Friday, November 28, 2014

THE HOLIDAYS HAVE BEGUN

I don't know how your Thanksgiving went, but I won't need to eat again until Christmas. Between eating at my mom's yesterday and then heading over there tonight for leftovers, I am pretty much good to go for the next month.

Yes, I ate that much. And I have some salad and pie that I took home with me, too. Right now I'm miserable for the second night in a row. It's really not my fault, though. I was all finished eating, but there was stuffing sitting in the bowl right in front of my cleared plate, and I swear it was literally calling my name. So I went for seconds. If I hadn't done that, I'd probably not feel so crapalicious right now.

My plan for the rest of the weekend is nothing. Well, except for playing with the grandkid and grandpuppy.

Right now I'm wearing another snowflake mani, but I haven't even bothered taking pics yet. I really should probably do that soon because the tips are staring to wear.

This is one I did a couple of weeks ago.  This Above the Curve The Silence. It's gorgeous. Right now they don't seem to have this one, but they do have it here.
Above the Curve The Silence, Julep Farrah, LLC-B stamp
They do have a whole lot of other polishes that would be worth getting, though. I have several, and they are all gorg and have nice formulas. They also have a big sale going on at the moment so I recommend checking them out.

I had planned to stamp, but I thought it was necessary to show it all on its own first
Above the Curve The Silence, Julep Farrah, LLC-B stamp
I didn't want anything too shockingly obvious so I used Julep Farrah and the LeaLac LLC-B stamp.

I like how subtle this one turned out. It's like swirls of smoke over the dark.

Now I think I'll take a pic of my fingers and either decide what to paint or soak these suckers off and start from scratch. First I have to decide how ambitious I am and whether or not Zero will cooperate and let me do it. 

He's a puppy. I can't count on him just laying around for a couple of hours without getting into a wrestling match with his mom.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

IT'S A 2-FER TODAY!

I'm happy to say that the Parrot Polish from the other day, Curcubeu, wore very well throughout a full day of tapping away on my computer. Nice.

Before I put it to that test I did stamp some snowflakes on it Sunday night. Unfortunately that must have been a hint to Mother Nature because the 43 degrees and rain that got rid of almost all of the snow in my yard turned into 20 degrees and about 8 inches of snow.

I'm staying away from the snowflake stamps for awhile.
Parrot Polish  Surcubeu, MoYou Festive 04 stamp, snowflake
After I did these, I was sorry for it. I never should have covered up Curcubeu. I should have just waited to use snowflakes until I had changed polish. The great holo and color change did still show up around the snowflakes, though, and that was kinda' cool.  The snowflake pattern is from my MoYou Festive 04 plate.

Even though it did still look great last evening, I just felt like marbling. I thought it might be fun to do a two-tone marble, one where I don't try for any specific pattern like I normally would.

This is what I ended up with.
China Glaze Coconut Kiss, Sally Hansen black water marble
That pretty purple is China Glaze Coconut Kiss. I just used one of the cheap Sally Hansen blacks for the marble.

I am loving how this turned out. I've been looking at it a lot today. It also made for a very fast marble since I didn't really care what the design was. Funsies!!
I'd probably better think of something to do with them tonight. Tomorrow night Tyler will be home for Thanksgiving with Griffin and Zero. While Griff goes to bed and is also old enough to let me play with my nails, Zero is not quite so helpful.  So it's tonight or not at all until the weekend.

I think we all know I do not want to still be wearing this come Sunday. Puh-leeze.

On a sad note, one of my friends had to help ease one of her precious Goldens on to Rainbow Bridge today. Cooper fathered many puppies, and there are a lot of good genes floating around out there in the form of some beautiful dogs.

He was well-loved, not just by his human family, but from what I've seen, by every person that ever had the pleasure of his company.
Cancer claims another Golden gem.

Run healthy, happy and free, sweet Cooper!! Although many are shedding tears today, you've left a trail of happy memories in your wake. 

And you're going to have a grand old time with your buddies!!!




Saturday, November 22, 2014

FAIR WARNING - YOU NEED THIS!!

I'm not even sure where I first saw a pic of any polishes by Parrot Polish.  I'm thinking it might have been on Instagram. It doesn't really matter. Bottom line is I saw a swatch and sped over to their website immediately to check them out.

My interest was piqued because they had some with Romanian names, which reminded me of my 23 days there when I was 17. I remembered that "frumose" means beautiful. I digress.

Normally I am not so willing to pay 12 bucks for a polish, but I threw 2 in my cart and didn't buy. A week later I wondered why I hadn't gotten them yet. Once I remembered that I hadn't actually purchased them, I did. For the record, they are based in Florida, and they have free shipping!

