When it rains it pours.

Ok guys, I know I have been absent for a little while.

I have been having some trouble dealing with Grandma's passing and haven't quite gotten back into my posting routine yet. It seems like a lot of bad things have been happening in my life lately and I am just trying to get things back together.

Speaking of bad news:

A few days ago I received the news that my Great-Uncle lost his battle with cancer. I never really got a chance to know my grandparents so he was like the grandpa that I never had. 

In such a short time I have lost 2 people who were so important to me. These two deaths are also the first time that someone I was close to has died. I have been very lucky in the past but now I feel so unprepared for what is going on now. 

On a side note I am officially dropping out of the 31 Day Challenge. It is almost over and the pressure of making up the days I have already missed a lot of it already. It was a lot of fun and I will participate in another one at some point, it is just too much for right now. 

I'm sorry if a lot of this is babbling and doesn't make sense, this is just where my head is at right now.

31 Day Challenge Day 22: Inspired by a Song

Hey ladies!

Today's mani is inspired by a song.

I chose the song Hurricane by Something Corporate.

I have always loved this song and it seems apropriate since last week's appearance of Superstorm Sandy. My family was lucky and the worst that happened at our house was our fence was torn down from the winds. My brother-in-law's house however had a neighbor's tree fall onto the back of the house. Their house is still okay for them to stay in but there is  a lot of work to be done. 

There are a lot of people who weren't as lucky as we were and my heart goes out to them and their families. The Red Cross is taking donations to help people rebuild their homes and move on with their lives, you can find more information on their website.

1 coat OPI Nail Envy

2 coats OPI Swimsuit... Nailed It

2 coats Sally Hansen White On (accent nail)

  stamped with BM-312, OPI Swimsuit and Konad Black Pearl

1 coat Seche Vite

I love this blue it is so pretty but it stained my nails something feirce!

What do you think?

31 Day Challenge Day 21: Inspired by a Color

Today's challenge is to be inspired by a color.

I chose to be inspired by all colors this calls for one type of nail polish... holo!

I love holographic nail polish. My holographic collection has some of my favorite and most prized bottles in it. Today I am going to show you Nfu-Oh 64 it is  a light pink holo polish.

 1 coat Nfu-Oh Aqua Base

1 coats Nfu-Oh 64

I love this color. What do you think?

Color Club Winter Affair Collection Swatch and Review

So this is the first time I have ever swatched a collection!

It took a lot of time and honestly I have been sitting on these polishes for over a month...

I just haven't had time with all the craziness in my life lately, but I finally got it done!

Winter Affair is Color Club's holiday collection.

It is made up of six polishes that seem to step slightly away from the usual red, green and gold winter collections. It contains 4 foil-y polishes 1 glitter bomb and 1 top coat flaky polish.

 Each swatch is 2 coats topped with Seche Vite.

Winter Affair

 Winter Affair is the namesake of the collection. It is a wine colored flaky, glass flecked polish. 

This applied like a dream and there was no staining. This is such a beautiful fall/winter shade.

I liked this color more than I thought I would, its just so pretty to look at.

 Berry and Bright

 Berry and Bright is a red foil with slight gold and pink shimmers. This polish was probably my least favorite of the collection. It is perfectly lovely I am just don't wear a lot of reds. This is just not for me. It applied easily and removed easily.

 Ho-Ho-Holly

Ho-Ho-Holly is a green, gold glass fleck polish. This one was a surprise favorite for me. I loved it and didn't want to take it off. This color seems like it would be perfect for Halloween or winter. 

Stunning! This picture doesn't do it justice. 2 easy coats of this polish, removal was just as easy.

Glitter Wonderland

I'm not really sure how this bright purple polish translates to winter or holiday but I'm happy to have it! It's really an awesome color and it seems to shine on its own. Glitter Wonderland is a bright purple foil with pink and blue glitter throughout. The shimmer is clearly visible on the nail and in the bottle. Such a pretty color!

 Gift of Sparkle

Gift of Sparkle is a glitter bomb, no other word for it. This polish is a dark purple base with teeny, tiny pink-fuchsia glitter through the whole bottle and slightly bigger holographic glitter. This polish is opaque in 2 coats with no need for a base color. This glitter dries slightly matte but a quick top coat fixes that in no time.

