A Dash of Konad

I don't have anything very interesting to report, I just wanted to post the nails I did for my women's chorale concert a month or so back. I love themed nails to match an occasion, and this was perfect for the event. Our concert dresses were black so didn't want my nails to contrast too much with my dress, hence the inverted design colors. I did a super subtle holographic topcoat to add a smidgen of bling. They're simple and a little smudged, but they worked perfectly for the concert. :)

And yes, we had to sing in chinese!!

The Middle

I got to be an extra again this week which is WONDERFUL because I am in dire need of funds! :) During my hours of sitting around waiting to be needed on set, I made a list of highlights and lowlights, if you will.

Highlights:

-CA/Summer themed napkins to make lists on

-Catered lunch (w/tons of choices including AMAZING bad-for-you mac & cheese. MMM.)

-Oreos, bags of chips, gummy worms, mini Kit Kats, pizza and other junk to sustain us through dinner time

-Getting to hang out in Stars Hollow (Gilmore Girls!!!) when not on set

-Making money (even if it is only minimum wage)

-Walking through the WB lot (lots of city and town facades) to get to wardrobe, set, and finally my car

-Getting a WB day pass with my name on it, haha

-Wearing the thick and cozy sweater provided by wardrobe to achieve that middle "Indiana" look, apparently

-Bottled water (yum)

-Watching the cast and crew working and interacting

Pic from my cell of the church in Stars Hollow & the remains of the gazebo :(

Lowlights (what would a better word be? haha):

-Being forced to talk to and look into the eyes of 30-50 year old guys for hours at a time who were assigned to me as "dates" for the scene at the diner. BLEGH

-Actors are so cocky!! Especially the extras who are trying to "make it" in the industry. Enough with the name dropping already!

-'Boredom' isn't a strong enough word for the seemingly endless hours sitting in holding

-Quickly fleeting cell batteries (facebook, Twitter, text, repeat)

-"Are we doneeee yet?"

-Total strangers and nothing but

My sneaky bathroom shot so you can see the sweater I was growing quite attached to!

I'm so glad I got to work. I've been calling in a million times a day since my last final this past week and have only been able to book this one show. I'll keep it up, but it's getting to be holiday time so work will be scarce, at best.

Tomorrow afternoon I'm going with some friends to a pre-screening on the WB lot of the movie When in Rome. Looking forward to it! I love being on that lot. :) haha. OHOH. I went to another pre-screening a few weeks ago for the movie Letters to Juliet and it was SO good! I cannot wait to see it again. I think it comes out in March, so go see it when you can!

P.S. I've been winning a lot more nail polish and will do a mega post once the contest is over and all of my prizes have arrived! :)

EDIT: Oops!! I wasn't paying attention! The screening it at the Walt Disney Studios lot. I don't know if I've been there before. Even better!

Rainbow baked goods . . .

. . . Maybe I have a thing for them? I found these pictures on a blog and had to share. They're just so pretty!

(Credit)

Oh, and today I won two more bottles of nail polish! :) I really hope they arrive because there has been no confirmation of them receiving my address. Agh! Anyway, pretty shades, yes?

J + ?

One day when there is a letter to complete the above equation, I want to wear it around my neck like so:

Lisa Leonard Designs

Isn't this absolutely adorable? Aw.

In some trivially exciting news, yesterday I won my very first bottle of OPI nail polish from InStyle's 20 Days of Nail Polish Giveaway on Twitter. It comes with a coordinating lip gloss, too. I hope it arrives soon! :)

Decorate Your-elf Gift Set in Meet & Jingle

Today was the day to turn in my portfolio for my 2D design class which means I'm done with cutting and gluing for the semester!!! No more sticky fingers. We got out of class 5 hours early (yes, it's a longggg class) so now I really need to use this time wisely and do homework for other classes. The semester is almost done though, hallelujah!

Peace out, girl scouts.

Make a Wish

I was just looking through Sephora.com for their Twitter 'Sephora Clause' promotion going on (they will grant one wish a day) and found a few awesome items I have to share. I "wished" for these adorable blinged out tweezers by Tweezerman:

OK, this is like a colored pencil set for your eyes!!! The set is a hefty $249 though. Few. I think I can live with my Wet 'N' Wild eyeliners for a bit longer. ;)

I've decided tomorrow I'm going to wish for this cool Make Up For Ever color case. You can mix the shades and use the colors anywhere on your face. Mm, the possibilities!

{You can make your very own Sephora beauty wish using your Twitter account here.}

One last thing before I go -- check out this stunning LED dress created by CuteCircuit. You must click this link and watch the video. The colors are amazing!

