SweetGirlSmirk

Labor day weekend is here. Time for bbq, swimming, and one last escape to the beach. With it on such a late date this year, I would be lying if I said I wasn't already thinking hoodies, smores, football, and pumpkin spice, though. These songs are perfect to get cozy, but I will admit I actually compiled this back in 2012, so it is a bit of a throwback. But what better way than to reminisce to seasons past? So in honor of this great weekend, here are some tunes to transition us from bikini season to hoodie season. Enjoy! You can follow it on Spotify here Track Listing:  Band of Horses- The Funeral Airborne Toxic Event- All At Once Snow Patrol- Run (live) Bright Eyes- Old Soul Song Bright Eyes- Lua Bright Eyes- We are Nowhere and It's Now fun.- Carry On fun.- All Alright Ray LaMontagne- Let It Be Me Damien Rice- Cannonball Bon Iver- Holocene The Flaming Lips- Do You Realize? M83- Kim & Jessie Edward Sharp & The Magnificent Zeros- 40 Day Dream Ingrid

President Obama just got us all singing this weekend when he released his first (and second) Spotify playlist . I, of course, rejoiced that even the leader of the free world gets just how fun it is assembling your must have songs in pitch perfect order, making sure you don't tip your hand to too many guilty pleasures, and agonizing over which might actually have to be cut. It is an American pastime for the ages. It used to be mixtapes, actual cassette tapes cobbled together from staticy second hand recordings, radio requests, and if you were bougie you could record directly from another tape. Then it became the cd, which we all had to name, date, and doodle on because this was OUR HISTORY, man! it was the best of times, it was the worst of times Now, we get the Spotify playlist. My first playlist was birthed August of 2011, and completed sometime around October of 2011. Clocking it at over 3 hours of play, and including 56 songs, I obviously did not give a damn about edit

Body shaming, body-positive, gender roles, patriarchy.... if I hear anything about any of these topics again I am going to rip my ears off, my eyes out, anything it will take to just make it stop. Yes, I am adding to it but I have had enough! I'm sorry, but we have over-corrected to the point of ridiculousness. That being said, I live like a feminist: 1. I love frilly dresses. If it is a piece of clothing that contains any lace of any kind it is a guaranteed fact that I will dream about it. 2. I love my Converse sneakers. I will wear them anywhere with anything, literally. And I will post pictures of said shoes in various places to Instagram. 3. I love dark eye shadow and glittery lip gloss. I know I look better with mascara and blush than without. 4. I have an entire drawer overstuffed with Phillies, Flyers, and Eagles t shirts. There is no better place to be than a ballpark on a gorgeous summer afternoon. 5. I crave salads and pumpkin spiced lattes. 6. I crave super hot bone

I love to cook. I love food. I love eating. I love sharing food I love with others. What I don't love are things that take forever to prepare, with a list of ingredients that require an entire grocery store just to get through the appetizer. So, I love to come up with fun twists on simple or ready made food that make them pop without adding 3 hours and $560 to my budget. Today: the best darn deviled eggs I could imagine. I literally just made one egg this morning, so you'll have to adjust accordingly. I hard boiled the egg the other day, so it was nice and chilled (also, I feel like I could do an entire blog just on my journey of learning how to cook these darn things... seriously, why is it so difficult to do and remember how to do correctly?!). I cut it in half, scooped out the yolk, added like half a teaspoon of miracle whip, a generous amount of mustard, and mashed all that together and back into the egg. Simple, low cal, good, but yawn-worthy. Then I sprinkled on some

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Party planning is exhausting. You have a vision, you spent a gazillion hours on Pinterest, and you are ready to put it into place. Day of comes, how will people know what is in that sandwich? Who is that little kid and do they have a name on a customized favor? Are we doing cake or gifts first? The list goes on and on and what felt like a magical sweet sixteen is now you trying to run gracefully in heels before someone puts the mad libs in the wrong room. We have all been there. But there are too many birthday, graduations, showers in life to always feel so overwhelmed. The perfect party is all about planning. What goes where, what do you need to purchase, is it a balanced menu, what is needed for activities, when will they happen, and who still needs to RSVP can be solved with simple planning. I have ran so many parties, they are second nature to me, but I remember quite vividly those early ugly days. So, I am here to help. This is my party planning template. It is all here. Just

