A Rant and a Red

TGIF!!!  We made it!  We're at the end of the work week!  I'm excited, can you tell?  It's been another long week and no week would be complete without at least one call from daycare.  I was graced with two calls from daycare this week, both about Mason.  The first was Tuesday when Armageddon was attempting to start at the clinic.  They were calling to tell me that Mason bumped his head on a table while rocking out in the music room.  They said it wasn't bad and I asked if he was bleeding.  Nope.  No bleeding.  I told them it was probably because he's got a gigantic head (which he kinda does) and it wasn't a big deal.  The second was Thursday afternoon because Mason had had 3 BMs (What?  He has a daily limit?!) and a "fever of 101* and we had to pick him up ASAP.  Luckily it was the end of the day and it wasn't too busy so it wasn't that big of an issue to leave work.  But...I get there and he's running around the room - obviously not sick.  I asked how the BMs were and she (the worker) said they were fine but it was "concerning because he'd had 3 over the course of the day".  Really?  You're concerned because a toddler has 3 poops in a day.  Really?  As for the fever...he wasn't even warm!  He was actually a little on the cool side, and not like clammy cool, either.  So, I loaded him and Nate in the car and we headed home.  Nate's been pretty good on the drives to and from home lately.  Mason?  Well, he's in that toddler everything-is-mine phase and it's really grating on my nerves.  For a bit of comic relief, this is what he and his little daycare buddies remind me of...



Anyway...the "fever"...yeah.  Mason didn't have a fever.  He wasn't even at 98*!  Ugh.  I know daycare is trying to be super vigilant and don't want to spread whatever sickness whatever kid has, but c'mon!  3 poops and a below-average does not a sickness make!

Enough of the rant.  And that reminds me...I really need to put together a post for Nate's 5th birthday.  My little guy is growing up so fast and time just slips by.  I will put that together some time this weekend.

I know my last couple posts have been about nails - and this one is no different.  Only, instead of it being about a polish I don't like or a water marble fail, this one is full of WIN.

I picked up ChG Ravishing, Dahling at Sally Beauty during their buy 2, get 1 promotion (in April?) and I am so glad I did.  I *is* ravishing!

Indoors flash.  Ravishing Dahling is a gorgeous brick red creme that wants to be a jelly.  It's just a touch more opaque than a true jelly but OMG this color is so hot.

What I love about this color is it changes depending on the amount of light you're in.  It doesn't change actual color, but it looks lighter with more light, darker in less light...like this.  It's vampy.  It's sexy.  It's gorgeous!

Here she is in indirect light (partial shade).  I got lots of compliments on this polish.  It's so shiny!  It looks like it could drip off my nails!  I believe I could've gotten away with two coats, but I used 3 to make sure and hide any thin spots.  I have some really bad ridging on my ring finger and if you make this picture bigger and look closely at the second pic, you can see the ridges a bit.  Oh!  And another good thing about this polish?  It didn't stain AND clean up was pretty easy.

So run, don't walk, and pick this stunner up for yourself!  It was early July when I wore this, but I can definitely see wearing this in the fall.  It's one of those colors that are good no matter what the season.  It would make a good pedi color, too!

That's it for me today!  Have a good weekend.  Stay cool and don't do anything I wish I could!

They Can't All Be Winners

Good day, Kitschies!  We've almost made it through another week.  And I'm not *really* complaining because it could be worse, but holy hell I'm over this heat!  And, for some reason, the summer monsoons are skipping right over my house, so we don't even get the afternoon break like we usually do.  THIS SUCKS and I'm OVER it!  Sad thing is...we have at least another 6-8 weeks of heat.  Ugh!

Enough complaining.  Let's get to something better, shall we?

Although, not *much* better.  I did this water marble a while back and it didn't turned out how I'd hoped.  I started off wanting to do a green and blue marble but the colors I had were too close and just didn't show up well together.  So, instead of closing up shop, I decided to go with blue and purple.  I should've just closed up shop because I'm not rally happy with how it turned out.

I started off with Zoya Diem as underwear then I marbled Orly Royal Navy and ChG Coconut Kisses.  I don't know if it's because I didn't use the purple as the base color or what, but I just wasn't happy with this one.  And no matter what I did to this pic, my skin has this weird zombie-ish blue hue to it.  Nice, right?

I must not've been feeling this one at all because even my clean up wasn't very good.  I love marbling, but sometimes you should just walk away when it's not working well.  This is one of those times.

I even had bubbling and that usually never happens!  Sheesh!  I can't believe I actually left this one on more than a day or two.

