Eve takes it to the streets

This past weekend my friend Eve came to visit me and New York City and I was so excited for her visit. It was a FREEZING COLD weekend but we bundled up and, as per usual with Eve, had a great time! She landed Friday night and I took her to - surprise, surprise - Uva, my favorite restaurant in the neighborhood. Stephanie Kelly (Erin Kelly Hagan's younger sister) joined us for dinner and we dined on bruschetta, cheese plates, pasta, red wine and delicious bread and olive oil. YUM! Then we woke up Saturday morning and headed out to meet up with folks to watch the UNC/State game (horrible game, don't want to talk about it.)

Game geared up and ready to cheer!

Then we walked up to Rockefeller Plaza to check out the Christmas decorations and where they are busy decorating the tree! (that's the tree behind that star billboard) We strolled into St Patrick's Cathedral where a wedding was taking place (and yes I did take a picture and yes I did "hush" people who were talking too loud, its a WEDDING after all!) and then we did some shopping. (Hello new black boots, I love you!)


Later that night we headed to one of my OTHER favorite restaurants - Pipa! Its a tapas restaurant down near Gramercy Park and they have all these gorgeous chandeliers hanging from the ceiling that are for sale. Jenny had never been there before so we were excited for her to join us - and I was excited for Eve and Jenny to meet! Eve's wedding was actually the same day as Jennys so I didn't get to go to Eve's - it was great for them to finally meet face to face!

Jenny's hair is caught in her sweater collar in this pic but you get the drift.


Sunday we walked ALL OVER Central Park...here is Eve with Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland...its a memorial statue in the Park.

Dennis? Nah, that's the Mad Hatter.

We walked over to Woolen Skate Rink (also in Central Park) and did some skating. We were professionals...you can't tell from this pic, but I actually have a hot pink sequined skating skirt under my fleece.

From Eve in NYC

Click the pic for video of the skating park and Eve...if you listen closely you can hear that they were playing on of my favorite songs - "Photograph" by Ringo Starr! And I'll be honest, we were really having a good time watching people, manly children, eat it on the ice. It was absolutely hilarious and I know that's horrible to say out loud.

From Eve in NYC

Click on this pic to see video of Eve skating. It takes skills to skate while video taping, while keeping an eye out for security because apparently you aren't supposed to do that.

Click here for the complete set of pics from the weekend!

I Heart MCNY

I'm behind in posting BUT on November 15th, the crew headed out on the town to a benefit party supporting the Mary Claire Satterly Foundation held at the Museum of the City of New York. My friend Janie had worked very hard on the event and it was a huge success, raising over $80K to go towards the new Mary Claire Satterly Pediatric Oncology Playroom at the new N.C. Cancer Hospital at UNC-Chapel Hill. Everyone had an amazing time and I didn't get a chance to take too many pictures but here are a few!

Also, you can't really tell in these pics but Carrie curled my hair and put it up in a cute ponytail...should have gotten a picture of that as I think Carrie missed her calling and needs to open her own beauty salon.

Me, Hollis, Maggie and Carolyn

Me, Maggie and Whitney enjoying the night

Mags, Carrie, Hollis and Me....looks like we lined up in height order or something. In my defense I was wearing VERY high heels.

A few of the many KDs that were there - Lane, Ryan and me

CONGRATS JANIE on an event well done! Proud of ya!

Music Monday

Hello Internets. Its me. And its Monday. Which means its time for Music Monday. See how that works?

So today I'm going back to circa 2001. Let's see I was a junior in college? I lived in our sorority house and could live off $100 dollars a month NO PROBLEM. Our biggest worries consisted of who was going to give us a ride to class, who were we going to invite to Fall Cocktail and what were we going to do for Spring Break.

This was when I went through a major Black Crowes and Pearl Jam faze. I had already loved both of these bands (please note that I used to own Pearl Jam TAPES...oh man...and I was IN LOVE with Eddie Vedder and his unwashed hair), but for some reason that year they were on HEAVY rotation on my stereo and were constantly featured on my mixed CDs and MP3 bootlegging activity. (Remember kids, this was before you could easily and legally purchase songs off iTunes. The internets were new and exciting for music at that time. Al Gore had just invented it, it was groundbreaking.) So there are many songs from both these bands that could be featured, and perhaps will be featured, in Music Mondays. Seriously, as I type I'm sure songs are flying through your head and you're beat boppin' around your office chair.

