WWtKW: Cell Phone Edition

Happy Wednesday, Kitschies!!  I hope you're sailing through your week relatively unscathed.  I didn't play along with last week's WWtKW and I missed linking up, so you bet I'm going to get in on the linky action today!!



This weeks' questions come from the ever awesome Mamarazzi and all have to do with her latest addiction: her cell phone.

{1}Do you prefer to text or call?

{2}What is the last text message in your phone and who is it from?

{3}What are your favorite phone apps?

{4}At what age do you think kids are ready for a cell phone?

{5}Share a current pic or video taken with your phone.

1.  Do you prefer to text or call.

It all depends on who I'm "talking" to and what the conversation is about.  I text a lot because it's an easy way to keep in contact or to check in throughout the day.  But, if it's a more in depth conversation, I'll call.  If it's the bestie, we *rarely* actually talk on the phone but we text a lot.  But if it's my parents and my weekly check-in, I always call (even though my mom and I text on and off through the week).

2.  What is the last text message in your phone and who is it from?

I'm typing this up on Tuesday afternoon, so I know I've gotten more texts than this, but the last one (at this point) is from my bestie:  "I asked him if he swiped those yest. I knew it!! He said he got them from home.  LOL  (he said yes).  FYI: My kid's a klepto.

3.  What are your favorite phone apps?

I don't have a cool phone like all the other kids (mine is circa 2009 *gasp*).  I like to say I'm blissfully unaware of all the awesome things a phone can do.  The hubs keeps saying that we're going to get iPhones for Christmas.  I kinda hope he's kidding.  With that said, my favorite phone app is Text Twist 2.

source

4.  At what age do you think kids are ready for cell phones?

That's a hard one.  My kids are still really young (5 and 2) and they're in no way even close to being ready for a cell phone.  I'm thinking teens, like 14 or 15, but it really depends on the kid and the situation.

5.  Share a current pic or video taken with your phone.

My boys: Nate, the hubs, and Mason, waiting impatiently in front of El Pinto to meet my Aunt and Uncle for lunch a few weekends ago.

So join me, won't you and link up with Mamarazzi for another great week of We Want to Know Wednesday!

Two Good Eats for Tuesday

Good morning, Kitschies!  It's only Tuesday and it's been a crazy week, partly because it seems like the weekend took forever to get through and then it's bled on over to this week.  I'll spare you the deets, but it was not a good weekend.  And come to think of it, that *not good* started on Friday.  *sigh*  Anyway...I'm not going to let this be a Debbie Downer post, so let's get on with it, shall we?

I went to a derby practice on Saturday and then again last night.  Saturday's practice was brutal - my legs were sore after that practice and then add in a couple falls last night (thanks stoopid berries from the damned trees and sand on the track) and I'm one sore mama today!  I am so thankful to work with some great physicians - chiropractic/osteopathic manipulations are saving my derby-lovin' life!  I may be sore and I may be bruised, but I'm lovin' every second of it.

I haven't share a good recipe with you lately, so I dug a good one out of my pending folder for today.  These recipes came from my go-to recipe site: allrecipes.com.

BBQ Chicken
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 Tbsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp poultry seasoning
2 pounds cut up chicken pieces

Heat grill to medium heat. 

In a small skillet combine the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and put over low heat. Add the poultry seasoning while stirring constantly; when sauce mixes well and starts to bubble, it is done. 

Place chicken on hot grill and brush with sauce. Grill for 45 to 60 minutes, turning every 5 to 10 minutes, and brush chicken with sauce after each turning. Grill until chicken is done and juices run clear. (Note: Be sure to keep an eye on the chicken as it cooks, as it tends to have flair ups due to the oil and chicken drippings!) 

NOTES:  I used skinless, boneless chicken breasts, not pieces.  And instead of brushing the chicken while it was grilling, I marinated it for a few hours.  I think the flavor is better that way.  

