MY NOD TO HALLOWEEN

Since it's 2 a.m., it's technically Halloween. This won't be a long post; it's simply for purposes of Halloween.

First, a complete VOTD. Or VO-Yesterday. Whatever. It's a vent.

Last night I settled in with what I thought was a foolproof plan for a fairly quick Halloween mani that I would actually wear out of the house. Mummy nails the water marble way. I'm good at water marbles, right? Should be a cinch.

I found the polishes I wanted and off I went. I marbled 'em all, and they looked really nice.  As a marble. As mummies, not so much.

And then being the genius that I am, not only did I not take a picture of that nice water marble, I took it off, painted my  nails blue and called it a night.

I went to bed pissed.

So the plan for today was work, clean the house, make supper, do Halloween nails. And that's exactly what I did. 

I'm not the least bit excited by these, but at least I can say I did a manicure for Halloween.  Cuz' I'm cool like that.

This is a gradient using (light to dark) Essie Rock the Boat, China Glaze Secret Peri-Winkle and Maybelline Color Show Blue Freeze. Then I used Julep Ledi for the black stamping. The graveyard is off of Messy Mansion's HD04 stamping plate, and the little bats are from the Bundlemonster BM213 plate.  As an afterthought I decided to slap on a bit of Orly Shine On Crazy Diamond to add a bit of twinkle to the night sky.

I'm assuming this will be on for a few days. Razzie will be here for some puppy fun this weekend, so at this point I'm just hoping to get this off before work on Monday, at which point it will be too late to be sporting a graveyard on my nails.

Happy Halloween!!!

FOILED AGAIN AND A WIN!

Geez, in all the rambling about the new car in yesterday's post, I forgot to share something else fun!

Kev and I love going to the casino. Unfortunately this is not usually a good thing. But because I'm a horrible person, I planted the idea in his head last Thursday night, and since he is also a horrible person, he agreed to go instead of telling me to shut the hell up.

So off we went at about 10 p.m. We like going later in the evening when it's not so busy. Of course, because I'm a girl, I have a fave slot machine that I can sit at for hours if it's giving me something to play with.  Sometimes it even does well. Thursday night, not so much.

So after letting that suck some money out of my hands, I wandered over to a set of penny progressives that Kev likes to play. He has won the progressive jackpot on it twice over the years. It's never a huge amount. It is pennies, after all.  Those machines traditionally hate me. But I was pouting over my other machine sucking so I sat down and stuck in 20 bucks. It was cruising along pretty nicely, and within a few minutes I had accumulated 100 bucks. Sweet. That's my magic cash out number, so I did that and stuck the slip in my purse.

Then I put in another 20 which got me nowhere in a hurry, but I figured I'd give it another 20 just to see what it would do. And in case you haven't guessed the end of this story, I won the progressive jackpot to the tune of just over $1,800. Sweetness!!

From there I went and stuck that $100 slip into the machine that earlier hated me, and it had changed its mind. I'd put in $100 and cash out $200. Lather, rinse, repeat, and I cashed in $1,000 worth of slips on that.

In the meantime, Kev had been playing all over the casino and was doing pretty well, too. As I was wrapping it up on my machine, Kev was playing $1 Wheel of Fortune slots. These also traditionally hate me and never let me spin the wheel.  Since it was time to head home, I joined him over there, played two machines and lost $200. Oh, well....it was profit money so it wasn't quite so painful. Still pissed me off, though. The machine Kev was playing was doing all right. Once he decided he was done and wanted to leave, I told him I wanted to throw $100 in it.  Cut to a half hour later, and I had racked up another $600 to take home. 

All in all, a pretty damn good night. It's fun (and rare) to walk out of there with that kind of profit, but it sure felt good!

Sorry I ranted on about that, but I couldn't help myself. I still get excited thinking about winning that progressive.

I'm also looking forward to a fun-filled weekend. I posted on my ex sister-in-law's Facebook wall to ask if I could steal Razzie for a few hours or a weekend to puppysit, and she is dropping him off Friday afternoon for me to play with until Sunday afternoon. How awesome is she!!

So I get to look at this little face for three glorious days.

It's going to be awesome!

Of course, it also means that doing nails will probs be out of the question. Puppies don't care if nails are wet and are also more than happy to knock shit over.  But puppies still trump nails.

