Just To Get By…

YOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Ok so last night I got to get off from work and go have a social life!!! **GASP and clutch the pearls** WHAT?!?!?! I know I know. I had a social life last night.  Totally something I need to do more often. ANYWAY I rushed home from work (or as fast as the train would let me go because signals were down and it was backed up). Tonight was TALIB KWELI **insert teeny bopper squeal** I got home and was greeted by my giant ritz cracker loving friend Thurber( landlords dog) My friends were still at my apartment!!! WOOHOO!!!! I was able to joke around and chat before he had to head out. Y’all have no idea how STOKED I was not just for the AMAZINGNESS that I was about to witness (Talib Kweli) but to hang with really cool people… again!!! Last weekend was epic awesome so I just KNEW that Thursday was going to be AHHHHH-MAZING. ANYWAY… So 10ish we leave the house and make it to Brooklyn Bowl. We make it through security and the big metal doors only for Justin to say “Uhhh I left the house keys in the Uber” WHAT?!?!?! SHIT!!!!! So Im calling our uber driver on REPEAT because the asshole keeps hanging up on me. Finally I got him on the phone and he gave me the damn run around. “I dont know when I’ll be back in Brooklyn.” “I might be able to help” “I’ll let you know” ” Take my number and text me and I will have to let you know. If anything I will leave them at the Uber center and you can get them in the morning.” THE FUCK?!?!?! DUDE I need my keys LIKE NOW!!!  I cant wait until the morning!!! I took his number and then Justin took over and called Mr. Asshole driver back… Yeh I got my keys back!!! THANKS FOR LOOKING OUT JUSTIN!!!! So Anyway we are standing around and he says “Lets bowl!!!” “SURE!!! But FYI… I SUCK at bowling. Like I am really bad. REEEAAAAALLLLLLY bad”  We got shoes and a lane and went out to do the WORST bowling EVER!!! It was bad y’all. His score was a HELL of a lot better than mine. It was SOOOO BAD you guys but you couldn’t tell us we weren’t professional!!! There were dance breaks for every strike or spare.  I had a victory dance for EVERY time I knocked a pin down because it was so rare. Like I hit gutter 95% of the time.

Kory arrived during our second game and watched us fail spectacularly. I think we would have bowled better if we had done the leg kickback thing or the Fred Flintstone twinkle toes. I think that would have made ALL Of the difference. We bowled two games and then at the same time we all sat side by side on the sofa, kicked our feet up on the table and zoned out to the music. The dj was AMAZING!!!! If we would have been able to sit for like 10 minutes longer I’m sure all three of us would have been passed out but the waitress came up and let us know that someone was wanting to use our lane… Pretty sure she just wanted us to move but whatever. We moved anyway. I took the shoes back, got a beer and then we all posted up in a corner jamming and waiting for Talib. Now you all know that I am a HUGE people watcher. Its a hobby right up there with hallmark movies and making scarves. Ive also become a pro at snapping videos and pics of random people in their foolishness or amazingness. Kory saw a couple on the dance floor and they were greatness. They were grooving and totally in to each other and it was heart melt worthy. See thats what he captured. What did I capture?? I captured the Latino dude posted up near us. He was by himself and HE.WAS.FEELING.HIMSELF y’all. Confidence was THROUGH THE ROOF!!!! No one could tell him SHIT!!! He was rocking the teddy bear sweater… No for real there was a giant teddy bear on his sweater. He had that set it off with a collared shirt underneath and topped it with a powder blue tuxedo jacket. That was paired with a pair of Snow White pants and White Easter Sunday shoes. He danced all damn night… by himself and you could tell he was like “My shit don’t stink!!!” I laughed so damn hard but yo he gets mad props because there are very few who could pull that off with that much confidence. Greatness I tell. PURE GREATNESS!!!!

