A Brilliant Blog

'Tis the season of giving, and in that theme I wanted to share one of my very favorite blogs with all of you. This particular blog is actually one of the reasons I started SG&S and brings a smile to my face every day.  It is cute, stylish, relateable, and quirky yet practical at the same time. 

It is Smart, Pretty & Awkward.

A year or so ago one of my sorority sisters told us about her older (biological) sisters blog during a chapter meeting and I have been hooked ever since.  On a daily basis Molly, author of Smart, Pretty & Awkward, provides her readers with tidbits of information and advice on how to be smarter, prettier, and less awkward.

Here are Molly's wise words of the day ..

"How to be Smarter: When something sweet spills and you don’t take the time to wipe it up right away, the sugar hardens and bugs are drawn to it. The same way, when someone in a relationship stops being sweet and you don’t take the time to talk about the issue right away, the problem only gets harder to fix and as time passes, sadness and mean words are drawn to the spot the sweetness used to be.

How to be Prettier: Right now, the stores have lots of options for festive little red dresses, meant for Christmas parties. But next week, when the holiday stuff goes on sale, it will be a great time to find an (inexpensive) red dress that you can tuck in your closet and pull out for a Valentine’s Day date.

How to be (less) Awkward: If riding backwards on a train doesn’t bother you, sitting that way can lessen the chance someone will sit next to you because most people don’t voluntarily choose to ride backwards."

Go check it out - I promise it will not disappoint!

Birchbox

A few months back I noticed a lot of the girls in the office having the adorable little pink boxes delivered to them on a monthly basis.  I would literally see girls running up to the front desk to retrieve this little pink gem.  Being the nosy girl I am, I got a closer look and saw this...

Birchbox.  For $10 a month (with free shipping) you get this sweet little box containing high end product samples delivered right to you.  I am a product junkie so this is completely amazing to me.  Literally, I feel like it's Christmas morning when I get my Birchbox.  Samples can range from makeup, to hair products, to chocolate! Most importantly, you get to control the type of products you want by filling out a quick "beauty profile" upon sign up.

It more than pays for itself in that everything is travel sized! If you travel frequently you know that all these small travel sized items add up.  No longer do you have to settle for low grade items to bring on your trip.  Who wants to be applying CVS brand moisturizer when you can be using Caudalie?

It also makes a great gift, you can purchase annual subscriptions for $110. Perfect for a your mom or bestie! They'll get a little something something every month to remind them just how much they love you.

They even have a little store with points incentives, for every dollar you spend by buying products you love through the Birchbox website you earn one point.  For every friend  you refer you earn 50 points.  100 points is equivalent to $10 in the Birchbox store.

It's safe to say I'm obsessed.  I have fallen in love.  The excitement this little box brings me is worth every penny.

Sign up & Enjoy!

Sing we Joyous, All Together Fa la la la

While were on the topic of work silliness, check out my office holiday card!

Fa la la la la la la la laaaaaaa

Weber Shandwick Boston - Holiday 2011 from Weber Shandwick on Vimeo.



Meet My Boss

This past week my boss decided to take on the office vending machine in an effort to raise a little money for Citizen Schools, an organization my office supports, in what we like to call the ..

#Vend4Yourselves Challenge

People donated $5 to pick what Patrick had to eat and when he had to eat it.  At the end of the day, no matter the outcome, he was going to match every one's donations.

I am forced lucky enough to sit outside his office so I experienced it all first hand, the pressure, the highs, the lows, the sodium bloat (it was not pretty).  Being the awesome people we are over here, our video team created a hilarious recap of the day ..

Vend 4 Yourself from Patrick Chaupham on Vimeo.

Sadly, the vending machine won and Patrick had never felt worse.  On the bright side, we raised a little bit of extra money for the kids! Thanks, Patrick, for providing all of us with so much entertainment & being so charitable in donating your health and stomach to a wonderful organization.

Latte Loving

Good Morning lovelies!

Happy Friday! Grab a latte & power through today, it's almost the weekend :)

 

Ben the Bachelor is Back!

In less than 3 weeks the Bachelor is back! I was super late to jump on the bandwagon and still anxiously anticipate every season despite the utter lack of reality and numerous failed relationships.  I just don't care, I can't get enough.

