Nails and a WHOLE LOTTA Random

Yeah, yeah - it's been another *cough* several days since I last blogged. Are you picking up on a new trend? Well, don't fret. (Surely, you were fretting.) I'm not abandoning ship altogether, just only blogging when I get the urge. The urge has become more sporadic in the last couple of months, admittedly, but this little internet space of mine means a bit too much for me to just cut it off completely.

Sidebar, who else actually learned the word "sporadic" from Alicia Silverstone back in 1995? G'wan. Admit it.

Today's blog is going to be a bit of a "life lately" word vomit, disguised as a nail polish post. Ready?

These nails were super spontaneous and weren't inspired by a single thing other than the color blue:

The bright blue, if you didn't already know by looking at it, is Pacific Blue by Sally Hansen - one of the most badass nail polish colors in the land. It's electric (boogie woogie woogie). My ring finger has 2 coats of Essie's Lapiz of Luxury topped with one coat of Green Tea by LA Colors. Green Tea is a really pretty mint-sparkle polish, but it's suuuuper sheer, so it's basically useless on its own.

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed that I spent last week in Charleston, SC visiting my friend Simmons. Since my job allows me to work remotely, we were able to hang out for the week without either one of us taking any time off from work. We got in some great beach time at Folly Beach, and I got to meet his friends and check out downtown Charleston (which is adorable and packed with people at this time of year).

Random Folly story: A dude at one of the bars there told me I was his dream woman (specifically my freckles and nose ring), and then later actually said, "I'm a sailor and I sail out tomorrow. Can I have a kiss?" I was all, WTF? No. And does that actually work on people? He probably wasn't even a sailor. He probably just knew a guy who owned a pontoon boat. Is this seriously what the singles scene is like these days, people? FML.

On Memorial Day, I spent my day off kayaking on the Charles River, stopping by the display of 37,000 American flags in Boston Common, eating froyo from Orange Leaf, binge shopping at TJ Maxx (got two new summer dresses!), and capping things off with some Chipotle for dinner. Successful day? I dunno. Sure.

In other news completely, those five workout videos I filmed for the website I manage have now all been made live, and I've now gotten up the nerve to share them here in this blog. Watch them if you want to. Even better, give them a thumbs up or share them or leave a comment. A nice comment, not a troll comment. You can keep those.

• Intense TRX Interval for Your Core
• Perfect Upper Body Sculpt 
• Tone Your Abs & Back with One Sizzling Exercise 
• Fat Blasting Leg Workout 
• Strengthen Your Abs FAST

The pool at my apartment building opened up, so I've been spending some time out there, tryna catch a tannnn. But a sensible tan, because I've been applying sunscreen (SPF 30 or higher) like a good girl and do not intend to get a sunburn this year. Skin cancer is common as shit and in most cases preventable, so allow me to remind you: Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen. SPF = BFF.

On Tuesday night I went to a Fashionably Featured party on the roof deck of the Revere Hotel in downtown Boston. It was honestly just a reason to get dressed up and wear one of the pairs of heels that are sitting in my closet, not getting enough play.

Speaking of playing in heels, I have two more reasons to get dressed up this weekend:  My good friend April has a bridal shower tomorrow on Cape Cod, and my friend Linden is getting married in Pittsfield on Sunday. I'm going to dash across the state from one to the other, so lots of driving for me in the next couple of days! Good thing I just brought my car in for an oil change the other day... and came out $300+ later with a new muffler, too. Funny how that happens, innit?

Alright that should suffice for life updates for now. I have written a large amount of my Panama blog, but haven't finished it yet. Maybe that'll be my next trick!

Hope you guys have a great weekend - PEAAAAAAAACE.

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SUP??! Nails 'n Other Things

It's been quiet around here this month... and that's primarily because I haven't felt like blogging. Simple as that, haha! Hey, it's my blog, I'll ignore it when I want to.

