One of the main reasons I wanted an iPad was to have a larger reading format than my iPhone offered.  Upon my initial iPad purchase, Flipboard was my favorite app for the simple fact that I found it easy to stay current on blog reading, with Twitter and Facebook feeds to Flipboard making the app even more appealing.  Fast forward to now and my son has completely hijacked the iPad, so I rarely get to use it.  Also, we opted not to go with the wifi option for the iPad, so it is pretty useless to me on the go.  My iPhone does everything the iPad can do, just in a smaller format.  One little problem:  There is no Flipboard app for iPhone, it is only an iPad app.  What’s a girl to do?

Byline to my rescue!  Both an iPhone and an iPad app, I am able to stream my Google Reader, My Twitter account and my Instapaper account to Byline.  While I am reading a blog post, I have so many options for what I can do with it!  I can:

• Open it in Safari if I want to read from the author’s actual blog
• Copy and paste the link (great for sending something to Facebook since there is no feed for Facebook from Byline)
• Send the link in an email
• Post it to Twitter
• Add it to Instapaper, which I use as a filing system for reference articles, and longer blog posts that I want to read later
• Mark a post as a favorite
• Add my own note to the article that I am reading

Here is a screen shot from my iPhone of today’s post on Elizabeth Anne Designs.  I wanted you to see how great the photos show up with the text. Using Byline, I don’t feel like I am losing any content by reading from my iPhone as I did with Google Reader.

If anyone else is like me, I easily feel so defeated and out of touch when I get behind on blog reading.  Byline is perfect for reading on the go and skimming posts for relevant content.  I read while sitting in carline, waiting for appointments, having my hair done, etc.  I think you will enjoy it too!

Byline is available for FREE on iTunes.  An in-app purchase of $2.99 provides an ad free version, which I recommend if you are easily distracted by ads (like I am).  Don’t worry, it is well worth the money!

Have you tried Byline or another app for keeping up with blog reading?  I’d love to hear about it!

Linnyette Richardson Hall is the Owner and Creative Director of Premiere Event Management, a Baltimore-based firm that specializes in creating unique, elegant, fun and personality-oriented events.  She is the Special Contributing Editor of the two book series Going to the Chapel (Penguin Putnam 1998) which was created for couples who are in the wonderful process of planning their nuptials. Formerly, Linnyette was Contributing Editor for Signature Bride Magazine and Columnist for WeddingChannel.com. American television audiences are able to see her work her "wedding magic" as one of the featured consultants on the hit reality television series, “Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?" which airs weekly on The Style Network.

Linnyette has been in the wedding industry since 1993 and has planned hundreds of weddings for brides & grooms locally and on a nationwide basis. Linnyette’s expertise has been featured in many local and national publications such as Glamour, Essence & Black Enterprise magazines, The Washington Post as well as appearing on CNN, FOX News, CBS and a host of other media outlets.

The Stylish Planner is so pleased to have Linnyette as a contributing guest blogger!  I feel her “tell it like it is” personality combined with her years of wedding and event planning experience make her feature a “must read”.  The feature is aptly titled “DIVA Day”, and will be posted on the first Wednesday of every month!

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There’s More To Life…

than just being the wedding planner.  Don’t get me wrong..I love what I do and I’m sure most of you do also.  I’ve always been of the notion that in order to be the best, to be at the top of your game, your focus has to have varying levels.  Wedding planning requires that we become multi-faceted powerhouses who can literally do 5 things at once without skipping a beat.  We can handle the BlackBerry and IPhones, while managing a production timeline on our IPads, confer with vendors and critically “eye” the setup of a reception venue – all at the SAME time.

Outside of weddings, what’s your life like?  Do you have other interests and hobbies that are NOT industry related – perhaps you enjoy gardening,  a good game of poker,  reading trashy romance novels or indulging your wanderlust and traveling to far flung locales?  If you are allowing the wedding business to consume you, it’s time to shake things up a bit!  Breathing, sleeping, and eating weddings doesn’t make you better at what you do..it makes you a cranky individual because you don’t have any other outlets to flow into.  Hey, I love a gorgeous bouquet or a decadently beautiful wedding cake just as much as any other planning professional, but over the years, I’ve become SMART enough to know that I can’t let the business of matrimony be the ONLY thing in my life. 

