Welcome to TaraRulz.com. The largest website dedicated to the 1998 Olympic, 1997 World and National, and World Professional figure skating champion, and current NBC broadcaster, Tara Lipinski.
"It's a big day... I've been so excited to share this news with you! Today is the day I welcome you to my blog. The creation of this blog was really the result of interacting with my incredible followers on social media. It was the shared passion I have with my fans for design, food, travel, and fashion that led me to want to connect with everyone on a new platform. It's a great outlet to talk about the things I love and to get the same kind of insight and advice from the readers. This will be so much fun! I hope you like it." - Tara
Posted by Angie on Monday, March 23, 2015
Winter Olympics fanatics, PREPARE YOURSELVES. It’s Friday Fives from Tara Lipinski. In 1998, Tara became the youngest woman to win Olympic gold in ice skating. She was 15 years old. As you may recall, it was the height of 90s ice skating fandom, and a HUGE deal.
Today, Tara’s a West Village resident who’s a regular at some of our favorite spots like Fedora and L’Artusi. Check out her top restaurant picks below:
Tara’s “Perfect For” Picks
Dining Solo
Fedora (239 West 4th St.) – “My neighborhood spot where everyone knows your name…yes, whose local bar goal isn’t achieving that and it also makes it comfier when you are dining solo. The crispy thin French Fries should not be missed.”
See and Be Seen
Bar Pitti (268 6th Ave.) – “I join the crowd that rushes here the first 60 degree sunny day in hopes that spring is here to stay…the outdoor seating is where it’s at. I see everyone I know in New York here at some point. Sitting outside and people watching. If someone you know is eating there, then you can stop them when they pass by.”
Suits
The Nomad Bar (10 West 28th St.) – “This is fun during the week with the girls for happy hour drinks. Also the cure all spot to take your girlfriend who just broke up with her boyfriend. Suits everywhere. Also the hot dog is unbelievable.”
Special Occasions/Impressing Out of Towners
Mari Vanna (41 E 20th St.) – “I have made many Russian friends through out my years in the skating world and this is where you go to be transported into a Russian grandmothers home. Monday is Key Monday, big party/DJ. I proudly bring my own key.”
Early in the Game Dates
Margaux at the Marlton Hotel (5 W. 8th St.) – “I like the bar. Great atmosphere where you can cozy up by the fireplace and have drinks. If I want to make a swift exit this casual setting makes it ok. Also since I won’t be eating I usually go through 3 bowls of the addictive spiced nut mix at the bar.”
Healthy Spot
Ellary’s Greens (33 Carmine St.) – “Where I run when I need healthy but yummy food. Love the Curly Kale Salad and the great juices!”
Bonus Spots
Florian (225 Park Ave S.) – “I love this new Gramercy restaurant’s super thin pizza crust.”
Hu Kitchen (78 5th Ave.) – “Comfort food. I love the curried Sweet Potato mash.”
Alta (64 W 10th St.) – “Great atmosphere for girls night dinner.”
L’Artusi (228 W 10th St.) – “My favorite pasta dish: spaghetti with breadcrumbs at L’Artusi. Blows my mind every time.”
Doppio (581 Hudson St.) – “The pizza is unreal.”
Posted by Angie on Sunday, February 22, 2015
"Figure skater Tara Lipinski attends The Cut & New York Magazine's Fashion Week Party at Gramercy Park Hotel on February 18, 2015 in New York City."
Posted by Angie on Sunday, February 22, 2015
Posted by Angie on Friday, January 30, 2015
Posted by Angie on Friday, January 30, 2015
Posted by Angie on Friday, January 30, 2015
Posted by Angie on Friday, January 30, 2015
Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski aren't just Olympians. Calling them BFFs doesn't even cover it. Thanks to their chemistry, candor and humor, they may be broadcasting's fastest-rising stars.
After covering the Kentucky Derby, Sochi Olympics and the Academy Awards for NBC, the commentators are at it again this week in Phoenix, where they're dishing on Super Bowl fashion, lifestyle and entertainment.
TODAY.com chatted with Weir and Lipinski, who issued verdicts on the superior Super Bowl uniform, the importance of gold cleats and all things Rob Gronkowski, a.k.a. Gronk.
Other than covering the game for NBC, what are your main goals for Super Bowl week?
Johnny Weir: We’re just really excited to soak up the environment of the Super Bowl. I mean, we’re no strangers to big events. In one year, we covered the Olympics, the Oscars, the Kentucky Derby, and, now, the Super Bowl. We love how dynamic and different every event is. So, just sort of soaking up that energy that is all over Phoenix at the moment is pretty cool.
