Thank you, Seventeen!

by sparkleandshinesami

After two years of working with my dream company, I am now passing on my Seventeen Social Club torch to other social media mavens and bloggers. My contract with the company has wrapped up, there is now an end-date listed next to Seventeen Magazine on my LinkedIn, and the chapter in my life has ended.

My favorite memory was during my first year with the company. My little and I got to attend the 2014 New York City Makeup Show. We skipped a day of studying for finals to go gallivanting around the beautiful Big Apple. It was the first time I got to introduce myself as press at a big event, leaving me with butterflies that I could certainly get used to. Once inside the Metropolitan Pavilion, Amber I got to talk to different vendors, sit through tutorials, test our new beauty products, and of course, make some purchases! To find out more about that incredible experience, make sure to check out the post from May of 2014.

Besides being able to attend the New York City Makeup Show, I was exposed to a lot of different companies that I may not have gotten the opportunity to contact otherwise. Maybelline and Milani cosmetics became staples in my makeup bag after receiving so many awesome products from them. I also got hooked on ABC Family’s one-season show “Chasing Life” after ABC Family and Seventeen helped me host a season premiere party for “Chasing Life” and “Pretty Little Liars.”

While working for Seventeen over the past two years, I have gotten to experience so much and realize how much I truly love the media industry. Here’s to hoping I continue to reach more goals, continue to fall in love with this industry, and more as graduation (eeeeek!) keeps creeping up on me.

11Jun2014

My Pretty Little Liars & Chasing Life Party

by sparkleandshinesami

My contract with Seventeen Magazine, as a member of Seventeen Magazine’s Seventeen Social Club, helped me land a once in a lifetime opportunity.

To kick off the “Pretty Little Liars” season premiere last night and the premiere of ABC Family’s new show “Chasing Life,” Seventeen Magazine and ABC Family sent me promotional goodies for myself and some friends. To celebrate the premiere of the shows and the awesome goodies, I hosted a Pretty Little Liars/Chasing Life premiere party (#PLLChasingLifeParty).

My friends (starting from left to the right, in the back) Jenny, Kathleen, Jenna, Lawlah, Allie, Julia, and Vanessa came over to celebrate to start of the premiere with all of our amazing goodies!

Some of the goodies ABC Family sent for our #PLLChasingLifeParty were orange Chasing Life bags! They were super cute and the right size to keep some of the other goodies ABC Family sent us in.

We had so much fun with the other promotional goodies – such as the beach balls, “Pretty Little Liars” and “Chasing Life” mini posters, and ABC Family summer season lineup fans.

Coasters featuring ABC Family’s summer shows were also included. They were perfect to put our drinks on…..

…and to keep the “Pretty Little Liars” fun going during the commercial breaks!

ABC Family also included a WATCH ABC Family flyer and “Pretty Little Liars” season 4 DVD coupons.

As a party host for ABC Family, through Seventeen Magazine, I tweeted some of the pictures above. The official ABC Family Pretty Little Liars twitter account and official ABC Family Chasing Life twitter account retweeted me twice. Now, images of my friends and I at our #PLLChasingLifeParty have over 100 likes each, over 20 retweets each, and I’ve gained a bunch of new followers.

Whenever people tweet at me asking how I received all these awesome goodies for my friends and I, I just tell them that I’m lucky enough to be working with Seventeen Magazine thanks to “Sparkle and Shine.”

Thanks ABC Family and Seventeen Magazine for this opportunity!

P.S. readers, The Collegiate Standard is still offering 10% off with coupon code SAMI10. Head on over to get your shopping on while the coupon is still available!

9Jun2014

My Monday Musts

by sparkleandshinesami

Happy Monday, readers!

Hope you all had a sparkling and shining week! I know I say every week is crazy and hectic, but this past week seemed to have take the cake for busiest week of summer yet.

I spent Monday in Pennsylvania with some of my college best friends. We went hiking to a water fall, stuffed our faces in Chinese food, and caught up on what we’ve missed in each other’s lives for the month we’ve been apart. Though we use the GroupMe app everyday to stay in touch, it was so nice to finally get to be together!

This past week held a lot of exciting opportunities for Sparkle and Shine. Two of them will be explained in this week’s Monday Musts. Before we jump into them, I just want to remind you about my partnership with The Collegiate Standard! Use coupon code SAMI10 to get 10% off your purchase! Plus, money from your purchase will go towards whatever Greek organization you made your purchase for. You can read more about it in yesterday’s blog post.

Now that you’ve read about The Collegiate Standard – and made a purchase – it’s time for you to read what made it onto this week’s Monday Musts!

1. I’m now a Makeoverly Expert!

Makeoverly is first EVER online Q&A magazine for beauty and fashion. Ask your question and fashion and beauty bloggers, make up artists, journalists, and others experts answer your questions. After checking out Sparkle and Shine, Makeoverly decided that I would make for a good expert. Head on over to the site and ask any fashion or beauty question you may have, then have it answered by myself and other experts!

