I'm the girl, Gracie. Here at GML you can follow my journey of dreaming, working, eating, loving, and blogging my way through life in NYC.
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Sometimes there’s a gap in between blog posts where way too many things happen, and it’s easier to just keep the words short let the photos speak for themselves.
This is one of those times. Sound good?
Thursday night was an impromptu dinner at Alta, which turned out to be one of the most amazing meals I’ve had in a while. None of my photos turned out, but let’s just say this is thee place to go for some of the city’s best small plates.
Saturday was an adventure from start to finish. First up was brunch at Freeman’s.
Followed by an afternoon The Standard Biergarten…
…an incredible sushi dinner at Momoya…
…and a late night of dancing and silliness at Café Wha.
Sunday was pretty low key: brunch, church, and Gatsby.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have at least a little case of the Monday blues! So as usual, here’s a little dose of Monday inspiration.
What was the highlight of your weekend?
Did you see The Great Gatsby? Thoughts??
As if the first half of my weekend wasn’t good enough, the second half turned out to be just as lovely.
On Saturday after brunch I decided to opt for a less-than-productive afternoon. It was a good decision.
90 minutes of napping later, I was ready for the night ahead. Monica came over and we split a ginormous salad topped with salmon, shrimp, and avocado.
Then we headed out for the night. Silly cab ride photos ensued, naturally.
Our first stop: Jane Hotel for a friend’s birthday party.
Second stop: Mister H for a friend’s birthday party.
Third stop: Marquee for…party.
And then there was Sunday. Ohh Sunday…way to be the most beautiful day ever. I enjoyed the gorgeous weather by brunching outside with some babes.
…followed by a stroll along the water to enjoy the sights of spring, and stopping to lay on the grass concrete.
Last but not least, probably the highlight of my weekend was getting to take my first ride on Starburst. We rode to and from church in the evening, which totaled just about 10 miles! Guess I’m going to have to get back in shape, ha.
Now here I am on this Monday morning, with a full heart and excited for the week ahead. I’ll leave with you a snippet from yesterday’s devo…
Enjoy your Monday, friends 
Do you try to be productive on weekends, or use them for fun/rest?
I tend to be quite the exaggerator, but in this case “best ever” is actually an understatement.
Truth be told – my actual birthday is…TODAY! But why squeeze all the celebration into one Monday when there is a perfectly good weekend leading up to it?
I didn’t care whether or not I even had a party this year, but as usual my event-extraordinaire best friend can’t let the opportunity pass to throw a party (reason #377 she’s the best friend in the world). Jessi threw me not one but two parties on Friday, complete with my favorite people, cupcakes, and sparklers.
…who does candles anymore?
Moving forward to Saturday, where I was surprised with sushi, champagne, flowers, and chauffeured around the city (literally).
The surprise destination? Cirque Du Soleil!!!
I’ve never been to a Cirque show and have always wanted to, so I was ecstatic when I found out about the surprise. The show was TOTEM, and it was more incredible than I could have imagined…definitely a birthday experience I’ll never forget.
The night was rounded out with friends at Goldbar, where I rocked my new (custom-made) hat. It’s an inside joke 
Yesterday I tried to keep things a little more low key. Sunday brunch happened, per usual.
(Friend of a Farmer is an adorable, cozy country brunch spot near Union Square. Definitely a new favorite!)
And we had to at least acknowledge it was Saint Patrick’s Day…
…followed by a movie then an amazing church service at Liberty. So, maybe not so low key after all, but still an amazing way to wrap up the weekend.
And now here I am on my actual birthday – a full (lazy?) day to myself before going to one of my favorite restaurants for dinner with my closest friends.
Honestly, just writing this post makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I’m so thankful for my amazing friends, family, and blessings I don’t deserve…
What was the best part of your weekend? Did you celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day?
Cliche title, amazing sequence of events.
Let’s start with some of the merry…like the fact that it was recently made official that I am indeed moving again!
I know I know, it seems like I’m moving all. the. time. Maybe because I am…? This is a simple move, though, because I’m actually staying in the same building. A room opened up in Jessi’s apartment, and Erica has decided she wants to live in Brooklyn, so…that’s that! On Friday I’ll start living in the new digs (and start saving a heck of a lot of money. Boom).
