Top Instagrams of the Month: July & August

by sparkleandshinesami

Happy September, everybody! Hope you all enjoyed your Labor Day yesterday. Mine was spent in the library doing homework and sucking down the largest iced coffee Dunkin Donuts has to offer.

Now that it’s the start of the month, it’s time to share with you all the top Instagrams of the month. August was just way too busy that the start of the month passed before I shared with you all about my top Instagrams. Lucky you, that just means that you get to hear all about July and August in the same post.

Double the months, double the fun right?

July:

My Instagram picture with the most likes was one from when my mom and I went on a mother daughter date to Joe’s Crab Shack for the first time. The restaurant serves your choice of crab legs in a large bucket with corn and potatoes. The food was just so delicious!

My Instagram with the second most likes from July is when my little diamond, Amber, came to visit me for the weekend in New Jersey! Amber came up for a fun filled weekend, which included my first ever trip to “Carlo’s Bakery”! The cupcake I ate was just way too delicious – but nothing was more exciting than having Amber came to NJ for the first time!

One of my favorite adventures from the summer was seeing Rogers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella on Broadway! This was the image that had my third most likes on Instagram. The show was absolutely amazing. For anyone going to NYC and looking for a Broadway show to see, this was my favorite that I have seen and I would recommend to everyone.

August:

With close to 100 likes, my Instagram with the most likes is one of me and all my residents! As our second group meeting, I decided to show the girls around campus the day before classes to make sure that they knew where to go. Then, to test their knowledge, we stood in the quad and as I would say the building, they would have to point. Becoming an RA has by far the greatest task I have ever taken on in my life.

After going through my ten day resident assistant training, we had a banquet to celebrate the end of training and the start of our residents moving in. There was a beautiful fountain in North Haven, Connecticut, where our banquet was, to take photos in front of! Nice scenery equals perfect Instagram photo. Out of all the photos taken, I uploaded a candid laughing photo of my friend Chris and I. The funny thing about my friendship with Chris is that we became friends because of our obsession with a local diner near our school.

This past weekend, we celebrated the 19th birthday of my little diamond, Amber! Saturday night we took on the town. Before we went out, we took this adorable photo, which is now my profile picture. Our weekend celebrations continued Sunday and ended yesterday. Yesterday was Amber’s actual birthday, where we finished off the celebrations.

Amber seems to be a common theme in my Instagram photos that recieve the most likes. Finishing off this long list is the photo Amber and I took while filming our sorority’s recruitment video. A few weeks prior to school starting, a few sisters met at Quinnipiac to film Alpha Delta Pi’s recruitment video. In the video, Amber and I talk about how we are so thankful for Alpha Delta Pi because it gave us each other. Another reason I am thankful for my sorority is because it gave me my big diamond sister, Katherine, who was unable to make it to the photo shoot.

Now that is is September, my Instagram will be filled with even more photos. You can follow my Instagram HERE and check out my top Instagram posts from January, February, March, April, May, and June!

9Jul2014

I Am The Girl…..

by sparkleandshinesami

Hey, readers! Recently, I’ve been thinking that I don’t really share a lot of my life with you all. Minus My Monday Musts, for the most part, I don’t really share about my life and what really makes me, well me. So, when Emma from The World According to Emma asked me to help her co-host a link up called “I Am The Girl…” with Lindsey from Lindsey’s Thoughts and Natalie from Finding My Voice, I couldn’t help but agree to it! Without further ado, get to know me! I Am The Girl……

whose initials spell her name. Yup, that’s right! My name is SAM and my initials are SAM.
doesn’t have a gall bladder or an appendix. Whoops! During senior year, I had them both removed since they stopped working properly.
who is always aimlessly scrolling through social media. I’m completely obsessed. Twitter and Instagram are my favorites.
who has her entire Cinderella themed wedding planned, thanks to Pinterest! Check out my wedding board HERE.

