Whoops, I’ve Instagrammed Everything Buzzfeed Told Me Not To

by sparkleandshinesami

Buzzfeed recently published an article called The Things No One Wants to See You Instagram and whoops, I’ve done them all at one point or another.

Saying I’ve had Instagram for two years probably won’t help the fact that I still made Buzzfeed’s vital mistakes – but here are my Instagrams of everything I shouldn’t be Instagramming.

FYI readers, most of them are from the very beginning when I got my Instagram during high school. Soooo don’t let these posts hinder you from following me on Instagram! You can do so: here.

1. Food

2. Self Shots

3. Your Feet/Shoes

4. Garbage

5. Nothing

6. You Being Bored

7. Someone else’s picture

8. Clouds

9. You Being Artsy

10. Inside a bathroom

Some of them may have been stretches – like the garbage picture being a note from my friend Megan. More importantly, my nothing photo being of the beautiful Central Park (but did I really need to Instagram that 16 months ago? Probably not). Either way, we’ve all made these Instagram mistakes at least once in a while (though I must admit my mirror picture with the shower CLEARLY behind us all is a pretty big mistake). Though I don’t Instagram One Direction any more, I still may post a selfie or a wanna-be-artsy picture from time to time!

How many of these Instagram mistakes have you made? Comment below and let me know!

12May2014

My Monday Musts

by sparkleandshinesami

Happy Monday, readers!

I apologize for this post being so late – I’ve been working like crazy as soon as I came home from school. Those sorority dues, potential spring break, and shopping sprees aren’t going to pay themselves! That’s where my job comes in – 5 days a week so I can some money and spend it how I want to, before I enter the real world and need to spend it on bills and other grown up things.

However, I am finally home for summer from school. I’ve been home since Thursday and am already missing my friends and sisters so much. Thinking back onto second semester of sophomore year, I am so proud of myself for all of my accomplishments. I was the weather girl for my school’s TV station, became the social chair of my sorority, got my fabulous contract with Seventeen Magazine as a member of the Seventeen Social Club, became a Resident Assistant, and so much more – all while maintaining a Dean’s List GPA.

Check out some of my second semester highlights – as posted as a PicStitch on my Instagram:

Now, enough about sophomore year, here is this week’s Monday Musts!

1. Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappachino from Starbucks

Finals week means one thing – I have more coffee pumping through my veins than every day of the semester combined. Between numerous Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks runs, I decided to try something new from Starbucks – the Mocha Cookies Crumble Frap! It was absolute heaven with Oreo crumbs sprinkled on top. Yum, yum, yum! Since calories don’t count during finals week (right?), it was well worth the venti! Next time you’re at Starbucks looking for something new and to splurge, get the Mocha Cookie Crumble Frap. Especially check it out during Starbuck’s Happy Hour til 5 p.m.!

2. “White Girl Problems” Book

Another perk of being home for the summer – being able to spend any/all of my free time reading. I decided to pull myself away from John Green drama-eque novels and read the humorous best selling novel “White Girl Problems.” The hysterical novel follows around Babe Walker, the daughter of a millionaire who is stuck in rehab after having a mental break down in Barney’s. Babe gets the term “White Girl Problems” at rehab – where she believes none of the patients have truly ever experienced real “White Girl Problems.” So, Babe decides to tell you all about her real and true problems. I’ve been laughing my entire way through the 272 page novel, that I can’t wait to finish it tonight and start the sequel, “Psychos.” The novel was written by a Total Sorority Move blogger, so you can just imagine how hysterical it truly is!

3. Total Sorority Move App

As a sorority girl, I often love the hilarity and honest truth behind Total Sorority Move. If you follow me on Twitter, you know just how much I love them based on all my retweets. Once TSM announced that they had an app out, I quickly had to download it. All of their articles are now right at my fingertips with the app! I can stay up to date with all the new articles with the easy download of the free TSM app. Anyone else who loves Total Sorority Move MUST download the app!

Enjoy the rest of your week, readers! With my day off tomorrow, I know I sure will – full of blogging, working out, reading, an at home spa day, and much more. Keep sparkling!

