Manicure Monday : French Tips with a Gem!

I wanted to pant my nails something classic.  I had my toes done with my sister and did a French on them, they look so pretty, I decided to match my fingers!

When I was younger I would put tape across my nail and then paint the tip that was exposed.  As I grew older I saw that they basically make the same stuff I was using.  I bought it once, and then went back to the old masking tape.  It is wider, so I did not have to worry too much about how neat I was being, the smile strips they sell were just too thin for me.

Now days I just free hand them with white nail polish.  I used OPI's Alpine Snow on the tips.  I do not drag the nail polish brush across the nail, rather I just sort of make short swipes on the nail tips pulling it off the edge.

Manicure Monday : Metallic Blue

My nails have not been growing very long, and splitting and peeling and cracking and breaking lately.  It is a big bummer.  My mother always had really pretty nails, and I like to have nice nails too.

But instead of being a whiny baby.  I am working with them.  I rubbed oil all over them after I took off last week's polish, and then put lotion on them in hopes to help them get stronger/less dry.  I have been taking a multi vitamin, but that apparently hasn't been helping.  Or maybe it is making them grow too fast?

At any rate, this week I went with a Metallic Blue from my massive collection.  I wanted to go black, but I just thought it might be a little too dark, I mean, I really want Spring to show up sometime soon.. Hopefully we hit 50 outside this week, that would be nice.

Do you have any suggestions of what to do/try?  I am listening!

Manicure Monday : Light Pink

I have an interview on Tuesday!

I know, exciting right?  It is at the same company that I currently work, for a 'Project Coordinator' position, which is more aligned with my career goal of becoming a Meeting Planner with my current company.  It would be a very lateral move, but again, better aligned.

So with that in mind, I painted my nails a very muted light pink.  Profession, short nails, nothing flashy.

I would also like to say how I feel it is funny that people don't know the 'old school' way of handling follow up after an interview.  I had a friend that interviewed for a position.  After it, she was excited, and was like, well now I have to wait to hear if they like me!

Uh, correction friend.  You now need to bust out some thank you letters to these people. 

Do people now not write thank you letters/notes?  Really?

Manicure Monday : Pink

I don't usually color my nails pink. This week I did because it is coming up on Valentine's Week, and the Hubster likes me to be girly.

Do not get me wrong, I love make up, hair and nails. I just have not ever enjoyed pink, or dresses.

When it is something special, I will wear a dress. The first time I wore one was our first Birthday dinner for him. The bummer about being 'girly' is I enjoy heels, and with a dress, I feel I need them. The Hubster is only about 3 inches taller than I.

I wear about 3" heels. I wore a pair for our wedding as well.

Which makes me just as tall as he. And, makes me feel less girly. I am not sure if you have ever tried to find shorter than 3" heels. It can be quite a challenge.

Anywho, this week's color is Pink.

What do you do to try to be 'girly'?

Manicure Monday : Dark Gray Sparkle

Unlike last week, I know what color this is!  I have a gray sparkle on.  Still dark, and still holographic.

I like the holographic because it makes me smile in the middle of the day when I take a moment to enjoy the little things.

Manicure Monday : Dark Teal Sparkle

This week I did a darker color. It's a teal-ish color. I wouldn't say blue, I wouldn't say grey either. But it has a sparkle.  A sort of holographic sparkle.

Manicure Monday : French Tips!

I got Married on Saturday! But on Friday night as we were running around we still needed to get our nails done, and a spray tan.
Thankfully we found a place at 7:45pm that would take us for mani/pedis.

I got a gel french manicure with a rhinestone, pretty traditional.

We will see how long it lasts!

Update: It lasted like a week, and then I started chipping it off, which was a bad idea.  It tore off little layers of my nails, and they needed a lot of nail TLC.

Manicure Monday : Teal Sparkle!

Sometimes when my nail polish matches my shirt and even other clothes that no one can see, it really does make me feel like I have my sh*t together. Even if it is for that moment that I realize it.

I am sure I am not the only one who feels this way, right? :)

Breakfast and Dessert, not in that order.

Last week was a busy week at work.  I put in some over time, and almost wonder if there wasn't more work for me to do.

I got a massage during the week to.  I know that they masseuse always says, to let them know if the pressure is too much.  How are you supposed to do it 1 - without looking like a wimp.  And 2 - without sounding like you are dying.  I have no idea.  I would think if they paid attention to their clients breathing, they could figure out if they were massaging too aggressively.  There were a couple of times, where she was pushing through a muscle... and it was a little painful.  But I'm no wimp.  I made it through.  But here's the thing, I want to be sore the next day.  I am a freak like that.  I have had 3 massages now in my entire life, and I have never been sore.

But either way.  I had my last softball game of the summer season on Monday.  We won, barely.  Closest game ever for either of the teams I played on this year. 

