Pumpkin Nails

Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ear...
I have entirely too little and too much time. This past weekend I tried a little pumpkin design on my nails. It was lovely outside. Now the weather has taken a colder turn. (Sigh) I'm discussing the weather...

Panda Nails

I had a sleepover two nights ago at my friend's house, and the next morning we decided to do facial masks and nails together.

The facial mask was fun, but I still think that home-made ones are better, to be honest...

I did a variation of the panda nails tutorial that I saw on Bubzbeauty's channel (by the way I love her fashion& beauty channel! I learn so many things there).

****I applied a base coat and then painted white semicircles onto the tips of a few fingernails****

****Random terra cotta warriors in my friend's room****

**** I painted the remaining nails with a light, translucent purple (I used a purple and white theme as opposed to a white and black theme). Then I sprinkled glitter over them! Oh, I also gave the pandas ears, noses, and eyes by lightly dotting on some darker purple nail polish.****

****I used a bunch of adorable little nail decals. Hearts & flowers =D****

****And of course I dotted my little pandas' eyes to animate them****

****On each hand I have a finger with a nude color swept over it + a flower & glitter. Lets just say that I intended to put the nude color over all the nails but once I saw it on the first one, I didn't like it. So, I tried to make it "unique" by adding a flower decal and glitter--and then replicating the design on the other side.****

 

 ****And here's my other hand. I did the panda pattern a bit different on this one--it's not every other nail like the first hand. My "special" nail on this hand is my index finger.***

 ****Then I sealed both sets of nails with a top coat, and there you go....****

 

****My friend did cherry blossom inspired nails. She was born in Japan, so things in her life tend to have an Asian theme. And a purple theme. She's amazing:)****

MyTravels: The Chesapeake Bay Brigde & Chinatown at Night ??

Hey all,

It has been raining all day long. I really should be doing homework, but alas I couldn't keep away. So I had a really fantastic time this Labor Day weekend with my family. Nearly all of my dad's side gathered on the Eastern Shore of MD to celebrate my Grandma's 80th birthday. And yes, I sang with my sister and two cousins--and yes, it was kind of a bomb, but people seemed to enjoy it. Hopefully the "cute" factor triumphed over the "off key" and "off tempo" factors. I was so nervous I couldn't breathe, and therein lay the problem. We sang Atlas Hands by Benjamin Francis Leftwich and Somewhere Over the Rainbow--the Eva Cassidy version. Ok, maybe, I'm exaggerating, we didn't do that bad  =} And I took lots of pictures of the Bay Bride--which I no longer am afraid of crossing! Yay!

It's a very long bridge, over 4 miles, if you can believe it...

So, on Sunday night, I was dropping someone off and ended up taking the long, scenic route through D.C. (Purposely, of course! Ha, I mean me? Get lost? Noooo...). Well, if I did get lost I blame it on the psychedelic nature of D.C. traffic rules... I mean, a 2 way street turning into a one way street out of the blue....Really.... Anyway, Chinatown....It's been a year since I walked through there last...

I must have looked slightly creepy taking pictures of the street from the car...Well, well...

Earthquake, Hurricane...pshhh. No problem.

 Sorry Everyone. I know it's been nearly two weeks since I last posted. School started and life became hectic again. So, now to my earthquake story: It was my first day of classes and we were basically going over all the syllabi and becoming overwhelmed with all we had to do. During my last class for the day, the professors (there's a trio of them for this particular class) gave us a ten minute break. I was just sitting down staring blankly into space when all of the sudden my chair started to shake and the ground started to rumble. I thought maybe a maintenance cart was being pushed down the hallway. Then the rumbling grew stronger and stronger. The tables, chairs, and projector screen were all rattling about. I jumped to my feet suddenly, hands crossed over my heart, finally realizing what was going on. The wild, widened eyes and horrified expressions of my classmates must have reflected my own. I thought that the  three stories below me would collapse and I would be sucked into the earth's molten core. Fortunately the earthquake subsided and we were all evacuated from the school--but never fear, my professors ensured that we continued class outside! It was a beautiful day though.

Earthquakes are extremely rare in the Washington area, yet we've had 2 of them (I believe) + aftershocks within a year. Extremely curious.

So after all that drama, we got word that Hurricane Irene was coming our way. That it was a potentially devastating storm. So, we brought in our lawn furniture, tied down our garbage bins, bought some bottles of water, brought out our awesome flashlight radio, and waited for Irene.

 

(The sunset on the evening before the hurricane was positively enchanting.)

The next morning I drove to Georgetown, trying to get my errands done before the rage of the sea unleashed itself.

 

(I tried to take a picture of the exorcist stairs but it didn't work out that well since I was driving)

(Do you like my solar powered praise flower?)