Last weekend I thought maybe I'd do some foils. They aren't something I even think of usually, but I was looking through some of my stuff and ran across these.

These went on like a dream on top of a basecoat of China Glaze Agent Lavender. I used a topcoat I bought on Amazon and was going to post a link to it, but it's currently unavailable. I left a question to the seller because I'm hoping she is going to sell it again. It's still the best thing I've found for foil topcoating.

This foil probably would have been fine with regular topcoat. It's really only the shiny foils I ever seem to have an issue with.

I liked this one. It looked better in person, and I wore it for a few days and had no issues with wear at all.

I'm hoping maybe tonight I'll motivate and try to do something Halloweenie. Of course, I say that now while I'm sitting at work; that nail motivation may have died by the time I get home.

And yes, Halloweenie is a word.

NOT REALLY FLAMES

Last Wednesday we went off to Marquette to pick up my car. It's a beauty, and I love it! I wasn't kidding when I said it would take forever to learn how to use everything. It's ridiculous.

It didn't occur to me that it would take over 3 hours to wrap it up and leave the dealership. Not only did it take awhile to do paperwork, once that was all finished they actually do a "lesson" on all of the gadgets in it. I just sat in the back seat and let Kev pay attention. 

That might have been a mistake. It took me a good 5 minutes on Thursday morning just to figure out the heat.

It has a push button start which is pretty cool.  What is not cool is driving it to the store after work, parking and going in to shop and then coming out to find the car running with the doors unlocked. I completely forgot to push the button and turn it off. Thankfully I live in an area where car thefts are extremely rare. I still can't believe I did that. Needless to say, I'm being extra careful about that now!

The other night I was at a loss for what to do on my nails. Why I eventually decided on this is anybody's guess. It kind of turned out looking like flames although that wasn't really my intention.

I used Square Hue Scorched Summer for the main color and then used a nail art brush to slap on Kleancolor in Metallic Red, Orange and Yellow.

I do like how it turned out. I'm really not sure what I was thinking it would look like. I've just been struggling to feel creative.

It really is time to do some Halloween mani's. I've pulled all of my Halloween stamping plates out, but so far that's as far as I've gotten. I keep looking at them just hoping some kind of idea will hit me. Unfortunately none of them are doing it for me, and time's running out! At this rate I'll end up doing one that never leaves the house.

It's one of the drawbacks of only working a couple of days a week now. I take the time to do nails that only I see. Makes me kind of sad.

ORANGES PORANGES....WHO SAID?

Does the title of this post mean anything to anybody, or am I just really that old?  Even though I hated the show, for some reason this song from HR Puff-n-Stuff that was sung by Witchie-Poo has been stuck in my head forever. OMG, that show really sucked balls. I shudder at the thought of it.

Lordie, and from there my brain went to The Banana Splits.  Somebody shoot me.

I'm pretty excited today. A couple of months ago we decided it was time for me to get a new vehicle.  I've been driving my current vehicle for 11 years. That's a record for me. I've always been pretty spoiled and have never owned a car for more than 3 years. Thank you, leasing. My current car we purchased, and I have to say I have enjoyed not having a car payment, but I am so ready for something new!

I've been in love with my daughter's Subaru Tribeca ever since she got it. Just for kicks last fall when we had gone out of town to my shoulder doctor, we had stopped and looked. It was then that we decided we liked the Outback better; a bit less expensive and better gas mileage. We also decided it would be a good idea to wait. Our brains actually worked for once and logic made an appearance.

We've been kicking the idea around ever since. Driving the Alero in the winter is not pleasant. Kev always lets me take over his Equinox in the winter which leaves him traveling the two hours on wintery roads to get to work. Since he is now going to be moving up to a bigger plane and will make a smidge more money, we decided to bite the bullet. So off he went in July to find me my dream Outback. It was such a dream that they actually had to custom order it. I guess the pearl white ones with all the good stuff are hard to find. We've been waiting ever since and thought it was supposed to get here next week, but it's here a week early. 

When I drive home from work today, that will probs be the very last time I drive my little red Alero. This does actually make me kind of sad. I've loved that car. So much so that it was my second one. I owned the 2000 version of it, exact same color and options as the one I have now. I still look at it when it's outside and think it's cute. If they still made it, I probably would have bought it again.  I'll just have to force myself to drive the brand-spanking-new Outback. Poor me.