Honestly I am still pretty undecided about how I feel about Ben (see my thoughts on him last season during the Bachelorette), but nonetheless, I am excited and so ready for this season.  I am however, a bit nervous for him.  Looking at some of the girls on ABC's website, I'm not really sure how this is going to play out.  On a side note, ABC 100% needs to hire a new makeup artist for their head shots, some are seriously unfortunate. The ones below are not so bad but take a look at their site and you'll see what I mean.

Anyways, here's a quick look into my bottom & top 3 ladies.  I also reserve the right to completely change my mind once the first episode airs, just saying.

Bottom 3

Blakely

34/VIP cocktail waitress/NC

Q: Do you have any pets and if so, what kind?
A: Yes!!Halo, she is a teacup long haired Chihuahua and my everything.

34, VIP cocktail waitress, that says enough for me. She needs to relax about Angel.

Elyse

24/Personal Trainer/IL



Q: What's your worst date memory?
A: I make everything fun. :)

Ugh, really.  Everyone has had a bad date, don't like.  Fake.

 

Nicki

26/Dental Hygienist/TX

   

Q: If you wanted to approach a man you had never met before, how would you go about doing it?
A: Make him notice me (walk by, talk to his friend, etc.) then make flirtatious eye contact with him until he approaches me.

It's truly a shame, I liked all of her answers except this one.  And this one puts a bad taste in my mouth.  It makes me thing that maybe done this one too many times and has it down to a science. She knows how to play the game.

Top 3

Kacie 

24/Admin Assistant/TN

Q: If you wanted to really impress a man what would you do and why?

 A: I would make a dinner and give them something sentimental - like a

basket full of things that are "us." I feel like thought shows how much you care.

Love this, perfect answer.  She's obviously a sweet & thoughtful girl

Emily

27/PhD Student/NC

Q: Do you like to go out dancing? If yes, what is your preferred type of dancing?
A: Yes. I like to 'drop it like it's hot.' I try to replicate some zumba routines on the dance floor and usually end up getting made fun of.

I feel ya girl, totally the story of my life.  She seems fun & silly without being ditzy. 

Just what Bennie needs.

Casey S

26/Trading Clerk/KS

Q: Who do you admire the most and why?
A: Both of my parents because they raised me by example. And they showed me

 how to have good values, not by telling me, but by living with those values everyday.

A Generic response but you can tell by her reasoning its genuine. She seems very family oriented like Ben.  Also, She's completely adorable!
 

Who knows if I'm right, There's a good chance I'll change all of this at least 3 episodes in, if not the first.  Get excited ladies, the Bachelor is BACK!





The Year of the Domestic Diva

The past few months I have shared my new love of cooking with my family, naturally my aunts got me lots of kitchen related goodies for my birthday! Here are just some of the cute things I got ..

Adorable pink & black polka dot knives from QVC - my aunt is obsessed.

All of the spices you could imagine - Amazing since these little guys are pricey!

Turtle cutting board (remember I'm a DZ) perfect for serving cheese with ...

Cupcake wine!

One of the said spices being Saffron, does anyone have any great saffron recipes? I would love to try them out! Nothing to crazy though, I'm not a pro yet ;)

Happy Birthday to Me!

I know I have been MIA for the past week but there was a LOT going on.  Between finishing up Mama bears birthday, finalizing plans for the office holiday party, and being beyond confused about a certain surprise that was being planned for my birthday, SG&S got lost in the mix .. forgive me? So here we go, an attempt to catch y'all up on all of the wonderful weekend happenings.

The office holiday party at North 26

My dear friend and co-worker Mary and I decided to take the day off of work to make sure everything went perfectly & spend the day pampering ourselves.  We got our hair blown out at Beaucauge and make up done at Mac & Lancome.  When we got to the hotel all we had to do was put on our party dresses and sip on champagne.  The party went off without a hitch! Also, if you're ever looking for an a cappella group I highly recommend Red Line, they were amazing.  I felt like I was in an episode of Glee, they had so much energy and beautiful voices.

One of the best parts of the night happened when I walked into the hotel room after my day of pampering.  I was in a rush & didn't see it at first but the BF had been there earlier to check in, he had left a bottle of champagne and this for me to find ..

