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

ALL CAPS necessary.

3 April, 2014 by Gracie 11 Comments

If you’ve ever wondered why I love makeup so much, it’s because MY FACE DISAPPEARS WITHOUT IT.

Basically.

Yesterday I made the dumb decision to go to the specialty food store when I didn’t really need anything. I proceeded to make the dumb decision of spending $10 on wraps.

I’m sorry, wrawps.

Now the problem I’m left with is that I LOVE THESE THINGS and will now most likely spend $10 on wraps wrawps every week.

Damn you, raw vegan geniuses.

By the way, despite loving those flat breads I’m neither raw nor vegan…because a life without THE MEATBALL SHOP is no life at all.

Such a fun night with my small group. These girls are top notch.

Sometimes when I watch Mad Men, I get so bored, yet I can’t stop watching it.

I blame…DON DRAPER. I hate to love him.

HIS ways, HIS paths. ‘Nuff said.

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What in your life right now is ALL CAPS necessary?

snapshots.

22 March, 2014 by Gracie 7 Comments

WOOOOOO.

Time to bring out the open-toe shoes.

After the horrendous winter, the onset of spring definitely called for celebration.

I’m a sucker for a good candlelit dinner.

The parts I was waiting for for the new Speakable collection FINALLY arrived!

More veggie bowls have been happening. This one with roasted eggplant, squash, and onions atop spaghetti squash, topped with avocado.

Thai with my bestie at Room Service.

NYC has it’s magical moments, and then its just plain terrifying ones.

It’s never too early in the year for a (homemade) pumpkin spice latte!

“In quietness and confidence…”

(from God’s Promises Day by Day devotional)

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How did you celebrate the onset of spring? Any fun plans this weekend?

it’s my birthday and i’ll blog if i want to.

18 March, 2014 by Gracie 28 Comments

I didn’t have a blog post planned for today because…well, it’s my birthday, and I gave myself the day off from planning. But I got that blogging bug! It’s part of who I am, what can I say?

So here are some random updates/thoughts swirling through my head on this March 18, 2014. Forgive me if it seems a bit scrambled (you technically have to, since it’s my birthday and all).

First of all, I feel the need to confess that I got my laundry AND my groceries delivered today, and not because it’s a “special” day. Even though it costs the same, it makes me feel pretentious.

My roombud Rachel left out gifts and a card for me last night so I had them to wake up to this morning. She’s the best! 🙂

My latest Huffington Post article was published yesterday. Read why I think asking/answering questions is better than giving/getting advice when it comes to dating and relationships – 10 Questions To Ask (And Keep Asking) In Dating Relationships.

It’s so so so so SO freeing not caring what other people think. I didn’t even realize I cared as much as I do (did). I’m still working on my people-pleasing tendencies, but I’m getting there!

I’m quite positive I’m addicted to my iPhone. Thinking I should work on that.

I want to start doing videos on GML. Whaddya think?

I refuse to call them “vlogs,” though. That word hurts my ears (and eyes).

Sometimes I wish I worked slower. I speed through everything, then end up doing more work throughout the day. Yes I’m productive, but sometimes it makes my brain hurt.

Whenever I worry about the future, I instantly look back at what God has already done in my life. He’s never failed and has only ever exceedingly blessed me.

Is it summer yet?

I should probably start looking into planning summer vacation(s).

Sometimes I think about writing a book, but the idea of it is way too overwhelming. That’s what blogs are for, right?

And sometimes I wish I was an E! News correspondent. Or maybe that girl that travels around the world partying. What’s that show called again?

I like crying. I really do. I don’t cry often, and it’s usually more out of joy than sorrow.

What can make me cry on a dime is thinking about how much I love my family and friends. Yep, I’m a sap.

Sometimes I entertain the thought of moving, but definitely not any time soon. I love my life in NYC.

My printer keeps making really weird noises but it’s not turned on…

Okay, it stopped.

I have a list in my iPad of my favorite movies. You know, just in case I forget.

I’m really excited to celebrate my birthday tonight!

