favorite posts | Girl Meets Life | a lifestyle blog by Gracie Gordon

life: on holiday survival.

19 December, 2014 by Gracie 10 Comments

Has anyone else noticed a plethora of “holiday survival guides” floating around the Internet this year? And does anyone else cringe when they see them?

Sorry (not sorry), but if you think the holidays are about finding the best time to go to the mall or how to have enough willpower to avoid eating a brownie - you’re missing the point.

It’s so strange how we’ve turned the holidays - once a time filled with so much magic and joy when we were children - into yet another feat we need to overcome. Like we need to FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT and STRIVE STRIVE STRIVE to make the holidays this perfect little 4 week streak at the end of the year.

I’m guilty of it myself. Over the past few weeks I’ve gotten down on myself for not being in the “Christmas spirit” enough. It’s those expectations, man. They’re what’s killing us.

Along with these high (usually unrealistic) expectations we put on ourselves, the holidays can be so filled with…

commercialism
regret
loneliness
overspending
overindulging
comparison (helloooo social media)
missing loved ones
…and so on.

Yikes. Sorry for being such a debbie downer.

Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE CHRISTMAS. Like, Buddy the Elf sorta love. But this year, I’m realizing that I’m beginning to love it in a whole new way, for whole new reasons. Of course I want that magical, overjoyed feeling I got as a kid. But I’m learning that as I get older - the source of that feeling is what really matters.

My relationship with God. My family. My friends. My blessings to be counted and counted and counted again. Those are the things that make Christmas magical.

I had this whole list of Christmas-y things I wanted to do this year - decorations/lights to drive by, movies to watch, cookies to bake, etc., and sure - I may still do those things.

But you know what’s at the top of my list now?

To simply SLOW DOWN. To be still. To unplug from technology. To stop thinking and re-thinking and over-thinking my job and relationships and finances and life and just *takes breath*…BE.

So I don’t know about you, but I’m not making this holiday season just another one to survive. I’m going to embrace these last few weeks of the year - whether they “look” the way I wanted them to or not - and finish out 2014 from a place of rest.

Who’s with me?

eats: red velvet cake batter brownies with cream cheese frosting.

29 November, 2014 by Gracie 1 Comment

Second only to my Original Cake Batter Blondies, this recipe has been my most popular post. It’s been a while since I shared it, so I thought it would be a good time to do a little re-post. You know, since it includes those Christmas colors and all 😉

Red Velvet Cake Batter Brownies || girlmeetslife.com

brownie ingredients:

1 box red velvet cake mix
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk

frosting ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 + 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put cake mix in a large bowl and mix in the oil and egg. Then add the milk slowly JUST until the batter is combined – you want it to remain as dense as possible. Place batter in a greased 8×8 pan or 8-inch cake pan and bake for 22-25 minutes.

While the brownies are is in the oven, get started on the frosting. Beat the cream cheese and butter until fully combined. Add vanilla and sugar, and continue beating until creamy.

Let brownies cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting/frosting because the gooey center needs to set. The result will be a decadent, brownie-batter texture.

Red Velvet Cake Batter Brownies || girlmeetslife.com

These babies - especially combined with the cream cheese frosting - are pretty much guaranteed to be a crowd pleasing dessert for the holidays.

(Check out all of my Cake Batter recipes here)

nyc: 7 favorite holiday attractions.

11 November, 2014 by Gracie 8 Comments

I know, I know…it’s still the beginning of November. BUT I’ve already gotten a handful of emails from readers visiting New York for the holidays looking for the NYC “must-sees” during this most wonderful time of the year.

So here are a few of my favorite holiday attractions in NYC. Some of them are on the more touristy side…some not so much…but all part of what makes New York City the most magical place in the world during the holidays.

1) Union Square Holiday Market.
Each year the USQ Holiday Market seems to get better and better. Union Square is one of my favorite parts of the city, and from November 20 – December 24 it’s full of local artisans with all sorts of clothing, jewelry, home goods, food, etc. A great place to shop for fun and unique Christmas gifts!