AND...I even had a bald spot!  Man...this was NOT my best work.  *sigh*  They can't all be winners, right?

OK.  I feel better now that I got that out of my "pending blog stuffs" folder.  See...even a practiced nail arter (farter?) makes their share of fails from time to time.

WWtKW: Queso Edition

Good morning, Kitschies!  It's Wednesday and you know what that means, right?  It's time to turn a blind eye to all your adult duties and play along with Mamarazzi and Queso for We Want To Know Wednesdays!!

This week's questions come from the lovely and talented Queso!



{1} Who would you call if you had to get bailed out of jail?
{2} If you were a superhero what would your hero name be?
{3} What do you think is one of your best qualities?
{4} What song would you pick to be your own personal theme song?
{5} What celebrity do you think is most over rated?

1.  Who would you call if you had to get bailed out of jail?

That's easy!  I would call my work bestie, Brandi.  She's got connections. 

2.  If you were a superhero, what would your hero name be?

That's no so easy.  I'd say Captain America or Super Woman, but those are both taken.  So...I guess I'll go with Super Smeg.  Remember that "nickname" hubs? 

3.  What do you think is one of your best qualities?

What is this, some kind of interview?  *sigh*  This is one of those trick/impossible questions.  I guess I'll have to say I'm a quick learner.  Show me once, let me do something once and I've got it.  And if it's something I like doing, I'll become a master in no time flat!

4.  What song would you pick to be your own personal theme song?

That's an ever-changing answers.  It depends on my mood.  Right now, I'm gonna go with Future Foe Scenarios by Silversun Pickups.  I like what it says.  And it's got a beat you can dance to.  I'd post a video, but YT won't let me embed it.  As for an overall piece that would cover me from day one to The End, I definitely have to go with an oldie but a goodie: Symphony No 7 in A Major (Beethoven).  I could listen to that piece on an endless loop forever and ever, Amen.   

5.  What celebrity do you think is overrated?

There's a lot of them, but since you asked for one, I'm going to have to say Angelina Jolie.  Sure, she's pretty, but she annoys the holy hell out of me.  And she needs to put some meet on her bones!  She was much hotter circa Hackers.  And you can't go wrong with the short hair.

Mexico Can Bite My Arse

Good morning, Kitschies!  It's been quite the day already and it's barely 9:00!  Apparently nobody told the computer system here at the clinic that it's no longer Monday.  *whew*  I hope this means the rest of the day will be smooth sailing!  *fingerscrossed*

I have a mani for you that's been sitting in my prepped folder for quite a while.  It's not one of my favorite colors so there it sat.  Until today.

This is OPI Magnifico Mexico.  It's not quite so red IRL, it's definitely a lot more orange.  This was taken indoors with flash.   

Indoors in direct light from a window.  You can see just a little more orange in this picture.  I tried to add a couple decals to my ring and thumbs, but I still didn't care for this mani.

Indoors, indirect light.  You can see in the upper pic that it's a little more orange there.  See...I just didn't care for this one.  It didn't photograph well and it was just a meh color.  Not really any shimmer on the nail (there's very slight shimmer in the bottle) and just not my color.  I could definitely see this as a pedi color, though.

I think I remember this mani lasting a day...if that.  I got this polish from my mom at Christmas because she didn't like it, either.  I figured...why not?...I'll give it a good home.  Yeah.  I haven't picked it up since!  So, Mexico can bite my shiny metal arse.  LMAO  Obviously I've been watching too much Futurama.

photo credit

It's settled down a little bit here in the clinic.  Let's hope that the rest of the day mellows out because I've had about as much drama as I care to deal with in one day.  Happy Tuesday!!

I Was Pushin' It

Happy Monday, Kitschies!  I hope you enjoyed your weekend.  Our weekend was HOT without a drop of rain.  I was hopeful it would rain because I saw some really big banks of thunderheads building to the east and north but we got nuthin!  Most of Albuquerque got rain, and quite a bit of it at that, but Rio Rancho was left out.  It's looking promising for rain again this afternoon but RR will probably get skipped over.  Again.

I have an absolutely delish and easy recipe to share with you today.  I made this the first time a while back and I wasn't sure if the hubs would go for it because there's some stuff in it he refuses to eat.  Well, refused to eat.  So, when I made it, I told him he had to come to the dinner table with an open mind.  In other words: I was pushing it.  LOL  Both he and the boys ate this without fuss - especially when I made it a couple weeks ago.

No-Time Pesto Pasta

1/2 (16-oz.) pkg. penne rigate pasta (3 cups), uncooked

1/2 cup pesto

1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers

1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese

 

Cook pasta as directed on package, omitting salt. Drain; return to pan.  

