Show your Greek Pride with GreekCoverPhotos.Com

by sparkleandshinesami

If there is one thing I love a whole lot in this world, it is my sorority, Alpha Delta Pi. I love to show off my sorority pride whenever I can – whether it be through wearing my Greek letter t-shirts, using my Lilly Pulitzer Alpha Delta Pi phone case, or just telling the world that I am a sister of Alpha Delta Pi.

That’s why when Nahal of Greek Cover Photos e-mailed me asking to discuss their new site on “Sparkle and Shine,” I just couldn’t resit myself! (Plus, Nahal turned out to be a sister of ADPi, as well! How cool is that?!)

So listen up, fellow Panhellenic sisters, because I have some information on a new way to rep your sorority!

Greek Cover Photos was recently created by Nahal Poormasjedian, Zainab Aliyu, and Brynn Zoellner on July 7. The goal of the site is to have sorority girls rep their letters on Facebook with the best cover photos possible, according to the site’s about page.

Right now, the site has 12 sororities represented with cover photos, but you can view 11 when you click on the sorority tab. When you go onto the site, click on the sororities tab to select your sorority. If your sorority is not listed, you can click on the blue “sorority not listed?” box to request that your sorority be added to the list. That way, every sorority girl can get the chance to show off your sorority pride in a cover photo!

When I saw all of the Alpha Delta Pi cover photos, I had such a hard time deciding on which one I wanted to use. They were all just so cute! After scrolling through all of the designs, I finally decided on the one with Luke Bryan’s “Sorority Girl” lyrics about ADPi on it:

Once I decided on which cover photo I wanted, it was so easy to set it as my cover photo. All I had to do was click on it, which then brought me to a page that shows how it will look in a mock Facebook set up. Then, I hit “download cover photo” and it was saved onto my computer. Then, I went onto Facebook and changed my cover photo as I normally would. Nothing about it was complicated!

The cover photo fits absolutely perfect on Facebook. No part of the design is cut out, it is not stretched out, and does not look distorted. You can tell the girls of Greek Cover Photos took their time to make sure that their designs would look just right once they were on Facebook.

I recommend to every sorority girl to check out the Greek Cover Photos site to download a cover photo to represent their sorority! It’s also a great burst of pride during recruitment season!

Enjoy representing your sorority, ladies!

Did you end up looking at the site? Did you download a cover photo? Which one did you pick? Let me know below!

17Jul2013

Old School Blogging: Crazy Fives Edition

by sparkleandshinesami

One of my best friends, Caroline, recently posted her version of Old School Blogging: The Crazy Fives Edition.

As soon as I saw her post, I immediately knew that I just had to play along too! It reminded me so much of an old school Facebook note, which I used to be obsessed with. Freshman/sophomore/junior year of high school, whenever I was bored, I would answer a bunch of questions in a Facebook note sharing the most random personal information with my hundreds of Facebook friends. I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do something like that, again, but on “Sparkle and Shine.”

I also normally don’t write personal posts, so this is a great way for my readers to get to know me a little bit better.

So, without further ado – here is my version of my crazy fives!

Five Things I Have a Passion For (in random order) :

1. Writing – Writing has something I have loved to do for as long as I can remember. I would not be who I am today if it was not for writing and journalism.
2. My sorority, Alpha Delta Pi – The greatest decision I have made while at college was to join a sorority. I cannot imagine my life without my sisters now.
3. My family & friends – As cliche as it may be, my family and my best friends are my rocks. Each of them are a little part of me that I could never live without.
4. Froyo – If I could eat froyo for every meal, I would.
5. Reading – Thank goodness for the Nook app on my iPhone, because now I never have to go a moment without having a book on me and if it were up to me, I would just read all the time.