Normally even when I'm being neglectful of my blog, I still manage to put up a nail polish post every Friday. Well I have also become quite lax with that, as you can see. Lack of inspiration plus tired cuticles have left my nails looking like the red-headed step child of my hands. This week, however, inspiration suddenly struck, and I bounded to my nail polish box to pick out some colors. Then this happened:

.  shattered and splattered  .

Ugh. My pent-up nail polish excitement got the better of me, apparently. I spent over 2 hours cleaning up the glass shards and green polish splatter of that mess. And it was a bottle of Sinful Colors Mint Apple, to boot - one of my absolute favorite greens. #Balls.

Irked, but not unbowed, I decided to press onwards with getting a nail polish post up this week and seeing my inspiration to fruition. Here's what I finally ended up with:

Two of the polishes used in today's post are brand new as of yesterday. My intention at CVS was to replace an old bottle of Essie's Turquoise & Caicos, but once I was there in front of the display Mint Candy Apple was suddenly the more appealing shade to me. And so a game-time decision was made, and the mint won out over the turquoise. (Interestingly, it had absolutely nothing to do with the Sinful Colors Mint Apple that had met such an untimely demise earlier in the week. Nothing at all. It appears these nail polish companies are just terribly un-clever when it comes to naming their light greens.)

The other new polish I picked up is Essie's Mod Square - a strawberry-bubblegum sort of hot pink, free of any shimmer or iridescence. Together, Mint Candy Apple and Mod Square look BEAUTIFUL. A perfect summer pairing.

I used 2 coats of Mint Candy Apple on my thumb, pointer and pinky nails. My middle finger has 2 coats of NYC's High Line Green, and my ring finger has 2 coats of Sinful Color's Snow Me White, topped with polka dots of Mod Square.

Besides already peeling off every single one of the above-pictured nails in record time, here are a few other things I've been up to since you last heard from me:

• Lots of gym time (though, sorry, no workout blogs... mreh)
• Checked out the opening day of the SoWa Open Market in Boston's South End neighborhood, which runs every Sunday from now till October
• Went out for tacos and mojitos on Cinco de Mayo with Kara and her boyfriend Kyle
• Dined out at some good restaurants around Cambridge (including The Friendly Toast and Firebrand Saints)
• Kayaked on The Charles River with my friends (I subsequently purchased a season pass at a great discount with a Groupon)

• Quick trip home to Pittsfield to surprise my mom for Mother's Day and visit the rest of my family
• Caught up on the Game of Thrones episodes I missed while in Panama, as well as the latest episode
• Took a 1-hour free trial boxing class at The Ring Boxing Club in Boston (SUCH a good workout - I was absolutely drenched in sweat)

.  source  .

• Attended my first Pilates & Yoga on the Hill at the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown (Kara and I went on a yoga night)

I suppose I've also been eating a fair amount of ice cream sandwiches, if I'm being totally honest. And binge shopping. Whoops?

So that's what's up and what's on my nails, all in one fell swoop. I hope it was worth the wait.

What are you rocking on your nails this week?
Have you picked up any new polishes lately?
What's the most exciting thing you've done/eaten/heard/seen in the last few weeks?!

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Pre-Panama Neon Pastel Nails

There's really just no time for chit-chat today, so we're jumping RIGHT INTO THIS THING. Friday. Nails. Possible polka dot sightings. You know the drill.

Oh, look, yup. We got some polka dots after all. Shocking!! The color combo here was inspired by this Ingrid Nilsen video on YouTube...

Her neon-pastel-minty shirt with neon yellow details, paired with the hot pink lipstick AND the pastel-minty-turquoise nails?! It was all so much for me to take in. I had to make it a mani!

.  notice that i still haven't cleaned off this mint bottle of polish after the august 2014 moving incident  .

I used 2 coats of Love & Beauty Mint on my pinky, middle and pointer fingers, and 2 coats of Revlon's Fuchsia Fever on my thumb and ring fingers. I used Sally Hansen's Mellow Yellow and a dotting tool for the polka dots.

