COMPLETE COPYCATTING

Just going to be a quickie post today. The only thing I really have to bitch about is the migration of the hummingbirds. I still had one little girl as of last evening; I'll find out later if she's still around, but last year September 21st was the last day I took a picture. I tried to get shots last night, but she was very skittish for some reason. I'm crossing my fingers she's still around.

As I wander the web, if I see a mani I like I'll pin it on a Pinterest board that I've reserved specifically for things I want to try. This mani I did over the weekend is a complete copy job, right down to two of the three gradient colors. The original mani was done by @wackylaki.

I used Zoya Kennedy, Rue and Brigitte for the gradient and then stamped with Mundo de Unas white and the MoYou Pro 10 stamping plate.

I loved this when she did it, and I still love it. I loved it enough to put it on Thursday night and leave it on until last night. It was a hit at the doctor's office on Friday, and I was determined to wear it to work at least one day. I did finally remove it last night even though I wasn't tired of it.

I was actually halfway through doing my nails last night when I noticed I was actually putting the same stamping design on all over again. I guess that means I really liked it. Luckily I was able to remove the stamping without wrecking the base manicure.

I must not be getting enough sleep or something. I consider that to be a pretty good sized airhead bleach-blonde moment, even for me.

FIGURES. NOW I LIKE IT

Maybe it's spring fever, but I decided to start cleaning weird things around the house.  After having awful water for so many years, my T-Fal pan covers were completely covered with this sticky yellowish-brown film that I couldn't get rid of no matter how hard I tried. It has always grossed me out.

A couple of years ago I discovered that if I put my gas burner covers in a ziploc bag with a little bit of ammonia and let it sit overnight, all of the cooked on crud wipes right off. So it suddenly occurred to me that perhaps that might work on those covers.

I found a big ziploc, poured about a 1/4 cup of ammonia in it and then put one of the covers inside and let it sit overnight. Yesterday I held my breath, opened the bag and rinsed it off. Every bit of that crud came right off, and that cover looks like brand new. I was completely tickled.

So last night I threw in 2 of the burner covers and 2 more pot covers. I just got done washing those, and now I have the last 2 covers and burner covers in soaking until tomorrow.

Next project, get the damn cloudiness off of my glasses. I just hate them and anytime I need to give someone a glass around here I have to look through all of them to find one decent enough to use.

I had tried the vinegar trick a long time ago without success. I checked out an antique site that said to use Dow bathroom cleaner. Nope. They said to rub with alcohol. Nope. They said to pour ammonia in them and let them soak. Not gonna' do that because with those fumes, Kev will get home tomorrow and find me unconscious. So I grabbed one and threw it in the bag with the other stuff.  I'll find out tomorrow if that worked, and if it does, I'll be doing a happy dance everywhere in the house.

Hmmmm....now I'm wondering what would happen if I put a pan in there. The outsides of all of them are cruddy looking with that same sticky film the covers had. That might be my next experiment. I really want to buy a really good set of stainless cookware without non-stick properties, but damn, they are pricey. One more thing to add to my list for when my ship comes in or Kev wins the lottery.

I always see these mani's using that leadlight technique, and I almost always think they're pretty.  I didn't really have many sheer polishes so didn't think I'd ever try it. Finally I couldn't take it anymore and broke down and bought the OPI Sheer Tints.

Last weekend I decided to give it a try. Even with all the stamping plates I own, I had a really hard time trying to figure out a design to use. After looking through all of them at least three times, I opted for this one from the MoYou Pro 10 plate.

Evidently I need to find a sheer polish that is actually red. I wanted red.  I used all of the OPI Sheer Tints,  Be Magentale with Me, Don't Violet Me Down, I'm Never Amberrassed and I Can Teal You Like Me. For the green which you can't really see much of here, I used China Glaze Keepin' it Teal.

I only did my left hand because I really wasn't impressed and really didn't like it much. I took my pics and then took it off.  After I put this picture in my blog drafts and looked at it again, I decided I really do like it. Dammit. I hate when that happens.

I don't love it nearly as much as others I've seen, but overall it was pretty fun to do, and I'm sure I'll eventually try it again.

