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

style: crane & lion activewear {+ giveaway}.

8 December, 2014 by Gracie

Let me be honest with you for a second. Even though I love fitness and I love fashion, for a while I could never fully get on board with the whole higher end activewear trend that has appeared over the past few years. I didn’t understand how it could be that much better than the workout clothes I’ve been wearing for so long.

…until now. Seriously. I totally get it.

I never realized how much my ~~crappy~~ not-so-haute exercise clothes cramped my style. Because of the look and cheap material, I’d find myself going directly to and from the gym, and then changing to go back out again. But now I’m learning that the right activewear can actually be a huge timesaver because I can squeeze in errands and even meetings before and after my workouts.

Crane & Lion activewear

In addition to making my life easier, I was surprised by how much quality activewear makes me feel so much better. Unlike my college gym shorts and an old t-shirt, fitted/feel-good workout clothes motivate me more to kick butt at the gym.

Crane & Lion activewear

These pants and jacket are from Crane & Lion, who were kind enough to send me their activewear to try out for myself. All of their pieces are stylish and sophisticated, but also versatile and high quality. You can check them out here.

(Also pretty cool - 100% of the proceeds from these limited edition pants go to Mass General Cancer Center.)

Crane & Lion also offered to give a pair of their original tights (color of your choice) to one lucky reader!

THREE WAYS TO ENTER:

1) Leave a comment on this post saying the most important thing you look for in activewear

2) Follow Crane & Lion on Instagram

3) Regram one of Crane & Lion’s images on your Instagram, using hashtag #CraneLionGML

You can enter once, twice, or all three times! Just be sure to *leave a comment for each entry* so they can be counted accordingly. Giveaway ends on Thursday 12/11 at 4pm EST. Must be 18 years or older, open to US residents only.

Good luck!

***UPDATE: winner has been chosen and contacted via email!

New York Life’s Celebrating Good: a favorite holiday tradition.

1 December, 2014 by Gracie 133 Comments

Making homemade apple crisp.
Decorating the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.
Driving through the holiday light show.
Baking Christmas cookies.
Drinking hot cocoa by the fire before opening gifts.

Those are just a few of my favorite family holiday traditions – ones that I look forward to every year, and ones that I hope to one day pass along to my own children.

No matter how old I get, the holidays are such a special and magical time of year. As much as I love the celebrating, the food, and the gifts, there’s nothing better than having the quality time to spend with my family. Even if we don’t live close to each other anymore, I always know that the holiday season will bring us back together.

Since moving to New York City a few years ago, I don’t get as much time with my family around the holidays as I used to. That’s why the time that I do get to spend with them is cherished more than ever!

Since moving to NYC, we’ve started a new family tradition of sorts. Sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, my family comes to visit me and enjoy the fun holiday festivities that New York has to offer. Some of our favorite things to do together are go out to dinner at a favorite restaurant, see the Rockettes at the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, go to Macy’s in Herald Square, and see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.

After their visit, I head back to my parents’ house for the remainder of the holiday celebrations. It’s such a perfect way for them to get to experience my new home here in New York before heading back to the home I grew up in.

I am extremely thankful for my family, and I am happy that I get to spend time with them. During the holiday season I think it’s so important to not only be thankful, but also to take opportunities to be generous to others.

That’s why I love how New York Life is encouraging people to share their own special Keep Good Going moments and experiences, and are donating 25 meals to Feeding America for every tweet.

Tweet your own holiday tradition or memory using #KeepGoodGoing and the hashtag #FeedingAMillion. Each tweet with the above two hashtags will trigger a donation of 25 meals from New York Life to Feeding America!

*Through 1/9/15, New York Life will donate $2.50 for each approved post, with a minimum of $25K & a maximum of $100K. See full terms and conditions at NewYorkLife.com/CelebratingGood. Find info about Feeding America at feedingamerica.org.

What you are thankful for this holiday season? Leave your answer in the comments section for the chance to win a $50 Visa gift card and a $50 donation on behalf of BlogHer in the winner’s name to Feeding America.

Sweepstakes Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 12/1/2014 – 12/31/2014.

Be sure to visit the New York Life brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

glamming up for the holidays with mary kay.

17 November, 2014 by Gracie 115 Comments

As someone who is a self-proclaimed girly girl I must say that makeup can be a little intimidating to me sometimes. It’s the beauty routine that I tend to be most wary experimenting with because I never want to overdo it. In fact, up until about a year ago, my makeup routine was virtually the same since I was about 13!

Recently, though, I’ve learned how the right products can make all the difference in the world when it comes to applying makeup, as well as finding the right shades that compliment my complexion. That’s why I was so excited to try out some of Mary Kay’s new makeup products.