And a bonus, side dish recipe:


Roasted Garlic Cauliflower
2 Tbsp minced garlic
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 large head cauliflower, separated in to florets
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C). Grease a large casserole dish. 

Place the olive oil and garlic in a large resealable bag. Add cauliflower, and shake to mix. Pour into the prepared casserole dish, and season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Bake for 25 minutes, stirring halfway through. Top with Parmesan cheese and parsley, and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, until golden brown. 

NOTE:  I did not use parsley - I didn't think it would add anything and it doesn't matter to me if my side dish lacks color.

I think the cider vinegar in the marinade really made the chicken moist.  I really liked this recipe, and so did the others (boys big and small alike).

I liked the cauliflower but I don't remember if the boys did or not.  I have a feeling they probably turned their noses up at it until they finally gave in and took a taste.  And wouldn't you know it...they ended up liking it.

Mmm...and now I'm hungry.  Great.  Good thing I'll be going to lunch soon!


I'll be back tomorrow with a WWtKW (I haven't played for a few weeks) and hopefully an On Wednesday We Wear Pink post, too!  Thanks for bearing with my slower than usual posting.  It's been a crazy couple of weeks!

Favorite Color Swap

Good morning, Kitschies!!  It's almost the end of the work week - woot!!  The week is going by at a reasonable pace, thankfully, and I'm looking forward to Saturday.  The hubs and I are supposed to go see the final Harry Potter movie (late much?) but the showings are limited, so we might nix that, try to catch it at the dollar theater, and go see Captain America instead.  Either way, I'm going to see a movie this weekend - thanks, in part, to the bestie offering to watch the boys.  And then Saturday night is another derby practice.  I'm ready for the week to be over!

Anyway...the real reason for this post is the announcement of the next blog-famous Mamarazzi swap!  The people have spoken and the results are in:

Participants will be putting together an amazing package filled with items of THEIR PARTNER'S Favorite Color! Can you imagine getting a package in the mail filled with your favorite color? So FUN!

Sounds fun, right?  If you've never participated in Mamarazzi's swaps, let me tell you...they. are. awesome!  There are some rules (a necessary evil), so be sure to check out *Dandelion Wishes* for the deets.

I've signed up...you should, too! 

Slimey Limey

Good morning, Kitschies!  I hope you're enjoying your day.  It's my birfday!  How am I celebrating?  Hopefully, by taking the afternoon off, getting some retail therapy in (thanks to my bestie), picking up my boys a little early then heading over to my MIL's for dinner.  Other than that, I'm fighting a wonderful head cold, so it'll be low-key celebration for me tonight. 

In other news...my son, Nate, brought home a SOAR award from school yesterday for "A+ attitude, Respect and Responsibility".  How awesome is that?!  I'm so proud of my little man!!

I have a pretty cool mani to share with you today.  I can't remember when I wore this one.  June?  July?  I dunno...it was a while ago.  I'm behind in posting...we already went over that yesterday.  I was inspired by THIS POST on Simply Rins a while back and I thought I'd give it a go.

Rins used Gosh holographic - I tried to use ChG OMG, but it wasn't coming out the way I wanted it, so I grabbed ChG Laser Lime from the Tronica collection.  You've probably all seen it, but it's a lime green non-linear holo.  It's pretty, but not awesome like ChG L8rG8r.  I started with at least 2, but probably 3, coats of Laser Lime.

Then using dotting tools and black acrylic paint, I dotted on flowers and little dots around the tip of my nails.  For the center of the flowers, I used Laser Lime.

Laser Lime really is more holo IRL.  I couldn't get an accurate full-sun picture.

This is the best full-sun pic I got and if you click on the pic to make it bigger, you can really see the pretty holo in this polish.

And in the shade, Laser Lime is still pretty, but it's not sparkly holo...just kinda sparkly.

Flash picture FTW!  LOL  You can't see the holo, but it does look kinda sparkly.  Of course Simply Rins' nail art was better, but I like how this turned out.  I am thinking about doing this with another color combo again soon.

