Earning My Stripes

Totally lazy weekend. LA-ZY! We watched 2/3 of the Back to the Future trilogy, I read a book, and I swatched the Deceptive collection. (have to re-swatch, my photos were crap) While in the backyard with the hound today, Chris and I caught a peek of a lizard in our rubber tree. Super cool lookin' dude, even saw him poop. In fact, it barely missed me. lol Exciting stuff, right? It must've been wildlife day in our yard, because there were also a couple rad looking red and black millipedes. Photos of both Izzy the Lizard and Milly Pede at the end of the post. :)

Homer has been a bit of a pill tonight, someone nearby keeps shooting off fireworks. Each time one explodes, he jumps, then runs from my lap to Chris' (or vice versa). It's like an exploding game of musical chairs. He's a nut. He hates thunder too. Poor thing can't climb far enough into my lap, and he trembles so much! I feel bad for the little man. :-P However, his scaredy-cat-ness has caused this post to take about 4 times the time it normally does. He keeps sitting on the trackpad.

Anyway. Let's talk nails.

Prepare for Totally 80s. At least that's what it reminds me of. I could totally see one of Robert Palmer's girls rockin' it, you know? Don't get me wrong- Totally 80s is totally cool by me. :D I'm completely in love with striping tape masking these days! So much easier!

I used:

White: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On

Black: American Apparel Hassid

Red: Cult Nails Evil Queen

Topcoat: Seche Vite topcoat

Basecoat: Seche Vite basecoat

Creature Feature:

Under My Umbrella-ella-ella

Imagine lounging comfortably on your couch innocently watching reruns of Season 1 of Grey's Anatomy, when all of the sudden—the cable goes out!? CRASH! BOOM! CRACK! FLASH! What? Where did that come from?! Five minutes ago there wasn't a cloud in the sky! Yeah well, welcome to monsoon season in India. I swear to god there is a switch somewhere 'upstairs' that someone flicks to change the weather here. It goes from pleasant weather to booming thunder that you can feel in your guts and lightning that looks like strobe lights–shall we call it strobe lightning?!

I know, I know. Another weather-related nail design, but Reader Rita said I HAD to do it since I mentioned it, and who am I to be a tease?! This design makes me smile when I see it, and I'm glad that I did it!

What's the weather look like where you live?

I used:

White: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On
Red: China Glaze Hey Sailor
Red Shadow: CND Bloodline
Red Highlight: China Glaze Hey Sailor + Zoya Arizona
Yellow: American Apparel Manila
Yellow Shadow: Zoya Arizona
Yellow Highlight: American Apparel Manila + Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On
Blue: MAC Breezy
Blue Shadow: Cult Nails Time Traveler
Blue Highlight: American Apparel American Denim + Cult Nails Time Traveler
Green: CND Green Scene
Green Shadow: CND Green Scene + Cult Nails Time Traveler
Green Highlight: CND Green Scene + Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On
Dark Brown: China Glaze Mahogany Magic
Tan: Essie Brooch the Subject + American Apparel Manila
Light Blue: American Apparel American Denim
Topcoat: Seche Vite topcoat
Basecoat: Seche Vite basecoat

Who else finds it ironic that I took a picture of these nails on a sunny day? (I swear it was a crazy storm last night!)

Sun and Moons

Well it seems to be Weather Week here at TDN, not sure how that happened, but I keep thinking of weather related nail art ideas! I have one more in my head, I'm debating whether to post it, or hold on to the idea for a bit. What do you guys think? Wait? Don't wait? Eh, maybe I'll see if the weather event that inspired it actually happens. Sound like a deal? Well OK then!

Today's nail art is (obviously) suns. Get this though- they're also, what for it—MOONS. Get it? Nerdtastical.

I used:

Blue: American Apparel American Denim
Yellow: American Apparel Manila
Light Orange: Zoya Arizona
Medium Orange: Jesse's Girl Beauty Guru

Topcoat: Seche Vite topcoat
Basecoat: Seche Vite basecoat

It's Electrifyin'!

This weekend we had a MONSTER thunderstorm. I'm talkin' purple lightning that lights up dark rooms and thunderclaps that make you jump they're so loud. Oddly enough though, I managed to sleep through the majority of it, showcasing a talent of mine. (I can sleep pretty much anywhere, blaring sound, burning lights, name it---> except squeaking squirrel, and really, that just wakes me up, I'm sure I could fall asleep to it.) The storm was SO bad, the house next door to ours suffered to MAJOR tree casualties, one in the front yard and one in the back. The tree in the front actually fell across the road, blocking traffic through the neighborhood and there were guys with handsaws cutting the thing apart. In the back yard, the guy was using a MACHETE to cut down a tree not much smaller than the one in the pictures at the end of the post. Poor little Homer was trembling all night (or so Chris tells me, I was asleep- I'd be a shitty mom lol)

A while back, I saw a photo Fleury Rose Nails  posted on tumblr of some lightning nails. After banging myself on the head for not thinking of it first, I had to add it to my 'to do' list. I figured what better time than now, with it being scary lightning and thunder monsoon season here in India. :-P

I used:

Dark Blue: Cult Nails Time Traveler
Dark Purple: Cult Nails Vicious
Medium Purple: China Glaze Grape Pop
Light Purple: Jesse's Girl Spring Break
Even Lighter Purple :) : American Apparel Esprit
Pinky Purple: American Apparel Neon Violet
Medium Blue: China Glaze First Mate
Light Blue: Zoya Robyn
White: acrylic paint

Topcoat: Seche Vite topcoat
Basecoat: Seche Vite basecoat

The tree pics!

