{ Guest Post } Being Leanna: Crockpot Tortellini Soup

Hello Everyone! Ashley has been kind enough to let me write a post on her blog today and i'm so excited! Ashley is always sharing tasty recipes so I knew that when I got the opportunity to guest post it would have to be food related. So today i'm sharing my favorite crockpot tortellini soup recipe! It is so easy to make, like most crockpot recipes, you just toss it in there and let it cook while you're at work!  I know people usually think of slow cookers during fall and winter but I think they're perfect for any season because they're just so easy! I can't think of anything more enjoyable than coming home from a long day of work and smelling dinner ready to go. YUM.

Rachel Zoe

Good morning Girl Talk readers! I am Valerie from Maple Leopard.

My blog is about chic fashion and travel - for the middle aged gal and based in the Seattle area. I'm thankful for my family, life, and my faith  I am a transplant from Canada, and learned to sew at the age of 13.  I love to create and design clothing. My dream is to have my own fashion line someday. I am passionate about helping ladies discover their unique style and beauty.  Beauty is a trait that starts within and spills to the outside.  In my opinion, style has no age or no size.

 I attended the fashion forecast show hosted by Bellevue Fashion week, with special guests Rachel Zoe. The distinguished fashion celebrity is known as one of the most influential personalities in fashion today. It was great to listen to her insights about the fashion industry. Also hosting was Cara Crowley, Vogue market stylist.

I actually showed up at the show 3 hours early! I know, crazy lady right?!?  It was totally worth it to get a front row seat.  The things we do for a fashion fix!  Anyway I am excited to share with you these 7 artful and inspirational trends for fall.
.

1) The New Touchables:  leather and feather embellished pantsuit by BCBGMAAZRIA

 2) Endless Shades of Grey:  Charcoal sweater, leather pant and overcoat by ARITZIA

Wool Coat with grey jersey jogger and knit sweater by UNIQLO

                                                                   

 3) Bohemian Dream:  Print maxi dress with black motorcycle jacket by INTERMIX.

 4) Amazing Lace: Black lace, short romper by INTERMIX

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 5) Time For Tweed: Teal weave, short sleeve cocktail dress by NORDSTROM. 

    Rachel Zoe green and gold pump.

6) Poncho it Up:  Burgundy strip poncho with wide leg jean by ARITZIA.

7) After Dark :  Blush beaded gown by NORDSTROM

I hope your enjoyed the fashion show, and maybe you received some inspiration for your fall wardrobe!  The teal tweed dress has my attention, absolutely gorgeous and my favorite color to boot!  It may have to find a home in my closet!  Which outfit caught your eye the most?

xo VALERIE

*Affiliate links are contained in this post.

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Sponsored Post {Coffee & Glitter}

Good morning readers!! Today I have one of my favorite bloggers taking over Girl Talk, Sarah from Coffee & Glitter!

How did you come up with the name of your blog?

-My original blog geared toward teaching in a toddler setting and I chose "Juice Boxes and Glitter" as those were two things I reached for most throughout the day. Since I have taken a bit of a hiatus from teaching, I decided that instead of bogging down my teacher friends feeds with more lifestyle/random posts, I would create a new blog with the same sort of feel as it is my intention to revisit that blog when I start teaching again. 

How long have you been blogging?

-My first blog I ever created was in 2010 however, I had no idea what I was doing and I was not serious about it at all. I then started Juice Boxes and Glitter in Summer of 2013. I blogged there until Fall of 2014 when I started Coffee&Glitter.

Why did you start blogging?

-As a teacher, you are always looking for new ways to go about doing different tasks. I started pinteresting classroom ideas and most of them lead me to blogs. I though it was such a great community and I wanted in. After I decided to take a teaching break, I still had a passion to blog so I started my current lifestyle one. 

What is your favorite type of blog posts to read?

-I love daily life ones. I just think that they are super relatable and call me nosey but I like seeing how other people spend their days and the things they do. I also am a sucker for a really good recipe post. 

How do you get inspiration for your blog posts?

-Literally anything and everything can inspire me. There are several bloggers that I look up to and I will sometimes create a spin on some of their posts (while giving credit of course) and also I just write about things that happen to be or that I experience daily. 

Do you have a specific place you blog from?

-Usually in my bed while cuddling with my pups. Lately I have been writing posts late at night..like midnight-2am because J has been working overnights and I have had some trouble sleeping. 

What visions do you have for your blog in the future?

-I hope to just better it each and everyday. I want my blog to be one that people enjoy reading. I also hope to stick with it and make it almost like a diary of sorts as I grow in life. I want to document all of our wedding shenanigans and especially our future child experiences. 

What is the best tip you have learned while blogging?