11May2014

Bathing Suit Shopping Spree, thanks to Seventeen Magazine!

by sparkleandshinesami

So if you haven’t guessed by now – there are plenty of perks of being a member of Seventeen Magazine’s “Seventeen Social Club.”

The latest perk? A bathing suit shopping spree at Target, thanks to Seventeen Magazine!

Seventeen Magazine sent me a Target gift card to find a bathing suit that I absolutely loved! This is what I chose:

The print was super cute. Plus, it included an under wire, which is something I always look for when choosing my bathing suits. It’s often hard to find a cute bathing suit with under wire – but Target had just what I needed!

When choosing what bottoms to go with the top, I selected a simple black pair. When choosing my bathing suit bottoms, I often go for a solid black. It’s super versatile and I can’t get many wears out of it with many different tops.

How was I able to choose a bathing suit top AND bottoms with out it coming together in a set?! Because Target offers “mix & match bikini” styles – so I can choose whatever I want!

Are you interested in finding your own mix and match bikini from Target? Check out Xhilaration swim suits in the juniors section!

I’m super happy with my swim suit and I know you will be too, readers!

Thanks for feeding my shopping addiction, Seventeen, and thank you Target for my super cute bathing suit! Follow me on Instagram to see what other summertime styles I will be rocking this summer.

5May2014

The Makeup Show NYC thanks to Seventeen Magazine!

by sparkleandshinesami

Happy Monday, readers! My Monday Musts are going to go on hold this week because I have something much more exciting to share with you all!

As you know, I am a member of Seventeen Magazine’s “Seventeen” social club.

Well, thanks to having that fabulous contract with Seventeen, my little diamond, Amber, and I got to to go as press to The Makeup Show in New York City yesterday!

It started as a very early morning for us! Since we go to school in Connecticut, we had to take a 7:30 train from New Haven to arrive in Grand Central at 9:30. A lot of the show began at 10 a.m., we wanted to make sure we were there in time. That 5:45 a.m. alarm was a rough one- but we were able to stay awake on the train – not just because of each other’s company, but thanks to Dunkin!

Once we got into the city, we took a taxi over to the Metropolitan Pavilion to start our day at The Makeup Show NYC!

First, we got to check in. One of the coolest moments of my life had to be telling people I was there “as press” and getting to surpass the line and head over to the press check in. Then, I got to tell people I was there for Seventeen Magazine. It was such an amazing feeling. As an aspiring journalist, I was really seeing my dreams unfolding before my eyes.

There was so much to see and do – we really didn’t know where to begin! There were plenty of vendors, such as Sephora and Mac Cosmetics, there. There were also some makeup brands we haven’t really hard of, but we made sure to check out each vendor that was both upstairs and downstairs.

While going from station to station at each vendor, we were able to get some free samples, purchase some products, and even test out the different colors to see which ones we liked.

Besides displaying products, a lot of vendors and local makeup schools were doing different types of movie makeup designs to show off their talents. They were super cool to look at and completely breathtaking knowing people were doing it completely with makeup!

The Makeup Show NYC also offered plenty of different workshops on different makeup techniques. Amber, an occupational therapy major, and I, a journalism major, decided to take the time while at this once in a lifetime opportunity to check out makeup techniques we probably would never get to know.

With that being said, we learned how to do drag queen makeup…

…and special effects movie makeup!

It was so completely crazy. While we waited in the MAC line, we were looking around and couldn’t believe how many people there were. Check it out for yourselves –

After about 4 hours at the Makeup Show NYC, we decided to travel around the city!

I mean, who needs finals when you can go on a big diamond/little diamond date in the beautiful NYC!

We walked over to Times Square were we decided to adventure around!

We ended our day by eating lunch at The Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square.

Also, since it’s finals week and calories don’t count – we decided to splurge and get dessert.

After hours of makeup, sisterly bonding, and causing a little havoc in the city, in true sorority girl fashion, we had to end our adventure by doing one thing – SELFIES.

Then, it was back on the train to Connecticut. After spending almost 10 hours gallivanting around The Makeup Show, Times Square and Bryant Park, we were super exhausted. We had to head back home and back to the library for finals. Though we were exhausted, we had plenty of goodies from the day!

