food | Girl Meets Life | a lifestyle blog by Gracie Gordon

the hamptons, speakable sale, and i miss cooking.

23 June, 2015 by Gracie 7 Comments

Hello hello! Happy Tuesday I’m currently working from bed and on my second cup of coffee (you can thank that for the all-over-the-place title of this post, ha).

I’m currently in PA staying with my parents for a few days. I came here Sunday evening to see the pops for Father’s Day and decided to stick around for a bit.

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Rewind to Saturday, where I headed out east to the Tasting Table Hamptons House for a fun BBQ event. It was a blast! I’m heading out there this Saturday as well, so I’ll do a full recap of both events after that.

Gracie Gordon | Tasting Table Hamptons House

Sydney and I were going to make a day trip out of it, but the event went later than we anticipated, so we ended up spending the night. We stayed at Baron’s Cove in Sag Harbor, which hands down had THEE most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in. I recall waking up and saying it felt like sleeping in a “giant marshmallow” 😛

We headed back to the city super early Sunday morning. I can’t say I loved the 7:30AM train ride, but I did manage to get some work done before getting back to the city, packing, and heading to community group.

I feel like all of that gives me a pass for leaving the house without brushing my hair, right?

Gracie Gordon | Juice Press

One of the things I got done on Sunday morning was put together the SPEAKABLE SUMMER SALE! Head over to the Speakable website and enter promo code “SUMMER15” upon checkout for 15% off all orders

Speakable engraved necklaces www.Speakable.co

Yesterday (Monday) was a bit of a slower day. I worked from home, ran some errands with my mom, aaand that’s about it. I also played with a bunch of new makeup + hair products I got sent for winning a giveaway a couple of months back, which I clearly had sent to the wrong address.

I already knew I loved Too Faced Melted lip gloss/stains, but these new shades are SO fun. Melted Sugar (the 2nd/nude one) is definitely my new favorite.

Too Faced Melted Lip Stains

As per usual, I’ll wrap up with a recap of some eats lately. As I was putting this together I realized DANG, I dine out a lot. Like, all the time.

Salads at Bobby Vans // bananas + Justin’s Maple Almond Butter // Smoky Avocado Wrap from Blossom Du Jour // Sweet Tree Roll + Nutty Buddy Wrap from Beyond Sushi // Taco Verduras from Blue Sage Vegetarian Grille // Chipotle burrito bowl

I can’t be hard on myself about it because I just genuinely am out and about in the city all the time, but I definitely miss cooking. I’m going to try to get back to cooking at home more, and hopefully experiment with some new recipes…

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What’s the last (new) recipe you’ve tried that you’d recommend?

snapshots.

19 June, 2015 by Gracie 6 Comments

It’s Friday, woooo!

I’m off to a festival downtown with Sydney and friends, but thought I’d throw together a quick post recapping some of the past week. It’s been a pretty slow week for me overall, which I’m happy about because I have a crazy week (and few months, actually) ahead of me.

I mean, you know it’s a slow week when one of the most exciting things you did was get a mani 😛

That’s Red Carpet Manicure “Star Power.” Normally I do my RCM nails at home (it’s an at-home gel kit), but this time I brought the polish to the salon and they used it.

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On Monday I had a bit of an “aha” moment before posting this Instagram:

I’ve shared before how it’s so easy to fall into the comparison trap, especially these days in the blog world where everyone has gotten so…professional. But I can honestly say I’m finally in a place where I’m confident about what GML has become, and I’m owning that realness! I’m also so thankful for all of you for encouraging me to just…be me

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Fast forward to Wednesday when my Community Group and I met, but this time we switched it up a bit. Sydney and I have been leading a group on Social Media & Blogging, and normally we meet at cafes around the city, but this time we met at our own private Breather space.

Breather has spaces all across NYC (as well as Ottawa, Montreal, Boston & San Francisco), and they’re essentially rooms that you can use for…whatever you want! Jessi and I have used them for everything from client meetings to photo shoots, to just somewhere to work during the day. You can rent the breathers for 30 minutes, hourly, or all day if you wanted to (and they’re quite affordable).

