December Nail Art Challenge: Holly Nails

Today's theme for the December Nail Art Challenge is Holly, which I was looking forward to since the beginning of the challenge. I have the perfect BundleMonster stamp for holly leaves so I wanted to use that and jazz it up a bit. I'm not gonna lie, I'm psyched about how these look. So psyched that I even included a rare glimpse of my non-dominant "Cinderella" hand! Here is what I came up with:

For these holly nails, I used Essie Be Right Bag as a base and tipped my nails with China Glaze Midnight Kiss. I then stamped BundleMonster plate BM14 in China Glaze Jolly Holly (because how could I NOT use that polish in a holly design?!) on all the nails. I finished the holly design using a dotting tool to add little red holly berries in OPI What's Your Point-settia? I also dotted Zoya Snow White in descending sizes across the nail tip to add a little more pizzaz to the look. What do you think?

December Nail Art Challenge: Candles

For the Candle manicure in the December Nail Art Challenge I have these candle nails inspired by an Advent wreath to share. I used China Glaze Don't Make Me Wine and American Eagle It's a Disco Ball as the base polishes and then used China Glaze Paper Chasing, China Glaze Tree Hugger, and China Glaze Jolly Holly for leaves of the wreath. Finished it off with a candle made from Art Deco White, OPI Tickle My France-y, and Color Club Yellow with a hint of Orly Gold Glitter, and voila!

An Advent Wreath is something that my fellow Catholics/Christians out there probably recognize and know quite well. It's a wreath with candles that appears during the month of December and has a whole bunch of symbolic meaning for people of certain faiths. During my private school days we would see them in the church at school and it generally looked like this...

Yes this photo is from wikiHow lol.

For those of you who aren't sure what an Advent wreath is, let me explain. The wreath itself is usually made of evergreen branches (symbolizing eternal life or the eternity of God) and there is typically 4 candles  (in some cases there are 5 but my church has only ever used 4). Three of the candles are typically red, purple, or blue and one candle is white or light pink. During the advent season (the month of December) one candle is lit each Sunday, with the white/pink candle being lit last. I'm not quite sure what the candles symbolize. Some say they symbolize the coming of Christ, some say the candles represent joy/hope/love/peace, and others say they symbolize expectation/hope/joy/purity. I really don't know which it is but I am completely certain that I've seen an Advent wreath in my church every year since I can remember....and now I even have one on my nails!

Star Wars R2D2 Manicure

I have never seen any Star Wars movie. I know, crazy right? But even with that being the case I know that the movie premiering tonight, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is a BFD. So to celebrate with all the Star Wars  fans out there,  here some Star Wars nails in honor of the new movie.

For these nails we have the galaxy and an R2D2 (whatever that is) nail. The galaxy nails were made by adding China Glaze Razzle Me Dazzle Me over Orly Liquid Vinyl and a few white dots in Art Deco white. The R2D2 nail was Zoya Trixie and Art Deco white for the base layer and then Ink Nail Art in Deep Blue, Orly Liquid Vinyl, Kiss Brush On Nail Art Paint in silver, and OPI What's Your Point-settia for the details.

Are you going to see it when it comes out? Have you seen all the other Star Wars movies? Which is your favorite?

31 Week Nail Art Challenge - Week 31: Recreate Your Favorite

Everyone, today is the day! Today is the last and final post in my 76 31 Week Challenge! I had to recreate my favorite and I chose Week Two Orange because I really liked the design. It was the first gradient that really turned out well for me, the photos looked great, and I got a TON of compliments when I was wearing these nails. Here are my recreations for today:

And if you can't remember the originals, here is the photo from Week Two:

I wanted to recreate the gradient using a less yellow polish since the prompt was orange after all. For my more-orange re-creation I used China Glaze Peachy Keen and OPI Flit A Bit. Ahhh, now to relax. I've finally completed the 31 Week Nail Art Challenge! Yay!

For a review of all my posts in the 31 Week Nail Art Challenge, click here.

December Nail Art Challenge: Candycane

If you follow my Instagram you saw these nails coming so today's post is no surprise. I did these nails for Andrew's work holiday party on Friday and they worked perfectly with the December Nail Art Challenge so I wanted to save these to post today. My Candy Cane manicure is a skittlelette mani featuring two different candycanes. Plus, even my toes got in on the nail art action AND a rare glimpse at my Cinderella hand!

For these I used OPI What's Your Point-settia and Nail Deco in White for the candy canes pedicure. The pinky is OPI What's Your Point-settia with a thin layer of Orly Gold Glitter. Isn't it interesting how it looks almost silver in the photos? For the middle finger I used Sally Hansen Camelflage as a base and dotted various sizes in OPI What's Your Point-settia, Orly Gold Glitter, and Zoya Snow White. Then for the candycanes on my index fingers I used Sally Hansen Camelflage and Art Deco in White, and OPI What's Your Point-settia.

