P is for Purple and Patterned

Hiya polished friends!

Welcome to "P" day - lol, and of course I giggled because I'm a 10 year old boy in real life!!  Do we seriously only have 10 more letters left for Kimber's Lacquer Korner's ABC Challenge?  WOWza time flies by, hey?  What's our next challenge?  The New 31 Day Challenge??  All in favor?

Originally I was going to do a mani inspired by Heather over at Peace, Love and Polish, but it didn't turn out as I had hoped - I may or may not show it, we'll see.....Doesn't it suck when you have the best idea and it doesn't turn out!!  GRRRR....

Anyhoodle, I went on a bit of a polish binge this weekend and bought 22 polishes - eeks!!  I went to my local Shopper's Drug Mart and found NOPI's for $3.99, I grabbed a couple of those and a pink Essie for $1.99 - there was 3 - I bought them all...I don't feel guilty.  Plus our Walmart's finally got Salon Perfect and Pure ICE, so I stocked up - I actually went to two Walmarts to find what I needed - which was a lot apparently.

I used new plates that I got a while ago and haven't really used until now.  I bought the 2012 Cheeky Plates, you get 3 XL Jumbo plates for 14.99.  I mistakenly thought Jumbo meant they would fit on my nails, but see that purple moon there, ya that wasn't my intention - the plates don't fit my extremely long nails(okay, they aren't extremely long, but they're long for me!!).  I still love how they turned out so, yay for new nail stuff!!

Some of you asked which color I used for my O is for Oscar De La Renta Inspired mani and I don't want to disappoint so here's what I used:  Two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow (thanks Gini) and then two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Sunny Side.  Sunny Side is super sheer and I couldn't get coverage even with multiple coats, so I used both.

Be sure to join me in checking out my fellow challengers and their "P" mani - giggle!!

Holla, N

Purple Up!

Happy Monday friends!!  I recently met a lovely lady named Shelly of Sassy Shelly and she put out the call for purple mani's in support of military kids as April is the month of the military child.  I'm never one to pass up the opportunity to support my girls, so I had to have something purple for today.

This is inspired by One Nail to Rule Them All's Inspired by Fashion nails which according to Alice's Instagram is her number one stolen photo!!  Instead of the beautiful neon yellow she used, I had to use my beautiful neon purple to fit with today's special day!!

My momma is a military kid and so is my hubby, so I'm glad I can connect with this cause.  My hubby actually lived in the military housing right around the corner from where my mom lived when she was a kid - talk about small world, hey?

I'm off to see what everyone has come up with for Purple Up!  Join me, by clicking on the links below!!

Holla, N

L is for Leopard Love

Hiya, did you think I would choose anything other than leopard?  My favorite pattern of all time that I originally called Cheetah but was corrected by an animal enthusiast after I had posted tons of Cheetah labelled posts - derp!

I just want to shout out to all of my fellow challengers, you guys seriously are the best group of women ever!!  I love seeing how we've all come together over a mutual love of polish and art and can support each other even through the hardest of times.  I appreciate you all and I'm so happy to have met you!!  Can you tell I'm feeling mushy today?  I just got my St. Paddy's Day polish package from the lovely Racquel from Sunshine Nails and I'm so thankful that so many of you were down with an exchange and I can't wait to do our next one!  Thank you so so so much Raquel, you did good!!!

And of course my leopard love is done in purple to support my pal Becca over at Nail Narcotics! in bringing awareness to Epilepsy, which if you don't know, she suffers from.  If you haven't had a chance to check out her posts during the month of March, I highly suggest you do, she's shared some great info as well as personal stories that makes me wish I could reach through the internet and give her a big ol' hug!

Holy sappy post batman!!  I'm off to check out my fellow challengers and all the lovely leopard I'm sure to see!

Holla, N

Happy Birthday Sissy

Happy 16th Birthday to my sister, Olivia!!

You may have guessed that I'm quite a bit older than my sister, I was 17 when she was born and I can tell you it was quite the shock when my mom told me she was pregnant. I never wished for a sibling when I was younger, I always wanted a piano and a dog.  I never got either of those things, but getting the most amazing sister instead - even better.  Join me is wishing my baby sister the most amazing 16th birthday ever!  In the 16 years since you were born, you have filled my life with so much love and laughter and I can't imagine having this much fun with a piano or a dog!!!  Thank you for the chicken pox, the lap full of puke before my first time at the club, the pee every time you were tickled, the goose tape, the hair hidden in a starbucks bag and all the other fun stuff in between!

I love you to the moon sissy!!

Holla, N

Striped Roses

Hiya!  Yay, it's Friday!!  Woot woot!  I have no big plans for the weekend, I'm just happy to have two days off of work to relax and paint my nails!