Now I'm going to eat some oatmeal scotchies I made last night and watch Grey's Anatomy. Sounds like a productive day today!

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.

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.
 

BATHROOM - DONE!! (VERY pic heavy)

I'm just going to go right ahead and show the mani first. That way if you so choose, you can just skip going on to all the bathroom pictures, especially those of you who already saw them all on Facebook.

I had the hardest time thinking of something to do the other night. I kind of just perused my polish drawers looking for something I hadn't used in awhile until I came across this neutral. Then it took me another three hours to decide what the hell to do on top of it.

This is Zoya Amminah. I don't remember buying this one. *shrug*
I do like it. It has kind of an opalescent shimmer that isn't really showing in the pictures. I decided to go with something black and kind of frilly for the stamp, and I really like how it turned out. The stamp is from the MoYou Pro XL 10 plate.  That Zoya looks pretty good all by itself on my tootsies, too.

On to the finished (finally) bathroom! First up, the pics of what the craptastic (see what I did there?) bathroom looked like when we bought the house.

 

 

Holy hideousness, right? Seriously; who puts cream colored carpeting in an effing bathroom. AND this exact same carpeting and blue vanity top was also in the other bathroom.  Not only that, who puts cream colored carpeting up the side of a tub surround. I'll tell ya' who, the cheap bastards that built the house. That's who.

Last summer I decided I was just so sick of looking at that hideous cobalt blue that I went online and looked for something to get rid of it without spending a shit ton of money. I found Gianni countertop refinishing stuff and Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations and went to work. So last July 2nd, this is what we had.

 

Since we weren't looking to spend a ton, I was very pleased with the fake marbling I did and the change over to black cabinetry. I was also completely in love with that sink. SO cute!

We didn't bother getting a new shower at that point because I refused to buy anything new that would get stained by our gross water.

I'm going to assume you've already read about the trials and tribulations of the bathroom remodeling we've done over the past couple of months and just post the finished product.

There's my brand new, shiny, white shower. I love it but keeping completely clear glass spot free was making me kind of crazy. I bought a squeegie to use after every shower. When I told Kev that we had to do that, he said he was never  using that shower again. Obvi he was kidding, and he's pretty much been quite the little squeegie expert since we got it.

That's my new black vanity with the nice built-in sink. I can't think of what it's called when it's smoothly connected. Whatever. I like it more than I thought I would. I was really attached to that other sink I bought. We couldn't have used it anyway since we now actually have a standard sized vanity instead of the mini version.

And here is a good shot of the new flooring and the bathtub. I want to make out with that bathtub. Judging from the comments on Facebook, I am not alone in that feeling.

So there you have it. As I was hoping, all the trouble did turn out to be worth it in the end.  It's nice walking into that bathroom and not wanting to run screaming in the opposite direction.

And who knows; maybe someday I'll actually try out that tub. I'm not a bath person at all. I think I tried the garden tub one time in 12 years. Now I feel almost obligated to plop my happy ass in there at least once.

 

IT'S SUMMER! NOPE....IT'S GONE AGAIN.

God help me, I really hate that damn bedroom color. Just the thought of repainting it makes me cringe. It's just too dark for that room. If it was a brighter room in general, it would have been fine, but this is just not cutting it for me. Kiss another $130 goodbye when I buy 2 more gallons of paint. *sigh*

Friday I was pretty much a slug. I watched a lot of tv and stared at the hummingbird feeders.  That one male was the only one I saw.

On Saturday morning I was very happy when I looked out and saw a female. I wasn't really expecting to see a girl so soon, but I'm certainly not complaining.  A short while after I first saw her, I looked up to find my adult male from last year. I was very happy to see him! This is his third year of hanging at my place. He may have been here before that, but I didn't start my hummingbird fascination until 2012.  I'll be sad when a year comes that he doesn't show up, but I'm glad he managed the trip again this year.

After I spent a couple of hours stalking the hummingbirds, I was a good girl and got motivated. I cleaned the entire house which lately has been dirtier than normal from all of the tomfoolery with the redecorating.   didn't mind it so much because it was sunny and 70 degrees out, and it felt good to have the doors open for the fresh air. I also enjoyed running around barefoot all day.  One day of that is all I got. Summer's over.

