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

what would you do? part 2.

18 November, 2010 by Gracie 57 Comments

Hello sweet ones!! I’m really hoping that you don’t mind another post based on a particular word or phrase because, well, I’m just feeling them I guess. You don’t? Okay, great

what would you do if…

…you were awoken at 3:30am by a train-like noise coming from outside that got louder and louder?

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…you then found two massive trees snapped completely in half the next day?

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…you really wanted Life cereal, but the store brand was $2 cheaper?

…you were offered lunch from Five Guys?

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…you couldn’t decide whether to get bangs again or not?

^^Help a girl out with this one? It is clearly an incredibly critical decision…

xoxo G

without a hitch.

12 September, 2010 by Gracie 25 Comments

Don’t you love weekends that seem to go without a hitch? Well, that’s exactly what this weekend turned out to be. There was time spent outside, fun nights out, relaxation, good food, and even better company

Rewind to yesterday, where Amanda and I spent the day at Peddler’s Village. It was pretty much the perfect way to spend the gorgeous Saturday.

One of the reasons I love going to Peddler’s Village in the fall is the scarecrow display and competition they hold every year. My bet goes on this Snooki scarecrow. Yes, I said Snooki.

HAHA!

Amanda and I did some shopping and came away with some great finds. In my case: A baby spoon to replace the one I recently lost. Am I a typical healthy-food blogger or what?

I also grabbed what may be one of the only candies I actually like:

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Gummy Worms? Yuck.

Swedish Fish? Vom.

Candy corn? YES PLEASE.

Ahem, anyway, after working up an appetite we stopped at Hart’s Tavern for lunch. I started with their signature chicken + corn chowder soup.

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I also had a turkey + bacon croissant sandwich.

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(and yes, that’s where my short-lived vegetarian streak ended.)

After a bit more walking around, we headed back home to relax and wait for friend Erica to arrive and complete our friendship triangle

Later that evening the three of us headed to Green Parrot for a late-ish dinner. We all started with garden salads, which turned out to be way bigger than I expected.

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Seriously, don’t you hate when a restaurant gives you iceberg lettuce and one slice of cucumber and calls it a salad?? None of that was going on here.

For my meal I ordered a mahgerita pizza, which was also way larger than I anticipated.

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Let’s just say there were definitely leftovers involved.

After dinner we went next door to Sweet Pea Creams & Confections for some homemade ice cream. I could not for the life of me choose only one of their amazing flavors, so I went with their “mini scoops” bowl and got three: Pumpkin, cookie batter, and cupcake batter.

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Words cannot describe.

My dates:

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After heading into town for a bit, we decided to call it a night. And a good one it was

This morning I took the girls to church with me, followed by brunch with the parentals. Once again, I was having trouble making a decision with what I wanted to order, so I went with…everything!

First up: the creamiest, most delicious bowl of oatmeal ever…

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…with a side of peanut butter, of course.

I also ordered a spinach + feta omelet, which came with hash browns and rye toast.

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Once again, leftovers were involved. Dinner should be easy tonight!

I’m bummed that the girls left a little bit ago, but we have another reunion planned in just a few short weeks. So for now I’m going to sit back, relax, and enjoy the rest of this Sunday! Ta ta, loves! xoxo G

What’s your favorite candy?
What do you do when you have trouble deciding what to order at a restaurant?

he’s like a vegan Bradley Cooper.

4 September, 2010 by Gracie 14 Comments

^^ Gabriela’s words, not mine

Where to begin? Well, first of all: New York, I love you.

Actually…that’s Jersey City. But you get the point.

After getting settled in at Gabriela’s (absolutely adorable) apartment yesterday afternoon, we headed uptown for dinner at Candle 79 for some vegan eats.

No, I’m not a vegan. But I’ve also never had a vegan meal I didn’t like! And Candle 79 was no exception.

Gabriela and I started by splitting the Guacamole Timbale appetizer: chipotle black beans, caramelized onions, cucumber-tomato salsa, tortilla chips, ranchero sauce.

Delish! I especially loved the cucumber in the salsa; it added a great refreshing flavor to the dish.

For my entree I went with the Moroccan Spiced Chickpea Cake: seasonal vegetables, red pepper-coconut curry, fresh apricot chutney, toasted almonds.

This was too good for words. The flavor and texture of the cake was spot-on. To die.

Gabriela went with the Live Heirloom Tomato-Zucchini Lasagna: cashew cheese, marinated wild mushrooms, heirloom tomato sauce, basil-pine nut pesto.

Gorgeous, isn’t it? I had a small bite of the cashew cheese and, while it didn’t exactly taste like cheese, it was really tasty!