2. I’m now a member of 20 Something Bloggers

Have you noticed that new badge on the side saying “I’m a Member of 20 Something Bloggers” yet? Well, go check it out because I am now a member! The application based blogging network accepted me this week to connect with other 20 something year old bloggers from around the web. I’ve only been in this network for a few days, but I’ve already learned that there are so many great opportunities! I can’t wait to see what else 20SB will bring for Sparkle and Shine!

3. “Toxic” By Sara Shephard

This past week Sara Shephard release the 15th novel in the “Pretty Little Liars” novel series, which happens to be the second to last novel in the series! It’s summertime in Rosewood and the police believe that it’s been weeks since they put to end murderous A’s reign of terror. However, the Liars know that the real A is still out there and that nothing in Rosewood will ever be the same while A is still on the loose. While dealing with A, Hannah is offered the role of a lifetime in a movie about her own life. Aria’s artwork goes viral. Spencer starts an antibullying blog, but things don’t seem to go as positive for her as Sparkle and Shine has been doing for me. Finally, Emily ends up doing whatever it takes to reconnect with her one true love – even if that means ending up behind bars. While all the girls are all wrapped up in their own lives, they must remember A will stop at nothing to bring them down. I’m so excited to start the novel and continue on with my PLL obsession!

And that Pretty Little Liars obsession of mine can continue – with the start of the newest season on ABC Family premiering tomorrow! ABC Family, Seventeen Magazine, and Sparkle and Shine has partnered up to host a Pretty Little Liars viewing party. Nine of my friends and I will be celebrating the premiere of the newest season at my house tomorrow night with fun goodies from ABC Family – just another perk of the Seventeen Magazine Social Club!

Tune into Pretty Little Liars tomorrow night, have an amazing week, and keep sparkling!

29Jul2013

Crushed: Pretty Little Liars Series by Sara Shepard

by sparkleandshinesami

My absolute favorite downtime in my hectic life is reading. With my Nook or Nook app on my iPhone always handy, I am always finding ways possible to be reading at any given free moment. I’ll even hide my phone to pull up my Nook app at work and read in between customers, but shhhhh!, don’t tell anyone!

My absolute favorite book series is Sara Shepard’s Pretty Little Liars. When recently browsing through the Barnes and Nobles site for a new book to read, I came across Shepard’s recently released Crushed, book number 13 in the series. I immediately knew what my next purchase was going to be!

In true Shepard and Pretty Little Liars form, Crushed delivered page – turning suspense that led me wanting more. Shepard throws in enough twists and turns that the reader never knows what to expect. Then, just when the reader thinks all the pieces are coming together, an even bigger plot twist than even imaginable is thrown into play! No other book series is more of a page turner than this one. Crushed far exceeded that standard.

In the 13th novel in the series, the Pretty Little Liars – Hanna, Spencer, Emily, and Aria – have discovered that their mysterious stalker, A, is not working alone. The girls each look into one person that could be A’s potential helper.

This puts Hanna back in her pink scrubs and volunteering at the burn clinic to wait for Graham to wake up from his coma. Hanna’s hoping he will be able to reveal who he saw stalking the girls on their cruise to Jamaica and who set the bomb off that put him in that coma. When Graham does wake up, on the night of the girls’ prom, can he tell Hanna what she wants to hear that puts A to rest?

As Aria is now dealing with hidden skeletons in her closet after a recent trip to Iceland, she must know investigate her boyfriend, typical Rosewood boy, Noel. As Aria now starts finding out more and more about Noel, their relationship begins to become very strained. Is Noel really who Aria thinks he is?

Emily, the most fearful liar, ends up somewhere she was never hoping to return – the metal hospital where Ali, and her sister Courtney, both stayed, The Preserve. Here, Emily must talk to Ali’s old roommate, Iris, who hasn’t been released in four years. Iris sees this an opportunity to better herself. Is Iris really going to be able to help the girls or is naive Emily letting A’s helper roam freely around around Rosewood and the King James Mall?

Lastly, Spencer decides to take on the biggest challenge of them all. Instead of investigating more of A’s helper, she plans on investigating more of Ali as A. This leads Spencer into digging up more dirt on a Rosewood conspiracy theory blog. Once Spencer meets the creator of the blog, Chase, she ends up digging him! Is Chase really going to be able to help unlock clues in the mystery of Ali as A, or is he helping Ali get more information on the Pretty Little Liars?

For the girls, and the reader, the pieces seemed to be coming together revealing who A’s helper is…

But have the girls really solved the mystery as to who A’s helper is, or is A always calling the shots? Find out now in Crushed, a must read for any Pretty Little Liars fan!