A little bit later TRUE GREATNESS was introduced and the stage was bomb rushed. We hung back a bit but Talib made his way out and its was nothing less than PURE MAGIC for an hour. There was a live band behind him and you couldn’t help but jam!! It was nothing but groove man!!! I was already a fan, but seeing him LIVE was UN-FREAKING-REAL!!!!  See this is what music is about for me. This is real music to me. Music that talks about the success and struggles. Music about life. To me GREAT music is not just a sick beat. Great music transports you. It moves you all the way to your soul. It speaks to you in more ways than one. Thats what great music is to me and that my friends is what Talib Kweli brings to the table. HE KILLED IT and the fact that Justin produced 2 AMAZING songs on his new Album Radio Silence was just like the icing on the cake. I was surrounded by creative greatness!!! Kory captured so many amazing moments behind the lens of his big ass camera. It was cool to witness the magic of it all. The music, the images, the energy… It was just awesome!!!

We left the concert around 2ish. It was flipping cold outside… COLD…C.O.L.D. We all piled into the back of the uber and I sat in the middle. It was maybe a 15-20 minute ride back to the Slope. We laughed NON STOP for 20 minutes. My cheeks were hurting. My stomach was hurting. I could.not.breathe. There was no way for me to catch my breath between the giggles and belly laughs. My stomach was in knots because  I was laughing non stop. See thats how time off should be with friends. No drama, no bullshit, no unnecessary… Just laughter, good conversation, great energy and a amazing spirit. It’s going to be damn hard to top the past two weekends. I seriously don’t think that they can be topped. Kory and Justin told me that I made this weekend… but what they don’t understand is that they totally made mine.

These Beats Came to NYC

I LIVE for epic weekends. They are EVERYTHING!!!! This weekend I was social and had two friends stay at my place while they got work done here in NYC!!! Tell you that my weekend was EPIC is a total understatement. I did not bitch or complain one time!!! I mean I griped about the weather a little bit but THATS IT!!! On the real though… The weather has been so damn hateful. Just hateful. The windchill kicked.my.ass on Friday. Saturday morning… same thing.

Before my friends arrived my mom was like “you need to grocery shop. Get food.” I was like “I have snacks. Thats good right??” When I got to my apartment on Friday and cleared out what needed to be cleared (basically everything) all I was  left with was 3 boxes of lemon popsicles, half a stick of butter and a whole lot  of alcohol. SHIT!!! SERIOUSLY… Thats all I had. I wasn’t feeling all that great because the kids passed their cold germs to me and it was kicking my ass. What helped?? Great happy hour friend!! Candace met me for drinks food and whole lot of laughter!!! I drank a whole lot hot toddys. They cleared me right on up. YES THEY DID BABY!!! I didn’t have the yucky cough feeling but my nose was on straight congestion/ and slime mode. UUUUUUUUGH so gross!!! I was sleep before 10p Friday night. I slept so damn hard… Like HARD!!!  I woke up Saturday morning with a pep in my step and a need to finish cleaning and grocery shopping. I cleaned, semi organized, washed ER’THANG, made my bed, laid out clean towels and blankets. Fro’d the hair out, covered my dark circles and hit the grocery store. The thing about me and grocery shopping is that I never make a list and I always walk out with WAAAAAY more than what I thought I needed.  Whatever though because I was able to make my fridge look like someone actually lived in my apartment 7 days a week.

