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!!

Let's Talk About Make Up

I am a very simple girl when it comes to my make up routine.

1. Lotion with SPF 15
2. Pressed Powder - Cover Girl's Simply Powder Foundation
3. Blush - TheBalm's Hot Mama or a Cover Girl Classic Blush
4. Mascara - Cover Girls' Last Blast Fusion
5. Chapstick

Done!

Every now and then I will add some eye shadow - usually from Cover Girl. And even more rare than eye shadow is lipstick. I mean, I kiss Mr S pretty frequently (that whole love and marriage thing) and Bamboo Pink by Clinique is just not his color!

However...

HOWEVER...

I LOVE make up! I know...weird.

I have a massive stash that I do break into for special occasions. Eye shadows, eye liners, other mascaras, lipsticks, foundation, etc. I have it all...but rarely use any of it.

I have two eye shadow palettes that I love:

But, like everything else, I rarely use them. In fact, I bought the Smashbox Blue Eyes in 2011 to use for my wedding. I'm sure it's time to get rid of the, but these babies were expensive and I'm not parting with them anytime soon! 

Anyway, that brings me to the reason for my post:

Thank you JCPenney, Sephora, and Too Faced for making this AH-MAZING make up gift box! This little beauty, the La Belle Carousel, comes with eye shadows, blushes, bronzers (that I have NO idea how to use), and their bestseller - Better Than Sex Mascara (more on that later). All for the low, low price of $49!

Seriously, that's a deal. No, really, it is. (If I keep telling myself that maybe I'll justify buying it...if it's not gone...which it's not...it's on Sephora's website).

I want this...pretty much more than I've ever wanted any other make up thing in my life. Which is so WEIRD for me!! And not in a "I'll ask Mr S for it for Christmas" kind of way either.

This. Must. Be. In. My. Life. NOW!

Ok, my crazy desire for this has diminished some now. You may carry on with your normal activities and leave me to my drool covered desk.

*fyi - if anything is better than sex, you're doing sex wrong.

Cheers, dolls!

A not so Halloween-ish Manicure

Despite my disappointment with the Julep Mystery Box in September, I am still addicted to them. So I ordered the October box when it came time, as well as a couple add-ons. And I was not disappointed.

However, I do not have a picture of what I got. I did use two of those colors for the manicure, though.

Anyway...

Once again I took inspiration from Pinterest (Link):

And this is what I came up with:

And here are the colors I used (sorry for the bad lighting):

My base is one of my new Julep colors:  Dana (a white with a blue shimmer, that can't really be seen in this picture). The darker stripe is also a Julep color from October: Ledi (a black with a bit of a black shimmer...that cannot be seen in the manicure). I have three other colors in stripes, though you can really only see two:  Ulta - Glam Session, OPI - Brand New Skates, and Kiss Silver nail art.

Now, here's the fun part. I did this mani on Wednesday morning. I am now two full days in and we are still holding strong to the nails!! (if you've been around here long enough, you know that is a big deal for my nails) I even did dishes yesterday!!  HOORAY!!!  I changed up my bottom/top coat and so far so good.

Well, that's it for me this week. I'm back-logged in nail pictures, so I may actually have nail posts the next two weeks! They'll be older manicures, but at least I'll be posting.

And, as always, linking up with the lovely Jennie Shaw and the rest of the lovelies for:


Head on over and show off your digits!

Happy Friday!

Never fails....

Lately I have a habit of posting an update with a promise to be more consistent in the future, blah, blah, blah. Then three, four, five months later and another update with more empty promises.

I'm sorry.

Apparently I suck at this lately!

This is not a promise to do better. This is just an apology for not keeping my word.

I really don't know what happened. I used to post every. single. week. But that kind of died off last year. I'm not really sure why.

But I want to keep up. I want to keep going. So you, my dear lovely reader, will just have to deal with the sparse posts.

Thanks for hanging in there!

The Nail Files - Braided Manicure

Once again, I'm finally putting my Pinterest "Nails" board to good use!! Here is this week's inspiration:

I put my own twist on it, thanks to another pin with navy and silver colors that inspired me this week in my color choice.

I really love how this turned out. It looks a lot better than I thought it would - note to self:  never try to determiner what the finished product will look like when the in-progress is a mess and a half!

Here are the colors I used:

Pure Ice - Superstar, Julep - Missy, and Finger Paints - Artist's Sapphire

As always, I'm linking up to show off my "handy" work!  :)


Come show off your mani/pedi with the rest of us.

And - HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!

Weight Loss is H-A-R-D...HARD!

As a lot of you may, or may not, know, I started a weight loss journey last year. It was also an attempt to get healthy.

I lost 15 pounds. Then I stopped.

I stopped losing.

I stopped keeping track of what I was eating (food diary).

And I stopped the limited working out I was doing.

As of last week, I had gained back most of what what I'd lost. Thankfully it took a year to gain it back. And thankfully I didn't gain all of it back.

But really got me was this:

It's a little dark (ok, it's a lot dark), but just look for the outline of the red shirt. That is my...in all my fat glory!

I feel so disgusting looking at this picture. I mean, I know my pants have been tighter...I can feel it. And some that fit me last year don't anymore.

But it's amazing what 15 pounds can do to you and your self image and self esteem.

