Sparkly Grey Nails, A Health Update, and Weekend Plans

I did these nails yesterday so you know that they are 45% peeled off already right now. That's why I need to take pictures of my nails immediately after finishing them - otherwise they will simply not last.

This is two coats of China Glaze's Recycle on my pinky, middle and pointer fingers. My ring and thumb nails each have one coat of Recycle topped with one coat of Revlon's Diamond Texture, which is a really opaque, fine silver glitter with larger silver rounds mixed in. I was seriously shocked at how well this Revlon polish covers with just one coat. It does also have a slightly grainier texture to it when it dries.

In other news entirely, the appointment I had with the orthopedic doctor on Wednesday provided both questions and answers about my long-lasting neck/shoulder/arm pain. X-rays on my neck and spine showed what looks like a freaking bone spur on my lower neck, which has been wreaking havoc on the nerves in my whole left shoulder and arm. The doctor also said that my neck and spine were both very straight - like they had no curvature. I looked almost arthritic, which he said I was too young to be displaying. He even asked if I'd been in a car accident! What the actual heck! To answer that question - I was rear-ended in my car literally 10 years ago, but it wasn't something I considered to be a major accident at all. The person who hit me wasn't going that fast - we were entering a rotary in the center of Pittsfield. Could that accident really have set this bone spur in motion?? How would I even know for sure?

Regardless of what caused it, the good news is that it won't require anything invasive (surgery) to fix it. The doctor prescribed 6 weeks of physical therapy, which I will start next week. Hoozah! Maybe my arm will stop going numb soon!

On a way cooler note, I am really excited for my evening tonight and my afternoon tomorrow. Tonight, I'm driving down to Canton to my friend Stephanie's condo and we are going to hang out and have a sleepover! The last time we had a sleepover at her place, we watched a lightning storm, colored in Care Bears coloring books, and watched movies. Tonight we might go ice skating or see a movie, or maybe even color and watch movies again! I'm heading to Target this afternoon to see if they have any copies of Home Alone and Home Alone 2, and if so I'll bring those to Canton tonight as well.

Tomorrow morning Steph is actually hosting Craft Club #3 at her place, so we'll be joined around 11AM by some of our other girlfriends for an afternoon of making homemade holiday cards. I'll bring my camera along - OBVI - and make sure to report back on how it goes. Spoiler alert: It's going to go AWESOMELY.

What are you up to this weekend?
Anything sparkly or fancy festive on your nails today?
Do you send out holiday cards?

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Grey Nails with Sparkle Dust

Whooops, blogging has taken a backseat to getting my bedroom in order this week. Sawryyy.

It's been a month since I moved in, but the whole place is still a bit of a work in progress. Not only is my bedroom floor still sporting a thin layer of "random stuff" and lacking an actual bed frame for the mattress that's on the floor, but there's also no furniture in the living room or a dining room table (don't ask - I don't know why). The lack of a living room doesn't seem to bother my roommate, but personally I'm going to want to get to that sort of stuff sooner rather than later.

For now, I've already ordered a bed frame, which should be here in a week. Installing new curtain rods/curtains in my bedroom is also on the "next up" list, as well as putting up tonnns of pictures on my walls. In my unpacking, I discovered a stash of framed collages that I made over the last 6 years... and I'm thinking about trying to sell them. They're not all amazing, but several of them - UM - are. #DustsOffMyShoulders. Without any real sentimental attachment to them, there's no reason to hold onto them and let them collect dust, right? Right. So it's settled. I'm selling them.

Alright well enough of my rambling about the state of my bedroom. It's Nails Day!

Here's what I'm rocking this week:

Yup, definitely lookin' like fall around these parts nails. The cloudy, breezy weather called for something cloudy on my nails, so I went with 2 coats of Recycle by China Glaze, and used 3 coats of Urban Outfitters' Dust as an accent nail.

I did a whole post about Dust back when my blog first launched in the fall of 2012. You can go check that out here, especially if you love throwback nail polish blog posts featuring absolutely atrocious cuticles. Eek.

Tonight I've got a date with my cousin Catherine, who is going to come into the city to hit up a bar with me and shoot zee shit. Other than that, I don't have a single thing to do all weekend, except continue the work in my room. Eventually I'll post a bedroom tour here on the blog, because I'm pretty pleased with the way things are coming together.

What shenanigans will you be getting into this weekend?
Anyone else recently moved and trying to put their life bedroom back together?
What's on your nails? Share with me on Twitter or Instagram!

