Annnnd We're Back!

May 21, 2015 by astoldoverbrunch in Cazey's Column, Sara's Column

Hopefully you've noticed we've been gone for a few weeks, but now you can finally stop staring blankly at our feed, hoping we've made it back. We have, and let's just say, we like the new us. So what's different exactly?

Guest Post Coming!

January 06, 2015 by Cazey Williams in Guest Post, Leisure, Life In Your 20's, life lessons, Tweets and Mascara, Uncategorized

Tomorrow we are thrilled to feature our first guest post on ATOB! One of Sara's and my hopes for our new blog is to feature new writers on varied topics. We welcome any submissions and have few constraints other than the topic be something you could discuss over omelets and mimosas. We hope that's not too high a hoop for you to jump through.

Feel free to reach out to us at AsToldOverBrunch@gmail.com if you have any questions or want to submit a post!

We also debuted our Facebook page today! Check it out.

And be sure to check back tomorrow to see what we have; we promise it will be worth the read.

The Transition

December 28, 2014 by Sara Woznicki in Cazey's Column, Leisure, Life In Your 20's, life lessons, Sara's Column, Social Media, Tweets and Mascara, Uncategorized, Work, Young Professionalism

A little over six months ago, I sat down to write a one year anniversary post of the creation of Tweets and Mascara. However, I couldn't accurately articulate what it's meant to me to write a blog that (some) people actually read. My blog and I have had our ups and downs, the main down being that I didn't write anything for about a four month stretch. The whole time, I wanted to reincarnate it, but I wanted to do it right. I wanted at least three posts a week. And not just three posts a week, but three thoughtful posts a week. And I knew I would have a tough time fulfilling that promise to myself with my work commitments, gym commitments, social commitments, etc. So I recruited a part-time helper, Cazey. Originally, the plan was that I would write two posts a week and he would write one. Then I started looking for new jobs, interviewing for new jobs and having a new job. My life was in a whirlwind phase, and Cazey not only stepped up to the plate, but laid out a four-course meal.

It's not fair to say that this blog is my own anymore. In the beginning of Cazey's guest appearances, it was difficult to let the reigns go and let someone have such a presence in an outlet that was super personal and solely mine for an entire year. Not that I didn't ask him to do it (because I begged him to), but it was interesting nonetheless seeing what he came up with each week. And now I am downright excited to see what he comes up with, week after week. And, truth be told, he's contributing significantly more than me these days (hopefully I'll catch up soon).

A VERY exciting announcement

August 24, 2014 by Sara Woznicki in Leisure, Life In Your 20's, Sara's Column, Tweets and Mascara, Young Professionalism

As mentioned a few blog posts ago, I recently re-launched this blog. In an effort to continue the momentum and keep offering ever-exciting incentives to subscribe and keep up with Tweets and Mascara, I've recruited a guest blogger to provide additional content! The guest blogger is none other than my self-named biffy (which for all you n00bs, is my best friend). While he is in a phD program for stats now, we first bonded five years ago over our affinity for writing freshman year of college.

I gave him carte blanche to write about anything he sees fit, so I am equally enthralled as you are to see what issues he tackles. So please stay tuned and be sure to give a warm welcome tomorrow when his first post is published!

Welcome Back!

August 18, 2014 by Sara Woznicki in Life In Your 20's, life lessons, Sara's Column, Tweets and Mascara, Young Professionalism

Okay, so yes, I just welcomed myself back to my own blog. I'd love to say that I've spent these past 4-ish months discovering myself in a far away place or working hard after a crazy promotion or really anything exciting -- but nope, I just took a break for no real reason. If you scroll back a bit down the page, or click here, you may have already seen the writing on the wall. I could feel my creativity dying, which is actually a pretty terrifying feeling. One of my biggest self-proclaimed assets is my spark. Whether it's a tiny victory or a really big one, I can have a massive spark that ignites a whole project into action. And since I wasn't feeling that spark, I couldn't really keep going.

Now that I'm done tooting my own horn (beep-beeeeep), Id' like to give you a low down on my plan for this blog:

Much like most bloggers are supposed to do, I'm going to write.
I've already committed myself for at least 10 new posts, with an ongoing list of things that I want to write about.
To prove the above statement, here are 3 topics: wisdom teeth, Ebola and the Gold's Gym motto. Yup, going to be a ride.
I may even renew my domain name, but I've got a healthy amount of time to decide if I'm ready for another year-long commitment.
I'm going to diversify my topics. Since I'm not fresh out of college (eek, nobody likes you when you're 23, right?), I don't think its pertinent to focus on transition, as this is like my "real life" now, I guess.

So that's my commitment to this, so please stay tuned! I hope your thoughts aren't "Oh shit, I thought we got rid of her."

