Bientôt

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!

Home Sweet Home

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

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!

I'm on a [Blog] Roll!

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. ;)

So Little Time

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

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.