spark!leigh

Fresh Beginnings

2012-01-13T14:41:00.000-08:00

Hello my lovelies!

In my blogging absence, I realized my need to get back into posting again, only this time with more purpose and discipline. Please join me in my new space and continue with me on my journey!

Thanks so much,
Jessica

Bientôt

2011-01-14T14:09:00.000-08:00

Look at me being all productive and blogging again! Don't get used to it. :)

I've been playing around with a new look for the blog. It's definitely more subdued than my original look:

I still love how it was but figured it was time for a change. I might do some more tweaking but overall I'm okay with how it looks (though it is a bit drab). Any thoughts?

If you've read this blog all the way through, you may remember I worked as an extra on The Middle a little over a year ago. Well, if all goes to plan, I will be again!! For FOUR days! Man, I am soo excited: I got a call this morning from one of the casting agents seeing if I am available next week and I said YES. She's calling back this afternoon with the details. Next week is the last of my school break (the last week I'm open to do background work) and I've called in soo many times this break but never got through the lines. Now they called me! EEK. Anyway, since I signed up two years ago, they've called me twice for this show (out of three calls total) so apparently I look like I'm from middle Indiana. Not sure how I feel about that. haha. But, if it means I get to earn money for four days on set, I'll take the title!

So onto nails—I did another attempt at half moons using a pop of color. The application wasn't the neatest but I liked the color combo of navy and bright teal.

Zoya Ibiza over China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise

I was excited to see the moons matched my toothpaste! haha. Always love the matchy matchy.

Colgate Total ;)

I got my three Zoya bottles from their facebook promo! Zoya is my favorite brand of polish so I was quite excited to expand my collection. I received Crystal, Charla, and Rea. So far, I've only used Crystal:

Zoya Crystal, holding a ring by my friend Mel

Last weekend one of my best friends Alysia and I went to Arizona to visit the friends we traveled back from camp with last summer. We had a great trip, even though it was short!

Of course we used our designated road trip sunglasses for the occasion!

The desert has some amazing sunsets. Here are two pics I snapped on my phone while driving and stopped for gas.

So linear with the clouds. Weird.

Ooh. Last week I picked up some cute boots that were on clearance at Target! I love the gray suede and the RUFFLES!

Xhilaration Kameel Boots $20.98

In random news, I joined this cool site a couple of weeks ago where you can bookmark, or "pin", images you find and fall in love with. Feel free to join and follow me! So far I only have two friends on there. :) I loveee images though so it's a great way to keep track of and share pics I stumble across.

That's all for now. Next time I should have a review up on nail foils that were sent to me by OCNailArt! That'll be fun. Have a great weekend!

Paresseux

2011-01-06T13:17:00.000-08:00

Bonjour! It's been a good while since I've made an appearance! I'm really not good with blogging while in school. haha. I have been keeping up with the picture taking though, and now it's time to share!

Ooh. These reminded me of Lisa Frank stickers. :) They were much sparklier in person!

Zoya Avril base, Street Wear Illusion, Konad S.P. Black with m57

I'm really not a red polish kind of girl, and in reality these are a little more pink than the picture lets on! I do like the glossy shine, though.

Zoya Vanessa

I made my half moons a little too big, but I still like the overall look. It looks black at first, but it's actually a dark green with the gray. I got excited about all the color combos I want to do in the future! Oh, and I definitely used hole reinforcers for the moons. I still can't free-hand! ;)

Zoya Envy over Ice Kiss Me Here

These were my Thanksgiving nails. Gradient gold and copper glitter over a copper base.

Jane Megawatt over Zoya Penny

I wanted dark nails but with a little flair! I used my dotting tool for the polka dots.

Zoya Raven with Ice Kiss Me Here and China Glaze Awaken dots

These nails were inspired by the nails of one of my male classmates (yes, I was a little taken aback when I saw them. haha). I used a similar color and glitter but added some wintery snow flakes to make it my own.

Cover Girl City Lights over Zoya Yummy with China Glaze Awaken and Revlon Chrome Lily with m59

I love the super pastel look but don't have many pastel polishes, so I used a sheer sparkly color over a white base. I liked its iridescence.

Revlon Sweet Nothings Rendez-Blue over Zoya Snow White

A few days later I wanted to spice them up! I used one of my nail art polishes to do the only hand-painting I thought I was capable of. :) These are almost carivalesque and though far from perfect, they were fun!

L.A. Colors Nail Art in Magenta (lies!! It's totally purple)

I had on some dark color for a while (black?? navy blue?) and wanted to do more experimenting with sheer top layers. I just used the polish brush so my stripes were pretty off, but you can see the before and after with the top coat.

