Temporarily Taking a Backseat...

Hello all! Thanks so to those of you that take the time to read my blog, it means the world to me :) I still fully plan on posting here, and still doing my nails of course...I just have so much more to say lately that I don't want to bombard your feeds with non-nail related posts if that's not what you're interested in. Bella is starting school this week which has me seriously sentimental (is that normal??), I've finally taken a proactive approach to losing weight (which is long overdue),  and I'm still working on home crafts and stuff as usual. I think that the best place for me to post all that other stuff would be in a separate blog. I would LOVE for everyone to stop by and take a look at it and get to know me a little better. Here is the link if ya'll wanna stop by:

http://mysocalledun-life.blogspot.com/

Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this, it means alot to me. If not, I'll see ya'll here!! :D

Always,

Laura

My New Piece

I love art, in any form. I think it is a great outlet and a big stress reliever for me. My house is filled with random little things I make; I just can't sit still for too long :D My parents always took me to museums when I was little. They encouraged me to draw, paint, read, or just be crafty...I really thank them for that. I am trying to pass down those lessons to Bella. Like any normal child she watches TV, but she also loves puzzles, coloring, and painting. Any time I start on a new project, I get her one too. She sees me doing it, and she does it too. (Not for too long though, she gets bored easily like any normal 3 year old)

I have a few pieces hanging throughout my house, but my dining room is by far my problem area. I've changed the wall decorations at least 5 times. I was browsing around blogs (I can't recall the blog I got this idea from, sorry!) yesterday and ran across a great idea. I love art, why not make my own piece? I definitely wasn't gonna do it myself, I have no talent as a painter whatsoever :( Bella however, is a master at making messes!!!

So all it took was one eager child:

A canvas:

A little paint:

And a BIG mess:

And you get:

A masterpiece:

This is my/DH's office. I was going to take pics in the dining room, but by the time it dried Bells was already asleep and I didn't want to wake her up with my hammering (nails in).

I have two smaller canvases that are going to go on this wall. DH is out of town, and when I sent him the pics of this I could tell he was really bummed to have missed out on this. Little does he know, he's gonna do one with her.

Thanks for looking. I know this is a non-nail related post, but I think this is a great idea for anyone to do. It's pretty cheap and a great way to display your child's (or any loved one for that matter) talents :)

One Month of Progress...

Hey everyone. This one is gonna be a quick post. I have a movie pajama party date with the most beautiful little person in the world. She's even making me popcorn! Ok...she's gonna try and feed me cotton balls, but we can pretend :)

So, a month ago I started my little nail growth experiment. I went from this:

To this:

You can still see the damage that the acrylics do :( But the new nail growth is really strong....I'm excited :)

I will do another update in a month to see where I'm at then. Thanks for all the tips :)

Week 3

Happy Monday everyone! How was everyone's weekend? I'm extremely sleepy this morning. Bella had a bad night (night terrors for a 3 year old are not pretty!), so of course....we had a bad night. But I have a Coke and a Caramel Mac (yes, I fully intend to drink them both before lunch, lol) so I should be fine in a few hours.

Anywho, here is my progress this week. I feel like I had some kind of growth spurt this week, which of course makes me extremely happy.

On another note, I'm wearing OPI La Paz-itively Hot and I've gotta say...I think this has become my go-to color for this summer. It's so perfect!

I love how well it play with the camera, you can even see the purple/blue :)

What's your go-to color??

Week 2

Happy Friday everyone!

I know it's almost time to do my week 3 entry, so this one is extremely past due. I took these pics on Sunday, but have been too lazy to upload them :( How was your 4th of July? I stayed home all weekend and relaxed with Bella and DH, we rarely get to just "hang" out...so I really enjoyed it. Here are week 2's pictures:

As you can see, they had no definite shape to them. It really irked me, so I filed them down a bit to more of a square-ish shape.

I can't believe just how much acrylics damage your nails, I just don't learn my lesson! They are super thin and brittle, Nail Armor is proving to be a lifesaver! I'm almost out of this bottle and I have noticed that once you get to the bottom, NA becomes difficult to apply. It doesn't go on evenly and it has gotten really thick. I was considering adding thinner to it, but doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of it?

Thanks for reading!

Week 1

I've been following the same routine all week, with the exception of one thing. I switched the SH Nailgrowth Miracle for Nailtiques Formula 2. This one is specifically for "soft, peeling, bitten, weak, or thin nails". Ummm....ALL OF THE ABOVE PLEASE! It's about $18, but I used this last time I let my nails grow out and it worked wonders. It's pricey, but worth it IME. I also started using Burt's Bees Lemon Cuticle Butter during the day and Lush Lemony Flutter at night. taking care of your cuticles is important!

I'm glad with the little growth I had in just this one week.

See my starting point HERE.

Got Any Suggestions/Ideas???

