Ramblings of The Hyper Monkey

My nails say HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011-12-31T17:38:00.002-06:00

Fingerpaints Easel Come, Easel Go! with Wet n Wild Party of Five Glitters over. Sparkle-fied!

Ahh, blogging

2011-11-01T05:19:00.000-05:00

Haven't blogged here since before I left Iowa (see other blog for THAT crazy).....Time for an update!

Pretty much a nail update, since I've started doing actual manicures again. Didn't care much for a bit and then with with move, no time or space to do so!

First, my volcano-like nubs. ChG Red Stallion (now one of my go-to reds) and OPI Silver Shatter. I like this combo a lot:

My first Halloween-y like nail 'do. Pure Ice Electric with a Fantasy Makers Magical accent. Originally I wanted to do a marble nail as an accent, but that was a giant fail.

Er, not Halloween. I was in the mood for green! ChG Mistletoe Kisses. iPhone pic because I never think of pics until I'm nowhere near my real camera

More Halloween-y again. Did 4 coats for opaqueness and hello chip city! This lasted for about 2 days before a hunk went missing from my thumb. I think I'll layer it next time so that doesn't happen. OPI Extra-Va-Vaganza

Nail slacker

2011-06-29T18:46:00.000-05:00

Painting my nails just seems like so much work lately, even though I crave the end result. I can't say that I don't enjoy staring at the purple that currently adorns them......

ChG Senorita Bonita. 3 coats, though I was tempted to do a 4th because of the sheerness of the polish. It's got a hint of blue shimmer in it too, though it's hard to see.

My last mani, from a few weeks ago. I wanted to do a bright sparkly color for Pride weekend and my Garden excursion. This is 3 coats of Lime Light, from Nina Ultra Pro, with 2 of ChG Candy Apple on top. That many coats made it chip-tastic by the second day. Oh well, it sparkled while it could!

Emo phase gone, GETMEOUTOFHERE phase beginning

2011-06-29T18:42:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I'm moving. FINALLY to where I've wanted to live since I was a kid. Will it still be my dream home in a year? Who knows, but I have to try. My life is stagnant and I'm not getting any younger, so sitting here watching the years go by, every year with no changes, just isn't cutting it anymore. Time to shake the bottle a bit!

Starting here:

Ending here:

Gosh, how ever will I survive......

Blargle.

2011-05-29T04:06:00.000-05:00

This is Carrie:

This is Carrie on emo:

That is all.

Kimono me please!

2011-05-02T22:29:00.000-05:00

It turns out I was horribly wrong in thinking that this style was uber-unflattering on me. I really like this and don't think it makes me look pregnant or obese! Super comfy and I can't wait till the weather actually realizes it should be warm out so I can wear it. I also got the small in this, normally a size unheard of for my chest.

Mossimo at Target (only available online that I'm aware of, at least in my area):
Mossimo Kimono Dress, $24.99

A slacker's smorgasbord

2011-05-02T22:24:00.000-05:00

I've been too lazy to upload more pics, so here ya go, in blobular fashion, some recent manis.

OPI Teenage Dream, aka, DISCO BALL TOES!

An awesome neutral holo in the OPI DS series...This one is Classic:

Who doesn't love a good flakie? Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure is especially awesome over a lighter blue, in this case, ChG Bahamian Escape:

This was inspired, and perfect for my viewing of African Cats! ChG GR8 under OPI Black Shatter:

And the current nails, ChG 3D Fantasy, from the Tronica collection. It's definitely a holo, but not on the grand scale nail peeps are used to. Still very pretty and sparkly though!

And in the shade, much truer to it's actual tone:

Halloween, Schmalloween

2011-04-10T00:51:00.000-05:00

This is from China Glaze's last Halloween collection, and even though it's well past the holiday (like that'd stop me from wearing a polish anyway), it's still awesome. This is 3 coats, which sadly, started chipping today, 2 days after I applied the stuff. Oh well.

Actually a dark purple base too, not black like it looks!

Why remove when you can revamp?

2011-04-04T20:14:00.000-05:00

The OPI was starting to get scratches, tip wear, etc., and instead of removing the color entirely, my lazy self decided to just revamp. Added Pure Ice Heartbreaker to give it a new look!

My nails like yoga too.

2011-04-01T21:32:00.001-05:00

OPI Yoga-Ta Get This Blue....GORGEOUS! I'm a sucker for blues though :) 3 coats out of habit, but I probably could've gotten away with only 2. Forgive my cuticles too, since instead of nail biting, that's my bad nail habit.

Kind of sun, sparklicious!:

Cloud cover, but still a really pretty deep blue. You can still see the particles of shimmer, even if they're not shimmering under the no-sun-ness:

Unplugging

2011-03-28T13:59:00.000-05:00

Lately I've been turning off my phone all the way, something I almost never do because of a little thing I like to call "iPhone Addiction" (or more specifically Text Addiction). I stalk my phone about 16 hours a day. I'd do it 24 hours, but apparently sleep is a necessity or something.....though I have had dreams of getting text messages, so I guess I'm stalking it in my sleep too.

Anywho, finding myself being a little too concerned if I have a text or not, this is the only way to regain some phone sanity. We'll call it phone jail.

I'll still be reachable via Facebook, since that's is one addiction I can't crack yet.....

A 2-fer

2011-03-19T14:47:00.001-05:00

2 recent manis, both sparkly!

Sephora by OPI What's Your Point-settia? Gorgeous deep red with red & gold fine glitter......Wish I'd been able to take a better pic of this one!

