Friday, December 30, 2011

Winter Blues!

I found this lovely blue polish at Sally's, and I have to be honest, I was a little skeptical. Blues are not usually my thing, but this is AMAZING. I think it will be the base for my NYE manicure. Perhapppssssss.   




Three coats of China Glaze Dorothy Who?. Gorgeous blue jelly base with dark blue and silver glitter. In LOVE. Great formula.

My First Wall Rack!

As I look back on 2011, my nail polish collection is the biggest change in my habits that I can see. I went from having 3 polishes, all the same color (sheer pink), to having enough to almost fill the polish rack my sister got me for Christmas!

I have discovered that I LOVE glitter. Lots and lots of glitter. All over. But especially on my nails. I can't wait to see how my collection grows in 2012! I have decided that I will reward myself for weight loss with a polish that I love!!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

CVS Clearance!!

Soooo Christmas was great!! I have some Christmas and Hanukkah presents to review in my next post, but first I wanted to segue into an accidental haul. I say accidental, because I stopped at CVS to get some cold medicine and ended up walking away with a ton of stuff. 


In no particular order:
-  Maybelline  Mineral Power Concealer in cream (I have no idea if this is my color or not) @ 50% off = $4.64
- Maybelline FIT powder in 230 Natural Buff (Also no idea if this is my color) @ Full price $8.39
- Sally Hansen Nail Nutrition Green Tea and Soy Cuticle Oil. 2 @ 75% off = $2.19 each
-Maybelline Line Stiletto Liquid Liner in Black. 50% off = $3.99
- Sally Hansen Complete Manicure in Thinking of Blue. 75% off = 2.07
- Sally Hansen Insta Dri in Quick Sand and Whirlwind White. 75% off = $1.37 each
- Sally Hansen Extreme Wear in Wet Cement. 75% off = $0.79






AMAZING. I will now spend all my free time driving far and wide to search for CVS's.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Christmas Spammmmmm!!

My nails are still beyond embarassing, so I have a pretty snowflake mani that I did before I ate my fingers to show you. 






This is actually my shellac manicure that I stamped over with my bundle monster plate.... that has a snowflake on it. 


In other news, I haven't picked up my new elliptical because of the stupid freaking rain. And I haven't packed to go home for the weekend yet. I really haven't accomplished much. Have a great holiday!!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Sushi. All Day. Every Day.

I lovveeeeee sushi. Love it. Wanna eat it all the time. So today, I'm eating it twice. I had plans with a friend to grab sushi at this awesome place that is 50% off today before we grab the elliptical. Then, the opportunity presented itself to have sushi for lunch. So I did. YUMMMM.




All this delicious sushi got me thinking about my eating habits. I eat out. ALOT. For the sake of my wallet and my waistline, I need to tone that down. Our boss buys lunch every day, so I really need to start making better choices there. I always pick pizza or a sandwich or chinese food, when I could and should be having a salad or steamed veggies. Eating crappy (albeit yummy) food makes me feel like crap in the afternoons. So I'm going to try to make conscious health choices and substitutions for my usual fatty fried (wonderful) fare. 

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

A New Addition!

Now that I'm getting my energy back, I need to pick up my exercise routine again. I play soccer 3 times a week and run occasionally with my pup (less and less lately, to be honest). So as a little gift to myself for getting through the worst year of my life, I purchased an elliptical machine. When I had a gym membership, this is pretty much the only machine I used. I have developed shin splints from playing soccer, I have small feet, so I wear kids shoes, and I guess they don't have enough support. Plus, the field is just carpet over concrete, so there's no cushioning. So low impact cardio is really  my best bet if I don't want pain to be an excuse not to work out.

I bought this machine on craigslist, it's a great deal and local, and I went to check it out on Sunday. I managed to get the price down to something I wouldn't feel guilty about. It was in pristine condition, used only a couple times. Still had the plastic on the screen. I had checked on consumer reports on what to look for when buying a used machine to make sure I didn't get taken for a ride and end up with a piece of crap. It's so pretty!! I am going to pick it up tomorrow, and tonight I need to figure out where the heck I'm going to put it. It's a full size piece of gym equipment, so the footprint is pretty big. 


I'm so excited to get it and start using it. I am going to set up a schedule for myself and put notes all over the house reminding me to use it.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Welllll That Didn't Last Long...