CND Effects Gold Shimmer over a dark base

I finally got some mood polish from Claire's! It definitely works best on nails that have some length so that there is a temperature difference from nail base to tips. The polishes are fun, though don't last much longer than a day.

Claire's Mood Polish in Happy/Earthy

Again with the red . . . but I wanted to use my matte top coat. It gave the red a more industrial look which I liked better. It needed a twist.

Essie A-List with Claire's Matte Top Coat

Mmm. I love pink, and I love glitter. I also "mattified" these which gave it a cool, smooth effect.

Zoya Astra with Claire's Matte Top Coat

Phewww. I made it through all the nail pictures. OK, so I made a major beauty splurge. I have such a hard time spending money, but somehow I managed to shell out $30 for TWEEZERS. I saw this Betsey Johnson pair and knew I had to have them. Of course, they have a lifetime guarantee so they are the only pair I'll need for the rest of my life! ;) Aren't they pretty?!

For nearly the past two months I've been without a room because my actual room has been in various states, including this:

We're in the middle of construction and my room keeps becoming more and more involved in the new plans. I won't go into detail (RAIN, cough. Water damage, cough. Collapsing ceiling, cough.) but I CANNOT WAIT to have a room. My belongings are strewn around the house and right now I'm sitting at my computer which I've set up in my family room. Mm, I crave a private space to curl up and watch Hulu. hahaha. Pathetic and so true.

I have more to update on and I want to try and get away from only doing nail posts (more like when I first started this blog) but these will wait until next time. :) Thanks for reading!!!

P.S. Shout-out to Sam!!

Season Two Premiere

2010-10-10T13:53:00.000-07:00

I'm back after my summer hiatus! haha. OK sorry for the TV lingo. (Can you tell I'm thrilled my Hulu queue is filling up?) No but really, I haven't posted in two months, more specifically since school started. OY I have had the busiest semester ever so far. I had lots of stuff due this past week so I feel like now I can get away with sneaking in just a little blog time.

Nails nails nails. That's probably why you're reading this. I've been incredibly lax in doing my nails, especially konading! I'll catch you up with what I've documented though.

I only wore these like a day because they just didn't excite me. Zoya Harley with Konad m14 in Revlon Punch Chrome.

Then, for whatever random reason, my naked nails were behaving very well so I went naked for a few days.

I started getting bored with no color but I still liked my nudeness so I threw on some Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure.

Wow, that stuff is always surprisingly hard to get off of your nails. It was time to move on to Zoya Jolene which I still hadn't tried since getting it from the swap they had in the summer. I think it's the perfect Barbie pink.

I wanted to jazz it up a bit so I tried to konad on some argyle with m60 but as you can see from the purpleish tint to the pinky and middle nails, the stamping didn't work and I had to take off the black. This picture was days after I did it and I had never bothered to top coat the nail so the black was wearing off. OH but with this sad, poor example of Konad's magic, I caught the eye of a girl who was working at a thrift store. She asked if I did it myself and if so, how on earth I did it! She asked my to write down the name on a receipt top so I did. Happy to convert another Konader! ;)

I decided to konad the next one after the base layer of color had already started chipping, so the result is less than stunning. I like the tone-on-tone look, though. Zoya Demi with Konad m73 in China Glaze Let's Groove.

Next, I wanted something bright and fun so I tried Urban Outfitters Green 6 without a white base and had much better results than my first time. It wore pretty well, too. (Sorry for the crappy photo and worn tips!)

This Konadicure I really liked and have been meaning to do since I first got the second polish like last December. This is Ice Kiss Me Here with Konad m3 in China Glaze Awaken. Again, it's tone-on-tone which I love. It's surprisingly subtle but then BAM if you pay attention. ;)

My friend went to Hawaii last month and brought me back this HOT PINK called Aloha Dream by Island Girl which is a great blend of pink with a dash of red. It's that perfect strawberry/raspberryish color that I love so much! I couldn't capture the accurate color in photos, sadly. And this was right after I applied it, so I apologize for my messy cuticles. I still don't have my application technique down!! haha

OK well this is a long and boring post (which I'm sorry for!) but I'll leave you with an assignment I turned in for a class a few weeks ago that I had SOOO much fun doing (mostly due to rooting around my closet for "band worthy" clothes and coordinating all the outfits) and am happy to say I got an A on. :)

I hope I'll find more time (and interesting subject matter) to post about sooner than two months from now! Happy 10/10/10 and have a great week!

(P.S. Wow. This post took me 2 and 1/2 hours to create! Maybe that's why I blog so rarely. haha.)

