polish please | summer gradient

Summer is here {and has been here for a while in the Valley of the Sun}, so I decided to try a cool-toned gradient to combat this summer heat. I used a couple of Nicole by OPI shades that created a very subtle gradient from a cool blue to a sea green. First I put down a coat of white and then sponged on the gradient with a triangle makeup sponge. Not bad for my first attempt at a gradient!

What do you think?

polish please | can't sleep... too excited

I know that I haven't blogged for a while, but I have an awesome reason to get out of my no-post-rut and share something with the blogging world...

I just won an instagram contest! Sometime last week @opi_products presented a contest where you could submit photos that represented the color inspiration for you wedding. OPI chose three winners and I was one of them! I am not a "lucky" person, and the last time that I won something was when I was seven and entered a pumpkin carving contest. 

Twenty years later and I am just as excited as I was when I was seven! The prize is the OPI 2013 Soft Shades collection and other colors that coordinate with your inspiration wedding colors! Plus I got another chance to show off my wedding nails that I L-O-V-E-D!

*Just in case anyone was wondering I won my very first brand new bike when I was seven in the pumpkin carving contest. Pretty cool, I know!*

 

polish please | textured polish

My sister picked up some polish for me for my birthday {I hadn't really seen here for about a month... boo!}, one of the wonderful polishes that she picked up was a textured polish. OPI Solitaire that is a beautiful creamy white polish from the liquid sands collection. I wasn't really sold on the whole textured polish craze... until I tried this beautiful polish on my digits. 

I L-O-V-E it! I think that this one little bottle opened me up to a world of trouble. I think that I need to go on a little polish shopping spree.

What do you think? Anyone tried out a textured polish that you love?

our diy wedding part one

Mike and I have been married for a little over two months now, and I think that a wedding post is well deserved. I learned a lot when planning this wedding {one of the most surprising things is that I was "one of the most relaxed brides anyone had ever seen"} and have so much that I want to share. I am thinking that I can get it all out in two posts, but we might run into three!

I want to start with some basics that I think are good to know when getting into the head space of wedding planning. Here are some basic ideas and examples of somethings to keep in mind when planning a DIY wedding.

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 Plan, don't plot
Plan as much as you can, but roll with the punches. We have all heard the phrase, "you plan and God laughs," for me nothing was more true than this sentiment. But here's the thing, I am not a professional wedding planner and "we don't know what we don't know." Trial and error is going to go into planning and executing your big day, but it is just that... a day. One day, not the rest of your lives. No one will remember 15 years from now what cake you had, or what the center pieces should have looked like, or that they were at a table with someone they didn't want to sit with. What matters on "your big day" is you and your partner starting the rest of your lives together. I cannot stress it enough, don't sweat the small stuff. Most everything will work itself out in the end, and what doesn't... doesn't really matter. 

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Example: I got a call from the florist the day before the wedding letting me know that NONE of the flowers that I ordered came in. I wanted to do really simple bouquets, one type of flower, some ribbon, and... well that's it. Long story short, I asked the florist to stop calling me {she was WAY more stressed than I was, and I didn't feel like I needed to console her} and my mom, aunt and I tracked down flowers that were even better than what I could even thing of. Which leads me to my next thought...

There is no "I" in team
Use the support and help that your friends and family offer, when you need it. And appreciate all that people give you. I may have said this before but I have the most amazing family in the whole world. They are creative, loving, talented and devoted. Not to mention they all have great senses of humor, laughter goes a long way when wedding planning. Take help when you need it, but if you don't need help at that moment, don't take it.

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 Example: I had so many people volunteering to help months leading up to the wedding. Family and friends were more than happy to lend a hand, which I completely appreciated and couldn't have been more grateful for. But, I didn't always need help when it was offered. I was really stressed in the whole planning process, but when I really needed help was the week leading up to the wedding. Don't feel bad about refusing help when you don't need it. But when you need it, ask your family and friends to step up, and they will. I love my family an friends just as much as they love me, and just as I would for them, they all came pouring in the help. Aunts and cousins were cutting fabric for our back drop. My dad, brother and family friends helped haul rock. Friends and cousins were helping with center pieces and programs.