2) Holiday Windows on 5th Ave.
From Bergdorf’s to Barneys to Bendel’s - walking up and down 5th Avenue during the holidays is straight out of a movie. The fact that it doesn’t cost a dime is pretty great too.

3) Hot Chocolate/Dessert at Max Brenner.
…because calories don’t count during the holidays, duh. Max Brenner is in Union Square (so you could go before/after visiting the holiday market) and they have amazing food AND dessert. I’m partial to their fondue. And hot chocolate. And ice cream sundaes. It’s all amazing.

(Click here for more local restaurant finds, depending on the neighborhood you might be in!)

4) Rolf’s German Restaurant.
Rolf’s in Gramercy takes Christmas decorating to a whole new level.If you want enough Christmas spirit to last you all year long, this is the place to go.

5) Ice Skating Bryant Park.
There are a handful of places to ice skate during the winter/holidays in NYC, but I’m partial to Bryant Park. It’s one of my favorite parks in the city, right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Midtown. There is a holiday market set up there as well.

6) Hudson Lodge.
Hudson Lodge at the Hudson Hotel has been a go-to spot for my friends and I over the past few years when the weather gets colder. It’s like a ski resort escape in the middle of NYC! It’s a great place to go with a group of friends or co-workers after work to enjoy warm spiked cocktails, comfort food like s’mores, and even fake snow.

7) Radio City Christmas Spectacular.
You didn’t think I could leave out the famous Radio City Rockettes did, you? Self explanatory – you really have to see the Christmas Spectacular at least once in your life.

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Have you ever been to NYC during the holidays? Which of these would you want to do/see most?

inspire: how to stay on course.

10 November, 2014 by Gracie 12 Comments

A lot of people struggle with not knowing what they want. I’m not one of those people – I know quite surely what I want my life to look like.

My problem, though, is that I so often find myself doing the exact opposite of what I actually want. Sometimes I wonder if it’s a matter of self sabotage or just a basic characteristic of being human. I’m thinking it’s most likely the latter.

I recently heard a great message from Maria Durso where she talked about the most difficult journey we can take being the 18 inches from our head to our heart. She went on to say how part of having a relationship with God is growing to the point of having your mind (thoughts) in alignment with your heart (feelings).

Unfortunately, though, it’s not always that easy. Sometimes – at least for me – there are circumstances where I have to trust my mind over my heart, or vice versa.

I think my problem is not so much overthinking – it’s overfeeling. While I definitely think it’s important to know how to listen to your heart, I can often let my feelings/emotions override certain truths.

I want to be in better shape, but I also want to eat whatever I want.
I want a chill night out, but end up at a club until 4am.
I want to take certain steps professionally, but I let fear stop me.

…the list goes on.

I’m assuming at least some of you can relate, so here are some things I’ve been working on that I think really help when it comes to staying on course.

1) write down your truths.

If you’re anything like me (very much a heart person), your emotions can very easily override what you know to be true. So I think it really helps to write down your truths - the things you know for sure - and refer back to them when your feelings might be telling you otherwise. Have yourself answer questions like:

What do I really want my life to look like?
What makes me the happiest?
What is my bigger purpose in life?
Specifically, I want relationships like ____
I want my career to look like ____
I want to look/feel ____

2) keep yourself out of tempting situations.

If there are particular areas in your life that you know you struggle with, try to avoid them! I’ve learned from personal experience that no matter how strong I think I am in a certain area…I’m not. So whether you need to avoid going to bars, or stop buying the boxes of cereal you binge on late at night, or decide not to see that guy/girl anymore, find as many ways as possible to stop the unhealthy situation before it even happens.

3) surround yourself with supportive people.

This is key. Whatever goal(s) you have, it is SO important to have people in your life that are on the same page! Or at least people that understand and want to encourage/support you in the right direction.

4) keep your eye on the prize.

I must admit that I can all-too-often fall for instant gratification. Don’t get me wrong – not ALL instant gratification is a bad thing. The problem is when it overrides and contradicts your ultimate goal.

They say the best way to reach a goal is to visualize it, so try to genuinely imagine your life the way you want it to look. It’s kind of that whole “fake it ‘til ya make it” mentality, which I really do believe works.