This past week has also included some tasty new additions. This Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Pecan KIND Bar is definitely a new favorite of mine…
…and also works as a great post-workout snack.
That would be my “I don’t sweat, I glow” look, FYI.
Also a new favorite – Good Karma Flax Milk, which I was sent some samples of. I’ve never tried flax milk (I’m usually more of a whole milk and/or almond milk kinda girl), but I was very pleasantly surprised by how delicious it was! I love how it includes Vitamin D and Omega-3s. It added a great vanilla flavor and creamy texture to my favorite smoothie…
…and made a great addition to my “dessert” of granola + banana + dark chocolate chips.
Back to the merry: a much needed trip to Arrojo to get my hair done was another highlight (pun intended) of the week.
(If you’re in New York and are looking for a colorist, definitely email me. I’ve got the girl for you!)
And then of course there were some lovely nights out. Merry indeed.
Hudson Common, Finale, Rose Bar
What has been the most “merry” part of your week? Any new (healthy or not) food finds?
In case your Instagram feed didn’t make it clear enough, we got snow.
Like, a lot of it.
And apparently we now name snow storms. But not just any regular names…COOL names.
I never thought it would happen to me, but it seems I am definitely not safe from the black hole that is online shopping.
And, as usual, I blame it all on Pinterest.
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, a dancing robot and (un-pictured) Chewbacca make an appearance during your night out.
I should’ve never stopped doing weights while working out. My muscles now hate me.
Who needs to carry a compact anymore? The reverse camera on iPhone is quite the effective mirror.
(…slash selfie-generator.)
“You can’t mess up God’s will when you’re trying to do God’s will” – wise words from my best friend Jessi.
Ainsworth Park – known mostly for being a sports bar – is now one of my new favorite brunch spots. Who knew?
And last but not least, it seems I’ll most likely be moving into a new apartment in March or April. Ah!
What lesson(s) have you learned lately? Did you get hit by Nemo over the weekend?
I always thought people were slightly delusional when they said “when you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work.”
But now? With FreelyBe? I totally get it.
Obviously there are always times where work feels like work, but then there are events like the one on Friday.
You+2 is a (quasi) singles event we organized for the dating website HowAboutWe. I say quasi because the point of the party was that it wouldn’t be the typical awkward mixer that most people think of when they hear “singles event.” Instead, guests were allowed to bring two of their single friends (AKA wingmen) along with them. The result was quite the fun party of dancing, mingling, and competing over the 50 custom hats we were handing out.
The next You+2 event is coming up quickly, so email concierge(at)freelybe(dot)is if you’d like to be considered for an invitation!
Despite my work feeling like play, I was more than excited to spend my whole Saturday taking it easy. I also decided to spoil myself with a pedicure…complete with flower petals in the water. I guess now I can say my feet literally smell like roses
Since I’ve been getting The Fresh Diet meals I haven’t had much food in the house, so once again Seamless came to my rescue. For dinner: a spinach, goat cheese, and avocado salad.
And for dessert, I whipped up a small batch of Dark Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies. You know…so I had something to snack on while I watched 4+ hours of TV.
Not the most eventful of Saturdays, but definitely exactly what I needed to recharge for the week ahead.
What has your weekend looked like so far?
Do you ever feel like your job isn’t really work?
This is going to be the obligatory “I’m sick, woe is me” post. You have been warned.
But I do have to say, I’ve got it pretty made when it comes to being sick. I may not be feeling up to going outside much, but thankfully…nature comes to me.
Talk about the bright side, right?
And I may not have my mom nearby to cook for me, but I do have the glorious addition to our technologically-advanced world: Seamless. Thanks to Seamless, I was able to enjoy a delicious delivered meal from Blossom Du Jour.
That would be the Blossom Bean Burger (with guacamole and lettuce) on a brown rice wrap. SO good. Although I’m far from being vegan, I’ve yet to meet a vegan restaurant in the city that I didn’t love. Blossom Du Jour is definitely near the top of that list.
