Wine of the Week: Sancerre

January 29, 2020 by Leave a Comment

If anyone has read 50 Shades of Grey, you’ll know that a ton of wines are mentioned throughout the series. As a wine enthusiast, I was surprised that I didn’t recognize a lot of the wines that were mentioned. On a random trip, John and I were in a liquor store (searching for bourbon for him) and I stumbled across this Reverdy Sancerre Rose pick. I remembered the name from the book and thought I would share a little more about it.

For the 50 Shades of Grey fans, you might remember a Sancerre being mentioned when Ana and Christian meet at the Heathman to discuss the contract, and then again at Escala following their Georgia trip.

Technically, all Sancerres are Sauvignon Blancs. Sauvignon Blanc is a white wine grape and Sancerre is the name of a wine region in France’s Loire Valley. This particular Sancerre wine is more of a rose and made from Pinot Noir.

This Sancerre is from the Domaine Jean Reverdy winery located in Verdigny, one of the top villages in Sancerre. It dates back to 1650. It has flavors of cherry, blackcurrant, and apricot.

In the book, I’m guessing they were drinking a traditional Sancerre white wine versus a rose like I have here. But this is crisp and delicious and everything you would want in a rose wine.

Have you tried any of the wines from 50 Shades of Grey? If you’re a Sancerre fan let me know, I would love to try more as I’m learning more about it.

For more Wine of the Weeks, click here.

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Bachelor 24 – Week 3

January 28, 2020 by 1 Comment

It’s Week 3 and Demi is randomly back for an impromptu pillow fight with the ladies. But first, Victoria P. gets the one-on-one date and she wears a cool green suede moto jacket from BlankNYC ($198).

Demi shows up for a pillow fighting date and is wearing the Reese Two-Tone Bodysuit ($74) from JoJo Fletcher’s line, Fletch.

Kelly Flanagan might be my favorite contestant on this season. She’s just so cool and authentic. I liked her lavender L’Acadamie The Pearl Dress ($57). This is almost sold out so I found a similar dress if you have to have it. Venus Cold Shoulder Belted Dress ($26.99).

At the rose ceremony, Hannah Ann looked great in her Herve Leger Black Multi-Strap Bandage Dress (sold out). If you like the look, you can get this Split One Shoulder Sheath Dress ($47.94).

Kelly Flanagan knows how to work a red dress. I loved this look from the rose ceremony. I found this Paulina Red Bodycon Midi Dress ($58) so you can recreate it. She accessorized with the Madison McKinley Smith Necklace ($40).

What were your favorite looks from this week? For more Bachelor fashion posts, click here.

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Light Up the World with The Starling Project

January 27, 2020 by Leave a Comment

This year I wanted to start highlighting more products that give back. I’ve been introduced to so many amazing ones and I want to support the products and companies that are trying to make a difference. Today I’m going to share The Starling Project with you.

The Starling Project was founded in 2015 by Sterling McDavid. McDavid is a director on the New York board of UNICEF and was inspired to start this project after many of her travels with the organization. The Starling Project’s mission is light for light. Each candle purchased helps to support life-saving solar projects in Rwanda and Chad.

The candles are hand-poured in Brooklyn, use recycled glass and ethically-sourced essential oils. They burn for a minimum of 60 hours. The candles retail for $55, but I consider it more of a donation with a great gift!

Aside from supporting a great cause, The Starling Project also has some fantastic scents. I started with the Vanilla + Hemlock candle, but they have added a Rose All Day candle that they developed with Whispering Angel! I will definitely be getting that one next.

If you have any favorite products that give back, please share them in the comments! I want to start making this a regular feature.

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Five on Friday: Gilmore Girls Rewatch

January 24, 2020 by Leave a Comment

I haven’t done a Gilmore Girls post since 2015, so I figured it was time! I got inspired by the annual GilMORE the Merrier rewatch on UPTV, they start this every year on Thanksgiving. I caught a few episodes then and just now completed my own rewatch. I feel like every time I finish a rewatch I should get a little treat, so I picked five things I would love as an honorary Gilmore Girl.

I Smell Snow Phone Case ($12)

This is the cutest thing and perfect to rock during the winter months. I love that they have every phone option available.

Eat Like a Gilmore Cookbook ($7.99)

I had no idea, but there is a Gilmore Girls cookbook! It has 100 recipes including some of the favorites like salmon puffs, Santa burger, the magic risotto, the Founder’s Day punch and many more!

Luke’s Diner Mug ($15.22)

I want to get this classic mug so badly! It is the perfect tribute to the Gilmore Girls and I would love to drink my tea out of it! I would get the blue one.

Be Like a Gilmore Girl Shirt ($24.99)

Any Gilmore Girls rewatcher needs a shirt to wear as they binge. I just thought this one was perfect and I like the v-neck style.

