Dear followers, link spam me please!

Please spam this post with your blog URLs! I'd love to look at your blogs and follow them as you've done for me. So many kind words and compliments are given via the comment section and I want to be able to return the kindness.  Please post your blog link (regardless of its nature) and I'll check it out. I'm interested in all kinds!

Here is a picture of my kitty, Quiddle. Because no post seems right without a photo of some sort.

I really do appreciate your involvement in my blog, without you guys, it'd just be a diary, lol!

My Secret Santa Presents & An Old Favorite

Holy cow! I have 215 followers!  I just had a giveaway for my 150th followers. Crazy!  I love reading the comments and I do reply to each, so check back if you'd like! (=  Another giveaway coming soon, I promise!

Also my finals are OVER. I'm done til January! Hopefully I can be a more active blogger now!

I wanted to share what my Secret Santa gave me for Christmas! I'm so blown away about her ability to get me so good.  I'll leave her name out of this post but I'm going to show you all the lovely things I got!

Whats this?! What could be inside? Her handwriting is like a font. Adorable!

Goodies spilled over!

She got me my first to pa nail polishes ever! They're so cute and teeny.  And she got me an adorable compact mirror and some candies I shared with my Dad. And the coffee cozy and the pink pens and the hello kitty stuff.. it's like she knows me personally!  I couldn't be more thrilled with her thoughtfulness.

Then she sent me a second package (!!) with these two beauties in it.  I never heard of Nabi before but they're INCREDIBLE.  So densely packed with sparklies and rainbows, hahaha.

I'm going to throw a NOTD in here for good measure.  I revisited an old favorite: China Glaze Dorothy Who?  This is 3 thin (very thin) coats over Orly Nail Armor topped with OTD.  It's lovely, isn't it?

This wore like iron on me! Well, kind of.  It did chip a little but it DIDN'T sheet off! YAY!

Annoyed

There seems, for the most part, a divided opinion on whether 'testing' nail polish is or isn't stealing.  Testing with a tester is not the same thing as testing with a product intended for sale.  That is an important distinction.  I think the concept becomes blurry because while they're not putting the entire bottle into their pocket and walking out of the store, they are indeed using part of a product that they're not paying for.  It's pretty black and white in my eyes.  Using something you're not paying for, that is supposed to be paid for, is, uh, theft.  Just because the bottle remains left at the store doesn't mean they didn't take product from the bottle. And just because someone only "used a little" of the product, also doesn't mean it's not theft.

I'm writing this because I'm kind of pissed off.  Most (hopefully!) of you who read know the difference, and anyone who is involved in this hobby usually aren't the types who do this.  We see swatches, and research the quality of something before purchasing it.  I almost feel as if I'm wasting my breath, because you aren't the people who needs to hear this. But alas, this is my soapbox.

Almost always, when purchasing a polish, I'll open it to check and make sure the threads aren't gunked up.  For whatever reason this time around, I didn't.  I went in to Walgreens specifically looking for the Coloricon glitters but a Sinful Colors that I hadn't noticed before caught my eye.  I grabbed it and continued to search for the Coloricons, couldn't find them, so I went to check out.  It wasn't until getting home and a few days later that I realized my polish was used, and noticeably used.

I take fault for not checking it out at the store, I understand that.  I think it's kind of absurd that I even have to have a habit of inspecting an item I want to purchase.

The idiots who test make up in stores are just that, idiots. Evidently they're incapable of NOT slathering the threads of a bottle too.  How hard is it to not do that?  They're not threading a needle.  The opening is big enough.

Thanks for the slop!

To whomever did this: you are a fucking douchebag :D There. I feel better.

Irene Aftermath

It has been a really bizarre, rough week.  I didn't have power until Tuesday.  That was annoying, but not devastating. I live in a little town in North-Central NJ that is bound by rivers and gets hit hard.  The day after Irene, we were stranded in town, people who needed medical attention were being lifted out by helicopters and everyone had lifeless expressions on their faces.