Enjoy your Tuesday!  Take some time to relax (yeah, right).  See you soon!

I've Been a Bad Blogger

Morning, lovelies!  It was another busy weekend at the Harmeyer house.  Friday night's derby practice was cancelled *bummer* but since I was already at the track when I found out, I decided to stick around and skate a bit.  I'm getting a little more sure of myself on my skates, but I have a LONG way to go!  Saturday morning was spent cleaning the house (it really needed it anyway) and then that afternoon, the bestie came over with her gang and we hung out outside and watched the kidlets play in the pool.  We had indoor S'mores for the kids and then once we got them all to bed, we chillaxed out on the patio, had dinner and enjoyed the cool summer evening.  Once we had had enough of the outdoors, we went inside to rag on Fab Bagans from Ghost Adventures and I did Wendi's nails...they turned out awesome!  Sunday was spent getting caught up on laundry and such.  Good times. 

I feel like I've been a bad blogger.  I haven't been blog hopping like I usually do.  And I haven't been updating my blog like I should.  I really don't have any good excuse like being abducted by aliens or being on some swanky vacay.  I've just been busier at work than usual (which is a good thing) and I've been busier away from work (which is a good thing, too) AND my computer at home is stoopid slow.  Like, it takes over a minute to open an unedited picture in Photoshop.  So, yeah.  Sitting, staring at a computer monitor for an hour to prep maybe 12 pix is so not the highlight of my day.  LOL

I promise to get around to *your* blog soon.  Promise.  And if I don't follow you, this is your chance to plug your blog.  Leave me a link to your blog in the comments on this post only and I'll go check it out!  I recently went through my reading list and got rid of a bunch of blogs, so I need to replace them with other (new to me) blogs!!

And, since this *is* a nail blog, partly, I'll leave you today with a pretty.

This is a random bright red creme from Naughty Nails (don't remember then name of the color, but really, I don't know that you'd want to know anyway) with OPI black Shatter on top.  This mani reminds me of lava that's cooling.

So...plug your blog.  Don't think I don't love you because I haven't been to your blog in a while.  I have so many pics to prep...it's not even funny!

WWtKW: Childhood edition

Happy Wednesdays, boys and girls!  It's been another busy day and this post is getting up quite a bit later than I had hoped.  Best laid plans, right?

I'm linking up with Mamarazzi and Alicia aka Queso for this week's We Want to Know Wednesday.  The lovely and talented Mamarazzi gave us some great questions.  Let's take a look!




1. Did you live in the same town or move around a lot as a child?
2. What were your parents like?
3. Do you have any siblings?  What were they like growing up?
4. Share a short story from your childhood.
5. What did you look like?  (share a childhood pic to win a prize)

1.  Did you live in the same town or move around a lot as a child?

I was born and raised in Bakersfield, CA (same with my parents).  And we didn't move around a lot within the city, either.  I can only remember moving twice, though I know we moved once more than that.

image source

2.  What were your parents like?

My parents were really supportive and encouraged me to do new things.  I was a busy kid: 4-H (rabbits, sheep, sewing), band, ROTC.  And they were by my side every step of the way!

3.  Do you have any siblings?  What were they like growing up?

I have a younger sister, Chicken (that's what my boys call her).  She is 19 months younger and since we were so close in age, there were more than a few times where we didn't get along very well.  She always walked the straight line and I was always the trouble maker.  She probably learned from my mistakes - at least I hope she did.

Me & Chicken at my wedding (June 5, 2004)

4.  Share a short story from your childhood.

For a while, my family lived in the "little house" next to my grandparents (my dad's parents).  Every once in a while, my grandpa would come over to our house and ask if we could come over and watch cartoons or make a cake.  I love those memories!  I'm so glad we lived so close to my grandparents.

Me & Chicken in my grandparents' kitchen (June 5, 1983)

5.  What did you look like? (share a pic)

I think I look pretty similar now to what I looked like then.

