personal | Sparkle and Shine

Hey babes, hey!

Hope you’re still sparkling and shining because I am back! Let’s pop the champagne, raise a glass, and throw some confetti in the year, shall we?

But honestly, it feels like a complete dream that I am currently posting on Sparkle and Shine again. Time and time again, I sat in front of my laptop in my office, while on NJ Transit, or even on my phone with the intent to start a blog post. But after commuting in and out of the city, every time I sat down to work and create blog content, I ended up getting distracted by a text message from a friend that I wasn’t able to answer in a few hours or wanted to get away from the screen after spending 9 hours in front of it at work. Then, on the weekends, I would make as many plans as possible to try and have some work-life balance.

After connecting through work on a professional level with former Bachelor contestant Jamie Otis, her and I quickly formed a friendship. While recently eating some of the yummiest crab cakes ever in New York City, I started chatting with Jamie about my blog (for those of you who don’t know, on top of being a nurse, a mom, and hosting Married At First Sight Unfiltered, Jamie also runs a blog. What A #GIRLBOSS!), and chatting through the hurdles of trying to get back into blogging, finding the time to do so while juggling a full time job as a PR gal and a work-life balance! Jamie, being the total ray of sunshine that she is, helped encouraged me to find the balance and make my time. After her encouraging words that day, and a text that evening as additional kick-in-the butt encouragement, I am here. I am back and plan on being better than ever.

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Here’s to what Sparkle and Shine will bring through the end of the year, and into 2019! Cheers!

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!