The current mani, ChG OMG as a base, OPI Teenage Dream (Katy Perry collection) on top. 2 coats of each. I'm a sucker for a disco ball nail, so I'm really happy with this one. You can totally see the rainbow-y-ness of the TD!

Like totally, fer sure!

2011-03-03T21:30:00.000-06:00

Who doesn't love a good theme party?? The annual 80s party at my fave bar, Cafe Beaudelaire, was last night. Much dancing occurred, much radical 80s gear was worn.

First, some accessories prep

Gotta make sure they're worn correctly!

Now, the hair

Ta-da!

The whole look

Sadly, the only pic I took the whole night. Me and a couple of friends

And of course I had to do my nails 80s style! This is ChG Solar Power, 3 coats.

Dirty.

2011-02-27T16:05:00.000-06:00

Misa Dirty Sexy Money....Much to my surprise, this only took 2 coats to meet my opaqueness perfection standards!

This is what happens when I leave the house....

2011-02-20T13:58:00.001-06:00

.....and go anywhere that sells nail polish.

From L-R, top row:

Milani Purple Gleam (Rockstar Heavy Glitter collection)
OPI Black Shatter (Serena Williams collection)
OPI Simply Smash-ing! (Serena Williams collection)
OPI It's Totally Fort Worth It (Texas Collection)
OPI Teenage Dream (Katy Perry collection)
Sephora by OPI Studs & Stilettos
Sephora by OPI Hell To the No (Glee collection)

From L-R, bottom row:

Milani Blue Flash (Rockstar Heavy Glitter collection)
Sinful Mint Apple
Sinful Social Ladder (this one didn't capture the pink shimmer of the color)
Sinful Show Me White
China Glaze Knotty (Anchors Away collection)
Wet 'n Wild Party of Five Glitters
Milani Silver Dazzle (Rockstar Heavy Glitter collection)

I'm Shattered

2011-02-20T13:45:00.000-06:00

Had to get this, being a polish freak and all. It didn't "shatter" quite like I expected or wanted it too, but I still like the final effect. This is over Ulta Capri Coral. I really wanted a bright color peeking out from the Shatter, so this worked well.

Ahh vacation

2011-02-16T00:13:00.000-06:00

I went, I unfortunately came back. I did a 51 degree temperature change in 3.5 hours, which quite frankly, sucked. I came back to the aftermath of Snowmaggedon, so it was a harsh slap back to reality.

Anywho, I'll focus on the good part, in pics!

Somewhere near Malibu....Gorgeous view, Pacific in the background

Zuma Beach, Malibu. Really warm day for SoCal, so it was the perfect time to be on the beach!

Ahhh, feet in the sand, in January. Obviously, this is impossible in Iowa.

While my feet were a tad cold, I didn't care. They weren't going to be able to be worn again for another few months still!

Sadness, leaving. Goodbye LA.....

Seriously? I know you had to be up at the crack of dawn for the 7am flight, and you want to be comfy, but really??

Back into the white hole I go.

All in all, a great trip. Had a great week, just being with people I liked, not being in Iowa, and having a break from work. Hopefully, I'll be able to head back this summer! While coming back made me a little depressed, it also made me extremely motivated to move, so I'm now doing some learnin' to help with that. May I only be here for another year.....

Hooray!

2011-01-18T23:21:00.000-06:00

I leave the tundra in a week, for a week's escape. Who wants to handle the dirty task of dragging me, kicking and screaming, back onto the plane when I have to return?

From this:

to this:

Actually, who says I NEED to come back?........

I find nail polish anywhere

2010-12-15T15:18:00.000-06:00

That includes Aerie! I love the store anyway, but when I saw they carried a small selection of Essie-For-Aerie polishes, I knew it was love. This one is Aerie Curve, a Barbie pink that has a super fine silver shimmer in it. The shimmer is hard to see when it's on the nail, but it's there.

Captured the shimmer in the bottle:

Who doesn't love holo??

2010-12-15T15:16:00.000-06:00

ChG Fairy Dust is such a great topcoat. I use it to spruce up old manis when I'm too lazy to entirely change them, or I use it on polishes that I know will bubble on me. The base color is ChG Seduce Me, and like most cremes & jellies, it bubbled, so FD came to the rescue! This is 3 coats of Seduce Me, 1 of Fairy Dust, and then SV on top. Oh, and Gelous as my base.

You have died of dysentery.

2010-12-15T15:14:00.000-06:00

ChG Wagon trail....I only had my iPhone with me to take a pic when the sun finally decided to come out. Not the best pic, but it at least shows the olive green-y-ness of the color:

A shade pic, where you can see the shimmer particles:

Corpse nails

2010-12-05T16:14:00.000-06:00

Gray is one of my fave clothing colors and I love it on nails too. This is Color Club Wild Orchid, and it's gray, but it's got a very slight bluish tinge and also silver microglitter for added bling. This is 3 coats, as usual, with Gelous as my base and SV as the topper.

A sun pic to start, since the dear sun made an appearance today.

You can really see the microglitter in the shade pic though.

Blue. Glitter. Can't go wrong!

2010-12-05T16:10:00.001-06:00

I'm a huge fan of blue and glitter, so really, it was known immediately that I had to have this polish. It's an OPI for Sephora color, Midnight Mambo. This is 3 coats, though it would've been fine in 2 (I'm just a habitual 3-coater). One coat of SV to top it off and Gelous as my base coat. (Side note: Love Gelous!!).

Pretty even in the shade.

Being as it's now basically winter, the sun has died. You can see a hint of the rainbow sparkle in this pic though!

Halloween, my favorite holiday!

