Showing posts with label Home and Family Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Home and Family Life. Show all posts

~10 Random Things~ and VNS Glitter Update List

I've been tagged for the 10 Random Things by several lovely ladies, and I thank you for thinking of me. Niki from MagicMaid pushed me over the edge with her request! I thought since I enjoy getting to know all of you better by reading yours, I'll share some things about me...although I don't think mine are as interesting or funny as many of yours! If you checked in to see the other part of my post, which is a list of the shades that will be available at Victoria Nail Supply from the China Glaze Glitters, Shimmers & Cremes collection this coming week, feel free to scroll past the 10 Random Things list!

~I love animals and have 2 dogs and 2 cats. I would have many more, but sometimes I do exercise a little bit of common sense (not when it comes to how much nail polish I have though) and realize that I am only capable of managing so much. I'm involved in German Shepherd dog rescue groups and all of my dogs are rescues. It pains me to see suffering in humans and animals alike, and through my rescue work I have seen both the best in humans and unfortunately, the worst.

~Speaking of animals, I have had several horses and used to show them when I was younger. I was helping a friend break a wild mustang that she got from a government program to relocate them from the wild and took a bad fall. I don't remember too much about it, but I ended up with a punctured lung, several broken ribs, and was in the critical care ward of the hospital for a couple of weeks. I only had one more horse after that and I forced myself to break him, rather than have my trainer do it, to get over the fear that I developed after my mishap. I still love horses and think they are beautiful creatures to watch both in the wild and in a show ring, but I no longer have the desire to ride very often.

~I went to a Catholic grade school and instead of celebrating Halloween, the school celebrated All Saints Day, which is the day after Halloween. I had to dress like the Virgin Mary...hmmm. And the stories you hear about nuns being mean are true! They used to make us place our hands around the edge of our desks and then they'd smack our knuckles with their pointer stick when we were bad. Not that I ever misbehaved...my Mom's cousin was a nun but she was very nice, at least to us. My Dad's brother is a priest and teaches Chemistry at Rockhurst University in Kansas City. I love reading true life accounts about nuns, priests and the Catholic Church, although my own personal beliefs do not necessarily follow all of the Catholic doctrine.

~I am a huge Notre Dame football fan and even though I live in Michigan, I detest Michigan (U of M). They play each other today and I'm hoping for a win, but not necessarily expecting one. I live about 30 minutes from ND and always visit the campus when I go shopping in South Bend. There is such a rich history there and the architecture is beautiful. The Basilica of the Sacred Heart Church and the Grotto give me such a sense of peace and security.

~I have a not so secret crush on my 68 year old veterinarian and also on former Notre Dame football and baseball star, Jeff Samardzija, who is now a rookie for the Chicago Cubs. I have so much respect for my veterinarian and I love his knowledge base and mind as it relates not only to animals, but to people. I don't think Jeff Samardzija's mind has any place in my fantasy, but there are some physical attributes he has which may or may not have anything to do with my attraction to him! My husband is fully aware of this and doesn't seem to care...perhaps because he is more realistic about the fact that nothing would ever come out of it. But I can dream, can't I?

~I have a passion for mustard sandwiches, preferably on fresh, soft rye bread. Yes, just mustard. Every now and then I also add mayonnaise, but just a plain mustard sandwich suits me fine.

~Makeup, nail polish, fragrance...I love them all, and I think it goes back to my childhood and watching my Mom apply her trademark red lipstick every day. Although I've never worn red lipstick, it looked fabulous on her. Sadly, my Mom was diagnosed with cancer in 2003 and passed away just 3 weeks later. I still have some of her lipsticks and her bottle of White Shoulders perfume tucked away.

~Childhood...every time I type a random fact, it seems to lead me into another related one! I had the most idyllic childhood that you can imagine. I thank my parents for this, my Mom for spending the time with us and using her creativity to give me such wonderful memories, and my Dad for working hard to support us and encouraging my Mom to do all of the things she did with us. I think every child deserves a happy childhood, but unfortunately, life doesn't always work that way.

~I am married to a wonderful man who in some ways, is the total opposite of myself. Nothing seems to bother him, he's a very hard worker, a man of few words, loyal to a fault, and never complains about my beauty product obsession (that may be his best trait!). We have a daughter who is severely mentally impaired and she is out greatest challenge, but also our greatest joy. Some people consider that a bad thing, and in some ways, it certainly is. But I've never been one to stay focused on the bad in a situation, because that makes it difficult to move forward. She has taught us so much about love, compassion and empathy for others than we ever would have learned in life without her.

