DRAWING A BLANK MARBLE

Oh Em Gee.....where did everybody go??  I'm losing viewers like crazy!! I was already feeling guilty because I missed posting yesterday; then I look and see that the last few days have been weird. I had 189 views the other day, and only 48 in the last 2 days? Saddy-pants is me. :(

I really do feel guilty for not posting. I know that's redonk, but my personality is rather addictive so once I start something, I kind of pressure myself if I don't do it all the time. I also feel bad if I don't do my nails. I do try to give myself a break, usually on Friday nights simply because I know I'm not going anywhere on Saturday. Then I ponder for two days what I'm going to do next.

Marbles are good on weekends because I have lots of time to fight with them. This one I struggled with at first. I had to go through 4 different greens before I could get one to spread in the water. By the time I figured that out, I had to keep redoing a couple of them. SO frustrating!! I ended up staying up until 5:00 a.m. because of course I started it way too late, and I only finished the left hand. (anybody else detecting a sleeping pattern here?)

I also couldn't decide if I even wanted to do the right hand because I wasn't sure I liked it and knew I wouldn't know until after I showered to get rid of some of the random little stains on my fingers. Got up this morning at 9:30 and decided I would finish it. For whatever reason, the right hand went like a damn breeze. Ugh. You just never know with a water marble. Finicky little effers.

Also yesterday I was playing on Instagram and decided to post that  pic of the Emmy manicure in yesterday's post. I'm pretty tickled because it actually got a like from the New Girl's official Instagram account! While I realize it doesn't mean much in the long run, I was pretty tickled by it. That was my highlight of yesterday. :)

For the life of me, I can't remember what the "pattern" of this marble is called....drawing a complete, blond moment, old age setting in, brain fart. What the hell is it??? Seriously. It's driving me cray-cray so please post a note if you know what it is. lol

Odd color choices for me. I spent a lot of time wandering the interwebs just trying to find some color combos that would be a bit different than I normally do. I do like it enough to keep it until tomorrow night, especially since I aged 10 years while doing it.

I slapped on a quick basecoat of Sinful Colors white. Ya' know, I use it all the time but never look at the name of it. And I'm not getting off my ass to go look right now, either. 

Next up I dropped in Orly Rock-On Red, China Glaze Sky High-Top for the blue, Square Hue's Flower Power for the green and Sinful Colors Tempest for my poiple. 

Right now I'm kind of regretting that I didn't do a tutorial for this one.  Criminy, there's a sentence I never thought I'd write. I'm scaring myself.

Well, I'm off to hunt down my mother because at some point I do need to go over there today and I can't seem to find her. I imagine she's off with my dang sister or brother somewhere. So annoying! She should be sitting home waiting for my call, right? Sheesh.

Happy Mother's Day to those of you with children, either real or fur-covered!!  Hope your day is wonderful!! 

EMMY AWARDS MANI

I truly planned to go to bed at least an hour earlier than normal last night since I had to get up earlier to be at the hospital. Honest. I really, really did. Yet I still didn't manage to get my ass into that bed until 1:15. Seriously....what the hell is wrong with me??

So hospital at 7:30, and since the ultrasound didn't show anything, which I knew damn well it wouldn't, I had to go on to the next test where they inject some crap to make the gallbladder do its bidnezz. Lord almighty, what a dragged out process that is! Take some pics; wait 15 minutes; take some more pics; wait 45 minutes. The first break he sent me to the waiting room. After the second set of pics I told him I just wanted to stay in the room and lay on the table so at least I had a blanket. It was frickin freezing in there. And I am not afraid to nap wherever I happen to be. So that's what I did. Got out of there at 10:30 and then went to the office until noon.

Now I get to sit around and wait until the 20th to get results. Dullsville. There's nothing wrong with my damn gallbladder. I hate when doctors don't listen. Whatevs.

Left work, got my tan on and then came home and cleaned the entire house. Result? Ambition gone. My get up and go has got up and went.  So today you get an old mani. 

Right about the time of the Emmy awards on tv, CNS wanted some "celebrity" manicures. This one is my version of Zooey Deschanel's mani that she showed on the red carpet. I'm not big on freehand, but I think this really is cute. Not sure where I would wear it because I'd probs have to explain to people why on earth I have a tv on my fingernail. 

It's China Glaze Talahari Kiss....I love this color. A lot!! Then I did the freehand television set. For the screen I used my Fantasy Makers Confetti Confettis glitter and also sprinkled a little of that on the other nails, as well as slapping on a few rhinestones. 

I don't know....even as I look at this, I like it even more than before. 