2010-10-25T11:18:00.000-05:00

It's also fun for the nails! This is 2 coats of Sinful Black On Black with a coat of ChG Spellbound over that. SV for the topper of course! Ignore the ravaged fingers....I develop a biting & picking habit from time to time.

Starting to get back into the swing of things

2010-10-25T11:16:00.000-05:00

Took a polish hiatus for a bit, but I think I'm back now. This is Orly It's Not Rocket Science.....this was a 4 coater, but I'm used to that for sheer-er polishes. I don't like seeing my nail through the polish!

Heh, it's been awhile!

2010-09-11T00:43:00.000-05:00

I had solar nails on for about a month, and then spent a few weeks trying to get my nails in better shape for polish. They've mostly pulled through, so here's a new mani. This is ChG Red Stallion, with Essie Shorty Pants for the cyclone stripes. GO STATE!

OPI Cozu-Melted In the Sun

2010-07-15T03:59:00.000-05:00

Good paler peach color....perfect for summer and a tan! It truly comes to life in the sun, as the norm for a lot of polishes. This is 4 coats, plus 1 of Barielle Camo underneath and SV on top.

First a shade pic:

And now the sun. You can see the gold shimmer here:

The emptiness invades

2010-07-15T00:06:00.000-05:00

I love this apartment. I hate that I have to move out. It's becoming a ghost town in here!

Emptiness:

More emptiness:

Almost emptiness:

Definitely no emptiness here. This is the final frontier....(Hey, I made a rhyme!):

Hmm, what to post, what to post....

2010-07-03T01:18:00.001-05:00

Not much going on, or at least not anything exciting enough to blog about. My nails are taking a polish break, since work is too rough on them, and pretty much destroy every mani in a day anymore. I'm too irritated to do anything other than Barielle Camo on them now. Maybe I'll be persuaded to do color when my new Lippman polishes arrive at the end of the month ($47 total for both. Yipes. I'm insane).

EDIT: I lied. What IS going on in my life is that I currently live in chaos. I'm sorting and packing up my apartment, so that I can move back home for a year and work on getting my CC debt paid off. I'm losing some adult years here, but financially, this is best.

A pic to show my living chaos:

It's the glitter trifecta!

2010-06-10T20:25:00.001-05:00

I wanted something easy to do, but still fun, so I went with a glitter combo. This is one coat each of ChG Tinsel, Techno, and then Fairy Dust. The pics are similar, but I simply couldn't stop myself from trying to capture the glittery-ness!

Inside, with flash....holding Techno

Inside with artificial light, at the theater's concession stand, hehe. Hey, that lighting makes polish look awesome! Semi-hard to get it translated to pics though.

Outside, direct sunlight

Outside, natural light, in the shade

Mmmm, flashing colors

2010-05-31T17:37:00.000-05:00

I love a polish that looks one color, but flashes several. This is one of the new Sally Hansen HDs, Byte. Gorgeous pink that flashes blue in the shade. The application on this is awesome and goes on evenly, even on my horrifically ridged and uneven nails! The only downside is that it took 4 coats to get it this opaque, so you need patience to apply it.....or layer it over something for less hassle.

Direct sunlight, only doing the pink thing:

And in the shade, flashing blue. The blue tried to hide from the camera, but it got captured near the top of the bottle:

My toes wanted to have fun too!

2010-05-30T15:47:00.002-05:00

Decked these out in China Glaze Orange Knockout......somewhat planned to coordinate with the Hidden Treasure on my fingers.

Fish flakes!

2010-05-30T15:45:00.000-05:00

Thanks to a friend who said that's what this polish looked like, that's all I can think now. Just for shape though, as I love this! This is Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure layered over black. Fabulous iridescence and comment invoker!

Direct sunlight:

Partial sunlight. This REALLY shows off the way cool effect!

Yeah, well Who the Shrek Are You??

2010-05-24T22:24:00.000-05:00

This color is kind of ugly, but kind of awesome, all at the same time. I love it! From OPI's Shrek-themed collection. This is 3 coats. Application was kind of streaky and had some bald spots, but it didn't bubble on me like cremes always do, so I forgive the streaks.

A natural, non-sunlight pic, since the sun died for a week here:

Stupid spring.

2010-05-12T19:45:00.000-05:00

It killed the sun, and in turn, killed the ability to take stellar nail pics. I can get natural light ones, but the sun just works so much better!

On to my current nails though, China Glaze's Sky High-Top. This is from the Kicks collection and I am totally amazed at the application. I'm a habitual 3-coater and this only required 2 coats, even for my super analytical and perfectionist self. 2 thumbs up! It's got a great shimmer to it, but because of the lack of sun, it's hard to see most of the time. Still a great blue though, sun or no sun.

This is an indoor pic, in my quickly made "light box":

A natural light, but no sun pic:

Inside, with flash, so you can see the shimmer:

And finally, a bottle pic, with flash:

I went gnome hunting!

2010-05-10T01:52:00.000-05:00

And found the big poppa of all gnomes.....the world's largest concrete one!

Found 24 of George's cousins too :P Here's my 10 faves....Their names are in the corners and are my favorite part!:

Whoa, BRIGHT

2010-05-03T23:46:00.003-05:00

This is a Milani holo that captured my eye on a recent trip to Target. Like glitters, I'm a sucker for holos too. This particular color is one I found unique, at least for my polish collection. This is 4 coats, plus 1 of Seche.......It turned out a lot brighter than I thought it would! I really liked it though, and got several comments on it while I wore it.