Though it was a very, very long day – I am so blessed to have spent the day with my little diamond who I love so much! Thanks for coming with me, Amb!

And if it wasn’t for being a member of the Seventeen Social Club, Amber and I never would have gotten the chance to receive these goodies!

Thank you so much for this opportunity, Seventeen Magazine! Remember readers, keep reaching for your dreams. You never know, one day you just may end up at The Makeup Show in New York City as press!

3May2014

No Need to Add More Stress from Breakouts during Finals Week

by sparkleandshinesami

Happy Saturday, readers!

As I’ve mentioned in this week’s Monday Musts, I’m about to enter finals week. As I’m stressing about all my finals, my performance monologue, and multiple papers, that last thing I want to worry about is breaking out! However, thanks to Seventeen Magazine, I’m not going to!

Seventeen Magazine sent me Biore’s Deep Pore Charcoal Cleanser to use.

The facial cleanser deep cleans 2x better and naturally purifies. It also has skin purifying technology and is oil-free.

After my last skin care package from my friends over at Seventeen Magazine, I couldn’t wait to try this one. Just like Murad, Biore’s deep pore charcoal cleanser did wonders for my skin!

My best friend, Julia, and I have been in the library until at least 1 a.m. since Wednesday preparing for finals and writing papers. I’ve been going completely makeup free these last few weeks to eliminate the time it takes to put it on in the morning to sleep in longer. However, every morning and night I make sure to wash my face. Thanks to Seventeen, I have been doing so with Biore’s deep pore charcoal cleanser and have seen such amazing results!

Finals exam times is so stressful – and normally causes me so many break outs. I work out even harder at the gym trying to relieve some of the stress, but that only makes me sweat even more. All that extra sweat will clog more pores. However, Biore, who is known to “free your pores!” has helped my skin stay clear.

My skin feels softer and doesn’t have a blemish on it. While I’m studying and writing papers, I don’t need to worry about any breakouts because Biore is keeping my face completely clean.

Just look at the library selfie posted above, there is not a single blemish on my face! All my focus is on these last few days of school and not any pimples.

Thanks Seventeen!

1May2014

Top 3 Instagrams of the Month: April 2014

by sparkleandshinesami

Happy May, readers!

Not only did those April showers bring May flowers, but it brought you April’s edition of my top Instagrams for the month of April!

It’s been a very busy month for me, so I’ve had plenty of Instagrams to share with you all. A majority of my Instagrams had a lot of likes – but is these below that had the most!

On April 11, I participated in my school’s Relay for Life in honor of my father who passed away when I was 16 years old. This was my second time participating in Relay for Life in honor of my father and each time I become stronger and it gets a little bit easier. The night is always made easier when I have my amazing sisters and best friends by my side. This year, I put my favorite picture of my father and I on my bag. It is thanks to him watching over me, that I have the strength to participate in Relay!

This Instagram let’s you see a little bit more of my funny and silly side. Last weekend, I thought it would be funny to put on my friend’s boat captain hat and my sunglasses that said SWAG and pretend to be funny. It seems that my Instagram followers thought that it was funny because I got over 80 likes on it!

and it turns out there are THREE pictures tied for my third most liked picture – each with 77 likes! So, here those three pictures are!

One of the perks of going to Quinnipiac University is having Sleeping Giant state park right across the street and having the beautiful mountain to hike. A bunch of my sisters and I hiked the mountain last week – it was great exercise and even better sisterhood bonding! Once at the top, Courtney and I decided to throw what we know and diamond at the top!

The second picture with 77 likes is from Alpha Delta Pi’s Diamond Dash event. These are my best friends, my sisters, and my people. One of the greatest parts of being in a sorority is finding people who will left you higher each and everyday. I would be nothing with out these girls, Alpha Delta Pi, or the amazing feeling of helping our incredible philanthropy, the Ronald McDonald House.Lastly, for the yearbook this year, our staff photos will be us featured in these frames we decorated! I decided to Whitagram mine to have everything else black and white except for the hot pink frame. It’s just a little reminder that in this black and white world, just add a little splash of color to it!

Remember too check out my top Instagrams from January, February, or March and stay up to date on my life via Instagram just follow me HERE.

