Nails... glorious nails!

After a few years (ok, a few decades) of trying to fit into the latest trends and colours of nail polishes and never wearing them after the initial test (although I hung onto them for dear life years past there wear before date, for who knows what reason)... I have conceded I'm not that adventurous with my manicure colours. (now my pedicures... bright pink all the way!) I'm ok with that, considering I don't wear neon any longer (I barely wore it in the 80s when it was socially acceptable) in any shape or form. I have had to come to terms that I'm a pretty simple(-ish) gal that sticks to her tried and true neutral like colours (and glitter, you can never go wrong with glitter!) I may switch it up with different versions of these colours (so daring, I know!) but at this time these are what I'm loving.

Sally Hansen's Shell We Dance is my go-to nail colour for the spring and summer. Light enough to be a neutral, no matter how many coats you swipe on. I almost whimper when I realize I'm down to my last strokes with this one.

For a little more pop and swagger I pair it with Essie's A Cut Above... Whether it's a top coat on just one nail or on all my nails... actually I pair the glitter with pretty much anything I can. It adds pep to my step and a gives me a little shine to my day.

Essie's Chinchilly is that must have grey-ish/brown-ish neutral with a slight purple-ish undertone... I know, that WAS some pretty technical speak there! It warms up your nail colour without being too in your face and pretty much goes with anything. I recently did this colour (I was doing a fall photoshoot, otherwise I'd be wearing pink!) with just the tips in the A Cut Above, that way I alwayas have glitter at my fingertips, even if I'm just doing the dishes!

I'll throw in some black into the mix every once in a while when I'm feeling a bit edgy... and when my nails have decided to be short, I think the colour acts as a sort of camouflage to the shortness of them... nobody has said different so that's what I'm going with!

What's your favourite go-to colours for the different seasons? Are you a dare to wear or a tried and trusted kind of nail gal?

New York... The Big Apple... The City that never sleeps... ya, THAT New York

A little over a year ago, I took my first trip to New York. This is a trip I had been dreaming about for years. After several attempts of planning it, and then those plans being cancelled, I received a call in early April at the not so pretty hour of 7:30am from my Dad asking if I wanted to go along with them. My response?
"You better not be screwing with me Dad."
He wasn't. So off we went days before my 40th birthday; my Dad, step-mom (Maureen), my friend (Tracy) & me! Although, it was EXTREMELY overwhelming (I love to walk, but that was a bit much even for me!) and both Tracy and I, having a sudden break from the stresses of work, both suffered a bit from our bodies breaking down (a follow up story for another time!), I felt like I was constantly in a dream. A big, noisy, bustling, glorious dream! I loved every minute I was there! Even the rain, hello it was Big Apple rain, how could I not?

Lovely flowers from my sister, brother-in-law, nephew and niece awaited my arrival in NYC. My sister rocks!

 

          My pretty thing I call Dad. He looks like he fits right in!         It's like it was waiting just for me to pass by!

Most expensive martini ever... in the history of ever... I enjoyed every single drop!

                            

     Stuck in a bookstore, with a latte, while it down poured                         Riding around Central Park
                                      ... all was good in my world!                                  ... my Dad kicked my butt! Maureen kicked us both!

                    Doing one of the hundreds of bus tours                   Took this on a night stroll near our hotel
                                      ... sun was out, but it was freezing!                         ...that was the moment I knew I was in NYC!

 

I think this shot is in every movie that involves NYC                 This was my favourite spot! So happy when I finally found it
             ...I am not one to pass up a movie moment photo op!                        ... Went back the next morning to sit and drink a latte on the steps. Heaven!

Long story on how it happened, but we had the best seats in the house. My first Broadway show and I loved it!

I think the most humourous moment was on the first day we arrived, the very first store Tracy and I went to... FAO Schwarz... we perused the Barbie section for far too long considering our age! I was thrilled and slightly peeved I could not take everything home with me! I can't help it, I love Barbie!!!

A lovely birthday weekend

Friday

I think I’ve started a new tradition with myself... making my own birthday cake. I figure this way I’ll get exactly what I want (chocolate! Always chocolate!) and be able to be all smug in that “ya, I made it” kind of way. This year I was inspired by an Instagram photo by Lauren Conrad, zipped to her web page and found out how. Just a side note: Lauren Conrad’s site laurenconrad.com and her Instagram account is FILLED with pretty things. LOVE. IT!

I didn’t have a professional baker or any of the tools on hand so I just winged it with what I had... which was cardboard, wax paper and store bought icing. This beauty cost me a whole of 297 pennies... actually less, as I still have cake crumbles in my freezer for more cake bubbles... I’m sorry, I just think the word balls is too crass for these yummy PeanutButter&Chocolate covered in pink deliciousness... I’ve decided to coin the term cake bubbles... you heard it here first! And even though it is not well, Lauren Conrad pretty... it’s MY pretty and in my world, that’s all that counts!

Saturday
A date with friends to have our hard working tootsies pampered ended with our fabulous toes! Pedicures are truly my guilty pleasure... without the guilt! As we sat in our massaging chairs and caught up with each others lives with fun chit-chat, we found we could not leave until we had seen the marriage proposal scene between Jennifer Aniston & Ben Affleck's characters in "He's Just Not That Into You". It was truly a girly kind of day!

Sunday
A whole lot of pretty rolled up into one picture... a latte, New York, Paris and chocolate from my favourite local chocolate cafe. It was a perfect Sunday morning... even thought the rain just came down in sheets, I thought it was the perfect excuse to stay in pj’s and just enjoy the moment that it was. Delicious! And yes, I did eat the whole box that day... I have no will power when it comes to chocolate... and numerous chocolate eating stories to prove it!

