I love me a secure man!

I love me a secure man!

Nail polish is for everyone. ❤️

When I was doing Shaun's nail this weekend...

When I was doing Shaun's nail this weekend it triggered a memory in me of my MaMaw doing mine when I was a kid.  I noticed I was touching Shaun's fingers the same way she touched mine... but he wasn't complaining "You're mashing my veins!  Stop mashing my veins!" like I was.  😅

I distinctly remember being so uncomfortable with any pressure where my fingers bend and I guess because I could see veins under my skin there I thought they were being mashed.  I really don't know what that was about except that I still don't like pressure applied there.  I'm weird about being touched on my hands and around my nails, anyway.  I guess "on my hands" is a weird and unnecessary qualifier because I'm not a touch-me person in general.

But anyway, I had that memory come flooding back and I could hear in my head how my MaMaw would get in a huff and say "I am doing no such thing!" while painting my nails.  😆😆😆  And it just made me feel happy to remember that.  ❤️

Nail polish these days. 🤯

Nail polish these days. 🤯 I am not good at writing descriptions, but this darker one is definitely AT LEAST a holographic multichrome with reflective glitter. These two photos are of the same polish - the only difference is that one photo was taken with flash and the other was not.

That blue jumping out is the reflective glitter, and it's going to be CRAZY on the nail in bright light. I opened the package it was in just now and it stopped. me. in. my. tracks.

Edited to add in this green; it's magnetic with reflective glitter.  Not my swatches; they are by Christian Gillespie, but I just want to spew a bunch of cursewords because it's so pretty.  It also came today with the other one pictured.

The things that independent makers have done with nail polish over the years have never ceased to amaze me. I can't wait to see what they come up with next. 🤩

My mood has been so up and down lately.

My mood has been so up and down lately. I spent a couple of days having fun and skating, then a couple of days on the couch with a down mood, then a couple of days going hard on the housework, and today was back on the couch. Somewhere in all of that I painted my nails for the first time in AGES and it almost made me cry because I'd missed it so much.

Update before I get this busy day started:

Update before I get this busy day started:

Yesterday while we were in Talladega we got a notification that a package was delivered in Anniston. I didn't think I was expecting a package, but we decided to go ahead over there and see just in case. Turns out that the large nail polish order I placed when I was consoling myself for doing what I thought was terrible on my final exam had arrived much earlier than expected. Since I passed the exam and my class I guess that makes it a celebratory package now. I let Kira know that we had nail mail and she came over and opened it for me. I love watching her open things. She Hulks out on packages and it's wonderful to behold. 😂😂😂

As we were looking at our goodies we were talking about what all we could do with them and I started to get really excited thinking about having time for my hobbies once again. That was the first hint to me that things have changed - knowing that I'll be able to spend time with the kids and do things we enjoy together. We're so busy moving that we haven't had time to relax, but just knowing that the down-time is coming made me super happy.

I just finished doing my toes.

I just finished doing my toes. They needed to be done months ago but I never felt like it. This is better. 😊 Maybe Shaun's are next. 😃

I would like to do some nail art but I'm not feeling creative. Anyone up for challenging me? Post pics of nail art in the comments and I'll pick something to recreate. (Not length or shape-wise - just the look.)

We did nails last night for graduation.

We did nails last night for graduation.  Shaun brought us food and touched up Kira's hair.  It was a good time!

I've never really done falsies before, but I got these put on, cut, shaped, and painted. Not too bad considering that I haven't done nail art in ages!

Most of you will probably not understand...

Most of you will probably not understand (unless you are a hardcore fan of something, and then you might).  Some really special polishes from my favorite indie maker, Tonic Polish, were releasing today.  They contained a pigment which was discontinued years ago that people who are into nail polish refer to as "Unicorn Pee" because it is so beautiful and rare. I had reminders set in my phone so I wouldn't miss the release (because I knew they would sell out), but I slept right through them.  😳

I woke up to Shaun texting me, (he'd also just texted Shadow to wake me up), and he was waiting at the website for me in case I didn't get up for some reason.  Thankfully, they got me woken up.  He sent me his card number and made sure I got "The Whole Summer Shebang!," which is a collection of all of the new-release polishes.

I wish I didn't have to wait 2 years (until I finish school) to marry that one.  He is legit my best friend and every day I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

I know this is mushy and I'm super sorry if you get tired of hearing it, but my life has been so much better since he's been in it.  I've always been tough and thought of myself as a survivor, but now I feel like I am thriving rather than just surviving.  I feel like I might finally get close to reaching my potential one of these days, and Shaun is the one who gives me the confidence and support that I need to do it.  I really wish I had better words to express how grateful I am.

I know this post started with nail polish and ended with me thinking about my life's potential, but seriously - Shaun has my back in all the ways and he never ceases to make me feel special or appreciated.  I wish everyone could experience that, for real.  ❤

Apparently I am JUST NOW comprehending why I'd want to use Pinterest. 😂

Apparently I am JUST NOW comprehending why I'd want to use Pinterest.  😂  I put my jewelry up on it a million years ago and never really messed with it again aside from the occasional update.  WELL, that has changed!  I've been pinning and uploading most of the evening and apparently I've hit the daily limit.  😝

For a while now when I wanted to look at my stash of nail art photos that inspire me I just went [painstakingly] through my bookmarks.  I think I was bookmarking nail art on blogs before Pinterest was really a thing.  Needless to say - that was FRUSTRATING.  So is trying to organize a bunch of screen caps on my phone.  😳😒😒😒

I don't know why it took me up until a few days ago to realize that there was a better way to manage my pics because this has frustrated me for a while.  But now that I know what's up I'm excited to clean out my bookmarks and phone storage.  I've been working on it for a couple of days now so that's awesome.  I just kind of wish they hadn't stopped me today, though, because I was on a roll!  😛

I took off my nail polish last night...