-Have an open mind and learn as much as you can. I feel like every day I am learning how to do something new with codes or post in general. I also always try to find new networking groups and ways to share my posts. 

Be sure to follow Sarah on social media!!

BLOG // INSTSAGRAM // TWITTER // FACEBOOK // PINTEREST

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Blogging Tips: Classy Sassy & A Bit Smartassy

Hello Girl Talk readers. I'm so happy to be back again. In case you're not sure who I am... I'm Jasmine and I blog over at Classy Sassy & A Bit Smartassy. I'm a mom of two boys, girlfriend and beauty lover. I have self taught myself to do makeup and I keep improving.

   

Today I won't be talking to you about beauty instead of ways to improve your blog and growing your blog. I remember when I was a beginner and I had no one to give me advice or anything. Luckily there's a lot of blog that help you with that.

Blog Design // So important especially for your readers. When you don't have a clean layout/design 100% of the time that person is going to hit that exit button and that's not fun. It decreases your monthly stats for your blog.

Consistency // You don't have to blog everyday but set yourself a goal. Maybe post about 3-4x a week. I started off doing 2 a week and that wasn't bringing any readers. Beginning of this year I changed that and started to blog 5x a week with guest bloggers on the weekend. I gained followers and my pageviews were increasing.

Facebook Groups // I know that some people are so hesitant about joining blog Facebook groups but I started off by joining some groups but noticed that the rules were just so ridiculous. So I decided to partner up with Jessica and we both came up with a group called Show Your Blog Love. It started off with 30 people and now we have almost 500 members in the group. I do admin another group called Blog Passion Project

Social Media // If you're not consistent on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram then you're basically not promoting your blog to the best. Twitter is the biggest social media to promote your blog.

Sponsorships // Whether your blog isn't big you should still have the option to do button swaps or at least purchase ads on other blogs. Button swaps allows you to swap buttons with other bloggers that have that option so you're able to promote on their blog for free. Purchasing ads on other blogs that you know are very good with advertising bloggers is another thing to do. But keep in mind that just because they have so many followers and really good stats you still want to do your research before investing money on an expensive ad. I've made mistakes doing that. If you want to sell ad spots on your blog Passionfruit Ads or AdProval are some good advertising sites.

Comments // Reply to the comments left on your post. Having that interaction with your readers increases the chances of them coming back to your blog.  So those are some tips to keep in mind when you decide to launch your blog or grow your blog. I hope you find these tips very helpful.  

Thanks again Ashley xo!

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Cruisin' { Guest Post: Jessica @ Wifesticated }

Hello Girl-Talk Readers.. 

I am so excited to be here today while I am secretly jealous that Ashley is on a cruise to the Caribbean. 

Just in case you don't know me, my name is Jessica and I blog over at Wifesticated 

Since Ashley is in the Caribbean probably having the time of her life, I thought I would take you back to my first carnival cruise where I fell in love with the Caribbean and since than been dreaming of moving there to live on a white sand beach. 

Welcome to St. Maarten or also known as St. Martin 

Let's go back to October of 2013

Yes it's true, Princess Juliana airport exist. Yes people are crazy enough to "ride" the fence, my husband was one of those crazy people. 

What is riding the fence? It's where the planes land or get ready to leave and people hold onto the fence to with stand the jet blow. I saw people go tumbling, hats go flying, many cameras left their owners and cars went crazy. At the end of the day though, it's one of those things you have to see to believe and say you did it! 

The people of St. Maarten are super nice. The weather is perfect. The white sand beaches and blue waters are always inviting. Not to forget, the cold beer doesn't hurt either. What's not to love about the Caribbean? 

I sure do miss this cruise and really any vacation. If you want to find out where else I've visited in the Caribbean go here! 

Ashley, I hope you have the time of your life, take too many pictures and enjoy it. It goes by quickly. I can't wait to see all your pictures and hear your stories. 

Thank you readers of Girl-Talk! Let's stay connected 

DIY Body Cream { Guest Post: Justine @ Little Dove Creations }

Hello Girl Talk readers! My name is Justine and I blog over at Little Dove Creations, where I talk a little bit about DIY, a little bit about recipes, a little about my business, and a little about my family. I have been married for nearly 8 years to my handsome hubby Mike, and we have three (soon to be four!!) little rapscallions.

My life obviously revolves around my children at the moment, long gone are the days when I had "free" time and could spend an hour soaking in the bathtub and pampering myself.
Yes, I did that often. Those were the days.
I still like to spoil myself whenever I get a chance, and my love of DIY has inspired a lot my own bath and body products. I love making my own because I know exactly what goes in them, and I know I can use them on even my little loves' sensitive skin!