Tara Lipinski: I would say [about] the Olympics we’ve been to, we know how grand it is. It feels like home, I would say, whereas this, it’s just as huge of an event, but it’s completely different. It’s a different energy, even when we’re not working. Last night, we went to a dinner, just to be mingling amongst the football folks, was really fun. [NBC sportscaster] Cris Collinsworth and—
TL: Yeah! You just look around and hang out with people you’ve never met before but you admire.
Are you both big football fans?
JW: I have a passing acquaintance with Sunday afternoon, Sunday night and Monday night football. My father loved it, and I grew up watching it. I’m from Pennsylvania, so, my house is divided between Steelers and Eagles [fans]. I live in north Jersey, so, I support the New York Giants. In general, I’ve always liked the Patriots, because of Gisele Bündchen (who’s married to Patriots quarterback Tom Brady), and Rob Gronkowski.
TL: It’s the same thing for me. I know it through my dad. I know I should have paid attention to the plays and what I should be watching, but I do enjoy any type of sport. Living in New York, I feel like people pay attention to it so much, and go out on Sunday, and it’s a big to-do. So, I love football Sundays.
JW: If anything, a live event makes you a fan. You get soaked up in the energy, and you get soaked up in the environment. This [Super Bowl] is a first for me, personally, and I think the second time for Tara. You can’t be American and not have a passing acquaintance with football. So, to be a part of this event is wonderful.
What are some tips for fans attending Super Bowl week?
TL: They should definitely meet Gronkowski.
JW: Rob Gronkowski is a must. He’s a tall slice of heaven.
TL: And so nice. [On Tuesday] we attended Media Day, and I was quite fearful that we would walk in, and the players would look at us like we were nuts. But every single one of them was just a hoot. They played along with it. And Rob really played along with it. He was a blast.
JW: Yes. So, having knowledge and a meeting with Rob Gronkowski is super-important for any Super Bowl fan. … And fashion-wise, it’s all about the statement watch. I have seen so many men and ladies running around with just the most opulent, bangin’ watches.
Let’s talk some more about fashions as they relate to Super Bowl players. Much like his wife, Gisele Bündchen, Tom Brady is pretty fashionable. But can he pull off Uggs?
TL: I have a love-hate relationship with Uggs. I want to wear them out. I have a slipper set that I’m never without, when I’m in the house, but I want to wear Uggs outside. And sometimes I do, but I’m almost a little fearful that someone will look and say—
JW: “Tara Lipinski spotted wearing slippers out!”
TL: So, I’m not sure about Tom. But, you know, comfort is key.
JW: I do have several pairs of Uggs, because they’re really comfortable when you’re in the big arenas and it’s freezing and you’re between shows. My favorite pair is a pair of black-sequined ones. Uggs and Tom Brady: I feel like, “Why?”
TL: But let’s be real: I feel like Tom can pull off anything.
The NFL reportedly threatened to eject the Seattle Seahawks’ Marshawn Lynch for violating uniform rules if he wore gold cleats during the NFC title game. Whose side are you on here?
JW: The gold cleats.
TL: The gold cleats.
JW: We both love medals and both love gold as a color.
TL: How can you be mad at a gold cleat?
Especially since we’re talking about gold, and you’re Olympians. I mean, come on.
TL: Right! My favorite color.
Off the field, which current fashion trends most make you want to throw a flag for unnecessary roughness?
JW: Cowboy, and hippie, for me.
TL: I like a good hippie moment! I don’t want to see any more cut-outs [in dresses], and I don’t want to see any more of those gold [temporary] tattoos.
JW: Oh, those gold metallic — mmm-mmm. No.
Who has the better uniforms: Seattle Seahawks or New England Patriots?
TL: I think we both agree: the Patriots. We’re really down with the colors.
JW: I mean they’re [both] a similar color scheme, but the red, white and blue is patriotic.
TL: It’s a patriotic look.
JW: [Also,] Gronkowski.
Other than Gronk, which football players have impressed you?
TL: [Seahawks quarterback] Russell Wilson blew me away. We’d been really pro-Gronk all day, but I have to say, [Wilson] was so cool, so chill, and such an interesting guy. He’s this big football player, but he was so into the fashion element of things that I got a kick out of it.
JW: Russell Wilson actually got out of his little [booth] that he was sitting in to come talk to Tara and I about fashion for NBC. I thought it was so cool. There’s such a protocol for how these guys have to behave and act in life, in the spotlight. He kind of stood up, came over and wanted to talk about sparkles and spikes, and he was really awesome. And we also got to talk to [Seahawks tight end] Luke Wilson.
