10 Things I Learned at the Smart Girls Conference + Review

A few weeks ago, I attended the Smart Girls Conference hosted by the Smart Girls Group. I became a member of this online group some time in 2012. The group empowers young women to network with each other, help one another, and ultimately live a well-rounded "smart" life. There is no membership fee for joining the group, all they ask is you to contribute your passions and interests to benefit the group as a whole. My contribution is writing for technology column on their blog called the Smart Girl's Loop. I enjoy writing for their blog and reading articles written by other girls just like me. 

This group was only a virtual network I was a part of until I decided to attend their very first self-hosted conference. The conference overall was an awesome experience! It was the first conference I ever attended and it exceeded my expectations completely. 

There were several interesting guest speakers ranging from media, blogging, fashion, and career, keynote presentations, lots of food and snacks, and incredible gift bags. Speakers such as Stephanie Ruhle from Bloomberg news, Makenzie Horan from Design Darling, Carly Heitlinger from The College Prepster, Kayla Webley from Marie Clare, Renata Mutis Black from Empowered by You, Lauren Lally from RewardStyle, Brenda Berkman the first woman firefighter of NY, Arthur Woods from Imperative, Shiza Shahid the CEO of the Malala fund, Soraya Darabi from Zady and many more! 

All these speakers and presenters had great things to offer over the course of the 2-day conference. I learned a whole lot (10 things in particular that I would like to share) from the presenters and attending the event itself. 

1. Saying I can't do this because (I have a family, I go to school, I have a job)... is not an excuse. You can make time for anything that is important to you.

2. Work hard on yourself, don't be hard on yourself. I took personally to this lesson because I am one to always be hard on myself, but it shouldn't be that way. We are all here to progress, not to finish the race.

3. Don't compare yourself, your brand, your blog, and your company to others.

4. Be sweet and kind to everyone, all the time, in every way.

5. Finding your purpose is a continuing process.

6. Take a vacation away from work, travel, and relax. Don't worry about work changes and deadlines while you're gone. When you come back, everything will be where you left off.

7. Traveling into NYC is not as hard as I thought it would be. I traveled to and from NYC both days of the conference and the second day I even found myself knowing where the nearest Starbucks was in order to pick up some coffee before the conference. 

8. Becoming a grown-up means tailoring your professional decisions according to who you want to be as a person. 

9. Media gives you the perception that success happens over-night, but you don't see the seven years of hard work that happened before the success.

10. Networking is hard to do. It's not easy approaching someone you don't know and making a good enough impression to hand out a business card that leaves them remembering who you are.

It was a great experience, I was able to meet so many of the people I e-mail and network with online, in-person. I even met the founder of the Smart Girls Group, Emily Raleigh. She's a wonderful inspiration and a very strong leader. Plus, she's only a couple years older than I am and she managed to create this community of hundred of girls striving to be successful! 

I am certain I am attending next year's conference and you should too! If you do, send me a tweet and we'll exchange business cards!

P.S. This gift back was awesome and I love the Day Designer Planner by Whitney English!

The How I Met Your Mother Finale...

The How I Met Your Mother finale was to say the least interesting. This post is actually extremely hard for me to write, I've had 3 cups of iced coffee today and as I write...I still think I should have more.

However, before I start going into my views on the finale, I want to begin by stating that this show meant a lot to me. I started watching this show during the summer. All eight seasons on Netflix then onto CBS for the final season. I loved the way the show made me feel, it made me happy, it made me laugh, and it taught me a few things about love. Though just like other TV sitcoms, other How I Met Your Mother viewers probably felt the same way.

The show captured the long and incredible story of how the main character, Ted Mosby played by Josh Radnor met his kids' mother. It was a story that detailed every turn in his life and every little step that brought him to the desk he sat in telling his children the full-on story.

The story was beautiful and after every episode, I felt more reassured that Ted will find the love of his life. Throughout it all, I fell in love with Marshall & Lily's relationship (played by Jason Segel & Alyson Hannigan) and the slightly surprising, but wonderful match that Barney made with Robin (played by Neil Patrick Harris & "Cobie" Smulders). So naturally, Ted and the mother's relationship became one that I had high hopes for and in the final season, I was happy to see their relationship unfold a bit.

The writers, producers, and everyone else behind the creation of this show did great, they made all nine seasons (minus the very last episode) pleasant (although sometimes heartbreaking) and just out-right breath-taking.

The finale had lots of ups and downs. The ups being the fact that Ted finally met the Mother and she was perfect. She was everything Ted seemed to have wanted and much more. She was loving, charming, and made Ted feel like the luckiest man on earth (because he was). The other up being that we were able to see Marshall & Lilly grow their loving family even more.

On the other hand, the downs being Barney & Robin getting divorced after three years together, Barney impregnated some random woman (as part of one of his old Playbook schemes), the Mother, Tracy (played by Cristin Milioti) becoming sick and then dying, and the biggest down...the person Ted finally ends up with is Robin.

This in simple terms just broke my heart. 