Like it? I HEWPE SEW.

Alright, with that out of the way, I've gotta go... lots to do!! Besides needing to work all day today, I have a dental cleaning this morning, plus there's still packing to complete for my trip to Panamaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! AHHHH. By this time tomorrow, I'll be en route! #Buggin. I'm still preparing, mentally and physically.

Wish  me luck - and send me your sunniest vibes because the weather in Panama is nawwwt looking so hawwwt for the next week haha! I'll be damned if a little bit of "all-day thunderstorms" keeps me from getting into a bikini, though.

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Easy Aqua Spots Dotticure

God knows how my mind travels to the places that it does, but after typing the title of this blog post, my brain jumped to the Snorks.

... so that's just a small glimpse into the random-childhood-pop-culture-references-attuned mass that is my brain. I hope that was exciting for you. Moving on!

My nails today were inspired by an Instagrammer who I just started following yesterday - Cute.Passion. The dotted nails she did here made me want to do something similar in my own color scheme. HENCE, DEEZ:

The light blue is Dreamer by Revlon, and the turquoise is Bailamos by Orly. I used two coats of each, and added the dual-sized dots using my double-ended dotting tool.

Last night I went to my first real yoga class! The only other time I've taken a yoga class was about 5 years ago when I lived on Cape Cod, but it was a "restore & renew" yoga class that focused primarily on breathing and stretching. I didn't even break a sweat, which is why I don't really consider it as a having been a true "first yoga class" experience.

The class I went to last night was a special Vinyasa Yoga class being held at the House of Blues in Boston, and it was the kind of physical yoga that I'd really been interested in trying. I had no idea what I was doing, but luckily you can kind of pick up the moves just by watching everyone else. My friend Kara came too, and we both really enjoyed it. There were about 15-20 people in the dimly-lit room, and the teacher was awesome. That kind of yoga could really be right up my alley!

At some point this weekend I'm going to drive west to Pittsfield to visit with my family for the Easter holiday. We're not religious, but if I can catch my niece and nephew participating in some sort of an Easter egg hunt, then my mission will be complete. Experiences like that are things that I've been missing, having been living away and out of the state for the last several years.

Are you doing anything with your family for Easter or Passover this weekend?
Anyone else trying out yoga for the first time?
What are yooooou rockin' on your nailseses?!

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Bright Spring Pastels and Scattered Dot Nails

Today's nails are a direct result of me doing what I want.

I wanted an accent nail with lots of polka dots in a specific bright-pastel color scheme, and these polishes were the perfect colors for it!

The pale mint pastel is Mint Sorbet by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear, the pink is Tip Toe Pink by Milani, the darker green is Mint Apple by Sinful Colors and the white is Snow Me White by Sinful Colors.

I used 3 coats of Mint Apple on my pinky, pointer and thumb nails, 2 coats of Snow Me White on my ring finger, and 3 coats of Tip toe Pink on my middle finger. Then, using both ends of my double-ended dotting tool and all 3 colored polishes, I placed random, scattered dots atop my ring finger.

 

If you couldn't tell, I've become pretty into the two-accent-nail look. Decisions be damned - use alllll the polishessss!

In case you wondered, my gum seems to be healing suspiciously well from Monday's wisdom tooth extraction. I've barely needed to take any pain meds at all, and was able to start working out again today. There's still a slight chipmunkesque quality to my right cheek, but it's not the most noticeable thing in the world. However, the antibiotics I'm taking are going to put a damper on my weekend fun, as those are appppparently not to be mixed with alcohol.

On that note, what are you up to this weekend? I've got nothing on the agenda yet, but am always on the lookout for an activity or two!