It was really nice having the private space for our group. We took the opportunity to bring tons of snacks, of course 😛

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I’ve made a bit of a weekly tradition of going to Hu Kitchen after SoulCycle on Thursday to eat + work for a few hours. This time I got one of their MashBar bowls, and it was ridic. I made my own combo - it had a base of taro pudding topped with blueberries, strawberries, walnuts, and almond butter. With a side of coconut iced coffee = breakfast perfection.

(If you’re ever in NYC definitely check out Hu - it’s one of my favorite healthy “fast” food places.)

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Today (Friday) I let myself spend the whole day working from home + cleaning my apartment. I also managed to squeeze a workout in. I’m typically the worst when it comes to exercising at home (I just don’t have the motivation), but I followed one of the workouts in the June issue of Shape magazine, and it was actually pretty great.

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Are you good at (aka motivated enough) exercising at home?
Any fun plans for the weekend?

eats lately.

18 June, 2015 by Gracie 8 Comments

Hey hey! First of all - I need to say thank you again for the response to my There’s Only Plan A post. Your comments have been great and so insightful. I’ve loved reading each and every one of them.

Now to totally switch subjects - let’s talk about food, shall we?

eats

Sunday night was a huge feast at The Clocktower - we had a few apps, entrees, and dessert. Pictured above is the Steak Tartare and Lamb entree // Banana Shake from Juice Press // half of a mini watermelon // fruit bowl // veggie & quinoa bowl from Roast Kitchen // veggie sushi

I haven’t talked much lately about my Flexible Dieting (AKA Just Eating) experience, but not much has changed. I still bounce back and forth between tracking my food. Right now I am not, whereas a few weeks ago I was tracking everything to the T. I know I should probably stay consistent, but sometimes just living and just eating is more important, you know?

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I’m noticing that my meals during the week tend to be way more plant-based. I don’t know why that is - lately I just genuinely crave vegetarian food, which is weird because I’m typically quite the carnivore. Maybe my body is rebelling against me trying to cut down on carbs…? Whatever, I’m just going with it. That’s the beauty of just eating, right?

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What’s the best thing you’ve eaten lately?

scenes from the weekend.

14 June, 2015 by Gracie 10 Comments

Hey guys!

Before I go on - I just want to say thank you so much for the response to my bikini acceptance post. You all are seriously the best, and I absolutely loved reading each and every one of your comments.

Here’s a picture-heavy post of the weekend (so far), which I spent in PA for Erica’s wedding! If you’ve been following GML for a while you probably know that Erica is a good friend of mine and was my NYC roommate for 2+ years. She’s the best, and I couldn’t be more thrilled for her

I left early Friday morning to drive down with Jessi and her husband Parker. Our first stop of the mini road trip - Chick Fil A. No brainer.

We arrived in the town of Kutztown in the afternoon. Our hotel was an adorable inn on the main street of town. It was very much a bed & breakfast vibe, which I loved. My room was about the size of my NYC apartment (if not bigger, ha), complete with a balcony and a bath tub that just screamed bubble bath time.

I spent most of Friday just hanging around, then at night we went to a big bonfire at Erica’s parents’ farm.

The ceremony on Saturday wasn’t until 4pm, so Jessi and I spent the day just exploring town, running errands, and hanging out on the balcony. We also enjoyed the most epic “continental” breakfast ever - homemade quiche, potato casserole, maple sausage, creme brûlée French toast, and fresh fruit.

Then later in the day - it was wedding time! I went with my normal all black attire 😛

The wedding took place outside at Erica’s parents’ farm. The photos don’t do it justice, but the seating was set up in a spiral, which was SO cool. That way everyone got a great view of the bride and groom, and it just looked so fun and unique.

It was a perfect ceremony. Afterward we headed down the the tent which was set up right next to a beautiful pond for the cocktail hour + reception.

The reception was awesome - great food, dancing, and good company.