Wind Out of My Sails

2010-08-15T23:06:00.000-07:00

We had a yard sale today and I am pooped!! I put out soooo many clothes and sadly only 5 shirts sold. :( It was hardly worth my time, but at least I tried. Now to eBay what didn't sell. Ugh, I hate eBay.

Ooh. This week was a pretty good one because over the period of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I was able to hang out with most of my very favorite people. Hanging out with any of them is more or less rare, and to see them all in one week was awesome.

In random news (being aware that I am OBSESSED with food), I saw this picture of a new sandwich offered at Dennys and while it looks kind of disgusting, it's also oddly appealing. Presenting the Fried Cheese Melt: "four fried mozzarella sticks and melted American cheese grilled between two slices of sourdough bread". Really, it's all about the picture.

Yes? No?

So I only have two nails pics to share, and I submitted both of them to the last two PhD's challenges. I love having some direction to start the nail design process. Here's the first mani which I actually did before I remembered the challenge, but it happened to coincide with the theme of nature so I submitted it.

Urban Outfitters Blue, m13 with Essie A-List

Next is just tips, the design of which I debated over for a while. I originally wanted to do white tips with neon pink fishnets but was moreso feeling the blue.

Essie Candy Apple Mint, m57 & m60 with

Konad white & China Glaze Awaken

Oh. A couple of weeks ago Alysia and I put highlights in my hair and I went a little crazy with the amount of time I left the goo on . . . They turned out SO blond, it was scary. The blond itself was a good color (not orange at all) but the contrast with my extremely dark brown natural color was gnarly. Here are some pics of it just for fun (and it looked even worse in person, let me assure you).

I went right away and bought some semi-permanent dye to tone it way back to normal. It's redder than my natural color but I went with the semi because my hair will fade back to bleachy. Right now it's already a lot lighter than this pic from the day I dyed it. It'll be fun to see how blond it will get again.

Well, this was an incredibly boring post. Sorry about that. Only one week left until school starts again, and I have SO-O-O-O-------OOOOO much to do before then. Despite that, I hope to blog again soon. :)

P.S. Happy birthday!

2010-08-04T13:15:00.000-07:00

I just noticed the blog's first birthday was two days ago! Whohoo! Thanks to my followers! Knowing that even one person reads my blog motivates me to post, even if it is only once a month. :)

Home Sweet Home

2010-08-04T12:33:00.000-07:00

I have had an amazing month!! I know I was apprehensive about camp but this year I had the best dorm I've ever had. They were so wonderful and fun. All the campers were. :) I'm thrilled I went this year. I drove to camp (in Washington) with friends and had such a great time, the day camp ended, hanging out in Portland for the afternoon with more friends from Arizona then caravaning back with them. It was a really long trip (we drove straight through back to Los Angeles) but we switched passengers and drivers between the two cars all the time which made for quite the awesome drive. I love those guys.

OK so get ready for pictures!

Alysia and me in our H&M roadtrip sunglasses:

Here was my pretty view while sitting on the soccer field at camp:

They have forests everywhere! I love the fairytale-ness of it. :) Looking up:

So the day after I got back from camp, I got back in the car -- this time with my family -- and headed out to Colorado for my best friend (and other really good friend)'s wedding. Here's a pic I snapped a pic while driving. Not sure what state we were in:

We made sure to get there a few days early so I could attend the bachelorette party. It was a fun night filled with various shenanigans. ;) Here were my nails for the occasion using my precious new Zoya Ali with Konad m3 and m57:

Bride-to-be Madeline:

Here we are at the wedding: :)

Bride and groom after the cake-cutting hamming it up for other BFF Jen and official photographer (check out some of her amazing pictures on her blog):

Me with Jen and Madeline. Love them!! I so very much wish they lived [much] closer.

Here's a picture I snapped on the drive back home. I like the colors and clouds:

For the wedding, I did my nails with Trixie by Zoya (ahh the most amazing ground-up tin foil silver!) and then on the trip home found LA Colors nail art polishes at the Dollar Tree (!) so I had to test them out. One of my very first hand painting attempts:

Here's my current manicure which I really like. Zoya Avril (agh -- the formula drives me mad but thankfully it's so nude you don't really notice the unevenness) with Konad m77 stamped with Revlon Chrome:

That's it! I'll leave you with a picture I took during a most memorable stop with my family at a rest area in Colorado (involved my mom accidentally kicking my little shih tzu into the rushing river. All ended well, thankfully, and now we find the situation rather hilarious). I only changed the overall tint of the photo to a violet color. All the variations and such were already there. It's currently my background picture. :)

Well that was a brief summery of my past few weeks! I hope you guys are having a summer as nice as mine!

