What's In My Bag {spring break}

Spring break is finally here, I feel like I have been counting down the days since we returned to school haha. I personally love packing, its the unpacking that I seem to put off (for weeks). I honestly did not go anywhere special for spring break this year, I stayed in my apartment and worked some. Wednesday was Matt and my three year anniversary, which was very exciting to celebrate, our anniversary always seems to fall during spring break, I think we planed that pretty well :) I also went home and spent a few days with my family in Raleigh, it's always nice to catch up. 

Above are some of my spring break essentials: Tote bag (longchamp) I use this bag all.the.time. for vacations, for class, and at the race track // Sandals (Jack Rogers) I also am eying these Jacks because I feel they would be great for the pool/beach because they are plastic, and there a great price. Swimsuits, I don't know about you, but shopping for/trying on swimsuits is literally about my least favorite thing to do, period. I am a one piece kinda gal usually, I love this Kate Spade bow one it is just too adorable. Finally time to break out those shorts(and shave those legs ladies) my go to are my Lilly Pulitzer scallop buttercup short. Starbucks is a need of course, it isn't a vacation until you break out the gold card :) I have linked many of my favorite items for spring break bellow, so take a look. Happy spring break ladies may your days be warm and full of sunshine, and your burns quickly turn into flawless tans!!

My Work Space

Mug: c/o Fox & Clover 15% off with code: Sassy15 | Agenda: Lilly Pulitzer | Phone case: Kate Spade 

Stapler: Target also love this one | Vase: Hobby Lobby (similar)

Having a neat and tidy work space is very important, but can be difficult when living in such a small apartment. My biggest regret would be buying a desk that doesn't have any drawers or any form of storage. I am however lucky enough to have been able to place my desk by a window, natural light is the best. Bentley can always be found near by, he thinks of himself as my little helper, aka he takes napes while I do all of the work. I feel everyone should have flowers on their desk, fresh or fake, it just helps make the space. I love using cute and sassy mugs on my desk to hold pens and pencils, I just think its adorable and creative. This "haters gonna hate" mug is from Fox & Clover, they have the most adorable mugs, dozens of sassy quotes, and supper affordable plus get 15% off yours with code Sassy15.

How To Apply For Internships

Love my mug? Buy it here and receive 15% off with code SASSY15

Landing a great internship in college can help you get your dream job when you graduate. Many majors (including mine) are now requiring students to have a summer internship as part of a graduation requirement, so the pressure and the competition is high. The process of narrowing down your top choices, and applying, are fairly similar for every major. I am still in the process of applying, and want to help out my fellow students, so here are my tips on applying for a college internship.

Brainstorm a BIG list// Forget about all of your restrictions, dream big, make a long list of anywhere you would like to intern. Forget about location or whether they have a formal intern program, just make a list. Think outside the box. Don't just Google (insert major name here) internships.  Think about companies you would love to work for and are genuinely interested in. Use your resources. Ask your professors.  There might be a list of companies students have previously interned at. Your school is here to help you, ask for connections, read your emails (I know...I delete most of mine too) but sometimes there are very interesting "meet and greets" with companies right at your school.

Narrow your list down// Now it is time to get picky: make a list of criteria. Where are you willing to live? Do you need to by paid? Again, keep any companies that you are interested in that meet the criteria, even if they do not advertise an internship. We will get to that part later. I narrowed down my criteria to: Anywhere in the US, and paid or unpaid (but would prefer paid). This didn't narrow my list down much, so I started knocking off companies that I wasn't excited about.

Create a kick-butt cover letter and resume// There are literally millions of places online that talk about creating resumes and cover letters, along with being covered in many classes, so I don't plan on going to detail here. I do stress the importance of spelling, and grammar, along with STANDING OUT. It is okay if you don't have a lot of experience, but sell what you do know. Talk about what you have learned in school, some projects you have worked on in classes. Depending on where you are applying, add some pzazz, but don't go crazy. I have pink lines separating the sections in my resume, along with my initials in bold at the top of my resume in the same color. (If I were an accounting major, I might have used navy blue instead.) Have friends, classmates, and professors look over your resume to make sure you didn't miss anything.