On Friday Cook's Country emailed a recipe for Magic Strawberry Ice Cream.  It takes no special equipment, so I knew I wanted to give it a try.  On Friday night the Boyfriend and I went out to Tuttle's and had a pizza and a pitcher, and then went to Target.  He wanted to pick up the move Gangs of New York.  I had never seen it, and he thinks it's just great.  But when we were there, he couldn't find it, decided to pick up the Transformer's Trilogy.  And I had a light bulb moment, and picked up the stuff I needed for this 'Magic' ice cream.

When we got home the Boyfriend's dad called, and I ended up grabbing a beer, and going over to the neighbor's house, he was sitting outside.  The Boyfriend wandered over, we chatted it up for a bit, and then we headed back.  The Boyfriend could not find the remote for the DVD player, so gave up on trying to watch a movie.  He had to work the next day anyways.  So to bed we went.

On Saturday, I had lots of big plans.  I hadn't been out for a run in a week, and I have a chair reupholstering project that has been halfway completed for awhile now.  I didn't do a darn thing.  Other than the dishes, watch TV, and make the ice cream and get it into the freezer.

Making the ice cream was not hard at all.  It takes some pretty simple ingredients, and is ready to freeze in a matter of probably 10 minutes.

Get ready for magic!

The original recipe says to use a food processor, but my blender was already out.  When they say whip until foamy and then turn it up until soft peaks form.  They mean SOFT peaks.  I might not have been paying enough attention, and whipped the cream until stiff peaks formed.  I just googled it, and a blogger wrote about how to make butter.  Yes, butter.  I stopped at what he called the 'halfway' point.  So, when it says soft peaks.  They mean it.  They always do. 

Once I let it set in the freezer over night I scooped it out with a melon baller, because, well a photo with spooned ice cream isn't as pretty, and I do not own an ice cream scoop.

Magic Strawberry Ice Cream

You can find what I did here, or check out my other recipes I have tried here.  The end result wasn't bad.  But I can kind of taste/feel the buttery-ness of it.  I took the photo, ate a couple of the ice cream balls, and put them in a baggie back in to the freezer.  I am thinking I will drop them in to a glass of sprite or something - or maybe strawberry soda!

Once the Boyfriend got home from work on Saturday, he was whiney about working (he has been putting in 10 hour days, and 8 on Saturdays for the past few weeks), and tired, so we decided to make it a movie night.  He watched all 3 of the Transformer movies, had popcorn, and then went to bed. 

When I woke up this morning and started watching CBS Sunday Morning - which I absolutely love - I came across a pin to this page for a Honey Cloud Pancake on the blog by things{we}make.  I had left over strawberries, so I figured what the heck, I have eggs, milk vanilla, flour and honey.  So let's do this!

I gathered my supplies, and of course took a picture.

To make a Honey Cloud Pancake

This recipe calls for you to whip 1 egg white to peaks.  I did it by hand, it took a while, and I did take a break in between to mix the batter together. My end result didn't turn out quite like what I was trying to imitate.. but it still tasted good.


Honey Cloud Pancake

It did have an egg type texture.  I let it sit before I ate it, as I was frying up bacon, eggs and making toast for the Boyfriend.  I think that if I had patted the strawberries dry prior to putting them on the pancake, it wouldn't have been as bloody looking.  Either way, I may make it another time with raspberries or peaches.  Colorado peaches are coming into season soon - I can't wait!! (update: I just checked - it's time right NOW!)

The Boyfriend and I haven't done anytihng today, folded some clothes, washed the dishes, and now we are just being bums.  I will probably take a shower, and then paint my nails. (I might have spent $20 one morning on my way into work last week on nail polish at Walgreens).

Animation Domination starts in a couple of hours too.  Easy weekend here.  Hopefully this easy weekend set me up to start running in the mornings again the TC10Mile is coming up soon.. and.. well, I want to be able to say I ran most of it.

Do you enjoy lazy weekends?  What is your favorite thing to do on a Lazy Sunday?



Busy Weekend!

Did you see this post's title?

True story.

At work on Friday I was basically office less, as was my boss.  We both left around noon to work from home, which is really nice, since, at the end of the day, you are ALREADY home!

I might have stopped at Old Navy to buy a new pair of sandals.  I have a flip flop issue, well, not an issue, but more of.. and obsession.  You see, flip flops(or thongs..) are TERRIBLE for your feet.  They offer no support what so ever, and they force your toes to constantly flex or something to try to grip the sandal so that it doesn't fly off. 

Speaking of flying off, the Boyfriend bought a pair last year when we went camping, and he was walking in Walgreens and hear him coming down one of the cross aisles, and zoooooom... there goes his shoe, and then he is like hobbling after it.  It was so funny, as he was trying to be quick, but feeling odd about putting his bare foot on the floor. Probably was afraid some paparazzi was after him, and didn't want to get caught walking around barefoot like the Britney Spears incident of '04.

