Last first day of school {#OOTD}

Hey, readers!

Yesterday was one of the scariest days of my life – it was my last first day of school ever. Yup, that’s right – I started the second semester of my senior year of college. Am I ready for the emotional roller coaster that this semester is going to be? Oh, absolutely not. Which is why I decided to at least dress the part of looking like I have it all together.

So check out the look….

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Jacket: Faux Leather Moto Jacket from Forever 21 | Sweater: (Similar) from Aerie

Scarf: (This has been my favorite scarf since high school, so it’s old – but here’s a similar one) from Charming Charlie

Jeans: WESTPORT 1962 Signature Skinny Jeans from DressBarn | Boots: Diba Shelby Bootie from DSW

And with today being the second day, I somehow ended up back in yoga pants and a Greek Streak Alpha Delta Pi spirit jersey. Whoops?

In my defense I somehow managed to wake up with swollen blood shot eyes, so I wasn’t trying to waste a cute outfit when I wasn’t going to wear makeup or glasses.

Whatever, maybe tomorrow I’ll look go back to looking put together..

7Oct2014

Top 3 Instagrams of the Month: October 2014

by sparkleandshinesami

Hey, readers!

It’s officially one week into October – a.k.a. one of the best months! Before deciding which Halloween movie I am going to want to watch while on R.A. duty tonight, I have to share with you all my top Instagrams of September!

A majority of my September involved around sorority recruitment – which is why there is no surprise that my photo with the top likes came from day one of recruitment! This year was the first time my little diamond, Amber, went through recruitment as an Alpha Delta Pi and the last time my big diamond, Katherine, would get to go through recruitment. It was amazing getting to snap my fingers, chant my loudest, and recruit new sisters with them by my side in our day one attire of chapter letters and white jeans!

My second most popular post related to my Back to School post, courtesy of Seventeen Magazine and Office Depot. Through my contract with Seventeen, I was able to get some awesome school supplies from Office Depot. I stocked up on cute folders and my multi-purpose four color pen. To learn more about these supplies, check out the post or search the #GottaGetIt hashtag on your favorite social media site!

As I mentioned, this was Katherine’s last recruitment. As you can see in the caption, Katherine has been one of the greatest assets to my life. If I never went Greek or Alpha Delta Pi, I wouldn’t have been able to be blessed with Katherine was my big diamond. Over these past few years, Katherine has shown me how to exemplify the Alpha Delta Pi values each and everyday. More importantly, she has become my best friend, my forever friend, my future bridesmaid, and my rock. Going through recruitment made me reflect on my time in ADPi and I know it wouldn’t have been the same without her. So, on our last day of recruitment, I posted this photo of us before we started the final rounds!

To stay update on all things Sparkle and Shine, you can follow me on Instagram by going HERE.

OR if you want to check out previous Top Instagram posts, you can see what made the list in January, February, March, April, May, June, and July/August.

I wonder what Instagrammable opportunities October will have for me!

9Sep2014

Office Depot: My Go to Place for School Supplies

by sparkleandshinesami

This is a post on behalf of my contractual membership with “Seventeen Magazine” for the Seventeen Magazine Social Club.

One of my favorite parts of Fall, besides Halloween, Uggs, and hot chocolate, is getting new school supplies for the school year!

Thanks to my partnership with Seventeen Magazine, I was able to get my new school supplies at Office Depot. Let me tell you readers, they had super cute supplies!

I’m now able to tackle junior year of college with super cute Teen Vogue folders and my all purpose four color pen.

I’m very anal about my planner – each item has a specific color. Blue is for sorority events, black is for blogging, black with yellow highlighter is Resident Life work, red pen is important dates, red pen highlighted in pink is important class days – like tests, quizzes, and paper due dates, and green is anything else. Instead of having to switch up my pens, I now have one pen to write it all in!

Whenever I am doing work, the fun patterns of the folders instantly add a pop of color to whatever room I’m in. One of my residents, Taylar, caught me doing work before with my folders out. She couldn’t help but to give me a compliment!

After going to Office Depot with my credit from Seventeen Magazine, I don’t think I will ever shop at any other office supply store again. They had so many super cute supplies that my sorority girl self could indulge in. I didn’t have to get just plain folders for all my work, I could get ones that allowed me to express myself.

Next time you need some school or office supplies, head on over to Office Depot! You can also order online and get free shipping on orders of $50 or more OR receive one hour free in store pick up.

Happy shopping!

24Jul2013

Campus Book Rentals: A Cheaper Alternative to Buying Textbooks at the Bookstore

by sparkleandshinesami

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

As an only child, I didn’t know about all the little hints and tips around college life when I first started prepping for my freshman year at Quinnipiac last summer. So that meant when I had to buy my textbooks, I purchased them from the school bookstore. I remember how excited I was when I first went to go to buy my textbooks (yes, I drove 2 hours to Quinnipiac just to buy my textbooks in the beginning of July instead of ordering them online like the rest of my peers). Except my excitement had quickly come to an end when the bill for my text books came to be over $600! I was used to getting free textbooks in high school, and now, I was paying hundreds of dollars for books that I will only be using for a couple of months.

After throwing away so much of my hard earned money (that’s about 10 shifts at my job!), I knew that I had to find an alternative to buying books at the bookstore. I was very skeptical about purchasing books through older students or off of generic ordering websites, like Amazon, because I was unsure of the condition of the textbook I was going to be receiving or how reliable of a service it would truly be.

After three semesters of searching (I already bought my books from my school’s bookstore for my first semester of sophomore year), I finally found a site in which I can trust to order my textbooks: Campus Book Rentals.

After doing research on Campus Book Rentals, I found out that there were a bunch of perks by using this website to rent my textbooks. The biggest perk out of all was that I would be saving 40% – 90% off of the bookstore price! College is such an expensive time, so any extra money that I can save is huge bonus. Another way that the site helps me save money is that it offers shipping is free both ways.

I can also highlight and annotate in the textbooks without being charged extra. I love getting clean, new books and then highlighting and annotating in them to keep track of my notes so I know what is important for me to know. It’s a big study tool to help me be successful in college, so I am extremely grateful that Campus Book Rentals lets me do this. The site also offers flexible renting periods, which means I can select how long I want to rent my textbook for.

Another perk of the site is that with every textbook rented, part of the money goes to Operation Sunshine, an international organization that provides surgeries for children with cleft lips, cleft palates, and other facial deformities. Not only are you benefiting by getting your text books cheaper, but you are benefiting a child who can’t necessarily help themselves. How great of a feeling is that?!

As I’m sitting here with textbooks that the bookstore wouldn’t buy back (of course, I tried to sell my books back and only got back one fourth, if that, of what I paid for them), Campus Book Rentals offers an awesome program called RentBack.

Rentback allows students to rent out the textbooks that they already own to other students, which means that the student renting out their books can make 2x – 4x as much money as they would make compared to selling back their books! This is a program no college student should miss!

To learn even more about all that Campus Book Rentals has to offer, check out this video.

Don’t waste all your hard earned money by wasting hundreds at the bookstore to purchase your textbooks, visit Campus Book Rentals today!