I’m deliberating whether or not I’m actually going to publish this post, mostly because this was supposed to be “fun facts,” but it turned into straight up rambling…

Whatever. It’s my birthday 😉

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Your turn! Give me a completely random thought/life update!

thankful thursday.

13 March, 2014 by Gracie 12 Comments

Today I’m thankful for…

^ Those things. ^

The start of my birthday week, which I wasn’t even expecting!

(My actual birthday is the 18th :))

Longer days, and other glorious glimpses of spring.

Becoming free from things I didn’t even know I needed freedom from.

When people like to verbally process a good meal as much as I do.

Early birthday presents manis.

How much I’ve grown and learned since this time last year.

The things I had to experience for that growth to happen.

Shark Tank, Buying the Bayou, and other reality TV shows that don’t completely deplete my brain cells.

Being able to remember a really great dream.

The giddiness of an upcoming weekend. Never gets old.

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What are you thankful for today?

scenes from the weekend.

23 February, 2014 by Gracie 17 Comments

Weekends are always a fun time, but they’re especially great now that I live within walking distance of most of my favorite places in the city.

…like St. Paul’s German Church, where we had an amazing Liberty Sisterhood gathering on Friday.

Followed by a cozy late night dinner at the Meatball Shop.

Then after a few hours of bopping around we ended up at the “neighborhood club.”

In case you missed everyone’s Instagram updates, the weather in the Northeast this weekend was per-fec-tion. No winter coat necessary!

And springy nails to match.

The West Village was doing all sorts of showing off.

We brunched 13 people strong at De Santos.

I’m thankful that Rachel likes splitting meals as much as I do. Why on earth get one entrée when you can have two?

We kicked the new week off right with a visit to the gym on Sunday morning.

(Sunglasses to cover up the post-gym roughness, ha.)

With a weekly Quest Bar restock on the way home, of course.

Spring-ish attire, day two.

Dinner of lazy folk champions.

(This was actually really good!)

Last but not last is the most special part of my weekend. This is Ayanda, the adorable little girl from Zimbabwe that I’m so blessed to sponsoring through Children’s Cup.

I’ll leave you with some inspiration for the week ahead…

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What was the highlight of your weekend?

what i hate(d) about blogging.

19 February, 2014 by Gracie 44 Comments

This post is one that I’m surprised I haven’t written yet. It’s based on something that goes through my mind every single time I hit publish on a post, or share on my gazillion social media outlets.

(It’s funny, though. When I was done writing this post I changed the title to hate(D) because I suddenly became FREE from what I thought I hated about blogging. Don’t you love it when that happens?)

Thanks to Clare and her post from yesterday for inspiring me to share my thoughts on this. Clare addressed the issue of feeling the need to censor herself on her blog, and I couldn’t agree more. For me, though, the pressure to censor myself has less to do with my blog readers and more to do with my real life friends, acquaintances, and various relationships.

Over the years I’ve definitely gotten to the point where I’m comfortable sharing my blog with everyone I know – I tell friends about it, post it on my personal Facebook, and even refer to myself as a blogger when asked my profession. Considering how I was almost embarrassed about GML at first, I’ve come a long way when it comes to being proud and confident in being a blogger.

The difficult part now, though, is coming to terms with the fact that I’ve opened myself up to so many people’s opinions and criticisms that a normal person would just never have to face. It can be uncomfortable to realize that people (whether they’re people I know or not) can know things about me that might take months or years for someone to learn if I didn’t have this little old thing called a blog.

But you know what? That’s just something I’m going to have to deal with. I know for a fact that this platform was given to me for a reason, so I’m willing to take whatever comes along with that.

I think that what it all boils down to is that having a presence on a public forum like a blog has forced me to learn what it means to be fully and unapologetically myself.

So yes – I take pictures of my food.

I share TMI sometimes.

I wear too much makeup sometimes.

I had adventures in Tinder.

I take selfies, and I love other people’s selfies. SELFIE SELFIE SELFIE.

I don’t have a “real” job.

I’m a Christian that goes clubbing.

I overuse emojis, Pinterest quotes, and hashtags.