February 1980 (3 1/2 years)

September 1981

The hubs says he likes the younger picture of me because he can see a lot of our younger son, Mason, in me.  And crazy coincidence...the pics of me and my sister were taken *exactly* 19 years apart.  How awesome is that?!

So...better late than never, right?  Happy Wednesday!

Big Days

Good morning, Kitschies!  Good evening, Kitschies!  I started this post this morning and got as far as the opening.  *sigh*  It was a long day...and we didn't even have patients!  We spent the day in training for diagnostic ultrasound.  While interesting, I can only see "normal" joints for so long before I lose interest. 

It was a big day yesterday!  Nate had his first day of Kindergarten.  *sob* 

He had so much fun (even though he rolled his eyes at going outside a lot) and he didn't want to leave when I went to pick him up.  And he was even excited to go again today!  I know *that* won't last forever, but I'm glad he had a good first two days.  When it was time to line up for his class on Monday, he told me: "It's OK, Mom.  You can go now."  OK...does that mean I can go to my car and cry for a little while?  I was good - I didn't cry...much.  My mom sent me a text about being and good parent and that made me tear up.  I had it coming from both side on Monday!  LOL

Then, Monday night, I went to my first roller derby practice.  And...OMG...it was SO much fun!  Seriously.  I was a lot steadier on my skates than I expected I would be - I only fell 3 times (I think *everybody* falls at least once a practice).  For being my first time in anything like this, I held my own.  And all the girls were so nice and encouraging.  I was afraid that they would be extra hard on the noob, but they really weren't.  The only places I'm *really* lacking in skills are balancing on one foot (picking up my right skate and touching across to my left hand <and visa versa> is *not* happening yet) and hitting/blocking.  I am so excited to do this!  I've wanted to do something more active for a while but wanted to do something different.  Ya think roller derby is different enough?  Yeah.  Me, too.

OK.  Enough of that.  Now for the *real* reason you come to my blog.  The pretties!  I've got a good water marble for you today.  Remember my last marble (it wasn't all that great)?  This one made up for that one.

I'm not saying this marble is *awesome*, but it's definitely better than the previous one!  I wore this in the beginning of June for my vacay to Cali.  I started with a white base (OPI Alpine Snow) and then marbled three ChGs from the Tronica collection: Hologram (silver holo), Hyper Haute (magenta holo) and Techno Teal (teal, duh).  My index and pinkie on my left hand (pictured above) were my favorite out of the group.

I don't know why, but I only got 2 decent pics from this mani.  And, wow!  I'm amazed at how much my nails have grown since early June!  It's hard to really capture the holoness of these polishes, but if you enlarge this pic, you can kinda see the holo effect on my thumb.

I want to do more water marbles, but I always have a hard time coming up with good color combos.  I know I have a really nice one still waiting to be prepped.  Suggestions for colors?  Lemme have it!

Well, I'm going to relax tonight and do my nails with a new OPI color I picked up at Ulta yesterday.  Have a great evening!

My Favorite Recipes: Chicken Enchiladas

Happy Thursday, Kitchies!  How can the week almost be over?!  It's shaping up to be another busy weekend over here.  Saturday morning we're planning a trip to Jemez Springs or Sandia Peak...kinda depends on the weather.  Then Saturday evening I'm heading out for my first roller derby practice.  And Sunday, we're meeting up with my aunt and uncle for lunch.  They usually make a trip to northern NM during the summer and they always make it a point to stop by and say hi.  I really wish it was my parents who were visiting, but my aunt and uncle will be a good substitute.

As I've mentioned in the last few posts, I have some great recipes to share with you.  I have one of my ultimate favorites today!  It's kinda of a pain in the butt to make, but so, so worth it.  I cannot remember where I got this recipe from but it is my go-to.