The last day of school is probably the most bipolar of them all. The kids have made friends and memories and achievements, and now have to leave that all behind. Will you stay in touch with friends? What if someone moves? What if I get the mean teacher next year? But, there is nothing but pure freedom for the next 2 1/2 months! No alarms, lots of swimming and exploring to be done, and so much laying around to be savored. It is a time for celebration of all the accomplishments, so of course they deserve a treat when they get home! But, it is still a weekday and planning ahead isn't always so easy. Enter the eternal favorite: the rice krispie treat. But no ordinary krispie treat will do on this big day! So, make the treat as normal, but before it is done cooling, shape it into the number of the grade they are entering (no goodbyes, time to look forward to all that lies ahead!), add some fun frosting, and voila! For full sentimental effect, write a letter and leave a s

Songs make you dance, smile, laugh, cry, remember, and forget... and no one seems to get that like Frank Turner. If you haven't brushed up on this modern genius, he's an English dude with a penchent for hardcore punk and acoustic ballads and is basically the best wordsmith since Bob Dylan. Here's my top 10 songs of his, along with a lyric that I feel like should be sung as loud as possible every time it comes around. You can follow it on Spotify here! 1. Love Ire and Song (Live From Shepherds Bush) "Oh, but once we were young and we were crass enough to care. But I guess, you live and learn, and we won't make that mistake again. But surely just for one day, we could fight and we could win. If only for a little while, we could insist on the impossible." 2. Plain Sailing Weather (The Third Three Years) "The problem with falling in love in late night bars is that there's always more nights, there's always more bars. The problem with show

When Taco Tuesday meets Cinco de Mayo, you just have to go way above and beyond. I <3 Tacos t-shirts are in order. Taco Bell  breakfast, a taco salad for lunch, head out for margaritas and all the meat and cheese in a crispy shell goodness you can stuff into your face for dinner. This is a blessed, blessed day! Of course most of us are too lazy to notice that this beautiful day is upon us and we still just had a taco bell run on the way home from wherever planned. Have no fear, all is not lost. Here is a quick and easy Mexican pizza anyone can make. It tastes delicious, uses minimal ingredients (you probably have most on hand at home), but it still shakes things up a bit beyond normal. Oh, and the taste hits the perfect spot. Take a warm large flour tortilla (I used a brown rice tortilla because THANKS celiac) and spread about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of warmed refried beans. Top with 1/4 cup of shredded cheese and pop in the microwave until melty (ahhhhh melty cheese.... I can't even

When the weather starts to get warm, the car windows go down and the radio goes up. It is a great time to discover a few new songs, dust off some old favorites, and go to that happy place. Here's a sampling of what I'm blasting this spring! Sidenote: While I love them all, I am SUPER looking forward to Highly Suspect's album. Lydia is a great jam! AWOLNATION- Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)* Highly Suspect- Lydia* Florence + The Machine- What Kind of Man Cold War Kids- Hang Me Up to Dry KONGOS- I'm Only Joking* Modest Mouse- Lampshades on Fire Gerard Way- No Shows* Keane- Somewhere Only We Know Frank Turner- American Girl* Mumford & Sons- The Wolf Passion Pit- Until We Can't (Let's Go) Blur-Lonesome Street Radiohead- High and Dry Ray LaMontagne- Burn Alabama Shakes- Shoegaze *explicit You can check out this playlist here on Spotify! Happy Spring!  What's your favorite old and new song? KimmayJ  is all about