Five Things I Would Like to do Before I Die

1. Marry my prince charming in a Cinderella themed wedding
2. Have kids
3. Write a book
4. Get the job of my dreams
5. Watch the ball drop on New Year’s Eve in Times Square

Five Things I Say A Lot

1. Whatchamacallit – It’s what I say instead of “um.”
2. Wait – I don’t really know why, but I said wait a lot before I start a sentence.
3. Hi! Welcome to CVS – I work at CVS if you didn’t already know.
4. HAHAHAHHA – That was supposed to represent laughing because I laugh, a lot.
5. Thank you – I am a HUGE stickler for manners.

Five Books And/ Or Magazines I Have Read Lately

1. Crushed by Sara Shepard (I’m currently in the middle of reading this!)
2. Seventeen Magazine
3. I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan
4. Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
5. Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn’t Have) by Sarah Mlynowski

Five Favorite Movies (Maybe you’ve seen them five times?)

1. A Walk to Remember
2. Sixteen Candles
3. The Parent Trap
4. The Breakfast Club
5. Mean Girls

Five Places I Would Love To Travel To

1. Australia
2. London
3. California
4. Bahamas
5. Disney Land

If you want to play along (and I really hope you do!), write a post of YOUR crazy five, grab a button, and link up here! Linky is open until July 25.

So now that you know a little bit more about me, let me know a little bit more about you! Do you share any of the same favorite movies? Have you recently read any of those same books (or that latest edition of Seventeen magazine)? Let me know!

12Jul2013

At Home Manicure: Rosy Outlook Didn’t Have a Rosy Outlook

by sparkleandshinesami

Everyone says that it’s the little things that make us happy. One of the little things that makes me the happiest in life is having my nails painted. Something about having my nails perfectly painted just makes me feel oh so classy and that my entire life is just organized to perfection. I don’t know why that is, but I just go with it.

So since I am on a budget (you can read about that here), I no longer allow myself to get my nail salon and get weekly manicures. Instead, I used my CVS discount and a CVS coupon and bought myself a new nail polish: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure: #430 Rosy Outlook (price $7.99).

When I saw the bottle on the shelf, I instantly fell in love with the color. I was looking for a light pink shade. I often go for the hottest of hot pinks in the summer, but I wanted to go for something more plain and elegant this week. Though I wanted it to be a lighter pink, I still wanted it to have a touch of brightness to it without it being over the top. As soon as I laid my eyes on this bottle, I knew that I was the one.

As I was putting it on, I realized that the color no longer looked the same as it did in the light at CVS. It was very dull and dark, it wasn’t very bright at all. The youthfulness I once saw in it was no longer there. The elegant and style that I saw in the store was now replaced by a color that would be used for a tacky table cloth. Overall, the “rosy” in the “rosy outlook” was a lot less of a pink than I thought. Even on the CVS website, the polish looks so much vibrant!

It was more than just the nail color that left me unhappy. The handle of the brush was very awkward, I couldn’t get a good grip on the polish. Also, it came out very watery. I had to do a lot of coats to try and get a decent thickness to the polish, while trying to avoid bubbles. The shape of the brush was very short and stumpy which made it hard to maneuver around my nails.

This week’s polish color for my at home manicure turned out to be a bust. Here’s to better luck next week!

Do you have any nail polish colors that you would recommend? Please share them below so I can look into a new color for my next at home manicure!

10Jul2013

Some of the Most Important Life Lessons, I Learned from Laguna Beach & The Hills

by sparkleandshinesami

Absolutely nothing has made me happier recently than the RetroMTV morning re-runs of Laguna Beach. Laguna Beach is one of my all time FAVE TV shows, and has been since it first aired. My happiness, and obsession, then continued with the spin-off, “The Hills.” As I watch the Laguna Beach reruns this morning, I’m sitting here thinking about how much this show has shaped my life for my teenage years. Whether you realize it or not, LC, Kristin, and the rest of the gang really taught viewers a thing or two about growing up.