Let me say this before you look at the 8,000 pictures I've posted. Within a few hours I received tracking info with a very nice note from Dave, the owner. That was four days ago, and I got the polish today.

Once I got them opened, I was so excited by them that I swatched them immediately.  Then I was even more impressed and decided I wanted to email Dave and tell him what I thought. I logged into my email and found an email from him, just checking in to see if I had received them.  Pretty damn good customer relations.

My plan then was to do a blog post with a review of both polishes. Once I started taking pictures of this one, I knew that wasn't going to happen. I really don't normally like pic-heavy posts so there was no way I could do both polishes on the same day.

Without further ado, feast your eyes on Curcubeu, which means rainbow in Romanian.

Ya' know how sometimes holo or multi-chrome polishes need a couple of coats to look good? Or how they are best over black?  Not so with this. I did swatch over black, too, but it really made no difference in the look.  These first three pictures are ONE coat.
Parrot Polish Curcubeu multi chrome holographic

Parrot Polish Curcubeu multi chrome holographic

Parrot Polish Curcubeu multi chrome holographic
I'd say it's pretty amazing in one coat.

This next shot is taken with flash, and the rest have no flash.
Parrot Polish Curcubeu multi chrome holographic

Parrot Polish Curcubeu multi chrome holographic

Parrot Polish Curcubeu multi chrome holographic

Parrot Polish Curcubeu multi chrome holographic

Parrot Polish Curcubeu multi chrome holographic

Parrot Polish Curcubeu multi chrome holographic

Parrot Polish Curcubeu multi chrome holographic

Parrot Polish Curcubeu multi chrome holographic

Parrot Polish Curcubeu multi chrome holographic

Parrot Polish Curcubeu multi chrome holographic

Parrot Polish Curcubeu multi chrome holographic

Parrot Polish Curcubeu multi chrome holographic

Parrot Polish Curcubeu multi chrome holographic
I think this is one fantastic polish. It flashes strong green, aqua, silver, blue and quite a strong purple, but as with all things purple, I wasn't really able to capture it. I was also just looking at it as I sit here in the living room, and it also flashes that "not quite black" black color that you get with black holos. Suffice it to say it is striking. Each color that comes through is gorgeous.

This is one of those rare treats of a polish that exceeded my expectations by a mile. Their own pictures don't do this one justice. I love a strong holo, and anything that shifts colors automatically becomes one of my faves.

You can look forward (or not) to a similar post on the other one I bought, Arco Iris, which coincidentally also means rainbow, but in Spanish. I didn't know that until just now. lol

They also included a mini of Emerald Sand which is a green/blue holo and 2 of their homemade soaps which they sell for a buck.

Overall, if this is any indication of how this little company is run, they deserve the business. For the record, this rather strong opinion you're getting right now is strictly my own. They've offered me nothing, promised me nothing; I'm raving because it's just.that.good.

And in case you haven't noticed over the time period of this blog, I'm a smidge picky.

If you haven't checked out Parrot Polish before, I think it's pretty apparent that you should.

Friday, November 21, 2014

TRIED IT - FAILED

For whatever reason, I got it into my head the other night that maybe I could somehow use my nail foils with stamping.

Since I've never managed to get my completely smooth, shiny, multi-colored foils to go on and look like they're supposed to, I thought maybe they would go on in a stamp format and look groovy.

I found a design and started by stamping it in black onto a coaster and immediately put the foil down and rubbed. Pulled it off, and it looked pretty damn cool. Great, I thought. This is going to work like a charm.

I painted my nails black and topcoated. I stamped with the black, put down the foil, rubbed and pulled it off. Nope! Didn't work at all!! Well, wtf? Why didn't that work?? 

I wondered if I could stamp with foil glue. Even bigger nope. The design I was using is one that barely fits on my nails, and I decided I didn't want to have to deal with worrying about size placement. I switched to a different plate that has bigger designs. This time I did topcoat on a ziploc, stamped and did the foil. Better. 

Then I decided I didn't have the patience to do it that way. I painted my nails silver and topcoated. I stamped with black and slapped the foils on. Game over because I was o-v-e-r it.

This is what I ended up with.
Nfu 61 silver holo, DRK-C stamp, nail foils

Nfu 61 silver holo, DRK-C stamp, nail foils
I hate it. A lot. I can't believe I actually did both hands and still have it on. The silver base I used is the Nfu Oh 61 holographic. I had also forgotten what a difficult application that particular polish has.

Basically, this whole manicure was a nightmare. Perhaps I'll attempt it again someday using some different method.

