmackary's, which is this amazing bakery that specializes in delicious cookies. It was just what we needed to refuel, plus we had already burned off all the calories from our pizza.
We made our way up to Rockefeller Center, and it was so crowded. The police had several streets blocked off to redirect the flow of foot traffic and it was so inconvenient. The tree was beautiful, as it always is. I love just taking a second to stand there, looking at the tree, and block everything else out as best I can to just appreciate the moment. It's a small thing but sometimes you need to remind yourself to take a moment to appreciate the small things. Another great experience to put on your to-do list for Christmas in New York is to see The Rockettes! The Radio City Christmas Spectacular has been a favorite of ours for basically our whole lives and the show gets better every year! Plus, seeing a show in one of the most famous theaters in the world is an experience in and of itself.
The Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store definitely had everyone beat in terms of decorations. Their windows were a fashion lovers dream, they had a light show that went along to music, and the inside was a literal winter wonderland! Other great ones to see are obviously Macy's, Cartier, Tiffany & Co. and Bergdorf Goodman.
After we made a quick stop into Tiffany's (for reasons), we headed to our main destination - The Plaza. It is literal #goals and we dream of staying there one day. Of course, we were inspired by our main girl Eloise, and lucky for us there was an Eloise store on the bottom floor. We probably spent way to much time in there for people who did not have any children with them, but we had a blast. They also have a killer food court set up on the ground floor and you don't have to be staying at the hotel to enjoy it!
During the day, New York City at Christmastime is amazing, but at night it is absolutely magical. After we left The Plaza we wandered around a bit, just taking everything in and enjoying spending time together. We somehow wandered our way to a place any Gossip Girl lover will recognize - The New York Palace, aka home to the van der Woodsen's. Basking in all the GG glory that happened in this spot was the perfect way to end the day and walking back past Rock Center to see the tree one last time was icing on the cake.
Sunday was the most relaxed of all days, and we needed it after walking one hundred something blocks the day before. We went up to Nolita to have brunch at The Butcher's Daughter - but it was crazy packed. Without a reservation we knew there was no way we would get in there anytime soon, so we went searching for another place. Everything was so busy we hopped back on the train to the Financial District and ended up having "brunch" at Potbelly's. We didn't have a problem with this because we're both have massive heart eyes for this glorious sandwich shop. If you have the chance to have their Chicken Pot Pie Soup - DO IT. It's heaven in a cup, actually.
Then, we ventured over to the Seaport to see their Christmas tree and to see if The Taylor Swift Experience was an actual thing - it is. I would not recommend you go though, unless you are a die hard Swiftie, then who am I to stop you? It was the coldest day of the whole weekend so we were freezing our butts off, but South Street Seaport is a beautiful area - and we got to see where the Tommy x Gigi show was held during NYFW last September.
So that's it for our weekend in New York. We had an absolute blast exploring the city, binged the newest season of Fuller House and eating way too many Chocolate Peppermint cupcakes. A weekend with your best is always the best and doing in the city we both love made it that much better!
We'll be uploading a vlog of our trip this week!
Another Year of Realizing Stuff
January 15, 2017
As we all know, 2016 seems to have left most of the population with a sour taste in their mouth. Everyone is so pumped to start a new year and forget about all of last year's low notes, but let's not forget that there were a few high notes as well. Do you know what I'm getting at? I think Kylie does.
Ah yes, 2016: The Year of Realizing Stuff. If nothing else, let us remember that gem came out of the wreckage that was 2016. But guess what, 2016 cannot exclusively be the year of realizing stuff, my friends. Every year needs to be the year of realizing stuff. So in the spirit of new beginnings, here's a few things I have personally decided to put on my realizing radar for 2017.
Upgrade: Now that I'm officially settled into my apartment (four months after arrival), I'm beginning to realize little things that could make my home a bit homier. The first step in my plan is curating a new gallery wall for the living room (thank the internet gawds for blessing us with etsy).
Motivate: In all the hustle of adjusting to a new city, I kind of forgot to hustle my butt to the gym. It's so much easier to keep chasing your goals when you are healthy and full of energy. I started by reaching out to my circle of friends. Luckily for me, one of my bests is a Pilates instructor, so now I'm planking for my life every week! My friends and I have also started reading "Eat Pretty, Live Well", a journal that will help to keep us accountable and motivated!
Organize: My apartment, my closet, my planner, my life. Just all of it. I love organization, so this isn't even a chore, there's just so much of it! I'm already busy breaking in my new planner for 2017, and I'm ashamed of how much joy it brings me.
Tune In: Over the past few months, I have not been nice to myself. I've been eating poorly, working twenty hour days, and wearing myself way too thin. Instead of feeling accomplished and happy, the constant work and pressure just made me feel tired, used up, and bloated from stress (I know, it was so gross). The most important lesson I need to learn this year is how to be a human (and not a sad robot). I need to listen to my body and stop the constant stress and pressure. Starting your day with quiet time and meditation is a great way to begin to connect with yourself (but let's be real, so is getting enough sleep and eating properly).
Treat: You are amazing. You work so hard. You deserve a cookie...or a face mask...or those shoes. I've been so worried about money and budgeting over the past couple months that I did not treat myself, not once. Y'all that kind of behavior is self-destructive. So now I do little treat yo self every week (love you Aziz). In all the hustle and bustle that is life in your twenties, please do not forget that you are worth that treat yo self.
