New Year - New Things

I like to change things up and I like new things. With a new year, new things need to be in order! Here are some new things I have gotten and have come across that I wanted to share with you and maybe you can try too!

Liquid Sand Nail Polish

Mariah Carey just came out with her own line of nail polish from OPI. We've seen the "shatter" trend and the "magnetic" trend. Now it's time for the "liquid sand" trend. You put two coats on two coats and it is advised not to put on a top coat. I was too scared to break the rules and put on a top coat, but it really doesn't need it. I didn't know how crazy I would be with this new trend. Jessica and I stayed away from the others, but we couldn't help but love the glitter look to it. Jessica was able to get me the hot pink and blue and also the thick glitter that is not sand from the Miriah Carey collection. I LOVE them. I recommend these because they are different and fun. And it actually feels rough like sand! Also the glitter is a lot like "Teenage Dream" from the Katy Perry line but even bigger glitter! Can't go wrong with that :)

Circle Scarves

Circle scarves were included in the fashion blog I had written for Emporia State. I really like the concept and how fast and easy it is to put on and go! Jessica got me a really neat one for Christmas and cant wait to wear it on campus. This is a great accessory for the colder months to quickly dress up an outfit easily. 

The Single Woman

I stumbled upon the Twitter account @TheSingleWoman because a friend had retweeted something from it. I have visited the website thesinglewoman.net a couple times and have read through some of it and learned more about it. It reminded me a lot of my blog and what I am doing. It is a girl from Nashville that went through a break up and is living the single life while writing. She is now working on a book. It is a great site that redefines what it means to be single and puts a positive outlook on it. Being single in your twenties, some people may think of us as desperate or lonley or something is wrong. This site makes you aware that it is okay if you are single at the moment and that single girls are some tough ladies and it can be empowering. One post I read from it was very uplifting for any single lady and thought I would post a link to it! Go check it out and bookmark it if you are single and ever need something to read to relate too!

The Single Woman Link

Ellie Goulding

I wish I had listened to more of her sooner, but so glad I finally discovered her. Jessica gave me two of her CDs to put on my iTunes. I did last night and I have been listening to her any chance I get! It is definitely something you can listen to while doing homework, writing, cleaning, working out or anything else of the like. I love the sound and her voice has a different sound as well. The lyrics are pretty neat too. She has a great cover of "Your Song" by Elton John you could listen to if you aren't interested in her albums in particular. Definitely a good choice in some new music for the semester!

New Calendar

There is a new app called "Awesome Calendar" or also seen as aCal Lite once you search it in your app store. I just did the free version of it. It is a calendar I believe through Google. It is a calendar that has a little more pizzaz than the calendar that comes on the iPhone. You can change the colors and settings to make it personal. You can also sync it up to other calendars you may have on your phone or through email accounts like Yahoo! or Gmail. I tested it out today and I am able to add things to my calendar on the Emporia Gmail account while on the computer and then it will show up on my phone. I am going to try it out and see about keeping up with it as well as my planner. This might help just in case I don't have my planner with me and need to check my schedule real quick. 

Trying new things for the new year? Please feel free to share with me!

Email: glitterandthegirlygirl@gmail.com

Twitter: @rachelnmsparkle

Sparkle & Shine,

Rachel 

New sunglasses! :)

Book Review: Bossypants by Tina Fey

It was on page 2 when Tina Fey talked about her first experience as a kindergartner when she did a coloring and showed the boy sitting at the same table as her. He ripped it in half when she was expecting praise just like she had always been given with everything she did. She wasn't old enough to know the words she was trying to say, but in her mind it was something like, "So that's how it's going to be mother f@$#%r!?" That's when I literally laughed out loud and knew I was going to be in love with this book.

I had attempted to read it when I went to national conference. I got done with the introduction and that was it. I was on a mission to finish this book over Christmas break because I had been wanting to read it for a long time and I was getting a little embarrassed that the last book I had actually finished was almost a year ago and it was the "novel" by the Kardashian sisters called, Dollhouse. (I actually have a blog post on here with my review over it. If you are actually interested.)

I am proud to say that I actually finished this book and I absolutely loved it. I got to learn so much about Tina Fey. Things about her father, husband, daughter, how she got to be on SNL, how she started 30 Rock, and how she became Sarah Palin.

It was also really neat to learn about her views on certain things such as feminism, breast feeding, plastic surgery, photoshop and the like. I also could relate to her in areas such as having a lot of gay friends, being proud to be brunette even when you sometimes feel like being blonde is somehow superior, having awkward moments and her views on women in society.

This book is great if you are a democrat, all about women power, gay pride, and really want to laugh a lot. I probably can't count all the times I chuckled out loud as I read through it. She remains to be one of my role models especially after learning more about her and I have some pretty big respect for her too. She is a hard worker and really showing that women can do a lot and succeed even in big positions like being a television producer, movie writer, SNL writer/actor and also still be a wife and a mom.

Please put it on your reading list!

While we are on the topic of feminism, I came across this link to this article thanks to one of my role models, Eden Tullis, that graduated Emporia State last year. It is about Zooey Deschenel and her views on being a feminist. It has an interesting view that you can be a feminist, but still be girly dressed in glitter and bows. This is a really quick read for those interested in a topic like that! (Just click on the link below.)

Zooey Deschanel Feminist Article Link

I guess it is safe to say that I might be feminist?

Seems like it more & more! 

Sparkle & Shine,

Rachel