BUT. There are still a ton of gems out there! Here are some articles and great blogs that I think are worth a read.

polish my crown.
This is one of my favorite blogs and a daily visit. Andi is one of the most inspirational women I know (and she may or may not be my virtual pen pal). Girl gives some great advice! I find myself constantly bookmarking posts like this.

15 things girls like to do on social media.
Who…us??

waiting on perfection.
My friend Jessica is doing amazing things with her Pure Beauty Project and for women in general.

the curse of the connector.

how sweet eats.
My favorite food blog for years, and my go-to when trying new recipes. Not only are Jessica’s recipes creative and delicious, but she’s just a cool chick. No food-snobbery here.

the 10 girls you’ll meet at every post-college bar.
This is too hilarious…and unfortunately too true. Thanks, Thought Catalog, for saying what everyone else is already thinking.

the divine appointments.

51 animal pictures you need to see before you die.
No explanation necessary.

why you need to tell someone how scared you are.

nyoutritious.
My friend Regina has so much knowledge when it comes to nutrition, and great recipes to match! Her Apple Cashew Cupcakes look especially delicious.

the ebb and flow of life.

life in your early 20′s vs. life in your late 20′s.
This gets an lol.

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What are some blogs/articles you’re loving right now?

Friday’s trip to Montauk was especially nice because we had a car instead of taking the train. One of the main reasons why?

Fully stocked kitchen – check.

Driving is oh so much prettier than taking the train.

Friday we had a fun night out with friends.

On Saturday Jessi and I made a massive breakfast for everyone. And by massive I mean 2 packages of bacon, 18 eggs, and 4 avocados.

The gluttony continued with a BBQ on the beach.

Later in the day we headed to Sloppy Tuna, where selfies upon selfies ensued.

Apparently Saturday night was too fun to bother snapping photos. Whoops.

Sunday breakfast of champions…

Church! It was so great yesterday. I’m already having FOMO to be missing it next week…

I rounded out the weekend by coming back to the city, going to Liberty USQ, walking home on the gorgeous night, and enjoying a like, really classy dinner.

It was a great weekend, to say the least. I’ll be with my family next weekend to celebrate Father’s Day + Katie’s going away party, so I’m glad I got a good dose of Montauk to last me another two weeks!

As usual, will leave you with some Monday inspiration…

(This last one from Cambria’s journal )

Hope your week is off to a great start, friends!

What did you do over the weekend? Any highlights?

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” Paulo Coelho
“Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.” F. Scott Fitzgerald
“Remember that failure is not the opposite of success, it is a part of success.” – Unknown

Failure. It’s one of those things that even the strongest, most intelligent, most confident of us fear. Whether it’s starting a new endeavor or succeeding at the one we’re currently in, it’s difficult to escape the concern in the back of our mind that we might screw it up.

Some people hold the mindset of “failure isn’t an option,” and others lean towards the idea that “the only way to fail is by not trying.” I strongly hold to the latter mindset, and believe that that’s the best way to flourish in both your professional and personal life.

One of my biggest personal failures was my first attempt at moving to New York City. After just a few months here, I let the city eat me alive, and I ended up back in suburban Pennsylvania. I swore I’d never attempt the city life again. I’d like to blame the failure on being an inexperienced and naive 19-year-old, and for a few years I tried to forget about the experience all together. But the truth is that without that failure, I may have never learned the crucial lessons that allowed me to successfully move back to New York three years later. So now, as a proud and content dweller of NYC, I wouldn’t trade that failure for the world.

Here are my four ways to overcome the fear of failure, and why doing so is so important.

1. Accept that failure is a reality.
Let’s be real here. No matter how much you learn and move forward from a failure in life, the fact of the matter is that failure does happen – even to the best of us. But you know what? Who cares! I’ve personally found that as soon as you accept failure as a reality, it won’t be this big, frightening thing that you once thought it was. You’d be surprised at how much freedom that gives you to move forward, try new things, and experience successes you might not have otherwise.

2.Remember past failures.
No really – think about the last failure you had in life. Did your world come crashing down around you? Even if it did (it has for me), chances are you’ve moved on, gotten past it, and have become stronger and wiser because of it. So the next time you find yourself not taking a certain chance or being crippled by the fear of failure, remember that you’ve overcome failure before…and you will again.

3.Listen to other people’s stories.
Something that has always encouraged me when it comes to taking risks despite the threat of failure is learning the stories of people who have achieved great things, or at least have gone through similar situations. Some of the biggest innovators and most successful people will admit to having gone through multiple failures before arriving to where they are now. The reason why brings me to my last point…

4.Learn, reflect, and learn some more.
You can study and memorize facts all day long, but there’s nothing that compares to the learning that comes from personal experience. Like I said before, failure is just a part of life – the key is how you deal with it. Not only is overcoming failure a huge step in building character, but reflecting on how and why the failure took place is what will set you up for success moving forward.

This article was originally posted on The Huffington Post. Check out all of my articles here!

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Which of these do you agree with most? Anything you’d add?

That would be my beautiful sister, Katie. She doesn’t get to visit me nearly enough – and I’ve been needing her big sister love/advice more than ever lately – so the time together literally meant the world to me.