Ted finds the woman he loves deeply, he starts a beautiful family, and tells his children his life's complete journey on his quest to find the "one" and as it so happens...no matter how much he loved the Mother...she ended up not being the "one".

For a little personal perspective, I must say finding the "one" will be a magical moment for me. I believe there is only one person you can ever truly love. Sure, love is infinite and one may love many people...but there is just something about the "one" that makes you realize why no one else could have ever been the "one".

Tracy was just a love in Ted's life. She was not the "one" fans like me were hoping for. She was just the mother of his children. Robin was the "one" all along.

This is crushing for fans that believe in true love since we were set up to believe Ted would find that love with the Mother of his children. That was the love we all thought Ted was looking for, but instead Ted only always had a place in his heart to be with Robin.

Barney was a great match for Robin, they seemed messed up in their own ways, but they were madly in love. It didn't seem fair to me that Barney spent all these years loving Robin only to give it all up in the end.

It made me feel like true love doesn't exist and that life goes on whether you have found it or not... It really took away the magic of this series from me.

Not everything in this world has to be realistic. Too much realism takes away our love of life, our motivation to become better humans, and definitely defies the definition of life we're all secretly trying to find.

Beyond that, Barney never found real love as he raised his daughter, Ellie. Marshall & Lilly kept their family together which was a sweet touch. But, overall, the episode was not bad, but my aching heart says otherwise. Ted could have moved on from the death in another way (even with another person) as long as the Mother was the last person he was with...as long as she was the "one" he truly loved.

I trust you all to take it from here. What are your thoughts? How did you feel after the finale?

I LOVE My Nokia Lumia 1020!

Last weekend on Saturday, January 18, 2014. I said goodbye to my old iPhone 4 and made a new home for the phone that has been on my wishlist for months! I finally bought the Nokia Lumia 1020! 

 

Here are my favorite key features on this Windows 8 Phone so far:

Camera

41 mega-pixels and incredible high-definition zoom. Awesome!

Camera Apps 

I can create animated photos, shoot high-definition videos, create panoramas, and edit my photos while I am taking the photos so I can get the best shot, every time!

Uncluttered

Another one of my favorite features on this phone is the fact that it is easy to organize. I can organize all my photos and contacts the way I want to without having the iPhone forcing me to create separate albums and still store all my photos on my camera roll.

Oodles of Space

32 GB of Storage. Take that 16 GB iPhone 4!

Total Personalization 

I love being able to create the start menu the way I want to. I also love how easy it is to do so. The iPhone 4 made it impossible to save your contacts on your home screen or hide your apps. With this phone, I have no limits.

Better Blog Photos

I am now saying goodbye to my average to decent iPhone photos on my blog and finally moving on to good and great! 

I have so much more tech specifics to discuss, but I will save that for my technology blog. Read the detailed review of the Nokia Lumia 1020 on It's Technologic. 

For the Traveler: ModCloth Challenge

Last week, I was contacted by ModCloth to participate in the Uniquely You style challenge. Although I don't blog about style and fashion, I was really excited to divert my blog's content just a little. ModCloth sent me this dress to create a styled outfit around. The dress is called the Staple of Your Style Dress. The polka-dots on this dress reminded me of vintage travel photos and so I thought I'd design a style that I would wear when traveling. I paired up this pretty and comfortable dress with "perfect-for-travel" shoes and accessories then added a convenient handbag to finish it off.

For the Traveler- ModCloth Uniquely You by zobia featuring flat shoes

My Experience with the Julep Maven Subscription Program

I have been "endorsing" Julep since I found out about it in April of this year. I loved their pretty nail polishes and once I received an offer to claim a free Julep Maven box of my own, I took up the opportunity. I was delighted with my box and the nail polishes I received. I was impressed by Julep and I even dedicated a post to it on my blog offering my friends and readers the same free box offer I received. The post was titled "Julep Maven Box Unboxing".

When I found out about the free offer, I immediately signed up for a Julep account, took the style quiz, paid the $3.99 shipping cost, then deliberately waited for the box to arrive. Once it arrived I was overjoyed and blogged about it.

I knew that a regular Julep Maven subscription (the monthly box) was $19.99 a month so I avoided getting into that. I didn't intend to either. So every now and then I'd log on to see if there was a specific nail polish color I wanted, save it to my wishlist, and log out. Julep sent me tens of thousands of e-mails for different styles and new promotions that were going on. I ignored all of that, after all, I did not want to join the subscription program.

Just a few days ago, I found that $19.99 was taken out of my bank account from Julep and a shipping confirmation was sent to my e-mail as well. I did not buy anything, where'd this come from?!

Then this happened and that happened and before you know it, I'm leaving the customer service line angry voicemails, sending the customer support e-mail terrible messages, and tweeting Julep and crying out for help because I was billed for a purchase I was both unaware of and DID NOT MAKE.

Julep's customer service is terrible! It took me literally four hours to get through to someone. Then, once I did, the lady did not care what I had to say she claimed no returns can be made on Maven Boxes, but hello...I DID NOT BUY IT! She said I was apparently enrolled in the subscription program, but I argued because it was June...it's been two months since I last bought my first box in April.