Flashback: Fifth grade bus rides I think it was? Maybe sixth grade? This boy used to listen to "Hard to Handle" on his Walkman and he would be kind enough to let me listen to it before my stop. He had a crush on me so it wasn't hard to talk him into letting me listen. Ahh, the POWER. But man did I enjoy that song....when he stops and yells "Hey pretty thing let me light your candle cause mama I'm sure hard to handle now, yes I am!" Classic.

But I digress....so of the Black Crowes songs, I think this is my favorite. Word on the street is that Chris Robinson wrote this for Kate Hudson. Less exciting now that they are divorced but hey...life's hard. In general this is just a great song to crank up and get good vibes from.

It just makes you feel good - Soul Singing by The Black Crowes Download it and enjoy!

State is only slightly less terrible than Dook.

We are't gonna let some redneck State fans ruin our Saturday, right Rives? Right.

I yoga, you yoga, we all yoga

Here is a picture of me from yoga class, can you believe it? Ok, I'm CLEARLY kidding. That's Courtney. Kidding again.

So my friend Courtney talked me into trying Bikram Yoga with her...that's where you do yoga for 1.5 hours in a HOT, HOT, HOT room. I've gone twice now and the jury is still out on whether (a) I like it enough to keep doing it or (b) I like it enough to pay the insane fees for classes at the yoga studio. But I'm giving it the month and we'll see if I turn into Gisele Bundchen. I'll keep you posted.

I will say this. Its hot. Seriously hot. Imagine spending 1.5 hours in a sauna. Working out. I physically didn't know I could sweat that much, esp given my daily massive salt intake and lack of drinking liquids other than coffee and red wine, but man, when I walked out of that place my clothes were soaked. Speaking of clothes, you barely wear any. I wear running shorts and a tank because I don't think others need to see my rear end but there are some ladies in this class that are essentially wearing bikinis. Men too. (See photo above. Gross. Sweaty, hairy mens legs. ::shudder::)

Sidebar: I love the people in the background of the photo above. The girl in the red top is all "If you even THINK about bringing that bikini clad booty over to me and try to step on my back? I will kick you in the yogis."

#1 UNC vs Kentucky

Tonight UNC plays Kentucky (sorry Jenny!) and I'm quite excited about the start of basketball season.

That being said, I thought I would share this with you. Nothing like a Mobb Deep parody. My favorite line - "Free biscuits on the scene."

Check out: Banners to the Dome

Elizabeth dominates 6.2 miles.

HUGE congratulations to Elizabeth Mann Smith who ran her first 10K ever this Sunday....while sick!! Elizabeth has been working hard and training and this past week she got really sick (we are talking 104 fever!!) Instead of bagging it (like I TOTALLY would have) she was a trooper and got out there! She finished the race and I'm so proud of her! Perhaps you have inspired me E to try my hands at a 10K? Hmm....we'll see!

Looking good ladies!

Natalie, Sheena and Elizabeth


Go Elizabeth Go!

Music Monday

Ok, so my girls know that this is MY NEW FAVORITE SONG!! Its got such a good beat, its perfect for running and the video is awesome. I've been anxiously awaiting for the album to come out so I can download the song and today is the day....luckily it also falls on Music Monday so I can share it with you, Internet, you saucy minx.

Check out the video for this week's song: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) - Beyonce

THEN - on Saturday Night Live this week, we got treated to this skit (aka the funniest thing I have seen on SNL in a while...can we please just make Justin Timberlake a permanent cast member and feature him and Andy Samberg in everything? Thanks.) One of my favorite parts of this skit is Paul Rudd saying "What's the beef, B.K.?" Who writes this stuff?

Do yourself a favor and download the song, and check out the SNL skit. Happy Monday!

My Ladies

Such a fun weekend! Some of my best friends from college, Sydney and Anderson, came to NYC to visit and we had such a good time eating and shopping our way through New York. Nan has been up here to visit me twice before, but poor Sydney....the first time she visited me in the Spring was her first trip to NYC and I got food poisoning and was a worthless sack the whole weekend...we made up for it on this visit though!

Friday night when the girls got to town, we met up with Carrie and headed to my favorite restaurant in all of NYC - Uva. Great meal, great friends! Then on Saturday morning we headed to Canal Street so the girls could do some bargain shopping. (I found good stuff too this time!)



Then it was off to Alston's apartment to watch the UNC game. We totally dominated Georgia Tech. One more reason why North Carolina is superior to Georgia. Go Heels!