My friends arrived Saturday around 1p. They unloaded bags and a shit ton of gear and said “Where can we eat?!?!?!” Now y’all know me: “I gotchu homie” We walked and talked all the way to the train. I don’t think you understand how excited I was to see these two awesome souls. Hell I don’t even think THEY KNEW how excited I was. JUSTIN RHODES and KORY WILLIAMS ARE THE ISH!!!! They are AMAZING at what they do and are constantly perfecting their craft. These two are the chillest, nicest, most humble, HILARIOUS human beings you will ever meet and I DID NOT have a total fan girl melt down at all. ANYWAY we traveled from Brooklyn to the Upper West Side for my go to spot. It took a hot ass minute to get there and they did ask “Is it really worth it??” “Is it worth it??!?!?!?! Is the Sky Blue????Are we Black?? HELL YEH ITS WORTH IT!!!!!!!!!” We made it to Jacobs Pickles only to find out that there was an hour and a half wait… Im sorry but they haven’t eaten since like 6 this morning and I didnt eat AT ALL because I JUST KNEW that this amazing food was in my future. I said “Put us on the list” But we walked to their sister restaurant one block over and were seated at the bar right away. The bartenders were awesome and we all ordered the same thing :Chicken and French Toast. We are chatting and laughing and having a grand ole whooo raahhh and then the waiter came out with our food. YOOOOOOOOOO It was like a MOUNTAIN of French toast with 3 GIANT pieces of chicken on top. We stared at our plates for a few seconds in sheer amazement but snapped out of it quick because IT WAS TIME TO EAT!!!! I cant describe the happiness I felt when that food hit my tastebuds. YES LAWD!!!! No words were spoken. We were all so damn hungry that all you heard was ” OH MAH GAH” “AHHHH SOOO GOOD” “This chicken… MAAAAAAAANNNNN” “Is there more syrup??” “JESUS” About 20minutes later we all leaned back in our chairs and stared at the food that was still left on our plates. ” Can we get togo boxes please??” After we ate we hopped back on the train I got us a little lost because we got off at the wrong stop BUT we were close to DOUGH!!! “Soooo bad news is that we are at the wrong stop. BUT we are just a few blocks from doughnut HEAVEN.” Y’all already know what went down… We trucked it to Dough, laughing and talking about random topics. We grabbed two giant donuts and then took the train back to the apartment. As soon as we hit the door, ITIS set in. It wasnt late but the sun is down by 445. It was like 5 and everyone was out of it. Both dudes were passed out. I look up and Justin is face planted in the bed with the covers all the way up to the top of his head and Kory is fetal position wrapped up in blankets on the couch. Me??? I sat with my laptop writing. After like 2 hours I was like “We aint going nowhere so I showered, threw this hair in a bun and put on my sweats. I hopped back on my air mattress and went back to writing. 30 minutes later both dudes popped up bright eyed and bushy tailed. Like they were totally rejuvenated!!!! So what do you do?? You get up, make cocktails for everyone and watch them be the mad creative geniuses that they are. Bags, wires, laptops, buttons, headphones and phones were all in play. I just read a book and then started a scarf because… I’m not a super creative genius. “Khrys are you a night owl??” “Nope. But thats also because I never have company. I’m good though.” ” Ok cool” These dudes…Like my body was DONE at midnight. My mind, body… ER”THANG SHUT.DOWN at midnight. I was trying to hang though because NO ONE wants to be the first to crash. I typed, then would zone out and 5minutes later come back to reality. So then I figured working on my scarf would keep me going… NOPE!!! I straight slept with my eyes open. These two are working away in the wee hours like champs and my body was like “Wait… WHAT.THE.ACTUAL.FUCK?!?!?! Homey you are normally sleep by 9…10p at the latest. I know you ain’t trying to be gangsta right now… ABORT ABORT ABORT!!!!” I limply hung on until 2 and then I had to lay it down and look at my eyelids. Khrys is NOT gangsta y’all.

Sunday Morning

730p and my black ass is bright eyed and nappy tailed. I got up brushed my teeth, threw on my shoes and went to get coffee. My hair wasn’t combed. I slept in a hoodie and sweats so all I had to do was just throw on shoes and go… and thats exactly what I did. I walked one street over to Kos for THREE GIANT cups of coffee. Outside the shop was an older black man who was really chatty and just sitting in the cold. DUUUUUDE ITS FLIPPIN COLD OUT HERE!!!! So I did what any normal person would do “Would you like a cup of coffee??” He said “Excuse me??” He had a surprised look so I asked again “Could I get you a cup of coffee??” He said “Sure…Uh a small please.” So I added a small coffee to my order and gave it to him.