Talking As Fast As I Can ($12.18)

Did you know that Lauren Graham has written three books? I sure didn’t, but I would love to read her memoir and hear all the behind the scenes details about her time on the show.

Are you a Gilmore Girls fan? Let me know your favorite episode in the comments!

For more Five on Friday posts, click here.

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Tools of the Trade: ReVive Light Therapy

January 23, 2020 by Leave a Comment

I’ve mentioned my love for Hydrafacials in the past and one of the best parts is the infrared light they zap you with at the end. It really kills any bacteria on your skin and diminishes breakouts. I decided to get this tool right in my own home with ReVive Light Therapy. The lookbook is fairly expensive, $399 to be exact. What you might not know is that this item is available on the FSA store and if you have a flexible spending account, you can use any leftover money at the end of the year to purchase one for yourself. That’s what I did.

The lookbook I have has three different settings, anti-aging, acne, and both. The set comes with the device, a stand, a cute travel bag and goggles to wear to protect your eyes. This is a Medical Grade light emitting diode (LED) and uses IR, Deep Red, Red, Amber, and Blue lights.

The blue light has powerful anti-bacterial properties and can help treat acne. It is great at killing the bacteria on your skin and stabilizing oil glands. It also can help reduce pore size and reduce future acne flare ups.

The amber light helps your skin to glow and reduces redness, swelling and inflammation. This would be a great setting if you had a sunburn or suffered from rosacea.

The red light can reach deep layers of the skin to rejuvenate and stimulate cellular repair and increase circulation.

The infrared light combats signs of aging, replenishes dermal and epidermal cells, and helps de-age the skin. This is great for anti-aging and stimulates natural collagen and elastin. The infrared setting can also help with any bruises, cuts, or scrapes.

When you turn on the lights, you can press the button once for anti-aging or twice for acne. You start with one area for 8 minutes and then move to any other area you want to treat. The device will beep every minute, so you have to count until 8 beeps to know when you are done.

I usually do this after a full skincare treatment following my Clarisonic and PMD treatments. So it’s pretty much like an at home facial. It doesn’t hurt and you feel nothing during the treatment, so just pop on a good podcast and enjoy!

Have you tried the ReVive Light Therapy Lookbook? I would love to hear how you’re using it.

For more Beauty posts, click here.

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Wine of the Week: Dom Perignon

January 22, 2020 by Leave a Comment

As promised, I wanted to address The Bachelor’s Champagnegate and figured the best way to do that was to talk about the amazing champagne that started this whole mess. As you may have seen, Kelsey Weier had been saving a bottle of Dom Perignon for a year and decided to bring it with her to drink with Peter Weber. Unfortunately, Hannah Ann Sluss “accidentally” opened the bottle and drank it with Peter and all hell broke loose. After Kelsey finally calmed down, she eventually got to drink champagne with Peter, but she decided to drink it straight from the bottle and gave us this gem.

In the future, I would highly recommend Kelsey get herself a Chambong if she plans on slamming champagne again. I have two myself and they are great for any party AND you can down champagne like a champ.

Like Kelsey, I too have saved bottles of Dom Perignon for big occasions. We celebrated with a bottle of Dom Perignon on our wedding night and when we closed on our home. I LOVE the idea of always having a bottle on hand and tagging them for specific goals.

Dom Perignon is made by our friends at Moët & Chandon and named after a Benedictine monk. Dom Perignon is a vintage champagne, which means it is only made in certain years. The current release is from 2009 and there is quite a market for different years if you are a collector. Each vintage is a little bit different but they always use a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes. Charles and Diana even served Dom Perignon at their wedding in 1981.

Have you tried Dom Perignon before? What vintage did you have?

For more Wine of the Week posts, click here.

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Bachelor 24 – Week 2

January 21, 2020 by Leave a Comment

We pick up this week exactly where we left off with the fallout from Hannah Brown’s visit. It seems like she is finally gone for good this season, but I’m not sure where that leaves him with the other women. During the first rose ceremony it was obvious Peter was a smitten kitten with Madison, I liked her Jay Godfrey Whitney Dress, but it was sold out. I found a similar style in this Trina Turk Picture Perfect Dress ($168).

There was lots of drama with Kelsey and her champagne (I’m planning a whole separate post for Champagnegate), but she did look fabulous in her Black Halo Lena Color Blocked Jumpsuit ($390). Lulu’s Power of Love White Strapless Jumpsuit ($61) is similar.

Now, the fashion show was interesting, but most of the looks showcased weren’t really my style, you can find them on Revolve if you’re interested. During the cocktail party, I liked Kelsey’s faux leather dress. I am loving her style so far this season. I found a similar Hit List Leather Dress ($34.99) if you liked this look too.

