The World Needs More Airheads!

Let’s get real here – we’ve all acted like an airhead at least once in our lives.

Let’s be even more real here – at least once this past week.

Drive away with coffee on top of your car? Walk into a glass door? Lock yourself inside a room?

Yup, been there, done that.

Except now, thanks to those embarrassing moments, you can be featured in an Airheads Commercial!

On February 24th, Airheads launched their first-ever mass marketing campaign celebrating the real life, daily mishaps that make us all laugh. However, instead of celebrities starring in their commercials, Airheads is asking YOU to be featured in future advertising for the campaign!

Airheads recently scoured around Vine looking for some of the funniest videos to be featured in the current commercials, but now they want YOU to be featured in the future commercials!

To potentially be featured in future advertising for Airheads, all you have to do is submit a video of you being a complete airhead on the campaign’s Tumblr page. All videos submitted that capture the funniness of true airheadedness will be featured on the site. The top three videos will be used in upcoming TV commercials.

Sounds awesome right?! Well, here is how to enter:

1. Upload an Instagram video, Vine, or YouTube video of your airhead moment.

2. Tag the video with #AirheadsNeeded

3. Visit Airheads’ Tumblr page and upload your video to enter to win: http://goo.gl/kYKoB1

If you want to know more about the chewy, tangy, bright colored candy – check out their website here.

Sounds awesome right?! Now, get out there and capture those hilarious moments!

If you enter, readers, comment below and let me know! Or, let me know what your favorite flavor of Airheads is!

DISCLOSURE: This is a compensated sponsored post . However, all opinions are my own.

14Apr2014

My Monday Musts: Ronald McDonald House Charities & Diamond Dash

by sparkleandshinesami

Happy Monday, readers!

I hope you all had a sparkling weekend! The weather here in Connecticut was so beautiful – as you can tell based on my sun burned face if you see me around campus. After participating in Relay for Life on Friday evening (stay tuned for an upcoming post!), participating in our school’s chapter of Phi Sigma Sigma’s philanthropy event, Katie’s Game, in honor of a deceased sister, and then Alpha Delta Pi having our own philanthropy event, it’s easy to say it was an amazing weekend.

We may not have won the whole entire thing, but the ADPi team at Katie’s Game made it to the semi-finals and had such an amazing time supporting our Panehellenic community!

Plus, after the game, some sisters and I decided that sometimes it’s necessary to just go on an adventure – so we drove to a random beach 20 minutes away. As my Instagram caption said, Don’t wait for adventure, go create it. And when you do, throw what you know.

So many incredible things happened this weekend, that it was hard for me to pick what to put for this week’s Monday Musts.

However, with all the giving back in the heat filled air at QU this weekend, I decided that this week’s Monday Must is going to be something that is a must not every Monday, but everyday for me as a sister of Alpha Delta Pi, the Ronald McDonald House Charities!

The Ronald McDonald House Charities has more than 300 Ronald McDonald Houses serving families in 31 countries around the world, and the Theta Theta chapter of ADPi visits our closest house, in New Haven, once a week. RMHC helps more than 8,000 families per day. Lastly, those who signed up for our 5K run, the Diamond Dash, paid $10 dollars – which is equivalent to one night’s stay for one family at a Ronald McDonald House.

The Diamond Dash was Theta Theta’s second time holding this event and it couldn’t have been more successful. With tons of runners, a cupcake and grilled cheese truck, shopping, and a DJ, everyone had a blast.

Check out some of the awesome pictures from Theta Theta’s Second Annual Diamond Dash!

These are my sisters, my people, and my back bone. Because I know them, I have been changed for good. Deep in my heart I love my ADPi, the Ronald McDonald House, and these ladies.

The runners in Diamond Dash started by running through this balloon arch – in Ronald McDonald House Colors – and then finished the race by running through the same arch. Jess and I didn’t run, but of course we still had to run through it and take our own crazy photos.

Shout out to Clemmey – one of my favorite seniors, who I am going to miss so much next semester when she is no longer here. Hope you enjoyed your last Diamond Dash, Clem! More importantly, hope you’re super pumped that you’re finally featured on “Sparkle and Shine.”

Just like Justine, Morgan has been by my side since day one of joining Alpha Delta Pi. Morgan was one of my best friends since I joined ADPi, since we were in the same Alpha Pride, and still are always be each others’ side to this day!

Meet Emily, another one of the amazing girls from my Alpha class! Love you, Em!