I was always familiar with Mary Kay and used a moisturizer of theirs once, but I never knew that they had such a great collection of makeup products as well. So when I received the assortment of shades of eye shadows, lip sticks, and brushes, I was very pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the products. The packaging alone was a great first impression.

The Mary Kay® makeup products came at the perfect time too, now that we’re in the middle of fall and entering into the holiday season. There’s really no better time to have fun with new makeup looks. I love embracing all of the celebrations as a chance to add some glitz and glam to my normal makeup routine.

Mary Kay also provided some fun holiday looks by putting together some of their products and shades that really compliment each other. You can check out the looks here. I really loved the shades that went with the Playful Party Girl look, so that’s what I tried. I loved this look – it’s so perfect for holiday parties!

For more makeup inspiration and videos visit MaryKay.com.

What kind of look would you go for this upcoming holiday season? Leave your answer in the comments section for the chance to win a $100 VISA Gift Card for each blogger to give away, plus A collection of Mary Kay® products and beauty essentials!

Sweepstakes Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 11/17/2014 – 12/21/2014.

Be sure to visit the Mary Kay brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

giveaway: Speakable slim pre-release.

13 November, 2014 by Gracie 3 Comments

Hi loves!

I’m going to keep this short and sweet – I’m giving away TWO new SLIM Speakable necklaces! One choose joy and one thankful.

This design isn’t set for full release until 2015, but I had to let it be available to purchase before the holidays for at least a few weeks It will be available for purchase until December first at Speakable.co (a great Christmas gift, just sayin’). But as for the giveaway…

This is an INSTAGRAM contest!

How to enter:

* post on Instagram which necklace you want to win, using either the Regram App OR taking a screen shot of one of these Instagram posts - click here for choose joy, click here for thankful
* follow @alagracie and @SpeakableNYC
* use the caption “I entered to win @alagracie’s @SpeakableNYC giveaway! #speakable #wearyourwords”

The winners will be chosen on Friday November 21st and will be contacted via Instagram and announced on this post.

Good luck!

Winners have been chosen!

http://instagram.com/jessieschnebs and http://instagram.com/jessicabogan Please email speakablenyc@gmail.com with your mailing address

style remix with no nonsense.

8 October, 2014 by Gracie 80 Comments

It seems like just yesterday it was all about the cut-offs and tank tops, but now the cool weather of fall is definitely upon us. I must say that fall is my favorite season as far as my wardrobe goes because I love layering and just experimenting with different styles.

Living in New York City, I’m always looking for stylish ways to switch up my look while also remaining comfortable - especially on those days I know I’m going to be walking (or dancing ;)) a lot. That’s why tights have always been a go-to of mine in the fall and winter seasons.

So when No nonsense reached out to let me try their line of tights and legwear, I was definitely excited to check it out!

No nonsense offers a full line of legwear including tights, leggings and shapewear – all with the same high quality the brand has been known for over the past 40 years. No nonsense is all about ‘Style made easy’ – making it easier for women to look and feel stylish with on-trend legwear that is available both online and at most mass stores. This fall, No nonsense has designed a curated collection featuring new fabrications and patterns, including Denim and Ponte Knit Leggings, Sweater Tights and Fashion Tights in bold prints.

Since the new No nonsense collection is so versatile, I thought it would be fun to show a little bit of a ‘Style Remix’ – how I took the same pair of tights to create two different looks for fall. First up - I actually took one of my favorite jumpers from summer and added my No nonsense Great Shapes Blackout Shaping Tights underneath.

Before:

Remixed: I’m really excited about this look because it allows me to utilize my summer wardrobe straight into the colder seasons. It also dresses up the look more, so I can take this outfit from day right into nighttime.

I did the same thing with another favorite jumper of mine. This time I paired it with fun No nonsense Dot Tights and a leather bomber jacket.

Before:

Remixed:

Lastly I remixed my go-to summer outfit of jean shorts and a t-shirt.

Before:

Remixed: Instead of shorts, I swapped in my new red No nonsense Denim Leggings – but still tied in some blue denim with a jean jacket.

I love these leggings because they look stylish (like red denim) but have the comfort and versatility of leggings. Learn more about No nonsense by visiting their website and follow them on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Want to try No nonsense for yourself? Enter below to win a $100 No nonsense gift card!

Leave a reply in the comments section saying how you’d style your No nonsense legwear this fall. You can also enter by visiting No nonsense on Pinterest, checking out more Style Remixes and re-pinning a look you love, see below for full sweepstakes rules.

