Death by Bikram

...almost.

This weekend Andrew was in town and we, being Bikram Yoga virgins, proudly survived our first ever session with Bikram pro, Coleman Earl.

In Bikram yoga you are not permitted to leave class. Even if you feel like you are going to throw up or pass out, you are suggested to just have a seat on the floor. Did I mention that it is 105degrees in the studio and class is an hour and a half long?! Andrew and I had prepared a secret hand signal for when we were finally ready to 'tap out' and have a sit, but we never needed it and frankly, we showed a few people up in that room if I do say so myself. (It's the heat that turns your body -and muscles- into a rubbery pretzel. It's two days later and not only am I as sore as ever, but I can barely touch my toes let alone balance on one straight leg doing ANYTHING for ANY length of time.) And let me also say, that Bikram practicers have no body image issues. Whatsoever. It's kind of beautiful and kind of horrifying all at the same time. We were definitely the more modestly dressed of the 55 participants in this Sunday's class.

And don't worry, the smell of sweaty feet mixed with chinese food passes shortly after class begins, along with the feeling that you're going to suffocate.

I'm grateful for a healthy body that allowed me to survive the Bikram experience. I should prove how much I appreciative it, by treating it well more often.

To start, I'll refrain from having Shake Shack for the next month!

Namaste'.

Also this weekend, I organized some of my jewelry (or at least some of what I have here in NY with me). What I thought would take me about 4hours (because it usually does), only took me 2 and 1/2. Impressive. Unimpressive though, I only edited out about 2 pieces. Pathetic.

I didnt even touch these treasures...

~kare

Felix the Bunny

Visits the Big Apple!

Dear

Braelyn,

Here's my day spent with

Karrie in

New York City...

She took me to her work where I got my teeth cleaned.

Check out the view of Central Park from her operatory!

When we left her work, we used her MetroCard to take the subway to our next stop.

First we stopped to check the map of all the metro lines to make sure we took the right train.

Waiting underground for the subway/train.

Riding the subway with a bunch of strangers like a true New Yorker!

Finally we made it to Times Square! Lots of lights and lots of people! (It's where the ball drops on New Year's Eve and Karrie sees a ton of Broadway shows!)

I hailed a New York City cab for the first time!

I ordered a hot dog on the street! (YUM!)

Then we took the subway back to Karrie's apartment. She lives above a Starbucks at the corner of the '6' train (subway line).

Then we video chatted with her dog, Gringo, back in Virginia (where you were born)!

And lastly we video chatted with Karen and Kenny (who bought you your racoon) aka 'Team Gholson'!

Brae,

Thank you SO much for sending me to New York City! Karrie and I had so much fun, but I wish you could have been here to see the sites with us! She says to please come visit any time you like (hopefully soon)!

Love,

Felix the Bunny

and

Karrie

Day Date

Bless the Shake Shack!

After work today, both because it was great weather and because we were starving, I met Diddz for a little Shakin' and Shackin'.

In case you were wondering, they've opened a Shake Shack on the upper east side an equal distance between my house and Diddy's. For almost a year now, this has been the double edged sword in my life as both the epitome of my demise and one of my greatest pleasures.

Because I know just how to woo a lady, I brought Diddz (and I) a dark chocolate macaroon (of the French origin) from The Macaroon Cafe.

After the lovely date in our matching scrubs, Diddy banned me from the Shack for the next month... Is that any way to treat the person who quenched your week-long thirst for dark chocolate? You tell me.

AND

Now, without the 'Shack Burger' and fries, how will I get my weekly dose of vegetables?

On an unrelated note, exactly when will I realize that watching Dateline alone in my apt on a Friday night is unhealthy behavior for MANY reasons?!?!!

Good thing 'My Best Friend's Wedding' was discovered floating around the airwaves afterwards or a sleepless night this would be for me... this intro makes everything better!

(Brill!)

Love,

~Kare*

PS - I'm aware that the videos in the post below are repetitive, but since posting, hulu has updated the cut to include all bits as it originally did not.

Date Night

"A woman laughing is a woman conquered." - Napoleon

Well said. And SO true.

Last night Diddz and I cashed in our V-Day date to one another with tickets to Caroline's on Bway for some stand up comedy.

Here are the comedians we saw...

Mark Normand

Jared Logan

John Mulaney

& (headlining)

Colin Jost

Diddz and I simultaneously fell in love with each of them depending on who was on stage at any given time...

when it came time to 'get to know our audience' aka rag on the audience, my stomach dropped hoping no one made fun of my seahorse dress (which is actually Diddy's) or asked what we did for a living and then gave some dig regarding the oral cavity...

luckily we were just pointed to and called beautiful ladies... whew. Close call.

Side Note: Two of the comedians (John Mulaney and Colin Jost) write for SNL so we spotted cast member, Nasim Pedrad, sitting behind us.

