Unfortunately, I have the terrible and straight up disgusting habit of biting my nails. I have been doing it since I was a kid and it has resulted in unattractive small little half nails from all the years of abuse. YUCK! This past month I have seen so many pretty new nail polish colors come out it has lit a fire inside me to finally go to nail-biter rehab and kick this addiction.
So far so good! My nails look better than they have in years and I am now the proud owner of not one.. not two.. but EIGHT new fabulous shades! I discovered I need to change the color every few days in order to keep the urge to bite them at bay. People always say to me that they wish they could paint their own nails, well I say you can! The following tips really help with the end result.
1. Remove any nail polish and file to desired length first then WASH HANDS. If you don’t sometimes you’ll end up with little bumps in the first coat from the nail file dust. I really don’t feel a base coat is an absolute necessity. I use one sometimes when I want my nails to feel stronger but don’t notice a difference in the end result so feel free to skip it.
2. Make sure to leave enough time in between coats to avoid air bubbles!
3. If you don’t have a super steady hand, use higher quality polish. Some of the lower quality ones go on pretty thick or dry too fast making it hard to smooth out. The smoother the polish goes on by itself, the better!
4. A Q-tip and nail polish remover are good for cleaning up stray polish, but when you are painting with your non-dominant hand it helps if you press it to a straight ledge and just focus on moving the brush (excuse my curling iron burn on my finger).
5. If all else fails-- you can always recruit a friend to do it for you!
Lauren and I are both wearing Essie – “Watermelon.” My dog wouldn’t let me take a picture without her in it, so everyone this is Alba! You can find my new favorite accessories listed and pictured below from left to right.
OPI – "Rumple’s Wiggin’"
ULTA Professional – "Downtown Diva"
Essie – "Watermelon"
ULTA – "Peach Parfait"
Orly – "Terracotta"
Revlon – "Minted"
Essie – "Chinchilly"
Orly – "Kiss the Bride"
As I mentioned in my previous post I threw two themed parties last summer. The first one was the “Favorite Things” and the second one was a Surprise birthday party for my friend, Lauren which was a Hollywood style “Red Carpet Event.” I seriously suggest throwing one of these if you haven’t because it was just as much fun planning as actually attending.
1. I asked everyone to wear their most Victoria Beckham/Kim Kardashian outfit, and to be paparazzi ready. Great company along with the following steps made for a very successful night! And I must give credit where credit is due. Her now fiancé Anthony provided tons of help with the party and also with some of the following projects.
2. We created a faux “Step and Repeat” in one corner of the house where guests could take pictures as if they were walking the red carpet! We got the red carpet from Oriental Trading, printed (thanks Anthony!) out her favorite beer logo, team logo, and a “Happy Birthday” message which we then taped to white poster board. Voila! Everyone had a ton of fun with this and it made for some really awesome Facebook defaults.
3. Red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and chocolate “L’s” “24’s” and stars as toppers.
4. A “Walk of Fame” and “HOLLYWOOD” sign, of course.
5. Now for my most favorite part of the night and mostly what I mean when I say it was so fun to plan. I had recently discovered face-in-hole.com and went wild with funny pictures for a little “Award Show” we put on. I made a photo for each guest and gave out little tiny academy awards. I put them on a DVD and assigned a song to each picture for the whole effect.
Now some of you may think these are solely for people under the age of ten or maybe you have abandoned the idea of throwing one since you've graduated from college and left the land of sorority/fraternity functions. Not I. There are few things I love more than letting my imagination run wild with ideas for a good themed party. Since I have been pretty much booked every weekend this summer with moving, bachelorette parties, beach trips, etc., I haven’t had the chance to throw one. Last Summer I had enough time to plan two and I thought I should share them since this is my first official post as a new blogger, and I think it’s a great way for you to get to know me and the purpose of my tiny space on the internet.
The first one was the “Favorite Things” themed party. I forget the exact location I read about this but it stems from the famous "Oprah’s Favorite Things" Episode she used to do each year. You invite a specific number of guests, and set a price point (ours was $20) for each person to bring a gift or their “favorite thing” that you can buy for that amount. My favorite place is the beach so that was the theme of the party. My gift was high heeled shoes for everyone (I collected tons of information from the guests upon RSVP including shoe, ring, and shirt size). I scoured the internet and found great deals to keep it at the limit. It was a really fun time!
Each guest was given a baggie with old navy flip flops, a Yankee Candle “Sun and Sand” scented votive, fun shutter shade glasses, and a hibiscus clip for their hair upon arrival. I made a beachy playlist, served daiquiris & margaritas, shish kabobs, coconut shrimp, fruit salsa, and adorable cupcakes with seashells on them. Some of the gifts other guests' gifts included, Aldo sunglasses, cookbooks, wine from a local vineyard, designer headbands, J.Crew necklaces, iTunes gift cards, and much more. Below are some pictures from the event. I hoped to throw one each Summer but didn’t have the time. Maybe next year!
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