July Festivities

2010-07-07T14:58:00.000-07:00

So I leave tonight for camp (I'm driving straight through to Washington with friends) and have SO much to do before then. I wanted to leave you with a post before I left since I will be absent for 3-4 weeks (camp and best friend's wedding).

Here's the Urban Outfitters polish I mentioned in the last post. This was three coats over a white base, but next time I'll definitely try it without the white. I gave up on making it even; the consistency is so runny and streaky! Boo -- I hate sheer polishes. :(

Urban Outfitters Green 6 (Yes, that's a chunk out of the thumb. With the white underneath it reminded me of a green M&M!)

I only had this on for a day but it was cute while it lasted. Nothing too fancy!

Here's my fourth of July manicure featuring the ever-delicious (and quite American) Mike's lemonade:

Konad stars and [my first ever] freehand stripes

My friend let me use her Essie Matte About You the next day for my first ever matte mani (though I know it's hard to see a difference on here).

This is one of my favorite shots from the amazing fireworks show my friends and I saw at a high school. Mm, I love my new camera.

My birthday is July 5th (which might be why I love fireworks oh-so much!) and two of my best friends were nice enough to surprise me at 9 in the morning and take me out for breakfast! They were hoping to find me in my pajamas but thankfully I had already showered and was just getting dressed. :)

They took me to a cute little french bakery that I've been wanting to try out. We all ordered the same thing -- strawberry and banana crepes! They were garnished with DELISH and rich whipped cream and chocolate drizzles (and a tooth-shaped strawberry. haha). Yum! Thanks, ladies!

OK well that's all for now. I'll blog again in a month! I hope everyone has an amazing summer. Oh, and a huge welcome to my new followers!! It's awesome to know people actually read this thing every now and again. :) Have a good one!

Summertime Blues

2010-06-30T13:40:00.000-07:00

Summer is flying by and I'm seemingly getting nothing done. I have to leave for a summer camp a week from today and honestly, I'm not looking forward to it! They were extremely short female counselors though so I agreed to go. Anyway, I have to start thinking about packing, which I happen to despise!!! It should be easy, but it never, ever is. Boo. Onto the nails . . .

I finally got around to participating in one of PHD's awesome nail design challenges. The challenge was any design using only analogous colors. Having taken a color theory class this semester, I was compelled to enter. I'm still such a newbie (I only get around to doing my nails about once a week and usually am in a rush) but it is fun to try! Here is my blue, blue green, and green manicure featuring green blueberry stamps (creative liberty!). I really didn't like the outcome but they did meet the challenge requirements.

And. . . . drumroll: my first Hidden Treasure mani! Mm. So flakey. I did these a week before I found this on my blogroll and freaked out when I saw! Great minds . . . The pink is actually way more me but because the flakes are very red/orange/yellow, I thought the yellow would compliment them nicely.

I liked these so much that I wore them (and they lasted!!!!) for a week.

It's funny how VERY many things around me match the exact shade of yellow, Zoya Creamy

Day 8 I cut my nails (after bowling did some major damage) and I liked the micro tips.

Anyway, eventually I got bored and now I'm wearing a new green shade from Urban Outfitters. I'm hating the formula. Mini review to come!

Oh, and I finally put in my order for the Zoya Exchange earrrrly this morning. I'm an up-to-the-deadline kind of girl. :) I can't wait to get them! Which one will I use first? Oh my.

Remember that pink camera I was lusting after in an old post? Well I ended up ordering the white version (pink isn't available in the US) which I have already nicknamed (the moment I saw it online) the Stormtrooper. It arrived yesterday! I have SOOO much to learn about it. I can't wait to start taking some great pictures!

Hey, if you're reading this, you're awesome. haha. Have a great day!

I'm on a [Blog] Roll!

2010-06-13T12:37:00.000-07:00

Three posts in week. Awesome. Last night was that party I mentioned earlier, the "Casserole and Martini" as it was named. It was fun! Lots of good food, drinks, and friends.

Mirror shot! Me and friends after getting ready:

Matchy matchy, just the way I like it.

Mary Kay In A Flash Lightspeed, Konad m71 double stamped w/Konad Special Black

I was asked to bring peonies (which I happen to adore) and they had opened up nicely!

Finally got to sport my glam cocktail ring. I mean, ahem, my rich fiance was out of town. (Don't I wish!)

I did these a week or so back. Turns out, as you may have guessed, that Turned Up is blacklight sensitive! (Found that out after I discovered my old blacklights in a box and had to test 'em.)

