Summer Fun/Updates

Hey everyone! Hope summer is treating all of you well!

For me, it is going by SO FAST! It is my last week of work(OMG) and then I'll be heading down to school August 4th for a staff retreat for my fall internship. I will be a social media intern for Up Late at State, which is a program at my school that hosts drug and alcohol free events for students. THEN I have to drive all the way back home and will be coming back down for my sorority's move in on August 9th. Whew. I'm glad I still have a few more weeks, because I'm going to be so busy.

 
               The name of this boat was "Timing is Everything". Something I'll have to keep in mind in                                                                    my busy and stressful days!

Speaking of busy: my upcoming fall semester will consist of two hour recruitment practices up until actual recruitment (Labor Day weekend), a two hour weekly staff meeting for my internship, two brand representative positions, and school work. Thinking ahead to all of these commitments makes me excited but also a little uneasy. I feel like I will have so much on my plate, and I am unfortunately one of those perfectionist types who needs to have everything in my life be well organized and smooth sailing (when of course, life never works out that way). Well, tonight on the phone Anthony, we talked about maybe dropping a few things so I will be a little less stressed when we get back to school. Coincidentally, I had just received an email from one of the companies I was a brand representative for saying how if anyone wanted to discontinue their time as brand rep, they can just reply to the email. I decided to do it, even though I felt a little sad. I'm the kind of person who loves to finish what I start and see things through until the end (even if it happens to be a super repetitive season of Dance Moms, ugh). However, I already have school and a  new internship to commit to. I also want to have time to relax, study, and enjoy my last year of school. I am a firm believer that
everything happens for a reason and that things fall in to place the way they are supposed to. Along with that, I believe that putting myself first is important and having downtime decreases my anxiety. So, along with emailing the first company, I emailed my manager from the second company and let her know the news. After both emails were sent, I felt so much better and felt as though I had a weight lifted off my shoulders. Thanks for the advice, Anthony.

Anyway, here are some pictures form my past few weeks! I have been busy with work, which explains the lack of posts, and I've enjoyed my days off where I've been able to be out in the sun! My mom and I were out on the boat from 11-4 today and I got FRIED! I am a Grace Lobster.

Enjoying some boat time out on the lake. I got soo sunburned! 

             

           Love this outfit from my favorite store, Dry Goods! Adorable summer OOTD.

Edie Boutique! They had adorable jewelry and scarves!

   I love the Midwest during the summer! 

I hope you all enjoyed the pictures! I have to go to bed because of work early in the morning. I'm so tired from being out in the sun all day! Expect to hear from me again soon. <3

                                                            XO, 

                                                                  Grace Elle 

                                                        

2015 Baby Lips!!

Hey everyone! So, this post is dedicated to one of my favorite things in life next to Dunkin Donuts: Maybelline Baby Lips! My friends and boyfriend think I'm crazy, my mom doesn't understand, and I'll probably have to keep all of mine in a box because I HAVE TO HAVE THEM ALL!! I don't know what it is about Baby Lips... probably the fact that I'm obsessed with lip balm and also how there are so many fun colors to collect!

 Baby Lips and EOS <3

 I currently own or have owned every Baby Lips there is, even one from the UK. I'll have to make a post with my current collection later. But for now, here are all of the Baby Lips that came out in 2015!

From top to bottom:

All twelve of the Maybelline Baby Lips glosses (jelly finish, matte finish, shimmer finish)

All four of the Baby Lips Buds collection: From left to right- Hot Hibiscus, Peach Posey, Petal Rebel and Oh! Orchid 

Maybelline 100th Anniversary Collection (Four in total, two are repackaged scents and two are new)

Two new scents from left to right: Ra-Ra Red and Fuchsia Fix 

Baby Lips Glosses! A future post/review on these babies to come!

Limited Edition Spring 2015 Baby Lips Buds

Baby Lips Buds swatches: from left to right-

Hot Hibiscus, Peach Posey, Petal Rebel, and Oh! Orchid

Limited Edition 100th Anniversary swatches: from left to right-

Ra-Ra Red and Fuchsia Fix

As you can see, some of these balms are more pigmented than others, so it all depends on what you like best when it comes to lip color! All of these are usually pretty moisturizing, but sometimes the heavily pigmented ones act more like a lip color and leave my lips feeling a little dry. But I still love them either way! There is a Baby Lips balm for basically anything. I wouldn't recommend these colors if you have super dry lips and desperately need a healing balm (although Petal Rebel may work since it is the lightest color here), but there are other Baby Lips that can protect and heal (Quenched, Peppermint, Intense Care).