In addition to the cake, they set up a huge ice cream sundae bar with tons of candy + home made ice cream.

How cute is that?! It really was such a perfect day from start to finish. CONGRATS Erica and Ryan!

We headed home a bit on the earlier side because we had to leave at 5am this morning. Thankfully I squeezed in a few extra hours of sleep once I got back to my apartment, and now here I am ready to head back out for the day. Church + dinner + etc. on the agenda for my Sunday

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How has your weekend been so far? Been to any good weddings lately?

a weekend in vegas {part 2}.

7 June, 2015 by Gracie 10 Comments

Let’s see - where did I leave off?

Rewind to Friday evening, where Sydney and I got back to the hotel from our day at the photo shoot. We did some quick exploring of the Wynn…it is seriously such a beautiful place. Can you believe that this hot air balloon is entirely made of real flowers?!

The Wynn Las Vegas

…and we played around with the fun Vegas Snapchat filters, of course.

Then we got all dolled up for our first night out.

We started with dinner at Yellowtail at the Bellagio. I don’t say this lightly when I say that it was hands down the best sushi/Japanese meal I’ve ever had. I didn’t snap enough pictures to do it justice! But if you go there, just please (please) get the Baked Crab Hand Roll and High Steaks Roll.

Yellowtail Las Vegas

Afterward we went to XS, which was SO much fun. Kaskade was playing that night, and I’m a huge fan, so I brought the old dancing shoes out of retirement for the night 😉

Even though we were out super late, I couldn’t bring myself to sleep in on Saturday. I didn’t want to miss the day! So I headed down bright and early to save seats at the pool and grab some coffee.

Then we just hung around the pool for most of the day. We ate, drank, laid out in the sun, and just soaked in every moment of being in the sunny, warm weather.

(For breakfast we split an Acai Bowl + Duck Hash, for lunch Sydney got a steak salad and I got a lobster bacon club + fresh orange carrot juice. It was all delicious!)

On Saturday night we met up with Rachel and Steven for yet another beyond incredible meal, this time at SW Steakhouse. Steven is friends with the chef, so he ordered us a spread fit for royalty. Lots of steak, lots of sides, and lots of dessert.

SW Steakhouse Wynn Las Vegas

Our outfits de choix for the night:

We were on the fence about being out late because we had an early flight today, so we wandered around the casino for a few hours before deciding it would be a shame to “waste” our last night in Vegas. So back to XS it was 😛

After a quite indulgent weekend, a pre-flight green juice this morning was definitely on the agenda.

I was thankfully able to get some work (+ this post) done on the flight, so I’m not feeling entirely behind going into Monday, which is always nice.

Overall it was an amazing weekend from start to finish. I haven’t gotten out of New York much lately, so it was nice to escape for a few fun days.

But now…back to that daily grind 😉 Here’s to the new week!

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What’s the last (mini) vacation you took? Any getaways planned for this summer?

a weekend in vegas {part 1}.

5 June, 2015 by Gracie 7 Comments

Helloooo from Las Vegas!

I don’t think I made any mention that I was coming out here this weekend, did I? Well, here I am - on a little work/play weekend

Sydney and I arrived here at about 9pm last night. We went straight to dinner at Andreas (luggage and all) where we met up with Rachel and a bunch of the people we’re here working with. After some crispy rice sushi and Baked Alaska, we headed back to our room and passed right out.

Today (Friday) we woke up bright and early and took in how cozy our hotel room is. Those of you who told me I’d be spoiled by the Wynn were right…

(More pix of the hotel to come in my next post)

Then we grabbed a quick breakfast at Tableau. I got a parfait and their famous juice flight.

Then we spent the day at a house about 20 minutes from the strip, where we helped work a photo shoot for a certain food brand/catalog. It was so interesting seeing the amount of planning and detail that goes into food photography! Just a few out the outtakes (that don’t do any of the actual photos, justice, ha)…

The house and views were so beautiful and…peaceful! You never really think about the outskirts of Vegas, so it was really cool to spend the day out there.