Alright so I get back and no one is really awake but movement starts after a while. AWESOME!!! Well they are my guest so what do you do?? Prepare cocktails and breakfast for ER’BODY!!!! I made everyone margaritas and breakfast sandwiches. While the created magic for the show… I sat  browsed amazon because…yeh. 130 hit and we got up and going… sort of. I got do something I never thought I would do in a million years: I GOT TO HELP!!! Ok when I say help I mean I literally just took them to different parts of Brooklyn to get wicked awesome shots. Oh and I got to hold a REALLY EXPENSIVE professional camera and push ONE button on it. **teeny bopper squeal** When I say really expensive I mean like it had multiple…. MULTIPLE interchangeable lenses and knobs and do-hickies and thing mabobs… Yeh. After I watched Kory get some AMAZING shots of my neighborhood, we all grabbed everything and headed to the Staten Island Ferry because they wanted to get some shots of Statue of Liberty. The Staten Island Ferry takes you right by it… FOR FREE!!! So I got to witness them work and it was AWESOME!!!

 

 

Only thing with the ferry is that you have to get off to get back on. We had 4 minutes… 4 minutes!!! SHIT!!! We turned into freaking track stars in the blink of an eye. We made it to the next ferry with like 1 minute to spare. YAAAAAAAAAS!!!! Only thing is that it was 420p. Sun is already setting.

 

Kory wanted to get some great sun set shots of the Brooklyn Bridge but the sun was fading fast!!! We made it back to Brooklyn and when we got off the train the sun was basically gone and temps DROPPED. We walked 15 minutes to the Brooklyn Bridge Park and the sun was damn near gone but Justin and Kory got the COOLEST drone shots EVER!!! EPIC!!!! After they got what they needed, we were going to go to Williamsburg for Pho but ya know what??? Shake Shack was RIGHT next door so we hit shake shack and all was right in our worlds. After Shake shack there was no debate. “Yeh we are getting an uber. Im not walking to the train… SCREW THAT” We got an uber and headed home. I think we were back at the apartment for MAYBE 25-30 minutes… and ER’BODY was KNOCKED OUT!! HA!!!!! Thats how awesome the day was.

This weekend I got to hang with just really awesome good people!!!This was one of the BEST WEEKENDS EVER!!! It was basically how EVERY weekend should be!!! There was non stop laughter, everyone gelled, and it was just CHILL!!!! My friend circle is tiny… TINY… ITTY.BITTY. But its finally starting to get just a little bit bigger. When this episode of These Beats Aint Free comes out I can say “DUDE I WAS RIGHT THERE for that shot!!!! I watched them shoot that!!!!!” **fan girl melt down in 3…2…1** LMBO!!!

So Damn Cheesy

OH MAH GAH **insert teeny bopper squeal** It’s that time of year again!!!! Bring in AAAAALLLL of the holiday cheer. **twirls around in red and green tutu and throws snowflake glitter**  Here’s the thing… I’m not really a happy holiday filled with cheer type of person. I’m not the grinch but Im not ELF either. I’m more of… hell I don’t know… a grinch ELF?? Does that even make sense? I like some parts of the holiday but a lot of things make me roll my eyes and say “OH FOR GODS SAKE!!!!! SHUT IT UP ALREADY!!!!!” I love being with my family but I hate the commercialization for it all. HATE IT!!! The ONE thing that I love besides food and my family is… FREAKING HALLMARK MOVIES baby!!! YAAAAAAAS!!! Give me all of the sappy bad acting hallmark holiday movies. ALL.OF.THEM!!! I literally sit in the middle of my sofa with a ball of yarn and a crochet hook, making scarves while watching these low budget horrible acting movies. BUT I CAN’T GET ENOUGH!!!! For some reason they make me happy!!! They make my little grinch heart grow and grow. This is the ONLY time that my tv really turns on… and stays on. They start at like 7 in the morning and it doesn’t end until like 10 o’clock at night. I get up to pee, eat, and maybe change color yarn but THATS IT!!! This is my holiday cheer. I know I need to be out mingling and meeting people BUUUUT see the way my old lady mentality is set up: “Go out on Saturday?? Oh no baby thats hallmark time.” Here is what’s really bad, if I can’t watch the movies because of work or what not, then I will go to youtube and find them when I am finished with work. Oh the hallmark addiction has hit an all time low!!! Its bad y’all. BAAAAAAD! And most of the time when I’m watching them, all I’m doing is critiquing them!!! “Oh what the hell were they thinking putting that dress with those shoes??” “Who did her wig??” “They couldn’t get a black lady to do her lace front???”  Then my mom will call because she is just as bad as I am. We are watching the same movie at the same time critiquing the SAME DAMN THINGS!!!! What is it about hallmark that is so damn addicting?!?!?!?! DON’T JUDGE ME!!!!

