Last Thursday, I drove to Charlotte to head up to the Big Apple. Before boarding the plane, I went to grab a water and of course the “smaller” size bags of Cookie Chips caught my eye. Obviously, I needed a snack for the plane.
I (almost) always manage to finish my snacks before we even take off.
Once I landed in New York, I headed to baggage claim to get my bag. I’m usually not a victim of scams, but they happen to the best of us, right? Someone holding an “UBER” sign directed me outside. I was a little confused, but thought, “hey, maybe they do things different in New York”. I asked the guy if I needed to open up my app and he said the driver would help. I hopped in the car only to realize this was NOT an uber. I watch way too many movies and suddenly felt like I was in the movie Taken. For some reason, I decided to just roll it with. Let’s just say it wasn’t the cheapest ride I’ve taken, but I eventually arrived safely at my hotel.
After getting settled in and getting some work done, it was off to Soul Cycle in West Village. I took Soul Cycle for the first time this past January when I was leading a training in Bronxville, New York. I did enjoy it and do see why people get really into it. Unfortunately, there’s not one around me for me to know if I would get as addicted as some of the people I know.
I normally wouldn’t go to two different classes in one day, but I NEEDED to go back to 305 Fitness. There are two locations in New York and I had taken at the Midtown studio in January. This time The Village location was closer, so I found myself there ready to get my dance on.
Sizeism is the new Sexism.
As expected, the class was great. Last time, I took class from the founder, Sadie, so I was anxious to see if I would love it as much. Hannah did not disappoint in any way. Ugh. Can’t wait to go back. Side note, they just opened in Boston, so if you are ever in NYC, Boston or DC, I highly suggest you give them a try!
After the two classes we went to eat at The Meatball Shop. The music was great, the food was delicious and the Moscow Mule was on point.
On the way to 305 we had passed Culture: An American Yogurt Shop, so after dinner we headed back that way. They manufacture fresh and frozen yogurt in house. It is made from specially selected live probiotic cultures and the freshest local milk from Hudson Valley Fresh. I opted for the original with coconut flakes and dark chocolate chips. So so so good. They have original every day and then a few other flavors in rotation. There were two fridges stocked with to go containers of frozen yogurt, non-frozen yogurt, yogurt cookie sandwiches (small and large), parfaits and more! They also deliver. Highly recommend visiting one of the their two locations or picking some up where they are sold in store.
On Friday I led a training at the Pure Barre in the Financial District. For lunch I went next door to Dig Inn. They use local and seasonal ingredients and have great prices. Their main concept is a “marketplate” where you pick a main item (protein) on your choice of grains with two sides. I opted for the lemon chicken on brown rice with mac and cheese (duh) and sautéed broccoli. I had a delicious cold pressed lemonade. I’m drawing a blank at the exact ingredients, but remember there being ginger in it.
After training, I went to Juice Generation to hold me over until dinner. I had the Joyful Almond smoothie which was made with banana, coconut, almond milk and cacao nibs. So great. I decided to walk back to my hotel instead of hopping in an uber. My 2+ mile walk was pretty easy to follow, so luckily I didn’t get lost.
For dinner we went to grab salads at sweetgreen. I went for the “Kale Caesar” – shredded kale + chopped romaine, tomatoes, shaved parmesan, parmesan crisp, roasted chicken, fresh lime squeeze and caesar dressing. Afterwards, the child of the group *cough cough* needed to get ice cream, so we made the adventure to Big Gay Ice Cream.
Salty pimp = Vanilla Ice Cream + Dulce de Leche + Sea Salt + Chocolate Dip
Sometimes I just like to stare at this picture. Until we meet again, BGIS, S.W.A.K.
All of the walking was balancing out the sweets. Right?
Saturday morning we woke up and headed to Andaz 5th Avenue for Real Simple‘s Beauty & Balance event. Those in attendance had a day full of blow outs, a brow bar, all sorts of healthy food, makeup, giveaways and of course…Pure Barre classes!
Where the magic happened.
The view from where the magic happened.
There were eight classes on the hour starting promptly at 10am that attendees could join. It was so fun (and maybe a little exhausting) to teach and assist with the classes throughout the day. Afterwards, we made a pit stop at Whole Foods for some snacks since our dinner reservation wasn’t until 9pm.
We headed to Beauty & Essex in the Lower East Side. To enter the restaurant you go through an actual thrift shop…
I couldn’t decide if this was my second dinner or I just had a really late lunch and this was first dinner. Either way, I decided not to over do it on the food so I could save room for the “box of donuts” I saw on the dessert menu. Priorities. I ordered the tuna poke wonton tacos with cilantro, radish and wasabi kewpie along with the grilled Cheese, smoked bacon and tomato soup dumplings. The lighting wasn’t optimal for photos of either appetizer, just trust me, they were both amazing!
Oh, don’t worry, I was able to figure out the lighting to get a picture of these bad boys…
Vanilla beignets with raspberry jam (3 on left) & chocolate hazelnut crème (3 on right)
Yes, they are were as good as they looked.
Before heading out, I had to go down to the ladies’ room because the girls told me there was champagne in the bathroom. Wait, what?
Poppin’ bottles.
The night took us a few more places and look we even got a picture in semi real clothes!
Oh weird, leggings still reppin’ hard.
I flew back to Charlotte on Sunday morning. I decided to go to my parent’s house instead of driving back to Greenville. After going to the grocery store with my Mom and getting something to eat, I decided to lay down for a bit.
But, for real.
I ended up staying for dinner…and spending the night there.
Monday morning I went to Pure Barre South Park to take a Platform class with my Mom. Don’t be proud. Right after, Mom and I went to give M J Donuts in Pineville a try.
They get me.
It just made sense to get a dozen donuts and sample pieces of as many as possible. At least that was our rationale.
Life is like a box of donuts.
And look what they gave you complimentary…
…as if we needed more. Hey, I wasn’t going to complain.
I saw this shortly after….and everything just made sense.
PREACH.
I hope you had a wonderful week! What are your favorite places to go in New York City? Let me know so I can give them a try the next time I make my way up there. Do you have a sweet tooth?! If so, let me know must try places (donuts, cupcakes, cookies, ice cream, you name it) in ANY city! You never know where I will end up next.
Northern Produced, Southern Seduced. 