The Nail Files - Manicures of Days Past, Part 2

This week's manicure comes to you from way back in November!

See...I told you I've been taking pictures but just not posting!!

Julep's Shari with a Bonnie on top

Seeing these makes me think I'll have to revisit this combination again. I really like it! And it would be a great spring color!

Thanks for joining in on the trip down memory lane!

Come link up with the rest of us:

And have a wonderful Friday!!

The Nail Files - Manicures of days past, part 1

Until two weeks ago, I haven't really kept up with these weekly nail shows. But I've been taking pictures with every intent to post them each week. It just doesn't happen.

Since I'm keeping it simple the next couple weeks to give my nails a break. Thanks to staining from one polish and peeling off my vacation gel manicure, my nails are a bit of a wreck right now! But I have plenty to share with you. So for the next couple weeks, maybe three, I'll be bringing you...

cue the dramatic music
Manicures of Days Past

To start of this lovely look back, I give you the gel manicure I did  BEFORE vacation. In the past, as you may or may not know, I've had issues with gel staying put longer than a week. That, along with the fact that I'm rough on my nails and can't keep a regular manicure, is why I started doing my own nails and creating such a large stash of polish.

But this gel mani last the full two weeks! I was so happy about that!

Here's the progression:

Post Manicure

One week in.

Either a week and a half or two weeks in. 

I was very excited about the amount of time this stayed put. It really restored my faith in the Gel Mani, which is why I did one for vacation (which didn't last as long because I went to a different salon for it...booo).

So there you have the first installment of Manicure of Days Past!

Now, come link with the rest of us polish addicts and show us those mani/pedis!

Cheers, loves!

To the tune of...

When The Lights Go Down In The City

When the email goes out at work
And the IT guy keeps disappearing
Oh I want to go home from my work day
Oh, Oh, ooooohhh.


Yup, that's where I'm at right now. Good times.

Silver lining - I don't FULLY rely on email for my job. It's a key part of my work day. You know, communicate with coworkers (thankfully there is also the network chat), emails from main campus (which really don't apply to me about 99.9% of the time), scanning documents to myself to filed electronically (which I can still do from the online version of my email...that still works, somehow).

Okay, so maybe my email isn't as necessary as I feel like it is. The only thing I can't do is access the shared folders, which is where part of my daily tasks do come from. So I'm kind of out of doing that, unless someone wants to forward that to me.

Silverer lining - I can access my email online. Yeah...so very weird. Outlook is crap, but online email...just fine (except for the shared folders part).

I do have other things I can do, so there's that, too. But I just feel like I can't work without my email!

Is there anything you have at work that you feel you can't function without...even though you really do function without it?

Even more silver lining...tomorrow is Friday!!!

YAAAY!!!!

The Nail Files - Post Vacation Blues

As you probably don't know, because I don't write here as often as I used to, Mr S and I went on vacation last week! It was such a relaxing week, despite being in Vegas, and just what we needed!

Before leaving, I had a gel mani done...because I didn't want to deal with chipping while I was hanging by the pool or wandering around Vegas. Thankfully it last all week...unfortunately, it didn't make it past Tuesday night of this week. So I had to do something to cover over the roughness left behind.

I give you....

Post Vacation Blues:

**no fuzzy turtle finger puppets were harmed in the making of this picture**

Using Julep's Lissa on all nails and Harper as the glitter on my ring finger.

And there you have it, folks. Not only my first Nail Files of the year...but my first post of the year. *sigh*

Happy Friday, y'all!

Oh, and don't forget to link up with us to show off those digits:

The Nail Files - NailsInc London Tinsel Town Collection

This past weekend I went shopping in Palm Desert with one of my dear friends. We went to Ulta.

That was a mistake!! However, I was surprisingly good, considering all the lovely things I really wanted to spend my money on!

I did buy this beauty combo, though:

Here's the Link, cause according to the ULTA website, it's an online only thing. It was the only one in the store, so maybe someone returned it (though it didn't look opened) or they got one for display purposes. Either way...I snatched it up!

And here's what I did with it:

One coat of Kensington High Street is on all nails but my ring finger. Mayfair is the base on the ring finger nail. And Carnival is the glitter. It's a clear base with large gold and pink flakes and smaller holographic specks. And it is a pain in the bootay to apply. I kind of had to manipulate the larger flakes to get it to look remotely close to what I thought it should look like. And then a clear top coat so "seal" it in...some. I still managed to smudge it a bit, but it's held in place so far.

My only complaint is the glitter polish. But that will take some working with to get used to manipulating the flakes the way I want them. Other than that, I love all these colors and the coverage. The one coat of Kensington High Street is a little splotchy in the right light, so maybe two coats next time. But I am really enjoying this look and will probably do it again.

As always, I've linked up:



Come show off your polished looks with the rest of us!

Happy Friday!!

Another update from me...about weight loss

I made the decision last month to cancel my Weight Watchers membership. I really didn't see the point if the only thing I was doing was a weekly weigh followed by a mental beating for not losing weight.

I wasn't keeping my food log.
I wasn't exercising.
And, along the lines of the first one, I wasn't keeping track of my daily points.

So what was the point of paying almost $20 a month to hate my fat. I can do that for free.

If you don't already know, I gained back the weight I lost last year. And while I do want to lose it and keep it off, a diet isn't really going to make that happen.

I need a change in what I eat, completely. Not just frequently. And I need it to be fairly easy to keep up with.

I'm looking into the 21 day Fix through Beach Body. And I'm also looking into Plexus. Both, however, are expensive so I'm not fully sure if that's the route I want to take. So I'm still doing my research. And I've accepted the fact that I needed to go up a size in pants (bring on more fat hating). Hopefully I'll have my answers soon. I don't really want to wait until the beginning of the year and be lumped into that group.

And I want something that will stick with me even when I reach my goal weight. I want healthy, not gimmick.

Here's to saying goodbye to the fat!

Black and Gold

Let's back time up a few weeks!

Here is a manicure I did at the beginning of October:

You're looking at Maybelline's Onyx Rush and Essie's As Gold as It Gets

I originally was going to do the gold on just an accent nail. But I loved the combo so much I did it on all 10 digits!

As always, I'm linking with the rest of us nail-polish-aholics:



Come show what your nails look (or looked) like this week (or earlier this month, if you're a slacker like me).

Happy Friday!!