Meet Justine – one of the girls in my Alpha class and has been by my side since day one. Thanks for everything Jussy, including taking this picture.

Remember when I said our Executive Committee, known as EComm, took our first hug train picture? Normally, they aren’t as successful and we end up looking like a hot mess – such as this.

Meet Jess, one of the craziest and funniest sisters I have. There is no one else I would rather twerk with than this girl!

Meet not only my best friend, but my brother, Ben. Since the beginning, Ben has supported me as I went through recruitment, joined Alpha Delta Pi (he even learned all the cheers!), to waking up super early on a Sunday morning to run in our 5K.

In Alpha Delta Pi, when you first become a new member, you are given a Violet Sister. This is similar to that of a pseudo-big diamond as you find your place in the sorority and until you get your big diamond. Meet Steph, my little Big Violet sister. Without her, I don’t know what I would do.

Meet the lovely ladies I am on ADPi’s Executive Committee with (from left to right) – Nicole, Courtney, Alea, Katie, Rebecca, Morgan, and Jess. I don’t know what I would do without these crazy bunch of girls. Plus, this is our first successful hug train pic!

One of the greatest things about being in a sorority is having girls who lift you higher each and every single day. These girls (from left to right), Nicole, Alyssa, Jess, Ali, and Kathleen lift me higher each and everyday. They are my best friends and I couldn’t be luckier to have them in my life.

I hope you enjoyed seeing these photos from Diamond Dash, readers! I also would like to ask you that whenever you go to McDonalds, if you could drop in any spare change into the donation box for RMHC or can donate soda tabs, please do so.

The Ronald McDonald House is the house that love built, and we run/host the 5K to add a little more.

Have a great week, readers! Keep sparkling!

10Apr2014

Have Yourself a Very Lilly Easter!

by sparkleandshinesami

Happy April, ladies!

So April showers may bring May flowers, but it also brings on warmer weather, dresses, Easter, and lots more Lilly online (window) shopping than normal.

Easter is quickly approaching, which means pretty Easter dresses.

Don’t worry, I searched Lilly and found the three must have dresses for Easter!

Delia Shift Dress / Lexington Dress / Bella Fit and Flare Dress

Do you have your Easter dress picked out? If not, absolutely check out one – or all – of these three dresses.

Comment below and tell me which is your favorite of the three!

Keep enjoying this beautiful spring weather, readers!

8Apr2014

Versatile Blogger Award

by sparkleandshinesami

One of my fellow Her Campus Blogging Network gals, Charlotte, from Velvet and Vinyls nominated me for The Versatile Blogger Award!!

Rules
• If you are nominated for The Versatile Blogger Award, you have been awarded the award.
• Thank the person who awarded you and include the link to their blog.
• Nominate 15 bloggers who you think deserve the award, whom you’ve recently discovered or read their blogs regularly. (You must include a link to their site).
• Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself in your blog post.

I would like to nominate:
1) Jacqueline at Pretti Please

2) Caroline at The Caro Diaries

3) Ashliegh at The Darling Prepster

4) Marisa at Love Always

5) Taylor at Pinstripes&Lipgloss

6) Kriselle at Livin’ and Lovin’

7) Nasya at Turquoise and Tortoiseshells

8) Colie at The Curse of Gluten

9) Emma at It’s Emma Elise

10) The College Girl at That College Girl’s Guide

11) Raphaela at Tiny Girl, Big Dreams

12) Lindsey at Lindsey’s Thoughts

13) Briannah at Briannah

14) Hannah at The Daily Diabetic

15) Brittany at Oh Hey, Brittany

7 Things About Me

1) In high school, I was competitive swimmer. I competed not only on my high school swim team, but on my local YMCA’s competition team. My favorite strokes is breast stroke and I often competed in the 100 meter breast stroke and 500 meter free style.
2) I know every word to Taylor Swift’s “Thug Story” rap and will proudly rap it for you.
3) I’ve seen Taylor Swift twice in concert. The first time I saw her, she hugged me. It was one of the greatest moments of my life.
4) Next semester, I’m not going to have class on Tuesdays or Fridays and I’m so excited. AKA look forward to blog posts on those days, for sure!!
5) I recently became a Starbucks/Dunkin iced coffee addict.
6) The sound of people “cracking their bones” freaks me out. It’s my biggest pet peeve. Even though I go to the chiropractor, I am still completely scared of that sound and cringe. Oh, and occasionally have a freak out on him when it’s really loud or when he “adjusts my neck,” (which I refer to as cracking my head – don’t ever refer to it as that to your chiropractor, FYI).
7) I HAVE to listen to classical for studying music when doing homework or whenever I need to focus to do work. I listen to it so much though, that I now enjoy it and will occasionally listen to it whenever I need to relax or when I clean my room.

