about me | Girl Meets Life | a lifestyle blog by Gracie Gordon

SBC: a day in the life + 11:11 (sort of).

10 September, 2014 by Gracie 13 Comments

I’ve mentioned before how my schedule varies so much from day to day. On some days I’m in front of a computer for 8 hours, other days I’m running around the city for meetings, and others I’m doing nail polish photo shoots in the park.

I’m serious.

#SeptBloggingChallenge number 10: a day in the life.

Today was a pretty low key day in my life. I woke up around 7 and did work for my social media clients for about 2 hours.

Then I drank some green juice and got ready to head out for the day.

Around 10am I walked to Flatiron and had a 30 minute gossip session chat with my mom. Then I worked for a few hours + had client meetings with Jessi.

After our meetings we headed to lunch at Friend of a Farmer.

French press and cobb salads, please and thank you.

On my walk home I stopped for a mani/pedi because I’m my own boss and do what I want 😉

Just kidding.

But not really.

I also stopped at the store for the fixins for Cake Batter Blondies and bacon wrapped dates.

The occasion? Girls’ night at my place!

The girl friends and I decided to make an official weekly get-together, and I’m soooo glad we did. NYC isn’t exactly the easiest place to live, so to have good friends is 100% necessary, in my opinion.

I caught up on work and blog posts before and after our night before passing out around…well, 10 minutes from now. So…that’s that! A (Wednes)day in my life.

#SeptBloggingChallenge number 11: make a wish.

Yeeeeah totally not sharing my wish. I think it’s a combo of being superstitious and embarrassed about my wish(es).

Not to mention that I also consider myself much more of a “doer” than a wisher. I guess I probably should have thought about that before added it to the challenge, haha.

What I CAN say is that so SO many of my wishes/dreams have come true so far in my life, and I don’t see that changing any time soon…

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Your turn! What does a day in the life look like for you?
If you could have any wish come true TODAY, what would it be?

SBC: 7 & 8.

9 September, 2014 by Gracie Leave a Comment

Hey hey!

How’s the September Blogging Challenge going for you? Kind of a fun way to keep up with blogging, right? 😉

Here’s #7 and #8 for me…

7 things I’d like to work on/improve.

* get better at living in the moment
* stop being a people pleaser (reading Approval Addiction right now – so far it’s great!)
* worry less
* trust my intuition more
* get better at compartmentalizing my jobs
* get better at saying what’s really on my mind
* stop using Splenda (ha)

8 things I love about myself.

* I’m a good communicator
* I’m a good listener
* I’m a good friend
* my hair
* I like being really girly
* I have good work ethic
* I (like to think I) am intelligent
* I’m a positive/optimistic person

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Your turn! Tell me something you’d like to improve and something you love about yourself…

scenes from the weekend {+ SoulCycle review}.

7 September, 2014 by Gracie 12 Comments

Want to know the truth behind this photo?

It was taken 5 minutes after I thought I left my phone in the gym locker room, ran back to find it wasn’t there, bawled my eyes out like a lunatic on the street, then found that I had left it on the counter at Liquiteria.

Ugh. Moving on.

On Friday I went to our Liberty Sisterhood event with Sarah Dubbeldam, and it was SO GOOD. We sold out the entire theater!

But probably the most exciting part was the announcement of SHE IS FREE – a celebration of freedom happening in April, hosted by Andi Andrew. I HIGHLY suggest checking out the website (especially the promo video!) and considering making the trip to NYC for this. It’s going to be unreal…

Afterward a bunch of us headed to The Standard East Village for my friend Tia’s going away party.

On Saturday I did something I’ve been wanting to for a long time now – I took my first SOULCYCLE class. I was a bit nervous, to say the least.

My roommate Rachel is basically a SoulCycle enthusiast so I finally made it to a class with her. We took Jaws’ class at the SoulCycle Soho Studio. The class definitely kicked my ass…in the best possible way. I was really intimidated at first because SoulCyclists are quite the intense bunch (it’s definitely one of those cult-like fitness trends). The fact that I couldn’t even snap my shoes in the bike at first didn’t help either, ha.

BUT – as soon as the class started I totally understood the draw of SoulCycle. First of all – it is FUN. The studio is really dark, which I loved, and the music was 100% on point (super important to me). And then of course, it was a killer workout. I think there’s a misconception that spinning is just cardio, but SoulCycle has all sorts of strength moves throughout the entire class – pushups, squats, crunches, hand weights, etc.

So bottom line – I loved it! I probably won’t be able to make it to SoulCycle a ton just because it’s expensive and I already have a gym membership, but I’m going to try to treat myself to it once a week or so if I can!

After SoulCycle we headed home and got ready before heading back out to brunch with a group of friends. I embraced the disgustingly hot weather to rock cutoffs and a crop top one last time…

(top – American Apparel, shorts – Necessary Clothing)

As for brunch – our go-to De Santos never fails!

Then we spent the rest of the day hopping around some of our favorite bars in the West Village.

I’m all about the tablescape shots, can you tell?

On Sunday (today) I spent a few hours catching up on work/blog stuff then hit the gym. I powered through with my new Nespresso VertuoLine machine, which I was gifted at that Nespresso event a few weeks ago.

I. am. OBSESSED. with this machine…! Seriously – it makes better coffee than some of my favorite cafes in the city.

Other Sunday things…

Went to church. Was an incredible message and exactly what I needed to hear, as usual.

Did the whole grocery shopping/errands thing.

Tried to organize my life before the crazy week ahead.

Aaand got ready to introduce the new Speakable limited edition DARLING necklace. You saw it here first – details to come in the morning!