China Glaze Turned Up, Konad m77

I'm still having trouble stamping the images. Lots of times the image won't fully come off of the stamper. It seems I've tried all the variations (pressing harder, rolling, working super fast, cleaning the plate after stamping vs. not, etc.) but the results are always really inconsistent. Any tips to share?

OK, off to help with the construction (well, clearing a path for the concrete cutter). Hope I don't chip my nails. ;)

Breaking Nail Polish News!!

2010-06-11T14:50:00.001-07:00

On a whim, I visited a Walgreens after stopping at the next-door Trader Joes and you already know what I found hidden, appropriately, behind other colors and a spring-loaded wall display. $8.50 (with tax) is a lot for me to pay for nail polish, but it is the holy grail of polishes at the moment. Score!!!

Nail Update

2010-06-08T21:50:00.000-07:00

I'm still loving the fun nail thing, though still quite a novice! Here's what I've been up to:

I bought my first nail art tool that has a brush on one side and a dotting tool on the other. It is surprisingly hard to use. :(

I dotted over my then existing polish (sorry for the wrinkled fingers; I had just gotten out of a really long shower!)

China Glaze in Shocking Pink and Turned Up

Here's my first attempt at free-handing something other than french tips. I used the built-in brushes for the angles and the dotting tool for the dots.

Zoya Yummy, Zoya Demi & Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Rockstar

I went to an awesome tea and wanted to have quasi-themed nails. Here's what I spent 5 minutes doing as I rushed out the door. (The hostess made these amazing custom tea bags with our names on giant tags and a message on the back. So cute!)

[Horribly streaky] NYC French Tip White stamped with Essie A List, Konad m14 & m55

I got bored that night and added some more embellishments

Konad m3 stamped with various colors

That's it for now. I'm going to a late 50s/early 60s party this weekend and will be doing my nails to match my dress! They won't be so authentic, but oh well. haha. Until then, au revoir!

Proof is in the Bacon

2010-06-08T12:43:00.000-07:00

So here's the bacon project I mentioned two posts ago. This was the original I made with paper (after doing so many versions) that I had to re-create with a different material. The project was supposed to be the study of individual cells and their connections to other cells. They were supposed to lose their individuality when grouped together and had to have a pattern that could be repeated indefinitely. I think I was successful.

20 individual cells together in little . . . bursts.

First I had to cut the raw bacon precisely in order to maintain the proportions of the original.

I sewed, cut, and stuffed the bacon pieces with wet paper towels before baking them.

I unstuffed and lined them up for more baking.

After they seemed firm enough, I hot-glued the cells together. I had to glue it several times because the grease kept the glue from sticking to the bacon.

What I presented to the class. I got some really mixed reactions in the class. Some were grossed out, some read wayyy too far into it ("sewn flesh!") and some thought it was awesome.

I never did find out what my grade was but I miraculously got an A in the class and I think this project made that possible. My teacher seemed shocked (in a good way) that I used bacon, and I'm so glad I did!

Tea & Puppy!

2010-05-30T22:17:00.001-07:00

EEK! I have puppy on the brain. My brother and his girlfriend brought home a puppy today that needs a home. She's an adorable black lab mix who is 6-8 weeks old and too cute to ignore even for a second! I really thought she was ours but I guess we (parentals) are going to try and find a home for her. Today we FINALLY began a construction project on our house that has been years in planning so having to manage another dog with all the gates open and chaos around the house just wouldn't be good. Plus, as nice as labs are, when the time comes for a new puppy we definitely have our hearts set on a different breed. Anyway, I am loving up on her like mad until she finds a good home. She's sleeping at my feet right now as I type. :)

Today I went to a lovely white and linen attired (surely there is a better way to say that?) tea party hosted by one of my friends. She held one last year as well and it was such a success that she decided to make it an annual event! She went bought sofas and a table (which she painted blue and then painted on white lacy placemats) and set everything up on her patio under the dappled shade of a pretty tree. It was all fancified and cute. Delicious food was brought by all! Ugh. As usual, I overate. Tasty.

Oh yes. These are just TOO pretty not to share:

I want the pink ones!!! (The [slim and uninteresting] details about the shoes are here and here.)

Part of the construction project I mentioned earlier involves me moving to a bedroom on the other side of the house. We're doing this big switcheroo with my grandma. Anyway, I have been googling and googling and GOOGLING decoration ideas, specifically trying to find the perfect, and most inexpensive ever, duvet cover. I've also checked every Ross, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, and HomeGoods store near me. There are some decent options, but nothing perfect. I've decided that I'm just going to try and make my own with two flat sheets, because I LOVE these:

But, there's way too expensive. I've seen the three different price points (Anthropologie, West Elm, Target) but they just won't do. I am the bargainest shopper ever!