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Fierce Autumn Wedding Nails

Wulllll, I know it's not technically autumn yet, but the weather has definitely shifted in Boston this past week. It's become a bit chilly and cloudy, which - honestly - is fiiiiine by me. The humidity around here was making me want to cut a betch, so I'm certainly a better person to be around in the more fall-like temperatures.

Tomorrow evening I'm heading up to Marblehead, MA (a coastal town north of Boston) for the wedding of my friend Izzy and her fiancé Darren. The two of them live in NYC, and I've actually never met Darren before, so hopefully I'm able to snag at least a moment or two of his time to meet him officially! It's been quite awhile since I've seen Izzy too, so I'ma squeeze her fo sho.

Since it's practically fall, the color scheme for my wedding outfit was leaning on the darker side. Burgundy, to be exact. It's a really simple dress, but it's moderately flattering (errr... it was the last time I tried it on anyway - fingers crossed on that one) and is easily dressed up with some accessories. Some of those accessories include two thin leopard print belts to go around my natural waist, which is where these fierce autumn wedding nails come in!

Not to toot my own horn, but... I think these came out pretty damn good. Here's what I used:

Goldie But Goodie by China Glaze, Case Study by Essie, and Raisin Rage and Stiletto - both by Revlon. Case Study hasn't been taken out for a spin in a DOG'S age. What was my problem?? This milky beige polish is awesome!

To start, I painted all of my nails 2 coats of Raisin Rage, except my ring finger, which got 2 coats of Case Study. Next I used Goldie But Goodie to place a few large spots around my accent nail. Using a toothpick dipped into Stiletto, I stippled some C's around the large spots of gold and also added a few smaller random spots around the nail.

You can find more of my leopard print nails here, though be forewarned that they are all pretty old posts:

• Silver Leopard Nails
• Neon Glitter Nails
• Patriotic Leopard Print Nails
• Pink Leopard Accent Nail
• Pink Leopard Print Nails

Speaking of weddings, don't forget that I've still got a re-cap coming up of the wedding that went down over Labor Day weekend. NEVER FORGET. Hopefully also some pictures and tales from Izzy's wedding as well!

What do you have planned this weekend? Anyone else attending a wedding? What will you rock on your nails?

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China Glaze's Recycle with Blue Glitter Tips

I've been feeling a little bit run down these last few days. Not "sick" exactly, just sort of achey and chilly. Also, there's been a really terrific mystery twitch happening in the middle of my forehead that's really been keeping things interesting... and has maybe been giving me a headache. I don't know what's going on with my body, but I think it needs a nap.

This morning I dropped David at the airport super freaking early because he's taking a mini trip to Massachusetts for the whole weekend. He'll be back on Monday night, so I have the apartment to myself for the next several days. And you know what that means. Disney movie marathon all weekend! No, seriously. Probably.

Anycrap - nails! I didn't know what to do on my nails this week, so this is a really spontaneous combination.

I used China Glaze's Recycle and layered it with a blue and silver glitter from Forever21's Love & Beauty line (which I featured here).

I tried to do a "glitter fade" effect by doing an initial light coat of glitter about halfway down my nail, and then going in with a heavier second coat on just the tips of my nails.

What do you have planned this weekend?

What's your favorite Disney movie?

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Beauty Buzz, and What I'm Loving Fridays}

Christmas Ornament Nails

The inspiration for today's holiday nails came from a DIY project from YouTube's Ingrid Nilsen (aka Missglamorazzi). She's been doing a #DIYDecember series, with a new project everyday. One of her first projects of the month was DIY holiday cards. Both of her two card designs were adorable...

... and immediately needed to be on my nails. So! Here's my version of her Christmas ornaments design, using my nails as a canvas:

For colors I used China Glaze's Goldie But Goodie, Sinful Colors' Snow Me White, NYC's High Line Green (a birthday present from my sister - thanks Mal!), and Milani's Ruby Jewels:

Yes, that's a Sharpie.

Goldie But Goodie was actually one of the polishes in my swag bag at the #blogvancity event back in September, and it's a bit embarrassing for me to admit not trying it before now. Geez - what was I waiting for? This polish is gorgeous!

Ruby Jewels takes a few coats to be opaque, but it's totally worth it because that color is one of my favorites in my whole collection. (And for the amount of polish I own, I think that says a lot.) If you love sparkly red polishes for the holiday season, I highly recommend Ruby Jewels.

Drawing those black Sharpie lines wasn't that easy, as you can probably tell... but I kind of like the hand-drawn/imperfect look of it in the end.

I can't wait to use Goldie But Goodie again - what a gem that turned out to be. The fact that it was given to me for free is pretty cool, too. 