It ended up being even more frustrating when somebody posted a video where they were stamping a design on bare nails with black and putting foils on and it was working like a charm.  Bitch.

I do think if I were to try this with a design that doesn't cover so much area it would probably have worked better. At this point I also have to wonder if a couple of my foils maybe just aren't that great to begin with.

It was a cool idea in theory. It should have remained just a cool idea.


Monday, November 17, 2014

HELLO, HOLO

Holy crapovitch! It is so friggin' cold outside! That pretty, bright sunshine is very deceiving. I never did understand why when it's sunny out in the winter, it makes it feel colder. Why is that?  Not that there's any chance in hell it could feel warm. It was 9 degrees at my house when I left for work. 

Bossman left here at 2 to go back out to camp, and I decided I would brave the cold and go outside to smoke. Normally I just use my e-cigs at work, but since I still have the loaner and couldn't smoke on my way to work, and since I have no actual work to do, I wandered out there. 

I speed smoked about  half that sucker and got my buns back inside to my space heater. Nope....I didn't need a cigarette that bad.

Last night I did decide to finish that striped mani and did the right hand. Why it went so much easier the first night is anybody's guess, but man, it was really giving me trouble! I had to re-do two of them and almost called it quits, but it seemed like such a waste to be almost done and then give up. I'm probs going to take it off tonight, though.

I think I had mentioned a few weeks back about a good deal on Nomorerack for Cult polishes. If memory serves it was 5 for 20 bucks. I didn't have any Cults so I got two sets. I like them so much I ended up buying more from the actual Cult site when they had a sale.

They actually have decent deals on polish quite often there. I know right now they have sets of 5 OPI for 20 bucks, and they have Essie's, some other brands and nail art stuff, too. Shipping on that site is only $2, which is nice.

One of my Cult sets had Coachella, which is billed as a holographic topcoat. Actually, if you do a couple of coats it's a nice silver holo all on its own. For this mani, though, I did use it as a topcoat.
Wet n Wild Mauve Frost, Sinful Colors Black on Black, Cult Coachella Holographic Topcoat,  LeaLac LLC-A stamp
I started the mani with Wet n Wild Mauve Frost, which is pretty much just some random medium pinkish/reddish/mauvish toned polish that I don't remember ever buying. I have no clue where/how/why I got it. Maybe it came in some lot on eBay way back when I was constantly hunting down lots of polish for next to nothing.

It actually is a very pretty color all on its own. Throwing the Cult Coachella over the top of it was kind of an afterthought. As you can see from the pic, even with a stamp over it, it did a pretty nice job of making the polish holographic. I was impressed. As I always find with holographic topcoats, it did lighten the color of the polish quite a few shades, but that was fine with me.

For stamping I used Sinful Colors Black on Black and the LeaLac LLC-A plate. Overall I'll call this a successful mani.

I do have to say that I'm really not sure why I've used this stamping design as many times as I have. Today I'm looking at this picture, and I don't even think I really like it.

Now that I said that I'll have to make sure I don't use it for awhile.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

I GOT MOTIVATED

Ah, Sunday. I have a love/hate relationship with Sundays. I love them because I'm home, and I hate them because they mean I have to go to bed before 1 a.m. (or at least try to) and then it's back to work on Monday.

There's a twisted little part of me way deep on the inside that wishes it was last year. I may have been in some pretty major pain, but it was the start of 4 months off work. Of course it was also the beginning of the end for my work life as I knew it. If I had never had that damn surgery, my job never would have been turned into a part-time, you now earn less than half of what you did but basically do the exact same amount of work kind of thing. It makes me kind of hate having to go there now, but unfortunately I still need to work and certainly don't want to work anywhere else. The one bright spot of that job is the fact that I really do love my bossman 99% of the time. I know that not everybody can say that about the person that writes their paychecks.

Last night I decided to do a mani that I've actually wanted to do for probably over a year. It was pretty much copied from one that I saw on Pinterest that came from Lucysstash. She did her stripes wider than I did and is more perfect than what I managed, but I still think it's pretty.
OPI Did you Ear About Van Gogh, Unnamed Color Club Brown, Julep Rachel, Frederick's of Hollywood Starlet, striping tape
I don't own any of the polishes she used, so I started with OPI Did You Ear About Van Gogh. For the stripes I used striping tape with a dark brown Color Club that has no name, Julep Rachel and Starlet, which is a polish I got from Frederick's of Hollywood for 50 cents.

I only had time to do one hand last night, and now I'm sitting here wondering if I want to do the other hand today or just take it off and do something else.  It's still early so I'll decide later.