1. Friendship is one of the most important parts of growing up. Whether you have seen every episode or just one, one thing is true: drama follows the cast at all times. However, a main aspect of every plot twist and turned featured friendship. Your friends are the people who can always learn on whether you need some advice, you want to gossip, go shopping, and just talk about everything and anything with. And it’s not just your girls that are so important, your guy friends are going to help make you who you are just as much as your girls. You’ll end up finding out who you’re true friends are over the years, but friendship is forever.

2. Always be honest with your friends, no matter how hard it may be. If there is one thing Kristin manages to do in every episode, it’s to brutally say the truth, no matter how insensitive it may be. Who else can recount the many of times that Kristin told Jessica that Jason was cheating on her, even if it meant the two would start yelling? Even if it’s a little bit harsh, honesty is the best policy. Your friends, and yourself, will thank you later for it.

3. Be in touch with your emotions. The girls of Laguna Beach and The Hills have cried more times than I could ever even count. But, hey, that’s perfectly okay! If there is one thing I took away from the show, it’s that by crying, saying how you feel, and just letting it all out really can make you feel sooo much better. To be honest, Lauren Conrad taught me how to handle my emotions. Plus, some of the quotes she said through tears may be some of the best statements I’ve ever heard on television.
<

4. No matter how cute a boy is, don’t loose sight of yourself Every single time you blinked, its seemed, there was boy drama on The Hills and Laguna Beach. One of my first television loves was Stephen Colletti, though he was such a jerk (to phrase it nicely) to Kristin (if you have seen the episode of what he yells at her after dancing on the bar, then you know exactly what I mean). Then, when LC’s birthday came rolling around and the two went to Mexico, you could start to see Stephen work his magic some more. There were so many boys on the show – especially a Mr. Justin Bobby – that would constantly stir up drama. At times, the girls would get distracted by their current crushes and that would never turn out well. Listen to your girls and remember to keep them as your number one, and your boy number two!

5. Drama happens – deal with it. While watching the show when I was younger, I always thought drama was just something that happened on Laguna Beach. However, watching the show later on in life, I realized how accurate all the drama, and the stress that came along with it, really is. No matter what stress was thrown in the cast’s face, they always seemed to make it work, deal with it in one way or another, and just continue to have some fun! Don’t let anything – even a breakup with Stephen Colletti – hold you back in life!

With only those 5 lessons, there are just so many more that I can think of to describe all the lessons that I have learned from Lauren and friends.

As you enjoy the rest of the episodes, see what your favorite members are up to thanks to this Buzzfeed post! Gnarly!

30Jun2013

“They say you make your best friends in college…..”

by sparkleandshinesami

One night in college, after going out, some of my best friends and I sat in one of our dorm rooms eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, recapping the night. It was only October of our freshman year at Quinnipiac University, and we already had proven how close we were becoming. One of my best friends, Ben, then starts to say one of the most quoted lines in our friend group, and the title of this post, “they say you make your best friends in college…” Just then, we realized how close we were going to be for the rest of our lives.

Now, after writing a recent post about college, I’m feeling nostalgic and am missing my QU best friends dearly. I have realized how much I have grown into the young woman that I am becoming today all thanks to them. They all have reiterated an important life lesson, or taught me a completely new lesson, through each of their daily actions. From each and everyone of the people that I have become close with so far at school, I have learned something from them that has helped me become who I am.

So, thank you to these ten special people, in alphabetical order, for reminding me of the following lessons:

1. Here is to Ben for reminding me… to always make sure to have fun – no matter what day it is or what time it is.

2. Here is to Britni for reminding me… that confidence is the key to success.

3. Here is to Caroline for reminding me… to never be afraid to take on the world to chase my dreams (and when I mean world, I literally mean the world – she’s an international student!)

4. Here is to Christian for reminding me… to always speak my mind and never be afraid to share my opinion.

5. Here is to Connor for reminding me… how important late night talks are, especially with someone who is a great listener (oh, and thanks for teaching me to fish!)

6. Here is to Kate for teaching me… that even if we don’t live near each other, first a hallway and now a state away, it doesn’t mean you can’t still be super close best friends.