I fortunately didn't flood, we live on a hill.  But the town was hit with lots of water that took a few days to recede.  This was the view down my street:

Boats in the street.  My heart goes out to all the people who were affected by this.  Normalcy is finally returning.  No more military check points checking ID's to get into town, the sirens and alarms have ceased, power has mostly returned, stores are opening again - but those were all inconveniences compared to the devastation some people experienced.  People's whole material lives are on the curbs waiting to be picked up by garbage men. There are anti-looting and trash picking signs everywhere, too.  The evacuation shelter behind down the road still has people at it.

This was about 3 blocks up from me.  I am just so very fortunate all we dealt with was a few basement puddles and a refrigerator of bad food.  My thoughts go out to the East Coast.  I hope any of you who were affected by Irene make a speedy recovery.

its sunday night already? really?

Uhhhh back to the grind tomorrow.  This weekend FLEW. Mostly because it was so fun (=  I have a sunshiney manicure to go along with the happy thoughts.

A few things worth mentioning: this is only my 2nd bottle of this brand/style/collection.  The insta-dri bottles are fug.  Doesn't matter though, since I owe a TON of Funky Fingers polishes and they're TERRIBLY UGLY.  The coverage was great! Streaks were easy to correct.

"Lightening" 3 coats.

Strange spelling. I guess it isn't supposed to be 'lightning' as much as it is the action to 'lighten'.  If it was up to me, I'd name this "BIG FRICKIN' DAISY". It reminds me of yellow daises, in a big frickin' way.  I've worn this twice since I got it a few weeks ago, which says a lot.  It's like the total-package yellow.  Light, cooler yellows don't fly well on me.  But the goldeny sunshine yellows look much better. Yellow is one of my favorite colors, second to pink, and I am glad I can wear it on my nails.  I am blonde and fair skinned so yellow clothing usually washes me out.  I'll take what I can get!

GAUDY.

I love the costume jewelry craze.  I got this for my sister as a possible birthday present, but she didn't want it because it wasn't "bedazzled" enough, so I kept it. Love!

And this weekend me and the boy decided to travel over to Pennsylvania and do some shopping (which he loves to do more than me) as well as some sightseeing. We hit up a flea market and I got a cutesy purse, wallet and phone case. And by sightseeing, I mean real sights. Look:

Breathtaking!

It was about 89 degrees with ABSURD humidity.  The walkways were steaming, but I had a great time.  A great weekend and a great day spent with my lovey.  Can't ask for much more (=

"Broken Hearted" & some updates

There are a handful of things in life that I repeatedly try, thinking I'll like it.  Romaine lettuce, yogurt, sushi.. oh, and crackle nail polish.  I think Einstein is quoted as saying that insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". I finally had the smallest glimmer of a breakthrough with China Glaze Crackle Glaze in "Broken Hearted" :D !

1 coat of "Broken Hearted" over 3 coats over
L.A. Colors "Energy Source".

Wheeeeee! A crackle I like!  I have black and silver shatter from OPI and could take or leave both of them.  "Broken Hearted" is definitely a keeper!  I had a strange moment at work when one of my coworkers had the SAME manicure on as me.  She had this same crackle coat over white.  It strangely excited both of us, lol.

Cute!

A couple of updates:


On my temporary tattoo manicure:  I had seen the idea somewhere before but as stated in my previous post, I thought they were special nail decals.  I do not want to claim 100% credit for the idea as the gears started turning once I accidentally got the tattoo on my nail.  It was kind of an, "Oh! I bet those were regular temporary tattoos" more so than a "LOOK WHAT I INVENTED" kind of deal.