Dry winter skin troubles might be far behind you, but I suffer from dry skin all year-long, especially when I'm pregnant! So today I'm sharing with you a lavender peppermint body cream, guaranteed to hydrate thirsty skin in no time!

Lavender Peppermint Body Cream

- 3/4 cup of shea butter
- 1/4 cup of coconut oil
- 1 tsp. of peanut, olive, or other oil of your choice
- 20 drops of lavender essential oil
- 5 drops of peppermint essential oil

1. Combine Shea butter and coconut oil in food processor or mixer and combine well, scraping sides as necessary. 
2. Add peanut (or other oil) and essential oils, then mix again. Continue blending until smooth. If desired, whip with a stand or hand mixer.

This mixture works wonders on dry problem areas, like my hands and elbows (and stomach when I'm pregnant!). Give it a try and let me know what you think!

(Note, if making this as gifts or for children, use a different type of oil other than peanut. Peanut oil has some great benefits, but there are some opinions that prolonged use on your skin can lead to peanut allergies. There is currently not a lot of scientific evidence to back that up. Any oil can serve as an alternative, such as grape seed oil or olive oil.)

Thanks for having me today Ashley!

Cruising Tips { Guest Post: Kate @ Green Fashionista }

Hey Girl Talk readers! My name is Kate and you can find me blogging over at my little corner of the internet Green Fashionista where I blog about everything from fashion and beauty reviews to fun recipes to travel recaps, and weekend shenanigans which are typically shenanigans. While Ashley is away cruising the Caribbean, I offered to come on over for the day and talk about how much I love cruising. Nope, I'm not jealous at all that she's sipping on umbrella drinks while looking out at the gorgeous blue water...

I love cruising because you're on a floating resort that takes you to several different countries/islands all in one trip without having to unpack more than once. All your meals and onboard entertainment are included, and you can't go wrong with dressing up and going to dinner and a show every night. 

I've been on six cruises now (my husband has been on ten!) which have included:

Two 7 night Western Caribbean cruises

One 7 night Southern Caribbean cruise (my favorite!)

One 3 night Bahamas cruise to celebrate a friend's 30th birthday

One 3 night Western Mediterranean cruise

One 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise

I wanted to share with you my top tips for when you're booking a cruise and/or are about to set sail:

1. Don't forget your passport! Anything else you may forget at home can be re-purchased (bathing suits, toiletries, even formal wear) on board. But you'll need your passport to get on board (some cruises only require a birth certificate, but it's always best to bring your passport).

2. Spring for the balcony stateroom, it is worth every penny! Once you go balcony you can't go back, and it's so true. You get a lot more room in the stateroom, plus a sitting area, and your own private veranda which is great for enjoying room service breakfast in the mornings (always free) and a night cap in the evenings.

*Our stateroom on the Norwegian Epic*

3. Don't over pack, especially if you're on a Caribbean cruise or any cruise going somewhere warm and tropical. You'll live in bathing suits and cover-ups by day and sundresses (cocktail dresses on formal nights) by night. They also provide bath towels in your room (replenished daily) along with beach towels for the pool and on the islands which you can change out for fresh ones as much as you need.

4. Order as much food as you want! When at dinner, if you want 3 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 3 desserts... go for it! Sometimes it's hard to choose just one thing, and you're able to order as much as you want and the servers love it!

5. Cruise with friends! We've been on several cruises just the two of us, and we've also cruised on a 7 night cruise with another couple, and a 3 night cruise with a group of 10 of us which was so much fun!

6. If you're on a short cruise like a 3 night itinerary to the Bahamas, purchase the beverage package especially if you're traveling with a group. When 10 of us sailed to the Bahamas for a friend's birthday it was nice to just order drinks or a round of champagne for everyone at dinner without worrying about it all adding up. It also worked out great on the private island in the Bahamas that all of our food and drinks were included there as well since it was owned by the cruise line.

7. Practice safe sun! Don't forget to pack sunscreen, aloe (in case of sunburns), and a beach hat to further protect your face. Of course you're going to come back beautifully bronzed, but you don't need to burn or cause skin damage by not protecting yourself on the trip.

8. HAVE FUN! I have the best time, when I get up and dance with the entertainment crew during deck parties and at the night club. You'll hear the same line dance songs over and over, but you'll be a champ by the end of your cruise.

9. Enjoy all the fruity umbrella drinks, this is the time to indulge!

10. Enjoy the fun amenities on board like the Broadway style shows, ice bars, karaoke, jazz lounges, comedy clubs, themed deck parties, and specialty shows such as The Blue Man Group.

Can't wait to hear all about Ashley's cruise when she gets back!

__________________________________________________________________

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