After I took a break to eat dinner, I then decided I would do the laundry because I thought wearing clothes to dinner on Mother's Day would be the appropriate way to go.  It was almost dark out as I was doing the last couple of loads, and I couldn't help but notice that every time I went to the kitchen to go into the laundry room, one of my male hummers was at the kitchen window feeder almost every time. I'm so glad they are using that one!

Since he was so persistent and obviously starving, I just couldn't help myself. I just had to go outside and hold that feeder. Poor dogs couldn't figure out why I was on the deck without them, but whatevs. At that moment hummers trumped furbabies.

I didn't bother bringing a chair out. I just grabbed the feeder, stood with my back to the window and tried not to move. I was so hoping that pretty little boy would stop and eat. About five minutes into it I saw movement out of the corner of my right eye and heard that joyous sound of hummingbird wings. I wish I could describe that sound when it's practically on top of you. It's amazing. I really had planned on giving them some time to get used to being at my house again before attempting that, but I'm glad I didn't wait.

I held my breath and in flew one of my females!! I'm not sure if it's the same nosy one from last summer or not, but she sure acts like that one. She didn't land on my finger (yet) but she did eat. Then she took a break from that and flew up right in front of my nose, hovered and stared and then went back to eat some more.

I had one female last summer that made me flinch many times because she was so curious about who/what I was. She would always come in to eat, but she would always take a break and hover by my nose or ear. They are so quick it's a bit freaky when they come in close like that. I usually end up closing my eyes when they get that close.  Then I'm pissed at myself later for not looking when she's that close. I think when I've spent more time with my little friend from the other night I'll probably be able to tell if it's the same one from last year.

Kev gets home today so we'll have to get the other 7 feeders up in the next couple of days. Oddly enough, I haven't seen any of them use the feeder that I put up on the corner of the garage. That one is usually pretty popular. I'd rather have them use the window ones for obvious reasons, but I'm going to give them lots of options; a sugar water buffet, so to speak.

Lately I've been having such a hard time deciding what color polish to wear. Pathetic, I know. Every time I think of a color, I feel like I've just worn it. They need to make more colors!

I don't think I've done a lavender in awhile so the other day I grabbed my all-time fave to do a mani.

I never get tired of China Glaze Agent Lavender. Ever. It's such a perfect color. I used OPI Eurso Euro to stamp with the MoYou Pro 10 plate.  

I love this one. (yes, Martha....another one I like). 

I've also been collecting stuff to practice doing acrylic and gel nails. I got myself five practice fingers and a hand. My hairdresser sent me home with all of the acrylic supplies that I need to practice. I did buy some less expensive brushes to use because the ones she gave me cost like 30 bucks a piece, and I don't want to ruin them. 

Last week I then bought a bunch more stuff on eBay, and one of my "extra" daughters is going to come over this weekend and be a guinea pig for me. Hopefully I can manage a decent full set of acrylics on her. I did do a few practice acrylic over tips that turned out pretty decent.  I also already have a professional gel nail system that I bought many years ago that still seems to be useable so at some point I'll practice with that, too.

The goal is to eventually become a nail tech. I can't really see myself going to school for it because our local school doesn't have a nail program. For awhile now my friend has been trying to get the apprenticeship thing going so I can just do that when I'm not working and then eventually take the test to get certified.

When that didn't seem to be panning out and I wasn't working, I started trying to find a school that I could attend, and I just wasn't having any luck at all. Moving to Illinois with my daughter for five months was on the table for a hot minute because I could have gone to tech school, finished in 5 months and just lived with them. I think that course was around $3,000.  Then I found out about a school just over an hour from me that I could have commuted to, but for some reason their tech program is over $6,000.  It was right about that time I discovered I'd be going back to work part-time. So much for going to class five days a week.

Now I'm back to hoping the apprenticeship works out. She doesn't have a tech in her shop right now so when I got my hairs did a few weeks ago, she sent me home with all of her equipment. Now it's just a matter of the state of Michigan getting off their asses so I can get things going. What's even better is if and when I ever get a license, I already have a place to work whatever hours I want.

The beauty of that is I could keep working my part-time here and then do nails. It sounds like a perfect plan.

I'm assuming that means it won't work out.