I took off my nail polish last night because it was peeling and I was gonna wreck my nails if I didn't.  Now I'm torn - polish or sleep?  I want both.  🙃

I know this sounds ridiculous, but...

I know this sounds ridiculous, but I can't stop thinking about doing my nails.  When this semester ends and I finally get to have a life for 3 weeks before school starts back... IT'S ON.

I got up 3 different times...

I got up 3 different times this morning to go Black Friday shopping - ON THE INTERNET!  FOR NAIL POLISH!  LOL  I probably spent more than I should have, but some of them were gifts and honestly I work so dang hard that I just wanted to treat myself.  I scored some stuff that I'm super excited about.  I can't wait until it gets here!

Wanna paint these toenails so bad! 😂

Wanna paint these toenails so bad! 😂

Shaun just made me super happy. 😀😀😀

Shaun just made me super happy. 😀😀😀

He gave me my birthday present 12 days early. It was this box of nail polish, poop, and salt that I wanted REALLY bad. 😂

I did my nails.

I did my nails.  Nothing fancy, but I'll probably post a picture tomorrow.  This is a case where I just put on a stunning polish and let her do the work.  As much time as I wasted cleaning up my dusty, neglected nail table in preparation to actually DO something I COULD have done something fancy, but oh well.  Maybe that just means that I shouldn't go a month + without doing my nails.  LOL

Yes, I actually spent money to own this.

Yes, I actually spent money to own this. If you don't know what Simply Nailogical is, you need to fix that. Sooner rather than later. 😛

If any of you are interested...

If any of you are interested, Celtic Sun is the only neon yellow nail polish I've used that didn't stain my nails. I always use a base coat, but most of them stain right through regardless. So, I'm super happy with that polish. 🙂

I have been pretty quiet on here...

I have been pretty quiet on here, but I guess it's just because I feel about socialized out lately.  I'm not sure what it is, but I have a feeling that it's because I'm going everywhere and doing everything all the time.  Too much work.  Too much school.

At some point during all of that I have my kid and my ani-pals to take care of, chores, an online class, etc., to deal with.  Granted I'm not as stressed as last semester (yet!), but I just feel really anti-social.  In what little free time I have I've been watching nail art tutorials and nail art tool reviews on YouTube and lamenting my lack of time and money.  🙁

What I did for fun this weekend was stay holed up in my bedroom working on my Access database for Polish All the Things.  I learned a few things and it was cool.  Then I accidentally deleted part of it, but opened an older version and fixed my idiotic mistake and now I have a backup because I nearly had a heart attack when that happened and it was just super dumb to not have a backup.  Lesson learned.

Just finished my ethics homework for the week.  I think it's time to take a shower and then either work on my database some more... or possibly even paint my nails.  Nails is probably a safer bet because that ends.  I could sit here endlessly tinkering in Access.  😂

I hope you had a nice weekend.  I have no complaints.  🙂❤

I've been out of school for almost 3 weeks...

I've been out of school for almost 3 weeks.  I had major plans to do crazy things to my nails, but as you might have noticed from the lack of posts, I have not.  To be honest I haven't really been feeling it.  😕

My nails were long and bothersome by the time school was out, so I shortened them and then shortened them again.  Then I tried this nail oil (Bliss Kiss Simply Pure Cuticle and Nail Oil, if you're interested) and it said to go a few days with naked nails while applying the oil many times a day to get moisturized.  So, I did that.  But I was also cleaning a lot (without gloves because I'm bad), so it took a little longer to get my nails to be in better shape.

I'm probably about to sound like a commercial, but that oil is the first one I've tried that ACTUALLY made any kind of difference in my nails.  My nails have no problem growing longer, but they will peel like crazy.  They are also naturally brittle, so will just snap off if I bump them on something.  Well, somehow, the oil stopped the peelies.  Even places that were already peeling up it seemed to seal back down somehow.  And they are little more flexible, so when I bump them I might get a new peelie spot (when un-polished), but they aren't snapping off.  So that is pretty cool.

I have no idea how things will go when I start painting again, but with as many layers of polish as I tend to use I've always felt that my nails were protected by it.  I am hoping that with them being in better shape AND polished that they will look really nice, as well as be stronger.  We'll see.

Anyway, if you're into nails and / or cuticles I would have no problem recommending Bliss Kiss oil.  I am not exactly a connoisseur of nail oil, but I did buy CND's Solar Oil a while back because it was highly recommended, but Bliss Kiss is better, in my opinion.  You can find it on their website or Amazon, whichever you prefer.

BONUS:  It smells faintly like an orange dreamsicle, which is surprisingly pleasant.  I think they have an unscented version if you're not into smells, though.

Check it out:  https://www.myblisskiss.com/simply-pure-hydrating-oil-pen

So... when I'm supposed to be sleeping but can't...

So... when I'm supposed to be sleeping but can't I sometimes go on YouTube and watch nail art videos.  I bet that's a shocker to you all.  😂

Well, I've never tried acrylics (wearing them OR doing them).  But I've seen some video tutorials and it looks REALLY fun.  I feel like I want to try my hand at doing them.  I have no time or money for that right now, unfortunately, but maybe I can go to school for that after I finish the school stuff I already started.

I don't think I'd have the patience to do that as a career, but I could definitely see me enjoying doing it for fun or for some side cash.  I don't want to do stuff like plain French tips, though.  I want to do the crazy stilettos and the aquarium nails and stuff like that.  OBVIOUSLY.  😛