Jul 3, 2016 | Hobbies, Holidays, kittens |
It was a beautiful day for a ride so Scott and I met up with some fellow riders from the bike shop. No destination in particular just a lot of country roads. I met some new friends and it was just really fun to be out riding with a group again. I don’t get to do it as much as I used to and I didn’t realize how much I missed it. Everyone except one person was riding Triumphs so it turned into a “British invasion” ride which was ironic and humorous on this Independence day weekend 🙂
I also did some patriotic nail art which I think turned out pretty great even though I haven’t done nail art in a while. I was pretty steady with my left hand so they both look equal. I think the trick is to keep it simple. (duh) But that is hard to remember sometimes when you see all these great ideas on the internet.
With all the holiday excitement there have been teenagers setting off fireworks in the park next to my house for the last 2 weeks which has made Brutus afraid. The first time I found him hiding under the bed but now he has taken to being carried around after some fireworks go off. Luckily there isn’t too much in our neighborhood so I am hoping tomorrow won’t be a big deal. He doesn’t seem nervous about the city fireworks that are far away, only the ones that are happening nearby.
May 22, 2016 | Current Events, Travels |
I haven’t done one of these for a while, but here you go – obligatory vacation sandy toes picture!! That right there is Flo Progressive Blue – are you jelly yet?
The Other and I are in Florida for our nephew’s 1st birthday. We got him some books which I am excited about. At this age kids get so many toys that I really enjoy passing on things like books or activities that are more unique. Plus his Mom is an avid reader so I am sure he will grow up with a love of books! The most favorite out of the 3 we got him was called “Little Kitten” and it was a finger puppet board book. I highly recommend to any tiny tots in your life.
Our rental is right across from the beach which affords some nice views but also results in a lot of traffic – both foot and car. The other night it was storming and I opened the door to get a lawnchair to put my feet upon and one of the pedestrians called out to me. I was taken aback but apparently he was eating dinner with his wife then she left but couldn’t find her way back so he was stuck walking in the rain (there does seems to be some missing elements but oh well). After talking to his wife on the phone and trying to give her directions to pick him up The Other and I decided to drive him home. Afterwards we rewarded ourselves with “Good Samaritan Wendy’s” 🙂
The rest of the trip has been nice weather. I have been reading a lot and walked up and down the beach. I have also been playing a lot of Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and the rumors are true, I am a Pokémon Master!
Sep 13, 2015 | Fashion, Food |
Made Fresh Lemon Linguine with summer vegetable sauce and seasoned ricotta tonight. I think the most surprising thing was that there was no fresh lemon in it. It was actually lemon infused pasta.
Overall it was pretty good, even without the addition of fresh lemon but it is not my favorite lemon pasta dish I have made from Blue Apron. I think others have been better.
I did like the summer vegetable sauce as it taught me an easy way to make homemade tomatoe sauce. I didn’t realize it was so easy. (Basically garlic, red onion, and tomato then simmer until thick and saucy)
I also painted my nails with the “comic book” nails. I think it was OK for a first try, need to work on my lines. It’s hard to make a thin line on your nails with your good hand so your offhand is super tough. I’m liking the matte topcoat more than I expected!
Jul 20, 2015 | Fashion |
Its been mostly bike posts here lately so I thought I would switch it up a bit with some recent manicures I have done. I love love love my UV gel system that I got from Brianna – it has totally changed the way I paint my nails. I don’t think I ever posted about it – so here is the kit I received. It includes the UV curing light, prep/base/top/oil coats and polish remover. Bri was also kind enough to get me a starter set of neon polishes!
My first attempts at designs with this polish set weren’t very good. The polish is thicker so it takes a bit of getting used to. I do all my designs free-hand so far so it definitely takes some coordination. Here are two designs I did around Christmas:
The tree one turned out pretty great, the candy canes I obviously used too much polish. 🙂 After that I focused on single colors but really understanding how much you had to put on and how long to cure the polish. I also realized if you completely finished one hand before starting the other it was much easier. I don’t have any pictures of my solid colors but it did make me brave enough to try some designs again. Here are some recent designs I did as well – I am getting much better at the straight lines!
Recently I participlated in a Reddit Gift Exchange for nail polish and my secret santa got me a pretty great neurtal collection called “Oasis” from BMC. The colors are very pretty and much different than I would usually by myself (I am a sparkly glitter kinda person). The colors are really pretty though and I have already received many compliments on my purple paint:
I think I am going to use the peach color in the set to try this comic book nail design. (see example here) I will post and let you guys know how it turned out!
Jul 30, 2014 | Fashion, Tech |
Photos, videos, and anecdotes from my recent trips coming soon!
In the mean time, here is my most recent manicure. I didn’t do it but the tech did it free hand and I think she did a great job!
Jun 28, 2014 | Fashion |
The Other suggested I try a manicure without glitter polish.
I looked at him in shock – not understanding the words that were coming out of his mouth. Maybe he means “with glitter polish”? I clarify; nope he clearly said without. Strange…
Anyway I try this, which I think I turned out really well. And yes Shimmer is totally different from Glitter!!
May 28, 2014 | Holidays |
I decided to advanced my nail art skill over the long weekend by attempting to raise the bar and try some of the more detailed designs in my book.