There are only 52 weekends in a year…and I most certainly am not interested in working every single one of them.  Once in a while, I want to kick back with a Hennessy and Coke on the rocks, put my feet up with a good book and lose myself in whatever is happening on those pages.  Chasing after chicas in white gowns every weekend?  Nope.  I’ve got some totally adorable kittens and cats who want and need my attention.  Figuring out what color will complement Pantone’s “Honeysuckle”?  Well..yeah, I could, but I can also save that for my time in the office.  When it’s quitting time, I’d rather roam through the aisles at Home Depot, thinking about what tile I want to use for the new backsplash in my kitchen.

The point I’m trying to make is simple – step away from the satin and tulle so you can develop a richer life.  I know it’s hard when you’re first starting out because this baby is YOUR baby – you want it to grow and become a productive adult.  And when you’ve been in the trenches for a minute, you feel as if you MUST stay entwined in the business or somehow it will go away.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  When you allow yourself to do other things , when you start to develop and maintain other interests and pastimes OUTSIDE of the wedding sphere, you are actually becoming a BETTER planner.  Because you can see past the mundane, typical and obvious – it sharpens your mind and gives you another way to see outside of the box. 

In short – get a life!!  Your wedding business and your clients will thank you for it!

Just in case you needed another reason to love Coach leather goods, here ya go!

The company known for it’s amazing quality and craftsmanship, has recently reissued five iconic designs from the 1970’s.   These beautiful, classic designs translate very well to today’s bohemian-chic and vintage looks in fashion, and pull double duty for the busy professional woman as well.  If ever there was a time to make a investment purchase, this is it!  The designs include satchels, backpacks, cross body bags, field bags and shoulder bags in mahogany, black and British tan leathers.   Select designs are also available in vermillion (a gorgeous coral/red shade) and white leather.  Here is the one I have my eye on:

Coach City Bag in English Tan – $278

Remember, the reissues are only available for a limited time.

Which one will you add to your “must have” list?

Happy Friday!

Angela with her Mom & business partner, Pamela.  All images by Hannah Photography.

Name:    Angie Johnston

Location:    Colorado

Company Name:    Sapphire Celebrations

Number of years in business:    7 years

Website:    www.sapphirecelebrations.com

Blog:    www.sapphirecelebrations.com/scblog

Twitter handle:  @sapphireangie      

If you are a wedding and event professional other than a planner, please describe your product or service.  Wedding/Event Planner

How would you describe your personal style?  Classic, fun and functional. I’m a business owner and a mom of two active boys – I have to be ready for anything.

What is your “go-to” meeting attire?  In the summer I love skirts and cute tops with fun shoes or accessories.  In the winter layers are important – you never know what Colorado is going to throw at you throughout the day!

What is your “go-to” evening industry event attire? (i.e., associational meeting, vendor or venue open house, etc.)  Jeans and a cute top if I can get away with it. If not, then I wear something similar to my meeting attire.

What is your attire for wedding/event day set-up? If the timeline permits, I’m in jeans and my Sapphire Celebrations t-shirt with tennis shoes. Many times I’m with the clients, so I stick to what I’ll be wearing for the actual event.       

What is your attire for actual wedding/event?  Black pants – no matter the weather. I need the pockets for stuffing anything and everything (cell phone, lint roller, Altoids, trash (yes trash!).  Pants are also key, because I don’t want to have to worry about bending over to pick up anything or tie a chair sash.

What style and brand of shoes do you wear on wedding/event days?  Black flats. A wedding is not the time for my four-inch heels!

Tell us about your favorite jeans and why you love them.  Old Navy Flirt Jeans – they are long enough for my long legs, fit me great and aren’t hard on the checkbook!       

Who is your favorite celebrity style icon and why?  Jennifer Aniston – She always looks put together, no matter the setting.

Please share with us (in 50 words or less) your favorite style tip:  Don’t get too caught up in the trends, they come and go.  If you can figure out a way to incorporate them into your style go for it!

What would you like people to know about you that they may not discover just by viewing your website or blog?  I love football! My parents got season tickets to the Denver Broncos when I was eight and I still sit with some of the same people to this day. There is nothing like watching football in a stadium filled with screaming fans – no matter the weather!       

What is your most treasured possession?  My Kindle is always in my purse lately – if I’m early for a meeting I can just pull it out and escape into my latest fiction!       

What message would you like to convey to others in our industry?  Don’t spend too much energy comparing yourself to the others out there. Be true to who you are, your ideal client, and your goals and it will call come together.