I see I left the attractive hanger laying on the cupboard for my pic. I'm hanging onto it for when Kev gets home so he can break off the pinchy ends for me. Those things make great chip clips! It's not something I had ever thought of, but my friend that watches our dogs when we're out of town had one on something she had brought here. Genius!

There ya' go....you not only got a mani, you got a handy little kitchen tip.

You're welcome.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

SO TYPICAL!!

I'm laaaazzzzyyyy today. Like super lazy. Well, I did sweep and vacuum, but other than that, I'm lazy. It's been a sit around, eat junk, take a nap and watch tv kind of day.

This is not what I was supposed to be doing. I was supposed to be going back up to Marquette to pick up my car.

In keeping with how everything else goes around here, I got up early yesterday and drove my happy ass up there so I could be there for the time of the appointment, which was 9:30. 

I was right on time and checked in at the service desk. Or tried to. I gave him my name, and he looked at me like I was on crazy pills. What's that? I'm not in the system? Go figure. I dug through my purse to find my appointment card. Yup, just as I thought. I'm not the crazy one.

Service guy didn't hide his annoyance very well, either, as he slunk off to find the guy that sold me the car. They never did figure out why my name didn't get into the computer, but whatever. Bottom line is there was no way they were going to get my remote starter installed yesterday.  They were supposed to do that and send the car over for rustproofing.  

So that made it possible for this lazy day because I didn't have to drive back up to get my car today. I actually won't have to drive back up there at all to get it because they said they'll deliver it since they screwed up.

They did give me the nicest loaner vehicle I've ever had before, a 2014 Forrester. Not quite as nice as my Outback, but nice!  I then made the mandatory trip to Target, where I bought a few Christmas presents and various other exciting things, like batteries. The highlight for sure was finding marshmallow snowmen and trees. Perfect timing since I had just finished off my last box of marshmallow pumpkins.

I drove over to Ulta to see if I could find any good bargains. Let's see, I think I spent approximately 90 seconds in there. I forgot how much I hate that place. They are on me like stalkers from the second I walk in. If they are constantly concerned about shoplifters, I'd rather they leave me alone while I browse and just frisk me and go through my purse on the way out. I would feel less invaded that way.

After that I hit up TJ Maxx which ended up being a place I didn't really feel like being. I absolutely love that store, but I definitely have to be in the mood to look through the racks to find something I like, and once I got there I realized I was not in that mood. I walked out of there with one bottle of nail polish and five rolls of wrapping paper. 

From there I headed home. I was looking at the growing pile of Christmas presents strewn about the house and decided to actually start wrapping. I have no good place to hide things and don't want Griffin to find things he shouldn't when he comes home for Thanksgiving. Of course, now I have to find a place to find a tempting pile of giftage. I can't win.

I'm still sporting the water marble, but here's one I did awhile ago.
Essie Sew Psyched, Sinful Colors Wisp, DRK-D stamp
This is one of those not very exciting but still good mani's. The green is Essie Sew Psyched, the white DRK-D stamp is Sinful Colors Wisp.

Like I said, it's a good mani. Don't remember how long I wore it, but I like it. I think it's a really pretty green.

Now I'm pondering what to do next. I've simply been too lazy to even think about it and too lazy to even wander the web for inspiration.

I honestly thought that today I would take the day to do some labor intensive fancy schmancy mani, but instead opted for the things I listed in the first paragraph.

Gotta' have a day like that every once in awhile, right?



Thursday, November 13, 2014

MIGHT HAVE MY GROOVE BACK

My name might not be Stella, but I for sure am feeling like I've got my nail groove back. I've been feeling actual enthusiasm about manicures the past few days.  I find myself pondering what to do often during the day, just like I used to. I'm even spending some time wandering the interwebs looking for ideas.

It's been nice. It makes me feel like I'm back to normal. It dawned on me today that last year on this date I had my shoulder surgery. I guess it was at that point that my nail obsession took a hit. It took awhile for my shoulder to be well enough to really make the effort, and by then I was just in a slump about life in general because of the new work sitch, the holidays and frustration about having an arm that didn't work right.

That slump just got extended right on into what I'll call the "puppy months". So now I'm back in "let's do nails" mode. I don't know if that means I'll do them every day, but I'm sure going to be doing them more than once or twice a week.

AND I'm not just going to always do the lazy mani's. I'm going to put some actual effort into them.

Case in point, last night I did another water marble. 
Fresh Paint Coconut Kiss, Sally Hansen CSM Himalayan Blue, Sinful Colors Cream Soda and Cool Gray water marble
I don't even remember the last time I did one of these marbles. I made sure to start before 9 p.m. because I thought for sure I'd screw some up and have to re-do them.