Add pesto and peppers; cook and stir on low heat 3 to 5 min. or until heated through.

Stir in cheese.

 

NOTES:  My hubs is all about the protein, so I added a couple of cooked breasts of chicken, cut up in thin pieces.  I mixed in the cooked chicken with the pesto and peppers.

 

I've never cooked with any of these ingredients (other than the pasta, of course) so I was a little afraid of how it would come together.  But...I like all the ingredients, so I decided to give it a try.

OMGOSH YUM!!  I'm on a whole-foods type diet right now and this looks really, really good.  LOL  Even if I wasn't on this stoopid diet, it would look good! 

 

I found this (and several other) recipes on Kraft Recipes.  I like this site because you can type in individual ingredients of what you have on hand and it'll bring up recipes with those ingredients for you to browse through.  I've tried a number of recipes from Kraft Recipes and I haven't had a stinker yet!

 

So...are there any recipes you were afraid to try but once you did you loved it?  Or a recipe you were sure a family member wouldn't like but they did?  Share them with me!  I'm *always* looking for new recipes to try!!  As always, you can email me at megharmeyer@gmail.com.

Hope you're making it through your Monday relatively unscathed.  It's back to work I go...I have a pile of things needing to be sent out that are staring at me.

Tag: What Would You Rather...?

Happy weekend, Kitschies!  I hope you're enjoying some down time this weekend.  It's been kinda busy here at our house.  We have our bestie's oldest son over for a sleep over.  He and Nate are arguing over how to play Lego Batman - you should hear them!!  Earlier, they had fun out in the pool in the backyard.  Even Mason got in on the action for a little while.  After a dinner of homemade pizza (thanks, hubs) and more S'mores than an adult should be allowed to eat, I'm about done.  

I saw this little meme over at Libby's Pink Vanity a couple days ago and Kimberly mentioned that she thought I should play along...so I am!

1) Would you rather lose all of your mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks, and lip-glosses or lose all of your palettes and eye shadows?

Oooh...that's a hard one!  I think I'd rather lose my shadows because you can make yourself look made up with everything else.  You don't *have* to have shadow.

2) Would you rather chop off all your hair or never be able to cut it again? 

I'd rather chop it all off.  My hair is already pretty short, so what's a little less?

3) Would you rather have a coral cheek or a pink cheek? 

Pink.  Coral doesn't really work well with my skin tone - too much yellow already.

4) If you had $1000 to spend, would you rather buy clothes or makeup? 

You're seriously going to make me choose?!  I guess I would have to say clothes because I already have quite a bit of makeup (I'm including nail polish in that).  But...I would love it to be a 70/30 split (the larger being for clothes). 

5) Would you rather apply lipstick as eyeliner or eyeliner as lipstick? 

I think I'd rather do lipstick as eyeliner because eyeliner as lipstick would be too thick.  Though lipstick as liner would probably smear/crease pretty easily.  Either way, not a good choice.

 

6) Would you rather only shop at MAC or Sephora? 

Sephora!  MAC is too expensive and Sephora has a much larger selection.

7) Would you rather only use one eye shadow color or one lip color the rest of your life?  

One lip color.  Why?  Because I really only have one lip color (just ask the bestie).

8) Would you rather wear winter clothes in summer or summer clothes in winter? 

I'd rather do summer clothes in winter because you can pile lots of layers to make you warm enough.  You can only get so naked.

9) Would you rather have dark nails or bright nails all year round? 

Either?  But, if I had to chose, I guess I would go with bright nails because you can do more stamping and art on top of the brights than the darks.  Though holos *are* pretty damned awesome.  But...I think I like darker vampy colors more.  Confusing much?

10) Would you rather give up your favorite lip product or your favorite eye product? 

Favorite lip product.  I don't use lip stuff all that much anyway.

 

11) Would you rather only be able to wear your hair in a ponytail or a messy bun? 

Messy bun...it looks better for a wider range of circumstances.

There are no set rules for tagging people, so I tag whoever wants to play along! 

Lipgloss photo credit 

Friday Confessional: Time Edition

It's that time again...time for Friday Confessions.  With your host, Mamarazzi from Dandelion Wishes!  Let's see what I have to say *this* week.

I confess...

I was home with Mason on Thursday...he had a fever.  And of course he wasn't all that bothered by it - not lazy, not clingy, just super crabby.

I confess...

Mason's nap was too short.  For me.  Not for him.

I confess...