So last week was final exam week. It killed my brain, my skin, and my nails. Sleep and water have gotten my brain and skin almost back to normal.... but my nails are TRASHED. It's awful. Some of them I have picked and bitten so short that they hurt. It's embarrassing. So, today I have a picture of  a fall mani that I did when I got my first crackle polish. 


China Glaze Ginger (my favorite polish EVER, obvs) and my fourth or fifth attempt at crackle polish using China Glaze Black Crackle. My first few trys were so ugly I had to remove them immediately. 


In other news, I bought an elliptical machine. More on that later. But it is Awesome. AWESOME. Notice the enthusiasm I am expressing through capital letters : )

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Bobbing for Baubles and Snow Globe


Please excuse my absolutely terrible cuticles, I'm working on them!! I also need to figure out how to do effective cuticle cleanup. But until then, ugliness ensues. Oh Well!! These are two polishes I got in my ebay haul the other day, they shipped lightning fast.


Essie's Bobbing for Baubles is a gorgeous navy creme from the winter collection. I mistakenly called it the cocktail bling collection the other day, I must have been over excited. Essie's website says its a deep sapphire. I disagree. Girlfriend is NAVY, straight up. Or I have color identification issues. Either way, its gorgeous and I'm just glad it doesn't look black like all of my other beautiful dark navys. Two coats, but it could maybe have been only a one coater if I was more careful. Seriously one of the best formulas I've used. I can guarantee this will be a favorite of mine. It's beautiful on it's own, but it's begging me for some stamping.


China Glaze Snow Globe was so pretty in the bottle. I just realized I didn't take pictures of the bottles. I will do so after my exam tonight. Snow Globe was.... weird. Don't get me wrong, I really like it, it's like a disco ball. Clear-ish base with extra small light blue, royal blue, orange, purple, green and silver glitter, and the occasional slightly larger hexagonal glitter. It's SUPER colorful on my nails, but in the bottle it definitely looks more one noted. I was really expecting a more snowflake sparkly finish, so it ended up not quite as winter-y looking as I hoped for. But I still really like it. Snow Globe is in the running for being part of my new year's eve manicure.



Friday, December 9, 2011

Whoops I Did It Again...

So my Shellac manicure lasted me exactly 4 days. FAIL. I decided that the bathroom needed a very serious scrubbing last night, and the chemicals I used just dissolved the polish. I will never be able to explain why I didn't just put on a pair of gloves. They're right next to all the cleaning stuff, it would have been so simple! On the plus side, my nails are already WAY harder. The ends arent bending like they usually do. I'm halfway through a Christmas themed mani right now, pics will be up later. Also, I just scored an AWESOME haul on ebay. 2 Essie Luxeffects (Shine of the Times and whatever the pearlescent (sp) one is), Bobbing for Baubles from the Cocktail Bling collection, and China Glaze Snow Globe. All for the price of 2 Essie polishes. ebay, sometimes you are my friend. I will post the haul and swatches when they arrive! What's the best beauty deal you've scored lately?

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Essie sew-psyched

One of my first konad, done sometime in October. Essie sew - psyched stamped with sally Hansen celeb city.


Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.1

First order of business: Grow out my stumpy nails!

I keep trying to grow my nails out, and failing miserably. They are definitely in the best shape they've ever been in, but that's really not saying much. Whenever they're finally reaching my fingertips, they split or peel and end up right back where they started. Wahhhhh :( So, to try and help the process, I went and got a shellac manicure. This is a pic from day 3. On my other hand, I already chipped one (my own fault, I was picking at it). More about shellac manicures later! I'll also be posting some pics of other nail art attempts I made myself, before shellac. Long work day, then soccer tonight! Yay!


Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.1

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Ahhhhh I Don't Know What To Write.

I have all these ideas floating around in my head, but can't seem to get them out. I am starting this blog because it was suggested to me as a great way to get a handle on my behaviors that I want to change.  My list is as follows:


- I bite my nails. And my cuticles. As a healthcare professional by trade, this is a nasty habit and must stop NOW. 
- I have had a rough year, healthwise. I gained ALOT of weight. Now that my health is improving, I want it gone, and I want to do it the right way.
- I want to start looking like a grown up. Between work, school, and needing an inordinate amount of sleep for someone my age, I hardly ever do my hair or makeup. I want to start.


I'm hoping that this blog will help me to stay accountable for all my goals in the upcoming year!