My DWTS Top Dances Pick

If you don't follow me on Twitter you probably don't know that I am obsessed with Dancing With the Stars. I have watched the show since season 1 when I was 8 and have been an avid fan ever since. I will be live tweeting the finale tonight (just request to follow me, I am going private for a bit)and my pick to win is Maks and Meryl <3 Since I didn't get my video out yesterday partly because I am so into this DWTS finale, I wanted to do something related to DWTS tonight while I wait for the finale to come on. Over the seasons I have had many favorite dances but last night topped them all, I have to agree Carrie Ann (judge). 

5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-nnLIExbd8

This first one is quite a throwback to Season 10 Week 8 with Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas. I normally am not a fan of Mark's because his theme and choreography is usually too out there for me but this dance stunned me. I was 12 at the time and I can remember sobbing after this dance. 

4. Shawn Johnson and Derek Hough Freestyle All Star Season

I love this dance. It is such a fun and celebratory piece not only of their journey that season but the spirit of the show in general. Plus Derek was my babe at the time ;)

3. Maria Menounos and Derek Hough Viennese Waltz Season 14 Week 8  

I am a sucker for Viennese Waltzs and this was no exception. I also sobbed after this dance epsecially after seeing the package because I feel like everyone can relate to this dance and what Maria was struggling with that week. It still amazes me.

2. Kelly Monaco and Val Chmerkovskiy All Star Season Week 4

Wow, I am realizing how much I adore these emotional dances. I cried after this dance too mostly because of the personal meaning of this song for me and Val and Kelly's chemistry. I shipped them, no shame. This dance was pure art and vulnerability made into beauty. 

1. Meryl Davis and Maksim Chmerkovskiy Season 18 Week 9

I cried again, who is surprised? This is a beautiful song and a beautiful dance to match. I have probably watched it 500 times since last night when it aired and it takes my breath every single time. Standing alone it is powerful and emotionally driven but for me, having seen Meryl and Maks' journey and knowing that he said this dance was from him to Meryl it made it all the more enchanting.

Thanks for reading,

XOXO

Gretchen

Breakfast On The Go | Fitness Friday 7

Hello Lovelies! Early mornings are hard for me and I can't eat breakfast as soon as I get up anyway so this year I have been bringing breakfast with me to school. Here's my typical morning: I wake up at 7:10, I put my computer in my backpack, pull back my hair, brush my teeth, put on deodorant and my uniform then grab food and get out the door by 7:20. Sounds like a speed race, right? That's one of the perks of going to an all girls school, no need to do my hair and put on make-up. Well, you might also be wondering how I can get an actual breakfast and do all that other stuff in 10 short minutes or maybe you go to an all girls school and understand. Either way I am going to share with you my tricks to getting in a healthy breakfast without much preparation time in the morning.

Here's my number one trick: Pack up your lunch the night before. It has been my saving grace for healthy eating. I cut up fruits and vegetables and make my lunches and now my breakfasts too.

Breakfast number 1: My favorite breakfast is a quite simple one and the one I eat most often. Vanilla Greek Yogurt, Natural's Granola with Dark Chocolate, and one banana. This is about 400 calories which is actually, from what I have learned is a little low on calories for breakfast. I chose these three items to have together because you can get some of the benefits from dairy products and the granola and banana are high in fiber. And the granola also is high in protein which helps get the body awake and ready for the day.  I buy individual yogurts so I can just blend in the granola and eat the banana separately but honestly I could chop it and put it into my granola if I wanted but I normally won't eat both at the same time. This is easy because I put the granola in a bag the night before and put that, a plastic spoon, and my banana in my lunch bag then leave the yogurt in the refrigerator with the other foods for my lunch that need to remain cold.  And grab them all in the morning on my way out the door.

Breakfast Number 2: This is also a new discovery but I found low-calorie apple cinnamon crunchy oatmeal made by Quaker. Take a thermos and put hot water in it. If you have a Keruig use that to heat and pour the water into the thermos. The thermos keeps the water warm and then you can add the oatmeal when you're ready to eat it. It's simple and delicious.

Breakfast Number 3:  This is more preparation time but it is still easy to grab in the morning because all the prep can be done at night. Hard boil two eggs the night before and put them in the fridge. Then I have a grapefruit with it to complete my meal.

Once again, thanks for reading. I hope you can find this useful. Also, sorry for the lack of pictures and the weird format. I'm not sure why it is like this or how to fix it.