I couldn't decide which pics to post or not post, so here's all of them. A plethora of lime, in varying lights. The pics with it appearing the most lime-y and neon-y are the truest to IRL color.
ETA: Apparently other polish bloggers had the same problem really capturing the true color, so it wasn't just me!:

We all know I'm a rainbow glitter person.

2010-05-03T23:28:00.000-05:00

So DUH, of course I had to have this one! This is Mahoganie, from the giant 50 polish collection from China Glaze. Love browns and and the rainbow glitter makes this one standout. My cuticles are kind of eh, but some photo editing helped them a little.

Nail and bottle pic, direct sunlight:

Nails only, direct sunlight:

Closeup of rainbow-y-ness, direct sunlight:

Natural light, but no sun:

It reigned purple

2010-04-14T23:26:00.000-05:00

You know, Wal-Mart doesn't always get the best rep, but one thing they do do well is nail polish! This is from the Pure Ice line they carry, a gorgeous purple with gold glitter infused into it.

A natural light, no sun pic:

Bottle pic, in the sun:

Sunlight pic:

Can't see the gold? Look closer:

Closer again you say?

Can ice cream portion control get any better or easier?

2010-04-07T00:03:00.000-05:00

I think not.

I'm being attacked.

2010-04-02T11:55:00.001-05:00

Allergies, I hate them. My apt. AC broke and the place got up to 90 degrees yesterday, so I opened the windows and turned on fans to get air moving. I also decided to leave the windows open overnight so I could cool the apt. down as much as possible by morning.

That was a bad idea.

M allergies kicked into high gear and massively attacked me at 5:30 am. With 4 Benadryl since that 5:30 am, they've finally started calming down. I guess it's time for me to start up my prescription pill, and I also have an appointment to get a 2nd one for a prescription nasal spray too. Gotta kill this as much as possible or I'll be miserable until October!

Darn you allergies (and thanks Dad, for passing on this lovely trait). Die, I say, DIE!

The leggings obsession continues!

2010-03-31T13:53:00.000-05:00

I was able to move this into warmer weather too, hehe....These are from Express, and right now are buy one, get one 50% off! Good thickness and not see-through at all all, as well as being super comfy. Gotta love an odd 73 degree day in March to be able to wear these.

My nails did a little world traveling

2010-03-31T00:18:00.002-05:00

To Hong Kong! Well, in color anyway.......This is Jade Is the New Black, from OPI's newest collection. Love this color! Nice and springy too. I'm just not thrilled that my camera refused to focus on the actual nails, leaving the pic not as crisp as I like it.

I have Stallion toes!

2010-03-25T03:03:00.000-05:00

ChG Red Stallion, for my first pedi of spring.....It's time to make the toes pretty, since they'll soon be visible to the world! 3 coats, 1 of SV. Small pics in case you have foot phobia. The first pic also features my favorite purple bunny toe separators, purchased from Old Navy many years ago, after Easter.

I've been Sueded.

2010-03-18T22:03:00.000-05:00

By OPI's Suzy Skiis in the Pyrenees of course :) This is 3 coats and even though the bottle says not to use a topcoat, I did anyway. I used a coat of ChG Matte Magic. My nails are horribly weak, and if the Suede has a higher chipping tendency than normal polish, I knew that without a top coat at all, they'd chip in about, oh, 3 hours. A top coat is pretty much a must for me with all polish. I don't think it affected the finish on my nails at all. In general, I love this polish.....the first nail was dry by the time I started on the second!

A sun pic:

I'm a domestic goddess

2010-03-13T14:52:00.000-06:00

Or at least my nails are! OPI for Sephora's Domestic Goddess. A creme, usually my least favorite of polish formulas (since my nails hate it for some reason), but this didn't apply too badly and with SV, bubbles were eradicated. This is 4 coats, plus one of SV. Super hard to get the correct purple-ness in a pic too, but the first & second pics are pretty accurate!

Born freeeeee, free as the wind blows

2010-03-11T16:19:00.000-06:00

Earlier this week:

Totally rad!

2010-03-06T17:21:00.000-06:00

The 80s returned for a night and I fully participated.....I remembered what I had worn as a kid and brought it all back to life!

The outfit. Those are dark pink acid wash jeans, FYI

The hair was done via a ton of teeny braids on wet hair the night before. I did manage to get my bangs sprayed up higher later in the night too. Blue eyeshadow made it's way into the night too.

Now, the better pics, and the final touch, the nails! I wanted a totally clashing color from the rest of the mostly coordinated outfit. This is 2 coats ChG Tree Hugger and 2 coats Claire's Jen Jen (1 coat SV on top).

It's not new, but I finally admit my addiction

2010-02-28T20:22:00.000-06:00

To the Starbucks Splash Sticks that is! I love these things...Best. Invention. Ever. Starbucks truly listened to its customers when they rolled these out almost 2 years go. My car console used to be the coffee collection zone; I can't tell you how many times that poor area of my car got covered in coffee (not always from splashing while driving though, I admit). These things ROCK! I have at least 31 or 32 of them right now and can't seem to stop getting yet another one when I go for a latte.

In action

I like rainbows.

2010-02-26T00:48:00.001-06:00

I think that's obvious, based on the background of my blog. I can't help it though, I love them! I'm sure part of it is because of my love of electronica, since they often go together.

The health insurance industry is a crock

2010-02-22T23:01:00.002-06:00

Thank you so much, Blue Cross Blue Shield/Wellmark, for having such a monopoly here in Iowa. Thanks to that, my premium is now going to be going up again, another $20/month. I really appreciate the crappy plan I have, with the $5500 deductible that I HAD to get in order to get my premium down to $135/month for my super healthy self (now $147 a month, soon to be $166 a month), that basically covers preventative and then major medical, with nothing in between. Oh, and no eye insurance of any kind. Let's hope I don't break a leg or have to use any hospital services anytime in my near future. Yeah, US healthcare is soooooooo FABULOUS.......