I am so far behind on blog posts that this is a mani I seriously do not remember doing.  That probably means I did it in July when I was brain dead. Or maybe in August when I was brain dead. Whatever.

It is very orange. Very. 

I actually  like it. I wonder if I liked it when I did it. Sad that I can't remember. Thankfully I did at least write down what I used so I must have had one working brain cell.  The gradient was done with Sinful Colors Cream Soda, Julep Gloria and Loreal Precious Coral. I stamped on it with the AliExpress 12-51 stamp using China Glaze Drive.

So yup....very orange.

I am wearing a mani now that I did on Sunday night, and I actually  might do my nails again tonight! I think that's going to be the fewest days I've worn a mani since July. 

Maybe I really am going to get back into the swing of things.

SOOOO FAR BEHIND

What a last few months it has been. It has easily been the busiest summer I can ever remember having. 

For a lazy person, that kinda' sucks. I'm a relatively lazy person. I'm thinking life will be back to my completely normal, uneventful manner starting Monday.

In actuality, I'm not really complaining. How could I complain about living with puppy cuteness (and the mess) for over three months. And how could I complain about spending a week in Cancun? (more on that later because I can)

Also, after missing the puppies for a bit, Tyler came home for a weekend, bringing Griffin and Zero with her, so I got a puppy fix last weekend. Oh, lordie....that pup is hell on wheels! She has her hands full. Griffin is madly in love with him and according to Tyler, every day he says he is so happy to have a dog now. He stayed at his other grandma's while Zero stayed here, and when he got back to my house the following day, you'd have thought he hadn't seen his dog in a month. He sat on the floor and held him and kissed him and just kept saying "awww" over and over again. Ridiculously cute.

I could really inundate you with the 8,000 pictures I took of the two of them, but I'll just do these three, at least for today. The shot with him in orange I got a bunch of other shots because he spent 15 minutes on the floor with him, and Zero got at least 50 kisses. Baylee walked up on that, and he told her to go away. When Tinlee went and stood by them, she got kisses, too. He still wants to steal Tinlee from me.

Once they left on Sunday I had a few quiet days where I got caught up on cleaning and laundry. Then on Thursday afternoon I got one of the other pups, Seven, to puppysit for the weekend.  She's asleep under my kitchen table right now. She is an absolute gem, very cuddly and quiet and well-behaved. She even goes and scratches at the screen door to go out to potty so we haven't had a single accident. She's amazing.

I also took 8,000 pics of her. And the weekend isn't even over yet.

In the midst of all the busy, I have managed to do my nails quite a few times. I just haven't had the time to just sit and do a post. In fact, I have a few where I didn't even remember to take note of what I actually used. Sheesh.

I did take note of this one, and it doesn't even have a name. It's a Color Zone yellow. The stamp was done with Sinful Colors Black on Black and the DRK-A plate.

I love the combo. I hate that it's kind of smeary. Normally I may have tried to re-do some of them to see if I could get them a little more clear, but re-do's have not been on my agenda.

With any luck, I can go back to my lazy life where I sit in front of the tv and do nails. Blog posting regularly would be nice, too. I do find that it was so much easier to blog when I worked full-time. Now that I only work part-time, I actually have to work the entire time I'm there. 

It's awful!! I wasn't aware people really did that.

HEY! KLEANCOLOR! KISS MY........

Things are getting progressively quieter in the Graham household. Four of the seven puppies have now gone on to their new fur-ever homes. While a big part of me is happy about this, an even bigger part of me is very, very sad. More than a few buckets of tears have been shed.

While it was difficult letting Seven, Razzie and Zero go, it was the most difficult when Charlie left. Everyone else I had time to prepare myself for. Charlie I did not. I got a message from some people in Gladstone that wanted to come and look on Friday night. She was barely in the door when she looked over the edge and asked if that was her puppy. Rut-roh.

A half hour later they were out the door with Charlie in her arms. I was in shock. For some reason it didn't occur to me that they would swoop in and run off with my dog, I guess. So I cried the hardest for him. I have to be very happy for him, though. Spoiled rotten already. On Saturday he went to the beach for a doggy beach party and spent time in their garden, which is gorgeous. I also found out  yesterday that he is also already sleeping in bed with them. So yeah, spoiled and very loved. I can't ask for more than that. Sometimes things are just meant to be, and Charlie chose them for a reason.