Anyways!  Mine started to smush off/peel at about noon today but I can't be sure that it was their fault.  I use antibacterial hand sanitizer countless times a day, as well as old-fashioned hand washing.  I've literally used hand sanitizer to remove the tattoos before, so I'm certain it contributes to general removal - but I had a top coat on.  That stuff is pretty strong, so who knows what it does.  It's also possible their tacky nature didn't sit well underneath a topcoat.  I will definitely make note of this next time I wear them.


On a positive note, does anyone remember Squidgee (Quidge/Artemis)?

My little Momma.

After months of steroids and a handful of vet visits, our little peanut of a cat is doing much better!  She's much more active, alert and eating way more than before!  Thankfully, her medicine isn't very expensive at all and she just goes for check ups every once in a while. Her treatment is no where near the cost of her original diagnosis visit so we weren't forced to put her to sleep. Phew. (=

live near a Five Below?

This is just a little PSA for all of my readers. I found AMAZING scores when I stopped in today. Here is what you should know:

I've been to 2 different locations that are an hour apart and they both stock relatively the same things, so I hope you find what I found!

-All Funky Fingers are always 3 for 5$. The Fresh Paint brand is the same pricing.
-Today I found Sally Hansen Salon Effects for 5$! They had 6 complex designs and 6 colors on a full display.
-Sally Hansen Complete 5-in-1 Manicure bottles are 3$.
-Sally Hansen Insta-Dri polishes (paired with a FREE Insta-Dri topcoat) were 2$
-Sally Hansen Insta-Dri polishes were also available in other colors but w/o the bonus topcoat.

Best of luck (= I hope you all get to do a little guilt-free shopping like I did.

"favorite girl" & a skin problem

Uh.. what day is it? Friday? I feel like Monday morning, lol.  I figured I would give a quick update and post about a new polish I bought the other day.

This blog crosses my mind about 3 times or so a day. I miss it but have been successfully dodging it for more reasons than "lack of time".  As mentioned before, the gloves I wear are destroying my hands.  No latex allergy but the powder has been brutal.  I have mild dyshidrotic eczema on my hands, and it is (in my case) stress triggered.  The constant washing, lotioning and gloves have caused the skin on the sides of my fingers to literally peel off by the end of the day.  I don't want to post pictures of raw skin and aggravated blisters.  Up until this week I hadn't even painted my nails for about a month in order to not call attention to them.  The topical steroids my doctor has prescribed help, but it doesn't cure it.  I've done research on the condition and there isn't much you can really do.  WARNING: if you decide to be ballsy and google pictures of it, it is pretty gory.  As I said, mine is mild (actually, very mild in comparison) but micro focus is rather unforgiving.

Work has been truly exhausting.  It's hot, the air conditioning isn't the best, and enrollment has picked up.  There's a handful of coworkers who have turned being lazy into a true art form, meaning those who do work have to work harder to pick up the slack.  A lot of people there seem to have unofficial "daycare tenure" and can evidently do no wrong.  I'm in the 18 month - 2 and a half year old room by myself, there is a lot of lifting, chasing and general running around. It's mentally taxing, too. I come home and watch TV for a bit, and usually fall asleep. I have an 8 hour day, but usually spend my hour break trying to catch up on work that needs to be done. I am by no means a morning person and waking up at 6:45 am blows. I don't think anyone wants to listen to anyone gripe about work, but this is my little soapbox!  It is really nice having a break from school though.  When I come home from work, there is no sitting at the computer typing paper after paper.

On to the polish (=  I tried having long(er) nails while working but holy crap it was impractical.  I have super nubs now.

Forgive the cat fur, my Ralphie LOVES this thing, haha!

Polish damage after ONE day of work )=

Funky Fingers - "Favorite Girl" 3 Coats
A pretty pink foil.

I don't have many (or at least, wear many) foils, but this is really pretty.  The application was somewhat splotchy, but I think it has more to do with me being out of practice.  Some lighting and holding my hands just the right way so thin spots of the polish.  But about 95% of the time you can't tell - you'd really have to be looking for it to see it.  2$ at five below - totally recommended!