For dessert we split the Chocolate Peanut Butter Bliss: chocolate mousse, peanut butter mousse, chocolate shell, berry coulis.

Let’s just say that if there was ever a reason to become a vegan, this would be it.

After dinner we headed toward the Hudson to meet up with Gabriela’s boyfriend and some friends of hers. The remnants of Earl made for quite a pretty skyline of Jersey City.

We spent a few hours hanging out at the Frying Pan:

We had to climb a ladder to get to the top of the boat…no big deal

After a few other stops we ended up calling it a night. Twas a fun one, indeed

This morning we decided to go on a walk along the Hudson river. We ended up covering about 5 miles! It was a surprisingly great workout.

Before we left we enjoyed a very Gabriela-esque breakfast: cereal with blueberries + almond milk.

Blogger breakfast

Plans for the rest of the day include meeting up with my lovebug Amanda and exploring more of the city! Enjoy your Saturday, dolls! xoxo G

What’s your favorite city?
Have you ever been to NYC?

Cape May tour + Italian eats.

1 September, 2010 by Gracie 30 Comments

You know the saying, “when the cat’s away, the mice will play?”

Well, when the humans are away…

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I walked in the house tonight to find this mischievous (and clearly flexible) one searching under the stove for one of her little toys. I sure am going to miss having these little scoundrels around! I really don’t know how people can say they don’t like cats…I’d argue that those people are just meeting the wrong cats.

a visit to Cape May.

My mom and I decided to take one last visit to Cape May before the summer officially ends. Our night involved shopping, dinner, and a trolley tour around town. I’ve been going to Cape May since I was 4 but have never been on a single tour there! It was fun to learn the history of some of the houses I’d pass by every summer.

Between shopping and the tour we had dinner at Cucina Rosa on the Washington Street Mall. I had been to Cucina Rosa once before a few years ago and remembered it as one of the best meals I ever had.

To start I had some straight-out-of-the-oven bread topped with butter and parmesan cheese.

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Next was a house green salad, which was dressed in a delicious house balsamic vinaigrette. This was actually a ton of greens, unlike most rinky-dink restaurant salads.

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As for entrees, MMH ordered the Shrimp Scampi, which I stole a few bites of.

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And for me: the Seafood Fra Diablo: fresh jumbo lump crabmeat, shrimp, and scallops sauteed and served in a spicy marinara sauce. Served over ~~linguine~~ rigatoni.

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This dish is supposed to be super spicy - hence the “’diablo” in the title - but I requested that it be mild (I’m not a huge fan of spicy foods). I also went with rigatoni instead of linguine, just because it’s my favorite type of pasta

This was seriously one of the best meals I’ve had in a while. The sauce was sweet and flavorful, and the seafood fresh and perfectly cooked.

And…would you believe I can’t even remember the last time I had *white* pasta? I’m going to make sure that definitely does not happen again. While I do make it a point to stick to whole grains most of the time, I want to make sure I’m not viewing white pasta as a “bad” food. Life’s too short to miss out on life’s greatest ~~carbs~~ pleasures, you know?

All in all, it was a great meal and a great evening!

I’m pretty tired, so I’m calling it a night. All that eating and sitting on a trolley takes a lot out of a girl G’night, sweets! xoxo G

Do you like or dislike cats?
How do you feel about eating “white” pasta?

blogger breakfast.

13 August, 2010 by Gracie 20 Comments

Confession: I woke up today feeling like a little kid on Christmas morning. I just love waking up knowing I’m in a completely new and different city! I have a feeling this 23-year-old is well on her way to becoming a travel-aholic. She’s also going to stop herself from speaking in third person right now

Roombud and I woke up this morning from a much-needed night’s sleep and headed to get breakfast at Panera Bread. I ordered the Breakfast Power Sandwich, which was egg, ham, and Vermont cheddar cheese on whole grain bread.

It was actually only half a sandwich, but it was filling enough.

We also tried a sample of Panera’s new Strawberry Granola Parfait (made with Stonyfield yogurt). So SO good!

Iced coffee was involved…

…and obviously we got our blogging on

We have a full day planned ahead…including the arrival of roombuds three and four Ta-ta, loves! xoxo G

What’s your favorite thing about visiting a new town?
Want to keep up with me today? Follow me @GirlMeetsHealth!

Lawng Island lovin'.

24 July, 2010 by Gracie 26 Comments

GOOD MORNING from New York! Long Island, to be precise

Yesterday around 2pm my friend Erica and I set off to spend the weekend at our friend Amanda’s house. The three of us became great friends in college but haven’t seen each other since December! So, needless to say this weekend was long overdue.