I want to sit around the house in nothing but my underwear because it's too damned hot to do anything else.

I confess...

I was a little disappointed we didn't get to go to the baseball game on Thursday night.  Not because we didn't make it there (because we did *and* we paid $5 for parking) but because it got rained out.

I confess...

The hubs asked the lot attendant if we'd get our money back if the game got rained out.  The attendant said "Hey!  This is New Mexico.  We're just happy it's raining."

I confess...

The hubs and I still had a good evening.  We had a nice quiet dinner together then share some ice cream.  Then we hit Barnes & Noble where I found $50 in books that I only paid $4 for.  Score!

I confess...

It's Friday.  It *was* kinda nice to have yesterday off, even if I had to spend it with a cranky, sick toddler.

I confess...

I could easily stand to have an extra day off a week.  Don't think the bosses would appreciate that much, though.  As it was, one of the docs had to call me with a question, so I can guarantee a 4-day work week is not in the cards for me.

I confess...

I bought two bottles of nail polish yesterday - the first I've bought in a LONG time.

I confess...

A long time in polish buying time is about a month.

*whew*  I feel better now.  Confession really is good for the soul!  Join me, won't you, and check out Dandelion Wishes for the link up!

A Site for Sore Eyes

This post brought to you by Zenni Optical. All opinions are 100% mine.

I, like many, many people, wear glasses.  And you know what I hate more than anything?  No, it's not turning over in the middle of the night and not being able to see the clock.  No, it's not getting little finger smears on my lenses.  It's how much I've had to pay for glasses!  That is, until I found Zenni Optical. 

Zenni Optical has hundreds of frames in stock for men, women and children in all shapes and sizes starting at $6.95.  Yep!  You read that right.  A complete pair of glasses with high index plastic lenses, anti-scratch coating, UV protection, protective case and micro-fiber cloth...for less than $7!  You can also add other features such as anti-glare coating ($4.95) or bifocal lenses ($23.95). 

With so many options to pick from, how do you decide which glasses are for you?  You can upload a photo of yourself to Zenni Optical and try on glasses.  Trust me - this comes in very handy!  Speaking from experience...I was able to find a pair of glasses that are perfect for me using the Zenni Frame Fit.  I was a little skeptical, but once I got my glasses (delivered to my door no less!) it was obvious I made the right choice.

So, why spend a minimum of $60 (and that's just for frames!) at a chain store competitor when you can get a quality pair of glasses starting at $14?!  I got my glasses for less than $40 (including delivery).  Let me break that down for you: frames, lenses and delivery for less than just the frames would cost at another store!  How can you go wrong?!

Don't just take my word for it, check out this article about Zenni Optical in Time magazine!

What are you waiting for?!  Go NOW to Zenni Optical for some great new glasses.  You deserve it!

Perfect for a Picnic

Good morning, Kitschies!  I'm at home with Thing 2 today - again.  We got a call from daycare yesterday that he had a fever (over 102*).  He slept away the afternoon yesterday and his fever came down.  He got up this morning and the fever was back (between 102 and 103*), so we're home.  He's not excessively bothered by the fever - not lethargic, not overly whiny or clingy, just has a fever.  And I hope it stays that way (the not being bothered part, not the fever).  So, while he's snacking on a granola bar and (sorta) watching Sesame Street, I thought I'd put together a post for you.

This is a family recipe that I've loved *forever*.  My aunts put together a family cookbook for Christmas one year (as I've mentioned before) and I was so happy to see this recipe in there!  The only drawback?  It's a family recipe, so the measurements aren't exact, but I know how it's supposed to taste, so that's good enough for me.

Momma's Macaroni Salad

Cook 1 pound package of salad macaroni (I use Ditalini) according to instructions on package.  Drain and rinse.

To cooled macaroni, add:
About 1 cup chopped celery
About 1/2 cup chopped sweet pickle
1 large jar diced pimento (4 oz)
1 large can sliced green olives, drained

Mix together then add to the macaroni:
1-2 to 1 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
1-2 Tbsp sweet pickle juice
salt to taste

Adjust salt and vinegar to taste.  Refrigerate to marry flavors.

NOTES:  I don't usually make the full recipe, it's halves easily.  This salad is best if it sits overnight. 

Gather all your ingredients.  Be sure to not get minced green olives - doesn't give the same flavor.  I don't know why, it just doesn't.

YUM!  My hubs doesn't care for this recipe much, neither does my mom, but I love it and so does my dad.  I try to make this every time my parents come to visit.  And it makes a lot (if you use the full recipe), so it's great for parties.