OPI + Dell . . .

I just read this and thought it was pretty awesome! Dell has partnered with OPI to offer people laptops personalized with their favorite OPI shades. Too bad I'm I firm Mac girl. :) PCs can check them out here. They have some pretty cool design options.

La Paz-itively Hot! by OPI

Speaking of nails, I finally did them yesterday. They're not too exciting but I thought I'd share nonetheless. I couldn't find my Konad image plates (!!!) so I settled for purple tips by hand. I've never liked the green color but the contrasting purple makes them more acceptable.

OK, now I'm off to meet my friends for lunch at my old school. Yayy! Glad to have the day off. :) Thank you, troops!

Magazine Junkie

Like many girls out there, I have a thing for magazines. I love the glossy pictures, the [nearly always unattainable] hair and makeup tips, the samples and coupons. . . mm. My trouble is I never have the heart to throw them away. I have a couple years each of Allure, seventeen, YM with a few scatterings of other random issues along the way. They're stacked in various spots in my room, but needless to say, they aren't actually getting much use. I don't even have the courage to use them for art projects. There's just something wrong about tearing out a page or cutting out a picture. I'm in quite the predicament because I've just ordered a two-year subscription to Marie Claire (from Amazon for only $5!!!! That's 21 cents an issue!) and it's occurred to me I have no idea where I'm going to put another 24 magazines. Ahh!

Any ideas of how to painlessly lessen my clutter? I know they can be donated to thrift stores, but that doesn't seem a dignified enough end for the beauties. What to do, what to do . . .

P.S. I just came across this sad reality faced by many magazines of late. These are some of the last days of Gourmet as documented by an employee.

HerCut?

I don't know about you, but I have a really hard time finding products to sufficiently tame my really-wavy-borderline-curly-but-always-thick-and-frizzy hair. While checking my e*mail, I came across a new line of haircare products designed to specifically make the most of your haircut. According to Sephora, it's a new, patent-pending technology that "fits the unique technical requirements" of your cut.

"Its macromolecular complex creates interactions between the hair fibers via a system of charges that impel the cut to behave brilliantly. The innovative dual dispenser delivers a balanced combination of polymers and collaterals, each of which would be unstable as a single-phase product."

That a lot of science speak for hair products, but I'm certainly intrigued. They make goo for five basic cuts: long layers, bob, shag, blunt, and pixie. If any of you out there give this stuff a try, let me know what you think of it!

You can browse the line here on Sephora's website.

Bow-tastic

I just found this ring online and I simply have to vent about it somewhere. It is sooo cute. I have a severe affection for bows, and rings happen to be my favorite jewelistic expression (there's a new phrase for ya). I already have a bow ring, but it's marcasite and only goes on one finger. ha. Oh man oh man, this ring is out of control, and it's STERLING (really a must for me).

♥ ♥ ♥ To splurge or not to splurge . . . ♥ ♥ ♥

Belated Update

So, I've been wanting to create a new post for a while now, but I never took the pictures of my thrift store finds that I promised I would in my last post! haha. So much has happened since then though that it no longer seems important. Maybe I'll still get around to it one day. . .

Let's see. Well last month I chopped off all my hair! That was an experience. I was a "hair model" for the Frederic Fekkai salon in Beverly Hills which simply means they practiced their cut and color techniques on me. I didn't come out loving my hair (my stylist didn't do a great job), but after my mom fixed the unevenness and intense bulk in the back, I now like it much better. Since it's been about a month now, it's actually already grown out a bit. I like it even better now that it's a little longer. It's a fun change and I'm enjoying it while it grows out. It's sooo much harder to deal with than my long hair though! I still struggle every day with what to do with it. Oh well. I guess that's part of the fun?

Before

After

I also went on a trip to Lake San Marcos (about a half hour from San Diego) for a convention with my church. My family rented a house on the lake that came with a pontoon boat called the Aquaholic. :) The boat went out multiple times every day, to be sure! It was a good trip overall. Lots of interesting memories. haha. I'll leave it at that! How about a very small sampling of my photos?

My brother and dog on the Aquaholic

Trying out a velcro wall :)

Sitting on the beach while my bro & friends surfed

Trying on tutus!

A brave seagull attempting to steal my friend's wallet & keys

My friends frolicking on the beach

A random guy stretching before going out to surf

Oh! And last week the episode of Heroes that I was an extra in aired! I saw myself five times which was awesome. I was really surprised because the two days I was there there were 100 extras. I lucked out! (On House, even though there were only about 20 extras, I bareeeely saw my shadow at the very end. haha.) I look forward to doing extra work again, but it has to wait until school is on break. Bummer.