Chicken Enchiladas
1 medium onion, chopped
2 4oz cans chopped green chile
2-3 Tbsp melted butter
1 10 3/4 oz can cream of mushroom soup
1 10 3/4 oz can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
12 tortillas
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked
1 lb cheddar cheese

Saute onions and chile in butter until tender.  Add soup and broth, blending well.  Simmer 10-15 minutes.  While sauce simmers, soften tortillas by dipping in simmering sauce.  Place small amount of chicken in each tortilla and roll.  Place in greased 9x13 dish.  Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas, top with cheese.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

NOTES:  For the chicken, I usually grill it a little beforehand and season it with garlic salt and ground pepper.  You probably don't need to season the chicken because there's plenty of flavor already, but it's what I do.  I usually don't dip the tortillas in the *simmering* sauce because that's not so easy to do without burning the hell out of your fingers; I wait to dip them until after I take the sauce off the heat.  The recipe calls for rolled enchiladas, but you could easily layer them instead.  Also, you don't have to use a can of cream of mushroom and a can of cream of chicken - I usually use two cans of cream of chicken and mushroom.

I could definitely go for some of these for lunch today!  Too bad we're trying to stay away from processed foods...

Since I live in New Mexico, the home of Hatch green chile, I'm not allowed to use canned chile.  That's blasphemy!  I use frozen Bueno green chile instead.

Ooooh man!  I want some of these NOW!!  My mom makes awesome enchiladas, too, but I don't have her recipe.  But, my family likes these, so I think I'm good.

Sorry if I made you hungry...but that's my job.  If you have access to fresh green chile (it's getting to be about that time again!), I highly recommend that over canned.  However, I haven't seen fresh green chile outside of NM, so good luck with that.  *heehee*

WWTKW: Week 17 Edition

Good morning, Kitschies!  It's Wednesday again which means it's time for We Want to Know Wednesday.  Today's questions come from Alicia aka Queso and I'm linking up through Mamarazzi.  Join me!



1. If you could be on any game show, what would it be?
2. If you could chose to be any one age forever, what age would it be?
3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
4. What would I find in your fridge right now?
5. If you were a piece of furniture, what would you be and why?

1. If you could be on any game show, what would it be?

I don't remember what I answered last time, but this time I'm going to say something athletic like Survivor or The Amazing Race.  I could totally see myself on Survivor, kicking all kinds of arse!

2. If you could chose to be any one age forever, what age would it be?

I don't want to be one age forever - they've all had their good and bad parts, but nothing that makes me go "Hey!  I wanna be *this* forever!" 

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?

Let's see...30 minutes ago was 7:00 AM.  I was helping the hubs get Mason together and out the door for the day.  Usually it's me getting out the door for the day but I'm taking the morning off, so Mr Nate and I are lounging around, eating pancakes and drinking coffee.  Well, he's drinking juice, but you get the idea.

4. What would I find in your fridge right now?

Lots of stuff...and I'm proud to say that it's not as much processed stuff as it usually is.  The hubs and I are trying to eat more whole foods and stay away from the junky (read: tastes soooo good) food.  Oh...and quite a bit of leftovers. 

5. If you were a piece of furniture, what would you be and why?

I'd be the bench seat in my kitchen.  It's not the most comfortable, but I love being in the kitchen...especially when friends are over.  It's just a good meeting place.  Besides, I'd always get to smell good food and I'd be handy because I could store useful stuffs in my underneath cabinets!

Those were fun questions, Queso!!  Check out other great WWtKW on Queso's or Mamarazzi's blog.

Have a great day!  See y'all tomorrow - I'll have a great chicken enchilada recipe to share.

And It Goes Splat

Good Monday morning, Kitschies!  *yawn*  It's Monday again...already.  And I'm at work...sorta working.  The docs are gone for 3 days and I'm pacing myself on the work I have to do.  Nothing exciting - just working on EMR forms - but definitely not enough to keep me occupied for 3 days.  But sssshhhhhh!  Don't tel them that!