Gah!  Now I'm wanting some of this.  This is one of my favorite family recipes.  And one of my favorite Summer recipes.  Good thing I'm going grocery shopping later this morning!!

As always, please let me know if you use any of my recipes and whether or not you liked it.  I love hearing when people use a recipe I've posted. 

Have a good Thursday!  Hope you're not melting in the heat.  It's been warmer than usual here - upper 90s AND it's been more humid, too.  We finally got some rain last night (that shut us out of the baseball game) so while it's a bit cooler this morning, it's more humid.  Yuck!

WWtKW: Welcome Queso Edition

Good morning, Kitschies!  We've made it half-way through the work week.  I'm glad it's coming round to the weekend.  It's been a long week.  Already.

As with previous Wednesdays, I'm hooking up with Mamarazzi for We Want to Know Wednesday.  And...we have a new co-host: Alicia (aka: Queso) from It Ain't Easy Being Cheesy.  



Here are the questions for this week (the best so far, IMO):


{1} What would you do with an extra $1000 a month?
{2} What category of blogger do you think you best fall under?
{3} What is your go to solution when you are having a bad hair day?
{4} If you were a Crayon, what color would you be?
{5} They say love is in the little things. What is a little thing someone does to show you love?

1.  What would you do with an extra $1000 a month?

What *wouldn't* I do with an extra $1000 a month?!  There are a lot of things, so, in no specific order, here is a list: redo the back yard (put in grass, landscape, etc), remodel the kitchen, tear out the gross carpet and put down wood floors, save for a real vacation.  Oh.  And pay off some debt. 

2.  What category of blogger do you think you best fall under?

That's a hard one.  My blog suffers from multiple personalities.  It started off as kind of a Mommy blog.  Then I added food.  Then I started posting about nail polish.  So, it's like a life blog, with a bit of beauty thrown in.  But really, it's a multiple personality disorder blog.  Really.

3.  What is your go to solution when you are having a bad hair day?

My hair is short.  Really short.  I've found that not only is it easy to take care of (basically wash and go), it cuts down on the number of bad hair days.  If I'm having a bad hair day, I just do what I can and leave it like that.  And wouldn't you know it...I get more compliments on my hair when I think it doesn't look good, so whatever.  LOL

4.  If you were a Crayon, what color would you be?

RED.  That is all.

image source

5.  They say love is in the little things. What is a little thing someone does to show you love?

It really is in the little things.  Let's see...the hubs brings me a soda to the office every now and then and it's usually when I need it most.  On the weekends, he'll let me "sleep in" and he brings me coffee and puts it on my nightstand.  He sends me texts telling me how much enjoyed spending time with me the previous night or the other weekend.  

So...put down that laundry and play with us!  One of us...one of us...  you know you want to!

And don't forget!!  Today is the LAST day to enter my giveaway.  There's some good stuff up for grabs and you do NOT have to be a follower of my blog to enter.  Go HERE now to enter!

Big Red Monster

Hey, Kitchies!  Isn't it amazing how life gets in the way of the best laid plans?  Here it is already Tuesday and my brain is still stuck on the weekend.  To tell you the truth, I barely remember Monday.  Geeze!!  Or maybe my brain has already skipped ahead to Wednesday because the hubs and I are going to a baseball game after work.  Either way, I'm already tired.  LOL

I have a beautiful but pain in the butt polish to share with you today.  I have yet to see Studio M in New Mexico and I just happened to read Emily's blog one day where she mentioned Meijer.  I got all excited and asked if she minded picking up a couple polishes for me and she said she would.  How awesome is that?!

This is Barry M Slamming Red.  It's a really, really pretty polish in the bottle: red base with holo glitter.

This polish is so pretty - these pics do not do it justice.  But.  And this is a *big* but...the formula was THE SUCK!  Thick.  Gloppy.  Nightmare.  And the finish isn't that great, either.  It's super bumpy and eats top coat.  However, like I mentioned in THIS post, sometimes top coat-eating polish is something I can overlook because it's so pretty.  This isn't really one of those polishes.   

I wore this polish to a kid's birthday party - it was a hit.  It's so sparkly under artificial light.  The wear wasn't all that great - maybe two days.  I think part of the problem was that it's so thick!  I tried to drop a little Zoya Renew in there, but it didn't do much (no fault of Renew). 

The blurry pic gives you some hint of how pretty this polish can really be.  I know I haven't worn this polish since (and I wore it back in April.  APRIL!) and I can honestly say that I'm not sure if I'm going to wear it again.  If I do, I might use it as a pedi color.  As with most chunky glitter polishes, this was also a pain in the butt to remove.  I had to resort to the foil method to remove all the chunkiness.

