Restaurants | Girl Meets Life | A Lifestyle Blog By Gracie Gordon

what i’m loving right now.

19 November, 2015 by Gracie 6 Comments

Hi hi friends! How is your week going?

Mine has been great - a bit on the busy side as I’m getting all caught up before going home next week for Thanksgiving (yay).

I’m in the process of writing a post that I’m really excited about (hint - it has to do with becoming free from STRESS), but in the mean time I wanted to share a few things I’m loving lately as we go full swing into the holiday season.

FITNESS - Nike Flyknits
I got my first pair of Nike Flyknits a few months ago, and I loved them so much I went back last week and got them in a different color. These are my favorite sneakers ever - they’re super comfortable and light weight - perfect for casual wear but also working out.

Nike flyknit sneakers

FOOD - Juice Press Roasted Veggie Salad
For the days that I’m on-the-go with meetings and what not (which, lately has been at least twice a week), Juice Press is definitely my “fast food” of choice. I’ll be honest - I’m not usually the biggest salad girl in the world. But their new Roasted Veggie Salad is really hearty and flavorful - it tastes like fall! Juice Press stores are only local BUT they ship nationally if you ever want to give it a try (their juices, desserts, etc. are all amazing).

Juice Press Roasted Veggie Salad

FASHION - Rado Chocolate Ceramic Watches
The other night I stopped by a Rado watch event, and I was so glad I did. It was at the Francois Payard patisserie on the Upper East Side, and we were treated with goodies like chocolates, wine, and macarons.

The event was to highlight Rado’s new Chocolate Ceramic watch collection, and they were seriously SO beautiful. Rado watches are made of high-tech ceramic which qualities include hypo-allergenic, highly scratch resistant and durable. Being ceramic, the watches are extremely lightweight and provide ultimate comfort to the wearer.

The new chocolate collection is the newest ceramic color to the brand and provides a fashion-forward unique look in a beautiful warm, earthen tone. I really loved the look and feel of the ceramic (which was actually very lightweight), and the chocolate shade was so chic for fall and winter.

LIFE - it’s beginning to look a lot like…
Christmaaaaas 😀 I was in Midtown yesterday for a meeting and took the opportunity to make a stop at Macy’s. With the decorations, gift displays, and music…let’s just say I am now very much in the Christmas spirit. If you’ve never been able to experience NYC during the holidays - you absolutely must add it to your bucket list. There’s nothing like it!

Christmas at Macy's

ON THE WEB - Self Made From Scratch
I’ve been meaning to do more shout-outs here on GML to people on the ‘net that I think are doing rad things - and Jenny from Self Made From Scratch is the first person who came to mind. I’ve known Jenny via the blog world for a while now (she created this GML design!), and what she’s doing with her new business is so incredible. If you’re interested in learning more about how to start your own blog/business, I couldn’t recommend her more.

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Rado. All opinions herein are my own. Please note that I was compensated for this post. You can refer to my product review policy here. Thank you for supporting the brands that make this blog possible.

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What are you loving right now? What’s your favorite blog/website? I’m always looking for new ones!

scenes from the weekend.

27 July, 2015 by Gracie 8 Comments

…and just like that, another incredible weekend in Montauk has come and gone.

I made it out there on Wednesday just in time to spend a few hours on the beach reading + relaxing.

Montauk New York

Later that night the rest of the gang arrived - Joyce, Sydney, and Syd’s brother Max.

Romper - Urban Outfitters

(Fun fact - Joyce has been reading GML for years and ended up coming to Liberty Church where we met and became friends. How cool is that?!)

We spent the next few days beaching, going out, working out (SoulCycle, of course), and just enjoying the perfect summer weekend away.

Sydney and Gracie

Pink skies at Surf Lodge:

Surf Lodge Montauk

Bikini top - American Apparel. Bottom - VS. Body chain - H&M. Sunnies - Quay

Dusk at Navy Beach:

Navy Beach Montauk

Dress - Free People

Last but not least - some good eats were had. How beautiful are these meals?!

Thai Chicken Wraps from Joni’s // lobster roll and Burratta from Harbor // Pepper Crusted Chilled Tuna and oysters from Surf Lodge

’Til next summer, Montauk.

