pop culture | Girl Meets Life | a lifestyle blog by Gracie Gordon

what i’m loving right now.

5 February, 2015 by Gracie 9 Comments

barre class
Today I took my first ever barre class. It’s been quite the trendy workout lately and I’ve heard so many girls swear by it, so I figured I’d give it a try. I took the Core Fusion class at Exhale Spa, and honestly I had no idea what to expect. I was hoping it wouldn’t be too dance-y because that’s not really my thing, and thankfully wasn’t. What it WAS, though, was a much more difficult class than I expected (in a good way). I liked that it was very fast-paced, and the instructor Julie was really attentive and motivating. I know I’m gonna feel all sorts of sore tomorrow!

SBTB on Jimmy Fallon
Any human being that has been on Facebook today has probably seen this a million times already, but it’s just so good. So much nostalgia…

the half bun
I’ve seen this hairstyle all over Pinterest lately, and I just think it’s so cute. Granted, this is a totally messy version of it (and hello roots), but you get the idea.

half bun

Bare Minerals
I have a full post (+ a vlog!) coming on these products soon, but I can’t help but share how much I love them. The neutral eye shadow palettes are the perfect shades, and the Complexion Rescue is one of the best makeup products I’ve tried in a long time.

Bare Minerals makeup

everything about these looks
Is it spring yet?

Juice Press Fireball
I’ve been a huge fan of Juice Press for a while, so I was really excited when they surprised me with some samples of their Fireball + Mother Earth juice. I had never tried the Fireball, and let me tell you…this stuff is not for the faint of heart. It is SPICY. It definitely will wake you up in the morning, and I’ve heard it can work wonders (immunity booster? Don’t mind if I do).

Juice Press

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Toasted Walnuts
Sometimes I like to get a little fancy pants with my lunch. But don’t let the looks of this fool you - it took just about 10 minutes to make! I used store bought sweet potato gnocchi (from Whole Foods) and added some brown butter and toasted walnuts. Comfort food at its finest.

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What Pinterest-inspired looks/trends are you loving right now?
Have you tried a barre class?

link love | 10.23.14.

23 October, 2014 by Gracie 3 Comments

What I’ve been loving lately from the interwebs (most of which is from Refinery29. Oh well) …

Your Next Big Life-Changing Breakthrough Is Already Happening

Stop People From Wasting Your Time

I Have 4 Jobs - Is This The New Normal?

Hold That Thought (podcast)

BILLY ON THE STREETS!

Don’t Say Goodbye – Just Ghost.

Lower Your Expectations: Why Dating Should Be A Clean Slate

Please Stop Misinterpreting “The Road Not Taken”

There’s Nothing Wrong With Wearing A lot Of Makeup

5 Things You’re Doing That Keep You From Feeling You Are Good Enough

Is Time Saving Technology Making Us Lazy And Incompetent?

Dudes In Startup Shirts

Learning To Fall

Bradley Cooper and Jimmy Fallon Lose It On “The Tonight Show”

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Anything you’ve seen/read lately worth sharing?

here’s what | 10.13.14.

13 October, 2014 by Gracie 7 Comments

Bonjour and happy (1:45am on) Monday, hotties. Here’s what have been a few things happening in this life I’ve met.

1. Thanks to the rain on Saturday I spent a good deal of time in bed with my hot dates Barney Stinson and Jake Johnson.

Netflix, people. Get your mind out of the gutter.

2. The rain/bed situation also resulted in THIS situation – hair full of secrets, and not the good kind.

3. I managed to pull myself together for a night out. Don’t let the jacket deceive you – I haven’t played a non-leisurely sport since 2003.

4. Pardon me for sounding like a crazy person…but I think I might be a crazy person. When I shook people’s hands over the weekend I found myself thinking EBOLA EBOLA EBOLA.

5. Sooo I’ve decided to do the famous (infamous?) Whole 30 challenge. I started it yesterday. My good friend Emily has been doing it and suggesting it to me, and over the course of the past week I went from being adamantly opposed, to considering it, to reading It Starts With Food. I realized that I’ve been complaining about feeling BLAH lately but not actually doing anything to change it. So not anymore. I need accountability so will be posting meals + updates over on my Tumblr (as to not inundate my Instagram or GML with ugly food pictures ;)). You can go ahead and follow along if you’d like!

Oh, and as much as I’m doing this to FEEL my best, I’m also doing it look as smokin’ hot as possible. Sorry I’m most certainly not sorry.

6. I have a crush on someone, and it might be you. (insert monkey covering its mouth emoji)

7. Probably the most productive part of my weekend was cleaning the whole apartment. It always starts by just wiping down the counter, then I find myself in full out Danny Tanner mode, on the brink of washing the cleaning products themselves.

8. The decision process for what I’m going to be for Halloween is getting REAL. So far I’ve narrowed it down to not wanting to look “cute.” Not to mention I refuse to wear the same costume two night in a row because I’m a brat like that.

9. This is a really interesting article about the downside of living in New York. I can definitely relate to this:

“The greatest thing about Manhattan is the worst thing about Manhattan: self-actualization. Here you will be free to stretch yourself to your limit, to find the beach that is yours alone. But sooner or later you will be sitting on that beach wondering what comes next.”