I have lots more to blog about (again, since my posts are a month a part!) but this is enough for now. I'll end with a nails pic from when I went to my friend's wedding in Phoenix a few weeks ago. They were simple but pretty.

One of the pale pink Essie ones :) with Cover Girl City Lights on top

My Hands Smell Like Bacon

2010-05-04T10:07:00.000-07:00

Just sayin'. I've been doing an art project for school and was encouraged to use an uncoventional material, hence the bacon hands. :) Unfortunately, the idea is cooler than the actual project is turning out, but regardless of how it looks, I'll just be happy to have used an eatable material. haha. (I was also considering lasagna and nori, but bacon won in the end.)

My nails are naked right now! Wow. I didn't like it at first because there is so much untapped potential (what I'm saying is naked = boring) BUT I love not having to be afraid of chipping 'em. Anyway, the second my school projects are turned in I will be painting them. I do like thinking ahead to what they'll look like . . .

Here are the last ones I did. I got two polishes from Target and had to test the first one out!

Essie Vanity Fairest base with Zoya Ibiza and Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Rockstar Pink tips

Ooh. I made a fun purchase at T.J. Maxx last week. I finally found some aviators that I think look decent on my face. :) Maybe I have a weird head or something but finding flattering sunglasses seems to be such a rare occurance. Right, so, they're purple and by Cynthia Rowley which I got for $14.99 (pre-tax) with the original price tag of $75 still attached. Yesss.

haha

OH! I'm in major need of a DSLR (digital single-lens reflex camera) and I've been doing some research about them online. I found the CUTEST one (yeah yeah, it has really good features for a beginning DSLR, too). Butttt, it's only available in Japan. Hmm.

They do have other ones here in less exciting colors, and one of those might just have to do. Any way you slice it, the colored ones are awesome.

Hey, question for any of you nail art entusaists out there: Can I just buy a really small detail brush to do nail art with my existing polishes or are the individual little bottles (L.A. Colors, etc.) with the small brushes better?

OK, well I was fixing up this blog post instead of MUCH needed homework cramming so now I need to get off my beautiful computer!

Have a good one!

Bad habit!

2010-04-18T16:42:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I only seem to only post once a month now! Every time I get around to blogging I have way too much to talk about. I need to work on that. :)

I had been wanting to get these headphones since they came out last summer because I love that they're by Roxy, and the colors are cute! I wasn't about to pay $70 for them though. Well look what I found at Marshalls last week!

It's good that I saw them in person because, though I originally thought I wanted the pink and orange version, it's actually purple and orange in person. Ew. Not for me. I like the blue and green with my pink iPod. :)

It came with a cute carrying case, too.

Quick and to the point: this watch is SO CUTE and came (guess they were released last year) in different colors. Shaped as a bangle with a bow and has a mirror on it, too!

Sharing with you yet another rainbow baked good, check out this pretty, pretty cake.

Source, with recipe

In some cool news, I got to meet some of the cast of Community at an industry event my dad was invited to.

Allison Brie ("Annie")

Joel McHale ("Jeff")

I was also lucky enough to get pictures with Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, and Yvette Nicole Brown ("Britta", "Abed", and "Shirley"). The actors are all great in person!

Unexciting nail pics:

Essie Rock Candy with Sephora French Tip pen and Revlon LilyChrome, Konad m56

Wet 'n' Wild Precious Metals 14K, Konad m57

(Yes, I was going for SUPER subtle/naked!)

That's enough useless info for this post (of course do I ever share anything else? haha). I'll save the rest for next time! Hope to blog again soon. Homework awaits!

Happy Spring!

2010-03-21T21:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first day of spring which brings us one step closer to summer. Summer is my favorite season, but I have so much planning to do before then. Summer camp or not to summer camp, look for work or not to look for work, look for an internship or not look for an internship . . . Meh. I need to get on that!

So in honor of spring, I went a little crazy with the Konading. It was a nice opportunity to experiment with stamping non Konad polishes. The nails are nuts (a little too chaotic for my liking) so I'll probably remove it tomorrow.

Zoya Creamy as a base with Konad m3 and m60

Some of the colors I stamped with

In other news I went to a hoedown at my church last month and was able to borrow an authentic square-dancing dress for the occasion. The square-dancing was honestly sooo fun. I was pleasantly surprised!

Photo courtesy of Lis and her awesome iPhone

The first couple of songs involved the kids. It's hard to do-si-do with someone three feet tall! Here you can see the crinoline which continued to fall down on my every step, but my mom was nice enough to let me borrow her shorts so I could ditch the crinoline and get in on the real dancing.