7. Here is to my big diamond sister, Katherine, for teaching me… that joining a sorority would be one of the best decisions I will ever make and it is so incredible to have a big sister.

8. Here is to Lindsey for reminding me… that putting in effort always pays off (she got a 4.0 her first semester at college!)

9. Here is to Maria for reminding me… that no matter what, always stay true to who I am.

10. Here is to Megan for reminding me… to live life with no regrets.

Thank you to you ten, so much, for absolutely everything. Thank you to everyone I have become so close with at QU who has taught me so much about myself, I can’t wait for August to see what else I can learn from all of you!

26Jun2013

College: What You Put In Is What You Get Out

by sparkleandshinesami

Yesterday, my best friend in the entire world, Julia, graduated high school. In the fall, Julia will be becoming a Bobcat with me at Quinnipiac. Words cannot describe how happy I am that we will be going to college together. We really are putting the forever in best friends forever.

Whenever we talk about college, I always tell her one thing – what you put into college is what you will get out of it. If there is any life lesson that I learned from college, it was that.

In college, you get to make your own decisions. Are you going to focus on your social life? Are you going to focus on your academics? Each and every decision ends up counting towards the end result.

If you take the time to study for your sociology test, you are going to get a better grade than if you didn’t study.
If you go out and meet people, you are going to end up knowing a lot more people on campus.

See, it’s a very simple equation – what you put in is what you are going to get out. You will reap the benefits of your own actions.

In my first year at Quinnipiac, I made a lot of aspects a priority – my education, my social life, and my extracurricular activities. During my first year, I am proud to say I made dean’s list both semesters, have a group of friends I consider like a family, have a group of sisters thanks to my sorority who mean the world to me, am a proud member of our award winning school newspaper, this year’s general manager of our school’s yearbook, as well as a writer for Quinnipiac’s chapter of Her Campus. As hard as it was to keep everything a priority, the effort that I put into it ultimately paid off in the end. There where many days when I ran low on sleep, but to say all of what I accomplished freshman year is an amazing feeling.

Everyone should be proud of what they have to say of their accomplishments after each year of college. By opening up your eyes to see what you truly want to accomplish and by putting in the effort to reach those goals, you will see results.

The same rule goes for life – what you put in is what you are going to get out.

So get out there, chase your dreams, and do exactly what you want to do because in the end, you’re going to see a result from your actions.

25Jun2013

A College Girl’s Guide to Summer Budgeting

by sparkleandshinesami

Oh, how I hate the “b” word…. and no, not that “b” word, but what I consider the worst “b” word of all – budget.

With this summer in full swing, the large expenses I have coming up are already looming above my head – a Taylor Swift concert in July, a hotel room for the weekend down the shore with my best friend, a possible cruise next summer, first semester books, sorority dues, and something left over for spending money. I managed to get a little too debit card happy my first year at college spending so much on Alpha Delta Pi t-shirts, late night Dominoes, and feeding into my Alex and Ani obsession. Everything adds up super fast – and now I’m spending at least 30 hours a week at CVS as a photo technician trying to save up some money for everything ahead. Yet before I go out for another manicure, froyo run, and aimless drive with the sunroof down and music up wasting gas money, I decided I need to be making smarter monetary choices. This is why, the time has come, that I, Sami, put myself on…..a budget.

There are 3 set rules I have for putting myself on a budget, as well as an extra tip to save some money.

My budget rules are:

1. Set a limit on eating out! For me, a huge part of my unnecessary spending in the summer goes to eating out! One of my favorite things to do with my best friend is to go out to eat. If we ever can’t decide what to do, we always just decide to go out to get something to eat – whether it be just a quick froyo run or eating a three course meal at a restaurant. Then, when we do decide to go to a restaurant, we always want to try to go somewhere different and end up wasting so much gas money. I have decided that I will only go out to eat once a week (and that includes a froyo run). Also, when I am out, I am only going to limit what I get – a small milk shake can save me a few bucks verses a medium. By reducing the amount that you eat out, your wallet -and waist line! – will thank you.