Too bad nobody is giving me an Emmy....or anything else....

EVER. 

  

"THANKFUL THURSDAY"

Fine. I confess. I ain't no artist. But that doesn't mean I can't do watercolors. Lordie, that was a weak-ass start. I apologize (hanging head in shame)

I have dubbed today "Thankful Thursday", not for any particular reason other than I'm feeling pretty peachy today. I'm sitting here pondering the fact that I have to have an ultrasound on my gallbladder tomorrow...at 7:40 a.m., no less. Bastards.  Then I need to have an EGD on the 24th because of my little stint in the emergency room a few weeks ago. AND to top that off, even though I had a cortisone shot in my right shoulder two months ago, I can once again barely move that arm. Pretty inconvenient since I'm right-handed. I don't think they'll give me another shot this soon and figure if I go in, they're going to want to do some stupid ass testing only to find out it's some stupid ass thing like bursitis or some shit they can't do anything for. So eff that noise. I'll just wait it out until I can have another shot. VOTD!!!!!!!!!!

Now....back to the "thankful" part. With all of that nonsense happening, I (just like you, probably) constantly hear/read/see so many horrible things that happen to everyday peeps. Just huge problems; depression, pain, deaths, chronic debilitating illnesses or just a general lack of supportive, loving people in their lives.  In 53 years of life, of course I have gone through several of these things myself. I'm sure at the time I felt like the only one in the world that felt the way I felt. But I wasn't. 

No matter what has gone on in my life, even the shitty stuff has gotten me to the place I am now. I'm feeling blessed to have a damn near perfect husband, one who loves me so much more than I ever knew I could be loved. Just for kicksters I decided to keep track of how many times a day he tells me....I believe the average is something like 7 times a day. Redonk, right? I love him with the very soul of my being and still can't believe how lucky I am to have him. He is completely supportive of everything about me, is completely without anger and truly is one of the nicest guys  you'd ever have the pleasure of meeting.

I'm blessed to have two of the most gorgeous daughters a mom could ever want, and they have both found themselves ah-mazing men to spend their lives with. Our closeness is unparalleled; they are not just my daughters, they are my best friends. I think they'll keep me, and I them. They have given me three spectacular, healthy, loving grandchildren who I am lucky enough to be young enough and healthy enough to enjoy.

I have a job I sometimes hate, but I know that I am extremely lucky to even have a job when so many others do not, and when it comes right down to it, it really is the job of my dreams. In lieu of being famous, of course.

I may have some stupid health issues, and I may wish we had the kind of money that would make us more comfortable and able to help others with, but corny as it sounds, my life is rich with love.

So though I may seem snarky, sarcastic and even more than a little bitchy, on the inside I'm basically a bowl of mush. I'm that person you see standing in the greeting card aisle crying as I read the cards, the one who cries at commercials on tv, the one who cries huge, gasping buckets of tears for the pets of people I've never actually met....in fact, I probably shed a few tears at least a few times a week.  And that is me happy!! lol

So that is Thankful Thursday, by Diane Graham. 

Enough cheese. Now I'm hungry.

What? You came to see my nails? Sorry.....gawd, you're so demanding!!

Months ago I had done a watercolor-type mani where I just put dots of color on my nails and then smooshed them around with a brush dipped in acetone. This time I decided to do it using a sponge to dab on the colors. Then I just let my topcoat kind of smear them together. I rather like this. Maybe I won't do my nails tonight and just keep this!

First I did a basecoat with China Glaze Cheek to Cheek. It's funny. I got this when I bought a lot of 102 CG polishes on eBay...for $100. I went through and kept what I liked and then resold the rest. It worked out great, but this bottle of Cheek to Cheek wasn't selling so I finally just decided to keep it. Now I love it!! It's kind of a sheer pink-tone, but it has a really cool shimmer to it. You can get a look of it here:  We Actually Saw Sunshine Today

Then I just randomly dabbed on CG Lemon Fizz, Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet, OPI You're Such a Budapest, Barielle Pink Quartz and Julep Jessica. I put on my topcoat before they could dry completely so that they'd blend.  The blend went better on some nails than others, but overall I think it turned out good. That ring finger could have used some work, but of course it was late and I was kind of over it.

I believe this post has been long enough to bore you, so I'll wrap it up.  Things are looking up, peeps....it's almost Friday!!  

I'm outtie!! See you tomorrow!

GOOD IDEA? MABES.

Is it just me or does it seem weird that while the bossman is out of town, today I worked harder than I have in recent memory? I'm friggin' exhausted!! I always wait to do file closings and other blah-blah-blah shiz for when he's out of town. I always know if I even attempt to do that kind of crap he'll interrupt me.  And then I would have to punch him in the throat. Or nutz. I believe that most employers frown on that type of behavior.