I’m looking forward to seeing all your posts regarding The Versatile Blogger Award! Don’t forget to link me in when you post it!

To all the bloggers, keep up blogging!

To all our readers, keep on reading!

7Apr2014

My Monday Musts

by sparkleandshinesami

Happy Monday, readers!

Hope you’re all as relaxed and as energized as I am! For once, I’m starting a Monday Must off by telling you how relaxed and calm I am, instead of stressed. I went home this weekend to celebrate my grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary. Not only was I able to get 15 hours of sleep on Friday night and shower without flip flops on (aka the greatest blessings in a college student’s life), but I was able to spend time with my family!

My grandparents got married 50 years ago, at the ages of 18 and 19 and are still deeply in love with each other. I think it’s crazy to think that now, at the age of 20, my grandma was already married for two years. As I go through college, the rest of my life, and go through the crazy thing of dating I hope to one day find a husband who loves me for as long as my grandfather loves my grandma.

But, enough with sappy cuteness (I mean, I am a Pisces, so I can’t help it) – here are this week’s My Monday Musts!

1. Theta Theta’s Diamond Dash

This weekend, my sisters and I are hosting our second annual Diamond Dash event, which is a 5K run/walk to help raise money for New Haven’s Ronald McDonald House. One of the reasons I chose to accept my bid to Alpha Delta Pi was because I love our philanthropy, Ronald McDonald House Charities. I’m convincing all my friends to sign up – because for the cost to sign up, only $10, you are providing a family one night stay at RMH! If you want to support my sisters and I, you can donate to our Diamond Dash event and the Ronald McDonald House of New Haven here. I can’t wait to share pictures from the event with you next week! I’m also proud to announce that these beautiful sisters of mine and I are also Quinnipiac’s Greek Week Winners!

2. The iPhone 5S

Another perk of going home – I finally got my main birthday present!! Yay! I absolutely love it. If you have the opportunity to upgrade your phone, I absolutely recommend getting the iPhone 5S. My picture quality is so much clearer, my phone runs so much faster, and I love the slenderness of the phone. Another perk, in my opinion, was that that it was nice to start fresh. All text messages – gone. All pictures – gone. It’s like a brand new start. My phone gives me the power to accomplish so much – I’m even typing this up on the WordPress app!

3. There’s a bunch of goodies I’ll be sharing with you all soon!

As much as I loved not only seeing my family, sleeping in my own bed, and showering with out flipflops – I loved coming home to packages on my bed filled with great goodies to review on “Sparkle and Shine.” I’ve shared on Instagram and Twitter recently a novel that Seventeen sent myself and other members of the Seventeen Social Club to review, as well as the Univox Goodies from Influenster. I can’t wait to share these goodies with you all on my blog. Hopefully, you may even find some goodies you’ll need to shop for next time you go out once I share all these reviews with you!

Plus, I’m now all registered for my first semester classes of junior year – whaaaaaaaat?! I can’t believe how fast college is flying by.

With Diamond Dash on Sunday, I want this week to fly by, but after that everything can slow down! Whether your week goes by fast or slow, enjoy it. Keep sparkling, readers!

P.S. Have you entered my partnered giveaway to win $100 to Nordstrom? Enter here.

4Apr2014

$100 Nordstrom Shopping Spree On Myself, Caro, and Other Bloggers!

by sparkleandshinesami

Yes, you read that right! I’m giving away a $100 Nordstrom giftcard!

In honor of my real life best friend and blogging buddy’s one year blog-aversary, Caro, myself, and a few other of our closest blogging friends partnered together to give away a $100 Nordstrom giftcard! If you haven’t met Caro yet, head over to her blog here.

But back to the giftcard. Imagine what you could do without $100 to Nordstrom….my shopping spree list is pilling up quickly in my head. A new purse and wallet, new brown boots, and all the summer essentials I can think of. However, it’ll be your shopping spree, not mine. All you have to do is enter and WIN!

Enter the giveaway HERE.
Best of luck to all who enter! Comment below with what you would do if you win the gift card!

2Apr2014

Top 3 Instagrams of the Month: March 2014

by sparkleandshinesami

Happy April, readers!