Where to buy? Some of the 100th Anniversary Collection colors may still be found in drugstores (Walgreens, CVS, possibly Walmart). The lip glosses can be found at either Target or Walmart (Walmart carries six shades, Target carries all twelve). As for the Buds, they are out of stores right now and can be found online. I found two Buds back at Walgreens in the spring when they first came out and found Peach Posey on BuyMeBeauty.com and Hot Hibiscus on Ebay!

What do you think of these Baby Lips? Let me know in the comments below!

                                                                XO,

                                                                     Grace Elle 

Weekend Recap

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! I was MIA for the past few days and have some updates!

I was supposed to compete in a horse show up in Oshkosh this past weekend, but sadly it didn't end up working out (I'll have to discuss horses in a future post). I already had work off, so I decided to take advantage of the three extra days I had and visited my boyfriend, Anthony, and his family.  This was my first time meeting his parents because we have been living in two different states and we were both busy with work.  I'm so glad I finally had the time, because his family was wonderful! We stayed at his mom's house Thursday and Friday night and his dad's Saturday night. I actually hadn't planned on staying at his dad's Saturday, we had tornado warnings and bad storms and my mom didn't want me to drive back home in the rain.

Thursday evening's makeup: super bold brows and Maybelline Baby Lips in Limited Edition Pink Wink

Thursday I had dinner with Anthony and his mom, her fiance, and Anthony's brother, who I had already met once.  After dinner, Anthony took me to the drive-in movie theater by his house to see Minions and Inside Out. Both were super cute! The only issue was the rain, it was pouring so much that we couldn't see the screen. So we ended up just catching up on our past week and talking about work until the movies were over. Oops. I was able to watch most of Minions, however, and I told Anthony that I wanted to see Inside Out again ASAP!

Friday morning we had plans to go to Brookfield Zoo. But first, Anthony took me to one of my favorite places in the whole world (Dunkin Donuts) to get some iced coffee and then we went to THE BEST bagel place ever. County Farm Bagels is located in a strip mall so it is easy for it to be overlooked, but it is the cutest and most unique little bagel shop I have ever been in. Anthony had told me about it at school, and I was so glad that he decided to take me there! They had the most unique flavors, such as Asiago and rosemary, strawberry banana, and french toast. There were so many different kinds of bagels, I can't write them all on here because I don't even remember! There were also different cream cheeses that went along with the bagels! Anthony got a french toast bagel with honey almond cream cheese, and I got a Parmesan bagel with plain cream cheese. They were SO good! For the rest of my time in Anthony's hometown, I couldn't stop talking about the bagel place and wanted to go every single day.  I absolutely love bagels, but it's probably a good thing Anthony wouldn't let me go every single day! ;)

County Farm Bagels aka Grace's version of heaven

Their adorable menus! They had so many options to choose from!

Their "seasonal offerings" board offered pumpkin bagels and cream cheese in the fall and peppermint coffees and hot chocolates in the winter! 

Um, it's July but sure I'll have some

The entire place had a cozy, homey feel and was decorated with cute coffee mugs! 

"Let me take a picture of you with our coffees"

Anthony was starting to get annoyed with my picture taking 

Anthony's french toast bagel. Yep, that's powdered sugar

Parmesan cheese bagel UGH so good

After our bagels we went to the zoo, where we only stayed for a few hours because it was so incredibly hot! 

OMG I had to

Cute polar bear trying to keep himself cool! 

Once again, I had to 

Sorry Anthony 

After the zoo, we quickly got ready for dinner! We went out to celebrate Anthony's younger brother Thomas, since he just turned 18! 

Anthony's dog, Jake, was adorable! 

Happy 18th birthday Thomas!

The next day we went to see Anthony's dad, his stepmom, and his younger half-brother Nick.  We got lunch at a sports bar where Anthony and his dad go and play volleyball on Wednesday nights and I also got to meet his grandma! Later on in the evening I begged Anthony to take me to Cookie Dough Creations in downtown Naperville so I could just see what their cookie dough tasted like. Since it didn't have eggs or baking soda, it had more of a cream texture and a melt-in-your-mouth feel.  Not exactly what I was hoping for but at the same time I'm glad I got to finally try it! 

A "kid's cup" (the thing was huge!) of Oreo cookie dough

"Take a bite and let me take a picture of you for the blog"

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend filled with new adventures and wonderful people.  That's all I have for now! Hopefully everyone has a fabulous night!

                                                        XO, 

                                                               Grace Elle 

P.S. 

I got this Snapchat from my friend McKenzie a few days ago and it made me SO PROUD... I'm so glad that I'm getting my friends to love Baby Lips ;)  I'd say she has a pretty good collection so far!