Do you have any fun holiday-related plans this weekend? I'm hoping to see some Christmas lights, drink some hot chocolate, and maybe go buy some snowshoes for the mini pre-Christmas vacation to Whistler that we're taking on Monday!

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{Linking up with The Nail Files and What I'm Loving Fridays}

Revlon Nail Art 3D Jewel Appliqués

In mid-September I attended a fun blogger event in Vancouver called Blog and the (Van)City, also known by its less formal title, #blogvancity. I showed you the excellent bag of swag that came home with me from the event in this blog.

One of the items in the bag-o-swag was a little kit of 3D Jewel Appliqués from Revlon. (So yes, I did get this product for free, but all thoughts are MINE. ALL MIIIIINE!!!! MUAHAHAHA!!)

These Revlon by Marchesa 3D Jewel Appliqués are in the style "Evening Garnet," and they come in a kit with 18 stickers (I'm going to stop calling them appliqués now because I'm really not classy enough to pull it off)...

.  minus the one i used  .

... As well as a mini nail file and a plastic pressing tool to help with the application process:

So as you might suspect, you choose which nail art sticker is the best size for each nail, peel it off, and stick it onto your nail.  Use the pressing tool to smooth it down onto the entire surface of your nail, making sure to press down around the edges to really stick it on there well! Then use the mini filer to file the excess sticker length from the tip of your nail

I decided to do just one accent nail on each hand using these appliqués (oops, I said it again). Since my nails are pretty small, I was actually able to use just one sticker for both of the accent nails.

However, because my nails are so small, most of this pack of stickers is not really going to work for me! I need more of the smaller ones and fewer of the larger ones... or I just need them to scale down the entire pack.

It would be amazing if someday nail sticker manufacturers could make boxes of them in different sizes, so that you could choose small, medium, or large. Because hey, some of us are circus freaks with tiny hands.

On all my other nails I used a China Glaze polish that was also part of my #blogvancity swag bag - Kiss My Glass from the Fall 2013 line from CG. It's a dark, slate sort of blue with a slightly silvery sheen. My nails are still "recovering" from the extreme nail filing I gave them last week, so the brush of the CG polish was a little overwhelming (read: large) for my tiny little nails. The polish got EVERYWHERE when I was applying it; I felt like a preschooler trying to paint my nails. #Oy.

So now for my actual thoughts about these Revlon by Marchesa 3D Jewel Appliqués, after wearing them for most of a day. Yep, it only took that long to form some thoughts. They're cute, easy to apply, and I kind of like the bumpy texture on top of my nail. The end of my nail (where I'd filed off the excess sticker) was a bit rough and was catching on things a little bit, but nothing major. The real "issue" was that I took a shower later in the day and one of the stickers popped right off! I didn't even notice for another 20 minutes or so afterwards, when I looked down and noticed that the accent nail on my right hand was totally naked. So I guess you should wear these after your daily shower for best results.

What do you think of the jewel appliqué look? Will you be trying out this Revlon 3D nail art sticker line?

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{Linking up with The Nail Files, Friday's Fab Favorites,  What I'm Loving Fridays, Friday's Five} 

My First Blogger Event: Blog and the (Van)City

I started blogging almost a year ago and have felt for a long time like I wanted to be part of a blogging community here in Vancouver. I knew there were other Vancouver bloggers around - this is a pretty big and happening city, after all - but I couldn't fiiiind them. Where the heck was everybody?? #OllyOllyOxenFree!!

So when a month ago I caught wind of the #blogvancity hashtag that was popping up on Twitter (thanks to the retweet account @Vancouver_rt), I was excited and curious. What the heck was #blogvancity? How could I be a part of it? Well I had no idea, but the September 14th event went straight onto my calendar anyway.

After a few weeks and plenty of tweets exchanged with two of the event organizers, Sheila and Jordana, I received my invite for the event, formally called Blog and the (Van)City. Here's a bit of the event description:

"Blog and the (Van)City is a mini-conference designed to build a community of fashion and beauty bloggers that will support and learn from each other."

Yup, sounded like exactly what I had been looking for!

Before continuing, I should point out that I don't really classify myself as a "beauty blogger." In fact, it's quite hard for me to classify myself as anything, given that I blog about nail polish, food, hiking, mountains, restaurants, thrift shopping, workouts, music, Vancouver, my travels, and just about any other random thing I feel like posting. But I do post a nail polish blog every Friday, which technically makes about 1/4 of my content "beauty" content. Thus, here I was on the guest list for a beauty and fashion blogger event. ;)

So last Friday afternoon (Friday the 13th... ooooh spooky) I had the idea to make my own business cards for the event - and that's how I spent my Friday night and Saturday morning:

.  biznasssss cards  .