Katie got here Tuesday afternoon as I was wrapping up work. We spent a couple of hours just catching up, wandering around my neighborhood, and walking to the pier.

Then we went home and got all dolled up for the night. Say sister selfieee.

We decided we wanted to enjoy the nice weather and walk to dinner, so we went to nearby Eatery. And…we went to town, to say the least.

I honestly wish I could go to Comedy Cellar like…every week. Each time I go the lineup is different, but the comedians are consistently hilarious. Definitely a good choice if you’re looking to try something new and fun in the city (but make sure to make a reservation ahead of time!).

I had off from work yesterday, so soon after waking up we headed out to enjoy the gorgeous day. Our first stop was for brunch, naturally.

Then we headed to Soho for some more exploring, shopping, and Saturdays.

I snagged some presents for myself from Free People and Necessary Clothing, and Katie got a cute little NYC souvenir.

Katie headed back home yesterday evening for what turned out to be short but perfect 24-hour sister date. Miss ya already, sis!

Do you live near your siblings? How often do you spend time with them?

A couple of weeks ago my roommates and I decided we wanted to hire a cleaning lady to come once a month. Lucky for us, literally a few days later a representative from Exec Cleaning reached out to me and asked if I’d like to try their services. Um…yes please!

Booking with Exec was SO easy. Everything was done online – I was able to fill out our apartment information, pick a date and time, and secure payment is made online as well (the charge occurs after cleaning takes place and includes tip!). After booking I received a confirmation text message, as well as texts on the day of. How convenient is that?

Two cleaning ladies came to our apartment and literally made the place sparkle from top to bottom. They brought all their own organic cleaning products and supplies and made our apartment look the best it ever has…complete with not just cleaning but also organization.

I would definitely utilize exec cleaning again. In fact, were going to book through them for our next cleaning, for sure.

Interested in trying exec cleaning for yourself? Leave a comment to enter to win a free cleaning!

***Exec is only available in San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, San Diego, or Seattle, so please only enter if you’re in one of those locations***

How to enter:

1) leave a comment saying why you’d like to try Exec cleaning services.
2) tweet about the giveaway: I entered @alagracie’s @EXEC giveaway! http://tinyurl.com/nzkk3ft

Be sure to leave a comment for each entry for them to be counted accordingly. Contest ends on Monday 6/17 at 4pm EST.

Exec cleaning also offered a coupon code for my readers for $40 off your next cleaning! Go to their website and use code “girlmeetsexec.”

Good luck!

***UPDATE 6/17: Winner has been emailed!***

We’ve been through a lot over the past couple of years – especially when it comes to relationships and heart stuff – so you can imagine how ecstatic I was for my best friend when she got engaged last week.

The icing on the cake came a few days ago when Jessi asked me to be her Maid of Honor!

How adorable is that little message in a bottle?! The sand is from the beach Parker proposed on, which is the same beach they’ll be getting married on in September. Yup…perfection.

As if this summer wasn’t going to be fun enough, now I get to help my best friend plan her dream wedding! Congratulation again, you little supermodels, you.

Have you ever been a MOH? Any tips for this first-timer??

My record-breakingly small weekend bag. Who am I?

There’s this trend of the weekend weather starting out horribly.

But nothing a few hours of watching Portlandia on an iPad can’t fix.

The rain didn’t keep us from a fun Friday night out.

Saturday we brunched at Surf Lodge…

…followed by another fun and silly day from start to finish.

The plaid memo was clearly received on Saturday night.

As was the dance party memo.

On Sunday morning we had a great church service, followed by a not so great trip back to the city. And by not so great I mean our train broke down, we got transferred to school buses for an hour, back to the train for another hour, and home 3.5 hours later than we were supposed to be. It was an adventure, to say the least!

I’m now working here from my cozy little room, getting ready and excited for a great week ahead. As usual, will leave you with some inspiration on this Monday

What was the highlight of your weekend?
Have any interesting travel stories?

I also just can’t get enough of… the Smokey Avocado Wrap from Blossom Du Jour. So vegan, so delicious. I may or may not order it 2-3 times a week.

I just can’t get enough of…Tyler Knott Gregson. Um, heart explosion?

…and of tumblr in general. GML has some competition :/

Lastly, Supernatural Ways of Royalty. It’s one of those books I just can’t put down.

What are you loving/can’t get enough of right now?
Reading anything good?

It’s okay to feel beautiful, confident, and strong. Post a selfie while you’re at it.

But it’s also okay to feel weak. Don’t be so hard on yourself.

It’s okay to listen to a song over, and over, and over.

And over.

It’s okay to skip a workout. Or every workout.

It’s okay to not know what you’re doing with your life. Does anyone, really?

It’s okay to have mom come stay with you for a day or two. Just because.

It’s okay to eat frozen yogurt for dinner.

It’s okay to stay in on a Friday night.

It’s okay to have a crazy Monday night out.

It’s okay to admit when you’re being ridiculous…and keep being ridiculous anyway.

It’s okay to not always be okay.

But it’s also okay to be happy when you don’t feel like you should be.

It’s okay to change your mind.

But it’s also okay to know exactly what you want.

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Your turn – what’s your “it’s okay?”