Can you relate? Which of these tips do you agree/disagree with most?

style: zombie rockstar halloween costume.

1 November, 2014 by Gracie 6 Comments

I mentioned a few weeks ago how I’m all about makeup as the focus of Halloween costumes this year. Well not surprisingly that’s the route I took yesterday, which also happened to be the first time I was ever something scary for Halloween. And I must say, it was FUN.

Rockstar Zombie goes to Brooklyn…

The best part? Since I wore all clothes I already owned (all black everything, duh), I was able to put together this look for under $30 dollars. #TrendyNotSpendy alert!

All it took was:

* grey face cream makeup
* white face cream makeup
* fake tattoos
* fake blood
* leather fingerless gloves

I got all of those things at Party City. For the shadow part of my makeup I just used dark eye shadow, and I used a dark lipstick I already owned.

Oh, and I even threw in an old nose ring I had, but wore it as a septum piercing.

A brief costume change may have happened later on…

…for what turned out to be one of the most fun nights I’ve had in a long time. Thanks and love ya, NYC.

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What were you for Halloween this year?

life: how social media is making us terrible daters.

14 October, 2014 by Gracie 9 Comments

You know me – I LOVE all things social media. I decided to even make a living out of it, in fact.

I also love chatting about dating and relationships because…well I’m a girl, and that’s what we do.

So you can understand my disappointment when I realized that two of my favorite things didn’t exactly mesh well together. They CAN, but they often don’t.

Instead of straight up dissing the glorious channel of virtual communication that is social media, though, I’d like to give us all (myself included) a few thoughts on why social media could potentially be harmful to our dating lives. Cool? Cool.

1. the curse of the alternative.

With Instagram, Facebook, Tinder, and all of these other social apps, there are literally thousands of members of the opposite sex at our fingertips that we would have never known existed otherwise. And hey – that could be a great thing. I’m the first to admit that YES it’s 2014, and social media is how people are connecting. BUT, I’m noticing that this influx of new people that we’re being introduced to on a constant basis is causing confusion and non-committal attitudes toward dating. I’ve definitely been guilty of this – the whole “but what if option b, c, or d is better?” sort of mentality. That’s where I think it’s so important to be self aware and know what we actually want.

2. stalking made easy.

Ohh yes, the joys of Internet stalking. I obviously can’t let this one bother me much because HELLO I basically have my life laid out for you right here and now. What I do pride myself in, though, is keeping certain things very private from GML and social media. It must’ve been quite nice, though, in the days where you literally would have no idea where people were, who they were with, or what they were doing/listening to/wearing 24/7.

3. we’re always looking down.

This is more of an overall cell phone issue, but social media definitely plays a huge part. We’ve been programed to use any pass time, travel time, or basically any time we’re not actively engaged in something else to be staring down at our phones. There’s no denying that this is taking away from human interaction (and not just when it comes to dating). And, some of these places we’re glued to our phones at are actually the places you can meet the most new people. So whether on the subway, at the grocery store, or waiting for friends at the bar – just look UP!

4. we’re getting lazy.

This is probably what I find to be most unfortunate, just because I’m your typical girl who has been overexposed to more romantic comedies than I care to admit. But I feel like meet cutes in “real life” don’t happen quite like they used to.

I think the reason is twofold: 1) it’s straight up easier and more convenient to communicate via an app/social media and 2) with the decline of face to face interaction comes a rise in fearing rejection. It’s almost like we’re no longer cut out for being turned down in person because instead we’re being “swiped left” or scrolled past without ever even knowing it.

With all of that being said, let me revert to my hopeful romantic self and say that nothing will keep me from being optimistic about dating and relationships. Pardon the cheesiness, but I do trust that love is a stronger force than any selfie, status, or app. Yes I just used the L word. Gasp.

Like I said before, the takeaway from all of this isn’t that social media is the arch enemy of dating, but more so to be aware and use it wisely. So the next time you’re liking his photo or sending her a wink, just remember that there’s an actual person on the other end of the screen.

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What are your thoughts on this? Do you think social media does more harm or good when it comes to dating/relationships?