{LOTS of} good eats lately.

19 July, 2015 by Gracie 3 Comments

I kinda sorta hate when people say “food porn,” but…get ready for a serious dose of it. I’ve been eating real good over the past week or so. Oh, how I love NYC and it’s food/restaurant culture…

First up, rewind to last Sunday where I had an amazing feast at one of my favorite NYC restaurants, ABC Kitchen. Everything there is amazing (highly recommended if you’re ever in New York), but their Salted Caramel Popcorn Sundae is what dreams are made of.

Usually when I make food at home it’s something quick like toast or eggs, but the other day I got a little fancy with my breakfast and made this big Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Pancake. To make it I combined:

1/3 cup oats
1 mashed banana
cocoa powder
cinnamon

Then topped it with peanut butter, more banana, and a drizzle of honey. AKA dessert for breakfast.

Clearly I’ve had quite the sweet tooth lately, so I might as well confess to this Coconut Creme Donut I snagged before some morning meetings from Doughnut Plant. This thing was rich - I could barely get through eating half of it (but so worth it).

I balanced out the carb intake with some rice-less sushi 😉 Did you know you can get cucumber-wrapped sushi at a lot of places? Just ask for “Naruto.” It’s a delicious + healthier option…my lifesaver when I did the Whole30.

Fast forward to Thursday, where we snacked on some oysters + crab legs for Happy Hour at The Standard Grille.

On Friday night we went to what is definitely one of my favorite new restaurants - Upland. We went to town with a ton of amazing dishes, but my favorite was definitely the Estrella.

If you ever find yourself there, I’d also highly recommend the Whole Crispy Mushroom, Five Lettuce Caesar (pictured below), Burrata, and Crispy Duck Wings.

five lettuce ‘caesar’ from Upland NYC

And last but not least is yesterday’s taco party. I rarely make it to the Upper East Side, but we were there yesterday after a visit to the Met and stumbled upon Cascabel Taqueria. Rachel and I split the steak, battered fish, and carnitas tacos. They were all uh-maze-ing.

See…I told you it was major food porn 😛 I must admit that there were a lot of healthier options in between those meals, which is why I’m such a fan of following flexible dieting. I love being able to indulge…and indulge often…without a hint of guilt!

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

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?

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?

food and clothes.

31 May, 2015 by Gracie 10 Comments

They say what a person photographs says a lot about them. So what does it say that most of what I snap photos of is food and clothes? (…and NYC + my friends, for good measure). I like to think it says I should have a blog 😉

I’m definitely that person who takes pictures of my food, and since so many of you are interested in my flexible dieting (AKA “just eating”) journey, here are some of my eats from the past week.

1) bacon cheeseburger from David Burke Kitchen (full disclosure - didn’t eat the bread. Ate about 10 fries). 2) Toasted Coconut Arctic Zero with chocolate chips and peanut butter. 3) Toast - I have toast of some sort just about every day. 4) Market veggie plate from Westville - roasted beets, fried plantains, roasted brussels sprouts, sautéed mushrooms.

5) Crispy Rice Sushi from Mercer Kitchen. 6) Whipped banana oatmeal with chocolate and peanut butter. 7) MashBar + coconut water from Hu Kitchen. 8) Burnt Ends burrito bowl from Mexicue.

I should probably clarify that I don’t dine out for every single meal, ha (although yes, I do a lot - most New Yorkers do). The meals that I eat at home are usually either toast, oatmeal, eggs, or smoothies. Since I’ve been dining out more than usual, it’s easy to just make sure to always have those staples on hand.

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On the clothes front, I must say I’m preeeeetty excited that I finally found a (non-snapback) hat that I actually like. Apparently I have an abnormally large head. LOL. Thankfully Urban Outfitters had like a zillion hats to choose from, so I landed on this one.

(Clearly a Snapchat. You can follow me @alagracie)

I’m also loving this new black & white dress from East & Lo. They were kind enough to send me a few cute pieces, and this is a perfect light dress for summer.

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If someone looked through your phone, what would they see the most photos of?