All my races end in Texas

The great blogosphere we meet again!!! Okee dokee so this past weekend I ran my very last race of the year. The Spartan Beast. 14+ miles of “I HATE THIS SHIT” I arrived in DFW Friday around 530p.I walked off that plane looking like a girly tomboy because thats how I roll when I travel. Im all about SUPER COMFORT… and red lipstick when I travel. I even threw in some big hoop earrings. Whats hilarious is that when I was pulling out of the rental parking lot the guy goes ” Hi sir… Oh my gosh  I mean ma’am. How are you today??” I laughed so damn hard and told him. “Its ok. I am dressed like a dude. But I am all woman.”

ANYWAY…I was all excited that my parents invited me out for fried shrimp!!! HELL YES AND DADDY PAYS?!?!?! SOLD!!! Well apparently I wasn’t moving fast enough through the airport because as soon as I hopped in my rental I got a call “Hey you might want to pick something up to eat. We ate and are on our way home” THE HELL?!?!?!?! What just happened?!?!?!? You had my lips all ready to devour an entire plate of fried shrimp and then you just gone cut me out?!?!? What kind of foolery is this?!?!?!?! So I had to settle for good ole chicken express. Lets back up a minute though. Lets talk about getting from DFW to South Arlington. What kind of devils work is going on?!?!?! There was construction EVERYWHERE and new bridges and roads that weren’t there a month ago. I was so damn lost for a hot minute. And then I found my way to 820 and then 287 and I was home free baby!!! YAAAAS!!!! Chicken express here I come!!! So I get to chicken express and its “Uhhh yeh can I get the three piece… all wings and like 5 biscuits??”  I made it to the rents house, busted open my box of chicken and ate it all while PRETENDING it was an order of JUMBO fried shrimp. Im still a little salty about that. WHATEVER… MOVING ON

So I stay up talking with mom for a bit and then the sand man hit me and I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I THOUGHT I had set my alarm for 545 so I could be up early to head out to the race. Well… what had happened was, I set the time… but didn’t press “DONE” So I kind of overslept by an hour. I shot out of bed, threw on my race gear and proceeded to be in a semi panic because I had to pick up my friend Nicole  and stop by Walgreens.  We get to Walgreens only to realize that I FORGOT MY WATER PACK!!! **face palm** So we made a u-turn to get my water pack and then get Nicole. Oh and my entire family came along. When I say entire family I just mean my mom, dad and best friend. Im an only child sooo yeh.  We go scoop up Nicole at butt crack o’clock and head out to good ole Glen Rose for my early morning ass whooping. Ohhhh and it was gosh damn 32 degrees outside. OOOOOH MAH GAH!!! Nicole bought a Bag full of donuts so that made it a little better.