XOXO

Gretchen

April Favorites and Announcements

Hello lovelies! I meant to get this video out last Monday but life and jet lag happened while I wasn't at school so even though it is now the second week of May I am sharing my April favorites. April was an exciting and crazy month for me so most of these items are things you have already seen I just added some reviews to products from hauls and some things are from France so those are new.

The absolute best part of my month was getting to go to France. I don't want it to seem as though I get to go on amazing trips just for fun and I can at the drop of a pen. I have been saving up to go on this trip for 3 years and it has been a dream of mine since I was 6. It was a huge deal that I actually got to go and I enjoyed every moment of it. Now of course, I cannot wait to go back. France is a gorgeous country and has an beautiful culture. 

Now for the announcements:

First, I am devastated I lost the rest of the vlog footage from France. Not only am I loosing the ability to share those experiences but I no longer have that for myself to look back on years from now when the memories get a little foggy and being a sentimental girl that breaks my heart. 

Enjoy the favorites video and feel free to let me know any of your thoughts.

Second, since I loved vlogging so much I am adding another day of posts to my schedule. On Wednesdays I will now be posting vlogs. This will be starting next Wednesday since I just made the decision today to add this into the week. I have a little bit of a treat for then, I found some old footage I took about 3 or 4 years ago on a family vacation to Walt Disney World and the beech in Florida. I am working on editting it now and hope to share it soon.

Thanks for you support!

XOXO

Gretchen 

Work-out Playlist | Fitness Friday 6

Hello Lovelies.  I am almost done with school which means summer finally and those summer playlists. I've been listening to a lot of summer style music lately just to get me in the mood for summer and today I want to share 5 of my favorite summer songs that I love listening to while I workout. So take this as either fitness or summer or maybe both.

1. "I Luh Ya Papi" by JLo and French Montana

This is my favorite song right now. I listen to it over and over again. I love the feel of it because I could be sitting burried under blankets on my bed but it takes me to a beech in the Caribbean and I can't help but get up and move. 

2. "XO" by Beyonce

Has been and will forever be one of my favorite songs. It is such a vibrant song that just makes me want to go out and live some adventures. It's not the best song to dance to which stinks because that is my favorite exercise but it puts me in a wonderful mood and ready to face the world.

3. "SURFBOARD" by Cody Simpson

Now I am not a fan of these solo teen boy acts just because I can't deal with bunches of screaming girls so I just don't even get into these teen boys to save myself frustration. But since Cody Simpson was on Dancing with the Stars and I happen to be giant fan of that show I ended up hearing him dance to this song on that show. I absolutely fell in love with it. It is such a fun song and has the pop feel but then brakes down into a tropical acoustic part that just pulled me in. 

4. "I Love You More Than You Think" by Rizzle Kicks

I just discovered this song and have no clue how long its been around or if it was a popular song at some point but right now I love it. This one is another one that just gives of that summer romance fun flirty vibe and I love songs like that at this time of the year. Plus, I can really get down to this song.

5. "Problem" by Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea

Ariana Grande is one of my absolute favorite female singers of all time and of course I jumped on her new song. It has an amazing upbeat and fun feel to it that just makes me want to work off every problem of my past and release those happy endorphins.

Thanks and enjoy some of these songs!
XOXO
Gretchen

tbt pic circa 2010. Go fitness and fun!

No More Vlogs

Hello. I hate to say this but I can't continue my vlogs. My computer crashed today and they were only saved on there anymore so I lost all the footage from France. I am devastated that I lost all those memories. I can't even wrap my head around it at this point. I am so very upset. I thought I would let all of you know that I can't continue the vlogs and my computer crashed so that is why there has been a delay in posts. 

I'm sorry

France/Travel Lookbook

Bonjour Lovelies!! I have just returned from my trip to France and thought I would share a lookbook of my favroite outfits from the trip because I honestly love a lot of them. They are all comfortable but fashionable and reasonable for sight seeing or city days.

I wore this outfit for the flight and then for our first day. Since it was an overnight flight we had the entire day in front of us and knew we wouldn't really get time to change before the full day in Paris. Everything in this outfit is comfortable material and can be folded into very small sizes which is helpful when traveling. The sunglasses are from the Gap Outlet. They are just your everyday plain aviators and I wore them the entire trip in almost every picture I took with me in it. The knit black scarf is also a basic piece by BP. I got it as a gift but through a little resaerch I've found they carry them from time to time at Nordstom and Nordstrom Rack. The shirt is also Gap. It's actually a scoop neck long sleeve tee. It's the most comfortable shirt I own. I have this mint one and a white one and they are the perfect shirts to dress up a pair of jeans or anything because the shirt looks more formal but feels like pajamas.  The skirt is already featured in my First Weekend of Spring Haul video and it is a basic gray cotton skater skirt from H&M.  My jacket is a simple black rain coat/windbreak that I've had for ages. It ended up being chilly so I had to throw on leggings last minute which didn't exactly look great with my TOMS but it was okay. I wore gray TOMS around on the first day and my feet didn't hurt at all so I strongly recommend TOMS for any kind of city touring.