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St. Patrick's Day Nails: Matte Green & Layers of Gold

As a nod to my Irish heritage, I've got some green St. Patrick's Day nails today. But let's be honest - even if I weren't Irish, I'd be celebrating, right? That's how we do things in America. And on May 5th, we'll all be Mexican. #Freedom.

Here's how my nails are getting in on the holiday action:

The green is Balsam Fir by Revlon and the gold is a combo of Big Spender by Nina Ultra Pro and Crystal Gold from Forever21's Love & Beauty line.

I used two coats of Big Spender on my ring and thumb nails and topped that with 2 coats of Crystal Gold, which is a fairly sparse yellow-gold glitter in a clear base. It would have been way cooler if it was more jam-packed with glitter, but you can't win them all! Do you have a favorite gold glitter that's pretty opaque? Give me the deets!

I used 2 coats of Balsam Fir on all my other nails and finished those nails off with a matte top coat. I topped the gold nails with Seche Vite, to make them really shine and contrast with the green.

I'll be doing a bit of St. Patty's celebrating tomorrow with my friends at some Irish pubs around town. I can't stand the taste of beer, so no Guinness for me, but there may very well be some Bailey's Irish Cream in my future.

There's also a slight chance that I'll check out the (in)famous Southie St. Patrick's Day parade on Sunday... though that may be biting off more than I can chew, since Southie is known for becoming pretty chaotic on parade day. We'll see!

What are you going to be up to this weekend?
Are you wearing any green on your nails to celebrate?

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Stuff That's Been Making Me Happy

As the savvy reader may have ascertained, it's not all sunshine and sprinkles over here - although both of those things have definitely been featured on my blog before. (For sure.)

I haven't felt like myself since leaving Vancouver, which is kind of a long time for me to be feeling so low. It still feels like there's a big hole in my life, and I've been trying really hard to fill it in with saying "yes" to things, making plans with friends, buying new clothes and beauty goodies, getting my health in order (chiropractors, physical therapists, and acupuncturists, oh my!), being creative, eating junk food, lining up trips (heyo, Panama!), and exercising.

So how is it working? Well... it's not curing me of my blues, that's for damn sure. But it's all chipping in to keep me momentarily happy/preoccupied and make me forget about being sad for a little while everyday. Here's a random, unorganized look into some of the things that have been making me happy....

My sister Markie works for a Nike store, and shares her family discount with us. I've never taken advantage of the perk - a 30% discount - until the weekend before last, when I stopped into the Nike outlet store near my apartment. I picked up a new pair of trainers... the Nike Flex Supreme in black and pink:

They ran large so I actually had to go back that night and exchange them for a half-size smaller. I also got a new pair of workout leggings - Nike Dri-Fit capris in the "tight" fit. These felt a litttttle loose on me, but the XS felt a little too - ahem - familiar (if you nahmsayin), so I stuck with a size small. From this trip to the Nike store, my takeaway was: Nike is clearly into vanity sizing. That makes me feel terribly insecure in ever shopping for that brand online, without trying on first.

Also pictured above are a grey American Eagle workout tank and a pink cotton Hollister tank top, both from my local TJ Maxx.  I love the hourglass seaming detail on the grey tank - it's super flattering! Having made a couple trips to that same TJ Maxx recently, I also picked up a few other new tops...

This chunky, oversized black cardigan by Max Studio:
 

And this woven oatmeal-colored sweater from the brand Dalia:

I'm obsessed with both of these sweaters. You can seriously catch me wearing each of them once or twice a week lately. Here's the last shirt I got from TJ's:

As a blue-eyed girl, shirts like this really make my eyes pop. So... shoutout to turning your face

into an optical illusion.

While killing time in Brookline's Coolidge Corner back in February, I stopped into a consignment shop (Second Time Around) and spotted this pale pink asymmetrical BCBG Max Azria sweater (shown below in both white and pink)...