Oh geez, where was I? Oh, so I stopped at Old Navy for a pair of sandals, these ones now have a strap around the foot, making it a little more secure.

But, that quick stop, wasn't quick, I picked up 2 sandals, a swim suit, a blue gingham button down shirt for the Hillbilly going away party that night for a gal on my Softball teams moving to Texas, and a shirt in 2 sizes for the Boyfriend.

Ha, okay back on track, so I made it home after an hour and a half, which is fine, the Boyfriend was going to get a haircut after work anyways, so I could work a little later, and get my time in.

The mail lady came, we have one of those that walk door to door - so neat!  And so I went and checked the box, guess what came?! My LifeTime Fitness Torchlight 5K Run shirt!!

My good friend D is doing this one with me on the 18th too, and her singlet will read 'Turtle Pace'.  When in college she joined a sorority (Delta Zeta) and they have a thing about turtles.

So once he got home, I decided it would be a great time to start painting a design on my nails for July 4th.  LAME.  I was rushed, and in the end after I was done braiding my hair, I realized I had smudged most my nails anyways. 

So we went, made an appearance and left.  The girl's mom did a great job, it was at a bar, she had ordered a bunch of food, there were hay bales set up for sitting on and a photographer.  The girl is 22, and heading out of state to live with her boyfriend of 5 months.  HUGE leap of faith.  I really do wish her the best - she is a great girl.

So the next day, I wake up and take my nail polish off, and re-paint them.  We had the Boyfriend's family reunion. We headed out shortly after 1pm and made the little over the hour drive to it.  It was fun, hanging out with people.  There ended up being a water balloon fight amoung (mostly) just the kids.  Good food, and there were brownies!  They were a tasty treat.

The Boyfriend and I left there around 7 and started heading home.  He took me out to Joe's Sports Cafe in Fairbault, and we got All-U-Can eat Ribs for $10.99.  Such a great deal, my boyfriend LOVES ribs, and it was a great deal, we both ordered it, and it was pretty good.

We had to stop at the grocery store, my little sister's son's 2nd birthday celebration was Sunday - he is a July 4th baby! And I still needed to get the sugar cookies, cream cheese, marshmallow cream and the fruit for individual fruit pizzas.  Well, I still needed to get him a gift too.. but.. that was going to have to wait.

So we stopped, and decided we should pick up a Redbox, He let me get The Descendants to watch.  He figured he was just going to fall asleep since it was already past 9 by the time we picked it up.  It was such a sad/emotional story.  But it was good!  I am not one of those girls who went ga-ga over George Clooney (I LOVED George Lopez--oohhh and Mario Lopez). But George Clooney did a good job. :)

So we didn't go to bed until after midnight.

I woke up at 5:30 this morning, and started baking those sugar cookies I bought last night.  I had a tub of Papa Murphy's Take and Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie dough, so I cooked that up too, since I had the oven going.

Basically to shorten this a little, I baked those cookies, packed them up, watched some Sunday Morning while enjoying my cold brewed iced coffee, made the cream for the fruit pizza's, took a shower, ran out the door with the Boyfriend, stopped at Target and found a super AWESOME toy for my nephew, and was only 5 minutes late to watch sir Payton so my sister could go and set up the picnic area at the park we were going to be celebrating at.

My nephew work up early from his nap, and I was still assembling the mini fruit pizzas, and I am pretty sure he gets snack when he wakes up, so I let him have a cookie and some fruit with his water that he never drank.  Got him ready, and then we were at the park by 3:50pm.  PERFECT! Party starts at 4. Or, uh, does it... yeah, it was hot as all get out today, and super humid, I think it rang in at like 98 degrees fahrenheit, with a feels like temp of 105.  Which is great, for a kid that didn't drink his water.  And the party?  It started at 4:30pm. So my sister had me bring the kid down to the river and drown him.  Just kidding, we went for a hot sweaty walk. 

It sucked.

We walked back and it was almost quarter after, and my sister asked me to take her kid for a ride in my car with the air conditioner on. I thought you would never ask!  Thank gawd. I was thankful.  Poor boyfriend, he was stuck helping my sister set up.

We ate, had cake, and sir Payton opened his presents. Not to brag (uh, yes, actually to brag) my mini fruit pizza's were a HUGE hit, sadly I forgot to take a picture. And sir Payton LOVED the gift I found for $20.  It was a Semi truck, truck/car hauler.  Pretty sweet - also - no picture.

Then we left, and came home, returned the Redbox, picked up some dish detergent, and setteled in for Animation Domination on FOX.

I am looking forward to my 2 day work week - I have the 4th off, and I took Thursday & Friday off too!! I am getting a Hot Stone Massage on Tuesday, going to a Comedy Club with the Boyfriend, AND getting my hair done this week - SO EXCITING!

Oh, and I almost forgot - here is a photo of my July 4th Nails.