TL: Oh, we love him, for his flowing locks.
After the Super Bowl, where do you two go from here? The moon? How do you top this?
TL: Oh, we have lots of things brewing.
JW: There are lots of things brewing. I think the next thing we can say for sure is that we will be at the [long pause] top of our game.
Photos from Super Bowl media day have been added to the gallery.
Posted by Angie on Thursday, January 29, 2015
Flamboyant figure skaters Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir are set to be part of the Super Bowl XLIX pre-game show on NBC, but unlike most commentators of the big game, these two are not unbiased.
On Monday, Tara tweeted out a photo of them holding up Patriots banners, declaring that they had chosen their team.
So at Media Day, we stopped them to ask why they decided to go with New England.
"Johnny has always loved Tom Brady," Tara explained. "That's how it started."
But they were most excited about meeting a different Patriot at Media Day.
"We love Rob Gronkowski to no end," Johnny said. "I'm trying to make a match between Tara Lipinski – good Polish girl – and Gronkowski."
Turning to his fellow figure skating champ, he added, "Your kids would be amazing athletes. Olympic champion and maybe Super Bowl champion? I think that would be incredible."
While we'll have to wait and see if Lipinski and Gronkowski are a love match, one thing is for sure.
"We will look stunning on Sunday," Johnny said, emphatically. "We will steal the show and we will get Super Bowl rings."
Just before the Seattle Seahawks were slated to appear at Super Bowl Media Day, figure skater Johnny Weir, in a crimson suit and jeweled necklace, walked toward the entrance and put his Louis Vuitton bag on the sidewalk for the police dog to sniff.
Once inside, he joined his partner in commentary, fellow skater Tara Lipinski, and the two attempted to get a question to Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor, over the dozens of other reporters assembled. They kept trying, but other reporters shouted over them.
"I don't think we fit in here," Lipinski said. "People are very aggressive."
One of the most enjoyable pairs to comment on figure skating, Weir and Lipinski will be part of NBC's pregame festivities on Super Bowl Sunday in Glendale, Arizona. They will be reporting from the official NFL tailgate party for VIP guests.
Here is the tension: putting this duo in one of the most hetero-normal environments there might be, where beer and erectile dysfunction ads target the men in the audience -- not the women who generally tune into the Olympics.
"Just walking in here today, we both said, 'Wow, the energy feels so different than anything we've ever done,'" Lipinski said.
"Very testosterone-filled," Weir added.
It was just two years ago that Chris Culliver of the San Francisco 49ers sparked a backlash on media day by saying the NFL wouldn't accept a gay player.
Fast-forward, and on Tuesday, Weir and his pompadour and heeled shoes were part of the festivities. Weir even confided in one reporter that he had a crush on Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski. Then with faux shock, "Can I say that?"
Oh, yes, you can, Johnny.
Beneath his cheeky remarks, the openly gay skater had some serious comments about the NFL and homosexuality -- two things that have not seemed to go well together at all.
"I think the NFL has done an amazing job with gay athletes and being open to gay athletes," Weir said. "It's the same as any sport. We're judged on the same field, we're judged on the same quality that we bring to the game and to the sport. I'm proud of the NFL for the stance that they've taken on Michael Sam and being awesome. The gays have to produce a good player."
They probably already have -- and probably more than one -- but the closet door isn't completely open. Remember: Weir went to Russia as a skating analyst after the country made it a crime to spread what it called homosexual propaganda.
"If it takes me getting arrested for people to pay attention and for people to lobby against this law," Weir told CBS at the time, "then I'm willing to take it."
Weir's candor might just be what draws some nontraditional fans to the broadcast, but the chemistry with Lipinski is novel and smart. They have taken their act to the Oscars and the Kentucky Derby, and Weir and Lipinski will provide a different kind of football commentary.
"It's a huge event," Lipinski said. "And the game we have nothing to do with. It's fun, it's lighthearted, we're doing the preshow, interviewing the people who come down the carpet, doing fun features, just a good laugh."
Here's how it went down when they finally got Chancellor's attention.
Lipinski: "If you had to design a costume for the Legion of Boom what would it be?"
Chancellor: "Something with a warrior outfit or something. Some warriors."
Weir: "Sparkles?"
Chancellor: "No sparkles. It would be fierce. Nothing wrong with [sparkles], but not for the Legion of Boom."
Back at their hotel room, Weir and Lipinski joked that they have a chalkboard covered with X's and O's. They struck a Heisman pose. But really, all they need to be entertaining on Super Bowl Sunday is themselves.