And that’s a wrap! Hope you all had a fab weekend

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What was the highlight of your weekend?

SBC: top 5 of summer, top 6 for fall.

6 September, 2014 by Gracie 9 Comments

Hey hey, happy Saturday!

Let’s jump right into #5 and #6 of the September Blogging Challenge, shall we?

top 5 highlights from summer.

In no particular order…

Spending nearly 2 weeks away with my family.
I haven’t spent this much time with my family in almost 4 years! I got to see both my mom and dad’s sides of the family, and my sister Katie who moved to Florida last year. The fact that I was able to escape the city and be at our shore house didn’t hurt either 😉

Fourth of July in Montauk.
If I had one regret from this past summer it would be that I didn’t spend more time out east. BUT I’m so glad I at least got to spend 4th of July in Montauk with my friends. It was a great few days – brought back so many memories of the past few summers out there, and made some new ones.

My first trip to Vegas.
Even though it was more of a work trip, I had so much fun!

Taking a month off from blogging.
This was one of the best decisions I’ve made recently - I learned so much from it.

Adventures in the city.
This is always a highlight (of life), but it’s especially fun in the summer when everything can be outdoors.

top 6 things I’m excited about for fall.

New (unexpected) things.
I know that’s ridiculously broad, but there’s no other way to put it! I’m a highly expectant person (sometimes I think maybe too much so), so I always get excited entering into a new season. I can’t help but think that new seasons in weather/time also represent a new season in life.

The clothes.
I love me some cutoffs and crop tops, but I can’t wait to reintroduce jeans, boots, and jackets into my life.

The food.
Yep, I’m one of those pumpkin-obsessed weirdos. I would really love to try some new recipes – any pumpkin baked goods you recommend?

Halloween.
It’s on a FRIDAY, people. I want to dress up as something really fun. But cute. Cute and fun. Last year I was ketchup soooo I’m thinking I can only go up from there.

New goals.
I have a few things on the agenda (especially for Speakable and GML) that I’m really excited to start rolling out in fall.

THIS CITY.
Seriously – New York is magical in fall – more so than any other season. Summer is too hot, winter is too cold, we tend to skip spring, but fall is juuuuuuust right.

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Your turn! Give me a highlight of your summer and/or what’s making you excited for fall!

SBC: thankful thursday.

4 September, 2014 by Gracie 15 Comments

Today I’m thankful for…

Cabs. They’re my biggest vice ($$$), but I just find cab rides to be so…relaxing.

Fall being around the corner. I know everyone is all OMG FALL LEAVES SWEATERS PUMPKIN SPICE LATTES right now, but it genuinely is (and always has been) my favorite season.

My job(s). I really have so much fun doing what I do! And the events I get to go to are the icing on the cake.

Speaking of which, thank God for Podio. I’d be an unorganized mess without it.

Girl friends that always want to do fun stuff. We may or may not have just started a Google doc “hit list” of all of the new places we want to go in the city.

Remembering dreams. Apparently not everyone does…?

Those I’M GOING TO DIE OF LAUGHTER moments. They’re few and far between but ahhhh the best.

Where I’m at in life. I sort of cringe at the thought of being where I was even a year ago. I don’t mean to complain – I’ve had an amazingggg life so far. But I’m just happier and more content than ever.

Spotify for providing a soundtrack to my life (still on this playlist).

Secrets. Just ‘cause they’re fun.

That the new iPhone is coming out soon (please GOD let it be soon). My ancient 4S is the biggest first world problem I’ve ever had.

Scented candles. When people say “appreciate the little things” I’m pretty sure they mean scented candles.

The unpredictability of life in New York. I probably won’t like that forever, but right now I couldn’t live without it.

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What are you thankful for today?

SBC: goals + accomplishments.

2 September, 2014 by Gracie 5 Comments

Let’s get this September Blogging Challenge started, shall we? Starting with…

1) September goals.

Stick to this challenge.
I’m sure I’ll end up compiling a lot of the posts (like this one), but I’m determined to complete all 30!

Speakable.
September is going to be a planning month as I have some new ideas that I’d love to implement over the rest of the year. Specifically there’s a campaign I’m planning on for October, which I couldn’t be more excited about.

Read more.
I have 3 books that I’m on right now that I’m sort of lollygagging through, so I want to finish those and move on to some new books. Any recommendations?

Make another video.
…or two. What do you guys want to see?

Plan a getaway.
I haven’t thought much about this, but I’d love to have a getaway to look forward to, even if it’s a small one.

Decorate apartment.
Rachel and I have put this off because life has just been crazy since we moved into our new apartment, but we’re ready to make it all cute and cozy for fall!

Work smarter.
I have a lot of opportunities in front of me, but I need to do a better job taking full advantage of them. That might mean getting rid of some things I’m working on…? I think I just need to sit down and write out which opportunities have the greatest ROI and the steps I need to take to actually get there.

2) Something(s) I’m proud of accomplishing recently.

Over the past year I feel like I’ve grown as a person more than I ever have. I know that’s a pretty broad statement, so more specifically I’ve:

become more self aware/secure in my identity
stopped caring so much what other people think
gotten stubborn (in a good way) about what I want and deserve in life
learned how to hear God more clearly and trust my intuition
learned how to let things go that aren’t right for me

The other thing I’m proud of is where I am financially. There is definitely room for improvement in that department (HELLO cost of living in NYC), but I’m proud of how well I manage my money. Sometimes I still can’t believe that I not only live in New York but also have a full and FUN life here, while also doing what I love for a living.

Side note – that 100% would not be possible without strict budgeting. I follow Dave Ramsey’s advice/tools for that!