Holo AND iridescent make my day

2010-02-16T16:09:00.002-06:00

The OPI DS series polishes are always awesome, even the few that aren't holos. This one is no exception! It looks like a nice shimmery neutral in natural, non-sunlight, and then POW, it really comes alive in the sun.

The neutral-ness of natural, but non-sunlight, with:

The iridescent really shows up here, though it appears this only shows in the bottle, not on the nail:

The POW part, the holo-y goodness:

Closer you say?

Trance-ed out....

2010-02-14T03:25:00.004-06:00

Perhaps I've had a little too much, er, adult drinking entertainment tonight, but I just can't help but to post yet another blog post, solely due to my after-bar listening choices.

My love of electronica, or EDM (Electronic Dance Music) extends not just to simply a like, but to a love, a part of me. It's extremely hard to describe this to anyone who merely hears the genre as something to tolerate, or my favorite, something they can "listen to at a bar while drinking". For me it goes WAY beyond that. It encompasses my soul, my brain.....It takes over my internal self and I love it. It's not just music to me. It calms me down when I'm angry, it energizes me when i need a boost, it transports me to a happy place when I need that aspect of it too. Trance literally puts me into....well, a trance! Happy hardcore is the tied love (to trance)......it's as hyper as I am, which is why I love it. I need the crazy fast beats or the climatic progression of a lot of the trance, or I'm bored.

I'm fully engaged in the music when I'm listening to it and it's not merely something to distract my ears. My whole being is involved. I can only dream of finding people that are as mentally & emotionally involved into it like am. Here in Iowa, it's not likely. Not 100% not guaranteed, but I'm not holding my breath. I'd fall over and die if I did that.

Oh, and no, I don't listen to techno, the commonly and MISUSED term for the entire genre. EDM/Electronica is the umbrella term for all of it and from there, it breaks down into a lot of sub-genres (like techno, house, drums & bass, etc.), and from there, sub sub-genres (like trance breaking down into vocal trance, progressive trance, etc.)

The Case of the Cold Toes

2010-02-12T22:51:00.000-06:00

Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE to keep my apartment warm, like, 80 degrees warm (thank you free heat in apartments here). I'm usually good with that, but for some reason, my living room always makes me cold, even in that 80 degrees. In fact, my toes are freezing right now. I know, I know, the logical thing to do would be to put on socks or slippers, but my toes like to be free! This means that I basically suffer at home, on purpose sort of.

The real mystery though, is WHY I'm still cold at such a warm temp (well, warm for all other people). Am I just a freak of nature? (High possibility) Am I just too used to really warm conditions, that the slightest drop in them makes me cold instantly? (High possibility) Or are the living room windows not that insulated and therefore let the arctic air creep in? (Best possibility)

Honestly, I need out of the tundra, but I suppose for tonight I'll suck it up and put on the slippers to create an instant remedy. Though they might not remain on for long........

Sincerely,
The Rambling Monkey Who's Bored Out of Her Mind Tonight

"Out of Control"

2010-02-11T21:31:00.007-06:00

A fab song by Darude, by the way, and pretty descriptive of my life right now. With that, onwards to the "Out of Control"-ness that's happening......

Losing a job is tough for anyone, but when it’s actually a termination, it’s even tougher. Combine that with the current job market (unemployment not predicted to drop to normal levels until 2015), and it really just makes me want to crawl into a hole for awhile. No no, I didn’t do anything illegal or unethical; the termination was based on performance issues, but ones that I don’t agree with.

Unfortunately, it happened and now I have to deal with the aftermath. I’m finding the whole process not…..motivating. My self esteem has taken a huge blow and I now question my skills and whether or not I should even apply to the minimal amount of jobs available out there for what I know I can do. There’s also the interviewing process itself, and the inevitable question of “Why did you leave your last job?” I have my answer prepared for that, but what I’m not prepared for, or at least wasn’t for today’s interview, is the “What specific reasons do you think you were terminated for?” or similar. Threw me for a complete loop and I hope I didn’t bomb the whole interview with my hesitating and non-specific answer, but I really don’t know. This whole situation and process has been disheartening to say the least, so it’s hard to think positively.

I suppose I NOW have an answer for the further probing into my termination, for the next interview, but it’s too late for the past. I know the best thing to do is to try and look forward, and chalk it up to a learning experience, but again, the blow of the whole thing is somewhat of a block.

Overall, I hope that I can get past this and try to look at all of this as a new opportunity to do something new & better in life, maybe even something I actually want to do, and not just something that I CAN do and that pays the bills.

For anyone else that’s unemployed, and specifically in the same type of circumstances as me, good luck! Let’s hope there’s a clearing of the current turmoil in our lives and we move on.

Glitter. Rainbow. Heaven.

2010-01-29T18:56:00.004-06:00

OPI Mad As A Hatter, my own personal perfection in a polish, combining glitter and rainbow colors in one! This is 4 coats, with one coat of SV on top. It's going to be a task to remove later, but hopefully my pure acetone, felt, and foil will make it not so painful. Slightly Photoshopped to make my cuticles look not-so-raggedy!

Bottle pic first

Inside light, in my homemade light "box" and camera flash. This is right after I finished, so ignore the random bits of glitter still stuck to my fingers. Glitter always has a death grip!

Sunlight pic......The sun actually came out today!