Snow-Flakes

This top coat is so very similar to a lot of flakies out there. It shifts color from red, orange, yellow, to green. This is one coat of Snow-Flakes over each of the polishes in the collection.

Snow-Flakes over Winter Affair

 Snow-Flakes over Berry and Bright

Snow-Flakes over Ho-Ho-Holly

Snow-Flakes over Glitter Wonderland

Snow-Flakes over Gift of Sparkle

Color Club is available in select stores (like Sally Beauty Supply!) and at their online store

as well as some other e-tailers such as www.transdesign.com. This collection is a lot of fun. As much as I have praised it in this post, honestly there are a few colors that we have seen before. I will have a comparison post coming soon to show some dupes or close to dupes. If there are any colors you would like to see compared just let me know and I will add them to my list. What do you guys think? Any colors you guys need to have?

31 Day Challenge Day 20: Water Marble

I'm back!

Thank you to everyone who reached out to me and my family in our difficult times.

You guys really helped me get through this with all your kind words.

Hopefully now nothing crazy happens for a while because I think my family needs a break :)

Now I know I am so far behind on the challenge... again.

I am just going to try to power through and catch up... again!

Today is water marble!

 I love water marble and I really wanted to incorporate a holographic color, so I pulled out my favorite holo...

DS Original!

1 coat OPI Nail Envy

2 coats China Glaze Sweet Hook

marbled with:

China Glaze Sweet Hook, OPI DS Original, Color Club Rad Nomad

accent nail OPI DS Original

1 coat SV

What do you think?

Getting Personal

I kind of feel like every week something new happens to knock me off my feet.

This week it's a big one.

 My husbands grandmother passed away yesterday.

I'm hoping that writing this will help me cope a little.

She was such a strong woman who insisted to on living at home, doing her own grocery shopping and volunteering at the hospital and her church all the way until the end. I didn't get a chance to know my grandparents so she was the grandma that I never had. We would all go over her house every Sunday and at 89 years old she would insist on cooking us dinner, or we would go out to eat and she would insist on paying.

She lived a long life and outlived her husband as well as two of her three children. She was able to  meet 2 great grandchildren and got to see me and my husband get married.

Since my husband's mother died a few years back and his father has been out of the picture for 10 years,  she had stepped in as a parent for him and his three brothers. She would buy them clothes and harass them about things that needed to be done around their house and tell them when they needed a hair cut. All four of her grandsons would call her everyday and come over and help her around the house or just sit and watch her beloved Law & Order with her. They would hide all of their tattoos and piercings around her and she would pretend not to notice.

A few weeks ago she fell and broke her wrist and ended up in the hospital.

They moved her to a rehab center and she just wasn't regaining her strength.

Two days ago they moved her back to the hospital and she just wasn't getting any better.

 After she passed one of her neighbors contacted us and told us that grandma wanted us to go to her house to get things in order. So we sat around grandmas kitchen table and dealt with the difficult things. She had lived next to this neighbor for 27 years and had told her quite a few things that she never told us. Grandma saw her time coming and had planned accordingly. 

She left detailed instructions for how she wanted things to be handled and which things she wanted to donate to her church and different charities.

Of course, being grandma who always insisted on paying for dinner, she left an envelope with some money in it so that she could pay for us to order in dinner one more time while we sorted everything out.

Grandma Audrey 1923-2012

We will miss you.

31 Day Challenge Day 19, Galaxy Nails

Hey guys!

So my finger is doing much better and I have started polishing a bit. 

I have quite a few challenge days to make up for so I need to get to work!

I know Kimber said I didn't have to make them up but I want to! 

I missed a few that I was looking forward to so I have to do them!

I have never done galaxy nails before and I was really exited to try them.

I basically sponged on a bunch of different colors and added some dots and called it a day.

They don't really look like a galaxy but they sure look pretty!

1 coat Orly Nailtrition

2 coats Sinful Colors Black on Black

sponged on:

Sally Hansen White On

OPI Catch Me in Your Net

OPI Be a Dahlia Won't You

Finger Paints Plum Startled

China Glaze Icicle

dotted on Sally Hansen White On

topped with Seche Vite

What do you think?