~I'm having trouble coming up with #10...I've shared things about what I like, my family, food, makeup, animals...how about things I don't like? I don't like people with a sense of entitlement. I believe that most of the time, if you work hard for something you will attain it. I don't like to fly and only do it when absolutely necessary, which would explain why I've never been out of this country except driving to Canada. I don't like fruit or vegetables and force myself to eat them unless it's those 2 months out of the summer when I can buy them local and fresh. I detest mean people...people who are only looking to make themselves look better at the expense of someone else. This may be the reason that I prefer to spend my time with animals rather than people sometimes!
Nail Polish News! Here's part of an e-mail I received listing the additional shades that will become available next week from the China Glaze Glitters, Shimmers and Cremes collection at Victorial Nail Supply:

"We are expecting 29 more CG glitters next week. We just received Glacier, Gold Digger, Dreamsicle, Cloud Nine, and Luna. We are expecting Moulin Rouge, Stellar, Cleopatra, Blue Hawaiian, Sour Apple, Atlantis, Sunshine, Medallion, Nova, Shooting, Snow Globe, Bubbly, Polar Ice, Goddess, Silver Lining, Treasure, Rose Tea, Snow, Victorian, Gelato, Trophy Wife, Strawberry, Bridezilla, Flower Girl, Latte, Nude, Whisper, Seashell, and Cream Puff."


Posted in ,

Blue For My Mom


This is a little off-topic post today, but I wanted to share a little piece of someone very close to my heart with you. My darling Mom loved anything and everything that was blue, so in tribute to her, I'm wearing blue today on my nails Orly Lunar Eclipse). It was 7 years ago today that we lost her to the disease that seems to affect all of us in one way or another these days, cancer. Seemingly healthy, she was diagnosed with stage IV liver cancer, primary colorectal cancer, on August 18, 2003. 15 short, yet long days later, she was gone. In hindsight, we were all lucky that she didn't have to suffer or go through painful treatments only to lose the battle, because it was untreatable at that point. We were lucky that she spent her last days at home and never had to spend time in a hospital. But most of all, we were lucky to have had her as our Mom.

I relive that brief time in late summer of 2003 many times, but it's especially on my mind this same time every year. I still recall watching Regis & Kelly with her that morning (one of her favorite shows, not mine!), sitting with her while she napped knowing that this would be the last time I saw her in this lifetime, and standing next to my Dad when he gave her the oral dose of morphine that we all knew would put her body into a deep enough sleep to allow her organs to give up the fight. She knew this too, because Hospice had done a thorough job explaining the process of dying. If she was scared, she never showed it. She passed away peacefully at 3:33 AM on September 2, 2003, surrounded by my brother and Dad, with Frank Sinatra playing in the background. I am the third of four children and my Mom used to always buy us many identical things like little plastic cups, books, and toys when we were kids. She'd mark them with dots to signify which one belonged to each of us, and my things were marked with 3 dots for the third child, my brother's with 4 for the fourth child, and so on. When she left us at 3:33, I took that as a clear sign that I was, even in death, her favorite. I hope my sisters and brother are reading this~ha-ha!

My Mom never worked and considered her job to be raising her family. She took it very seriously and I couldn't have asked for better parents. She made us a hot breakfast every day before school, she shared her love of books, music and animals with us, and she was instrumental along with my Dad in giving me an idyllic childhood that I am thankful for every single day. I never saw her wear nail polish (let's hear a collective gasp here!), but she was seldom without her signature red lip stick and White Shoulders perfume. Every now and them I open up that bottle I confiscated from my parent's house and it makes me smile. She used to have me style her hair and do her makeup for some of the bigger events she'd attend and she was always so happy to have me do that, although I enjoyed every minute of it.

As a child and into my adult years, I never liked being told "you're just like your Mom." Not that I was, but you know how people say that. As I've gotten older, I now realize that I could receive no greater compliment, although trust me when I tell you that I could never come close to being as good of a person as she was. She was so fun, I can't even begin to tell you all of her hilarious antics. She was fair, kind, loving, smart, generous to a fault, and she thought her children were capable of accomplishing anything. She was my greatest cheerleader and no one will ever, ever love me and believe in me like she and my Dad have.

I can see her mischievous smile and immense organizational skills in my niece, her gentle nature in my nephew, her love of animals (especially turtles!), rainbows, and The Wizard of Oz in my daughter, her love of dance and music in another niece, her curiosity and quizzical expressions in yet another niece, and a bit of her wild side in my littlest niece. While we continue to miss her every day, she lives on in our memory, in us, and in her grandchildren.


Posted in

My Sister & Niece Understand My Addiction!

I'm buried in clouds and rain again here, so I've given up swatching for the day! But this post is nail-related, I promise! My oldest sister and my niece understand my love of polish very well, which is one of the many reasons I love them! Although I may hate my sister just a little bit for weighing little over 100 lbs. and looking damn good for 53! My niece at 16, is a fellow nail polish freak in the making, which makes Aunt Mary very proud.