Natural light, no sun

Super close-up....Look at the rainbow, sparkly goodness

Winter makes me blue

2010-01-22T00:22:00.004-06:00

So why not go with it and do my nails up the same! This is BB Couture Moon Over Manhattan. Application was a dream and the color is gorgeous! 3 coats of MOM and 1 of SV.

With flash, in normal fluorescent kitchen lighting:

With flash, in a homemade light "box" (pictured below). This is pretty accurate of the color:

A bottle pic; This does have a super fine silver glitter in it!

And the homemade light box. This isn't a proper one, but it'll do until I can build myself that proper one. It'll also work until the sun decides to come out, something it does on a VERY rare basis here during winter:

I've become a leggings fiend

2010-01-18T22:47:00.000-06:00

After initially bashing the look, I've become a leggings lover. I can't help it. They're comfy and I like the close-to-the-body feeling.

The ones I have and love are from Aerie (currently OOS in most sizes unfortunately), but you can get them here: Aerie Leggings

Here's a handful of recent outfits I've done with them!

I finally figured out that I need to ZOOM on objects for clear pics!

2010-01-18T21:20:00.001-06:00

And I learned it in time to get good pics of a fave color, China Glaze Emerald Sparkle! This is 3 coats of ES, 1 of Seche Vite. I'll just let the pics speak for themselves.

I'm a glitter fiend.

2010-01-08T20:34:00.001-06:00

I can't resist glitter and I especially can't resist blue, purple, or green glitters. This is a re-release from China Glaze, from the Wizard of Ooh Ahz collection (original collection came out in 2001, when I was not into polish at all)....This one is Dorothy Who, a blue base with blue & silver glitter:

A good pic of the general color:

Closeup for a blingier effect.

This pic really shows the particles of glitter, so you can see the silver better:

Well, it's Christmas Eve and that means I finally put up my tree!

2009-12-24T19:04:00.000-06:00

It's a 3-footer! Fake, of course, since I live in an apartment and real ones aren't allowed. Now, for pics!

Lights off:

Lights on:

My topper:

Random pics/closeups of ornaments:

George is not amused.

2009-12-07T20:54:00.002-06:00

He needs a winter coat.

Getting less & less amused by the time 12:30am rolled around:

He was REALLY not amused at 6:30am:

After Wednesday, he'll downright hate me!

Who doesn't love a purple holo?

2009-12-07T18:24:00.002-06:00

Color Club Wild At Heart......There was just not much sun this last week, so it was hard for me to get any pics of the holo in this. Still a gorgeous purple even when it's not holo-ing out!

An indoor, natural light pic:

My favorite Thanksgiving Game......

2009-11-28T04:15:00.000-06:00

...Find the Pumpkin Pie Under the Cool-Whip!

Sometimes, a mani just needs a revamp

2009-11-21T15:37:00.000-06:00

Took yesterday's Essie mani and revamped it, mostly because of air bubble problems that I couldn't stand anymore. This is a red shimmer from Markwins....1 coat of that, 1 coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat over it.

A closeup:

And a not-so-clear pic of natural light, no sun:

Gotta love promo polish!

2009-11-19T23:28:00.003-06:00

Pama Pomegranate Liquor teamed up with Essie and came up with this promo color, appropriately called Pama. It's a fab red!

I've gotten asked how I do such a perfect paint job, so I thought I'd take a couple of pics during the process. Mostly to show that I'm really not perfect, but that good cleanup skills are a major key in my manis!

First, this is the excess I get around my cuticles, which I remove with an orange stick (pictured) as I go:

Here's a hand after I'm done applying color and cleaning up with the orange stick:

This is after I've done SV...I remove excess SV the same way I do the polish. That usually removes a little more of the color too:

I also go around after SV is on & dried with my cuticle remover pen from Sephora, and then with a q-tip soaked in remover to get ALL of the excess gone. Here's the final product after all of that!:

It's definitely worth getting your actual painting skills down, but like I said, my major key is how I cleanup after!

Purple power!

2009-11-17T10:11:00.001-06:00

This color really is fabulous, but it's a problem child when it comes to trying to photograph the great shimmer in it. The shimmer really stands out in the bottle, but is much, much more subtle on the nail. Sally Hansen Mulberry Wine, from the Passport to Milan collection:

Trying to get a shimmer closeup on the nail...You'll have to look hard!

This was the best shot of the shimmer in the bottle, that I could get:

Reminds me of caramel

2009-11-17T10:04:00.000-06:00

OPI's Bronzed to Perfection, from the South Beach collection....It does make me think of summer, but right now it oozes fall, since it matches a lot of the leaves on the ground right now. Great caramel colored shade with some gold shimmer to make it pop more

Where's Carrie??

2009-11-02T11:54:00.001-06:00

Technically I was Wenda, Waldo's GF, but after hearing a bunch of "Waldo!" on Halloween night, I gave up on calling myself Wenda. Therefore, me, as Waldo! I also got a bunch of "I found you!" all night, which was amusing.

Annnnnd to keep up the charade, can you spot me?

Well, my nails are ready for Halloween....

2009-10-29T23:24:00.000-05:00

China Glaze Fortune Teller, a Sally's exclusive. Being the glitter ho that I am, I HAD to have this!

Sparkletastic! China Glaze Atlantis

2009-10-22T23:51:00.000-05:00

LOVE! This is one of the new ChG glitters (out of their new 50-polish collection). Such a great color and I'm not sure I've seen anything similar, so it's more unique too! This is 4 coats, which I often do with glitters to get it opaque & looking like the bottle (the reason I bought the color in the first place). Flash on 2 of the pics, no flash on one...No sun pics, since the sun has decided to hibernate here for awhile:

Ahhhh, the stash!