We get to the race and they let me get an earlier time slot!!! YES!! But holy crap I only had like 10 minutes to stretch and semi warm up. SHIT!!!! I handed my mom my belongings and mentally tried to prepare myself. IT WAS FUCKING COLD Y’ALL. 32 degrees. 32 FUCKING DEGREES!!! Whatever. I hopped over that wall and it was game on!!! I had master P blasting so I was straight. The MC made his speech and then it was time to haul. I did good. Started strong. Passed a few people and ran most of it. I made it over every wall and climbing frame with ease. Then came the water. ITS 32 DEGREES outside and we had water crossings… Like 4 or 5 of those damn things!!! I sucked it up and did what I had to do. By the time I would thaw out from one crossing there was another one for me to do. I made all sandbag carries with ease. Some kind of heavy kettle bell carry thing was easy.  I was good. Then around mile 8 or 9 my ass whooping kicked in. My knee said “SCREW YOU!!!” and proceeded to pinch and throb with every step I made. I hobbled along though. We hit the z wall. Im hurting, but its z-wall… I GOT THIS… or so I thought. I made it all the way to the end and slipped off one of the pegs. My body said “NO BURPEES or you will die” My brain said “I agree. Keep it moving” So I kept my black ass moving. After that it was downhill.  My knee pain only intensified and then leg cramps started kicking in. Mind you the entire week I drank enough water to fill the freaking Great Lakes!!! So I was inhaling pickle salts to kill the cramps. I made it through the first barbed wire easy. I failed monkey bars because I could NOT get a grip!!! I failed twister, Olympus, and spear throw. I SKIPPED MY BURPEES!!! Again my body kept saying “I WILL KILL YOU!!!” and my brain kept saying “Hear ya loud and clear. KEEP IT MOVING!!!” So I kept it moving. I made Hercules hoist and rope climb. I had to walk out of the second barbed wire because my leg cramped up and I could barely move. I mean really this race was just chewing me up and spitting me out left and right. After mile 10 I just kept repeating “Not today Satan. NOT today!!!!” When I saw that fire pit my only thought was “Please don’t cramp up. Please legs don’t give out. Please don’t eat it!!!” I made it!!!! YES LAWD!!!!

I literally kissed the ground as soon as I made it over and crossed that finish line. I got my medal and my mom, dad and family were waiting for me!!!

All I wanted was to change, go home take the hottest shower in the world and EAT AAAAAAALLLLL of the tacos!!!! I changed and we made it to the car… which had heated seats and Nicole gave me her blanket. It was like a nice warm hug from Jesus. Im so serious!!! Then it hit me “HOLD UP… We still have donuts!!!” Y’all… I ate 6 donut holes, two cinnamon twists, and two glazed donuts in under 15 minutes. NO REGRETS!!!! We made it home, I took the hottest shower on EARTH and then said “I NEED TACOS!!!!” Me, my mom and Nicole went to Joe T Garcias for food!!! I don’t have any photos of the tacos because I was eating as fast as the food was coming out. I had two enchiladas. 3 tostada things, two or three tacos, and two margaritas.  Oh and a ton of rice. Then Amanda showed up and it was school reunion!! HAHAHA!!! We talked and  laughed and laughed and talked and then laughed some more. Well by the time we finished eating and drinking I had the bright idea: “DUDE LETS GO TO WINSTAR!!!” Sooooo yeh we waited for my Aunt Sandy to join us and we all hopped in the rental car and headed to WINSTAR in Oklahoma. SOOOOOO MUCH FUN!!!!!!! I hopped from slot machine to slot machine and finally settled on the Ellen slot machine. Ellen was good to me!!! I ended up winning 300 dollars!!! 

We stayed for a while and then said “Its time to go!!!” Well it was late and we were all doing everything in our power to stay awake!!! We talked about bogus crap just to keep our eyes open!” As soon as mom and I got home… I crashed.

Sunday morning!!!

I wake up early because I needed to get fed. I needed a word and I got it from Sean Reed!!! THANK YOU!!!! After service I went back to my parents house and said “Lets go mom. I have a late flight so we are good” We went for mani/pedi, and Ramen. Nothing like a good word, neon toes and good food to make the day brighter.

After ramen we went to go visit my little cousin and before we knew it… it was 4p. My flight was at 630p. We FLEW home!!! I had time to grab my bags quickly, give quick hugs and haul out of the door. I left my parents house at 415p. I was at DFW airport before 445p. Oh ya girl was MOVING!!! I was able to return my rental car, make it through TSA and to my gate by 545!!

The plane ride back to NYC was meh. It was cold and a FULL flight but I took two Benadryl so all I had to do was pull up the hood on my hoodie and it was lights out!!!

This past weekend SUCKED but it was amazing at the same time. This  was my first really long race to do alone. I saw some familiar faces out there but I was solo. I was running for me and no one else. Even though I skipped ALL of my penalty burpees and had to walk away from two obstacles due to extreme cramping, I gave everything I had!!! I was cold and miserable but I did it. There were times that I wanted to stop but I ran for the little shy girl who was always told by her 3rd grade teacher; “You aren’t good enough” Saturday… that little girl turned into a beast!!!