Watch this guy and tell me you don't fall in love...

Just to prove it's impossible...

A woman conquered,

Kare*

P.S. We think Reggie has moved out... Saved Yelz from having to evict him.

Oh man, I love Peanut Butter M&M's

Warning: Dental Hygienist with a raging sweet tooth!

In the last week, I've eaten through enough PB M&M's to turn myself diabetic. Bring on the insulin injections!

I've also worn (twice - due to somewhat sunny weather) my new Toms. Love them! -Only wish I'd bought them in red to make an "I'm so cool, my shoes don't have to match my outfits" statement.

I randomly and separately had two patients at my new practice that were mormon and from a small town in UT where they went to high school with my cousin's wife... It's not until you move to NYC, a city of 8katrillion, that you realize just how small this world is.

Also this happened as I was walking Diddz out the other night... Amaze.

(You can take Diddy out of the country, but you cant take the country out of her...)

I suspect this will go viral quicker than the man with the golden voice.

Plus I fit into one of Diddy's dresses (miraculously) and we went to an improv show on Sunday night...

after which I watched the Grammy's.

And THIS performance was by far my favorite... I mean who doesn't love Dolly anyway?...

And finally, I was first-hand told an AMAZING story of when my boss once attended the Oscars, involving him, alcohol, Elton John, and Lionel Richie. Playing the scenario out over and over in my head kept me laughing through the rest of the day.

Kindly wasting your time,

Karrie Legs Gholson

Be Mine...

This Valentine's Day is shaping up to be quite bearable in deed...

.

Although we're still 1day away from it's official date, Valentine's Day 2011 has been celebrated all weekend long here in NYC! Starting with Friday night when I met up with Sammy Grant at Sugar on the LES while we waited a grueling 2HOURS to get into the Meatball Shop.

- Sammy's my friend who is kind enough to call me and let me in on some of the cool stuff he does when he's in town for business (ie. watch Letterman with the All American Rejects' from their green room while we wait for their performance on the show, go back stage at Jay-Z where I wait for the elevator with Lil' Wayne, Fabolous, and Drake, then head to 40/40 afterwards where we bypass enormous lines and head in through the red carpeted entrance - more on these stories later). - In old times, Sam was working for the well known brand, Skull Candy, and now he has a share in a company called Rootmusic that's blowing up the music industry - this month they're featured on the cover of Billboard Mag. NBD! -

Anyway, there was a lot of LOVE talk all night being as Sam is in a pretty serious relationship and will be away during V-Day. Aside from that, Sammy Grant is one of the nicest, happiest people I know and I realized, I'm never so nice to strangers here in NYC as I am when Sam's in town. He'll talk to anyone, nay EVERYONE... hold doors, give a smile, a handshake, a joke and it's MORE than contagious! All these gestures are forms of love and it was good to feel so loved/loving for the night... Here's our documented evening.

We were excited to draw on our menu's! Our oder: Everything but the Kitchen Sink Salad (Traditional meatballs w/meat sauce over salad and veggies) and A Hero with chicken meatballs and parm. sauce on a whole weat bun w/side salad. We did splitsies when it came to eating (my FAVE - you get to taste both dishes). Other items on the menu included 'naked balls' and 'the family jewels'.

Splitsies.

(Not the bill, rootmusic was kind enough to take care of that.)

Mid-way through the meal, J (the owner of rootmusic) met us and invited us to an industry party afterwards... we went. But not before ordering dessert!

Ice cream sandwiches... You choose 1 cookie and 1 ice cream flavor (both homemade by meatball shop) per 'sandwich'. We chose 1 walnut meringue cookie with caramel ice cream and 1 choc chip cookie w/brown sugar ice cream. Both were to DIE FOR!

Mmm, smack ya mamma!

Upon returning home LATE that night, I found this little gem in the mail...

My first (and probably only) Valentine this year! It's sweet, and cute, and really REALLY FUNNY! And it's from my BIZZLE! Oh how I miss and love her! It made me smile so hard, that my cheeks still hurt when I think about it.

And on my wrist, from my amazing Yari, a Christmas AND V-Day gift (brilliant right?) that she'd given me just the day before. Theres a charming little heart dangling from it... Man, I'm a lucky girl!

All of this followed by meeting up with Diddz and Tony at an UES bar on Saturday night where we left (almost immediately) for Thai food and SNL at Diddy's. Right before digging in to our Pad Thai, Tony pulled these tricks out of his hat...

Presentation is everything.

Chocolate is a girl's best friend!

Thank you Tony!!!

Come tomorrow, I'll probably celebrate the actual Vday with my left over Thai food & watching The Bach with this fool...

but that sounds PERFECT to me!

I hope you're all feeling the love like I am this Valentine's day!