... I'm a sucker for interesting hemlines, and I fell head over heels for this sweater's unique criss-cross front, high-lo hem (with BONUS banded hemline in the back!), fitted sleeves, and soft merino wool fabric. It was $50 at the consignment shop, which is certainly more JoBros than I'd normally toss up at a second-hand store, but it was such a "GOTTA EFFING HAVE IT" moment that I surrendered to the flow. Once I got home and discovered that this is originally a $200 sweater... well obviously I went from scolding myself to patting myself on the back.

Some weeks back I received a surprise package in the mail - a gift box of Lush goodies from my friend Stephanie. The Hello Gorgeous gift set includes the Sakura bath bomb, the Comforter Bubble Bar, Tender Is the Night massage bar, Rub Rub Rub shower scrub, and a 0.2oz pot each of Lemony Flutter cuticle butter and Gorgeous moisturizer. I've already enjoyed the bubble bar and the bath bomb, and am slowly starting to make my way through the other products as well. Thanks Steph!

.  source  .

Would you believe that I only owned one face brush that I actually liked? I wanted to get a higher quality brush that would work for bronzer/blush, or just all-over the face for blending. This Eco Tools face brush is super fluffy and gentle on my skin:

In other beauty-related acquisitions, here's a bunch of stuff for me to play with:

1. Benefit Hello Flawless sample trio - a sample from Sephora that was included in a recent purchase (#7), this includes the Stay Flawless primer, Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow brightening sunscreen makeup, and the Hello Flawless power cover-up. I have no idea how to use any of these yet, but... someday an opportunity will present itself to figure it all out.

2. Clinique Acne Solutions Clinical Clearing Gel - also a sample from that same Sephora purchase. Has anyone tried this gel before? Let me know!

3. Aesop Parsley Seed Cleaning Masque samples. To warm up one chilly evening, Kara and I popped into the Aesop store on Newbury St and were immediately given 100% of the attention of the lone store clerk. She gave us each a bunch of samples, and the 3 packets she gave me will be enough for one face mask. This one is a "perfectly formulated clay-based masque containing parsley seed and rosehip seed extracts. Suited to most skin types, this masque removes impurities and refreshes the skin." WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT.

4. ESCADA Joyful perfume - again, a sample from Sephora. The very accurate description of this scent: "ESCADA Joyful is inspired by positivity and a joyful spirit. The luminous scent embodies the beauty of a bouquet of flowers. Bright, fresh blooms of jubilant pink peony release a sense of elation. Juicy blackcurrant sorbet adds a cooling top, and the warmth of honeycomb and sandalwood give depth to the floral notes. The fragrance embodies beauty and confidence and invites you to experience each day filled with joy and positivity." Sidebar, you've got to check out the gorgeous bottle that the full-size version comes in!

5. Full Lash Bloom mascara from Covergirl. This isn't something that normally happens to me, but I saw a beauty guru wearing this in a YouTube video and immediately wanted to know what mascara she was wearing. What struck me about the mascara was that her lashes looked soft and touchable - not hard or crispy. Imagine my surprise when that actually ended up being the chief claim that Covergirl makes about this mascara!

"With Full Lash Bloom Mascara, get exceptional lash fullness that’s soft - even to the touch. With our new petal-shaped brush and mousse formula with natural beeswax, lashes are never stiff or brittle."

It's not a thick lash, it's not a super lengthened lash, it's not a dramatic lash... but it's a nice, soft, everyday kind of lash.

6. Benefit Roller Lash mascara - I got this as a 100-point VIB present to myself upon checkout for #7. This mascara claims to have an exciting "Hook 'n Roll" brush that "catches, lifts and curls." I love trying out new mascaras, and since my go-tos are usually drugstore brands, it's always exciting for me to try the higher-end stuff, too. I won't be opening this up till my current mascaras are done, but it's something to look forward to!