Find people who "get you"
Not every vendor that I met, visited or talked to did I think was right for our wedding. Not everyone will see things the way that you do. What you want is for the people that are helping create your wedding to understand what you want to accomplish. What I wanted to accomplish was A.) to get hitched, B.) to celebrate with the ones that I love, C.) to keep things simple, D.) to not break the bank.Keep your goals in mind when picking who is going to be apart of your wedding. When I did find people that I thought knew what I was going for, I did not hesitate to pull the trigger and get them on board.

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Example: The first place that I went to try on wedding dresses was to be honest, an uncomfortable experience. I made an appointment, brought my mom and sister, had inspiration photos and almost lost it when I was told to stand in front of the whole world in a dress that I did NOT want to try on that really made me look terrible. I mean terrible! I am not a "big" person and this thing made me look huge in places that I didn't even know that I could. I was a double booked appointment and to this consultant "simple" and "informal" meant taffeta, sequins, and ball gowns. Needless to say, we were not on the same page, and she was more interested in making the sale for the other bride than listening to me when I almost went full Carrie Bradshaw wearing a dress that almost made me breakout in hives.

I ended up getting my dress at a little boutique that had a awesome consultant who wanted to find something for me that I felt comfortable in, fit my body/ style, and wedding. I was with my Mega Best Friend {Shawna} and was txting photos to my sister and mom {not ideal, but you have got to roll with the punches} and we all decided this was the perfect fit.

Whew! That is all for now, but stay tuned for more photos, insights, and details on projects for the wedding.

polish please | patriotic polish

Happy Independence Day! I hope that everyone is enjoying there holiday. I am enjoying a lazy day at home with the puppy waiting for the hubs to get home from work {he is finally getting to do doctor stuff now!}. 

For the special occasion, I went with some festive polish. Mike suggested red, sparkles and blue! 

The red is China Glaze Ruby Red Pumps, Savina Caribbean, and Essie Set in Stones is the glitter top coat. 

polish please | black & white glitter

I was looking around on the interwebs the other day for a little nail inspiration {Nailspiration? Yep, it could be a word.} and I came along these two posts {here and here} with some awesome polishes that could almost be indie. What is even better than that, is that you can pick them up at Wal-Mart for only four bucks a pop. 

I was feeling a little stressed after work the other day, and new that new polish would do the trick, and help me find my moment of zen. Boy, was I right. I am a sucker for cream based round-glitter-packed polish, as you can see from this post. They are just so pretty {for the first two days} and then the chipping and crumbling step in and they lose a little bit of their luster. 

But look how beautiful they are five minutes after they are dry! Love at first sight.

I painted Hard Candy Sugar Rush {2ish coats} over OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls to try to prevent all the chipping that comes along with glitter packed polish. It did help, but wasn't a cure. On my ring finger I painted Hard Candy Black Tie Optional over OPI French Quarter for Your Thoughts. That is just one coat with a little fishing to get that one big white hex glitter.

Something cool happened, one of my photos was used (properly) on a nail blog! Just thought that that was pretty neat.

polish please | vintage flowers & dots

I got a new phone case a while back from J. Crew, and while searching for a suitable wallpaper for my home screen, I found this photo. 

Inspiration hit, and right when I decided that I wanted create these flowers on my nails, I kept seeing tutorials on my favorite nail blogs popping up for vintage flowers. Globe & Nail, The Nailasaurus, Chalkboard Nails, have beautiful designs that they can take you through step-by-step. Now let me show you how mine turned out.

For the base color on most of my nails I used Zoya Neely, the base color on my ring fingers is OPI My Vampire is Buff. For the flowers I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, Essie DJ Play That Song & Cascade Cool and Ciaté Mojito. 

Not that bad for my first try! I will definitely try this again until I get them looking as good as the ladies from these other lovely blogs have done.

Has anyone else attempted the vintage flower look?

furniture jealousy

I was over at my Mega Best Friends house the other day; she and her husband just got new bedroom furniture, and now I am SO jealous. They may be surprised when they find me lounging in their bedroom admiring their new furniture when they come home from work. If you have a key it's not breaking end entering... right?

Another reason for my jealousy was that I had no idea about CB2, Crate and Barrel's more modern {and more affordable} kid-sister. Why did no one tell me about this until now? Of course after leaving their house, I went home, hopped on the internet, and started planning out my dream home furnished by CB2. 