What the article doesn’t address, though, is how having friends, family, and a sense of community here in the city makes all the difference in the world. I definitely wouldn’t be able to continue living here without that.

10. To end things on a lighter note, here’s a bunch of cute animals wrapped up like burritos.

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Have you decided on a Halloween costume yet?

life: behind the tweet.

7 October, 2014 by Gracie 3 Comments

So I recently started using Twitter again, or at least I’m trying to.

(I’m talking other than my Instagram shares + blog post announcements. Those don’t count.)

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I wonder what motivates people to tweet what they do. So here’s a look into the story behind my recent tweets.

Just your standard verbal processing (slash) death explanation.

On my mind because my girl friends and I had a day long group text about achieving this look, complete with photos of our lined lips and all.

I wish I was kidding.

Because looks fade, hearts break, but pizza is forever.

I take my emoji usage very seriously.

And also that my “K” is “I,” my “nope” is “mood,” and my “bahahah” is “Bahamas.” I can’t blame autocorrect for that last one, but still.

AKA the reason most girls probably have extremely unrealistic views of what life should be. And why we post those annoying inspirational quotes all the time.

I’m referring to The What’s Underneath Project. Highly suggest you check it out (especially Melanie Gaydos – beautiful).

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Your turn! Give me the story behind one of your recent tweets 🙂

this week’s events recap: Canon + Perrier.

26 September, 2014 by Gracie 2 Comments

If you follow me on Instagram you probably saw that I went to a couple of cool events this week! I’ve got to say that that’s one of the things I love about living in NYC – there are fun opportunities to take advantange of just about every day.

Rewind to Tuesday where I attended the Farewell To Summer event hosted by Canon at Loopy Doopy Rooftop Bar.

At the event all of the guests were invited to #bringit it by using the Canon EOS Rebel SL1 or the Canon EOS Rebel T5i to capture the beautiful fall sunset over the Hudson River. Jessi and I got some beautiful shots.

We also learned some cool tips about using Canon cameras, which is really helpful since I personally own an SL1. A few of them are:

1) Auto White Balance (AWB) – By changing to the Cloudy or Shade setting before shooting an image, you adjust the camera to take advantage of the different warm tones it can render

2) Exposure Compensation - By utilizing Exposure Compensation before shooting an image, it allows more or less light in, resulting in brighter or darker images that can change the mood of the same scene

3) Rule of Thirds – The Rule of Thirds advocates that the subject or major part of the image should not be placed in the center of the photograph, so that the eye has more room to explore

It was such a fun evening! And a perfect way to spend the first day of fall - soaking in that last bit of warm weather 🙂

Then on Thursday (yesterday) I went to the #StreetArtByPerrier event at the Colossal Media warehouse in Williamsburg. I’ve been to a lot of events in my day, and I’ve got to say that this was one of the best I’ve been to.

There were tons of fun activations, endless food, drinks, and good music. What more could you ask for?

Oh, and of course there was the incredible art covering the entire venue.

The event was to unveil Perrier’s new limited-edition street art inspired bottles and cans. For the new collection, Perrier collaborated with three of the most dynamic and influential artists from the international street art community – JonOne, Kobra, and Sasu. All of their work was absolutely amazing, and the event did a great job of showcasing it.

Thanks to Canon and Perrier for the fun events! 🙂

SBC: hobbies, crushes, happy things.

26 September, 2014 by Gracie 3 Comments

HI FRIENDS! Hope you all had a lovely weekend.

Before I go on (with another massive September Blogging Challenge catch up), I just want to let you know that GML will be down for 24-48 hours starting around 10am tomorrow (Monday). I’m getting a blog redesign, WOOOOO!

But for now, onto the last few days of this challenge…

26.top 5 favorite hobbies/pastimes.

writing.
Journaling, blogging, freelance articles – I love it all! Writing is therapeutic for me.

watching movies.
Going to the movies and/or watching them from home is one of my favorite things to do – especially with other people. I love how movies are an escape from reality, and I’m that person that gets overly emotionally invested in them, ha.

pampering.
I mean, it doesn’t get much better than being pampered. Massages, mani/pedis, getting my hair done – I LOVE IT ALL.

going out.
This is a pretty generic one, but it’s true! Being out and about and socializing, trying new restaurants, etc. is just so much fun.

baking.
This is another therapeutic one. I love making treats for other people. I think it might be one of my love languages 😛

27. my celebrity crush(es).

Yeeeah so I have a few 😉

Garrett Hedlund

Don Draper (not Jon Hamm – Don Draper!)

Charlie Hunnam

John Krasinsky

But my top is probably Bradley Cooper. Such a QT.

28. ten things that make me happy.

Hmmm, there are so many more things that make me happy! But right now…

* my cozy apartment in my dream neighborhood
* the cinnamon scented candle next to me
* my new (coming soon) blog layout
* Speakable’s upcoming October campaign + new words
* that I got to see No Doubt perform yesterday
* my Halloween costume idea
* my amazing, UH-MAZING friends
* Lyft
* fun things happening this week
* LIFE! There’s just so much to be thankful for and excited about. And that makes me happy.

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Your turn! Favorite hobbies? Celeb crush(es)?