Apply// Now for the stressful part, well at least I find this the most stressful part, applying. It is fairly straightforward to apply to companies that have online application process. I do recommend sending a personal email to a person, if possible. It always adds a nice touch, and helps you stand out. Now for those companies that you would love to work for, but you don't even know if they have an internship program, no problem. If this is a company that you would love to work for, work for it. Contact anyone and everyone that you can find that works at that company or might know someone who works for that company, even if it is a different office or a different department.. Every company had a first intern, and you could be theirs. Also this makes a strong first impression with that company and they can imminently recognize your determination and drive for hard work, and their company.

Follow up// A lot of people forget this step, and it is one of the most important. There were likely many people that applied, and let's face it, people are busy these days. Send a follow up email or letter thanking them for their time, remind them why you would love to work for their company, and that you look forward to hearing back from them. Be sure to include your contact information in the follow-up, so they do not have to go looking for it.

Blogger Tip Thursday {planning}

I am very excited to be starting a blogger tip series, I hope you all enjoy it, and find it helpful. I have been blogging for about a year and a half now, and have learned a lot though the mistakes I have made. I hope to pass this knowledge down to you though my new series Blogger Tip Thursdays. My first tip is to plan, plan, plan! I did not fully understand the importance of planning posts when I first started blogging. This led to a lot of mistakes and late night work. There is more to plan then just the physical post. I am going to walk you through how I plan for my blog posts along with sharing my blog planner for 2015.

Here’s a bit more into my planning and thought process behind every post that goes up on my blog.

1. The majority of the posts here on Stylish Sassy and Classy have to do with fashion and style. When putting together a post I first plan what I am going to wear. I always like to try on my entire outfit ahead of time, that way I know I like the way it all looks together, and that everything is clean.

2. Now that the outfit has been decided upon, it’s time to take some pictures! When it comes to planning, this part is definitely one of the hardest. Planning pictures is hard for many reasons: You must choose where to take them, make sure the weather cooperates, and make sure your photographer is free. I have had to wait over a week to take pictures before, but don't get impatient it will happen. Follow my next tip (#3) when nothing seems to be going your way!

3. IMPROVISE. Things do not always go as planed. When you just can't get those pictures taken,  think about a post you can write where you use some of your old photos, or make a fun collage.

4.Now that you have your pictures taken, it is time to edit edit edit. I edit most of my pictures in Adobe Lightroom, I find it does everything I need for my pictures and is very user friendly.

5.Write your post. I tend to write my actual post after I have edited my pictures because sometimes how my pictures turn out, or when I see my new favorite picture, it can change what I want to write. I am about the worlds worst speller... it's pretty bad, so use auto correct, sometimes I even have friends read over my posts before they go live. You do want to edit you posts and make sure there are no embarrassing mistakes, but it is a blog so you don't need to be a grammar Nazi.

6.You have your pictures and your post, now it is time for the finishing touches. I try to link all parts of my outfit so they can easily be shopped. This is also when I label my post, and choose the name, if I haven't done so already. Now it is time to POST, but we are not done yet, posting is not the end.

7. Make sure you share your post on all of your social media account, and if it is a large or important post share it a few times. It is very important that you check the comments on your post and try to reply to most if not all of them, your readers take the time to read and comment on your post the least you can do is reply to them.

8. Track your growth. It is important to track your blogs growth, this way you can see how your readers respond to each post. Also sometimes we feel like our blog is at a stand still, and not growing. When you monitor your blogs weekly/monthly growth you can see that you really are heading in the right direction.

I have created a FREE blog planner for 2015 so staying organized and planning will be a breeze. I hope the planner helps you and your blog grow in 2015!
 

**This is just the first of many Blogger Tip Thursday posts, please comment bellow with any subjects or advice you would love for me to cover!!**