Saturday, the bestie and I went to see some Duke City Derby.  Holy crap that was awesome!  We haven't been out like that in soooo long AND the matches were so much fun!  So much so that I want to do it - I want to be one of those Roller Derby girls!  So. much.  But...I have a crappy knee and I really think all it would take is one good fall and I'd be out for the count.  Like, on the surgery table out.  I have a good brace, one that would probably keep me from injuring my knee more, but that brace was fitted when I weighed at least 50 pounds less.  GAWD I wanna do this but I don't see myself losing 50 pounds so I guess it's going to have to be one of those "when I was younger" dreams.

Anyway...I was going through my polish pix on Saturday and this mani screamed Roller Derby to me, so I'm sharing it with you today.

In early June, I saw this tutorial on The PolishAholic and I *had* to try it!  This was my first attempt at a splatter mani (my second attempt can be seen HERE) and though there were some spots I didn't like, I do like the overall result.

I started off with 2 coats of Zoya Raven.  If you click on the pic to make it bigger you can see there's a really pretty hidden sparkle in Raven.  It's more apparent in the bottle, but I'm not really complaining.  I did this mani in late June - I didn't think my nails grew fast but if this was only about 6 weeks ago, my nails have grown quite a bit! 

Then I splattered ChG Spontaneous (purple) and SH Xtreme Wear Blue Me Away (blue, duh) over Raven.  Love it!

It took a little practice but by the end, I had it down!  The pinkie finger looks kinda like a blue blob with some purple dribbled over it.  LOL

Here's my camera-shy right hand.  I really, really liked this mani.  The colors were great together!  But I can't take credit for the pairing: The PolishAholic posted her blue, black and purple splatter mani - that's the post that inspired me to try a splatter mani in the first place!

I want to thank everybody who voted for me in the Styled On DIY nail art contest.  Judging is today and they'll announce the winner on Wednesday...cross your fingers for me!

Enjoy your Monday!  I have some good recipes coming up soon, so be sure to keep an eye out for those yummies!

Listening to: Gone Forever by Three Days Grace
Mood: It's Monday

Flashback Friday: Nate

Good morning, Kitschies!!  This is my first Flashback Friday in a LONG time and the first time linking up with Lauren from Heya, Sparky!  My dear Tia has turned over the reins to Ms Lauren's most capable hands.  Check out Lauren's blog if you have a moment - good stuff!!

So...without further delay...

I've been a bad Mom.  Really.  No, not like I-beat-my-kid kind of bad mom, just a busy blogger who's been posting pics of my pretty fingers and my yummy recipes and NOT my beautiful little boy.  Today it's all about Mr Nate.

I have a question for you.  How do you go from this:

to this:

In what seems like the blink of an eye?

Nathaniel Edward made us a family on Sunday, July 16, 2006, after 17+ hours of labor.  Once he joined us, our lives were never the same and we're so thankful for that!  He was greeted home by his Grandma and Beba a few days after he was born.

Then Nate turned one and OMGosh he LOVED his cake!

This is what a 1-year-old sugar coma looks like!  That pic is one of my ultimate favorite pics of Nate, and it probably always will be.  He was so purple - I was afraid he'd be stained that way, but he washed up just fine.

This is Beba (my Dad) at the park for Nate's first birthday party.  Also one of my favorite pics!  Nate couldn't say Grandpa and my mom was pushing my Dad's belly like the Pillsbury Doughboy and saying Beeeebaaaa...Nate picked it up and and now, instead of Grandpa, it's Beba.

This may not be a good pic of Nate (he was hot and tired), but it's a good one of my Mom.  She doesn't allow pictures very often but if it's with one of her grandsons, she usually allows the exception.  Nate loves to ride around with Grandma in her power chair!  And if she's using her cane...watch out!  It's not usually hers for long.

Oh, look at those little blond curls!!  This is Nate at *almost* 2.  I miss his curly hair and chubby pink cheeks.