There I am on the left!

And on the right . . . (sorry these are so dark)

Well that pretty much sums up everything that is even slightly interesting. haha. Maybe now I'll be able to post more regularly? I'm not going to tell what's coming next or else I'll be in the same predicament I was in before. You'll just have to be surprised. :)

A Picture is Worth 1000 Words

In the end, the clothes swap didn't end up happening. It was just too much of a hassle for all three of us (I still can't believe that out of close to 30 people, only two were going to come)! The fires here in So Cal were in full swing and the smoke at my house was unbelievable, both inside and out! With the smoke, the anorexic guest list, and everyone's busy day, the party just wasn't in the cards. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the boxes of clothes I had set aside for the party. I'm thinking a garage sale might be in order.

A few weeks ago there was a 30% Konad sale that I, of course, had to take advantage of! :) I bought image plates m19 (plain french tip), m56 (tip decorations), m73 (sheet music, a cool square geometric pattern, others. . .) and the brand's top coat (everything else smears their "special" polish).

The tips take PRACTICE, let me tell you. Those are so hard to get on straight! I still can't figure out how to use the decorative tips over the original since they are two different shapes! I'll work on it some more. Some of the decorative ones probably look better alone.

After many reapplications, this is my first official Konad french manicure. I had to cover it with glitter to mask the imprecise tip placement and replacement. The bow placement was suggested by a friend, and I quite like it. :)

I've decided that every post from now on will have at least one picture, whether one I've taken or one I've "borrowed" ;) from the internet. Life is so much more interesting when visually expressed.

OK, well I'm going to enjoy a margarita my mom whipped up (panic not, my friends, it's legal) and then eat with the fam! I hope you have a great weekend. (Highlight of mine will be a Gossip Girl catch-up get-together at my friend's house. Ooh baby! Only three more days until the new season! I haven't seen it for over a year. I hope it's as interesting as I remember.)

Up next. . . pictures of my recent thrift store finds!

I Want Cake!

Thanks to a friend's tweet, I just rediscovered this website that features some of the most delicious (and disgusting) food you'll ever see. When I first saw it, I went through every single page because the pictures are addicting! Anyway, I found many today that look sooo tasty, but this one is just plain pretty!

Magical Rainbow Tower Of Dreams (link contains credits)

If you look at this site, make sure dinner is soon! I know I'm hungry . . .

Clothes Swap Blues

I've been planning this clothes swap party for monthssss now but have had the HARDEST time getting people to come. I had to reschedule it because so many people were out of town and yesterday was the RSVP deadline for the new date, and I still only have the two original "yes!"s coming. (THANK YOU, you two. You know who you are!) Out of like 30 people invited, two said yes, many (again!) are out of town, and a ton have completely ignored both invitations. Some of them really good friends! I don't exactly understand it . . . I would behave in the quite the opposite fashion, even if I didn't want to come. Oh well. I just thought it was an awesome idea for poor people like me to have some fun and get free, new-to-us, threads. Whatevs, people. I'll blog about the end result after the 3 of us swap. Ha.

My mom e*mailed me this cute pic of SHOES:

I'm always a fan of both hot pink and zebra, and together is even better! :)

Today I had my first full day of classes as an art major. I feel SO incompetent with art supplies; it's scary. I survived my first figure drawing class! We only did basic cubes and abstract blob things but it still took quite the effort on my part! I do NOT draw, and the last (and only) drawing class I took was 3 & 1/2 years ago. Sitting there watching super artsy and talented people draw around me was quite intimidating! I really need to practice when I'm not in class.

Well WOW, this has been a boring post. I applaud you if you read through all of it! I hope whoever you are, you are having a good day. :)

Playing House

8:36am. Hello! I'm writing from the set of House M.D. which is pretty cool if you ask me! I don't watch it so I don't know any of the characters or storylines, but I have plenty of friends that do! I called an agent at Central to submit for an 18 to look younger part for another show and ended up getting booked for House as a parent (and also a secretary?)!! Kind of a blow to the ego! Haha.

This experience is WAY different than Heroes. There are around 20 extras which makes the whole experience far more intimate. Also, we're on the actual set in-studio rather than outside on location. I got kind of lost walking to set because the studio grounds are pretty big! I walked through a pretend scariesville to find the right soundstage and ended up walking past the facade for Nolita, the restaurant for the 2005 show Kitchen Confidential (which I just rewatched on Hulu and am currently reading the book it was based on). I had to ask two people along the way but I eventually ended up in the right place.