2009-10-22T19:54:00.000-05:00

So last January-ish, in 2008, I had about 20 polishes.

Then by the time May rolled around (still in 2008), I had this many, 68:

And now, I have 303. The polishes have started in on drawer number 4 of the Helmer. There are only 6 drawers total in the unit, so I'm over half full. Eeeep! :)

Nubar Peacock Feathers, a fave amongst the polish world

2009-10-09T17:25:00.004-05:00

This color is absolutely spectacular! Nubar does a lot of great duo-chromes, and this one is no exception....It's my only one from them, but it's enough to make me start a list of future purchases from them.

Pardon the cuticles, I hadn't oiled them up yet today!

Bottle pic, the perfect pic to show off all the colors in this polish:

Inside, kitchen light, totally blue:

Outside in the sun, still blue, but you can see the purple flecks if you look closely (I was unable to get a good full purple pic unfortunately!):

A blackened blue here:

All of the colors came out of hiding here, blue being the primary one again:

A spectacular, complete flash of green!:

Rollin' in red

2009-10-01T23:27:00.000-05:00

Love this! Wet 'n Wild Rockin' In Rubies.......This is a fiery red, definitely on the bright side. You can also totally see the gold flecks in the bottle, but they're non-existant on the nail (which made me a little sad).

The newest in hobo chic

2009-10-01T20:25:00.000-05:00

Because it was 68 degrees in the office and I couldn't feel my fingers. Ho-made too!

Mehendi, I love it!

2009-09-13T14:34:00.001-05:00

I got to be a friend's practice subject for the mehendi business she'd like to start, which was awesome! She did such a good job on it that I had to share!

And here's a pic today, after I brushed all the dried henna off:

Game day mani....GO STATE!

2009-09-11T11:45:00.000-05:00

Ahh, yes, the big Iowa/ISU game. It's pretty obvious who I'm for! The yellow is China Glaze Solar Power & OPI That's All Bright With Me and the red is Fingerpaints Red Marzipan.

Tattoo time!

2009-09-07T15:27:00.000-05:00

I often get asked about my tattoos, so I thought I'd post them and their explanations!

First one, this is my creative, crazy take on a symbol for energy (I thought it was a Wiccan symbol of energy, but I'm not finding anything that makes that true anymore. Heh.). It's all crazy & not symmetrical because I'm crazy and hyper :)...This is on my left front hip:

This one is technically part of the Millennium Force logo (coaster at Cedar Point). I worked at the park during the summer of 2000, and this is to symbolize that summer, as it was semi-life changing. I chose the MF logo because it also opened that summer AND it's my fave coaster ever. This is on my right shoulder:

This is my sign, Aquarius, because it fits me pretty damn well. This is on the back of my neck:

This is a palm tree....Mostly gotten just because I like palm trees, but a side meaning is that it symbolizes my love of warm weather. Obviously on the top of my foot:

And this is my monkey, my first tattoo. I like monkeys, so that's the only reasoning behind why I got this, lol. This is on my back left hip. Here's the original:

And here's the current version....The tattoo artist added some shading, etc. when I got it touched up last year!:

La, la, la, la, la, la, Smurf the whole day long

2009-08-28T19:24:00.000-05:00

It's time for blue nails! Love this....China Glaze Blue Sparrow. Fabulously blue & sparkly!

I have Wonder Womaaaaaaaaaaaan!

2009-08-18T22:31:00.000-05:00

Remember that dress? The one I was lusting over? IT'S ALL MINE NOW! A very kind person on a message board found it and kindly CPed it to me. Cost me about 1/4 of it's original cost! Now, ignore that I may have tied this incorrectly or am not wearing the proper undergarments or the not-so-fab pic quality, but here it is, the DVF Wonder Woman Diana in all it's rainbow fabulous glory! I may have started a new addiction though, which is bad, very bad...

It's pimpin' time!

2009-08-13T11:25:00.000-05:00

This bag was an accidental find at Old Navy...yes, you read that right, Old Navy. I've been dying for a gray bag for awhile now, and while I'd prefer real leather (Balenciaga *Drool*), I was in awe at how wonderful this faux version was. Enough that I waited a few days after seeing it, to buy it....I couldn't get it out of my head! So back I went and it's now mine.....$34.50, comes in this lighter gray, black, tan, and I *think* a navy and/or teal. I zoomed in on the gray, so I didn't pay much attention to what other colors it came in.

Here it is, just sitting on my couch, to give you an idea of the style and then the slouchiness:

Here's me holding it, to give you an idea of size (see my hand in left corner):
Now, here's a closeup of the material....Really, I'm completely impressed with how real it looks!:

I'm baaaaa-aaaack!

2009-08-12T21:39:00.000-05:00

My brain's been pretty focused on one thing the last few weeks and only that one thing:

I'm sad I had to leave..........Till next year!

ChG How About A Tumble?

2009-07-20T20:23:00.001-05:00

Holos are probably my fave formula for nail polish. They dry SUPER fast and hide mistakes well!

A sparkly mani - Pure Ice Electric

2009-07-06T19:41:00.001-05:00

I love dark nail polish, ESPECIALLY glittery dark nail polish! This is kind of my way of participating in the MJ funeral too (yes, I know, I know)

Happy 4th of July everyone!

2009-07-03T18:13:00.001-05:00

A holiday mani to celebrate :)

A miniscule tribute to MJ...

2009-06-29T18:29:00.000-05:00

....via my nails! Misa Sugar Daddy, with a drop of OPI Silver greetings on each ring finger (to represent his sparkly glove of course)

RIP, Man In the Mirror.....