I started off with Fresh Paint Coconut Kiss for the base and then marbled with that along with Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Himalayan Blue, Sinful Colors Cream Soda and Sinful Colors Cool Gray.

Not gonna' lie; I'm pretty proud of the fact that I didn't have to re-do any. Not a single one. It turned out to be one of the easier marbles I've probably ever done.

Some days things just work. It was nice that it went so well, and that might have something to do with my new-found enthusiasm. Oh, and I like it, so that doesn't hurt, either!

I can't decide if I want to take it off and do something else tonight or not. Even though it did see the light of day when I went to work this morning, maybe I should leave it on for when I head up to the car dealership tomorrow. I'm dropping off my car so it can be rustproofed, and they have to install the remote starter which, in some confusing way that I won't get into, did not get installed at the factory.

And anytime I'm in Marquette, that means shopping. I'm not missing an opportunity to go to a Target or a TJ Maxx, and I'm also going to pop into the Ulta store to see if they have any good deals since a friend of mine just posted the other day that she got 5 polishes for 5 bucks. 

Even a person that doesn't need polish (in other words, me) can't pass up a deal like that.




Wednesday, November 12, 2014

NICE TO HAVE GOOD NEIGHBORS


I was pleasantly surprised that we didn't get much more snow yesterday. I shoveled the deck when I got home, but it had gotten a lot colder than it was at lunchtime, so I decided to say "screw it" and not shovel anything between the deck and the garage like I normally do.

This morning I got up to sunshine! It feels like it's been months since we had sun, so it was really nice to see.  It didn't feel too horribly cold when I let the dogs out, either.

After I fed the dogs at noon, I noticed that our neighbor was out there with his tractor plowing the end of the driveway. He always takes care of the bottom half of our driveway and out into the street by the mailbox.

Being the quick thinker that I am, I threw on Kev's snow boots, donned my hat and down coat and scooted outside to start shoveling. My hope was he would see me, take pity on me, and plow the upper half of the driveway, too.

Yup!!  I hadn't shoveled for very long when I heard him head on up to where I was. He took care of almost everything that I would have never done which left me with a fairly small area from the deck to the edge of the driveway. I'm so grateful because even the little bit I did was difficult. That frozen rain under the heavy wet snow that then froze was not easy to move.  That guy has saved my ass more than once in the 12 winters we've been here.

WTF......I think the sky just started dumping some rain/snow mix again.  

Okay. Looked at the Weather Channel, and it says we're suppose to get less than 1/2 inch. Whew!

Have I mentioned I hate winter?

I did this manicure last week, not sure what day it was, but it only stayed on for a day.
OPI My Vampire is Buff, Square Hue Iron Horse, DRK-D stamp
I'm too lazy to actually go look at the stamping plate, but I keep staring at this and wondering if those lines are supposed to be wavey like that or if I really  just did that crappy of a job.

The neutral base is OPI My Vampire is Buff.  I used Square Hue Iron Horse for the DRK-D stamp, and that was a mistake because the black looks dark grey when used for stamping. Lesson learned the hard way.

I really should break down and buy some real stamping polish. I've had Konad in the past, but I guess I didn't use them often enough because last time I looked, they were pretty much dried out and useless. If memory serves, I find that when I do use it for all my stamping, that bottle didn't last very long.

I don't like the price of their stamping polishes, even on eBay. I like using regular polishes for stamping, but sometimes I want a bolder black or white, and the special polishes are so much better for that.  I'm going to have to break down and buy some. I just need to figure out what brand and who to get them from.

I'm taking suggestions, guys and gals. Tell me what you like to use, prices and where you get them. I'm sure some of you stamping fanatics will have great suggestions.



Tuesday, November 11, 2014

STOP!!!!!

And so it begins. Winter.  For realz. Oddly enough, I don't like it any more than I did last year.

It started with a winter storm warning on Sunday night letting me know to expect 3-5" of snow yesterday, with an expected 6-12" more today. Fan-frickin-tastic.

First casualty, Kev unable to get home from Atlanta last night because the flight into Escanaba was canceled. Awesome sauce.

On a good note from last night, the bossman came out and plowed my driveway with his truck. A huge thanks for that!! He's basically my driveway savior when Kev is out of town.

I awoke this morning to noise on the bathroom skylight. Great. That can only mean one thing.....rain. Now, this can mean one of two things; either it's really warm out, or it's raining and freezing.

I'll give you one guess as to which one it's doing here. I hopped in my lovely new vehicle and even with that nice all wheel drive, the fact that my road isn't plowed (and probs won't be for days) means the road was trying to pull me every which way but straight. And of course, because it's raining, I had to stop and get gas. I can't believe there isn't a damn full service gas station anywhere because today I would have liked that.