So by all means, leave the majority of 2016 in 2016, but don't forget that you're still allowed to realize stuff (Or maybe things).
Weekend Update
January 8, 2017
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| Image via OhYeahDisney |
New Beginnings
January 6, 2017
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great holiday season, I know I definitely did! Now I'm back on that work grind and I realized that coming up on the 6 month mark at my job... seriously, where has the time gone?
A new year is the perfect time to start a new chapter, and 2016 was definitely a year of change for me. I graduated from college, started my first official job and moved back home. I experienced many (and I mean many) very high highs and very low lows this past year, but looking back on those moments, I've realized that I had to go through all of that to get to where I am right now - and I'm pretty darn happy with the way my life is going.
If 2016 was the year of change, 2017 is going to be the year of happiness. I'm settled into my work situation now, so I want to change focus on figuring out what makes me happy outside of work. I'm creating my own life - my adult life, as some might say - and I'm living each day the way I want to. I don't live by anyone else's schedule but my own now, so I need to figure out what it is I want to do to live life to the absolute fullest. I've grown so much over the last 6 months and I want a life that reflects who I am and who I want to be.
Since now is the time to start making resolutions for the upcoming year, I thought I would share mine with you all. I am so excited to see what this year has in store for me, and I'm hoping by working towards (and hopefully achieving) these goals, I can take my future into my own hands and create a life for myself that I love.
1. Work Out 3 Times A Week
I am the worst at exercising. I don't enjoy it and I would much rather sit and do nothing, but I know that in order to live a healthy life I need to change that. I could say "Sarah, you're going to work out every day", but I know I would never be able to stick to that. So I'm starting at 3 times a week.
2. Drink More Water
I've been pretty good about this, but I've fallen off track since December since I was drinking all that hot chocolate. I'm going to get back on it and have a water bottle at work and at home to help me keep track of how much I'm drinking. I do notice major skin and digestive improvements when I'm drinking a lot of water versus when I'm not.
3. Devote More Time To Creating
This is new for me. I have always been very creative, but I've lacked the confidence in myself to persue anything. I can't really draw or paint or anything like that, but I always have this urge to create something so I'm going to tap into that somehow. I just have to figure out what.
4. Social Media Detox
I've been thinking about this one a lot. Lately, I've realized I spend so much time on social media and it is driving me crazy. There are times where I'm scrolling through my feed and I get angry, frustrated or annoyed by what people are saying (Facebook is the worst offender) and I just need a break from it all, but I don't do anything about it because I don't want to miss what's going on in the world. I think for my own sanity though, I have to just have days where I'm off social media completely.
5. Read More BooksI love reading, but when you're in school you have very little down time to read what you want. I've recently gotten back into the habit of reading regularly. I'm not someone who usually finishes a book within a few days, but I'm hoping that by dedicating more time to reading, I will be.
6. Look On The Bright Side
I want to work on becoming a more positive person. I wouldn't say I'm a pessimist or an optimist, I'm definitely somewhere in the middle, but I can seem very unemotional (think: Kourtney Kardashian) and I want to change that about myself. I want to look more on the bright side and see the good things in life and get excited about everyday things that happen. I think this will generally help me be happy more often and put me in a good mood. It'll be useful when I'm having a bad day and need to be reminded that everything happens for a reason and that getting caught up in the little things is just a waste of time.
7. Dedicate More Time To Friends
If you go back to my post about being an introvert at work, you'll see that I struggle with finding the right balance of time to myself and time with friends. I tend to err on time to myself and I know that I need to start cultivating more meaningful friendships, especially with the friends I've made at work.
8. Change Up My Style
I do this every couple of years, and I think it kind of goes back to my itch to create things. I constantly want to reinvent myself, but in the past I always just jumped into it, I didn't take time to reflect on what I really wanted. This resulted in a lot of money wasted and a lot of bad purchase decisions. I've learned my lesson though, and I'm ready to find a wardrobe that's a bit more young adult chic and less college kid comfortable.
9. Declutter
I have so much stuff in my room that I am constantly overwhelmed by it all. Like, I still have things from when I was in High School, not okay. I need to spend some serious time going through my desk and closet and getting rid of everything that is totally unnecessary or no longer fits my aesthetic. Get rid of the old to make room for the new, right?
10. Travel More
I want adventure in the great wide somewhere, I want it more than I can tell! Ok, sorry for that little Beauty and the Beast reference, but I had to! Anyway, I love to travel and I have always talked about going to new places and seeing the world, and now I've come to the point where I have to ability to actually act on it. Like I said, I'm living on my own schedule now, so if I am able to go somewhere I want to go - I'm going to go! I already have one trip planned for February (to Disney World, of course!), but my cousin and I have been talking about going to Iceland of Greece for the past few weeks, so maybe that will happen in the near future!
I'm embarking on this incredible new adventure that adults apparently call "Real Life". It's so exciting but incredibly daunting at the same time because my life is totally different now than how it has been the last 22 years. Post-grad life is great, but it's no joke, guys. It can get overwhelming and stressful, but that's why having a healthy and happy life is so important to me right now. You need to have something to look forward to and be happy about when you're having those down on your luck days that are just inevitable. I feel like my life is finally beginning and I'm so ready for it.
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