Creativity Hiatus

March 04, 2014 by Sara Woznicki in Life In Your 20's, life lessons, Sara's Column, Social Media, Tweets and Mascara, Work, Young Professionalism

My blog as fallen silent as of late, which is weird because I think of it often. Almost once a day, I think boy, I really need to write. But I couldn't. And I have no idea why. Can creativity just take a break? I've had tremendous writers block, where every topic I wanted to talk about just simply didn't feel right. One of my mentors at my new job left me with the parting wisdom of: If it feels right, then it probably does. If it doesn't feel right, then it isn't. Somehow writing hasn't felt right lately, and it's impossible for me to pinpoint why.

I used to come home everyday with a list of topics that would make great blog posts. At any time, there would be three to five ideas written up, with specific examples, that I would just need to recount for the post. As of late, nothing has felt "written," and I didn't want to force it. Everything used to inspire me and make me want to share it, and now everything feels like something I'd like to internalize and store away.

But hopefully the freeze is starting to thaw. Nothing is worse than feeling like one of your passions is losing its fire. Ever since I was in first grade, I loved to write. It can't die this quickly.

And I think that is the significance that tomorrow's blog post holds for me. A spark reminded me of my passion. Pure, elated, childish passion, which makes you feel like you can change the world. And I am so excited to share it with you all tomorrow.

Throwback Thursday: My First Blog Post

December 04, 2013 by Sara Woznicki in Humor, Life In Your 20's, life lessons, Sara's Column, Social Media, Tweets and Mascara

I have found a hidden gem to share. Apparently, my most embarrassing life moments are the ones people like to read about the most (go figure), so I am giving in. (I say this because the most read posts on my blog are My Beef with Headwear, I'm Too Awkward to Network, and Absurd Ways I've (Attempted to) Make Money, which I would consider to be my most embarrassing posts). I stumbled upon my very first blog post ever on accident, which is weird because this has happened before. Let me elaborate. A few months ago, I made a gmail account so I be a part of a google hangout with all of my group mates once when it was snowing. When I created my account, it somehow connected to a Blogger account I had opened in high school. There were not too many posts, but they were all angsty and teenager-ish, so I took them down immediately before anyone might accidentally read them. Crisis averted, or so I thought.

Just this week, I wanted to sign up my old email account to the mailing list to be alerted every time a new blog entry was posted. Sounds narcissistic? It probably is. But the reason I did it was to see how it looks in an email form. Anyways, when I signed up for the list, it already had an account attached to it. YET ANOTHER ANGSTY TEEN BLOG I HAD CREATED BACK IN THE DAY. I'm not sure why I had two very poorly maintained blogs, but I did.

In honor of Throwback Thursday, here is the lone post of my old Wordpress blog in all of its moody glory:

So, I read Spark’s The Last Song last night. Oh. My. God. I bawled like a baby. *SPOILER ALERT* Uhm, heartbreak, but totally saw it coming. Maybe because I have just gotten off a long stint of poetry, I saw it from the first pages about the leaves turning, falling, and then the puffs of life dying. Or something like that. Oh and the title is a dead give away. I mean, really?!! Who else would it be referencing other than that father. Overall, there was only one thing that killed me in this book.

1. The father dying. It practically killed me. I mean, when it was talking about the last time he was ever going to hug his son, and that she realized he would never be there to walk her down the isle at her wedding, who wasn’t crying by this point. And cancer??? Is it even fair to write about it? I mean, who can read about cancer and not cry. Everyone knows how horrible it is, and almost everyone has been directly or indirectly affected by it. Thats a cheap one, Sparks. But lets think about this: Kids- having to watch your parent die prematurely, and parents: think about knowing it was the last time for seeing your child. Maybe thats what did it for me. The last of everything makes me weirded out. Little things, like the last time I will be somewhere, the last time living in my dorm, the last time I am eating at a restaurant, all get to me. I guess finality, the thought of not going back scares me. But in a somewhat ironic twist, so does the thought of forever. Eternity, when I picture it, is a swirl of clouds that never ends. Eternity feels like its going to trap me in a cycle that I will never get out of. Basically, extremes of ends and the never endings are terrifying. But now back to the book.

My one real complaint is how Sparks wrote this for the movie. I haven’t seen the movie (yup, your fault Miley), nor do I know much about it, but I feel like the book was written specifically to be made into a movie. Sparks put subtle hints for making it into a movie. For example, their first kiss was described as quick and “not like an overdone earth shattering kiss common in movies today” or something along those lines. Really!? You are going to try to influence the movie that much. Please, try to make it any more obvious that you want the movie your way. Just write the book for the books sake and not for a movie.

So lets recap: The book made me cry and wonder why on earth I was even reading something this depressing and the thought of going to the movie makes me want to cringe. I could barely read the tragedy, but to see it acted out: Yeah, I don’t know that my heart can handle it. That being said, I can’t say its a bad book in the least. It made me think. And I can’t stop thinking about it. So plus one for you Sparks. You ripped out my heart.