So last Monday I got back on the band wagon with Weight Watchers. Thankfully I'm wasn't all the way back at the beginning...but I was close.

Last Monday, September 15, I weighed 246.3.

This Monday, September 22, I weighed 244.8. Down 1.5!

I worked out one day last week for about 25 minutes. And I kept a better food diary than I had in a while.

The hardest part is remember to write down, or keep track on the app, of what I eat every day. But, at the same time, it keeps me accountable to what goes in my mouth and mindful of how many points I have each week.

This week I've worked out one day for about 45 minutes - mixing it up with some stationary bike then some free weights, lunges, squats, and sit up. (My bootay is giving me grief for that, too!!) I hope to get in another work out before the work-week is over, cause I can pretty much guarantee it won't happen over the weekend.


I've also been working on my fruit intake. That has helped, too. Oh, and drinking water (which I hate to do) as much as possible. I even put a glass of ice water by my bed to drink in the morning before I leave the room for coffee or anything else.

I want to go back to keeping track of things with you, my viewers, here, too. I think that will help with the accountability, too. My plan is to go with Mondays, as that is my day to weigh in. But I just wanted to go ahead and get things started tonight while it was on my mind.

So, that's where that is. Thanks for bearing with me and my ups and downs.

Until the next time...

The Nail Files - Dots on White

Look at me, trying to get back into the swing of things...again. And I actually did my nails for the first time in about two weeks, so I figured I should brag/show off.




I went perusing Pinterest the other day and came across some great inspiration. I think that's what got into me...that and I was tired of plain, boring, no-polish nails.

Here's my inspiration (link):

I realized, when I went to grab this picture and the link that I have a couple variations of this nail art, including one with a black base and brighter colors for the dots. However, the other variations have the dots towards the top of the nails. I liked this look for the dots being at the bottom.

But I didn't want pale colors, since it is September and time for all things Fall and Fall colors related.

So here's my take (not really fall colors, but still more season appropriate, I think):

Please excuse the smudge on my middle finger...I tried a new top coat and my dots may not have been completely dry. 

These are my colors:  Pure Ice - Superstar, Julep - Charlotte, Finger Paints - Sketch Me, Finger Paints - Masterpiece of Minimalism, and Julep - Beverly (ignore the white in the backgroud...it didn't get used).

Over all, I really like this. I think I could have done more dots up one of the sides on a few nails. But that would be the only change I'd make.

So what's on your nails this week/weekend? Come share with the rest of us over at The Nail Files!

Happy Friday!

Jewel Heist Letdown

A few weeks ago (not sure when, exactly) Julep released a new mystery box:

Now I realize that by ordering a mystery box I am taking my chances on what I'll get. I've ordered mystery boxes from Julep before. I also know that if you order multiple boxes, things may overlap (not an issue here, I only ordered one). The description was:  "packed with $100+ worth of mystery nail polishes and beauty must-haves..." Now I realize this says nothing about getting a glitter polish of any sort. However, based on the picture, I (and quite a few others, based on other reviews I found) was expecting at least one glitter.

Nope! Nada!

I did get a shimmer or two, but those don't really count, do they? They're not full-on glitters. And they are definitely the birthday polishes shown in the add picture.

So here is what I did get:

In the box, you can't really see what's what...the black box is the pink lip color below.

Padma, Nadia, Francis, Faye, & Lip Vernis in Peony, plus an overnight repair for hands kit.

Now, I have not done the research myself, except for Nadia, but other have stated that a lot of these items are on sale/clearance on the Julep website. Some have also said that the Lip Vernis is from two years ago. Others even got boxes with only one nail polish. While Julep looks at the original retail value of the products in the box, Zadidoll did a great breakdown (and review) of the box here (she got TWO boxes just like mine).

All in all, I am a little disappointed in my box. Technically the colors are considered Jewel Tones (Googled "Jewel Tones" to make sure), the advertisements for this box led a lot of people to think they would get at least one glitter polish of some sort. And while I may use the green (Francis) for nail art, I will probably only get any use out of Padma (purple). The lip gloss is too light for me. And as helpful as I'm sure the hand repair kit would be, I can pretty much guarantee I won't use it (I am horribly inconsistent when it comes to these things).

My question to you...did you order the Jewel Heist Mystery Box? What did you get? And do you like it?

Oh well....

It's Thursday, y'all! The weekend is right around the corner! WOOHOO!!

The Nail Files

I have not been ambitious to try anything new on my nails lately, regarding nail art and getting all crazy with the colors. Even my 4th of July mani was seriously lacking:  Red, White, and Blue...but one color on each nail. Blah....

However, I redeemed myself (in my eyes) with my pedicure (which could by why I didn't go crazy on my finger nails...I'd already gone crazy on the toes):

I don't remember the names of the colors, but the red and blue are both by Finger Paints. The white is a one of my nail art polishes. And the "Stars" are stickers I've had FOREVER and decided to use instead of attempting actual stars.

And this week, I tried a new polish I've had for a bit: 

It's part of the Carrie Underwood Collection for Nicole by OPI. This one is called Southern Charm. What you're seeing is two coats. It's a little thin, but may look better with something over top. I'm definitely not a fan of it solo. I'll have to play around with it some more before I figure out if I like enough or not.

Well, that's all for this week. Once again, I'm joining in with the fun of



Come show off your nails with the rest of us!

Happy Friday!