After some further investigation, Julep tried to charge me in May and made several attempts to charge me after it was denied. They claim that I should have known I was Julep Maven when I bought the starter box.

That's where she was wrong. If I knew I was enrolled in the program, would I call customer service?! Maybe they should have been clearer? Maybe they should have sent me an e-mail saying that I'm enrolled in the program and will be charged every month instead of sending me thousands of e-mails about the new summer colors?

Here's what they did for me. Nothing.

My subscription was cancelled upon request and the unwanted subscription box that I was charged for was sent to my door. I did not choose the nail polish colors in it and therefore, I do not want it.

Come on Julep! You have great products! How about have quality customer service? How about not run a subscription program if you are going to anger people by charging them money for something they don't want? How about sending less e-mails and annoying the heck out of people?

I personally love their products, but what happened to me no longer makes me a fan so I'm selling my Julep box. My experience with the Julep Maven Subscription Program was terrible.



You'll be getting 3 colors: Angela, Nadia, Tracy and a packet of Green Tea Facial Blotting Papers. This is the July Maven box and I'm selling it exactly the way I received it. Want to buy it? Here's a link to my eBay Listing > Julep July 2013 Maven Box, 3 colors and a Surprise.

Thanks for reading,

Book Review: "The Kite Runner"

For the past month I have been reading "The Kite Runner" written by Khaled Hosseini, but before I continue I want to point out that although I'm a writer, reading is not of my favorite hobbies. This one book I found hard to put down and coming from me that means this is pretty good book. I spent New Year's Eve finishing it up and it was a great way to the end the year. (Since I actually finished something for once.) 

Somewhere through all the frustration of having to read this book and trying to focus on understanding it so I may find something about it I liked, I found that almost everything in this book was likeable. The beautiful way of describing Afghanistan and it's cultures in English, how each character truly resembled the Muslim religion and Middle Eastern customs, and how the novel kept the reader wanting to read each word (even me).  

There were a few ideas in the book I did not agree with, but I loved it. It all wrapped together pretty well. My favorite part of the book was the mini-story of the one of the main character's love life. I found it to be well fitted into the book as a whole. My favorite quote of the book was "I see America has infused you with the optimism that has made her so great." 

The book even gave me a few ideas on my own novel. I think reading this book was totally worth it, I'm glad I did. 

xoxo,

Earning, Coding, and Enjoying

I haven’t posted something in a while and I just thought that I should recap on what I’m doing right now and how things are. The first couple weeks of the New Year have been really weird for me. I’ll spare the details. I guess the important part is that I got through them.
Anyway, over the past few weeks I’ve been trying to earn some extra cash on this Website called Fiverr. This site is great it allows you to write, draw, craft, code, or anything you can think of for someone for $5. I’ve been writing reviews, writing lyrics, and even research papers. People will actually pay you for this. It’s unbelievably great!
I’ve also been learning how to code JavaScript from Codeacademy as part of my New Year’s resolution to learn how to code. I signed up for CodeYear in the very beginning of January and I’m doing my best to follow through with it. Although, I have been slacking off, just a tad. (I need to finish the first and second lesson in order to move on.)
Besides that, I’m just trying to enjoy life and take on the challenges and adventures I go through everyday. It hasn’t been the best of year far, but it just started. I’m sure it’ll get better along the way. “Life’s never perfect, but you can have a perfect life if you believe it is.” – Zobia; a quote written by yours truly!
By the way, if you’re interesting in purchasing a review, custom lyrics, or anything. Please feel free to check out my Fiverr page: My username is writesavvy. I will be more than happy to fulfill your requests.

(Picture accredited to owner)

xoxo,

My First Set of Business Cards!

I just received a set of 50 Free Facebook Business Cards from Moo.com! The website is celebrating and sharing its new idea of using your Facebook profile information to create customized business and/or personal contact cards. Moo is giving 200,000 free packs of cards! Get them while they last!

My personalized set of cards! (Information was whiten out for privacy)

The front side of one of my cards. The front side includes your profile picture, your name, your Facebook Timeline cover photo, your education, and work.

Back side of the card, here you can write a quote or anything you would like at the top and provide your Facebook profile link, contact number, and e-mail on the bottom.

The cute little box the cards came in!

The back of your Moo business card box.
I thought these little cards were wonderful! They look really cool and I was glad I was lucky enough to receive my first box for free. As soon as these cards run out, I’m definitely planning on buying my own box. Moo has really won me over with their great idea to turn your Facebook profile into a card you can hand out. Instead of having people spend hours searching you on Facebook, just hand out your Facebook card and they can instantly access your profile!
Easily get yours while they still last. Sign into Facebook > Go to your profile (Timeline) > Click About > Click Contact Info> Click on Print Cards and customize your cards then order! First box is free if you get it in time! Plus, you can order your own pack! They are definately worth it! Start making your own cards now!

xoxo,