We got to go to set about half an hour after checking in with wardrobe, which was awesome. The scene was cool but I felt pretty self-conscious at the beginning because everyone else here seems to be actual actors who have already been on House for quite a few episodes (some even having been on previous seasons). No one ever yelled cut because of me, so I guess I was OK. Haha.

Right now we're back in the holding area listening to some guy snore. I'll go back to trying to stay warm (soo cold in here! My teeth are literally chattering. Returning background brought blankets. Smart.) and reading Kitchen Confidential. Until later. . .

. . . 7:31pm. Well we didn't get called back to set until about 6? hours later. (Maybe it wasn't quite that long, but it seemed like it!) We didn't do very many scenes but we did do a lottt of takes. One thing learned today, Jesse Spencer is fun to look at. hahaha. Just an observation! It made the 100 takes around his character quite bearable.

The hardest thing about today was that everyone around me knew the crew and each other and clearly knew what to do! Granted, it's really not hard to get the hang of, but there is something to be said about that initial intimidation! Everyone knew their way around set and knew the routine. It's like your first day at school being in the middle of the semester.

Call time was at 6AM which meant in order to get to the studio on time, I had to wake up at 3:45am!!! Boo to that. I managed to get there without falling asleep at the wheel. Always a good thing! About an hour before we were dismissed, those of us who had a "change" (me being a secretary) were told to put on our alternate clothes. After waiting for about half an hour, we were dismissed because we were coming up on our 13th hour and they didn't want to fork over double pay! Unfortunately, that means I didn't get to be a secretary, which I had really been looking forward to!

Today was uncomfortable at times, but I think it was a good step up in learning the ropes. (I'm really glad I did Heroes first because it was a nice stepping stone for House. Today I would have been WAY more lost than I already was.) It should be fun to watch the episode because I think I'll be able to catch a [really quick, small, fuzzy] glimpse of myself.

Well this is certainly long enough now. If you bothered to read this far, thank you so much! I hope the rest of your week is amazing. :)

As promised

Thursday and Friday were so fun! Thursday just after midnight, I learned my call time had changed from 10:30am to 8am which meant in order to wake up and get to set on time, I'd have to get up at 4:30am. I am perpetually late, so I wanted to give myself plenty of time to ensure I was punctual (completely required for this business). I ended up getting to set around 7:30am and followed a girl in and found an empty seat in the extras holding area. Check-in wouldn't begin until 8, so I opened up my book. All around me people were eating breakfast that was provided by craft services, and I was trying hard not to feel nauseous from the smells (I was soo nervous!).

Anyway, after signing in, we were told to make a line for wardrobe and makeup so they could OK what we all looked like (we had been told to dress in young, bright, fun clothes that looked appropriate for early summer). After we got checked, we had to wait another couple of hours until we were finally brought to set.

I love being on set. It's so cool seeing everything and everyone that makes up what we watch on tv. I could hang out on set for hours (which, of course, is why I was so excited to be an extra). There was more standing around while ADs (assistant directors) placed the 150 extras (we were there for a carnival scene) in various places around the set. In the end, everyone had been placed except me and two other girls. We seemed to have been forgotten about! We ended up staying where we were while the rehearsals took place. It turned out to be a great place to watch everything because the action went SMACK (2 ft) past us (including Zachary Quinto). Once they actually brought the camera in, us three were told we were "stacking up" in the camera's view so we had to move around the corner in front of a dart throwing/balloon popping booth. haha. Oh well. It was still a good shot once, halfway through the scene, the two actors passed right next to us.

New villian Robert Knepper was there all day!

One highlight of the day was when Zach came up to the three of us and started popping the balloons with the darts. (For the first 12ish darts, it was him, girl #1, girl #2, then me lined up at the counter and then he moved between girl #2 and myself for another like 20 darts. Awesome.) Of course, as lowly extras, we couldn't throw with him, but we certainly savored the situation and eagerly replied to his chatter (well, honestly it was mostly expletives for when he missed the balloons. haha) and one of the set guys was complaining that he'd have to replace all the popped balloons. He didn't in the end so all was fine. Anyway, it was just a cool element of the day. :)

At a few times during the day, one of the ADs was working on a list trying to figure out who was coming back the next day. My name was never called, so it didn't look like there was any way I would be recalled. In between takes on the last scene, she said that the whole group I was booked to be a part of (18+ to look younger) was being recalled. I was sooo happy to be able to come back!