On Saturday early afternoon, I headed to Burnaby to Metropolis at Metrotown, where Blog and the (Van)City was being held in the Sears Community Room.

And here is what I very hastily applied to my nails on my way out the door to the event - China Glaze's Recycle, with a couple coats of Love & Beauty's Crystal Silver on my ring finger for some extra sass:

.  literally took this pic in the car on the way to metrotown  .

I arrived to a room full of fabulous looking ladies milling around, as well as a spread of sushi, fruit, veggies, lemon squares, sparkling apple cider and soda:

.  fewd and treats  .

There was also a Lush demo table set up, with both Ocean Salt and their Rose Jam shower gel being demo'd by some friendly Lush employees. (Sidebar - is anyone else certain that there is no nicer person on the planet than a Lush employee?? They're consistently amazing humans.) There was also a variety of Lush products available for sale there - like bath bombs, soaps, massage bars, and lotions.

.  lush brings all the boys to the yard  .

I met about 20-25 other bloggers before hearing from the panel of experts who answered all of our questions about how to work with brands or companies, how to maintain a blogging schedule, and what to do when we run out of ideas!

The panel members included:

• Cynnamon Schreinert - Associate at Hartley PR, who was there on behalf of Hartley PR's client, London Drugs
• Brandi Halls - Director, Brand Communications, Lush North America
• Sarah Murray - Style Director, Fashion Capsule Communications (a PR agency for local fashion boutiques)
• Alison Leong - local blogger at Alison-Elle.com
• Jordana - local blogger at JustJ.ca

It was a really valuable Q&A session - everyone had fascinating questions and ideas, and it was good to hear advice about keeping a blogging schedule or the best way to approach a brand about sponsoring posts. I also learned some new tricks about how to alert a brand that you've written about them. I've already begun to put some of this new knowledge to use, so the event was definitely beneficial for me.

On top of learning a lot about "professional" blogging, meeting a ton of other Vancouver bloggers was seriously just what I needed. I already feel more like a part of a community - several of us have been tweeting with each other this past week and getting familiar with each other's blogs. At the end of this blog, I'll include a list of all the bloggers (and vloggers!) that were in attendance at the event, so YOU can check them out too!

Before we all left for the afternoon, we were completely showered with swag. This was my first blogging event, so swag is definitely new to me. I... didn't mind it. Here's the rundown on the gewdies:

Nail polish duos from China Glaze's Fall 2013 Autumn Nights Collection, c/o Nail Polish Canada: 

.  yesssss  .

And a whole buttload of Revlon, Almay, Marcelle, and Annabelle products:

My swag bag contents:

.  ALL MINE  .

Products included:

• Pink-A-Boo Eyeshadow Quad from Annabelle
• Revlon Crazy Shine Nail Buffer
• 3 pots of Almay Eye Makeup Remover
• China Glaze - Kiss My Glass
• China Glaze - Goldie But Goodie
• Marcelle DD Cream (really excited to try this!)
• Revlon Colorstay Smoky Shadow Stick (w/ bonus Liquid Eye Pen)
• Revlon by Marchesa Nail Art 3D Jewel Appliques
• Revlon ColorBurst lip gloss in Sunbaked
• Double Precision Liquid Eyeliner Pen from Marcelle (double-ended with a thinner eyeliner tip on one end and a thicker tip on the other end)
• 2 Anabelle Retractable Eyeliners - One in Jet Black and one in Twilight (greyish purple)
• Marcelle Waterproofing Mascara Top Coat (never even heard of such a thing!)
• Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Suede lipstick in the shade Runway
• Revlon File 'n Peel 6-in-1 Nail File (you peel away old layers to reveal new ones as needed)
• Alchemy eyeshadow trio from Annabelle
• Revlon Chalkboard Nail Art
• Almay Longwear & Waterproof Gentle Eye Makeup Remover
• 15% off coupon for Jukeboxprint.com (where I can print real business cards)
• There's also a little square blush quad but it doesn't have any brand name on it at all, so I don't know what it's called or who it was made by!

In upcoming posts, I'll write more about individual products that I'm using/enjoying out of all this swag. The nail products are the most exciting for me, as you can imagine. But I've also been trying out the makeup removers and the lip products, and am totally intrigued by the whole idea of a DD cream...

One of the cooler parts of this entire experience was seeing my blog name in writing:

Hopefully there will be another blogger event with this group of ladies in the not-so-distant future. Even if there isn't an organized event soon, I hope to be able to meet up in Vancouver with some of the ladies I met and do some shopping or spend some blogging time together in a coffee shop.