In keeping with this weeks theme, I pulled out the ol' striping tape and created a striped background for my vintage roses.  I wish I had gotten better pictures of this mani, I loved it so much, but at least I get to share it, so I'm not too upset!  This was my first go with Avon polish.  I have to say, I'm pretty impressed.  The pink-y peach-y is much brighter irl, it reminds me a lot of Flip Flop Fantasy and we all know that's the prettiest polish ever!  I picked up 3 more Avon polishes and I can't wait to try them out - have you tried Avon polishes?  Do you love them as much as I did?

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

Holla, N

D is for Decades of Dysfunction

Happy Hump Day my polished lovelies!

Yay, finally time for "D" day!!  Why is it that every time I look in my stash for polish that starts with the letter of the day, I can't find ANYTHING?!?!  Seriously, I have a LOT of polish - it may be time for me to get the Nail Book app to sort my stash.  Normally I pick what I want to do based on the colors that catch my eye that specific day or I pick something I haven't tried yet. I can't imagine picking something using an app!

Here's my Decades of Dysfunction dotticure inspired by Rachel at Top Coat It! - Polka Dot Waves.

I will now be checking out what my fellow bloggers did for "D" day, be sure to check back next Wednesday for "E" - eeks!

Holla, N

International Transgender Day of Remembrance

Hello friends,

Today is the International Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), a day to memorialize those who have been killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice.  The lovely Lacquer Lad wrote a very heartfelt post here and has linked in a couple of bloggers to participate in this day of remembrance. TDOR was started by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, a transgender advocate to honour the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998.  A web project “Remembering Our Dead” and a San Francisco candlelight vigil was held for the first time in early 1999, these two things led to an annual memorial.

"The Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses we face due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence. I am no stranger to the need to fight for our rights, and the right to simply exist is first and foremost. With so many seeking to erase transgender people -- sometimes in the most brutal ways possible -- it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice."  Transgender Day of Remembrance founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith

I have to say that researching TDOR for this post has certainly opened my eyes to a world I knew nothing about.  Yes, on the peripheral, I knew that violence, hatred and prejudice towards people that are different exists.  But, the magnitude of this hate is so hard for me to grasp.  When you live in your own little bubble day to day, it’s hard to comprehend that a world beyond yourself exists, especially when it’s so ugly.  It’s way easier to bury your head in the sand than face the fact that the human race is slowly killing that which should make our world a better place – our differences.  My heart hurts not just for these men and woman who have been brutally murdered, but for their friends and families.  Whether the lives they were meant to lead were supported or not, no one should have to lose someone to such ugly violent hatred.

Please take a moment to look over this list from the TDOR website. This is the list of names of people who are being remembered this year on November 20th. Please note that the list is incomplete and is constantly being updated.

Transgender Day of Remembrance Memorial List 2012

I’m not the most eloquent and there is so much information I have missed, but if you have the time, please check out these links for more information about the Transgender Day of Remembrance:

-          International Transgender Day of Remembrance

-          There is really great information on GLAAD’s website, click here for more.

-          Transgender Visibility Timeline

-          A great article written by Gwendolyn Ann Smith can be found here.

-          Click here for a list of links on the “Remembering Our Dead” website.

Please join me in visiting the other bloggers participating in this day of remembrance by clicking on the links below.

Holla, N

Glitterific!

Hi everyone!!  I'm not a huge fan of glitter, it looks beautiful, but it's such a pain to put on and take off - yes, I've done the glue base, that's a pain too.  Anytime I use glitter and want some good coverage, it gets SO clumpy and thick - it ends up looking like poop.  I don't know how you guys do it, maybe it's just the cheapy glitter I buy?  Should I go indie? Oh man, the hubby is going to have a stroke!!

When I went back to Sally's for my second BOGO of Finger Paints, I picked up another glitter, that I just HAD to try, so here's another glitter gradient for y'all - two mani's, one post - lucky readers!!!

For the Purple Glitter Gradient, I used:

Base Color:  Wet n Wild - Black Creme

Glitter:  Orly - Can't be Tamed

For the Blue-y Glitter Gradient, I used:

Base Color:  Finger Paints - Tiffany Imposter

Glitter:  Finger Paints - Art you Wondering? and Wet n Wild - Spontaneous Combustion

Don't forget to show some love to my buddies doing the 31 Day Challenge with me by clicking on the links below.

GIVEAWAY - it's on until the end of October, so click here to enter if you haven't already!!

Holla, N

-Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner
-Kat at Hooked On Polish
-Diana at Nails By Diana
-Aly at Wonderland Beauty
-Meredith at Perfectly Polished
-Nicole at The Color Republic
-Kate at The Painted Pony Nails
-Cee at Absolutely Cee
-Sam at Polished Art
-Nail Narcotics
-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed
-Shelby at Shelby's Swatches
-Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful 
-Mixed Mama
-Joanna @ Sweet Polish of Mine
-Patty Greenberg
-Liz and Lisa @ Lozlosa 
-Mari at Nailista
 -Greta at How Was Your Day?
-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 
-Gini at Sassy Paints
-Chameleon Stampede 
-Pam at Nail-E-Glance
-Me, Myself, and Polish
-Robin Sparkles 

Favorite Polka?