I don't mean for this post to be so negative, but it's hard to say completely positive things about a polish with so many faults.  With all that said, I do like this polish, I just wish it were...different...better.  Is that so wrong?

Don't forget!!  You have until 7/20 to enter my Summer Giveaway!  Check it out HERE.

Friday Confessions: Ugh Edition

TGIF, Kitschies!  It's finally Friday and I'm in serious need of some confessions so I'm linking up with Mamarazzi.  Wanna join me?

I confess...

It's been a crappy couple of weeks.  And I don't wanna talk about it.

I confess...

Because of the mental and physical drain of the last couple of weeks, I am probably going to cut back on blogging.  And I don't wanna talk about it.

I confess...

I love my blog; it gives me a creative outlet I'd been missing for a long time.

But...I can only deal with so much at one time.

Something's gotta give.

I confess...

And I don't wanna talk about it. 

I apologize for this being such a Debbie Downer kind of a post.  Y'all know I'm not usually like this.  It'll get better...don't give up on me yet!

On Wednesdays We Wear Pink: Shrimply Divine

Good morning, Kitschies!  It's Wednesday.  Again.  Nothing too exciting going on in the land of Suburbia.  I'm typing this out on Tuesday night because Wednesday morning we have some lame training at work, so I thought I better get a jump on this before I miss the bus completely.  And I'm pretty tired tonight, so it's probably going to be a short post.

It's Wednesday, so it's time to link up with On Wednesdays We Wear Pink!

Quite a while ago, ok, a LONG time ago, I asked the bestie what color combo I should do for a funky french mani.  She said pink and black.  This is what I came up with.

I started with a base of SH Complete Salon Manicure: Shrimply Divine (thanks Emily!) then creating a chevron tip, I used Finger Paints: Easel Come, Easel Go and SH Black Out.  Then where the three colors meet, I added a pink rhinestone. 

I don't remember exactly, because it's been so long, but it looks like I must've used Seche Vite as my top coat because I have quite a bit of tip shrinkage. 

I like this mani, it's cute, but it's not one of my favorites.  I need to do more chevron french tips - they're different and there are so many great color combos!

Short and sweet.  My kind of post!  LOL  Check out On Wednesdays We Wear Pink for other great participating pink blogs!

And don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY!

WWtKW: Mamarazzi Edition

Good day, Kitschies!  It's another installment of We Want to Know Wednesday.  Put that laundry down and join in some good Q&A with me.

This week's questions come from none other than the wonderfully awesome Mamarazzi!

{1} Which activities make you lose track of time?

{2} Is there such a thing as perfect?

{3} When do you feel most like yourself?

{4} Describe your life in a 6 word sentence.

{5} Share one of your most beloved childhood memory.

 

1.  Which activities make you lose track of time?

A lot of them, really.  Facebook, sewing, doing my nails, visiting with friends, shopping with the bestie, reading.

2.  Is there such a thing as perfect?

I don't really think so.  At least not in my experience.  But when you think about it, the human body is pretty dang near perfect.  A self-contained machine that doesn't require a whole lot of maintenance. 

3.  When do you feel most like yourself?

When I'm with my boys and things are going smoothly.  I am happy being a Mom (something I wasn't sure about until I had kids).  And when I'm working.  I like what I do.  I'm happy with my work.  I like helping our patients and working with my docs.  This work and being a mom is what I was meant to do.

4.  Describe your life in a 6 word sentence.

Really, Mamarazzi?  *sigh*  It's chaotic sometimes, but it's mine!

5.  Share one of your most beloved childhood memories.

Oooh...that's a hard one.  I have so many great childhood memories.  We have a pretty large family and every Christmas is spread over a 3-day period and I enjoyed every bit of it.  Christmas Eve is at my grandma's house (my mom's mom).  Christmas morning is at my parents' house.  Christmas night is at my aunt and uncle's house.  The day after Christmas (you know...to eat all the leftovers) is now at my cousins' house.  I love that we all get together for the holiday...family, extended family and friends.  Such a chaotic couple of days but so much good family time!

Join in with me, will ya?  Visit Dandelion Wishes for more great WWtKW finds!

July Vlog - Embarrassing Moments Caught On Tape

Hey, Kitschies!  Well...I finally did it.  I decided to link up with Mamarazzi & Shawn for the Monthly Vlog Challenge.  I've had some people tell me I *need* to do this and like most people, I don't like seeing myself on video.  But...I got over it, did my makeup, put my big girl panties and recorded my first vlog!