Unfortunately, due to some bad directions, a lack of a GPS, and horrible New York traffic, our supposed 2 1/2 hour-long trip turned into just about 6 hours. Yes…six. hours.

It was all worth it, though, because the three of us had the most amazing night together! We had dinner at Don Ricardo’s, which is a phenom Mexican restaurant. Didn’t I have gorgeous dates?

Amanda:

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Erica:

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After the long car ride I was starving, to say the least. I ordered my favorite Mexican feast - chicken fajitas. And it hit. the. spot.

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The meal came with the usual suspects: flour tortillas, rice, refried beans, sour cream, and guac.

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I made myself a “salad” of sorts:

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I ate just about everything, sans the rice and most of the flour tortillas.

After dinner we met up with Amanda’s boyfriend Justin and then hit the town.

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Let’s just say there was a cover band and some serious “Cameron Diaz dancing to ‘Mr. Brightside’ in The Holiday” going on

So far this morning has included coffee (or, should I say cawfee?)

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And I blogged while Erica caught up on work. We’re sooo responsible

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Breakfast was quite the treat. Have I mentioned that Amanda’s house is pretty much a food blogger’s dream?

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Look at all of those goodies! I put together a refreshing bowl of yogurt with berries, walnuts, chia seeds, and almond butter.

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YUM!

We also packed our lunches for later. I made a turkey + hummus sandwich on a FlatOut Fold-It (how cool are these?!).

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Roasted Red Pepper hummus = love.

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Sandwich + peach.

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Plans for the rest of the day include…THE BEACH! Followed by some more college-bests-shenanigans, I’m sure. Hope you’re all enjoying your weekend! Don’t forget to make it extraordinary, k? xoxo G

Have you ever had a bad road trip experience? What was it?
What do you usually order at Mexican restaurants?

downtown date.

24 May, 2010 by Gracie 34 Comments

Hi dolls! Is it seriously already Monday…?! The weekend flew by, but that’s probably because I had such a great one Yesterday I spent the day downtown visiting my friend Sara (who just so happens to be my supervisor at work too, haha). Isn’t she lovely?

You know, I’ve lived outside of Philadelphia all of my life, but the amount of time I spend in the actual city is seriously lacking. I live right near one of the greatest cities in the county, and I really want to start taking advantage of that. Not to mention that with amazing restaurants and specialty food markets on every corner, it’s pretty much foodie-heaven.

We met at her place (which, is in thee most fun/adorable neighborhood) where I also met these little rascals.

First Sara and I headed to her favorite local cafe where we got coffee and caught up for a bit. I ordered an iced coffee.

And then…we were off! Sara showed me around her neighborhood…aka where all of the best shopping is We went in a few amazing thrift stores and walked away with some great finds. I also picked up these fun feather earrings from a store on South Street.

We also stopped at Phileo Yogurt for my very first pimped-out-fro-yo experience.

I must admit that I’ve envied other bloggers for the longest time because these fro-yo joints just don’t seem to exist around me. My exact words to Sara: “Wow, I feel like a real food blogger now!” haha My bowl contained peanut butter and cupcake batter yogurts, topped with fresh fruit, cookie dough, and coconut.

This might not seem like the best of flavor combinations, but it was. Trust me.

After some more shopping and meeting up with Sara’s roommate Elya, we headed to an early dinner. We went to Alma de Cuba, which is arguably one of the best restaurants in the city. Elya is actually a server there, so we didn’t need much help deciding what to order. We ended up getting a hodge-podge of appetizers, each of which were to die.

Truffled Guacamole - Guacamole with red onions, chives, black truffles and plantain chips:

Lobster Ceviche - Pickled coconut and kaffir lime-coconut puree:

Smoked Marlin Tacos - Iceberg, pickled jalepeno and malanga:

Empanada de Verde - Red kale, manchego cheese and artichoke escabeche:

Yellowtail Kingfish - Yuzu, Thai basil, sweet soy glaze and sichimi togarashi:

Royal Palm Dates - Almond-stuffed dates wrapped in bacon with cabrales blue cheese (my favorite!):

Rainbow Ceviche - Tuna, salmon and black bass marinated in lime juice and jalapeno with roasted sweet potato slices:

We also munched on this killer bread. It was crumbly and sweet, and also happens to be gluten free.

This was hands down some of the best food I’ve ever eaten. If you’re ever in the Philly area, you must go to Alma de Cuba!

We rounded out the day with some even more shopping, and then I headed home. All in all it was a really great day I’m definitely going to make it a point to go downtown more often!

Have you ever been to Philadelphia?
What city(s) do you live near?