After the game we walked up through SoHo and just did some more shopping and then we headed out to dinner. We ventured to the Upper West Side and landed at The Neptune Room. YUMMY! I had only been there once before and it was as delicious as I remember! Sydney's husband Rob (shout out to you RJ!!) had recommended that we go hear his friend's band play that night so we headed to the bar to hear The Winn Brothers Band. It was AWESOME! You know I LOVE music so it was right up my alley.

It also didn't hurt that the lead singer was really, really, really cute. And could sing really, really, really well. And he played all my favorite songs.

During set break, he came over and they bought us shots. It was strange that he didn't ask me to marry him right then and there. Oh well.

We clearly enjoyed the show anyway. Ellen + Bands = lots of singing and chair dancing

The girls enjoying our Saturday night!

Anderson and I

Creepy older dude who drug me out on the dance floor. Nan and Syd found this to be highly amusing. I did not.


Thanks for coming to see me girls - I had a BLAST which is par for course when I hang out with you ladies! God Bless America and late night pizza :)

More Halloween...

As promised, a few more Halloween pics....

Carrie and I with THE OTHER Serena and Blair. We totally dominated them.

Fay and Carrie model posing for the camera.

Joe Six Pack

I think they were 80s punks? Not sure.

More model poses. So fun.

Cool Hand Luke, Blair and Serena

The 60s called, they want their tights back.

I am wearing nude colored fishnet stockings to work today and I feel spunky like I live in the 60s and I should be wearing bright red lipstick, an up do, kid gloves, a coat with a fur collar and be chain smoking cigarettes. Also, I should keep scotch in my office because I feel like people drank a lot during the day in the 60s.

Maybe we should bring that back. How fun would it be to have booze in the workplace?

Bob: Ellen, the 3 o'clock meeting has been moved to 3:30. Don't forget the forecasted numbers and your scotch, neat.

Ellen: Will do Bob! See you there!

I'm kidding obviously....like I know how to forecast numbers...

Ellen at work today.

Patience is a Virtue

I know I owe you pictures from this weekend, I promise they are coming! Stop emailing me....you know who you are.

So my Dad surprised Alston and I today by (1) being in town and (2) having time to do dinner with us! So I'm headed off for a quick delish Italian meal before he has to go catch his flight! Nothing like flying to NYC for the day....and having to buy your children a meal! haha!

More tomorrow....

Music Monday

So I have been very bad about working out for the past month, which is not good considering I have to don a bathing suit over my pale, pale skin in about a month. So Project Move Your Rear End is in full swing, and by full swing I mean I went to the gym on Friday. And I might go tonight....maybe.

So on Friday, I'm on the treadmill and I'm bored with the songs on my iPod so I'm scanning the music channels on the tv - which is A LOT harder than it sounds because for some reason I have trouble running, while maneuvering the buttons on the little remote at the same time. (I have a fear that one day I'm going to just completely eat it and get thrown off the treadmill and everyone in the gym is going to point at laugh. More so than they normally do when I'm on the treadmill.)

So I get to the "Dance" music channel - which normally I skip over cause its all techno, clubbing music - but this video caught my attention and LET ME TELL YOU. I was HOOKED. Not just hooked....it was ALL I COULD DO not to jump off the treadmill and start doing a full cheerleading dance routine. Complete with herkys and basket tosses. I was half running/half dancing with my arms while I watched, and while I understand that this was in no way attractive, I could. not. help. myself.

I also love this video because (1) it features kids and (2) it references music video classics such as Nirvana, ACDC, Michael Jackson, The Beatles, Saturday Night Fever.....and Justin Timberlake, I bet you didn't get that one. Its his "Cry Me a River" video. Nice.

Internet, you are welcome. Why you ask? Because I'm about to rock your world.

Happy Monday. Download this immediately and enjoy. Rinse and repeat.
Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now) - Bob Sinclar featuring Dollarman & Big Ali

Nighty Night

Don't you wish you were this relaxed?



I have been a "troubled" sleeper since college, I lay in bed at night filled with anxiety, tossing and turning until I either eventually pass out or I get up and take the greatest thing known to mankind, Tylenol's "Simply Sleep". (It says its non habit forming and I pray that that is true because I have bottles of this stuff stashed all over my apartment in different hiding spots like I'm a crackhead.)


There was a period of my life when I first moved to NYC where I was sleeping like a baby (see photo above) and it was heavenly but now I'm back to tossing, turning, turning, tossing, stressing, sweating and waking up generally exhausted. Its like the nighttime magnifies all your worries and problems and sadness and I lay there with my brain churning - what am I doing with my life? what am I supposed to be doing with my life? what the heck do I want to do for a living? Am I a good enough person? blah blah blah blah.....