I got to work and after firing up the computer, I figured I'd message Kev to tell him what the weather is doing. He messaged me just as I was about to and told me he was getting on the plane to Detroit and wanted to know what I thought his odds were of making it here. Ummm.....not good. But since he has nothing better to do, he decided to risk it. Worst case scenario, he said he'll get to Detroit, eat some Taco Bell and then hop a flight back to Atlanta. Unfortunately, if that happens I won't see him for another week because there's no point in coming home for 8 hours.

So yup. Great start to our Tuesday.

I did do my nails again last night. That's two days in a row! Go me!!

This one is a little different than my normal stuff.
China Glaze Soft Sienna Silks, Sinful Colors Black on Black, DRK-A stamp
I have to say I rather like this one! The brown is China Glaze Soft Sienna Silks. I did the usual Seche Vite topcoat before stamping with Sinful Colors Black on Black and the DRK-A stamp. Then I used the Sally Hansen Big Matte topcoat. I'm a fan of the topcoat and this mani.

I'm sitting at work waiting for the boss to make his revisions on a divorce judgment. After that I have no clue what we'll be doing. The courthouse is closed for Veterans Day, and we have no clients on the calender. 

When I drove into work, it looked like half the damn town was shut down because of the weather. I swear, not only do people forget how to drive during the first couple of storms, they act like this weather is foreign to them. I understand the schools being closed but don't understand the wusses that are evidently sitting home right now. Seriously, you DO live here, correct?

It's not like this stuff is abnormal. It's Upper Michigan. It's winter. Same shit, different year.  You should have learned how to function in it by now.

Crap. I just checked the flight status. Delayed. Just as I thought, doesn't look too promising. 




Sunday, November 9, 2014

GRADIENT + WATER MARBLE = WIN

Weekend's over. Back to work tomorrow. Blech.

There's also a winter storm watch starting tomorrow, too. I'm hoping it's going to miss me here in Escanaba, the lovely banana belt of the Upper Peninsula. There was a smidge of snow on the ground this morning, and it was snowing when I ran to the store, but thankfully it melted.

I did go to the bar Friday night, and when I was standing outside smoking heard some voices calling my name. Then I heard a voice yell, "Gramma Diane". As it turns out, my grandson was next door. My ex's sons were at his place for the weekend, and they had driven to Marinette to pick him up for the weekend. I chatted with them for a few minutes, and they said they'd come out to visit.
 
I was surprised last night when they actually did come out. Right when they got there, they mentioned that they should have brought Razzie out to visit. I told them that would have been nice, but no big deal. They insisted on driving back into town to get him. I just thought that was super sweet of them.
 
So off they went and came back 20 minutes later, puppy in tow. Obvi I was pretty happy with that sitch. And it was nice to have the boys here for a couple hours. Of course I'm always happy to see Treyson, but I also really do enjoy having Tim's boys around. They're always very nice to me, and his youngest never fails to tell me how much he likes my house because it feels cozy and warm. Adorable coming from an 8th grader.
 
Today was nice because I decided I would actually do nails and take the time to really "do" something.  It's also teal week in the nail group, and I'm playing along.
China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint, Loreal Now You Sea Me, Sinful Colors Blue Crushin gradient water marble
I thought it might be fun to do a gradient and then water marble over it. It's actually the second time I've done this method in the past month. I just haven't gotten around to showing the other one yet.

My gradient for this one, from light to dark, is China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint, Loreal Now You Sea Me and Sinful Colors Blue Crushin.  For the marble I had to use clear with my white.

Finding a clear that will work in a water marble is torture. I don't have many clear polishes, and none of them were working. As a last ditch attempt, I tried doing it with my Seche Vite topcoat, never figuring it would work since it's a fast dry polish.  But it did! While I'm not a fan of wasting my SV, I'll probably use it from now on when I need a clear for a marble.

I must be feeling back to normal as far as nails because they are back on my mind, and I'm wandering around the web looking for ideas again.  It feels kind of nice to be doing that.
 
Maybe I'll even do something else tomorrow night! I don't even remember the last time I did my nails two days in a row, but I'm going to feel pretty accomplished if I do.
 
I'm hoping that's what happens. I'd really like to get back into blogging more than once or twice a week. Hopefully you'll like if that happens, too.
 
And if not, don't say anything to me about it. What I don't know works just fine for me. 

Friday, November 7, 2014

A MILESTONE

It is such a gloomy day again today. I would love to see some sun. I'm pretty sure it's possible to have sunshine even when it's cold out. It would be nice to see it happen.