2009-06-28T13:59:00.000-05:00

Shocking that he's gone.......I've definitely contributed to the spike in MJ iTunes activity, having downloaded 12 of his songs in the last 48 hours. May you have peace now Michael!

Dive into my world of nail polish....

2009-06-20T20:36:00.000-05:00

It's an obsession, I fully admit that, but it's a much cheaper obsession than say, handbags! I've decided to post the occasional polish picture, to give a visual to that obsession. My current mani is Claire's Yel, a fabulous blue glitter holo. Love!

I love awesome generous people

2009-06-03T19:09:00.000-05:00

So someone on a message board, somewhere in cyberspace (sorry, can't say where or there will be consequences), a very generous person offered to make me a ring. I had admired other ones she'd made and told her so, and next thing I know, I have a ring from her! I love it! It's very different from my usual plain silver bands, but that's why I like it.

I have embraced my inner hippie. Or Pocahontas

2009-04-20T22:06:00.000-05:00

I've developed this obsession for fringe sandals and this AE pair grabbed my attention. I'm sure I'll get some weird looks here in the middle of Iowa, but oh well, I like them! I just need to figure out how to wear them now....

She's here!

2009-04-08T22:12:00.000-05:00

Ahhhh, the beautiful new Macbook.....She's so smooth & sleek! I'm most impressed with the lack of constant plugged in-ness. It's really nice to not have to be tethered to the wall 100% of the time. I'm also impressed with the speed of the internet. Here I was, thinking that my connection was super crappy and making all sites take 5 years to load, when in reality, it was my dying iBook. I won't be able to fully play with the newbie till my super duper generous bro (thanks yet again Jason!) re-transfers my info. Something screwed up in the first go, potentially user error *Clears throat* The backlit keyboard is pretty cool too, allowing me to type in pitch black if needed.

It finally hit

2009-04-05T14:19:00.001-05:00

You know, that one last big snow storm of the year.....About the same time as last year's too. Not much fun to drive in though, since the roads & visibility are horrible & actually travel is not advised. I also had my bumper hit when I was at a stop on the interstate, so yeah, not fun. Hard to believe it was 57 degrees yesterday!

Here's George out playing in the snow ---->

George's final stop

2009-03-29T20:37:00.000-05:00

Finally tethered George to the deck, so he is now able to feel the sun! And the rain, the wind, the snow.....

The newest addition to the family!

2009-03-29T12:22:00.000-05:00

Meet the newest member, George! George is a deck gnome, acquired to protect my deck from any evil that may scale the building to get to me. George loves Starbucks too!

He's doing a good job protecting so far. He longs to be outside though, but until I can secure that an Iowa tornado won't suck him away (his cast iron frame can withstand regular wind), he wistfully has to look out from inside.

Curled up in a ball.....

2009-03-22T22:00:00.000-05:00

I wish I could go away for a month or more, to a tropical place, alone. I'm tired of trying to deal with people and just want to hermitize for awhile. I'm just over it.

Hahahahaha, take that state of Iowa!

2009-03-18T21:55:00.000-05:00

So, when I learned I'd have to do a SECOND amendment on my tax returns (stupid $9.44 1099), I also learned that here in Iowa, you can claim 100% of your health insurance premiums as deductions. Went to the accountant today to do all of that and found out that I will now be getting more money back from the state, on top of what I already got.

So, dear sweet Iowa, you can have my $2 check you made me write you for the first amendment, 'cause now you suckas get to send me a lot more than that back! Again!

I'm being haunted....

2009-03-13T10:04:00.000-05:00

.....by a dress. Yes, that's right, an article of clothing. I so badly want this dress, and while it's available, it's not at the price I want it for. Said dress just screams "CARRIE", meaning I MUST acquire it. Really, there's stopping me on my hunt.

Picture of the dress, you ask? To the left.

God, I need to have it! I'm a rainbow loving freak and it just makes me drool. It's always in the back of my mind, so until I get it (and for the right price), it's colorful goodness will drive me more insane than I already am.

Christmas is over

2009-03-07T20:33:00.003-06:00

I finally took my Christmas tree down and put it away today. Yes, on March 7. Now to find random faux pine needles on the floor for the next week......

Heat wave!

2009-03-05T20:34:00.000-06:00

Holy crap, did it REALLY get to 71 here today? Did it? Was I seeing & feeling things? I can't believe I was able to work out outside in a short sleeve tee & capris, in Iowa, in March. And the beginning of March too, not the end where it'd normally start to warm up. I know Mother Nature is an evil tease during this horrid month though, and it won't last (in fact, they're predicting a chance of snow for Sunday).

While I relish days like this, it's unfortunate side effect is that it just makes my already-overwhelming cabin fever worse. C'mon May, get here now!

Ahhh, the intro

2009-03-04T19:50:00.000-06:00

Hmm, first entry. What to write, what to write.....

I'm pretty subdued today, due to allergies (I think) kicking in and the yoga pain still being there, so not much excitement in my normally hyper world. Posts will be occasional, not frequent, so don't set your expectations too high for this monkey!

EDIT: I DID think of something more interesting (ha!) than the above paragraph. So anywho, I recently turned 30 and I'm still not a fan, 2 weeks later. The age freaks me out, but not because I think it's old. I know it's not. I think because certain life expectations I wanted for myself by this age didn't happen and that makes me feel like, well, kind of a loser in life. (Hey, I never said I was a sane thinker!). By the time 31 rolls around, I'll be okay again, but I have realized that every decade birthday will probably freak me out. I'll cope.