7. Shiseido Ibuki Multi-Solution Gel - this was the reason I was making that big purchase from Sephora in the first place. My face has been hurtin' for certain, for the last several months. If I could put a bag over my head, I would. I've tried all sorts of things to calm down my breakouts, and this gel is just the latest in the string of attempts. It claims to be "a uniquely textured beauty gel that targets breakouts, roughness, and the look of visible pores for clearer, smoother, and more beautiful skin." So far... I just don't know! It does seem to be making the breakouts go away faster, but it's not preventing them yet... which would be really god-damn ideal. I've been using it for 2-3 weeks now, and am hoping that I can see some really amazing results soon. Otherwise... paper bag, for the win.

8.  Twisted Peppermint Sparkling Snowflake Scrub from Bath & Body Works. This isn't new, but I've been using it sparingly because it was a seasonal shower gel being sold back around Christmastime, and I can't bare the thought of running out. This sugary sweet peppermint scrub smells SO good that all I have to do is catch a faint waft of it to instantly feel happier. Sometimes I just pop open the cap and breathe it in, without even using it.

You know what else I've been loving? Game of Thrones. My golden goddess of a swan friend, Kate, gave me the first 3 seasons on a flashdrive back in early January, and I have been powering through them. What a good show! It's so exciting and SEXY all at once. I'm a little over halfway through Season 3, so now I'm fixing to get my hands on the 4th season, too.

Internet-wise, I've been loving Rap Genius. This is a lyrics/song interpretation website where I can get lost for hours at a time - especially if I'm educating myself on an entire album. One time I was going track-by-track through Kanye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and it took me 20 minutes to get through the first chorus of All of the Lights. I've most definitely always been a person who focuses on the lyrics of songs, and even as a young child I would re-listen to songs intently to decipher the lyrics. As an adult, the interest clearly hasn't left me. Thanks for stoking my verbal fires, Rap Genius!

Lastly, my friends, guys. My friends have been making me happy and making me smile. Thank you to everyone who hangs out with me or chats with me or leaves me comments every day/week. It's more important to me than you probably even realize!

Well I hope that I sufficiently Debbed you out at the beginning of this blog and then swooped in swiftly with buckets and buckets of joy to make up for it.

What have you been into that helps to keep you smiling? Any good shopping websites or places to buy workout gear or any fun new beauty/fashion finds to share with me?

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Mint with Envy Nails

It didn't occur to me until I was neck-deep in this mani that St. Patrick's Day is approaching and that I should have maybe waited a week or two to post an all-green nail polish look. But... calendars be damned, AMIRIGHT?!

With two coats of Envy by Sinful Colors on all nails but my ring fingernails, I set about using a pale, sparkly sage-mint polish for an accent nail. Upon realizing that the mint (Green Tea by LA Colors) was about as sheer as the day is long, I had to make a tweak to save my sanity. Applying 45 coats to reach opacity is simply out of the question for me, personally. Do what you will with your own time!

So instead, I used Beware by Pure Ice for a base polish - the best damn silver glitter polish there is. It's opaque enough after one coat, but you can work it up with another coat if you'd like. For this, I used one coat of Beware and then topped it with 2 coats of Green Tea. The effect was a cool minty-silver glitter... as you might have expected.

 

Tonight I have a sushi date at Sei Bar in Medford with my friend Steph and her friend Cris. The three of us have been doing a monthly sushi date together for the last few months, with each of us taking turns treating the others. Tonight is my turn! Sei Bar has some incredible sushi, so it's really a win-win of food and friends. We're actually planning on taking our order to-go this time, to bring it back to Cris' house for some more comfortable dining and chatting. Steph is even bringing along her adorable French bulldog puppy, Gertrude. (Who, by the way, has her own Instagram account - @omg_gertrude.)

Other than that, I have no real obligations or plans this weekend. Loosely on my to-do list is to clean my bathroom and then take a luxurious bubble bath, but maybe I'll also do something spontaneous like take a little day trip somewhere around New England.

What are you up to this weekend?
Tell me your go-to sushi order!
Whatcha rockin' on your nailseses?

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