What were your favorite looks from this episode?

For more Bachelor posts, click here.

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Why I Love Adjunct Teaching

January 20, 2020 by Leave a Comment

I get SO many questions about my role as an adjunct professor; I can’t believe I haven’t talked about it here before. Today I wanted to share more details on my second job including how I got into it and why I love teaching!

When John and I got engaged in 2009, I was looking for a way to make extra money to help save for the wedding. I remember a few of my friends taking extra retail jobs on the side to save up for some pricier wedding items when they got married. I was right in the beginning of my career and already working a lot of unpredictable hours and I couldn’t imagine having to leave my day job and head over to a retail store to work the night away.

Throwback to 2009!

One of my friends randomly mentioned to me that I should look into teaching since I had a Master’s degree. I didn’t realize teaching was something I could do, I always thought that it was something you might consider when you retired. So shout out to everyone with a Master’s degree – you are eligible to teach at the college level! After she planted the seed, I started looking into it and I found a friend of a friend that had done it before. I met her for lunch and picked her brain on how to get started.

The first thing you need to do is develop a Curriculum Vitae (CV), it’s like a resume, but structured for academia. Then I just started looking for adjunct jobs and applied. I got a break early on at The Art Institute of Michigan. They were looking for someone to teach public relations for their fashion students.

Before I could land the job, I had to come in for a teaching audition. I prepared a PR 101 presentation, practiced it on John a few times, and then presented it to a room of faculty. They liked the presentation and I got the job! I ended up teaching a variety of classes at The Art Institute for six years.

A few years ago, I was getting busy at work and The Art Institute decided to close its Michigan location so I stopped teaching. Not long after I started my own business (you can read more about that here), a position opened up at The University of Michigan – Dearborn (my alma mater)! This was such an amazing opportunity for me, especially since I had taken the same classes and graduated from the same program.

I LOVE teaching, but aside from that, it’s become a great way for me save up for big events and vacations. If you’re looking to get into teaching, here are a few tips to get you started:

  • Finish your Master’s degree
  • Turn your resume into a curriculum vitae (CV)
  • Find opportunities to guest lecture at local universities (you can add those opportunities to your CV later)
  • Start with private universities – they offer a lot of guidance and training upfront and smaller class sizes which is great when you are new to teaching
  • Draft your own “teaching philosophy“

Aside from being a great side hustle, I love teaching and mentoring students at the beginning of their careers. It can be so rewarding and it’s a great opportunity for me to continue sharpening my skills.

If you are an adjunct drop me a line, I would love to connect!

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Five on Friday: Think Pink

January 17, 2020 by Leave a Comment

I have an event coming up this spring and I need to wear a hot pink dress. I don’t have a lot of options in my closet so I figured this was the perfect opportunity to share some of the dresses I’ve been eyeing for my event.

Love…Ady Ruffle Cap Sleeve Sheath Dress ($39.97)

I liked the cut of this and the fact that it has cap sleeves. This would be great paired with a fun statement necklace.

Donna Morgan Ruffle Cuff Sheath Dress ($39.97)

I love sleeves and I like that these are 3/4 quarter which means they won’t be dragging through my food.

Lauren Ralph Lauren Twisted-Knot Jersey Dress ($125)

Ralph Lauren dresses are my favorite! This is probably the one that will look best on me and that I will wear multiple times. The style and cut are SO flattering.

Harper Rose Fit & Flare Dress ($148)

This dress is a little different, but I like the fit and flare look. The fun asymmetrical cut would probably make it very comfortable.

Eliza J Off the Shoulder Midi Dress ($168)

I’m not sure if I could pull this one off, but it’s really stylish. It would also be great for a future summer wedding and many other fun events!

Which dresses are your favorites? For more Five on Friday posts, click here.

Filed Under: Fashion, Five on Friday

Splurge vs. Steal: Birks Iconic Stackable Diamond Snowflake Ring

January 16, 2020 by Leave a Comment

Today I have another fantastic excuse to talk about Meghan Markle! Meghan first debuted her Birks Snowflake ring on her trip to Scotland last August. The piece is from Canadian jeweler Maison Birks. Meghan is a fan of a number of Birks pieces. This ring is currently available for $4,995 on the Birks website – definitely out of my price range.

Suzy L. Golden has a great steal in her Sterling Silver Cubic Zirconia Floral Eternity Band for only $61.64!

Do you have a splurge that you want me to find a steal for? Let me know in the comments. Or let me know if you find another steal for Meghan’s Birks pieces. If you end up trying out the steal, I would love to hear what you think (and send me your pictures).

For more Splurge vs. Steal posts, click here.

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