I've Got the Whole Package!

I think. I hope?! Take one look at this picture and you'll understand what I mean. :D

This is how every package that has been sent from the US here to India has arrived. I'm 90% sure that on the boat ride over (plane?), the employees use them as trampolines. I can't find any other explanation of how a sturdy box could end up in THIS condition. Sure, it DID travel about 10,000 miles, so I guess I won't bitch too much about it, because, like many things in this world: It's what's on the inside that counts.

So before I get to the box, let me explain the backstory. My pencil nails happened to make it into the September issue of Glamour magazine. That's right, the Fashion issue with Mrs. Gorgeous Soccer Player Beckham herself on the cover. Exciting stuff, right? Well, I don't really have access to Glamour here in India, so the fabulous Maria (of Cult Nails fame) offered to send me a copy! Little did I know that accompanying that magazine would be all THIS:

Seriously?! This is probably one of the most thoughtful, awesome, and PERFECT 'care packages' I've ever received! It's a whole lot of what I've been missing here in India–Maria must be psychic! There are Reese's peanut butter cups, which I've been craving like mad, but for some reason chocolate/peanut butter candy combinations haven't caught on here. There was all the makings for my beloved Starbucks Caramel Macchiatos (caramel!!): caramel sauce, Starbucks Espresso Roast, and Starbucks Vanilla Syrup- WITH THE PUMP!!!! Coco definitely chose wisely when she had Maria add Twinkies and Hostess Powdered donuts (which, due to the above picture are more like donut powder–still going to eat 'em :-P). Like Mary Poppin's carpetbag, each time I put my hand in, I pulled out something new: hairties and a set of three super cute stacking zig-zag rings, LA Fresh hand-sanitizing and nail polish removing wipes, Burt's Bee's tinted lip balm, nail gems, studs and metal leaf, and I haven't even begun to talk about the nail polish! OH, the polish! As soon as I got home from work tonight, I was polishing a nail wheel as fast as my paws would let me! :D (and let me tell you, I think I might be in love with them)  (pictured from top left: Enticing, Evil Queen, Princess, Vicious, Deal With It, Feel Me Up, Time Traveler, I Got Distracted, Let Me Fly, Nevermore, Wicked Fast topcoat X2, Get it On basecoat, Alter Ego, Two Timer, Deception, Doppelgänger, Charlatan)

Material items aside, the thought that Maria and Coco put into this package left me feeling truly touched, overwhelmed (in a good way), and over-the-top giddy. 'Thanks!" hardly begins to describe how grateful I am, but I offer it anyway. Thank you so much, Maria and Coco, you ladies made this nail blogger's day. (Ask my co-workers <--I was positively giddy this afternoon!)

A couple bonus donut bag pix :D lol

Talkin' About Blah, Blah, Blah

Ever have one of those days where you're super tired, and no ideas come to mind? Today was one of those days for me, but I turned it around– I found inspiration in NOT being inspired!

Here in India there are these little bastards called Indian Palm Squirrels. They squeak– incessantly. They also have little to no concept of time, because they squeak at night, during the day, and my personal favorite: at 6:00 in the morning. Now imagine that you have a dog that just LOVES his squeaky toy (I have one of those too-one who, much like the squirrel, also has little to no concept of time), and chooses to squeak the damn thing non-stop for hours on end. That's how it feels to endure the Indian Palm Squirrels, except there is no puppy-like cuteness to counteract the obnoxiousness of the squeaking. Never in my life have I ever wanted a slingshot more– I get precious little sleep, and if it's brutally stolen from me, I get mean. Damn squirrels.

Anyway, I digress. Today's nail art is literally kind of BLAH. (several kinds of blah, to be precise) I actually really like how this turned out, and I hope you do too!!

I used:

Light Grey: Nubar Marble Tower

Medium Grey: FingerPaints Stunning Stilettos

Dark Grey: Nubar Stronghold

Black: American Apparel Hassid

Topcoat: Seche Vite topcoat
Basecoat: Seche Vite basecoat

Feeling Boxed In?

How was your Labor Day weekend? Mine was only 2 days, but I managed to get a lot done. I swatched a collection of polishes, watched all eight Harry Potter movies, crocheted about 2/3 of a sweater, and started a new book. Unfortunately, that stuff took up most of my weekend, so there has (obviously) been no post since Friday! But don't fret, my pets– there's a post today!! :D

I love optical illusions, tessellations, and all things nerd-arty. This simple optical illusion/tessellation was inspired by the fabric of a dress I saw on Pinterest. (Pinterest is the devil, but a great source of inspiration- nail art or otherwise!)

My apologies for the less-than-stellar photos, something is acting weird on my camera, and my in-house camera guru (Chris) can't look at it until after work. If I can, I'll post better pictures later. :)

I used:

Tan: Essie Brooch the Subject
Coral: Lotus Herbals Orange Alert (Indian brand)
Grey: Nubar Stronghold

Topcoat: Seche Vite topcoat
Basecoat: Seche Vite basecoat