Day 2 in Paris I am once again in the black scarf and jacket. My purse I found at Nordstrom Rack a couple weeks ago. It is also featured in my March Favorites video and it has honestly became one of my favorite purses that I've ever had and I've been a bag carrier since I was about 8 so that is saying a lot. My dress I bought at T.J. Max it's by Cynthia Rowley. It's made of a spandex and cotton mix of material. It's a thick tank sleeve top with a scooped kneck. It could almost be qualified as a skater skirt style dress but it isn't quite there. I wore gray tights today with brown leather boots which was a mistake for a day full of walking. Watch out for my vlog to see the reprecussions. Don't worry, it's more bubbly than bloody.

This was one of my favorite looks I had planned out before I went on the trip but I ended up not liking how it looked as much as I thought I would but it was extremely comfortable. This is a cotton dress by Eliza J that I bought at Nordtrom Rack. The sweater is just a basic gray sweater but they are actually super hard to find, at least for me. This one I don't know much about other than it's from T.J. Max and my mom found it and I "borrrowed" it from her closet. My clutch is Coach and I bought it in Florida at an outlet mall. These metallic clutches are becoming really popular. Everytime I go to T.J. Max there is always a mulitude of different sizes and styles. Scarf is from Francesca's and since it is also a metallic color it's also pretty common to find similar scarves at most sotres in the mall. This outfit was comfrtable and warm which was perfect for a windy, chilly day of touring. 

I have had this top for ages but never wear it for some odd and unknown reason. The blue thin striped sweater is from Hollister Co. and under it I have a Gap t-shirt. Both items are actually quite odd things. The shirt is like a normall t-shirt but the sleeves are cut off so it is almost a tank. The blue sweater is sheer with stripes on it. It's very light but also keeps me warmer on a cooler sunny day in Spring. Skirt is the same gray skirt as before. These boots are ones I bought at Macy's. You can pretty much find boots similar at Macy's year round. Scarf and purse are also the same and for warmth I finished the look with black leggings. I actually ended up loving this look. It was practical and comfortable. On trips like this where you spend time on a bus or car to get from place to place it's good to be comfortable and this outfit did that for me.

This was an outfit I put together last  minute on the trip actually. I had brought a botton up white shirt to wear with this shirt but changed my mind from wearing it to this shirt because it is more comfortable and felt more liek a Spring shirt. The shirt is from Abercrombie and Fitch and they carry similar shirts every Spring although I don't like to support that store anymore. It feels like a basic shirt when wearing it but it actually has a lace overlay on the front with three buttons. It's simple, comfortable and a little more fancy. The scarf is the same as the gold one featured in an early outfit. It was quite chilly in the morning so I threw on a grey 3/4 length crop top sweater from Old Navy but once it came to be around 1 I got warm and just hung it over my shoulders. The skirt was also featured in my First Weekend of Spring Haul. It's from H&M and it's a double layered marron skirt with a black waist band that has a bow on the front. I love this skirt. It seems so classy to me. This outfit ranks lower on the comfort level because i don't like wearing non-elastic materials around my waist and stomach but other than that I love this outfit. 

First off ignore the black grease stain on my pants. We biked at this chateau so it got a bit of grease on my pants, arg. Pants are American Eagle and the shirt is from Old Navy. It's a plain button up shirt that I took to get monogrammed. Do a little research to see who monograms in your area. I wore my TOMS with this outfit. Not a complex outfit for this day. It was very comfortable though.

So here I have the lovely gray skirt again with my leggings and boots. This time I paired them up with a plain black tank from Target and a denim button up from Eddie Bauer. The scarf is from American Eagle. I like this scarf because not only is it knit but it also has some silver metallic woven into the knit which adds a sparkle to it. This outfit wasn't as comfortable as I thought it was going to be. I am on the look out for another denim shirt to go with this outfit becuase this one isn't the right cut. With a denim shirt of the right cut though I will fall in love with this outfit.

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed this post. If you are interested in this trip don't hesitate to check out the vlogs. I will be uploading one a day for the next 5 or 6 days.

