REVOLT Week 7

It's funny because when I finished my thesis, the first place I went when I decided I needed a little something was Subway. Before doing Revolt, I probably would've gone to Burger King (it's just so close to my apartment).  But I wanted something that was delicious and healthy.

Of course, then the next night my dad wanted to go to Nathan's because it was finally open after months of construction, but I got a grilled chicken sandwich (480 calories) and let my dad take several bites and only had a few fries. I did have a few bites of the cherry pie though. 

Goal: Exercise four times this week instead of just two or three! 

This Week: Remember to fill my water bottle more. Try not to gorge myself on food this Thanksgiving. Just a little gorging, but not a lot. ;)

Weight: 125

P.S. -- Since my two year blogiversary is coming up (November 30th!), 

I've decided to give out a discount code! 

Get 20% off the Book Ad and Sentence Ad with code SINCERELYTWO!


Don't forget to enter to win a ring from Rack and Sack!

Don't forget to enter to win a Datevitation love coupon!

**I'm writing this post in return for free access to Revolt.**

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Favorite Things

 {Target jacket, B&N Snowy the Owl, B&N typewriter journal, H&M teacup mug, 

Be A Bombshell lip crayon in Hot Damn*, A Closet Full bracelet, American Eagle beanie,

The Container Store Sticky Memo Roll & Christmas Tree Shop striped scarf}

*From my November Ipsy Glam Bag

I need to rave about this jacket because it's petite sizing, so the sleeves actually hit at my wrist and the length is perfect. How did I not realize that Target has petite size clothing? Now this solidifies my love for the store even more!

Also, I love this sticky memo roll. In order to keep my sanity, I write notes to myself on sticky notes, but what I love about this memo roll is that I can rip as much or as little paper as I need. Sometimes I only need to remember two or three things, other times seven. Plus, the whole thing is sticky instead of just the top, so it lays down flat. 

The biggest thing that I'm excited about right now? I FINISHED MY THESIS! A few days ago, I decided to put all my chapters together to see how many pages I have (I need 150 pages to graduate) since I have to turn it in on December 9th. I had a minor freak out when I realized I only had 135 pages. But then a friend told me to change the margins. For some reason, it's supposed to be 1.5" but I'm fine with that since it bumped it up to 169. Mission accomplished!

I finished my graduate school thesis!! I made it to 150 pages! So I celebrated with a @SUBWAY sandwich!
— Sara Strauss (@sincerelysara22) November 19, 2013

 The other presents I got myself (besides the Subway sandwich) were an Urban Decay 

Revolution lipstick in Rush and a Sephora Collection Event Palette. 

A few fun links:

How to be creative. This is so interesting.

Harry Potter minimalist posters.

As to survive the apocalypse as taught by YA fiction!

Disney villains sing Spellblock Tango!

Ten quirks that only writers understand!

How to be a nice human. I 100% agree with this!

A wonderful blog post about believing in your talents -- The First You.

These pictures of cosplayers out of context are so great!

On blogging, the numbers game, and comparison!

Having someone edit your novel is like a horror story.

Sponsor loves: Ten Penny Dreams has 28 Quotes for Writers and book recommendations for the holiday season! Datevitation has the cutest love coupon books, which you can get for a family member, partner, or friend! (Get $10 off and free shipping with code SINCERELY10!) 

Check out the blogs I've swapped with this month: Little Lady Little City, You're in Brookelynn, A Classic Notion, Becoming Fabulous, My Life as a Teacup, Wayfaring Magnolia, That College Girl's Guide & Style After Hours. 

Fashion loves: burgundy dress, over the knee socks, cute pajamas, adorable waterproof flats, eye print dress, succulent tea light set & green fit and flare dress.


Don't forget to enter to win a ring from Rack and Sack!

Don't forget to enter to win a Datevitation love coupon!

P.S. -- Since my two year blogiversary is coming up (November 30th!), 
I've decided to give out a discount code! 

Get 20% off the Book Ad and Sentence Ad with code SINCERELYTWO!

Have a great weekend, lovelies!

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Inspired By: Catching Fire

Only one more day, guys! I'm so excited for Catching Fire to hit theaters tomorrow! It's going to be so action packed and dramatic that I can hardly handle it already. 

If you haven't read the first one, or seen the movie, I would stop now. Spoilers ahead!

In Catching Fire, Katniss Everdeen has survived the 74th Annual Hunger Games with Peeta Mellark, a revolution to overthrow the government is on the way with Katniss and the mockingjay as their motivation for change, and President Snow wants Katniss dead because she made a mockery of the Hunger Games by cheating the system. Little does she know that his revenge comes with the 75th Annual Hunger Games, the Quarter Quell, in which previous tributes must compete again. 

Katniss Everdeen

{Inspired By: Katniss}

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is happy to have survived the Hunger Games, but knows that she sparked something bigger than herself, and knows that President Snow has something terrible up his sleeve. She has to play along and pretend to be the lovesick girl as she goes on the Victory Tour, but underneath she's scared and angry. 

I drew inspiration from Katniss' Victory Tour outfits: wear an pretty white dress, silver jewels, silver sequins heels, and a white clutch. Or look like the mockingjay by wearing a black sparkly dress, red cardigan, red earrings, feather bracelet, feather clutch, and cap toe heels. 