‘
The only not-so-great thing about being sick?
You see, since I already work from home, I’ve got to be really sick to let myself take the day off. I’m still pretty functional, so no excuses here.
Even though I’m still working, the bright side is that my sick day(s) have consisted of reading on my new iPad, and tea upon tea upon tea.
(Thanks to my BFF Jessi for this fine assortment )
I’ll be honest – after 36 hours of not leaving the apartment – I’m feeling quite stir crazy. Recently posted photos of a party we threw a few weeks ago at BOW certainly hasn’t helped…
BUT. With the weekend rapidly approaching, getting better is my top priority. Right? Right.
Any other sickies out there? How are you nursing yourself back to health?
Even though a lot of what I post here on GML recaps what’s going on in my life, most of it does in fact slip through the cracks.
…like on Monday, how I spent the evening mourning the loss of one of the great television series of our time, Gossip Girl.
I won’t spoil the ending for you but…it’s good.
Tuesday was actually when I made that huge batch of cookies for our doormen. In return for doing all the baking, Erica made me quite the delicious dinner: brie and blackberry jam grilled cheese, tomato soup, and salad. I’d say it was an even trade.
On Wednesday I wrapped up some Christmas shopping and somehow ended up walking what must’ve been 4 miles. Jessi met up with me toward the end for what turned out to be my very first walk on the highline.
Then on Wednesday night a group of us went out to dinner at Eatery for Kim’s birthday, followed by a stop at Hudson Lodge.
Yesterday – Thursday – Jessi and I co-hosted a party at BOW with our lovely friends Vikas, Vishal, Gabrielle and Abigail. the party was originally supposed to be on Halloween but got canceled due to Sandy, but last night more than made up for it.
Did i mention that Vikas also happens to be like, the best DJ ever? Because he is. And did I mention how much I love my friends? Because I doooo.
I guess that leaves us here on Friday. I’m very proud to say I managed to wake up super early and snag a 7am train to Pennsylvania.
It’s all about priorities, people.
…and to me that meant a hair appointment so I could have fresh locks for the holidays. See? Priorities.
Tell me something fun/boring/strange about your week so far!
Last night, Jessi and I did something different than what we normally do on a Saturday night.
Or…ever.
We were kindly invited to go to Carnival Des Corbeaux at The MicKittrick Hotel a few days before Halloween, but this chick named Sandy decided to come by and created many more important things to worry about than parties. So, we costumed up and went to the first of two rescheduled December events.
Face tattoos and wigs…check and check.
I’ve still yet to go to Sleep No More (must ASAP), but Carnival Des Corbeaux definitely gave me an idea of what the famous interactive theatre experience is like. Carnival was one huge party taking place in a number of different rooms, with performances and surprised popping up around every corner.
Photos don’t even do the event justice because it wasn’t just a party, it was an entire experience unlike anything I even knew existed.
There’s one more Carnival Des Corbeaux taking place next week, and I believe tickets are still available! And even though I haven’t yet been to Sleep No More, I think I can pretty safely suggest it if you’re looking to do something fun and different in New York. There’s really nothing else like it…anywhere.
My current work schedule has every other day of my life looking completely different from the last.
On the days that I work from home, I spend just about all of 9-5 sitting on the couch in front of my computer doing real estate admin work (and squeezing in some FreelyBe and blogging, of course). On the days that I don’t work from home, I’m literally all over the city, all day long.
Like yesterday, where Jessi, Monica and I went to a handful meetings for FreelyBe.
After the long day we stopped at home for a hot second to get ready for the night, which included a Movember shave-off party at Blind Barber (partly-hosted by FreelyBe).
After that we stopped at a friend’s concert in LES, followed by the White Room party hosted by Urban Daddy and Stoli. There was a great band there playing that I heard for the first time – Cherub. Loved them. The party was great – unlike anything I’ve been to before.
We stopped at one of my new favorite spots, The Leadbelly, before heading home for what turned out to be a quite early end to the night. It was a long day, but a great one! And I must say it works out to have a “lazy” day of just working from home right now
What does your work schedule look like? Is it the same every day or does it vary?
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