3rd birthday = Big Wheels!!  He still rides his Big Wheels (even though half the time he just picks it up or drags it behind him), but now his little brother has his eye on it.  LOL  And Wendi was right: 3 was MUCH worse than 2.

Where has my little baby gone?!  Nate was a horrible 3-year-old and we started to see the light at the end of the terrible toddler age after he turned 4.  Grandma and Beba got Nate a T-ball set for his 4th birthday.  We went to the park with Nate's cousins for a little baseball action.  That boy loves to swing a bat!  Or a stick.  Or anything he can get his hands on.

And now look at him!  He's 5 and he's so super handsome and such a great kid.  Super smart, constantly on the go.  AND he starts Kindergarten in just over a week!  How is that even possible?!  I'm so excited for him and a little sad for me because that means he's not my baby anymore.  He'll always be my little boy, but he's no longer my baby.  *tear*

We love you Natey, very, very much!  Happy belated birthday, big boy!!!

So, there ya go.  That's how you go from being a cute little blob of a baby to being a big, bad 5-year-old in a blink of an eye!

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

Good afternoon, Kitschies!!  It's Thursday...and that means we're ONE day closer to the weekend.  WOOT!  And a good weekend it's shaping up to be!  The fam and I are planning on taking a morning hike along dormant volcanoes Saturday morning and then the bestie and I are going to check out some roller derby Saturday night!!  If we had more money, we'd crawl downtown, but seeing as we're both pretty much next to broke, we'll be lucky if we hit up Lenny's for some dessert afterward.  LOL  Either way, I don't really care because she and I haven't been out like this in a LONG time!

Anyway...I have a cute mani/pedi combo to share with you today!  I wore this back in early June and I've been itching to try it again. 

For my mani, I started with a base of Tip Toe nail polish in Lime Slush.  It's a pretty lime creme, but was a pain in the butt to work with!  It was a little on the thick side and it left some bald spots.  But after I spruced it up a bit with some flowers, it was all worth it.

For the flowers, I used SH White On for the petals and Zoya Tanzy for the centers.  There are a couple leaves thrown in there, too, and for that, I used ChG Jolly Holly.

I like how Tanzy was a little less opaque so you could see the center of the flower petals coming together.  What I don't like is my green leaves streaked a little with application of my top coat (which was probably ChG Fast Forward).

I thought this mani was really cute, but since Lime Slush was so thick, it chipped and cracked pretty fast.  No matter - it was cute while it lasted.

And I'm not one to play matchy-matchy, but I thought the little flowers would look cute as a pedi, so I grabbed my pedi tools and went to work!

This is Zoya Dannii, a gorgeous purple shimmer? duochrome? from Zoya's Intimate Spring 2011 collection.  I love so many colors from this collection, but this is and Gemma are the only beauties to have joined my stash (so far).  To be honest, I think I like how the toes came out more than I did the fingers!  I changed up the flowers *just* a little for the pedi.  Instead of using Tanzy for the center, this time I used Hard Candy Lava and green acrylic paint for the flowers. 

I *meant* to use Hard Candy Lava as the centers for my mani, too, but *somebody* (read Nate or Mason) moved the bottle and I had no choice but change oranges.  LOL

So, my question to you is this: do you match your mani and pedi?  Do you match colors or patterns?  Do you do your toes?  If you do your toes, why don't you share them with us?  I know of one, *maybe* two fellow bloggers who share their pedis.  Why are blogger so anti-pedi?

One more thing, if you have a free minute or two, please check out this post HERE to help a fellow blogger out.  Thanks!

Need Your Help

Morning, Kitschies!!

I don't usually do this, but I'm asking for YOUR help.

I entered a DIY nail art contest and I need your vote!  All you need to do is log in to your FB account (I know you have one) and then click the link HERE then click the big green button that says VOTE!

Here's my entry.

I originally showed this mani off in THIS post.

Please let me know if you voted by leaving a comment here or on my FB page.  Who knows...I *may* just decide to pull a name from a hat and give away a little somethin!