I was there for about 12 and 1/2 hours and at the end of the night was certainly looking forward to bed. At 1:30am, I got a call saying my call time had been pushed back half an hour which meant half an hour more of sleep! (But because I had been roused from a dead sleep, it took me like that whole half an hour to figure out what time to adjust my alarm clock to. haha)

Friday was wayyy more boring. We sat there for . . . 8? 9? hours. Ugh. We only got to film like 3 scenes. Sitting in the holding area was frustrating because I so badly wanted to be back on set watching the crew! Oh well. I ended up being there for 10 and 1/2 hours.

Not the actual set, but a mockup for Comic-Con

All in all, I had a great experience meeting people, learning the ins and outs of pantomiming ("talking" and interacting on camera while being completely silent) and crosses (extras walking on camera from and to a certain spot), seeing some sneak peek Heroes' storyline info, eating good food (craft services is awesome!), and stepping out of my comfort zone to try a new experience! One girl I met overheard a crew member say we were working on episode six, so I'll look forward to watching it!

Finally, a pay check!

A couple weeks ago my friend and I signed up with Central Casting. I had been wanting to for years and figured now, before school starts up again, is the perfect time to pursue it.

It took me a few days to work up the courage to call the line to see what they were looking for (yes, unfortunately my extreme fear of new things makes me an absolute chicken!) and another day or so after that to finally call in for a description I fit. Yesterday I called in repeatedly for over 3 and 1/2 hours but to no avail. :(

Today I tired again and after an hour of calling with my home AND cell phone (yes, at the same time; I heard a phantom busy signal for over an hour after being off the phones! haha), I booked my first background acting job! Yeehaw! It's for Heroes which is awesome because I really want to work on all my favorite shows. Heroes hasn't made me the biggest fan, but I do watch it regularly hoping the story lines will improve. My two days of working will be so much cooler because I'll be trying to figure out the plot the whole time. :)

Anyway, I'll definitely blog a play-by-play this weekend so that anyone who is curious about the process (like I am! I want to know what's going to happen! Yikes!) can read up and get the details. Wish me luck!! I'M TERRIFIED, but definitely excited.

Chocolate Vodka . . .

. . . that's what I bought for my friend's party this weekend in honor of him completing his bar exam this past month. (I'm not usually a fan of "rubbing alcohol" but in this case it really does taste like chocolate!) Everyone at the party dressed up in "legal eagle" attire (judges, lawyers, criminals, etc.). It was really fun! The next day my family went to our friends' house for a nice gathering in which ample eating and music making took place. :) It was a great evening!

Sunday morning, I had time to play with my Konad supplies for the first time!! It is soo much fun. Here are some pictures of my very first stamping experiments. Yes, it does take some practice - especially the tips and full nail designs!

Here's my first official manicure with the nail art.

Revlon Lily Chrome over Revlon Va Va Va Bloom

Before I could play with Konad, I had to run out to get pure acetone to clean the image plates during use and stopped at the 99 Cent Store to see if they had any. They didn't, but I did find three fun items that are normally a lot more than 99 cents each! I scored a Revlon eyelash curler (with replacement squishy thing), a cool Revlon set of loose eyeshadows built into a compact, and a Princessa 7 texture nail file. Fun fun.

Oh hey. If you're a fan of food and of "free", then be aware that today Jack In The Box is giving away free tacos again today! Just go to their website and print the coupon.

Happy Tuesday!

For the Love of Konad

Over the last 3 or 4 days, I have been obsessively watching every video and reading every blog about Konad nail art that I can find. I happened across the products a few days ago can't get enough!!! I ordered some of the essentials (double sided stamper, scraper, black and white special polishes, and two plates) from OCNailArt.com and CANNOT wait for them to arrive!!!! I know the stamping will take time and practice to perfect, but I'm so ready to hop on the bandwagon and get going. OK, so here are some of my favorite looks I've found online:

Someone else got the same pieces I did; here's what's in the mail! Aren't the plates adorable?!

My current nails: Rather Barbie-esque, n'est pas? I wish you could see the true intensity of the colors. I added the flowers on a whim and didn't do the best of jobs, but I'm confident that from now on they will be far more precise thanks to my Konad supplies! EEK can't wait.

Photo credits (in order):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36359506@N07/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36359506@N07/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36359506@N07/

http://www.casuallavish.com

http://www.abeautyfulsentiment.com

http://nailinit.wordpress.com

http://mezzamy.blogspot.com

http://decoratived.blogspot.com

http://spark-leigh.blogspot.com :)