And back to my previous paragraph - does anyone have or know of anyone with dyshidrotic eczema?  I've seen information saying to keep it dry, some says to keep your skin moisturized - it's all pretty confusing.  Any tips or advice is greatly appreciated.  My doctor(s) basically shrugged it off, they had NO useful advice.

i finally got that handbag that got away!

WHO LOVES DISCOUNTS AND COUPONS? This girl, that's who.  Originally $89.00 I got it for under $30.00 because I stacked coupons and discount things.  I had bought it a month or so bad for $67.50 and returned it because that was too much.

It's SO cute in real life.  The sides have lace all over them and it sparkles.  I tried to take a few pictures but couldn't get a good full shot. Anyways, here are some detail shots.

Close up of the lace.  The glares are the sparkles.

IDK what this is, but it's detachable lol.

I LOVE the gems all over this thing!

CUTE liner! Bag is huge, holds tons of my crap!

I don't know who Sienna Ricchi is, never heard of her, but the bag just caught my eye a while back and I love it. It has the perfect amount of inside pockets and space. Love Love Love!

Anyways, to stay relevant, here is a possible repost of E.L.F in Champagne, I think.  This shimmer gave me mannequin hands!!  I can't remember if I posted this before of if it was just patiently waiting in my backlogs.  Oh well. Enjoy (=

giveaway reminder & kitties

Just a little reminder for those who may have missed the original post, a week from this Monday is last day to enter my 50 Follower Giveaway.  Even though I am up to 66 now, which is even more exciting :D :D :D

All information as well as the form can be found HERE.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOO!

And just so you don't feel like I left you hanging, here are some kitty pictures.

Neener

Ralphie

Squidget

Frank

milani gems & a craptastic story

A week or so ago, a lovely lady on MUA made a thread asking about blogs.  I messaged her and gave her my link to check mine out and we got to talking about the hunt of long wanted polishes, etc.  I told her about one I’ve been searching for at stores but haven’t come across and she just so happened to have it, and not care for it.  Fast forward to today and it’s here!  She sent a “bonus” polish along with it, which is what I am showing you today.

Never had a particular desire for Milani “Gems” but I am really happy she decided to throw it in there.  My cuticles and nails are truthfully a hot mess from the damage of this week between working at the daycare, the constant washing and being too exhausted by the end of the day to even try and paint them nicely.

“Gems” is such a quick solution to all those problems!  I shlapped on about 6 or 7 coats, to make it as visually opaque as possible without creating a visible buildup of depth.  It’s so friggin’ flashy, it disguises craptastic cuticles in a second!

I've never owned, nor wore, anything remotely similar to this polish before.  Look at me!! I'm outside my comfort zone!

Such a little show-stealer (=

Reminds me a little of Little Italy in NYC.

So, I have a story that I feel obligated to share.  It’s ridiculously disgusting, which is even more reason to share.  Anybody with a child probably won’t be fazed, but I’ve never had this happen to me before and I’ve been working around children and daycares for nearly 7 years at this point in my life.

Infant room teacher has the flu and since I am a substitute and have no classes on Thursdays I said I would cover.  I was especially excited because I love the infant room and have so much fun with the babies.  Anyways, there were supposed to be 4 infants but one was a no-show, so I had 3 babies under my watch.  Two were initially terrified of my unfamiliar face but quickly warmed up; more so than their weary “who the fack are you?” parents.  I understand you don’t know me, but the second you walk out the door your kiddies will forget and be fine.  (A lot of the parents who have older children are very familiar with me because I used to be fulltime there, the new babies parents are rightfully skeptical of a new face!)

Anyways, I don’t know these kids schedules by heart. Everything was typed up by the teacher who was out.  So I was following a tentative schedule that really might as well have been a diaper because these babies were soooooo doing their own thing today!