Isn't she pretty?! I have been dying for a rose gold watch, he did very well ;)

 The Birthday Surprise

I'll admit that sometimes I am a control freak, so not knowing what was happening for my birthday was a real struggle for me.  I was trying to get details out of anyone I could for weeks.  They had me convinced that nothing was happening.  One of the B's even did her best to convince me that we were going to see the Muppet's, no joke.  I was told to be ready at 7pm and that was all I knew.  At 7 my brother and the BF came over to my apartment, and then the two B's showed up.  We had a glass of wine and headed to dinner.  We arrived at Flat Iron and when we walked in there was a whole group of people waiting for us! One of them being my best friend Katherine, who a day or so prior told me she wasn't able to make the trip from NY.  I literally cried tears of joy. It was one of the sweetest surprises I have ever had.  We all had a wonderful dinner, ending with a champagne toast.  We then then moved on to  Hennessy's where we enjoyed a live band, dancing, and each others company.

My not so little brother

My party planner

Katherine!

My Cute Birthday Twin

On Sunday, my actual birthday, the BF and I spent the day with family and celebrating the cutest 1 year old in the world, my nephew.  One year ago he was 4lbs and 8 weeks early to this world, today he is so sweet, smiley, and at least 25 lbs bigger :)

Thank You!

This was the truly the best birthday I have memories from and the reason for that is all of the wonderful people that I am fortunate enough to call my friends, some old, some new, all so dear to me.  You all have spoiled me rotten and made me the happiest 23 year old in the world.  Even those who couldn't be there in person were there in spirit and thoughts with flowers, phone calls, & texts.  I can't wait to enjoy this year with each and every one of you.  A special thank you to my amazing boyfriend who went above and beyond his boyfriend duties to make this such a special weekend.  He took every detail into consideration and I could not have asked for more.  I don't know how I got so lucky to have all of you in my life.  I love you all!

Happy Birthday Mama!

Today is my beautiful Mothers birthday!

I am spending the day celebrating all that is her (which is a lot of things).  She has supported her children, husband, and extended family 100% in all of our hopes and dreams and we are all so grateful for her.  This year my wish for her is to take some time for herself and do what she wants to do! Now that my brother and I are grown up she can finally take the time and do that. Cheers to a year of health, happiness and love for my dear Mother, I love you!

"Now I know why all the trees change in the fall
I know you were on my side
Even when I was wrong
And I love you for giving me your eyes
Staying back and watching me shine

And I didn't know if you knew
So I'm taking this chance to say
That I had the best day
With you today"

Off to dinner soon at one of our families favorite restaurants, the Scarlet Oak Tavern.

On that note, today officially marks the start of my Birthday week! Can't think about that until we get through mamas first though!

It's the Little Things in Life That Mean the Most

I was having a particularly hard time deciding upon what I should blog about today.  I was just telling my BF over g-chat that I had no idea what to write about and was completely lost, he then inspired me and reminded me how lucky I am in a matter of minutes .. Here's how it went down ..

My office's holiday party is coming up in a few weeks and I am helping plan it.  I get overly excited for events I plan and want everything to be perfect, including my outfit (obviously).  I found the perfect work appropriate sparkly dress in Soho a week or so ago and all I needed was accessories.

Every year the Saturday after Thanksgiving my mom and I go shopping at the Wrentham Outlets, it's not super crowded but they still have all of the great black Friday sales going on.  Anyways, during this little outing I found the perfect shoes and necklace to go with my outfit made of sparkly perfection. I immediately texted a picture of it to one of the wonderful girls I am planning the event with. 

She agreed, it was everything I needed and more.  I left that day feeling relieved that I had a) gotten a good amount of Christmas shopping done and b) I had everything I needed for the upcoming holiday party.

I went home the next day and was feeling extra creative and decided to rearrange, reorganize, and clean my room.  I took what I thought was everything I had bought out the bags and threw the rest away that evening.  A few days ago I went to look for my necklace and immediately wanted to cry when I realized it was at the bottom of the shopping bag I had thrown away a few days prior.  I told my boyfriend the horrific news he and sympathized appropriately and reassured me everything would be okay, that it would turn up..

Well it's been a few days since the realization and said necklace has still had not shown up. Just a few minutes ago I went in my desk drawer to grab something and saw this ..

with this in it ..

My perfectly beautiful holiday party necklace, that he had never even seen! I shouldn't be surprised because he is beyond thoughtful like that but the fact that he went out of his way to find out which necklace it was and replace it means the world to me.  Most guys might think that I was just being a silly girl and that it wasn't a big deal but to me it was! When I realized I had thrown it away I went looking for another necklace online and found nothing that would do. I am so blessed to have one of the good ones :) Let this be your "love inspiration" (as some of my co-workers/friends like to call it) of the day.