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

scenes from the weekend {+ SoulCycle review}.

7 September, 2014 by Gracie 12 Comments

Want to know the truth behind this photo?

It was taken 5 minutes after I thought I left my phone in the gym locker room, ran back to find it wasn’t there, bawled my eyes out like a lunatic on the street, then found that I had left it on the counter at Liquiteria.

Ugh. Moving on.

On Friday I went to our Liberty Sisterhood event with Sarah Dubbeldam, and it was SO GOOD. We sold out the entire theater!

But probably the most exciting part was the announcement of SHE IS FREE – a celebration of freedom happening in April, hosted by Andi Andrew. I HIGHLY suggest checking out the website (especially the promo video!) and considering making the trip to NYC for this. It’s going to be unreal…

Afterward a bunch of us headed to The Standard East Village for my friend Tia’s going away party.

On Saturday I did something I’ve been wanting to for a long time now – I took my first SOULCYCLE class. I was a bit nervous, to say the least.

My roommate Rachel is basically a SoulCycle enthusiast so I finally made it to a class with her. We took Jaws’ class at the SoulCycle Soho Studio. The class definitely kicked my ass…in the best possible way. I was really intimidated at first because SoulCyclists are quite the intense bunch (it’s definitely one of those cult-like fitness trends). The fact that I couldn’t even snap my shoes in the bike at first didn’t help either, ha.

BUT – as soon as the class started I totally understood the draw of SoulCycle. First of all – it is FUN. The studio is really dark, which I loved, and the music was 100% on point (super important to me). And then of course, it was a killer workout. I think there’s a misconception that spinning is just cardio, but SoulCycle has all sorts of strength moves throughout the entire class – pushups, squats, crunches, hand weights, etc.

So bottom line – I loved it! I probably won’t be able to make it to SoulCycle a ton just because it’s expensive and I already have a gym membership, but I’m going to try to treat myself to it once a week or so if I can!

After SoulCycle we headed home and got ready before heading back out to brunch with a group of friends. I embraced the disgustingly hot weather to rock cutoffs and a crop top one last time…

(top – American Apparel, shorts – Necessary Clothing)

As for brunch – our go-to De Santos never fails!

Then we spent the rest of the day hopping around some of our favorite bars in the West Village.

I’m all about the tablescape shots, can you tell?

On Sunday (today) I spent a few hours catching up on work/blog stuff then hit the gym. I powered through with my new Nespresso VertuoLine machine, which I was gifted at that Nespresso event a few weeks ago.

I. am. OBSESSED. with this machine…! Seriously – it makes better coffee than some of my favorite cafes in the city.

Other Sunday things…

Went to church. Was an incredible message and exactly what I needed to hear, as usual.

Did the whole grocery shopping/errands thing.

Tried to organize my life before the crazy week ahead.

Aaand got ready to introduce the new Speakable limited edition DARLING necklace. You saw it here first – details to come in the morning!

And that’s a wrap! Hope you all had a fab weekend

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What was the highlight of your weekend?

a {long} weekend in the life.

1 September, 2014 by Gracie 3 Comments

I can’t believe summer is (unofficially) over. AHHHH.

Even though fall is my favorite season, I must admit I’m sad to see this summer come to an end. It was one of my favorite summers yet – full of highs, lows, lots of fun with my friends and family, and just some personal growth that I’m really excited about.

I decided to stay in town over the weekend, and it turned out to be a great few days! The city was definitely a ghost town, but I still managed to have a weekend balance of fun and productivity (aka the best weekends).

Rewind to Friday, where I gave myself the day off from work Gotta love being your own boss!

I started the day with a visit to Arrojo studio to get my hair done.

I’ve mentioned a handful of times how much I love Arrojo. The salon itself is great (complete with a café)…

…and I love their line of products as well.

And don’t even get me started on my stylist Nadia! I’ve been going to her for about 2 years, and no one gets my blonde ambition quite like she does

(If you’re in NYC and looking for a stylist – she’s your girl!)

The finished product:

After the salon I headed uptown to the Refinery Hotel for lunch with a friend.

Watermelon salad with pork belly – don’t mind if I do.

Followed by a celebratory Friday prosecco on the roof.

On Friday night we celebrated my friend Trish’s bachelorette party with sushi, lingerie, and my gorgeous friends.

On Saturday Jessi and I met up in the morning to do a quick video shoot for our client Red Carpet Manicure. Working on Saturday made me feel less bad about being such a spoiled brat on Friday, haha.

Then we headed to Williamsburg for Leah’s birthday brunch at St. Balmain. Happy birthday, Leah!

I’m kiiiinda sorta obsessed with St. Balmain. Last time I was there I got their avocado toast (bomb), but this time I went with their Breakfast Bowl - kale, spinach, red quinoa, toasted almonds, avocado, halloumi cheese, a soft poached egg. I think it may be one of my favorite breakfast dishes ever…

After brunch I headed back into Manhattan to meet up with Rachel and Martina for some Saturday adventuring. It was a bit of a gloomy day, but that wasn’t going to stop us!

We ended up at Epsteins for a few hours with all of the other “stayed in the city this weekend” rejects (I mean that in the nicest possible way, haha).

We went back to Martina’s for a few hours and watched The Devil Wears Prada (naturally) before heading back out for a late dinner. We tried to rally to go out afterward, but after being out for about 14 hours straight I figured it was probably best to call it a night.

Sunday was spent being productive – organizing the apartment, catching up on Speakable stuff, gym, etc. Then I went to church at night, which was 100% what I needed to start the new week.

And now here I am today – tempted to go do something fun BUT going to spend at least a few hours working. I have a crazy week, so gotta get ahead of the game!

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Did you do anything fun for Labor Day weekend? Are you sad to see summer go?

what happens in vegas…goes on GML.

22 August, 2014 by Gracie 14 Comments

If you follow me on Instagram you probably noticed that I was away in VEGAS for a few days!

Jessi and I were there to work with Succara Showroom representing their incredible brands at the ENK Show.

Our booth:

Who do you know does 6am mornings for work in Vegas?

Even though we were working, the show itself was so much fun. I loved learning more about the brands and the industry as a whole. And, what girl doesn’t want to play dress up?!

Gypsies and Debutantes necklace:

Sisco Berluti bracelets:

We were definitely able to squeeze some fun in outside of the show too.

…except that time we missed the Tiesto pool party by about an hour, ha.

Some of my outfits during the trip looked a little bit like:

And of course, there was tons of great food! We hit just about every cuisine from Italian to Sushi, Mexican, and everything in between.

(Wolfgang Puck’s restaurants were definitely favorites of mine, especially Lupo in Mandalay Bay)

What made the trip especially awesome was that two of our other great friends were in town – Sunni (who is the VP of ENK) and Leah (who did videography for the show).

Not only was the trip clearly a lot of fun, but I’m so glad to have gotten the experience to build a new skill set (sales) and learn more about an industry that I should be well-versed in (fashion). Fashion trade shows are an entire world I didn’t even know existed until about a year ago, and to learn the ins and outs from some of the top players in the industry was an invaluable part of the trip.

(Not to mention how much I learned about the jewelry/accessory industry – HELLO future plans for Speakable!)

OH….and can you believe I won $415 on our last night there?! I am NOT normally a gambler, but Kitty Glitter and Siberian Storm just called my name…