Peeta Mellark

Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcheson) is relieved to be alive, though he barely made it out in one piece. While his love for Katniss is real, it's hard to pretend to be a real couple with the whole world watching. 

For a casual outfit, layer a blue cardigan over a leather sleeve red tee, jeans, Heart U ring, and lace-up boots. Or go for a winter white look by wearing a white blazer, heart tee, jeans, and metallic flats. 

Finnick Odair

Finnick Odair (Sam Claflin) is a tribute from District Four, which is known as the fishing district. He won the 65th Hunger Games at only 14 years old and was coached by Mags (Lynn Cohen). During the Quarter Quell, he allies himself with Katniss and Peeta. 

Keep it sporty by wearing a black hoodie, asymmetical tunic, black leggings, and sneakers. Or for a cool casual look go for a white blouse, green jeans, beige booties, and teal jewelry inspired water. 

Effie Trinket

Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) is back to being Katniss and Peeta's chaperone. She seems to become more attached to Katniss and Peeta, but whether it's because she actually cares or because their fame reflects well on her is unclear. She dresses likes all Capital-born people by wearing the most colorful and avant garde looks possible. 

Look like Effie by wearing a butterfly print dress, bow headband, lots of bracelets, and black booties. Or for a fancier get up, don a embellished black blazer, ruffled red dress, black accessories, and red heels. 

P.S. -- Since my two year blogiversary is coming up (November 30th!), 

I've decided to give out a discount code! 

Get 20% off the Book Ad and Sentence Ad with code SINCERELYTWO!

Are you excited to see this move?

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(via The Hunger Games Explorer & Yahoo Movies)

Review: Datevitation + Giveaway!

I'd heard of Datevitation, but hadn't visited the site until I was contacted by them, and I'm really glad they did. Datevitation is the cutest idea ever! It's a place where you can create custom love coupon books to give to loved ones. You pick the dates (go to a museum, see a movie, go skydiving), you can add text or even your own faces to the illustrations, and then Datevitation prints it out and ships it to you. 

It's perfect for lovey-dovey couples or good friends who want an excuse to hang out more or family members that you never tire of hanging out with. There are over 500 date ideas, ranging from romantic date ideas to outdoor fun to sporty dates. 

I was really excited to get my own Datevitation. I chose the "Just Because" cover and picked five dates -- a trip to the bookstore, a relaxing afternoon at a cafe, soak up some culture at a museum, big screen movie night, and take-out with a movie at home. I picked them with my good friends Avra and Jackie in mind since these are things we've done together before. You can even add a personal message, so I chose "Thank you for being my friend! Love, Sara." 

I love how my Datevitation turned out. The paper is so pretty and smooth, the illustrations are too cute, and each date has perforated lines, so you can pull it out and redeem it. There's even a place to write the day that you went on the date. Adorable, right?

Datevitation was created by the husband-wife team of Alex and Olga Karpman. You can get to know this cute couple on the Datevitation blog, where they offer video guides, date ideas, and romantic gestures. You can even watch Alex propose to Olga in a video (so romantic!) that they posted on YouTube as a Save The Date. It now has over 1.6 million views. Watch the video here! 

Datevitation books normally start at just $25 for five dates, so it's a thoughtful and economical gift. For for my lovely followers, when you use the code SINCERELY10 you get $10 off plus free shipping (total value $13.50). That means you can get your loved one a fun, one-of-a-kind Christmas gift starting at just $15! Make sure you order by December 13th. 

Datevitation | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have you tried Datevitation?

**I received this Datevitation for free. All opinions are my own.**

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Outfit: Blogger Brunch

On Saturday, I met up with seven lovely ladies at Le Pain Quotidien in Soho. It was really amazing meeting other bloggers and being able to talk about blogging, photography, books, food, and life. Sometimes people in my real life don't get it (Why are you taking pictures of your outfit? Why are you photographing your lipstick?), which means I have to keep my excitement about blogging and the blogging community to myself, but finally, finally I had a chance to chat with other like-minded, hilarious, kind, and talented women. 

I met Monica of Moda by Monika, who put the whole thing together, Sharon of The Tiny Heart, Angelis of Angelisd (she also sells jewelry at A Closet Full), Alexandra of Glory Boon (she also sells handcrafted beauty products on Etsy), Christie of The Closet by Christie, Mel of Simple Stylezz, and Monica's photographer friend Yvonne. 

Monica was nice enough to being us all goodie bags! We each got a striped shirt and a soap! Angelis then gave out little bags with bracelets! Mine has a little feather charm, which I love! You can see that I'm wearing it in these pictures.

Alex who runs Glory Boon was kind enough to give you all a coupon code!

Get 15% off at Glory Boon with code SARAREADERS until tomorrow!

Angelis, the girl behind A Closet Full, also has a promo code for you!
Get 20% off at A Closet Full with code SARA20!

Jacket: Target (perfect for petite girls!) | Cardigan: Target | Blouse: H&M | Scarf: American Eagle 

Necklace: American Eagle | Bracelet: A Closet Full (gift) | Jeans: Hollister | Boots: Aeropostale

Scallop Ring: Forever 21 | Bag: Target

(Last four pictures by Monica & Sharon)

Don't forget to enter to win a ring from Rack and Sack!

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