It’s the beginning of the month, so you know what that means – time for me to share with you all my Instagram posts from March with the most likes. So here we go….

My first Instagram with my most likes was when I went to formal with my best friend, Julia. Since we are a year apart, we never got to go to prom together. This was the first time we both got to dress up in long gowns and dance the night away. But more importantly, yes, this picture actually was a candid laughing picture. Thanks again for supporting me as social chair throughout this event, J.

My second Instagram with the most likes was me dancing with Shemar at QThon, Quinnipiac’s dance marathon to help raise money. I wrote a post For the Kids all about the event. Shemar was suffering from severe scoliosis problems that requires him to get surgery every few months. However, thanks to QThon, Quinnipiac raised over $30,000 to help other children like Shemar. It was such an incredible experience to take part in this event.

My last Instagram with the most likes of March was in honor of one year anniversary of getting my big diamond in Alpha Delta Pi, Katherine. Katherine is one of the greatest blessings Alpha Delta Pi has given to me and I can’t imagine my life without her. I know that now that she is in my life, she will be by my side from now until forever. Except, my one year anniversary picture for Katherine was a few days later than most girls in my Alpha class because we had to have our own separate reveal. The week of reveal one year ago, I broke my wrist and had to go home. Therefore, we had our own separate reveal once I got back. Thanks for everything, Katherine!

You can also check out January’s top Instagrams and February’s top Instagrams. I’m excited to see what April’s Instagram has in store. If you want to stay up to date on all things Sami, you can follow me on Instagram here.

31Mar2014

My Monday Musts

by sparkleandshinesami

Happy Monday, readers!

I know this is much later than when I post my Monday Musts, but this week is already super hectic. I had a great weekend and actually got to experience one of the coolest things I have ever experienced! At Quinnipiac’s Saturday night hot spot, Toads, I got to go into the DJ booth for the main dance floor and even got to do some shoutouts on the microphone.

I’ve been up there one time before to wish my best friend, Julia, a happy birthday, but this time I spent most of my night in the DJ booth. It was so cool! If you follow me on Instagram, you can view a video of it here. Of course, I sent out many snapchats – including this embarrassing one that I saved –

Now this weekend, I am going home and I can’t be more excited. My train ticket just came in the mail today (I’m trying this new thing where I am super prepared ahead of time, so I bought the ticket already) and I’m just so excited to go home. Plus, I’ll get to see my family to celebrate my grandparent’s 50th anniversary!

But, before I continue on with essays, memorizing a monologue, and an Alpha Delta Pi event tonight, I want to share with you all this week’s Monday Musts!

Just like life, I’m going to throw a curveball at you. This week was so stressful and hectic for me, I honestly have done nothing but go to the library, do homework, and get through each day that I have nothing to share with you all. Life threw me more than a handful of curveballs this past few weeks, so I’ve been focusing on getting everything in place with my life that I haven’t gotten to do much that can be considered a Monday Musts.

So the only Monday Musts I have is to tell you that you must take your time to relax, focus on yourself, be your own happiness, and get some sleep. After my crazy week and other events from life, that’s the true Musts I have found to getting through this crazy thing we called life.

Before I sign off this week, if you are stressed this week just like I have been, I just want to share with you an amazing quote one of my sisters shared with the our Executive Board – “It might be the end of their worlds, but don’t let it be the end of yours.”

Enjoy your week, readers! Keep sparkling, no matter what!

25Mar2014

Check out Collegiate Standard for Greek Life Jewelry

by sparkleandshinesami

This is a sponsored post. However, all opinions are my own.

Remember way, way, waaay back when I was saying to use coupon code SAMI10 on The Collegiate Standard to purchase the awesome Greek Life products around Christmas time? Well, here I am to showcase it again!

The Collegiate Standard features awesome jewelry for a variety of different Greek organizations. They sent me a beautiful sterling silver ring inscribed with the Greek Letters for Alpha Delta Pi. Ever since I received it, I haven’t taken it off! More importantly, I’ve gotten tons of compliments on it.