Of courseee, I did themed nails to match.

Maybe Essie Really Red or CND Fireberry, I can't remember! Konad Special Polish White, m60

My newest Konad plates arrived but I've only used one of the designs so far. I'm trying to pace myself because I probably won't get more plates for awhile. I do have 11 now, which is actually quite enough for me.

Wet N' Wild Precious Metals 14K over Milani Ms Milani with Konad Special Polish Black, m71

Here's m77, my favorite of the new plates. The necklaces, bow, and feather designs are so girly and cute!

Oh, so last night some friends and I piled into a truck and headed out to find Pink's (of hotdog fame). I entered "Pinks" into my Google Maps app on my phone and ended up somewhere in Koreatown. I guess "Pinks" is different from "Pink's Hot Dog Stand". haaaa. Thankfully the real Pink's was only about three miles from us so eventually got there. The line was long and the wait was about . . . an hour? Hour and a half? It was worth it though. There was lots of people (and hooker and car crash) watching to keep us entertained. I got the veggie dog because I just can't bring myself to do the ground-organs-stuffed-into-an-intestine thing. Their guacamole is pretty odd -- can't say I like it. Their fries, however, are heavenly!!! Oh mannn.

OK, I'm off to finish weird paper-folding homework for my 3d art class. I'll leave you with another nail pic that I did a couple of weeks ago. (If you read this blog, I do hope for your sake you're at least somewhat interested in nail art. haha) The colors in the picture are sooo off. :( It's way more magenta-y red with really subtle shimmery flowers.

Zoya Vanessa with Zoya Salma flowers with Konad m3

Thanks for reading. :)

Oh, and shout out to my new followers! There aren't many of you, but the number has significantly jumped since my last post. Thanks for the follow!

So Little Time

2010-03-05T17:13:00.000-08:00

Ugh. Life flies by. It drives me crazy. I promise I'm still 16, and yet my driver's license says otherwise. I wish I could go back in time and redo my last few years with purpose and drive aiming for something specific. Problem is, I STILL don't have a target in mind. AGH. I'm getting way too old to have nothing to show for my years of existence. This is beyond lame.

ANYWAY. On a lighter note, I stopped by a garage sale last Sunday and got a few cute items. Of course, there have been numerous thrift scores over the past months, but this is the only time I've actually gone to the trouble of photographing my loot. :)

Halter vest from Hot Topic, according to the original owner

Betsey Johnson blazer in amazing condition (has velvet accents and sleeves long enough for me!!!)

Super soft sweater brought over from Argentina (though this has an elastic neck of death. SO tight)

Amazing zebra/shell looking ring (so happy it fits)

Total for all four items: $9. :) :) The dangerous thing is the lady said she'd be having a yard sale every weekend for the next month or so with new stuff every time (used to own a store). Dangerousss.

Last month a couple of friends hosted a moustache and ugly sweater party which was pretty fun. Some of them went ALL out. I opted for a not so ugly Betsey Johnson sweater that I don't quite have the courage to wear in "real life" but also brought a backup genuine ugly sweater. Check it out, I did my nails to match my first sweater.

The sweater was another thrift find

Not so well executed but you get the idea! (various sweater colors & Konad m60)

My friend Alysia came up with the awesome idea for our moustaches : {) (<- a moustache!)

What else can I fill random internet surfers in on? Ooh, I went to Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising last week to see their annual Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibition. They showcase different pieces of the actual wardrobe worn in movies of the past year. I love seeing the detail of the costumes up close, but my favorite part is seeing the actual sizes of the actors and actresses. Most of them are so teeny. Like ridiculously so. It's free to get in (though parking prices are varied around FIDM) and I definitely recommend going if you get the chance!

My favorite pieces were from An Education - so 60s and adorable!!

I just learned OCNailArt.com and all other US Konad retailers have to stop accepting coupons as of tomorrow, so no more 30% off purchases. NOO. I made a quick last minute purchase of four more plates which I hope will tie me over indefinitely. haha. EEK for more design options!

OK, well I could probably find something else to go on about, but I think I've done enough for the day. If you've gotten this far, how kind! :) Have a wonderful weekend.

New Year, New Post

2010-01-27T16:12:00.000-08:00

It's been one month to the day from my last entry! I guess that means now's a good time for a new one. Some highlights since I last blogged; I:

- went on a mini-"stay-cation" with Kate to Buena Park for thrift shopping & Knott's Berry Farm

- spent New Year's Eve/a.m. bowling & then at a 24 hr diner

- worked at the Rose Parade at a private stand

- had my first "breakfast for dinner" experience (and it was with the good stuff!)