<3

A little fitness background + The After Work Energizer + Recipes from Lea Michele

Hi everyone! A couple of things...

First off, I want to thank everyone for all of the support for my blog and my first post! As I mentioned, putting yourself out there online for the whole world to see can be scary. I'm so lucky to have such wonderful people in my life who always stand behind me and help me achieve things that make me happy!

Second, since today will be my first fitness post, I wanted to give you all a background about me + fitness...

After completing a half marathon down at school a few years ago!

Me after the 2013 Chicago Marathon! Wee!

Fitness (um, running) has played such a huge part in my life and has brought me through a bunch of rough spots (more on all of that later). HOWEVER... I am not one of those people who is a die hard gym freak. I loveee going to the gym but you definitely won't see me doing an intense hour in there every day. I don't let going to the gym or "eating clean" take over my life. In fact, when I see those "eat clean every dayyyyy" people on Instagram I want to throw my iPhone out the window. Some of you may not agree with me, but I don't think that is entirely realistic. Instead, I like substituting healthy foods in certain meals and eating foods that are good for me and make me happy. I may have egg whites and kale for breakfast but then have a short stack of chocolate chip pancakes at work (oops). It really is all about balance. But it is true that I feel better when I eat healthier!

I mentioned that I have ran two Chicago Marathons, back to back in 2013 and 2014. 26.2 miles (plus all of the extra training miles) can be really tough on your body. I was actually injured last year during my second one and decided to take a huge running break for months. Not that I didn't still love it, but my body was burned out and needed a break.

Now, I run a couple times a week. Four to six miles are now my "long runs". If I'm completely honest, this summer has been a little bit of a struggle for me seeing my body change as a result of not running as much as before. Before, I was running five out of seven days during the week racking up huge miles. I was constantly moving, constantly working out. This summer I work all day five out of the seven days, and then I come home and I'm tired.

I want to work out and need to because it always helps my mood, but laying on the couch and watching The Bachelorette is even more tempting. So that's been a little rough. But one of my favorite quotes is "loving your body only when it's in the right shape is loving your kids only when they are well behaved". LOL because I obviously don't have any kids, but that quote helps me a lot because it has taught me how unrealistic it is for your body to look perfect all the time. Heck, when I come home from work, I feel bloated and tired and just blah, even when I've eaten healthy all day. I've struggled with body image for quite a while in my life and I don't want to feel sad or upset about how I look anymore. Sooo, maybe we can start this body positive journey all together :)

Me after finishing third place in my age group at a half marathon in Chicago in March 2014. I was so excited! 

Today's workout is inspired by work. No really, I'm not kidding. During work today, I couldn't stop thinking about how I wanted to create a little workout to help people feel more energized right when they get home, because I for one feel so blah and lazy. Hopefully doing this quick workout will help you all feel a little better instead of reaching for that Starbucks Frappe! ;) 

*Please note that I am NOT health and fitness professional. Please consult your health care provider before starting any fitness program.*

"The After Work Energizer": A short workout designed to help you feel more awake after work and get your heart pumping! Instructions for afterward? Binge watch The Bachelorette! 

1. After work stretch

• My favorite move that I learned at a yoga class!
• With feet shoulder width apart, take either your left or right hand (doesn't matter) and slowly push the back of your head down to get a good stretch in your neck to help ease any tension from work. 

2. Run a mile around your neighborhood to get your heart rate up!

• I like to use the Nike + Running app on my iPhone to track my miles. I also have a Garmin watch which I used to use when I was in training.
• Run at any pace you feel comfortable with!
• Remember basic form: abs tight, shoulders back, eyes up

2. 25 sit-ups 

• I do these with my legs straight, but you can have your knees in table top position, bent or in any way that feels most comfortable!

Why am I at the very end of my mat in these? Oops! 

3. Jump rope- 60 jumps

4. 30 second plank

• If this is a little hard to do on your elbows, you can do the modified raised version!

Here is the modified version!

5. 60 jumps again with the jump rope!

6. 40 mountain climbers!

After my workout I saw that my mom was making the "Italian Comfort Soup" from Lea Michele's book Brunette Ambition. I would recommend this book to anybody interested in health and wellness! She talks about her life as well as offer health and beauty tricks! I love the recipes in the book. They are so healthy and make you feel good! I can't wait to have the soup tonight!

Hey, mom! You're on my blog!

Thanks for reading, everyone! I hope you enjoyed my workout and have a great rest of your day :)

                                                            XO, 

                                                                       Grace Elle 

LOL @ my face! "I need chocolate and TV!"