Halloween 2015: Spooky Spider

Happy Halloween everyone! Whether you have kids to take trick-or-treating, have a Halloween party to attend, have a costume to rock, or just have a really big sweet tooth, I hope something excites you about today being Halloween. For me, I'm excited about these Halloween nails I did Wednesday:

I did a yellow and orange tropical and then painted a Frankenstein scar division line. Then on the accent finger I painted a spider web and little spider. Spooktacular, no?

Other Halloween nails I've done include a ghost, candy corn, orange/black, some mummies, Inspired by Halloween movie, spooky bats, and spooky cats.

Be safe and have a great Halloween! If you're dressing in costume tell me what you are dressing up as in the comments below! I'm going as a mime:

Pardon my photobombing broski. 

He's going as Mark Ronson in Uptown Funk (google it). Just kidding.

Ghost Post We Need the Most

Today I have a Halloween manicure post to share. You didn't think I'd let Halloween come and go without a couple of spooky nails to show, did you? I wanted to do something that included a couple different Halloween concepts and incorporated some stamping. I funked up some silver polish by putting a black tip (on both ends) and then added a ghost to my ring finger and a bright pumpkin on my index for that Halloween "wow" factor. 

Halloween Pumpkin Adventures

As you know from my last post, BF and I were planning to carve pumpkins to get into the Halloween spirit. It's hard to believe that it's already October 29th! Before I reveal the design I chose, let's start at the beginning shall we?? A couple weeks ago we went to a nearby farm that had apple picking, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, etc for a little weekend fun. The apple orchard was huge and included Pink Ladies, Red Delicious, Golden Crisp (?), Granny Smith, and a few other apple varieties you could choose from. And before anyone says "hey, Nikki, why didn't you just go buy apples from Wegmans?" the answer is: It's fun! (and it's a better deal as it turns out). Anyway, since BF doesn't eat apples (basically he sticks to meat, cheese, bread, rice, pasta, and dessert only! He's a health nut alright. Jk), we only wanted to pick a couple apples. How many apples can one person eat, ya know? Here are some photos of our apple picking adventure:

How gorgeous is that blue sky? It was the perfect fall day to get outside and pick some apples and pumpkins. The orchards were still well stocked even though I think it's considered late in the season for apple picking and there was a fantastic selection of Pink Lady apples (my new favorite). Andrew even caught me munching on one while we walked through the aisles:

I know....so attractive, am I right? Ha, oh well, I'll have to be more on guard next time! And then we took a posed one in the center of the orchard:

I know it looks mirrored but the orchard was really that long! It was nice to just walk around even when we were done picking apples. But then it was time to get back on the hayride and head to the pumpkin patches:

I love the farmer tractor pulling it. I wonder if they're hiring tractor drivers?! The pumpkin patch was also fairly large (though less impressive than the orchards) and BF and I considered so many pumpkins before deciding on THE PERFECT PUMPKINS.

It got intense, haha. We would line up our choices and then choose the two we fancied. Here you can basically read BF's thoughts -- probably going something like hmm, all three are so nice! How will we pick?! 

Yesterday we set out to carve these beauties into our chosen designs. I chose to go with Tinkerbell and some fairy dust and the BF decided on a creepy crawly spider. So at least one of us did something that would be considered Halloween appropriate. Step 1 was to tape the designs to the pumpkins and outline it with pins. I don't know the proper pumpkin carving technique but that's how we do it. After pinning the design, I used the tiniest pumpkin carving saw to get the details just right. Her hands and dress was a tad stressful. I don't know how BF did it with all those tiny chunks he had to cut out.

 And here is the result of our hard work!

I think Tinkerbell turned out pretty well! And you can *almost* clearly see her fairy dust.

Did you carve pumpkins or go apple picking this year?? If so, tell me about it in a comment below!

Pumpkin Carving Possibilities...It's Almost Halloween!