:::edit::: After some wonderful advice, I am now more than happy to try and recreate any requests that I get from you lovely ladies. I am always up for a challenge :D

I've had sort of a mental block when it comes to nail art lately. I've been browsing for inspiration, so I had an idea and I wanted to get your input/opinions. I was thinking of doing a weekly custom nail set for someone (on press ons obviously, and then just send then out to you). I would just need a picture of your inspiration or a description of what you would want and I would try and recreate that somehow on the nails.

What do ya'll think?? Is this a good idea? My only concern is: who would want fake nails, right?? Should I just recreate them on my own nails?

Ahhh...I've got a case of the 'itis right now and it's not letting me think straight :/

Thanks for reading :)

Get to Know Me a Little Better

Well, with all the craziness in my life now...I decided that I need another outlet for the jigsaw in my head. I was partly inspired by one of my best friends who just started a blog of her own. It takes a LOT for you to put yourself out there and I truly admire her for that.

So...I will be putting all that stuff there. If you're interested, please take a look at:

Bell-a-Gram

Thanks for looking!!

My First Award: Kreativ Blogger Award

Hi! So I have had this in my drafts for a while, I just couldn't think about 10 things that people might want to know about me, lol. I was given this award by shimmerspark. Thank you SO MUCH!!

Here are the rules: Write 10 facts about yourself. Pass the award to your favorite bloggers and tell them about the award.

Okay so here are my ten:

1. I absolutely LOVE Hello Kitty, like to the point of near obsession. At random, people will give me HK things which I think is absolutely awesome.

2. I loveLOVElove BEER! I love tasting different kinds of beer, but I'm just a sucker for Mexican imports and Heineken. I always carry at least two containers of beer salt in my purse (weird, I know), and I own a hot pink beer pong table, lol. This sounds really bad...I don't have a problem, I promise!!

3. I have the weirdest crush on Mike Wolfe from American Pickers. He is seriously a really entertaining person to watch. I love to see how excited he gets. I think one time I spent something like 10 hours watching an AP Marathon. <3

4. I used to be a majorette and can twirl a baton like it's no ones business!! :D

5. I hate for my food to touch! I know...it's weird. I have this crazy OCD so I don't like for my food to be messy. So if it's served together (like Chipotle, for example) I won't mix it. I think Bella has it too, she lines up the cans at the grocery store when we go buy food. She won't leave until they're all lined up. It's so funny!!

6. I take random pics of weird pic on the street stealth style. People watching is the best! At random I'll send them on to my friends for a good laugh :D

7. I love "nerdy" movies. Star Wars, Superman, Lord of the Rings...you name it, I probably love it.


8. I am the biggest homebody ever.I think partly it's because when I go out with Bella I get so paranoid something is gonna happen to her. She's not even 3 yet, so she'll run around and I just start to freak out that she's gonna run off or something. But mostly it's because I genuinely like being at home vegging out. It's seriously the most amazing feeling to NOT have to do anything :)


9. I hate Mayo! Everything about it weirds me out. It's not white like sour cream, it smells funny, its consistency is so "BLAH". I dk...it just freaks me out!


10. I don't like too much ice in my drinks. I drink real slow so if there's too much ice, my drink gets really watered down. :(

Ok now here are my favorite blogs to read: (in no particular order)

Nails by Rachel She does the most interesting color combos ever, and I love her picture taking techniques. She does the most awesome angle pics I've seen

Emerald Sparkled She has the most creative manis ever! I love how she can recreate what she is inspired by onto her nails.

Chloe's Nails I mean, seriously....who isn't in love with Erika's nails? Pure perfection!

Kiss My Acetone This is the BEST blog name EVER! Dori does the best swatches!

Nails Beautiqued I wish I could grow my nails out like this! This is one of the most helpful blogs I've read. She posts tons of great tips and I love how nice she is.

Nailside Jane does some seriously awesome stuff with tape. Ahh the mummy mani, my fav!!

Thanks everyone for reading!

The "Small Project" That Took on a Life of It's Own

Ok, so I live in a pretty old house. I think my house was built around 1961..so that makes it (takes out the calculator) about 50 years old. So imagine a 50 year old house. Yep...fully wood panelled walls, god-awful wallpaper everywhere, laminate flooring...a MESS! (I wish I would've taken pictures when I first moved in). I have lived there about 4 years and in that time the only things that I have done to improve the house was paint the walls to a color of my choice, paint the cabinets in my entertainment center white, and paint over the wallpaper with solid white (the RR was green. GREEN TILE...EVERYWHERE!!) We were newlyweds and money was TIGHT.


Fast forward 4 years and it was time for a major renovation. We got a really good deal on tile so we decided to tackle on the floors because I HATED the laminate. Like....with a PASSION. I don't have a good pic of it, but here it is so you can get an idea of what it looked like:

Yes, we play beer pong in my living room, lol

What? I know what you may be thinking..."it's not that bad" Well...here is an upclose shot of it....