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who has Lilly Pulitzer letters that match her planner. #noshame
who, based on what I just told you, prefer to write in a planner than use her laptop or phone’s calendar to plan.
who LOVES to be involved! On my campus I am the social chair of my sorority, an RA, and involved with my school’s television station. Besides my blog, I also have a contract with Seventeen Magazine as a member of the Seventeen Social Club!
who prefers reading than watching a movie or a television show. I’m currently reading Truth or Dare, which you can read more about in this week’s Monday Musts.
who is a PROUD Jersey girl!
who wishes she could eat ice cream for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
who has to listen to classical music to get anything done.
who loves sequins, glitter, and anything else that sparkles.
who makes motivational quotes her phone background. Here is my current one:

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who LOVES a good theme party!!
who hates pizza – unless it’s Dominoes or Pizza Hut.
who never really stops talking. I even won Most Talkative in my high school yearbook. #sorrynotsorry
who makes my family, my best friends, and my sorority sisters my main priority.
who will most likely make you take a fake laughing pictures…and then try to convince people that it was real. Like this one, with my little diamond sister, Amber:

Now it’s YOUR turn! Tell me a little bit about yourself in the comments below. Better yet, if you’re a blogger or vlogger, make your own “I Am The Girl…” post!! Share the link below:

An InLinkz Link-up

23Jun2014

My Monday Musts: The Secrets to Style Summer Pack from Seventeen Magazine!

by sparkleandshinesami

Happy Monday, readers!

This week’s Monday Musts are going to be all about one of my awesome perks from Seventeen Magazine, as a contractual member of the Seventeen Social Club!

As always, it is important to look and feel your best. Thanks to Seventeen Magazine’s Secrets to Style Summer Pack, I absolutely will!

Thanks to Milani Cosmetics, I recieved a bunch of cosmetics to help look my best! These cosmetics included a Brow & Eye Highlighter in vanilla/natural taupe, a Clear Gel Brow Shaping wand, Runaway Lashes instant volume mascara in black, Lip Intense Liquid Color in Fiery Coral, Eye Tech Extreme liquid eyeliner in blackest black, Liquid Eye eyeliner in black, Anti-feathering Lip Liner in transparent, Power Up lasting and moisturizing gloss stain in mango, Baked Blush in Delizioso Pink, Runaway Eyes eye shadow in beach sand, lipstick in best red, Brilliant Shine lip gloss in red my lips, and Color Statement Lip Liner in true red.

With all of these fabulous new makeup pieces, I decided to scour Pinterest for some looks I just can’t wait to try out with all of my new cosmetics!

Here’s some of the looks I can’t wait to try out:

This piece combines not only the red lipstick, but the liquid eye liner and voluminous mascara. To get the sleek brows – and to keep them in place all day – I would highlight my eyebrows and then use the clear gel shaping wand. To get the perfect liquid eyeliner look, I always look at my idol, Lauren Conrad, for inspiration! Find this look on Pinterest HERE.

To achieve this hot look, I would use the Lip Intense Liquid Color in coral. Based on the look above, I would then pair it with the liquid eyeliner and voluminous mascara once again. The eye shadow in beach sand would also look phenomenal for the easy going vibe to accent my baby blue eyes! To pin this look, check it out HERE.

When using the pink blush, I would go for a smokey eye. Though Milani did not send me any dark shadows, the Naked palette is perfect for achieving the best smokey eye. Another key concept of achieving a smokey eye is to make sure that your eyebrows are equally as fierce. I’ll be keeping them in check by using the liquid brow shaper! As for lips, I would want to keep it simply – so probably just throw on some chapstick. Eos is my favorite – especially in fruit punch! To check out this look on Pinterest, head over HERE.

P.S. For all of you looking to also attempt a red lip, I also found this awesome red lips cheat sheet for when I attempt to rock bold red lips.

Seventeen Magazine also sent me the biggest key to all summer makeup – sunscreen! Looking like a lobster – and then peeling – won’t make for any successful makeup looks this summer. Make sure to spray on your sunscreen and reapply it to get a nice tan this summer. I’m currently loving the Australian Gold Continuous Spray Sunscreen that I was sent from Seventeen Mag. It’s SPF 30 so it protects me from those harmful UV rays, while still helping me achieve my perfect tan.

It’s also water resistant for up to 80 minutes, which is perfect for beach days, lounging by the pool, or when I’m swimming laps. Julia and I would have been completely burnt on our day off if we didn’t use sunscreen when we were lounging poolside!

After you head out to your favorite drug store to pick up these products to try out your own new makeup routine, I wanted to remind you of a bunch of special events going on right now for “Sparkle and Shine” as I continue to celebrate my one year blogiversary! First, head on over to The Collegiate Standard to get 10% off by using coupon code SAMI10. Then, check out my giveaway with the Comeback Momma HERE.

Enjoy your week readers. Keep sparkling!

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!