This month's questions came from Mimi @ Living in France.  Cute blog, great topic.  Check her out.  Let's get to this, shall we?

What is your most embarrassing moment?

As always, YouTube gives us awesome screen shots.  *sigh*

And...the second part was done on a different day because I mis-read the instructions for that part and had to go back and record another piece.  

Well...that was the plan.  But.  Since it's embarrassing moment month, I decided to just leave it and have it be embarrassing.  You know.  Since I can't read directions and all...

Share something you would be embarrassed by if someone found it in your house.

There ya go!  Not as embarrassing as I expected and not as hard to do a video of myself as I'd feared.  Check out the linking at Mamarazzi's blog HERE or Shawn's blog HERE for more Monthly Vlog Challenge fun!

I *heart* Green Apples!

Good Monday morning, Kitchies!  A new week is upon us...did you get your "to-do" list accomplished this weekend?  I know I didn't.  Saturday was nothing exciting.  Sunday I took Nate to the local aquatics center and he had a blast - even though he had to be rescued by a lifeguard.  Talk about a heart attack!  He decided to just jump in the 4' end of the pool like he'd been doing it his whole life.  I think it scared him a little, but not near as much as it scared me!  Other than that, he had a lot of fun and we'll have to take the whole family sometime.  I just wish it didn't cost us about $15 for all 4 of us to go.

Anyway...a couple weeks ago, I was contacted by Miss Chris from the now defunct Lacquer Wear From Tips and Toes.  As you may know, she's stopped blogging, but she still has the frankening bug...lucky for me!  She gave me a couple options of what color I'd like to try out and I jumped at the chance to try out one of her awesome franken creations.  I think I got more compliments on this polish than any other I've worn before.

This gorgeous Kelly green is Dragon Rhia's Green Apple Jellie Holo.  OMG this polish is all kinds of awesome!  I don't have a single green in my collection that even comes close to the color.

The base is a bright Kelly green with a really pretty subtle green sparkle.  Then she went and threw in some gorgeous bling of holo glitter.  I was afraid this was going to be a monster to work with, but it wasn't at all.  And it wore like iron!  No chips.  No tip wear.  I wore this for 4 full days with very minimal wear.  All 3 of the above pics were taken indoors with flash.

This is what Green Apple looks like in the shade.  It still has the awesome green color but instead of being a holo sparkle, it looks like it's a mix of green and silver sparkle.  So, so pretty.

And here she is in the sun.  Funny story...my hubs saw me prepping these pics and he said: "Where were *you* with all that grass?"  Yep.  We live in New Mexico - people don't have grass.  I went to the park for lunch one day to enjoy the coolness of the grass under the shade of some big trees.  Oh.  We also don't have big trees.  LOL

And the obligatory blurry pic to show the sparkle.  Let me tell you...these pics do not do this polish justice!  She warned me that her holos are a little tricky to capture accurately - and she was right.  I feel very lucky that Chris shared one of her awesome frankens with me.  She is the Queen of Frankens!

Here is the recipe for those of you who might be interested in duplicating this beautiful green polish.

1/3 bottle Elf nail polish: clear

1/2 bottle Sinful Colors: Last Chance

1/2 tsp holo glitter

My *only* complaint...and it's not even really a complaint...this polish eats top coat.  I applied two *thick* coats of SV and it got sucked in.  LOL  Oh, and the removal was kinda PIA, but I expected that with all the glittery/holo-y awesomeness.

Thank you SOOOO much for letting me showcase this, Chris.  This is definitely in my top 10 favorite polishes!

Friday Confessional: Nothing in to Something

Good morning, Kitschies!!  It's FRIDAY!!  Am I doing anything exciting this weekend?  Nope.  I'm just happy it's Friday.  And you know what that means...it's time for confessions!

I confess...

I've done my nails more times in the last two weeks than I have in a long time.  I think the painting/creating bug has bit me again.

I confess...

Which isn't necessarily a good thing because that means I want more polish.  And have you seen the new Fall collections from Zoya?  *sigh*  I want the *entire* Mirrors collection.  WANT.

I confess...

I did part 1 of the Vlog challenge (hosted by Mamarazzi) last week and I'm really happy with it.  I did part 2 only to realize I read it wrong.  Now I have to do it again.  *sigh*  That's what I get for skimming!

I confess...

I have a bunch of sewing I need to do but since the nail painting bug bit me again, I haven't been very motivated to do any of it.  I really need to get my butt in gear this weekend!

I confess...

I was rocking this song in the car on the way in to work this morning.  Don't judge.