Here are some things that I am just crazy for:

 these plates

this rug

this lamp

 this desk

 this low dresser

this tweed chair

and this light

What did you think about what CB2 has to offer compared to Crate and Barrel?

polish please | summer clouds

I had been wanting to try this design for a while, but never had enough courage until... NOW. There are so many great tutorials out there like this one, and this video. I have no idea what I was so worried about, this cloud design is really easy. One of those designs that you can actually reproduce on your non-dominant hand and be able to show people without cringing. 

I still had some of my Zoya minis that I hadn't worn, and thought that these bright, warm colors would look just lovely together. Starting from the left I have Zoya Audrina, Pippa, Arizona, OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls {accent nail base}, and Shelby.

Super easy, bright, and fun. I really loved the way that this looked. The polishes that I used did apply a little thick {a problem that I keep having with the Zoya minis} so dry time was longer than one would hope.

What colors should I try next time?

retail therapy | anthro love

For years and I have been in L-O-V-E with Anthropologie, but who hasn't? What I am not always in love with is the price tag on each and every beautiful item that I fall in head-over-heels for. They have something for everyone, and ever time I walk in that store I find something that I can't live without... even though I usually leave the store without buying anything. 

I am one of those people {maybe it is because I eat, sleep and breath retail} who needs retail therapy when they have had a bad day. The other day was one of those days, and after work I found myself wandering down to Anthropologie with a friend after work. She needed to make an exchange, and I needed... well... nothing. 

There is nothing better than perusing the racks and ending up finding something that you really like, and a price that you really love. Here are a few items that I ran into on my journey that aren't going to break the bank. I picked up the beautiful emerald blazer for $39.95, and the lace peplum top for $29.95! I had to resist the other items, for now, but I am really digging the striped knit blazer.

Under $50:

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Under $40:

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Under $30:

 

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If I could live in Anthropologie, I would, plain and simple. Which one could you not live without?

 

polish please | blu & yummy

I am loving the Zoya minis that I got a few weeks ago. The pastel colors are really working for me right now. With the addition of OPI Nail Envy as my base coat, this mani has lasted for pretty much forever. This is what I was rocking right up until the wedding. Zoya Blu {lighter} and Yummy {darker}.

I need to do something more with these colors later. I love both of them so much, and and so happy that I got all of the minis when I had the chance. The only drawback with these polishes is that they go on a little thick. 

Just love these colors together... what else should I do with these babies?

while i was away

The past few weeks have been quite a whirl wind. There is so much that has happened that I need to share with the blogging world.

As everyone knows, Mike and I got married in a lovely ceremony in my parents backyard. I want to have a dedicated post just for all that went I to our special day... but I also want to include photos. So you all have to wait a little bit longer for that post.

A week after we were married, Mike graduated from medical school. I was so excited for him, and so proud that after all of his hard work, time, and energy he can finally be called a doctor. For him, and a lot of his classmates it seemed as though this day wasn't as exciting as when they received their residency match information, but for family... this was awesome. Like most commencement ceremonies there were some speeches that were a little long winded, and there was lots is waiting. The class president had a wonderful speech, and then the hooding began. Before you knew it, all the students were declared doctors, and the celebrating began.

This past Friday was my birthday, so I decided to have a little shindig to celebrate. Nothing major, just some friends, food, drink, and board games {one of my very favorite things}. I hadn't had a birthday party since I was twelve, and it was so nice to be able to have all of our friends over, without having them surrounded be wedding décor.

The one thing that I have not been doing is PAINTING MY NAILS! Well, that is not 100% accurate. I have painted my nails once since removing the polish from my last post. But I haven't done anything special. So hopefully tomorrow I can get back into the swing of things. And back into blogging.

polish please | mimosas for mr. & mrs.

I have be absent from the blogging world for a little while, but for a great reason. On Saturday, Mike and I got hitched! Everything turned out really nice. It kinda all fell into place, with a LOT of help from family. More details later, for now I want to leave you all with what else, the wedding day polish.

I knew that I wanted to do something neutral, and classic. I saw this OPI color when I was out shopping at Ulta with my Mega Best Friend. 

The color, the day, the man... they were all perfect! Stay tuned for a whole dump of wedding photos, and little pearls of wisdom that I learned throughout the process.

pinspiration | arrows

My latest obsession {which seems to change on a weekly basis} are arrows. Here is what has been my latest pinspiration:

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