Me and the BF will be sitting down tonight to carve some pumpkins for Halloween and I have no idea what I should carve this year. There are so many options out there online and they range from scary/Halloween appropriate to "just plain cute" to "wow that's funky." And of course, many of them are WAY out of my zone as far as skills go! So many designs so little pumpkin! Many years ago in college (2010 I believe) we carved these:

Of course, the Eiffel Tower was mine :) but you guys probably already knew that since I'm OBSESSED with anything French. Seriously, if you could spend a moment in my head with me you'd realize that the soundtrack of my life is French bistro music. Ok, maybe that's an exaggeration but you get the point. We also had to use our cell phones to illuminate the jack-o-laterns because I was in a dorm room and we didn't have any candles...winning.

Anyway, as I have to make my pumpkin design decisions pretty soon I wanted to share some of the options I found online. Maybe you can help me decide which to go with?

Clearly not going for a theme that is Halloween appropriate this year either. I think BF is planning a spider pumpkin though so that makes up for it, right? Any votes for what I should do?

Parade of Pink - Swatch: OPI Flashbulb Fuschia

So this post might be my last in the Parade of Pink for October's Breast Cancer Awareness Action Month because now it's getting to be time to transition into October's Halloween nail art that I have in mind. I saved this polish for last because it was one of the first polishes I featured on this blog....5 years ago?! It has shimmer, jelly, and it's stunning under the flash. OPI Flashbulb Fuschia is a color I wear regardless of the time of year because it's so pretty. The shimmer is just enough pizzaz without being too much if you work in an office.

Parade of Pink - Swatch: Sinful Colors Pink Forever

Another day, another post of another pink polish for the October Parade of Pink here on the nail files. I decided on Pink Forever from none other than the Sinful Colors line. I'm a big fan of this nail polish line. Number 1, they have a great variety of colors. Number 2, can their price be any more perfect?





This pink is a beautiful baby pink creme polish that is so gorgeous. The polish was opaque in about 2-3 coats but if you really wanted to a fourth coat would work. I usually put 3 coats regardless of it it needs it just because I like to use a lot of polish (apparently). I was pleased with how my camera captured it because the color seemed to stay the same regardless of whether it was the natural sunlight or with my flash.

Breast Cancer Awareness Action Fact of the Day: About 1 in 8 US women (12.4%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. That's terrifying!

Parade of Pink - Swatch: Nicole by OPI Great Minds Pink Alike

Hello everyone, hope you all had a fantastic weekend. Is it getting cold for you? It's super chilly here right now but it will warm back up starting tomorrow. I have to admit though I did enjoy the brief chill because I was able to break out the ol' boots! I also got to wear both pairs of my new boots! Are you guys as excited for sweater, scarf, and boot weather as I am??

Anyway, today's post is another in my October Parade of Pink posts and I have decided to swatch Nicole by OPI's Great Minds Pink Alike. This color looks so pretty in the bottle and I wanted it to be amazing but it would take quite a few coats and I didn't get it to be opaque because "ain't nobody got time for that!"

This pink is actually a difficult color to capture on my camera (thanks to my limited photography skills).

Let me know your favorite fall outfit combination in the comments below!

Wishlist Wednesday: October Edition

I wanted to do a post about some things that are on my wishlist right now because I am just a shopaholic right now and there is no shortage of things that I would LOVE to buy. However, because I'm not working right now (UGH JOB SEARCH!) I have to seriously stop the spending or else my student loan payments will NOT be getting paid! Anyway, these are things currently on my wishlist.

These are my new obsession right now in pants. I've gained a bit of weight (a lot of weight) and so I've been slowly replacing things in my closet and of course I need pants! These are the Mid-rise Rockstar Sateen Jeans from Old Navy. I can't even chose a color--I seriously MUST have them all. How gorgeous is the deep purple? You can't go wrong with khaki or army green! And of course the dusty pink is just girly and fantastic.They're $36.94 but Old Navy usually has them on sale for $34.50. I'm not sure what "sateen" means because they're basically a comfy jean-ish soft material (so don't be confused into thinking these are dress pants). The deep purple color is actually named "Get Figgy With It" how amazing is that? Well done Old Navy! Before you order always google for coupon codes and see if Old Navy is running a sale. I feel like there's ALWAYS a sale going on there. $25 outerwear anyone??