We are supposed to change diapers every two hours, but check in between for poo and if we notice they need a changing (pee or the poops) we do it.  Anyway I felt this 3-month-old’s diaper and she was dry.  I took her out of a bouncer and put her on the mat for some tummytime.  I got up and walked to the sink and she went balls-to-the-wall ballistic on me.  I went over and picked her up and decided to change her diaper because she felt wet all of sudden.

Oh, it was beyond “wet”.  She had just been changed 45 minutes prior and technically wasn’t due for a changing, but there really is no technical aspects to a baby so I should have seen this coming.  And then it happened. I got the whiff of a lifetime.  I am so used to poop at this point but holy hell was this a dump.

All of a sudden, my hand is wet (I’m still holding her.)  UGH.  Crap all over my hand. Crap all over the baby. Crap all over my shirt.  This little peanut of a baby has crapped through her onesie and her outfit onto my hand.  So I lay her on the changing table and realize the paper towels are out of reach as well as the sink.  I can’t leave her unattended and I don’t want anymore crap on my shirt so I ended up putting a glove over my hand which at this point still has poo on it.(I bet that's GREAT for cuticles!)

She’s in a pleasant mood since releasing the dump-of-all-dumps and is squirming and giggling, so getting her clothes off was like solving a labyrinth with no eyesight and a hangover.  They needed to be pulled over her head (since baby clothes designers decided THAT is the most convenient tactic for infant clothes removal!) and obviously they’re COVERED in crap.  That all took a solid 5 minutes.  Finally I have her nakie and I’m wiping her down and used nearly ½ a pack of wipes but really had no other choice.  So shes laying there all giggly and nakie and I reached up to grab her bin to get a new outfit for her.

I look down.. I’m not even making this up, she has pissed all over the changing table.  And now her head is soaked.  Now the other baby in the room realizes she’s due for a bottle.  And the third baby took her socks off and went to town on her eczema.  (Luckily she didn’t break the skin this time because I was able to catch it in time by calling for help.)  it’s like they mentally radioed each other for those 15 minutes and decided just screw with me.

It was a straight scene out of a movie.  I've never, ever, had any scenario come remotely close to this one.  One screaming hungry baby, one itching feverously in a panic and the third literally rolling around in pee.  Still, I couldn’t pick up the baby because I didn’t want to destroy my clothes anymore.  I was able to get a teacher from another room to feed the hungry baby and put socks back on the itchy baby while I cleaned up the damage from bladder control baby. 

The whole entire ordeal lasted about 25 minutes.  Between sanitizing the changing table twice and bagging up multiple soiled outfits, having to cool down the bottle that was now over heated for hungry baby.. holy jeez.  On top of all this, there was a tour arriving at 4:15 for parents interested in the infant room.  All I could do was laugh.  You have to in a situation where you’re being tag teamed by a bunch of infants.

franken; "candy hearts"

My first few franken attempts ever consisted of mixing together crèmes and seeing what I got.  I started to notice that all of the frankens I did make looked like other polishes I already had, and those frankens didn’t contain the colors that they inevitably ended up looking like so I quickly lost interest.

I made 3 experimental frankens with some eyeshadow pigments and the results are just so different from anything I’ve already got, and I love that!  A few weeks ago I made a yummy springlike peach that I love and don’t have any like, as well as a minty jade that was a unique addition to my collection (=

This franken I am showing you today hits close to a ton of polishes out there but reminds me a little of Good Witch (ChG) sans the chunky glitter.

The only problem I have with this one is I think I added too much pigment, because every few strokes a clump shows up on my nail.  That requires smoothing it out, but it isn't too much of a pain.  I added 2 balls and thinner and it's still a little clumpy.

"Candy hearts"

This was an entire bottle of Sally Hansen "flawless" which was just a clear, colorless polish.  I mixed in 3 different color pigments but the red streaks at the bottom, but not on the nail - so no harm, no foul!

Also, we got lots of snow and I took some pictures!