Kiss, kiss, hug, hug,

~Kare*

P.S. Reginald has yet to be captured.

Welcome Reginald Overton Turnblast,

who announced himself an official roommate of Apt 4A on Monday, Feb 7, 2011.

Yelena was thrilled with his arrival to say the least. After frantic calls to both Diddz and I, with no answer on either end, she finally texted Diddy, "Rat in apt!" Which is only hilarious because Reggie is a MOUSE approximately the size of my thumb nail. No, maybe bigger... the size of a quarter. Either way, not a rat! (New York City rats are bigger than most kittens.)

3 girls, 3 brooms, 4 mouse traps, 1 Jar of peanut butter, 24hours (so far), and now sticky pads later and 1 Reginald Overton Turnblast still reigns supreme... Here we are trying to coax him from under the refrigerator. Could little Reggie outsmart us? Stay tuned to find out....

Few things:

1 - She didn't mean it, that Yelz (no mice were harmed during the making of this video - or since unfortunately).

2 - All mice recognize the 'Cinderelly' song as a friendly gesture to reveal themselves, no? What if the singers are double fisting broom wielders? No?

3 - This video is only a fraction of the actual occurrences. This may have gone on for far too long.

Love,

Diddz, Yelz, Kare, and Reginald*

Super Bowl XLV

We all know that I'm a big nickname person. For those of you who don't know, Cole's nickname is 'Earl'. So there that is.

For Super Bowl 2011, Diddz and I headed up to Harlem to watch w/Earl and Co.

This is how Earl lives... It's a rough life.

Colemane 'Earl', Diddz Lea, and Miles

Tim and Eric

Food included pizza dip, chili, Cole's homemade wings, and chocolate chip cookies (of course).

(Football)

After the Packers' win, Miles entertained us with a stunning performance of his last minute rap to his own self-written track.

Did I mention we were stunned?

Thanks for having us Earl! It was a long trek, but well worth it!

~Kare*

I stutter when I lie...

Friday night, being approached by two guys at the bar, Diddz and I were moderately friendly (which is huge for me and now I regret), but gave no indication that we were interested. On multiple occasions we attempted to ditch them, including at one point just disappearing into the bathroom without saying a word. Ultimately we were unsuccessful.

At the end of the night, Diddz was gathering her coat and scarf when the scrawny pale one appeared out of thin air and asked her out. She quickly and confidently replied, "I'm seeing someone," and that was that.

Meanwhile, I was being chased down my the mohawked one. A full on, bald on either side, long, gelled up, mohawk. Really?! No one told him that's not cool? Poor thing. Must be new to the chic island of Manhattan. He'll find out the hard way. I digress.

I'd made it halfway up the staircase to the main floor/exit when he caught up to me and asked if Diddz and I would like to see he and his friend again.

I slowly responded, "I'm kiiiinda seeing someone," which is totally untrue but I was hoping to let him off easy.

His response, "Kinda? That's not official then." UGH! Really?! How thick do you have to be?

My rebuttal, "It's one of those Unofficially. Yes. Relationship. Situations."

Let it be known, I stutter when I lie.

Unfortunately he was still persistent and asked if he could leave me his number and I can use it if I so choose. I was polite and took it down, however I so choose not to use it. It was deleted before I was in a cab.

On the plus side -

1. Diddz and I came up with some pretty interesting dance moves! (We've been looking for our true calling outside of dentistry... NAILED IT!)

2. I laid my eyes on an amazing pair of Michael Kors Black Suede Knee boots and fell in love.

3. And Amy faked taking a shot with a bunch of 'wont-take-no-for-an-answer-drinkers' and none of them even noticed - however she almost spilled on her dress.

The next day, I woke-up and thought, Yes - I would like to eat the gallon of left-over mashed potatoes I made for supper last night.

Instead I met Diddy at Shake Shack, we had a 'Dexter' marathon, and called it a night.

But not before we did facials, played with hair and make-up, bought tickets for our V-Day date, and I made her my real-life paperdoll.

Sounds like I AM seeing someone... A pathetic, Diddz Lea.

~Kare*

Champagne taste on a beer budget

(a sneek peek at some of my favorite accessories)

No this blog is not about how much I love myself even though it is approximately a billion pictures of JUST ME. -And bedroom mirror self-portrait images at that... yikes?!- It is however, about all the things I love right now.

When on my aforementioned emotional shopping spree, I got some new favorites.

A blue pair of parachute pants (I know, right? Brave!)...

A romper.

And a striped skirt (yes please!)