30Apr2014

Surviving Finals Thanks to the UniVoxBox from Influenster!

by sparkleandshinesami

How’s your finals and week before finals going for you, readers?

Ask me and I’d show you this selfie:

But, thanks to Influenster, I received some awesome goodies in the UniVoxBox to help me survive this week and next week until I’m home in good ole’ Jersey!

No one has time to go get a manicure during these weeks – but luckily Influenster sent me an imPress press on-manicure set!

I won’t be running out of ink in my pens anytime soon because I have the Acroball Pure White pen to write out all my flash cards in.

Even after these late nights studying, I can still have a fresh looking face thanks to Rimmel London’s Stay Matte Foundation.

Then, I just add a pop of color on my lips thanks to the NYC Expert Last Lip color!

Lastly, I have some Red Rose real tea flavoring thrown in my backpack to mix into any of my drinks.

All these items are absolutely essential for finals week and the week before. I don’t need to stress as much thanks to these awesome products from Influenster!

I recommend all these products to you!

If you currently use any of them, comment below and tell me about it.

OR if you would like to be join Influenster and recieve awesome goodies like this, I can invite you! E-mail me at sparkleandshinesami@gmail.com for more information.

Best of luck with finals, readers!

I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

28Apr2014

My Monday Musts

by sparkleandshinesami

Happy Monday, readers!

My goodness – it’s my last full week of classes of my sophomore year of college. With that being said, my life this week will be spent even more in the library than normal, with hours of preparing for finals next week. I don’t know if I will get to any other posts this week, readers. For that, I thoroughly apologize.

However, once I get home for the summer – expect many, many posts! I have so many post ideas for the summer, which I can’t wait to write and share for you all to enjoy.

This past week has been quite an incredible one, that determining what would go into My Monday Musts has been SUPER hard.

My sorority won the Greek Cup at Quinnipiac – which deems us the best sorority on campus according to Fraternity & Sorority affairs, as well as the Scholastic Commitment award. With our last chapter of the semester being yesterday, and the last chapter with the Class of 2014, it is safe that I absolutely love my sorority with all my heart.

I also went on an incredible hike with some of my sisters! For me, I’m much more of an in-door elliptical type of person than an outside person, but it was still so fun!

Hope you enjoyed your April 25th…..

… and now it is time for this week’s Monday Musts!

1. Greek

Any spare second I have has been spent watching ABC Family’s hit show “Greek” on Netflix. I went through the entire first season within two days and am now almost done with season two. The fictional show is based at Cyprus-Rhodes University in Ohio. It follows are siblings Rusty and Casey Cartwright as the endure the Greek system. It features many stereotypes of Greek life within the fictional sororities and fraternities. There’s love triangles, mixers, and plenty of laughs to spare. Next to “Duck Dynasty,” this is my new favorite show and I am completely obsessed. If you’re looking for a new show to start on Netflix – start “Greek” ASAP!

2. This Weekend

The last weekend before finals is always THE greatest weekend at college. It’s your last true weekend together with all of your best friends before you go home for three months for summer. It’s full of crazy memories that you will MAKE your college year. For me, it was not only the last weekend with some of my best friends since they are going abroad for the fall semester, but it was also the first time spending this spring weekend with my little diamond and my best friend from home. There is no need for me to explain about it all, so why don’t I just show you some pictures?!

3. My Last Weather Forecast of the Semester

One of my greatest accomplishments of this semester was being the weather girl for my school’s television station, Q30. On Wednesday, I filmed my last weather forecast of the year. I can’t even tell you how happy doing the weather made me. It was just the start of my broadcasting career – and I can’t wait for what is it come for the rest of the semester. Learn more about Quinnipiac in our last newscast of the semester! (Also, here’s a funny story-so I showed up in my dress completely forgetting that the floral print had green leaves on it – which I couldn’t have against the green screen. When I stood in front of it, the states were coming through my dress and I then had to sprint across campus in my heels – what a typical Sami move).

Also, I received the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers award from Liza of Classy and Curly. You can check it out HERE.

Have an amazing week, readers! With finals coming up, remember to inhale the best and exhale the stress. Keep sparkling!