I confess...

I'm so proud of my little boy, Mason.  He's been fighting us on the whole daycare thing since he went back at the beginning of May.  Every day the same thing: won't let go of me, cries when I leave him, won't play with other kids, is really upset by the time I pick him up at night.  Well, starting yesterday he's perfectly happy there.  I dropped him off yesterday morning and he sat right down for breakfast, turned around and waved goodbye to me!  Not a tear, no whining.  Then yesterday when I picked him up, he didn't want to leave because he was having fun playing on the tricycle.  YAY!!  My baby doesn't hate me.

I confess...

When I started typing this out, I didn't think I had anything to share.  Not so much the case, huh?

A good confession is good for the soul!  You should try it.  And while you're at it, check out the LINKY where you can get the dish on other good (probably more juicy) confessions.

PS: Don't forget I have a giveaway going on!  Check it out HERE to enter.

I Want To Love Her

Good day, Kitschies!  It's Thursday.  Finally.  Why does the week following a 3-day weekend always feel like it lasts longer than a usual week?  It's been busy here at the clinic but luckily, I've had enough time to keep up on all my blog reading.  I've been cheating and getting most of my posts done the night before.  When do you read your blogs?  When do you prepare them?

I have a cute mani for you today.  I did this way back when ChG released their first run of crackle polishes. 

I started with a base of Zoya Savita, a gorgeous royal purple matte.  But I have a problem with this...it's matte.  I *want* to love matte polishes, I really do, but I just...don't.  I love this color with a top coat, it's a beautiful shimmery purple.  But I know that's not the way it's supposed to be.  So, to help this mani, I decided to draw a design on the matte finish with a shiny top coat.  While I liked how this looked, I just couldn't get with the whole matte finish.  I think I wore this for a day then I picked up some ChG crackle polishes and fixed this ho-hum mani.

This is ChG Broken Hearted over Zoya Savita.  I liked the way the pink contrasted with the dark purple underneath. 

And I like how the patterns of the cracks depends on how thick (or light) you apply the polish.

For some reason, the thumb on my right hand got a diagonal crack - cool because it was so different from all the other fingers.  I remember wearing this for quite a few days and I got lots of compliments on it, too.

Thanks to the bestie for letting me "borrow" this, though I don't know that she even knows that I used it before I gave it to her.  Shhhh!

Summer Giveaway!!!

Good morning, Kitschies!!  It's been quite a while since the last time I did something like this, so I've gathered some stuff together for not one, but two giveaways!  All pics are biggable so you can better check out the goods.

Let's see what's up for grabs, shall we...

This is for my lacquer heads

Top (left to right):

Naughty Nails: Secret Carpet Burn

Essence Coulour & Go: What Do U Think?

Revlon Top Speed: Electric

Sinful Colors: Show Me the Way

Sinful Colors: Ciao Bella!

ELF Nail Polish: Plum

Bottom (left to right):

Orly: Fifty-Four

Orly: Bon Bon

ELF: Punk Purple

ELF: White

Essie: Luscious Lips

Creative Nail Design: Rich in Sin

Right:

Cult Nails: Living Water

And the non-lacquerheads

Top:

2 sets of super cute, *kitschy* recipe cards

Bottom:

Pink dangle silver earrings

Right:

Magnetic shopping list/memo pad

I'm sure there will be more added to both of these before they are sent out, but this is what I have so far.  I just wanted to say thank you to everybody who takes the time to visit (and comment) at my blog.  I really, really appreciate you and without all your support, I wouldn't have made it this far!!

Now for the rules...

*Leave your name and email for contact purposes (1 entry).  I will contact the winner by email; they will have 24 hours to respond.  If they do not respond, a new winner will be chosen and contacted.

*Regulars to my blog will get an extra entry - I know who you are (1 entry)

*You do *not* have to be a follower to enter, nor do you have to have a blog

*This is open internationally, however, if an international person wins, be warned I will send the package the cheapest (read: slowest) way possible.

*You can add this giveaway to your blog in a post or in your sidebar or however you do those sorts of things (1 entry)

*Bonus entry: Tell me your favorite part of Summer (1 entry)

*Be sure to tell me which of the prizes you'd like: lacquerhead or non-lacquerhead

*Duplicate entries will not be allowed.  I will be verifying all entries.  There are a total of 4 possible entries per person.

*Entries will be accepted until 12 midnight (CMT) on Wednesday, July 20, 2011.  The winner will be chosen at random and will be announced shortly after the close of the giveaway.

Good luck!!

All items in these giveaways were either given to me or bought with my own money.