Holli and Adi will leave the end of this week, leaving only Jake, Jr. without a new home. This is the four I had left on Saturday.  And no, Martha, I am not keeping Jake.

On Sunday Tyler and Griffin left with Zero. I was a bit teary, but at least I know I will see him in three weeks and every time they come to visit. Still hard, though. The following two pics did help to make me feel better. They were taken during their 6 hour ride home.

It appears that Griffin's lap was a much better place to sleep than the crate. Few things cuter than a little boy napping with his dog.

And no 6 hour car ride is possible without a potty break for all, as well as a few minutes of running to burn off some energy.

Even though Griff didn't show as much interest in the puppies when he was here (because Grampa Kev trumps puppies), it seems he's much more excited about it now that he's home. Tyler told me that the first thing he said when he woke up Monday morning was, "I'm soooo happy that I have a dog now". Be still my heart.

Last week was blue week in nail group. As usual, I'm behind. Everybody else has already moved on from it. I did the nails in time, just not the blog post.

Oh, do blue, they said. No problem, said I. I'll do a nice sapphire color and stamp over it with silver, I said. It'll be super fast and easy and look nice, I said.

Bullshit, I said!! I went through all of my blues, which is three drawers full, mind you, and pulled Kleancolor Metallic Sapphire.

Perfection! Not only does it look like a sapphire, it even says it on the bottle. It's destiny so use that, I said.

Off I went to the living room, blue in one hand and my go-to silver stamping polish, Essie No Place Like Chrome in the other. I knew it would turn out super cute, all that nice silver on that blue.

It didn't take me long to really start bitching. That blue was a friggin' nightmare. I swear it stained everything it touched and possibly even some things that it didn't. Let me check my naked toes and knees; there might be some blue stains on them.

Nope. I'm good.

Once I got that nightmare of a polish on, I topcoated and got ready to stamp.  As I had planned, my silver went on like a dream and looked great. 

My mood was improving. Almost bedtime and all I had left to do was topcoat. So topcoat I did and started cleaning up my stuff so I could go to bed.  And then I looked down at my fingers to see if I needed any final cuticle cleanup.

Um, whose fingers are those?? That's not the mani I just did. I did blue with silver. What is this nonsense? I felt like I had taken more crazy pills than usual. Since when does topcoat manage to not only bleed colors but manage to do it by eating through the first layer of topcoat?

Then I took a peek at my bottle of topcoat and saw lovely blue swirls in it. Seriously?? Is this some kind of a joke? If it is, I ain't laughing. I had just refilled that bottle of Seche Vite, and now it has a slight blue tint to it. It probably won't make a difference when I use it, but that's not the point.

So yeah, Kleancolor. You can kiss this Queen B's royal ass. You are cheap, and your color evidently spreads, too....like a cheap ho. (my half-assed apologies if you're offended by that. But by now you should know you run the risk of me offending somebody.)

And that is my saga of the Kleancolor disaster.

Oh, and did I mention I actually love how it ultimately turned out? 

Because I do!!! LOL  

DOGGY DECALS

Eight week old puppies are a ton of work. The end.

That being said, they're still cute. And since they are so cute, right when I decided to breed Tinlee, I also decided I should have nails that have Golden Retrievers on them.

Onto eBay I went in search of the perfect decals, and I found these little cuties.

I was really happy to not need a white base for these, and I went with OPI My Vampire is Buff which is my fave neutral and added some little hearts.

I much preferred these decals to the hummingbirds I used awhile back. Rather than needing to put them in water and then applying, I cut them, peeled off a plastic layer and pressed them right onto my nail. Then I put a drop of water on them, and the backing slid right off.  Some topcoat and done.

I was very surprised when I went to remove them last night. All of the polish and rhinestones were gone, and those little buggers were still stuck tight. Even using pure acetone took a little more effort than I expected. So I'm calling these a win.

I left them on for almost a week. Of course, lately I'm leaving everything on for at least that long. Right now I have just polish on. By the time I did a soakoff last night, it's all I had time for.

If I didn't work part-time, I'd never even get a blog post done, let alone nails.

Thanks a lot, puppies.