2. Set aside a certain amount of week for gas! Another way that I waste my money is in my gas tank. It only takes about $40 or so to fill my gas tank. However, there are weeks that I put in that into my tank, or even double it. Summertime means adventures, but that doesn’t necessarily mean every other day! I am setting aside only $40 a week for gas. If I know I am going to be traveling far within that week, such as a day trip down the shore, then I will adjust my weekly gas budget. By giving myself a limit, I will not be as likely to just drive around with the sunroof open, blasting music with my best friend. Of course, we still will, but it won’t be occurring for hours on end.

3. Split half of the paycheck! At CVS, I get paid biweekly. Every other Thursday evening, I log onto my TD Bank app to see how much was directly deposited into my checking account. The next day, I go to the bank and remove at least half (sometimes I try to remove $50 more than half) of my paycheck and deposit it right into my savings account. Then, I pretend the money never existed. I continue on the next two weeks with the money that is in my checking account. From there, I will budget what I will be spending in the next two weeks – taking out the money for gas, taking out any upcoming expenses I know will be occurring, and then planning what else I want to spend my money on. While I have my summer spending money, I still have money in my savings account for all of my many upcoming purchases.

And the extra tip for saving: save up any spare change! I can tell you right now, I will falter at times on my budget. However, having a little extra emergency cash will be a saving grace. That is why I am working on saving up any spare change. I try to use cash as much as possible to stay aware of how much money I actually have. However, when I do then up using cash, I get back a bunch of coins. Instead of just letting them sit in the bottom of my Betsey Johnson purse, I put them in a digital coin jar (this is the one that I use!) that calculates how much money I have in the jar. Just from putting my change in the jar over this past month, I have almost $30 saved up!

Good luck on your budget because I know I sure am going to need it!

21Jun2013

Time to Start Pinning!

by sparkleandshinesami

I may be the only college girl (especially sorority girl to say this), but…. I don’t have a Pinterest account.

So many girls I know are always talking about how they continue to plan their entire dream wedding, find the greatest new sorority crafts, or learn about the cutest inspirational quotes from the site. Whenever someone described the site to me, I always just assumed it would be just like Tumblr. Besides, I always thought to myself, did I really need another social media outlet to get addicted to?

Well, either way, I have finally decided it is my time to hop on the Pinterest bandwagon and create an account! (You can follow me here)

And now that my account is created – I am hooked! I downloaded the app the moment I had to step away from my computer. Now, in between ringing up customers at CVS, I find myself pinning and repinning everything from my favorite pictures of Niall Horan (which I pin to my “my boyfriends” board) to pictures of Cinderella themed weddings (which I pin to my “MY CINDERELLA WEDDING” board). I am constantly going through other people’s boards to in search of photos I can fall in love with and pin to my own boards. It’s incredible how just by looking at a follower’s board, I find a handful of photos that I just have to pin to my own boards!

The biggest aspect that I love about Pinterest is how organized it is. Back in my Tumblr obsessed high school days, nothing was organized. Everything I reblogged just all ended up in the same place. Now, thanks to Pinterest, all my like photos are posted together on a board that I created. When the rainy day comes when I want to be Sami the Baker, I can easily head over to my “baking bucketlist!” board to find something I want to make (and these chocolate – peanut butter cupcakes may be the first on the list!)

If you haven’t jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon, I’m telling you right now – you have to! You’ll be surprised with how addicted you will become. But trust me, it will be worth it!

If you are already a Pinterest addict, my inner addict is asking you to please follow me so I can follow you back and repin from you! Either follow me based on the link above, or you can comment below with a link to your Pinterest!

Happy pinning!