Sweepstakes Rules: No duplicate comments. You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

Leave a comment in response to the Promotion prompt on this post.*

Tweet (public message) about this Promotion, including a disclosure that your tweet is a sweepstakes entry (e.g., using a hashtag such as #SweepstakesEntry or #SweepsEntry); and leave the URL to that Tweet in a comment on this post.*
Re-pin (publicly) a pin from the client’s Pinterest page here: URL including exactly the following unique term in your pin’s description: “#nononsensestyleremix” and a disclosure that your pin is a sweepstakes entry (e.g., “I am entering the #nononsensestyleremix sweepstakes” or using a hashtag such as #SweepstakesEntry or #SweepsEntry); and leave the URL to that Re-pin in a comment on this post.
Purchase a pair of No nonsense Leggings at www.nononsense.com and create your own Style Remix. Share a link to the public image in the comment section on this post.
Blog about this Promotion (including a disclosure that you have received a sweepstakes entry in exchange for blogging about this Promotion), and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post.*

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 72 hours to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected. The Official Rules are available here. This sweepstakes runs from 10/8/14 – 10/27/14. Be sure to visit the No nonsense brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

handbag essentials + Larabar giveaway!

18 August, 2014 by Gracie

If you ask a girl what she carries in her handbag/purse, you’re basically asking her what her OMG CANNOT LIVE WITHOUTs are. Because God forbid we get stuck somewhere without our Dior nail polish or mini lint roller. Emergencies happen, people.

Here’s my daily out-and-about handbag (which gets gutted and minimized to fit things into my clutch when I go out at night, of course). It’s a vegan leather tote from Urban Outfitters with some fun chain detailing on the side.

And now, for the contents. I’m going to omit my wallet and small makeup bag because, well…self explanatory.

1) CamelBak
Gotta stay hydrated!

2) Rimmel Lash Accelerator mascara
I’ve sworn by this mascara for years. If I don’t have time to put makeup on before leaving the house I’ll grab this on the way out. A quick application is all you need to feel put together!

3) mints
I can be a bit of a chewing gum fiend, but I’m trying to do better by my teeth and switch to mints most of the time. These Mentos mints are really good (except they do make a pretty obnoxious clanging noise when carried around).

4) hand lotion
How most people feel about finger nails on a chalkboard is how I feel about having dry hands. It makes me cringe just thinking about it! (I know, I’m a weirdo.) So hand lotion is something I carry around with me all the time. This one is Tocca – it smells great and applies well - doesn’t leave your hands feeling greasy.

5) rollerball perfume
Whoever invented rollerballs is a saint. Unfortunately they don’t make my favorite fragrance (Armani Emporio for her) in a rollerball, but a few years ago I found Boyfriend, which is a great woodsy and cozy scent. (if you’re like me and NOT a fan of floral scents, I definitely recommend both of those fragrances.)

6) compact
I’m a big believer that every girl should own a compact. You know - especially on those all over the place days - quick glances to make sure your makeup isn’t smudged or that your salad from lunch didn’t set up camp in your teeth is imperative. I got this cute little striped compact from Forever 21.

7) Baby Lips
Lips must be moisturized at all times! I love this stuff - it goes on light and smooth and smells/tastes great. My favorite is the Peach Kiss.

8) Monster headphones
I got these Monster headphones to review last year and I use them ALL the time. They’re so much more comfortable than ear buds, and the sound quality is way better too. I always have them on hand for when I go to the gym, take the subway, or just walking around the city.

9) sunnies
If I’m outside, I’m in sunglasses (seriously - the only time I’m not is when it’s raining), so I’m always on the hunt for fun new sunglasses. I got these mirrored shades from a surf shop in Stone Harbor NJ, made by Sunscape.

10) hand sanitizing wipes
Some call it being a germaphobe, I call it “do you have ANY idea what’s on those subway poles?” These are supposedly better than liquid hand sanitizer, according to momma G.

11) Larabars
For the days that I’m out and about for meetings/work projects, I always make sure to have a snack on hand because I’ll never know if/when I’ll be able to stop for lunch. Larabars have been a favorite of mine for years - they’re not only delicious, but they have just a few simple ingredients (unlike so many bars on the market). Not to mention they’re so easy to just grab and throw in my bag before running out the door. My favorite flavors are Coconut Cream Pie and Banana Bread.

Want to get some Larabars to throw in your own bag? Enter below to win a sampler pack of 10 Larabars!

There are THREE ways to enter:

1) Leave a comment below saying which Larabar flavor you’d most like to try

2) Tweet about the giveaway: “I entered @alagracie’s @larabar giveaway! http://tinyurl.com/n8k4dqc”

3) Share the giveaway on your Facebook page tagging Girl Meets Life

***You can enter once, twice, or ALL THREE times, but be sure to leave a comment for each entry in order for them to be counted accordingly.***

Giveaway ends on Monday August 25th at 4pm EST. Open to US residents only, must be 18 years or older. Winner will be contacted via email.

GOOD LUCK!

Please note I have not been compensated for promoting any of these products (with the exception of receiving the free headphones and Larabars). I just love ‘em!