Hiya folks!!

Today is Day 5 of Ooh La La Polish's My Favorite Things Nail Art Challenge - Polka Dots!! I love polka dots, they are my go to nail art - they are so easy and it's pretty hard to screw up.  Today's mani is inspired by the Queen of Polka Dots Amanda over at Sincerely, Obsessed with Polish - she creates some of the neatest, colorful polka dot mani's I've ever seen and I don't even think she uses dotting tools - amazing!!

I don't normally comment on the polishes I use - I buy the cheap stuff in colors I like - but this stuff was soooo weird!!  First of all, it dries matte, most of the neon polish I have dries matte - is that intentional or a side-effect of being a neon?  Secondly, after my morning shower, this stuff was literally falling off by itself - no picking no nothing, I even had a full nail fall right off.  The moral of this story is, if you are buying cheap polish, just know that it won't last long and don't buy unrecognizable brands from the dollar store!!

Base Coat:  Orly Bonder

Main Color:  Billie - Purple Haze

Polka Dots:  NYC - French White Tip

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

As a reminder, here is the line-up - we post Tuesday and Thursday - check back Thursday for stripes!!

Don't forget to check out the other lovelies who are also polka dotting it up today by clicking on the links below!!

Holla, N

Purple Jelly

Sunday funday and my attempt at the Jelly Sandwich manicure....

My fellow newbie nail blogger over at Nail Narcotics, gave me some homework - something I haven't had in forever - to attempt a jelly sandwich manicure and post about it.  I was super excited about this mini challenge because I love this technique and I love the idea of not having to come up with an idea, it was given to me - easy peasy!  Now, I really don't think I have any 'real' jelly nail polishes, so I tried a couple before I decided on this one.  I'm also posting a pink one I did a while back but didn't share.  How did I do?

Don't forget to check out Nail Narcotics Jelly Sandwich Manicure - hers is wayyyy better than mine!

Purple Jelly:

Base Coat:  Orly Bonder

Fake Purple Jelly:  Sally Hansen - Purple Pizzazz

Glitter:  Wet n Wild - Beautiful but Dangerous

Top Coat:  Pro FX Quick Dry High Gloss Top Coat

Pink Jelly:

Base Coat:  Orly Bonder

Fake Pink Jelly:  Essie - Miami Nice

Glitter:  Wet n Wild - Beautiful but Dangerous

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Holla, N

Hello Purple

I survived glamping!!!  So, my lovely friend pointed out how camping in a trailer is not technically glamping and I have to agree.  While we are protected from the elements in our lovely trailer, we were still missing out on a few essentials.  1.  My lovely comfortable bed, oh how I missed this - we actually bought a new bed the day before we left, but because a standard bed doesn't fit into our trailer we had to have it special ordered, so we were stuck with our crappy foam from the 80's.  2.  Running, hot water.  While we do have the ability to have water in our trailer, it can only hold so much, so we had to be careful of when we flushed and we couldn't use the water to wash dishes etc. etc. 3.  A fridge bigger than a cereal box, then we could actually store more than hot dogs and beer - while this may sound perfect for most of you, for this picky eater, it just doesn't cut it.


All in all it was a great 5 days, I lasted 1.5 days with no nail polish, but during a milk run to Walmart, I couldn't resist temptation and bought the essentials.  I ended up having to give all the girls manis and I promised to post them on my blog!

Clockwise from the top left:  Hubby relaxing on his new 0 gravity chair; Cousin's beautiful mani;  sister's creative photography; Tucker enjoying the outdoors; more sister's creative photography, my first camping mani.

Base Coat:  Orly Bonder

Purple:  Barielle - Grape Escape

Glitter:  Sally Hansen Gem Crush - Big Money

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Holla, N

Brain Block

This nail addiction is never ending, I just can't help myself from buying nail polish.  I swear, I spend so much money on nail polish.  I'm not as bad as some of the folks out there, spending $100 on a bottle of "indie" nail polish, but I do buy a lot.  I usually look for the polishes on sale, I just can't bring myself to spend $10 on a bottle of polish, cheap I know.

This weekend, it became a mission to go to the local Zellers because they are going out of business and everything is 20-50% off.  I managed to get a couple of bottles, but the selection was crap and they had pulled all the polish off the racks and shoved them in plastic storage containers, so it made it difficult to find things.

Anyhoodle, the reason for the long story, is that I've had a huge nail polisher block tonight and have changed my mani THREE times!!  At Zellers I bought this great reddy black polish that is sooo cute and I wanted so bad to do something cool with it tonight.  It didn't turn out how I had hoped it would, so off it went.  This is actually my third mani, the second one was so bad it's not even worth mentioning!!

Base Coat:  Orly - Bonder

Pink:  NYC - Times Square

Purple - NYC - MoMa

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Holla, N