- crammed in 3 units into a two week winter intersession class (marriage & family relationships)

- helped out with Kate's birthday party

- learned that my best friend got engaged!

- started my regular spring semester (oh-so artsy!)

- received many of my nail polish Twitter prizes in the mail :)

- started watching Lost (yes, from season one. I have a little more than 2 more seasons left)

While walking to the parade stands, we saw Jack Hanna doing a live TV interview, complete with animal friends!

We got to walk inches from the floats. The textures were SO gorgeous and the air was fragrant!

Kate & I dancing around at Knott's Resort wearing our thrifted sweaters bought that day.

Us riding the rocking pirate ship at Knotts; poor Kate was miserable!

I finally got to wear my spark!leigh (sorry, I couldn't help it) tights at Kate's b-day party!

Delicious cupcakes at the party made by Soraya

Me & Tara with the birthday girl

And of course, I've been doing my nails throughout. :) Here are a few interesting ones:

China Glaze Let's Groove with Revlon LilyChrome, Konad m59

Ice Pure Ice with Konad Special Polish White, Konad m73

Zoya Creamy with China Glaze Awaken, Konad m57 & m19

It's nothing too interesting, but that's a taste of what I've been up to! :) Hope you're having a good one.

P.S. I really do have friends other than K & T, I just don't seem to take many pictures with them! haha. I should change that.

A Dash of Konad

2009-12-27T12:36:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-20T11:26:00.000-08:00

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 . . .

2009-12-08T12:48:00.000-08:00

. . . 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 + ?

2009-12-04T11:38:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-21T18:54:00.000-08:00

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 . . .

2009-11-11T09:17:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-08T11:09:00.000-08:00

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?

2009-11-04T20:56:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-30T15:52:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-11T19:18:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-26T18:44:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-18T19:45:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-12T18:52:00.001-07:00

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 . . .

2009-08-11T15:01:00.001-07:00

. . . 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

2009-08-07T16:41:00.000-07:00

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.casuallavish.com

http://www.abeautyfulsentiment.com

http://nailinit.wordpress.com

http://mezzamy.blogspot.com

http://decoratived.blogspot.com

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

Rock Steady

2009-08-06T12:51:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday night I went to my first official "artist on tour" concert (about time, yes??). Despite my love for them, I never did go see the Spice Girls. ;) Anyway, No Doubt is my favorite band of all time so I knew I had to see them this summer. The Sounds and Paramore played before No Doubt came on. We were only able to get lawn seats which were pretty far back, but we still had a great time and I can't stress how AMAZING No Doubt is live. OH MAN. I really hope they go on tour again soon so I can rock out even closer to the stage. :) Anyway, here is a smallish sampling of my 295 pictures! Sorry they're so small but I'm having a hard time working with the template and had to shrink the photos to fit.

Sorry; I know that was a lot of pictures. :) At the concert, I wanted to splurge on a ND tee but in the end the lines were really long and I knew the shirt was slightly cheaper on their website. So, as soon as I got home, I ordered the one I had been lusting over. It's the girly version of their Tragic Kingdom logo (I loveee their older albums). The shirt arrived the very next day!!!

I love it.

OK, guilty pleasure soap opera time. You didn't read that. ;)

Shockingly Pretty

2009-08-04T16:14:00.001-07:00

So the other day, I made my first big girl nail polish purchase. Since I'm super sad to see my money leave me, I've always been a drug store brand kind of girl. Well, I have this pair of thrifted (brand new) NEON pink fishnets that I knew I simply had to wear to an upcoming No Doubt concert. I loved the color and really wanted nail polish to match. I decided Ulta would be the best place to look and lo and behold, they had the perfect shade: Shocking Pink by China Glaze!

I'm excited to see how the "fancier" polishes compare. I had a really hard time making this color streak free (I put on 4 coats!) but I think it's due to the fluorescent shade. I won't dismiss China Glaze until I've tried a more normal color. Others seem to love the brand so there must be something to it!

Up next: No Doubt concert pictures!

Grand Opening

2009-08-02T10:08:00.000-07:00

BONJOUR blogosphere!

I've been wanting to get a new blog up and running for quite some time, and I decided now is the time.

I've been inspired by all the cute fashion blogs out there and loved the idea of having a place to show off my fabulous bargain finds and vent my excitement when spotting a celeb on the streets, etc. My poor mother can only handle my idle blabber for so long. ;)

Anyway, this blog will be a fun little venture for me. I look forward to finding and following some of the awesome blogs you guys have going already. Thanks for the inspiration (especially my friend Kate)!