31 Week Nail Art Challenge: Week 2 - Orange

I started the 31 Week Nail Art Challenge on Sunday, August 24th which means that today is officially the start of Week 2! As some of you may know from my previous posts, I am not at my home base right now! Instead I am visiting my boyfriend and probably collecting mucho inspiration for nail designs to do upon my return. In any event, I still really wanted to post on Sunday (no promises I will post my challenge mani EVERY Sunday) and I absolutely LOVED this nail design I did last week. It coincided perfectly with Week 2 of the challenge(and Week 13 as it turns out) so I didn't want to post it last week when I actually painted them. For Week 2 of the 31 Week Nail Art Challenge - Orange, I have some yellow orange gradient tiger print! How much do you love these?
Reminded me of the time Andrew and I went to a zoo and saw this little kitty. He looked so adorable...but I wouldn't want him as a pet! I think I did his stripes justice though!

And in case you forgot the challenge or want to see what's coming next:

Happy (belated) 4th Birthday/Anniversary to the Files!


On August 10, 2010, I decided to click "Publish" on my very first NikkisNailFiles post. The design was this one (still a favorite of mine and one that I will wear every now and then). Since then I have enjoyed all the fantastic readers and people who have stopped by the Files to say hello or to simply check out a specific design. I can't wait to see where this blog goes from here and what designs are in store. For all the photos of over 4 years of nail designs, check out my "The Real Files" tab under the header. I can't believe it's been 4 years. Other Blogversary posts are this and this (no clue why I didn't do nails for it!)

For today's post I have a gorgeous Pinterest-inspired chevron and teal aquamarine blue/green-ish color design. Unfortunately I cannot remember the original source! If you know it/find it/etc please comment with the link below so I can give credit!
For this look: China Glaze Highlighter of My Summer, KleanColor 
Silver Pearl, Orly White Out, and Kiss Brush On Nail Art Paint in Black.

31 Week Nail Art Challenge courtesy of Nail Art Novice

I found this challenge over on Nail Art Novice while perusing my nail blogs back in March. I knew I wanted to give it a try so I saved it away on my computer. Because I'm severely lacking in creativity and motivation at the moment I figured this would be a semi-easy way to make sure I update my blog at least once a week, regardless of how busy I get. You guys all know how lax I get with my blog sometimes (yes I only posted twice in both June AND July -- I was busy??). 
So, to start this thing off, we have Week 1: Red Nails. I wanted to do something more festive than just look-at-my-nails-that-are-red so I decided to opt for an adorable design done by my blogger pal Ghila! She posted these on "Kisses Day" in Italy and ever since then I thought they were so cute and wanted to recreate them.

Here are my nails for Week 1 of the 31 Week Nail Art Challenge: Red

A Tad Tribal

We're off and running. Half a week of classes down and I think this semester is right on par with being extremely busy and fast-paced like all the other semesters of law school. In any event, I wanted to upload this photo of nails I did earlier in the week (yes this is NOT how my nails are done right this second) because I absolutely loved them. They were a recreation a design that I originally found on Pinterest. I don't know the name or website or any of that jazz to link back to the original (so if you know it please pass it along to me so I can add it!), but these nails were super fun and colorful and a little bit tribal. I really enjoyed the summer yellow that brightened up my nails and made the sunny day even more sunny!
 
Thanks for looking!

For this look, I used: Orly Snow White (as a base to make the yellow pop), China Glaze Shower Together, Finger Paints I Pink I Can, Orly Hook Up, and Orly Liquid Vinyl.

My Last "First Day": Back to School!

Well, here it is again folks. You know that thing that releases its clutches on students between the months of June and August?? Yeah, I'm talking about school. I start my last (as in final!!) year of school TOMORROW and I can't even believe my educational journey is only 9 months from its conclusion. I've attended five different schools, studied four different major courses of study (chemistry, psychology, Spanish, and law), been awarded thousands in student loans and scholarships, and it's all coming down to this one single degree: a Juris Doctor. That's right, this time next year I will hopefully have a law degree on my wall, a license to practice law in the states I choose, and a nicely paying job that will make all of the effort worth it. Keep your fingers crossed, I think this year will be a difficult one with the job search and the impending Bar Exam next July. Because this is my last Back to School post I will (hopefully) ever do...I decided to go with my favorite blue polishes and then have a different design on each finger:
And in case you love 80s movies as much as I do...enjoy this little tidbit of Grease 2 which is perfectly on point for the occasion (minus the fact that they are talking about high school and I'm past that and then some):
"Whoa whoa, I've gotta go back to school"

American Red Cross Mani

So last week was my last week at the firm for the summer. I was asked back over the school year though so that's a good sign and hopefully they will have a spot for a new associate that I can fill after graduation! Anyway, on top of the last week being super super super busy I totally failed at blogging. On Thursday all of the law clerks and I donated blood to American Red Cross and my nails just happened to be red so it was absolutely perfect. I didn't really plan on doing a nail design for a blood donation but hey...it's all good.
Also, as you guys know Andrew left for Colorado :( on August 2nd. I can't believe it's only been a week. This was a selfie I took of us right before he had to leave in order to make it through security in time for his flight. I'm looking forward to my trip out to Colorado that's planned for the end of August!

Steph's Wedding: Say Yes to the Dress!

As you know from my previous posts here, here, here, here, here, and here, my older sister Stephanie is engaged to be married in September 2015. As a continuation in the Steph's Wedding Series, today my mom, my sister, my sister's bridesmaid Kelly, and I went to look at potential bridal gowns at Sposabella. Ok, number one, check out this selection of gowns:

Seriously, how are you not going to find the perfect wedding gown in this room?! It was an entire large room full of all type of white bridal gowns. Anyway, Steph tried on a bunch of beautiful gowns in various styles and she looked gorgeous in each and every one of them. She may have settled on her perfect dress but she didn't decide yet so we all wait to see if she will say "YES!" to the dress. There was a ton of sparkles, lace, and even some fancy belts so I figured I should incorporate all of those into a nail design for the occasion:
For this look I used Zoya Snow White as a base for my index, ring, and pinky fingers. China Glaze Sunset Sail was the base polish on my middle finger. I then used Sinful Colors Tokyo Pearl on all but my middle finger and followed that with Orly Shine On Crazy Diamond. I made the middle finger look like a dress with pearls with Zoya Snow White. On the ring finger I used Bright Ideas Silver Streak and some rhinestones from Born Pretty (which I reviewed here) to make a fancy belt!

Looks like there's 444 days til the Wedding Day!
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