I started with this one:
Which I think turned out pretty good
However I was using (what I assume) was low quality polish. The white and black went on a gloopy and thick and I ended up smudging every nail at the gym (even after giving a couple hours to dry).
So I removed that and while contemplating my options I put on some nail stickers so I wouldn’t look like a total scrub.
I am hard on my nails. Most polishes don’t last me more that a week. Even the gel manicures start chipping at around the 7 day mark. I thought though that with a gel system I could do intricate nail art without it smudging. Looking into that though its an expensive option (it’s on my wishlist though – hint hint). My next best choice was the CND Vinylux line which drys in about 10 minutes. Its actually pretty great and much cheaper than a full gel system.
After picking a design and ordering the colors I would need (and waiting the 1-2 weeks for shipment, stupid non-prime items) I got my polish and tried my next design
OMG so excited I love strawberries and I thought this would be an awesome design! The Vinylux did a good job although it does dry fast (that’s the whole point) so toward the end the polish got a bit gloopy. I think working faster is the main key here but overall I am super happy with how they turned out. The only think I want to improve is a thinner brush or maybe a darker green for the leaves – right now they just look like smudges.
The strawberry tips with the Vinylux went so well that I ordered some additional Vinylux colors. The Vinylux lasted about 5 days for me so while I wait for the items to arrive (stupid non-prime) I decided to attempt a free-hand design with my regular polish. My idea was to do a V at the tip but I am still getting used to my nail art brushes and the brush I choose was too thick. I turned it into regular french tips to salvage it and I actually love the way it looks. Bonus – the super sparkly glitter polish hides my smudges!
May 11, 2014 | Fashion, Food, Holidays, kittens |
If, like myself, you are the mother of kitties it becomes important that you take mother’s day into you own hands. Kitty paws just aren’t gonna cut it! This year I help my fur babies pick out some really great gifts for me – assorted Frango Mints and a kitty necklace! They are so thoughtful!
After trying all the mints, I decided the Milk Chocolate Mints are still my favorite and informed the kitties I would like only those next year. They looked disinterestedly at me in what I assume is agreement. The Other all got me a gift – Starbucks Chai! I didn’t even have to help with this one – he is a lot more capable than the kitties.
To further treat myself, I decided to give myself a manicure utilizing the new book and nail tools I got from my Reddit exchange. Overall I think it turned out pretty good for a first try! I choose an easy one – Dots and went to work.
I didn’t have the exact colors suggested in the book so I decided to utilize my set of Coach polish.
Started with a base coat
Then my base color coat. The book suggest light pink so I used that color from the Coach set. I think this nail polish is getting a bit old (I did get it 3-4 years ago) because the pink went on a little gloopy.
Now the first dot color. The book suggest blue, which I assume is because its the darkest. For this reason I decided to start with the purple.
I waited a while in between each coat because I didn’t want to smear the dots. Luckily its easy to turn Kindle pages with wet nails. For the second dot coat I used the dark pink, since it was the second darkest color.
Finally on to the gold dots. I tried to fill it any remaining gaps but overall I think the gold was a little light compared to the other colors. If I did it again I would make sure the dot colors were closer in intensity.
Once I gave the dots a bit to dry I put on a super shiny top coat. As I said I think I did pretty good for my first time. I can’t wait to try other ones in the book. I’m thinking either Strawberries or Ladybugs next!
May 6, 2014 | Fashion, Hobbies |
I participate in the Reddit Gift Exchange and this time I did the nail and makeup exchange. I was really excited about this one because I like getting my nails painted and recently have started to enjoy painting my own nails and even trying out designs. It seems like I can’t go into Ulta or Sephora without purchasing nail polish regardless of how many colors I have. I actually put a self-imposed ban on my nail polish buying leading up to the exchange (and even that I broke…)
I didn’t do this one myself, I used my Christmas gift from Brianna to treat myself to a gel mani. Its sparkly teal with orange glitter – I feel like a mermaid!
Anyway, my gift arrived today and I couldn’t be more thrilled!! It is a DIY nail art book and some nail art brushes. My Santa included a super nice note and she totally got me the perfect gift. Honestly I would already be trying them if I didn’t get the above gel mani last Friday 🙂 Give me at least another week
So thank you thank you thank you I can’t wait to try it out! I will definitely post an update when I try my first design.
In the meantime to hold you over (cause I’m sure you need that) here are some recent manis I did myself:
Butter Knackered – this is the polish I broke my ban to buy. It was the last one left and too pretty to pass up!
Butter Rosie Lee – so much glitter!!!! Butter makes the best glitter polish I know, only issue is getting it off.
These are actually Sally Hansen nail stickers. Great for a quick mani and have some cool designs. I hope to be doing designs like this myself now!!!!
Apr 17, 2014 | Bright Ideas, Fashion |
I try to always have fresh flowers in the house but I usually don’t get Roses because for the price they don’t last add long as other options. With Easter coming up though there are lots of flowers on sale at Jewel so I got this pretty bunch for a deal.
This gave me some inspiration for fun nails. I found these nail art stickers at Jewel as well. You just wait for the color to (mostly) dry, place the stickers where you want them, then put on a top coat. It’s a great easy way to get fancy nails without much effort or skill. I did each nail a bit different too, which I think gives it a more hand-crafted look (pun intended)!
And no, none of this helps Brutus smell any better. His poo-aura conquers all!
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