I actually woke to a bit of snow on the ground. Horrifying thing to wake up to!! It didn't stay around for very long, but I am really not ready for winter to start. It is November in Michigan, though, so I could easily wake to a foot of snow any morning. 

Rumor has it the winter is going to be brutal again this year. Last year at this time I had my shoulder surgery and didn't leave the house much, thereby avoiding the freeze. This time I'll have to suck it up just like everybody else. 

When I got to the blog today, I noticed how many views it has had since I started it, and it hit the 100,000 mark! I am shocked, humbled and grateful that there have been so many lookers. For those of you that have taken the time out of your day to pop in, look, read and feel it was worth coming back, thank you! You are honestly and truly appreciated, and I thank you from the depths of my normally cold, hardened, black heart.

Seriously, though....THANK YOU!!

Now on to what brings us here, nails.
Ruby Kisses  Deal with the Devil, Essie Blue Rhapsody, Ali Express 12-52 stamp
I actually did this one even before going to Cancun.  I have quite a few manicures in draft form from when I would manage to do nails during the puppy months.  

I seem to recall having a specific reason for doing navy blue, but damned if I can think of it now.  When I was going through my swatches I landed on this navy, Ruby Kisses  Deal with the Devil. It is a nice deep and true navy blue which can actually sometimes be hard to find. The stamp was done with Essie Blue Rhapsody and the Ali Express 12-52 stamp.

I liked this one. And I can always count on those Essie mirrors to stamp well. When I bought them, I wanted them for the supposed mirror finish which I ended up being kind of disappointed in. I don't even know why I cared; it's not like I wear a plain polish normally. The fact that they are great stamping polishes turned out to be a bonus.

Now I need to decide if I feel motivated enough to shower. The bar I used to be part owner in with my ex and his sister is having karaoke tonight. I knew about it because the bar sent out invites on Facebook, but it hadn't really occurred to me to actually go. Then last night the ex texted to ask if Kev and I want to go.  As is typical with the timing of things, Kev left yesterday. 

Back in the day it would have been a no brainer, and I would have already been planning to go.  I used to love karaoke! And bowling! And after league bowling late shift on Wednesday nights, karaoke followed every week. Had a lot of fun in my mid 30's. Now I think I might just go and watch. Don't quite have the singing confidence I once had, but I do enjoy listening to my former family sing.

The voice, as is true with many things, is an "if you don't use it, you lose it" kind of thing. I'm thinking I may have to rest on my past laurels and keep that secret to myself.

It's these stupid little physical tidbits that remind me that I'm way past my prime in almost everything. 

Me --------->> mourning lost youth.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

CANCUN MANI #2

Work day ended at noon, the laundry is all done and the house is all clean and shiny.  Kev is gone for the weekend, so I guess it's going to be a very quiet few days.

It feels weird here already because I'm alone and it's quiet. It won't be as much fun as last weekend when I had Razzie here to play with and keep me busy. Sometimes I really wish I had kept one of those dang puppies.

I figured since I posted Cancun mani #1 on Tuesday, I may as well post the one I did mid-week of the trip. I regretted it the minute I started it. Even though I had tried it on one nail before I left home, the yellow really gave me trouble once I started doing it for realz.
Orly Lemonade, Sinful Colors Smokin, AliExpress 12-51 stamp
It's a really nice yellow, Orly Lemonade. For some reason when I tried it at home, it did fine with two coats. I don't know if it was a weather or air conditioning issue in Cancun, but it took three coats, and even that was difficult. That third coat had to be pretty thick. 

The grey I used to stamp with my AliExpress 12-51 plate is Sinful Colors Smokin.  This is one of those rare cases where either my memory is fuzzy or this actually looks better in pics than I think it did in person.  I know it couldn't have looked too bad because I had several women comment on it during out thousand hour layover in  Atlanta on the way home.

Gee, I guess that's all I have for today. I've been starting at the blank area on this post and can't think of a single interesting thing to say. 

But at least I posted a mani!

 

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

CANCUN MANI #1

Oh, it is soooo damp and gloomy today!! As if being November isn't already depressing enough. It makes the 50 degree weather seem much colder than it should. I'm going to try to just be happy it's 50 and not 30 out there.

I made a discovery on my way home yesterday. I knew that my car was hands free for phone use, not that I ever talk on the phone while driving. If it wasn't for Kev calling me almost every night when he's working, I can seriously go for weeks without ever actually using the damn thing to talk. It doesn't seem that long ago that I said I'd never use texting. Sha', right. Now if I hear a text come in and can't get to my phone immediately, it literally makes me anxious. I don't know what I think I might be missing, but it bothers me. It also bothers me if someone doesn't respond to one of my texts within the first 5 minutes. Yes, I know it's ridiculous.