[Everything else pictured, I already had]

(Click above to see larger if you so choose)

Outfit #1 -

Blue cotton slouchy Parachute Pants - Urban Outfitters $19.99

Vintage Polka Dot Blouse - Thrift $5

Short tweed suit jacket - Banana Republic $55

Black Suede Platform Pump - Cynthia Rowley $50 @ TJ Maxx

Outfit #2 -

Teal silk ruffled romper - Urban Outfitters $29.99

Sometime seen w/Black cuffed Blazer - Target, Mossimo $29.99

Black Suede Platform Pumps - Cynthia Rowley $50 @ TJ Maxx

or

Black Leather Boots - Aldo 'Scaman' $180 (when I bought them, now on sale)

Outfit #3 -

- (and winner for Leila's Friday night Birthday Party at Parlour on the UWS with Diddz and Amy) -

Striped stretch mini-skirt - Urban Outfitters $38

Sweater - Vintage JCrew/thrift $1

Black Leather Boots - Aldo (see above)

Oversized Beaded Necklace - a gift from Seon/Thrift - $unknown

Worn with all of the above (& more) are my favorite (for now) accessories...

Black Suede Hidden Platform Pumps - Cynthia Rowley

Oversized Cat Eye 'Sunnies' - Urban Outfitters $14

Leather Leopard Print Cuff - Thrift $1 (it seriously worked with everything)

Vintage (1940’s-1950’s) White-Gold-Plated, Diamond-Chip-Faced, Wind-Up Bulova Watch (that

still WORKS!!!) - Flea Market $15

OPI Nail Lacquer - in 'ChicaGO Get a Manicure!'

Nars Lipstick - in Scarlet Empress

Also pictured in outfits and not pictured here, but favorites FOR SURE -

‘Leggz’ Black Sheer Pantyhose - in ‘Jet Black’ - CVS ($? Seriously, I buy them in bulk. These things never go out of style!)

And lastly, my 'K' Initial Necklace (a daily staple) - Sterling Silver 'K' Charm handmade by yours truly and the Fused Glass Pendant a handmade gift from Mike Marcus (A college friend of Diddy's) all on a sterling silver chain. (More visible at the top in close-ups of my new fave lipstick and sunnies)

Now if only that sun would come out and thaw the streets of NYC!

I'm dying for spring, if anything, to wear my new duds!

~Kare*

Live! From New York!

It's Saturday afternoon?

And SNL is bringing sexy back...

Today I take us back to May 9, 2009.

Judy and I met up with Taylor, Christine, and Brandon (not pictured above) on what started as a typical Saturday, for a tour of 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

-Taylor we met on the 6 train late one night after a night-out-on-the-town with our Arizona boys. (Taylor used to play for the Colts and is a model/actor.) Christine works at Dior with Bug and at the time, Brandon was working for 'Dateline' where before that, he had served his time as an NBC Page - as so many do - it's what brought my friend Heidi (fellow jewelry lover)to NY that same summer. It just so happened, and maybe we planned it this way but that's beside the point, that on this particular Saturday, Justin Timberlake was to be in the building rehearsing for his live run on Saturday Night Live that very night. -

We started with turning over our ID's for NBC access passes, then took the elevator up to the 'Dateline' floor... had to start there so as not to appear suspicious...

(Elevator Pics)

At 'Dateline' we visited Brandon at his desk...

Found footage labeled "Love Scam". Seems broad... and on VHS no less?

Then we were introduced to news anchor (and fellow Brandon enthusiast), Christina Brown (SO SWEET! And SO beautiful!), we visited the set of 'Cup of Joe', then headed to Brian William's studio to sit at the desk of 'Nightly News with Brian Williams'.

From here, we went to the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon stage and set, checked out the props closet, and gave a hello to the SNL extras waiting in the Jimmy Fallon studio.

Finally we had made it to the 8th Floor for the SNL studio and watched JT rehearse his monologue over and over to an empty audience (other than us and Lorne himself). Here's Justin on stage directing the horn section of the SNL band...

And here he is practicing his singing monologue.

He must be a pretty cool guy because this is exactly what he wore for the live show later that night and this wasn't even the dress rehearsal.

That's Steve Higgins (announcer for J.Fallon and SNL voice and writer) below. Also spotted strolling through rehearsal: Lorne Michaels, Will Forte, Seth Meyers, Kristin Wig (practicing the use of her velcro dress Justin was to rip off of her), and Lutz (from 30Rock).

Warning: Objects in these pictures were closer than they appear. No flash photography allowed - or any photography for that matter.

Also, because there were so few people, we could've easily used our inside voices and been clearly heard by everyone mentioned above.

For those of you who don't know, I'm a HUGE SNL fan... even in its lesser loved days. I've tried 3 times to get into a live taping and/or official dress rehearsal with no success. Two of those attempts required staying out all night in less than 20degree weather and rummaging through garbage at American Girl for cardboard to protect our bums from the cold sidewalk.

I'd say this private rehearsal tops a live show any day.

~Kare*