They live in Clemson, South Carolina, and called me this morning from a flea market about 20 minutes away, all excited because there was a table of nail polish there, among many other things. They were reading me all of the brands, most of which I didn't recognize, other than one called Absolute, which I have only a few of. My sister was especially taken with the ones in the ornate gold filigree bottles. Here's the picture she sent--how I wish I could be there too!
They picked up all kinds of different ones for me, so I'm excited to see what they chose. I know whatever they are, I'll love them! I don't know if my family completely understands my attraction to nail polish, but they continue to enable me, and that's just fine with me. My other sister surprised me with a bottle of Chanel Gold Fiction last year, so she's equally a great sister! Much love and thanks to them for taking an interest in my hobby!


Posted in

Rescue Beauty Lounge Purple Haze, What's Blooming, & Doggies!

I'm trying to stay out of Mike's way today because he's installing a new front door and storm door. He does wonderful work, but he swears and slams things around--plaster and wood are flying! He works his way, I work my way, and we work better alone! He's a big Indy Racing League fan, so he's trying to watch the race at the same time. I'm just laying low doing some yard work and enjoying the beautiful sunshine.

Above & Below: Purple Haze is a darker lavender shade with a dusty or muted tone. I used coats and had perfect application and coverage (disregard my cuticles, I need to "do" my hands!). Both photos were taken outside, the top one in the shade, the bottom one in full sun.
Below: Gus and Greta are watching Mike from a safe distance and do not like it at all when he turns the Sawzall on.

Below: The Morning Glory is in full bloom now and I love how the center seems to glow.

Below: I must find a nail polish to match this! It's such a unique shade of burnt, dusty orange. This is a Darla Orange variety of a Diascia, which is an annual and a member of the Snapdragon family.
Below: It looks like our mini orchard will give us some fruit this year, and I can't wait to make peach pies with these.
Below: Lots of peaches! I love to melt real butter, add brown sugar, heat it until it's caramelized, then add fresh, sliced peaches and boil them for 5 minutes. Pour them over ice cream and you've got heaven on earth.
Below: The apple trees have quite a bit of fruit on them.
I hope you're all enjoying the weekend! It's finally been nice and sunny with temperatures in the upper 80's for the last couple of days, so I'm very happy! I don't know what it is about Rescue Beauty Lounge polishes, but they're worth the price to me. The application is always perfect in 2 coats (sometimes even one), and it flows as if it knows exactly where to go on the nail. They wear exceptionally well and although there are dupes to a small percentage of their shades, the majority of them are unique. I think the next sale is in November, so I'll be adding a few more to my collection then.


Posted in , , , ,

Sation High Tech-A Blue-Green-Sparkly-Cheapy!

Sation brand polishes are considered low-end on the nail polish price spectrum, but the quality is not bad at all on the ones I've tried so far. In fact, I'd definitely say they'll much better than average. There are quite a number of them in my untried stash, and today I decided to give High Tech a run.

Above and Below: These were all taken outdoors, some in the sun, others in the shade. I used 2 coats and the coverage was very good and the drying time was quick. This is a green shade with silver glitter that also appears as a blue-green at times.
Above & Below: The finish/glitter type reminds me of OPI Suede polishes or the Orly Foil FX polishes, only this has a glossy finish. I should have mattified it, but I love it the way it is.
Below: After I took my nail pictures, I took some pictures of what's blooming in our back yard.
Above & Below: The Peony bush is really pretty right now, and here are the stages of the blossoms. I wish they lasted longer, but they're pretty while they're around.

Below: The smaller Clematis vines have bloomed, but our big one is still budding. I'll take some pictures of that one next week.

Below: Here's a pink flower--ha-ha! I can't remember what this one's called without looking in my notebook I keep. I think it's some type of Geranium.
Below: This is the miniature Pansy.
Below: This is the mess I need to tend to tomorrow, if it doesn't rain. The plants in the front are White Astilbe. This little garden area is in the back corner and tends to get ignored, so I'm going to try and clean it up a bit. I still have more to plant, but hopefully that'll get done soon, although it never really seems to end!
I got lost in all of the floral pictures--I could spend as much time in the local nurseries and greenhouses as I could nail polish shopping--back to the Sation! I bought a bunch of these from Victoria Nail Supply last year for $1.25 each, and have also picked up a few at a local beauty supply for about the same price. They're nothing terribly special, but they do have some really pretty shades, like High Tech. I know I have several earth tone shades and a red one, but this one and Blue Suede Shoes are probably my favorite.


Posted in , , , ,
Save Free beauty tips on social network:
RSS FeedSubscribe to our RSS feed!