22Apr2014

Looking for a good book to read? Check out “Here and Now.”

by sparkleandshinesami

Hey, readers! I’ve got something special to share with you all thanks to Seventeen Magazine!

As a member of the Seventeen Social Club, I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of Ann Brashares’ novel “The Here and Now.” Now that novel is on sale for anyone to buy it, I recommend going out to get it ASAP!

I was able to relax with the novel during my spring break and recently finished it. It was so hard to put down, that I wish all my school work didn’t get in the way. Luckily, thanks to Easter Break, I was able to finish the futuristic novel by “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” author.

Follow the rules. Remember what happened. Never fall in love.

Does that capture your attention yet? Good.

The 288 page novel is a romantic thriller about seventeen-year-old Prenna James. James immigrated to New York when she was only twelve-years-old; except, she didn’t come from a different country, she came from a different time. Prenna James came from the future – a future where a mosquito-borne illness mutated into a pandemic, killing millions of people and leaving the world in ruins.

Prenna, and the others who have escaped to present day must follow a strict set of rules: NEVER reveal where they are from, NEVER interfere with history, and NEVER be intimate with anyone outside their community.

Prenna follows all of these rules, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day destroy the Earth.

However, everything changes when Prenna falls for Ethan Jarves.

This novel is completely different than “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” but still a must-read.

For more information on the novel, I recommend reading Seventeen’s interview with Ann Brashares here.

21Apr2014

My Monday Musts

by sparkleandshinesami

Happy Monday, readers!

For those of you who celebrated Easter, hope you had an amazing holiday. I also hope the Easter Bunny was as good to you as he was to me – he clearly knows me very well, seeing as my basket was filled with Victoria’s Secret, Clinique, peanut butter cups, and a new pair of sneakers. Can’t wait to break them in later at the gym!

Being home for a few days for Easter allowed me to de-stress and prepare myself for the long-haul of the next three weeks of classes, tests, and ultimately – finals week.

My biggest recommendation is make your phone’s lock screen an inspirational quote that you really love to help you power through. I scoured my Pinterest‘s “Words to Live By” board until I found the perfect one. Here it is:

To help you stay calm through your possible stressful week, take a quick break, and check out this week’s Monday Musts –

1. Cookie Dough Iced Coffee from Dunkin Donuts

I spent my Friday home in New Jersey from school getting my nails done and shopping. No day of manicures and shopping would be complete without either a Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks run. So, after hearing rave reviews about Dunkin’s newest iced coffee – Cookie Dough flavored, Julia and I decided to get it. It was DELICIOUS! I’m a recent iced coffee addict and this new flavor from Dunkin was so good. The Baskin Robins inspired flavored coffee is a MUST TRY for any iced coffee addict – so head on over to Dunkin immediately. You won’t regret it!

2. Modern Family

Besides iced coffee, manicures, and shopping, my few days at home for Easter also included vegging out on the couch catching up on some of my favorite television shows, such as “Criminal Minds” and “The Millers.” I’ve heard a lot of positive reviews about the ABC show, especially how funny it is. I decided to watch it – and became HOOKED. Before I knew it, I was watching every episode that was on demand and am now quickly looking into other ways to catch up on all the seasons (if anyone knows – let me know – since it’s not on Netflix). I love all the characters, the family dynamic, how the show is set up, and just everything about it. I hope my future daughter is as sassy as Lilly.

3. The Makeup Show NYC

Being a member of the Seventeen Social Club as brought so many incredible opportunities (stay tuned for a post from one of the products they sent me this week!). One of the most recent opportunities that I am super excited about is attending The Makeup Show in NYC with my little diamond, Amber, as press. On May 4, Amber and I will be traveling into the City to hear from some of the best in the industry regarding different makeup tips and tricks for all occasions. I’ll be sharing about it on Twitter and Instagram, then doing a blog post all about it. Words can’t express my excitement or how thankful I am for all the opportunities “Sparkle and Shine” has given me.

Also, remember I can help YOU get famous – just go HERE.

If you change your lock screen to an inspirational quote, comment below and tell me what one it is – or even link it to the photo on your Pinterest board. I LOVE finding new quotes to pin.

Have a great week, readers! Keep sparkling!