Speaking of outerwear, my next wishlist item is this Old Navy Wool-Blend Peacoat in the color Creme Caramel. I bought a gorgeous mint green version of this coat last year from Old Navy (for $25!) and it held up really well and was pretty warm (especially with a sweater underneath) so I think adding a caramel color to my coat collection is necessary. Bonus points, it will look great with any of the rockstar pants I just talked about! The coat is sold at Old Navy for $59.94 but you have to watch because Old Navy is always always always doing sales. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for another $25 sale this year so I can scoop this baby up! This and the green rockstar pants would be a perfect Thanksgiving outfit, no?? Very autumn and cozy.

I'm also drooling over this Delta ring from Swarovski. At $149 it's a tad more than I'd want to spend on a random ring but it is really pretty. The set comes with all three so you get your gold, silver, and rose gold all at the same time and you can wear them all at once or one at a time.  I'm not sure I would really buy this but I do think it's pretty and I like the design.

And lastly, I would love love love to purchase a macro lens for the Nikon. I use the macro setting on my camera right now but I think having a designated macro lens would be even better. As you know I'm an amateur photog so I'm learning how to get the best photos. If you're interested in seeing some awful pictures go back and check out the first 2-3 years of this blog! 

There you have it, my current wishlist items. Maybe I'll make this a series or something that I can post monthly (or weekly because I have a shopping problem). Is there anything you're currently wishing for? Let me know in the comments below!

Big News for Nikki!

Guess what everyone?! As you know I was for the last three years a law student who struggled to post semi-regularly between classes, case briefings, and working in law firms. It all culminated in a three day exam called the Bar Exam that was the sole licensing exam for me to become a lawyer and practice my craft, a career that I spent more than 18 years preparing for. Well, the test was this past July and the results came out last Friday (October 9th)....it's now time for the results here on the Nail Files:

Andrew surprised me with celebratory reservations at The Capital Grille, an incredibly delicious and amazing restaurant that is so fancy my girl Miley Cyrus has been known to go to (lol)! I ordered the steak and lobster tails, which was quite honestly the best meal I have had in my entire life. It looked just like this:

Photo from here.

You can be sure there wasn't a morsel left on my plate when I was finished! So good!!!

Swatch: China Glaze Limbo Bimbo

So many pinks so little time! Today's Parade of Pink post is a swatch of China Glaze's Limbo Bimbo. Limbo Bimbo is a classic really -- hot pink with shimmer and it just makes you smile (if you like pink). Plus the name is adorable, no? My photo-taking skills are really not the tops but I tried so hard with this color to accurately show off all it's subtleties. This photo is no flash:

 With a flash:

 That shimmer is just gorgeous, no? Natural daylight:

Today's breast cancer fact: Breast cancer incidence rates are highest in non-Hispanic white women, followed by African American women and are lowest among Asian/Pacific Islander women. In contrast, breast cancer death rates are highest for African American women, followed by non-Hispanic white women. Breast cancer death rates are lowest for Asian/Pacific Islander women. Breast cancer incidence and death rates also vary by state. 

Swatch: Sally Hansen Strawberry Icing

Following my most recent post, I decided to reach for another strawberry inspired polish. This time I decided on Sally Hansen polish in Strawberry Icing....which sounds delicious! I could go for some dessert! Can I say though....I hate this polish. I have a total dislike for everything that is this polish. Number one, the polish is so sheer it took forever to get opaque and as you'll see it never really did become opaque despite 4 polishes. Number two, the polish took so long to dry because I had to use half the bottle to get it close to opaque. Number three, the shimmer with the base color is not my favorite. Don't plan on seeing it on the blog any time soon because I just might give this baby away. Or perhaps it can look nice as a layered top coat.

These are all with natural light:

With flash:

Breast Cancer Awareness Fact: That pink breast cancer ribbon was originally designed by Charolotte Haley, a breast cancer survivor, who attached a peach ribbon to cards reading "The National Cancer Institute's annual budget is 1.8 billion US dollars, and only 5% goes to cancer prevention. Help us wake up our legislators and America by wearing this ribbon." It's now one of the most recognizable symbols in the nation.