It's not a real party until things get broken. Yes...it is that bad!

So off we went to remove the laminate flooring and 2 days later it looked like this:

You can even see the evil wood paneling peeking it's evil eyes at me...taunting me!!

So off I go to work depressed because my house is dusty beyond belief. They finally finished the floor and it now looks like this:

OMG much better!!! Well...being me...I just can't leave well enough alone and I got a bit too excited from the newly found love for my house and I decided "Heyyy..let's do the restrooms while we're at it. The house is already dusty and dirty so why not get it done all at one time and we can clean it real good later on???"

BAAAAADDD idea....

Stay tuned for the disaster that is my restroom renovations

(I'm dreading walking into my house as I type this out) (-_-)

Sally Hansen Co-bolt Blue

Did you guys know April is National Child  Abuse Prevention Month? Ok, so I work at a children's hospital, and I can honestly say that working there has given me a whole new perspective at both childhood and motherhood. I cherish the childhood that I had because I never had to face the truly heartbreak that some patients face. And as a mother, it makes me appreciate the fact that I have a healthy child and never take month a moment for granted with her. This is on the front gates of the hospital all month long, it says "Because if you don't hold my hand, who will?

This has been sitting in my drafts for a while. It's Sally Hansen Co-bolt Blue. As with most Insta-Dri's, it's good enough to be a one-coater. I decided to test out my theory and this is one coat (plus 2 of SV). It's a metallic cobalt blue.

I also majorly hauled and putting a bunch of stuff up for swap. I can't wait to sort it out :)

Happy Saturday!

Handwriting Tag!

Hey everyone! I've been slacking once again, but I've been so BLAH lately. And I had a few NOTDs to post, but I forgot my camera. So I will TRY and do them when I get home. Anywho, I saw Morgan post this on her blog, and I thought it was a pretty neat idea. So here is mine:

If you want to do one of your own here are the questions you need to answer:

1. What is your name? And your blog name?

2. Blog URL

3. Write: the brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.

4. Favorite quote

5. Favorite song

6. Favorite band/singers

7. Say anything you want

8. Pass it along to a few bloggers

It's always fun to do these random things. I wish I had nicer handwriting...but at least it's all even.

How about you ladies, do you like your handwriting?

Nail Art Challenge (Day 17&18)

I have been totally slacking! I'm off from work and my laptop at home is super slow. So here is yesterday's mani:

17 of 31

 

I hadn't yet tried a dotting tool mani yet, and since I have probably wore out the shamrock plate I tried it out. I was going for a french tip, but I think my dots went up way too high. :(

Here are the colors I used:

-Milani3D HD

-China Glaze Laser Lime

-SH Emerald City

-Zoya Edyta

-Nina Leaf Me Alone

I like the mixture between finishes (shimmer, holo, and cremes). I think it contrasts well. I had better luck with this than with my previous dotting tool experiment. I worked one color at a time, so the polish didn't dry up on me like it did last time.

My DH decided to give me the day off today and when I woke up he had headed off to work and dropped Bella off at the babysitters to give me some "me" time. Good call! I have been watching HOUSE all day long and laying on my couch. So since I have this new found love for mood polishes I wanted to try another one out today. I went with Claire's Peaceful/Confident. It was a total bust! Like...no color change at all. I applied 3 coats and still...nothing! I took like 8667578679 pics and I could see no change at all. This mani overall was a letdown. I did some flowers with gold Konad polish and those weren't that visible either. It just like I randomly placed the rhinestones :( Booo for day 18!

18 of 31

I celebrated St. Patty's yesterday by going to the beach, so I knew I needed to wear something that would really pop in the sun. I wore OPI DS Coronation. It's a silver holo. The application was really nice, and the holo really popped in the sun. Like with most holos (in my experiece) it ate up my top coat. I should've applied two coats of SV. Here it is with one: (excuse all the sand in my cuticles, lol)

Here we are. Galveston water is more like dirty puddle water...no amount of Photoshop can change that, lol

Have a great weekend everyone!

Laura :)

Hi and Hello!!

Hi and thank you for actually making it here. I decided to finally get off my lazy butt and start this up. I've been wanting to put down my random thoughts/obsessions down on "paper". Sooo...we are iced in and well there is no better time like the present.

Here are the basics:
-My name is Laura. I named this after my daughter...you'll see this a little further down.
-I'm 26 years old
-I have a bit of OCD so I find tons of random hobbies to pass the time.
-I <3 crafty things.
-I HATE Mayo. Like I mean I REALLY hate mayo
-My hands-down biggest accomplishment ever is my almost 3 year old daughter, Isabella. She is without a doubt the driving force behind anything and everything I do.



-I am absolutely OBSESSED with my nails! Like...I may have a serious disease :D I recently stopped "getting my nails did" after 10 years...and it is liberating, yet a little frustrating. It's a loooong and hard process. But I am trying. Anywho...thanks for actually making it this far down.