So I had a six or seven month accumulation of files laying along the edges of my office. Attractive look it was not. It's now down to a decorative pile of six because I ran out of storage boxes. I'm happy I'm going to the chiro at 5:00 because my back hates me. It truly sucks to be ancient. For realz.

And nope!! That is NOT my VOTD! So there!!

I'm pleased to announce that I do not have a VOTD.  I'll give you a minute to pick yourself up off the floor before I resume typing.

Ready? I do have a mini VOTD....just try to find the bulbs for my lightbox lights. Riiiggghhhhttttt.....good luck with that. Guess I'll be ordering those off of the interwebs.  Oh, well, I've been managing without them for an entire year; what's another couple of weeks, right?

So for today's mani, I had this stunningly brilliant idea. *snort*  I thought a reverse french might be cutish using white and a neutral. Meh. One minute I like it and the next, I'm not crazy about it. I think I wish I would have used a more neutral neutral.....know what I'm sayin'?

I also wanted a softer white but was too lazy to swatch or test my whites. I don't do swatches of whites because I didn't think I needed to. That'll teach me for thinking.

In the end, I decided on Essie Blanc. Saying I decided on it makes it sound like I went through all my whites and gave it some thought. Nope! I opened the bin and grabbed one. Perhaps not the best plan.

Now, I honestly did look through some of my neutrals. I'm not sure why I bothered since I still wish I had used a different one. lol  This one is L'oreal Park Avenue Luncheon, which is a color I actually like a lot, and the formula is nice.  

Anywho, I did a basecoat of the Blanc and topcoated. I had some french tip guides I got from God knows where from God knows when and thought those might make a decent curve easier. They worked great; I'll def use those again when I want a nice curved line.  Topcoated and done. 

Holy bejesus....I just took a gander at my nails. They are a disaster right now! Evidently my tips did not appreesh the work I did today. Yikers! I'm actually going to have to touch these suckers up before I can even post this entry! lol

Several of you lovely readers have written comments either here on the blog or on Facebook saying I've made you smile. I just want you to know that hearing/reading that makes ME smile. Hugely. Like, so all of my toofers show. Mabes even a bit of upper gumline! 

Now, THAT is a damn smile, peeps!

PURPLE? BLUE? BLURPLE? WTF IS IT??

ARGH!!!!!

No, I'm not in pirate mode. I'm just frickin pissed! Why can I not for the life of me get purple to photograph correctly? I can't stress enough how frustrated I am. Horse hockey...not frustrated; Pissed with a capital P.  Once again, ran around the house for different lighting, outside, in the lightbox even though I only have one good light....I even tried doing it at the office!! It just figures, though, simply because purples are my fave. How many times do I have to call bullshit on this?

So there's my vent of the day, hereinafter referred to as "VOTD". That'll save me at least 2.5 seconds of typing since I'm sure you have noticed by now that I almost always have a VOTD. I'm really not quite as cranky as I read. People that know me may disagree with that last statement, but they can suck it. ;)

See how pleasant I am? Who wouldn't give just about anything just to be around me and able to bask in the pleasure of my ever-so-sparkling personality?? 

On to the purple mani! Or whatever it is now; blurple, I guess.

I had seen a similar mani on Pinterest and thought it looked pretty cool. I actually considered doing it in either green or blue, but I have SO many purdy purples I just had to do it this way. Once I finished and saw it in the daylight, holy yikers, this biotch is bright!! I don't know if I like it or hate it. By the time I decide, I'll be taking it off. 

I went with Color Club Express Yourself. I was not impressed with application. It's not glossy but not fully matte, either. It took three coats to get it to cover evenly.  I then did a coat of Seche Vite to make sure it stayed smooth. 

Since I wanted a "true" matte finish, I grabbed my Butter London matte topcoat, and I needed two coats of that for even coverage, too. I detect a pattern here. 

The next issue I was worried about was how well my striping tape was going to work over the matte topcoat and whether it would pull off without damaging my finish. Most of the time I'll just freehand a french tip, but I was going a little wider this time and wanted to make sure they were perfectly straight.  I taped off all the fingers of my left hand and then did the tips with a coat of the SV. Once I finished the last finger, I went back and started pulling my tape. Success on all but my thumb. Dammit.

I finished off all nine fingers and then went back to try again on my left thumb.  It took me four re-do's to get that sucker to work. WTF? I did finally get it to stop ruining my night. 

Good thing or you'd be reading a second VOTD in the same post.