Frank was exploring on our screened in porch.  The snow blew in from the screen and he left little paw prints all over, too cute!

covergirl NOTD!

Purple purple purple!  I don’t know what has gotten into me but I can’t get enough of the purples lately.  This mani is about 4 or 5 coats of Cover Girl Nail Slicks in “Sheer orchid”.  The polished pooled in some spots of my nails because they’re still so fk’d up from the fakes I used to wear.  They’re growing out, slowly but surely!

Sheer orchid is a dusty kinda purple jelly.  I chipped my pinky shoveling this morning, oops.  Notice my index finger, yea, I "fixed" the problem by adding to it and slapping on a fakie.

Added some delicious sparkles with Cover Girl Boundless Color in.. wow I have no idea.  The label is missing from the bottle.  

Now for some genuine girl bitching. While all of the major aspects in my life are in order, I have a stack of minor irritations slowly adding up that, you guessed, I’m going to vent about!

-I somehow, I guess, broke my father’s camera.  I dropped it a month or so ago. Well it fell off my bed, about two feet, onto the carpet. It wasn’t a drastic fall and it worked fine after up until this morning. It takes one picture, then the lens spazzes out and the camera turns off.  I lost one of his credit cards 3 years ago and I still hear about it so I suppose I won’t be living this one down for a good while.  I tried to make up for it by helping him shovel from about 4am til 6am this morning because we got a foot of snow and he had to go to work.  I’m not mad that he’s upset, and he’s really not that upset, I’m upset with myself for ruining something he trusted me with.

-A totally superficial complaint but my stupid index finger nail that has been a nubbin since it broke a week or so again has finally gotten the best of me.  I was at the vet, my little kitty isn’t behaving right, and I was impatient and nervous and picked at it well below the quick.  It bled for a while and stung, still does, but I applied a fakey to it for now until it starts to grow a bit.  I didn’t push hard so hopefully it doesn’t damage the new growth.

-My little bitty kitty has some kind of infection or something, there is blood in her urine and I’m not to happy about it.  She’s being treated now but as of recently she started peeing on everything and acting erratically.  She is in heat but there’s a defined difference between being in heat and being sick.  I’ve seen cats in heat before, they howl and meow and rub all over things and stick their asses in the air and are super affectionate and annoying, but peeing over everything isn’t typical, especially of her.  We just got her from my brother a few months ago and I’m just worried she still hasn’t adjusted.

This is my little princess (=  She's so tiny! Only 6 pounds!  My brother had named her Artemis but the name doesn't roll off the tongue well.  As far as anyone in my house is concerned, this is Squidget.  Or Squidge, or Squidgee.  She's so petite and cute and such a sweet little girl.  Loves cuddling and nuzzling, omg I just wanna squeeze her head off sometimes LOL.

question for my dear readers..

Lately, I've been wondering why I've nearly recieved zero comments or feedback.  A few of my previous posts for a few weeks ago had lots of suggestions, comments and general feedback and I love to read everyone's opinions, as most people do!

I actually thought my comments were broke somehow and tried to fix it, and tested them to see that they weren't broken at all.  I've been watching my stats and I get around 40 views a day, about 10 of which are from me checking for errors and spacing problems.  So that means about 30 people view my blog a day, or fewer view it multiple times.  I have 39 followers so the numbers seem fair. 

My question is not "why aren't you commenting" but are you ladies reading/viewing my posts actually?  I have no way to tell if anyone is actually reading/viewing my pictures or not.  I wouldn't stop posting and discontinue my hobby if that was the case, but its generally just something I've been wondering.  I have no ill feelings about it, it really simply is just a curiosity.

I know I don't prompt questions at the end of my posts like most people do, and I typically post in a "here is what I did" kind of way versus a "do you like what I did" fashion.  So I know that plays into it, and as mentioned before I'm not bitter or anything!  Just wondering if I'm talking to myself here, lol.

Thanks for any thoughts on this (=
Sincerely,
Cathryn