20Jun2013

90’s TV Teen Queens I STILL Want to Be

by sparkleandshinesami

After recently browsing aimlessly on BuzzFeed, I came across a post that fed into my decade long “Saved by the Bell” obsession. In the post, it listed 12 reasons as to why every girl wanted to be Kelly Kapowski. Reading the word “wanted” had me shocked. I STILL want to be Kelly Kapowski!

The 90’s girl in me was screaming. Even in 2013, I still have a guilty pleasure for 90’s television – planning my schedule around reruns and collecting seasons of shows, such as “Full House,” “Boy Meets World,” and “Saved by the Bell” on DVD.

After going through each reason and completely agreeing as to why life as Kelly Kapowski would be absolutely ideal, I couldn’t help but think of five other 90’s television teen queens that I would still love to be!

1. Cher Horowitz

With her Beverly Hill mansion, dream wardrobe, and carefree lifestyle, Cher had it all! Her days revolved around matchmaking, shopping, and spending time with her best friend, Dionne. No matter what mistake Cher made, she always ended up back on top and happy in the end. “Clueless” made Cher the real life 90’s TV Barbie! So don’t tell me you never thought about being Cher and having her perfect lifestyle, because I only have one thing to say to that…. As if!

2. Topanga Lawrence

Any 90’s girl learned about self-confidence through the one and only Topanga. She always stuck true to who she was – even if that meant drawing a heart in lipstick on her face in Corey’s kitchen as a pre-teen. In episodes of “Boy Meets World,” as a teenager, Topanga battled with finding out who she really was through her clothing, hair, weight, and getting married in college. No matter what was said, Topanga always stayed true to herself proving how much happiness could be achieved by not caring what others think. With such self confidence, any girl would love to be her.

3. Joey Potter

Joey Potter is the definition of 90’s “girl next door.” She was sweet, she was innocent, and she still managed to capture the hearts of both Dawson Leery and Pacey Witter. Joey had a way of getting any boy she wanted to like her – even her college professor. Joey proved on “Dawson’s Creek” that no matter what happens in life, you need to keep moving on. Joey dealt with her mother’s death, father’s drug dealing, breaking hearts, heart break, and much more. To know that no matter what happens, you will continue to be so strong – and get every cute boy in sight – Joey Potter makes life look easy!

4. Jessie Spano

Proving that a girl can do absolutely anything, Jessie Spano took 90’s TV by storm. In “Saved by the Bell,” Jessie showed how awesome it is to be a girl – and made sure to share with her hunk of a boyfriend, A.C. Slater, how equal males and females are. Jessie was class president, a cheerleader, on the swim team, and smart. Jessie took on anything she could, and always succeeded with a feminist attitude. Years later, these “Saved by the Bell” reruns still show girls to never let sexism get in the way. Who wouldn’t love to spread such positive messages and be great at everything they do?!

5. Donna Martin

Donna Martin was the “90210” starlet who brought you the most iconic line from the 90’s series, “Donna Martin graduates!” Donna faced struggles, such as rebelling to deal with a learning disorder, getting drunk at prom which led to almost not graduating, and catching her mother cheating on her father. However, she had one of the greatest support systems in TV history to help her get through it all. Her handsome boyfriend, David, (who she ends up marrying), and her beautiful best friends, Brenda and Kelly, were always by her side. Donna always stayed positive and kept up her easy-going attitude proving that happiness is always what counts. Her happiness and positive attitude is why Donna Martin is the fifth 90’s TV teen queen on my list!

20Jun2013

The Start of a New Adventure

by sparkleandshinesami

And here starts my newest adventure, my blog – Sparkle and Shine.

For months now, I have dreamed of coming up with the perfect blog – something that screamed “Sami!” where I could write all about my inspirations, my daily adventures, my thoughts, and anything in between.

I fell in love with journalism in the fourth grade and now, as a college sophomore, I decided that a blog was the next step in making my New York City journalist dreams come true. I believe in my big dreams, following them, and, as my favorite quote states, that life won’t sparkle unless you do!

So here it goes, my time to sparkle as a blogger…

Welcome to Sparkle and Shine!