HOLLY AND BERRIES - A WINNING COMBO

Let the actual Christmas festivities begin!!! Yesterday we hopped in the car for our annual trek to lower Michigan to do the holidays with Kev's side of the fam. We left home around 9:30 a.m. and got to his sister's at 4:30 p.m. Lordie, I really hate long car rides. At least the roads were good.

Once we arrived we hung out for a bit and then headed out for dinner at a sushi place. Sushi = YUMMERS. I really wanted a steak to go with it, but per my usual luck lately, they were out of filet. Seriously. The restaurant was out of steak. On a Wednesday. Good Lord. So I doubled up on my sushi, which also took a hit because "white tuna" was crossed off the menu. Naturally it was; it's my fave. The regular tuna and the yellowtail were delightful, though, so I didn't complain. 

Today we are going to head out to do some Christmas shopping for his family. The gift sitch with this side of the family is much more laid-back, and we always seem to do it last minute, which I hate. No matter how many times I ask what we're doing starting right around Thanksgiving, I never get any ideas from anybody and nobody tells me what the plans are, so we end up shopping the day before. Drives me a wee bit crazy. But we'll get 'er done tomorrow.

We're staying here in Kalamazoo for another night, and then on Friday we'll head up to Grand Rapids to my other sis-in-law's house. There will be a completely ridic amount of food throughout the day; we'll all gain 7 pounds or more; and then we'll exchange gifts. I'm looking forward to seeing everybody. We'll spend the night there and then head back home on Saturday.

I finally did my nails on Sunday night, and for once I'm actually pleased with the freehand work I did. So much so that I left the mani on for the whole week. I thought this was cute enough to wear for the trip and didn't bring a single item with me to change them out. I like them that much.

I started this look with two coats of Loreal Because You're Worth It, which is a really nice shimmery gold. It tends to be one of those polishes that show the brush strokes, but I took care of that issue with a coat of Seche Vite.  

Recently I've been doing some shopping over at Nomorerack, and I've really been getting some great deals. I bought a set of 6 flameless votive candles for $9, and what's really cool is they aren't just plastic. They are actually wax and vanilla scented. I also found some toys and a few clothing items that were seriously a steal.  I love the site; shit-tons of stuff and $2 shipping. They also do 3 hour segments almost daily where shipping is free, and they send you an email to let you know when. Awesome-sauce.

I digress. While I was perusing Nomorerack, I came across a few different sets of nail art pens. I decided to get the set that had 5 pens, red, green, blue, white and silver.  I was pretty excited to try them out. You can either open them to use an actual brush or just pull off the top to get a super fine, almost needle like applicator. I tested out making holly leaves on a paper plate. Once I decided I could actually do it, I freehanded leaves on all of my nails. 

Originally I had planned to do the berries with the red pen, but then I remembered I had small red rhinestones. I'm glad I used the stones because it added a little something more than just polish would have.

I was happy when I finished, and I'm still happy with it four days later. I've gotten quite a few compliments on them, too. I also should point out that I have absolutely no tip wear. That Loreal polish is really holding up great.

So yeah....love them. But as much as I do, you just know I'll be very happy to take them off when I get home.

It's 1:15 a.m., and I suppose I should head off to bed. I'm hoping I'll be able to sleep since there's no recliner here, and I haven't slept in a bed for quite some time. If Kev snores, I'm screwed for sure. I was tired quite awhile ago, but I wanted to get a post in here once everybody else was off to dreamland so I could concentrate on the business at hand. I also highly doubt I'll get a chance to post again this week amidst all the hustle and bustle of our early Christmas.

You know I'll try, though. I do already have manicures lying in wait. I just need 15 minutes of quiet time to write something to go along with them.

Quiet time + family + Christmas = not likely.