      

Monday

My actual birthday. The sun was out and I ate free at Denny's. I consider that a pretty great day!

Ramblings of a 40 year old...

A few weeks ago I turned 40. FORTY. forty.
I have no idea how this happened. I mean I know how it happened... time went on and I got older. I get that part. The part I don't get is how fast it went. My teen years went on forever (that was a special kind of hell most days and I would have preferred those days to go by a little faster than they did), and my twenties kind of tennis matched me between my 2 moods of crazy and not so crazy (I think it was leftovers of my teen years). And then I hit 30. I liked 30. I was in school, was heading in a forward direction on most fronts of my life (of course not the romantic side... I'm still trying to figure out that one). But from 30-40, that just blew by, you think you'll have all this time to do whatever it is, and then you realize... you really don't. You leave your high education thinking the world is your oyster, but then realize the oyster you are in has no pearl and you have got to pay the bills.
Being 40 so far is pretty good. Kind of like 38... I would say 39, but in truth that was a hard year for me to grasp, so I'm going with 38. I've also decided to finally do stuff I really love to do, and if I create a career out of it (I work at a job that involves numbers... I like the look of numbers, I like high numbers to be in my bank account, but I am not the biggest fan of numbers when I stare at them for many hours a day) that would be just groovy.

So it comes down to what do I like to do. What moves me into action, makes my brain go tickety-tickety-tick...besides lattes.
Dance
Fashion
Writing
Reading
Ideas
Pink Champagne (this one actually makes my brain go more la-la-la,  than tickety-tickety-tick, but either works for me)

With these things in mind I am moving forward. I signed up for a beginner's sewing class, dance class, zumba and have a stack of books to read. I've set myself deadlines for certain things (a-hem, writing), and have my date book penned up for parties of the other people turning 40 in my life. My hopes are that I'll truly start doing all the things I've wanted to do... start in that direction anyways. Welcome to the summer I turned 40.

Day 5 - July 5, 2012 - Cake Stand

Today I went with a cake stand as a lot of my upcoming pins involve baking, thought I'd have something to actually put them on! 

Pin Muse

Check my 365 board on Pinterest for the pinner I pinned it from.

Original site this is from http://joshuatrent.com/clay-pot-cake-stand

After

So this is a mini version. My place is small so it really is the perfect side... also flipped the "plate" the other way as I was afraid I wouldn't be able to slide the cake on... or more importantly get the cake off of it easily with the lip there. (although it will have to be a mini cake, or cupcakes, as I think a standard sized cake will not fit on my mini-cakes stand... I'm ok with that!) So it looks like a bit of a mushroom...heehee...but it matches my candy dish! 

Verdict: Super easy. Although I glued before painting.... lesson learned, especially if not using a spray paint (which I wasn't)! Next time I'll paint then glue! Also use a clear shellack stuff  if you are putting food directly on it... or just use a doily if you don't have any of that stuff. I'm not sure if I'm done painting, I think I need to pep it up... so I will be using a doily for now. Thrilled as now I will have something to showcase my forthcoming baking items!

Day 4 - July 4, 2012 - Green Beans

So I'm feeling kinda lazy today (as the sun has FINALLY peeked out) and I had green beans in my fridge... so I went with that.

Pin Muse

Check my 365 board on Pinterest for the pinner I pinned it from.

Original site this is from:
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/11/roasted-parmesan-green-beans.html

After

As I said... I was lazy, these were handy... and they satisfied the taste buds... I do think I may have over cooked them a bit...but the cheese covered up any burned taste that may have been there... I did use marble cheese instead of Parmesan cheese as that is what I had in my fridge. Bon Appetite!

Day 3 - July 3, 2012 - Candy Dish "Machine"

Who doesn't like candy? I know I do... I consider it one of my daily food groups. I should probably rethink that...nah!

Pin Muse

Check my 365 board on Pinterest for the pinner I pinned it from

Original Pin site: http://www.blog.geckostickers.com.br/2012/05/crie-seu-proprio-baleiro.html
Hm! It's all in Spanish... seriously 3 days in and I have yet to pick a pin that originates from an actual craft site... although this one could be and I just don't know it... Spanish is not a language I know. Si?

I liked the look of this. Super fun looking and the options are endless of what it could be used for.. such as a mini chocolate bar dish. I knew I could find the supplies I needed, although there are slight differences and some adjustments needed to be made to accommodate the slight difference... but I can roll with that!

After

Now to reveal all truth here, I did start this ahead of today. There was painting, which required dry time... and glueing, which also required dry time. But today is the day I put all the finishing touches on it (and candy in it). And yes.. I did start with mini chocolate bars... but I ate them. So candy it is! The slight difference in the glass top required me to add a small round cardboard cut out (painted out the same colour). This gave my base a bit more stability.

Twist: Kept pretty much to what the muse was (besides the change of glass top, more room for candy) and I used 1/2 wooden beads... and I used Wellbond glue.. super simple to use and it holds! I think this could be used for all sorts of things. I also decided not to use the bow as I found it cluttered it up... I like the simple clean lines of it this way... I did try a bow... it looked wrong. Hmmm... ok, maybe I kept nothing the same but the basic guideline of materials! 

Other uses besides candy:
Change - such as our now defunct pennies, what else are you going to do with them... make a copper floor in your kitchen?...Although if you want to do that, apparently can be done, I saw it on Pinterest.

Flowers - always lovely to have in your home.
Cookies - I will be making some at a later date- and will use this to store them in (if I don't eat them all first!)

Mini-Chocolate bars... oh, wait, yup already mentioned that... I must feel strongly about using it this way.

Verdict: No surprise that friends will be receiving this as a gift... they should probably put in their colour requests now. Pretty simple to put together as long a you don't mind painting and waiting. I like it and will probably make it again in the future.