Merci,

XOXO

Gretchen

FRANCE VLOG | DAY 3 AND 4

Hello lovelies! France day 3 and 4 are clumped into one short video for you all to enjoy. We didn't have as many things packed into the days so there wasn't as much footage.

Day 3 started early again. We woke around 6:30 and had to be ready to get on the bus by 8. At 8 the bus left Paris for our journey to Loches where we would be staying with host families for the remainder of our trip. On our way to Loches we stopped at two places. First we stopped at Versaille and visited the insides of the palace. It was amazing and grand. Then we got back on the bus for another 45 minutes and went to Chartre to see the church there which is one of the oldest churches ever. It's been standing since medival times. We also had lunch there and got to explore the town. We found an adorable open air market selling all types of old antiques so we got to test our French skills there. Then we got back on the bus and dorve for 3 hours to Loches. It was 8 pm by the time we got there and Elizabeth and my host mom came to pick us up. We went back to their house and had dinner and went straight to bed. We were nervous about the stay after dinner because we didn't understand nearly as well as we did in Paris. The accents is much thicker and stronger in Loches so it was a struggle that first night.

Day 4 was the families celebration of Easter so for lunch we went to the mom's mom's house where the family was gathering and celebrated with them. Thank goodness our teacher happened to be staying at that house or else that day would've been just as rough as the previous night. Let me tell you, it is hard, very hard, to keep up with a family conversation in another language. After lunch everyone walked to a festival that was happening in the town square area. It happened to be USA old west themed, what a coincidence. We only stayed there for a short time before walking back to the house where the little kids all played some more and at 7 we finally left to go back to our house. 

Thanks for reading and watching

XOXO

Gretchen

FRANCE VLOGS | DAY 2

Hello lovelies! I've just realised I never shared France day 2 with the blog here. 

Day 2 was our busy day. We woke up early to get to the Louvre. We did some shopping there while we waited for our tour guide to get our enterance tickets. Then we toured the museum. After we had lunch in the shopping area there. Then walked across the Seine to Musee D'Orssay. Once again we had to wait until our tickets were ready so we had mini photoshoots outside the museum. Once we got in we had a rather long tour there and no photos or videos were allowed which bummed me out. Everyone's feet were dying also so it was a rough tour of a beautiful place. Next we were heading to the Eiffel Tower but it got very cloudy yucky after we were stuck inside on a beautiful morning. Once we got there the lines were too long to fit into our schedule to go up the Eiffel Tower and it was raining so we just went around the area to the best photo ops for pictures. Then hopped back on the metro where we were serenaded by an accordian player which felt very classic French-esque. We were heading to Notre Dame for Easter Saturday mass but they cancelled the 6:30 to prepare for the world-wide televised 9 mass so we couldn't do that. Instead we headed to Shakespeare and Company which is one of only two book stores in the world. Then we stopped for crepes and treats and began to walk through the Latin Quarter on our way to dinner. Dinner was delicious and we stopped for gelatto after then went back to the hotel. Our feet were dying so Halle and Jordan  came over for a spa night then after they left Margaret and Annie came and we had a lovely chat. Then I filmed a Paris Haul to finish day 2.

Thanks

XOXO

Gretchen

BANANA PANCAKES | Fitness Friday 4

Hello Lovelies! It's Fitness Friday (let's pretend it's not past midnight right now) and I decided to try out the healthy banana pancake recipes everyone is raving about. Here's how things went.

Recipe

1 Banana

2 Eggs

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Flour or pancake mix (depends how healthy you want to go)

1. Mash banana in small bowl

2. Add eggs

3. Mix well

4. Add cinnamon and vanilla

5. Stir in flour until you get a pancake consistency

6. Turn on burner or stove to medium-low heat

7. Once pan is hot butter it then pour on a small section of your batter

8. After a few minutes slide spatula around edges. If it's not sliding off the spatula go ahead and flip it.

9. Let it cook for a few more minutes then remove from pan and repeat steps 7-9.

10. ENJOY!!

FRANCE VLOGS | DAY 1

Hello lovelies! I am back from France and have one of the vlogs editted. The trip was amazing and I hope the vlogs can show that. Here is day one. Enjoy :)

Day 1 included seeing Notre Dame Cathedral, Chams Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, Galeries Lafayette, Monmatre, and Sacre Coeur. Sadly I didn't get footage of everywhere we went. Thanks for watching. I am working on a post of all my outfits and also the rest of the vlogs of course. 

Thanks. XOXO