Sidebar - I just added Google Friend Connect to the right column of my blog (um, weren't they supposed to be doing away with GFC back in July?), so if you aren't following me there yet please do connect and add me to your reader reel :) You can also follow me on Bloglovin by clicking the button at the bottom of this post.

Oh and thank you to Raine over at Spuddy Buddies for the kind words and shoutout in your Blogs I'm Loving post on Friday. It was a very nice thing for me to read, and I really appreciate your taking the time to read my blogs... That last bit goes for all of you who have made it to this line. ;)

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{Linking up with Miscellany Mondays and Tell Us Tuesday}

The other #blogvancity bloggers/vloggers:

Alison -http://www.alison-elle.com

Amy -http://eyeshadowaddict.squarespace.com

Angela - http://dowantmakeup.ca

Ania - http://www.youtube.com/user/annabellesmakeup

Ashley- http://makeupkismet.blogspot.ca/

Carolyn -https://www.youtube.com/makeitupcanada

Denise - http://www.denisechavez.com/

Jayne - http://www.cosmeticproof.com/

Jenelle - http://www.kittenonthecatwalk.com

Jordana - http://justj.ca

Lauren - http://www.youtube.com/makinguplauren

Li Lian - http://shortwidenails.blogspot.ca/

Lydia - http://www.perfectlyimperfectbeauty.com/

Mikayla - http://www.youtube.com/user/MissMikaylaG

Nina - http://www.ninaonthemoon.com/

Rosie - http://style-love.blogspot.ca/

Sarah - http://cooperscloset11.blogspot.ca

Sellina - http://www.thelookoutblog.com

Sheila - http://maddyloves.com

Viv - http://lifeinthecity.pixnet.net/blog

Whitney - http://macaronsandmischief.com

Favorite Fall Nail Polishes

As mentioned last week, I really enjoy collecting nail polishes and painting my nails. Fingernails are like ten tiny little canvases, as far as I'm concerned, and painting them actually makes a fun creative outlet. I don't always feel like I've got time for a full-on craft project, and painting my nails is a less time-consuming way to feel artistic. 

Pair my fondness for craftiness with my compulsion to peel the polish off of my nails almost immediately, and you're looking at a pretty serious need for a large nail polish collection.

That said, this blog will be about a combination of two of my favorite things: autumn and nail polish. 

Below is my line up of nail polishes that I love this fall. I know there are some pretty "major players" missing from this list (I'm lookin' at you, Lincoln Park After Dark), but these are just the ones that I happen to love and (in most cases) own.

.   outlined below, from left to right  .

Essie - A List:  A darker red (not a darrrrk red, but a darkER red). It's more of a cherry than it comes across in pictures.

Ruby Kisses - Fuzzy Navel: The color I think of when I hear the phrase "blood orange." Definitely a "New England foliage" type of bright red-orange.

NK Nail Enamel - Vibrant Orange/Milani - Metallic Mango (these two colors are pretty much dupes for one another):  A rusty, citrusy tangerine with golden yellow shimmer.

China Glaze - Heart of Africa: A dark merlot with a fine red shimmer.

Essie - Sew Psyched: A "brighter-than-army green" earthy green. Have you ever smelled the Gap perfume/candle "Grass"? Sew Psyched reminds me of that scent.

Sinful Colors - Rain Storm: The name is very appropriate - this is a "stormy day" blue with a greyish/greenish undertone.

Orly - Bailamos: Let the rhythm take you (and your fingernails) over. This is a rich, jewel-tone turquoise that's perfect for fall.

Orly - Mysterious Curse: A holographic, oil-spill, galaxy-esque purple/blue polish.

Sally Hansen - Luminous Tulip: A mashup of dark pink and lilac purple with blue undertones and gorgeous flecks that catch the light. It's a great way to wear something pink in the fall, b/c it looks good even against (perhaps especially against) paler skin.

Essie - Mochacino: Yum-my. A light, earthy brown with fine silver flecks. Combines my love of light brown with my love of silver!

<< Orly - Buried Treasure: A shimmery bronze, perfect for fall metallics lovers.

>> China Glaze - Desert Sun:  A mustardy, brownish yellow. I don't actually own this one... yet! I've been on the hunt for it but haven't been able to locate it in a store. The color is very "fall" but a little bold for me to wear in an article of clothing - I can't picture myself getting much use out of a "desert sun" shade of jeans, for example, but in a nail polish it's the perfect splash of fall!

What are your favorite fall nail polishes? Did any of your favorites make this list? Do you not give a crap about nail polish? Let me know!