Anywho, when I got in the car, I hit the bluetooth on my phone so it would connect and discovered that not only can I make and answer calls, I can actually talk to my car and make it do stuff!! Like change the radio station, the temp, the fan speed and I'm not even sure what else. I changed the fan speed 3 times on my way to work just for shits and giggles. I am easily amused. I would say it's sad to be so lazy that you can't change the heat by yourself, but I guess it's not a bad idea because I don't have to take my eyes off the road to do it. 

I wonder if it can have dinner ready and my house cleaned before I make it home.

Here's the mani I did before heading off to Cancun last month.
Orly Harmonious Mess, Sinful Colors Nouveau Purple, LeaLac LLC-A stamp
It's always hard to pick something to do when I'm leaving town. God forbid I decide I hate it once we leave! The light purple here is Orly Harmonious Mess, and I used the LeaLac LLC-A plate with Sinful Colors Nouveau Purple for the stamp.

I did do a different mani mid-way through the trip, but I wish I would have just left this one for the whole week. I never really get tired of purple and wasn't all that pleased with what I did after taking this off.

Too funny. I wrote the first part of this post before lunch. I must have spoken too soon because right when I left for lunch hour, I pulled away and my phone rang while I was driving. So I did actually use the hands free for phone talking! I have to say I kind of liked it!  LOL
 
I am so glad this day is almost over and tomorrow is a day off. Maybe if I sleep in a little later I can shake this headache. I am so over it and so over how it's affecting my mood.

Color me cranky.



Monday, November 3, 2014

PINK/GREY, ALWAYS A GOOD COMBO

Happy Monday!

Just kidding.....Mondays blow.

I woke with a headache, which I do every day, but ever since we got home from Cancun, my headaches have been a lot worse and more stubborn when it comes to getting rid of them. That means I'm taking more Excedrin Migraine than I should. Actually I'm not supposed to take any aspirin products, but that is honestly the best drug ever for headaches.  With any luck, the amount I've needed as of late won't cause my ulcers to kick back in. Can't win. Headaches or ulcers. Too fun!!

The weekend was fun because I had Razzie with me. What a sweet, well-behaved puppy he is. From what I've seen and heard, the entire litter are doing fantastic in their fur-ever homes, which makes me incredibly happy. They are all smart, spoiled and well loved, which is as it should be. I'm so thankful to have constant contact with everybody. I still miss them so much, but it's nice knowing I will get to watch them grow up and even get to see some of them from time to time.

On a completely unrelated topic, do any of you believe in ghosts? And if you do, are you of the opinion that orbs that show up in photographs are indications of same? 

I do believe in ghosts for several reasons that I won't bother getting into, but I have never been one to subscribe to the notion that orbs are always an indication of them. On the rare occasion that I've ever seen them in pics, I figure they are dust or bugs.

That being said, my daughter was at Universal in Florida last week and went to the Halloween Horror Nights thing they do every year, and she posted this pic on Facebook. It's a pic of her with her new boyfriend(s).
Don't know what that is, but it didn't show up in any other pics I saw. Kind of an interesting pic, right? 

I got my Julep Maven box over the weekend and am really pleased with the colors. One of the things I like about Julep is the fact that every month on the 20th I can see what's going to be sent and either change it or skip the month. You can also cancel at anytime. I'm a big fan of their polish formula.

I've also gotten a few of their other beauty products and found them to be awesome, especially their pedi prep and file and the glycolic hand scrub. I also have their roll on cuticle oil that I carry in my purse. It works great if you use it, which for some reason I have been neglecting lately.  If you follow the link, you can join and get your first box free using the code FREEFALL.

I decided to use a couple of Juleps for last night's mani.
Julep Devon, Julep  Maria, MoYou Pro XL10 stamp
I haven't bought any new grey polishes for awhile. The pic isn't showing this because of the lighting and the stamp, but this grey has a bit of a pink shimmer in it....really pretty!  The grey is Julep Devon. I knew I wanted to stamp with pink because I love a grey/pink combo and decided to go with  Julep  Maria for that. It made for great coverage over the grey using the MoYou Pro XL10 stamping plate.

I'm a fan of this one. I considered leaving on the Halloween mani just so I could say it left the house, but it somehow just seemed wrong to do that.

And although I started this post around 9:30 a.m., it's now 5:30 p.m. which pretty much proves that I worked today. Now I'm sitting here debating on whether or not to leave this one on or try to find something else to do.

Or mabes I'll just take a nap. Have I mentioned lately how much I hate doing 5 days' worth of work in the 2.5 days a week I now work?  If not, I'm mentioning it now. I hate it. It makes me tired.