The Collegiate Standard offers jewelry for not just Alpha Delta Pi, but Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Epsilon Phi, Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Kappa Psi, Alpha Omicron Pi, Alpha Phi, Alpha Phi Gamma, Alpha Phi Omega, Alpha Sigma Alpha, Alpha Sigma Phi, Alpha Sigma Pi, Alpha Sigma Tau, Alpha Tau Omega, Alpha Xi Delta, Alpha Xi Omicron, Beta Theta Pi, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Delt Gamma, Delta Kappa Psi, Delta Phi Epsilon, Delta Sigma Pi, Delta Upsilon, Delta Zeta, Gamma Eta, Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Delta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Kappa Sigma, Lambda Chi Alpha, Lambda Theta Alpha, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Iota Alpha, Phi Kappa Tau, Phi Mu, Phi Sigma Rho, Phi Sigma Sigma, Pi Beta Phi, Pi Kappa Alpha, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Chi, Sigma Delta Tau, Sigma Kappa, Sigma Lambda Gamma, Sigma Nu, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Sigma Sigma Sigma, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Theta Nu Xi, Theta Phi Alpha, Theta Tau, and Zeta Tau Alpha. How awesome is that not only is there jewelry for sisters of sororities, but brothers of fraternities, as well?

All products from the company are not only of beautiful quality, but are officially licensed products.

The company offers a variety of types of jewelry, such as necklaces, rings, and pins.

If you are interested, I absolutely recommend checking the site out here. Also make sure to subscribe to their e-mail list for awesome updates and information on the company!

Stay tuned because more information on The Collegiate Standard will be coming soon, readers!

24Mar2014

My Monday Musts: ADPis in Wonderland

by sparkleandshinesami

Happy Monday, readers!

So this past Friday, my Alpha Delta Pi sisters and I celebrated our formal. As our Director of Social Enrichment, I was the one who planned formal – from coming up with the theme, doing decorations and guest lists, and every other possible detail you can think of. I love party planning, so no matter how stressful the event got, I still had an amazing time with my amazing sisters.

If you can remember back to our Great Gatsby themed semi formal, I shared ten of my favorite photos of the night with ten of my favorite Gatsby quotes in a special edition of My Monday Musts. Well, after how much success that post had, I decided to do one similar to that in honor of ADPis in Wonderland!

1. ”You’re entirely bonkers. But I’ll tell you a secret, all the best people are.”

Most of you have seen my best friend, Ben, posted on here many times before. Ben is pretty much brother, so it was so great to have him along with a bunch of our other friends come and visit me and take pictures with me before formal!

2. “In my world, the books would be nothing without pictures.”

It was my little diamond’s first formal! It was so much fun taking on formal with Amber. Kisses to her for all the work she did to help me make it so amazing!

3. “We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”

My favorite thing about my big diamond, Katherine, and little diamond, Amber, is that we can always be crazy and be our absolute selves around each other. So we can all be a little crazy together. And shoutout to our sister, Jess, for photobombing and making the picture even more entertaining!

4. “Curioser and curiouser.”

Who needs a boy when your best friend is your soulmate? Julia is my person, for all of you Grey’s Anatomy fans who are catching onto my lingo. We never got to go to prom together since we are in different grades, so it was so much fun to put on our senior prom dresses and go together!

5. “Where should I go?” “Well, it depends on where you want to end up.”

Thank you Tony for keeping me laughing when anything got stressful and for all that you helped me with!

6. “No, I don’t mean impassible. Nothing’s impossible.”

Not going to lie, Amber and I were taking so many awesome pictures. I’m so happy we got such awesome ones, like this hugging one, for our first formal together!

7. “How long is forever?” “Sometimes, just one second.”

Besides our (honestly) candid laughing photo from before, we also needed a good smiling picture of us. Thank you for everything, J. I love you!

8. “I knew who I was this morning, but I’ve changed a few times since then.”

One of my sisters, Emily, brought one of our best friends, Megan, to formal with her! It was so awesome to have one of my non-Greek affiliated friends experience the night of a Greek organization, especially when it was an event I put on!

9. “That’s impossible.” “Only if you believe it is.”

So last year at formal, Katherine, and her big diamond, Katie, and I decided it would be funny to throw up some peace signs. It’s been a joke for the three of us for as long as I can remember. Now that Amber is my little diamond, we couldn’t help but take one as the four of us. Katie is a grad student at QU, so it’s so awesome that she can come back for events to take pictures with us!

10. “It’s the most curious thing I ever saw in my life!”

I love candid photos, so I just had to share this one of me and Sam. Just like Tony, Sam was able to help me so much when the event got stressful and even was there to wipe a few tears.

Next week, I will be back to my normal list of Monday Musts. Hope you enjoyed this special edition. If you are interested in more pictures of myself and my beautiful sisters, search #ADPisinWonderland on Twitter and Instagram.

Enjoy your week, readers! Keep sparkling!