Age of Adaline http://www.theageofadalinemovie.com/ Opens April 24, 2015 Rating: PG-13 Runtime: 1 hour 49 minutes Genre: Drama, Science Fiction & Fantasy Director: Lee Toland Krieger Starring: Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, Harrison Ford, Amanda Crew, Ellen Burstyn Age of Adaline promo poster, Lionsgate Adaline ( Blake Lively ) is a lovely woman with a lovely life, but is left due to a series of events 29 years old for 80 years . With time on her side, she is allowed to see more than one could hope for. But at what price? The cast gave the story the life that it needed. Lively is stunning as she navigates the decades, loves, loses, and wins. She is able to be at once perfectly poised but cautiously guarded. She has come so far from the youthfully manic early days of Serena van der Woodsen, and should be a star for a long time to come. Several times I gasped at just how simply stunning she looked on screen. She and  Michiel Huisman (the ever

At 4:00 pm on Saturday, April 11, 2015, I shaved 4 years of long, curly hair off my head. I am a 31 year old female Instagram addict and let all of my hair fall to the ground (well, in my hand because of the 6 braids of hair I was donating). I am not going through a mental breakdown, or trying to shock the world. I am not suffering from disease. I simply want all of those who have no choice in what grows, or does not grow, on their head to know they look beautiful too. so long, long braids! I must say, I had no idea of what I was getting myself into. For the past 6 years, I have attended a St. Baldrick's event and watched as countless people raise money to fight pediatric cancer and additionally shave their head in solidarity. Each year I consider actually participating but have never had the courage to do so. I finally decided this was the year, and in twenty minutes, other attendees contributed the $250 I pledged to shave at.  It didn't take courage, though. I

Age of Adaline , starring Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, and Harrison Ford may not open until April 24th, but I'm giving away two passes to an advance screening in Philadelphia on April 15th! This also includes a happy hour meet and greet with the director, Lee Toland Krieger. To enter, visit SweetGirlSmirk's Facebook Page and like and share the pinned post, or invite a friend to like the page (comment with their name and they must like the post and the page). You get an entry for both! For additional entries, you can get 1 entry for every $5 you donate to Aaron Walls' St Baldrick's donation page as he's shaving his head in solidarity with kids who have cancer. This is the biggest St. Baldrick's event in PA and benefits the local pediatric cancer patients at Hershey Medical Center. All entries must be submitted between 4/10 and 4/13 at 11:59 pm eastern time.  The event is April 15th at 6 pm and I will message the winner on 4/14 the details! Good luc

Taco Tuesday is the highlight of my weekdays. I live for copious amounts of sour cream and shredded cheese and warm meat cradled in a crispy shell or swaddled like a delicious baby. Without it, Tuesdays are pretty meh. Monday has overshadowed the weekend high and we are still days away from Friday happy hour. But the tacos are here to save us. Whoever invented the idea deserves sainthood. Yes, cheap tacos are aplenty on this glorious of days, but if you are a homebody/Netflix addict like me, going out on a Tuesday night is not on the docket. Then again, neither is slaving away over a stove after a long day. What is a taco champion to do?! Enter the next person up for should-be sainthood, the inventor the slow cooker. Throw that chicken in the crock-pot and when you come home all you need to do it smother it in cheese and lay back and watch the next season of Gilmore Girls. Now, I like to experiment with food. So, one day I grabbed some chicken from the freezer and some Chi-Chi'

It is hard to be brand loyal anymore. Every day it seems we learn something new about a company that makes us rethink everything. But sometimes, they get it just right. Blatant advertising is never going to work. Trying to seem cool will definitely have the opposite effect. Just show that you listen. 4 years ago I was diagnosed with celiac disease,  and it sucks. Eating anywhere except my own kitchen is a huge gamble. A pizza place is torture. But, thanks to an overbundance of demand, it's not always impossible. Sometimes it is perfect. I have loved a local pizza chain, Ninos, as long as I basically knew what pizza was. So, I would have hated to stop patronizing their delicuous establishment. They recently debuted a gf crust, so last night I tried a pie. Light sauce, ham, and pineapple. The crust was great, but that's not where they lost me. Cross-contamination is a huge problem and I got my own little pizza slicer. So not only am I more assured of a more healthy experience