I wish I had those pajamas with feet in them. I feel like that would help tremendously. How can you worry about life when you have pajamas with feet and a Lovey to snuggle with?

Thursday Thoughts

1) My arm is SO SORE from my flu shot. What gives?

2) Only 30 days until I'm on a sailboat in the British Virgin Island without a care in the world. Happy Holidays to me!

3) I ran for the first time in a long time and my legs are sore too. So now I'm kinda hobbling all over the office like a 90 year old between my bum legs and my bum arm.

4) I'm starting to think that my sister should move to NYC and be my roommate. But she's allergic to cats so, twist my arm, I would have to get rid of Mia.

5) My friend Sydney takes Zoomba dance classes in Raleigh and now my sister has mentioned trying Zoomba too. I would pay top dollar to observe these classes as I'm sure that they would be highly entertaining. Especially when Katie starts busting out Britney Spears moves in the middle of class.

6) What do I want for lunch? Chipotle I think.

Party Animals

I thought this was a super cute costume so I had to share....Katie and her friends were "Party Animals" for Halloween. She was obviously the Lion, and then we have a Zebra, Panda and Leopard. Very cute and creative. Not as awesome as MY costume, but then again....what is.

Here is Katie's monogrammed pumpkin (KMR). We southern gals love our monogram.

Sidebar: A few years ago we were in a bar in New Haven and these two girls started fighting in the bathroom while we were all waiting on line. I intervened and told them to calm down, take it elsewhere and the one girl started getting fresh to ME. So I calmly told her that if she didn't back up and leave me alone, I was gonna smack her so hard I would leave my monogram on her fanny. And she did.

I clearly had been hanging out with too many football players! haha! :)

Music Monday

Its Monday which means its your lucky day, Internet. Today is the day that I recommend a song to you and help expand your musical knowledge. Your welcome. I'm gonna go with two songs today, because I can. This is my website and I'm the boss.

The first song was my FAVORITE song senior year of high school. It was on a compilation CD so it was slightly "rare" and hard to find even in 1998. Then a year or so ago, I tried to find it on iTunes with no luck, it hadn't made the database. I checked again recently and found it! Yahoo for Al Gore and the internet.

My high school boyfriend used to play this song for me and I thought it was SO ROMANTIC. Ahhhh, high school. Back when dating for 6 months was a HUGE deal and warranted anniversary dinners. And you vowed to be together forever.....or at least until college started.

Here you go - "Eleanor" by Shannon Worrell....and that's Dave Matthews singing back up.

The second song is a little different but I love it. Partly because it features Robert Plant of Led Zepplin (which is one of my favorite bands of all time), partly because its got great lyrics and partly because it originally was an Everly Brothers song.

I present to you - Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On) - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

Enjoy!

You know you love me.

Happy Halloween everyone!! Well, the most anticipated question of the year is about to be answered. No, its not who will win the election....its "What was Ellen for Halloween?" I know, I know...you have been waiting with bated breath. Well, without further ado....I present to you...our outfits.

Haven't uploaded all the pics yet so here are a few for you to enjoy!

The Gossip Girl crew

Wanna-be Serena Van Der Woodson

Wanna-be Blair Waldorf

The REAL Serena and Blair, thinking to themselves, this party is SO lame. Let's call our driver and head down to the Waverly for drinks. Ugh, I hope Chuck Bass isn't there - he is SO on my last nerve these days. You might remember that he was eyeing me up and down the the last time we hung out.

Upper East Siders get bored easily.

Alright, let's GO!

Ok, fine. One drink before we bail on this lame party.

AS IF, Blair Waldorf would ever be caught dead riding the subway. Unfortunately for THIS Blair, the traffic was a nightmare and after a $30 cab ride we decided to hop on the subway.

Serena likes the subway. It makes her feel close to the little people and she can relate to Dan better. Although she wouldn't ever ride the subway out to Brooklyn, that's what drivers are for.

And in true Gossip Girl fashion, Serena and Blair were the talk of the town on Friday night....even the mysterious Gossip Girl (aka my cousin Elizabeth) sent out a text to the masses tracking our night like the paparazzi that followed us. Its hard being so fabulous but some one has got to do it. I think the best part of the night was that as we were walking down the street people were ACTUALLY yelling out - BLAIR, I LOVE YOU! SERENA, YOU ROCK! And Carrie and I were waving at them like we were actual celebrities. It was great.

Hope everyone had a great night - more pics to come!

You know you love me.

Xoxo, Gossip Girl