(My sister and I escaped just as the rain started pouring down hard)

We spent the night of the hurricane watching Independence Day (probably my favorite movie of all time--Will Smith, aliens, and the end of the world--it just doesn't get any better). We were expecting that at least our roof would blow off or something. Well, when we got up the next morning there were just lots of leaves and twigs spread over the ground. The most exciting thing we saw was a fallen tree in the common area behind our house. Our internet and electricity didn't blink off for a second. Honestly, I've seen more "devastating" thunder storms....I made a disaster plan and everything :( All that hard work gone to waste...However, I know that many people were more deeply affected by the storm, and my prayers sincerely go out to them. 

Life, however, goes on. People crept out of their houses, surveyed the damage, and started to clean up. My sister and I drove to the store the next day to buy some more school supplies.

*Sigh* Sorry guys, I wish my life was more interesting...I'll try to post another tutorial on the morrow. I have a family reunion this weekend, so I see some interesting discussions looming ahead...The worst part of it is that I have to sing a solo in front of my entire family. The years of future humiliation already weigh heavily upon my shoulders...How do I get myself into these situations?

DIY French Manicure

 

(Sorry if my enlarged fingers scare you)

Update: Alright, so in less than 10 hours I'm starting school again. I'm kind of excited for school, and yet kind of dreading it because it's going to be extra challenging this semester. I'm also kind of bummed that summer break is over. *Sigh* Kind of, kind of, kind of, kind of--AGHH!!! What's wrong with me. Why do I sound so 13 and indecisive? No offense, you 13 year olds...It's not you, it's me.

Back to Business: So, I'm not gonna lie--a DIY french manicure requires a bit of time and hand-eye coordination. However, in my opinion, it is one of the most clean and elegant nail looks.

Nail Polish: I selected this set of O.P.I nail polishes specifically for doing French manicures (you absolutely don't need to have this specific brand--I'm just showing you what I use). I personally prefer displaying the natural nailbed colors as much as possible (need to see that capillary refill!), so the cloudy polish is barely opaque.  

 

(From left to right: O.P.I. Top Coat, O.P.I. Natural Nail Base Coat, Sephora by O.P.I. "Bare to be Different", & O.P.I. "Alpine Snow")

Step 1* Trim, File, and Clean your nails (if necessary). As you can see, my nails aren't very long. I paint my manicure a bit steeper than the natural line of my nail to create that illusion of length=D 

(This looks super scary, no? Looks like a surgical set.)

 (Haha--one hand was already done)

(All naturale. Sorry, I know I have wrinkly old-lady hands.)

Step 2* Paint base coat. I would do both hands at a time for this first coating. Usually the base coat drys fairly quickly (~5 min max). However, after this step, I do one hand at a time.

Step 3* Paint the 1st coat of your white tip (O.P.I. "Alpine Snow", in this case). Follow the natural curve of your nail line to create your "tip". As I mentioned I made my tip a bit steeper than my natural nail line since my nails are a bit short at the moment--to be honest I like them this length. Oh very important point! You must let each coat dry for 10-15 min from this point onwards! The white nail polish usually globs on a bit thickly so it needs a longer time to dry...Ok, so unless you are an amazing artist or a gentically enhanced human being, the "tip" is not going to look perfect up close. It's going to look squiggly and weird. Don't be discouraged! The second coat of white nail polish is going to make it look better! And...it might take a few times before you get the hang of it.

(I did my index finger last for demonstration found above)

Step 4* Apply the 2nd coat of your white tip. Just paint right over the 1st coat, and use this as an opportunity to smooth over any of the squiggly parts. Let dry for 10-15 min. I would suggest that you do this whilst watching a movie or something. It requires time and patience. Now I'm lazy and impatient and sloppy, so I don't bother with using tape or anything to shield my skin from the nail polish, and of course it gets all over me and looks like a disaster.

But fear not! That's what nail polish remover is for (this is probably from the dollar store).

And it works beautifully!

 Step 5* Apply the "cloudy" color (I'm using the O.P.I. "Bare to be Different" color). Now this coating serves to slightly diminish the overpowering brightness of the white tip, and also to make the nails look more blended and whole. Apply one layer over the entire surface of the nail (including the white tip) and let dry for 10-15 minutes.

 

Oh, and I'd suggest not eating Italian ice during this process. It was divine--but, O the cost... (i.e. smudged nails..) 

Step 6* Apply a clear top coat (I used O.P.I Top Coat). This will seal in your previous layers of coating and leave you with a glistening finish. Wow, that last line was really commercial worthy... Anyways, let it dry for 10-15 min as well.

Step 7* (Optional) Glove finished hand and finish painting the unfinished hand. Since I'm a bit sloppy I like to do one hand at a time (although I've done both at the same time and it worked out fine). So, I glove the finished hand once it is completely dried in order to protect it from getting messy when I do the other hand. The danger with this, however, is that if the nails aren't fully dried they will smudge under the glove. But, I'm just telling you my strange way of doing things...

(Calm down...it's not that funny!)

 

The End.

Oh wait. I wanted to show you all my elephant necklace that I'm wearing (well one of them--I have a horrible addiction). I love it. My sister bought it for me from Forever 21 (love that store!).