There are lots of great nail art entered - please vote for others, too!

Thanks so much!  You guys are the bestest!!!

WWtKW: Full of WIN Edition

Good morning, Kitschies!  It's Wednesday (even though I thought all morning it was Thursday - bummer), so that must mean it's time for We Want to Know Wednesday.  With your hosts: Mamarazzi and Alicia aka Queso.

Join me, won't you?



This week's questions come from the very lovely and extremely talented Mamarazzi, and they are FULL of WIN!!!

1.  If you could spend a day with a blogger, who you haven't met in real life, who would you choose?
2.  What website do you check first when you go online?
3.  What is something you are saving money for right now?
4.  What is your go-to silly face when a silly face is needed? {post a pic of it and be entered to win a prize from Mamarazzi!}
5.  How do you relieve stress?

1.  If you could spend a day with a blogger, who you haven't met in real life, who would you choose?

That's a hard one...and I definitely can't pick just one.  Other than the obvious (Mamarazzi), I would love to spend the day with:
Nailstah - We were *supposed* to meet when I was in LA but she didn't check her email so we missed each other.  I think Miss Annie and I would have a blast together - we have similar personalities.

Emily at Wife, Check. Mom, Check.  Now What?  - We both have young kid(s) around the same age and I think they would get along pretty well, which would give us time to gab.

There's more, but it's pretty busy at the clinic right now and that's all I can think of off the top of my head.

2.  What website do you check first when you go online?

It's a toss-up.  Facebook and Blogger.  I check them both, but neither one of them get top billing over the other.

3.  What is something you are saving money for right now?

Saving money?  What's that?  LOL  You kinda gotta *have* money to *save* money and right now, we don't.

4.  What is your go-to silly face when a silly face is needed? {post a pic of it and be entered to win a prize from Mamarazzi!}

You get a crappy cell phone pic since I'm at work right now...

Nice, right?  I know you're jealous you can't all look this good.

5.  How do you relieve stress?

Well, naturally, I paint my nails!  LOL  I'd love to say that I sew to relieve stress but all that usually does is increase it.  Oh!  And I like to read.  Give me a good book and I could sit there for HOURS, lost in another world.

Fun, right?  Have some fun and link up with us!  You KNOW you want to.

Happy Wednesday!

LONG Overdue

Good morning, Kitschies!!  I hope you're not melting away in to a little puddle in all this heat!  It hasn't been *so* hot here the last few days, but it's still hot.  Hurry up Fall!!!

I have a post for you today that's LONG overdue.  Waaaaay back in April, as you may remember, Zoya kicked off their annual exchange program.  The bestie and I jumped on the bandwagon and ordered a lot of polish.  A lot.  Good thing they were 50% off!!

This is what the bestie got, starting at the top left.  Robyn, Indigo, Julienne, Sloane, and Jacy.  On the bottom, starting on the left: Kelly, Delilah, Isla and Paige.

She picked out some gorgeous colors!!  She got two more but they were on back order, so they didn't get pictured with their other sisters. 

I had a harder time deciding because I already had quite a few Zoya polishes...it was difficult to decide which colors to add to my ever expanding collection.

I ended up with a lot of reds, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.  And I can't *really* tell which red is which, so I'm going to tell you the two I know for sure: Diem (nude) and Gemma (green).  The other reds are (I think): Divincia, Nidihi, Blair and Quinn.

I adore all the reds I got...and I especially love Gemma.  And I'm counting Quinn as a red because she shows up much more red in the picture - she's really a berry creme.

We both ordered a few colors that were on back order...and they got to us pretty soon after the large lot, but not soon enough for them to be pictured all together.

Here are the triplet that were separated at birth: Dannii and Raven were ordered by both of us.  Now this is where I must've lost my mind when I was labeling the pic because that's not Quinn...that's Drew.  *hides head*  I don't know what I was thinking.  Anyway...


There's our Zoya haul from the polish exchange back in April.  What colors did you pick up?