Unfortunately these photos were taken prior to clean up...so please pardon the sloppy cuticles.

I also baked some chocolate and peanut butter chip cookies for my sweetheart today. You know, sweets from his sweetie...lol....I should open a bakery.

Next Up: Candles. But before that I'm going to finish up the 31 Week Nail Art Challenge finally.

A Smidge of Holiday Stamping

Today's post is actually of some nails from a couple of weeks ago. If you follow my Instagram you know that my nails are currently painted a la candy canes since I had my sweetheart's work holiday party last night and wanted to be festive. Plus it worked out nicely with the December Nail Art Challenge so you'll see more about those tomorrow. For now, feast your eyes on this green and red holiday stamp design:

I used Icing Mint 2 Be as the base and then stamped BundleMonster plate 222 in China Glaze Phat Santa (my automatic holiday red polish). The stamping wasn't as clean as I would like but I didn't have time to fix it. What is your favorite BundleMonster plate design (if you have one)?

And the holiday party last night was so much fun. I got to meet some more of boyfriend's work buddies and of course stuff myself silly with crab fries, sushi, macarons, and whatever else you can think of. Seriously, how cute are these mini macarons?

That is a shared plate for Andrew and I and that is his finger in the photo (dreadfully unpolished lol). Do you have a favorite macaron flavor?? My favorites are the pink (strawberry, raspberry, etc) and my sister's favorite is the green (usually pistachio).

31 Week Nail Art Challenge - Week 30: Inspired by a Tutorial

We're almost there everyone! Only one more post after today left in the 31 Week Nail Art Challenge!

Today's nails are inspired by this tutorial uploaded by Mod Nails. It's a super cute leopard and black matte design:

If you haven't checked out her videos yet, please do so. I don't think she's posted in a while but her designs are super cute. For my manicure I used a Kleancolor polish (unfortunately the name label fell off but thanks to Ananka's suggestion I think the polish is Mocha) as the base, made the spots with China Glaze Chocodisiac and Orly Liquid Vinyl, and matted out the middle finger and pinky with Essie Matte About You.

I really liked how these turned out but has anyone else been let down by Essie Matte About You? I was really disappointed in the matte lack of matte finish it gave to my nails. I've had the bottle for a couple years so maybe it just wasn't mixed well? Meh. In any event I have to repaint my nails anyway because boyfriend has a work party tonight that we're going to. Free food (and booze)...Yes, please! I guess I should figure out my outfit! Have a great day everyone.

Next up: The last and final one! Recreate Your Favorite

December Nail Art Challenge: Lights

Another entry for the December Nail Art Challenge I'm doing! Were you looking forward to it because I certainly was! The last time I did a Christmas Light manicure was way back in 2010! My oh my, how time flies! For this year's lights manicure I painted these:

For these, I used Sally Hansen Camelflage as a base, Art Deco in Black for the strand, and China Glaze Phat Santa and China Glaze Paper Chasing as the light bulbs. The bulbs are more like dots but ehh you get the idea! 

Next up: Candycanes!

Product Review: Activity Tracker

Two posts in one day what?! I guess that's one good thing about job searching...more free time than a 40 hour/week job. So hello for the second time friends! What brings me to post again today? Well, I recently received the Cel-Lab Fit Clip Activity Tracker to review and I wanted to share it here on the blog in case any of you are considering purchasing an activity tracker for yourself or another this holiday season.

Fitness and activity trackers are really super popular these days (most of my family now have Fitbits that they wear and I have had my chunky Garmin Forerunner running watch for years). So what does it do? Naturally, it tracks your daily activity! The Cel-Lab Fit Clip Activity Tacker retails for $23.99 and acts as a pedometer, calorie counter, distance tracker, and even a sleep tracker....all in one convenient tiny package! The face of the tracker glows blue and you can read all the information super easily and quickly. To activate the sleep tracking function you just hold down the single black button for about 5 seconds and you'll see the face change. Overall, it's really easy to use. Here are the various tracking stats when I first turned it on:

So that is what the tracker itself looks like. Now here is what the product packaging looks like:

You can tell it's pretty small -- probably only about 3 or 4 inches long and only about 1.5 to 2 wide -- so it's a really convenient size. Inside the package are the following: one activity tracking clip, one USB charging cable, and a black soft sleeve (I'll talk about that later). Here is a photo of the products:

The USB plugs into your computer (I plugged it into both my Mac and my PC and it charged no problem). You simply plug the USB into your compuer, clip the tracker over the large end of the USB cable, and voila the battery bar shows up on the face of the tracker so you can tell when it's done. Additionally, one charge can last up to 7 days...so you're not constantly charging!

Here's where it gets interesting. This Activity Tracker actually comes with software that you can use to track your long-term activity. Note: You do NOT have to use the computer software if you just want to look at the end of each day and leave it at that. I'm a sucker for long-term tracking though so I was excited that the software allowed for all kinds of graphs to track your progress in more detail. The homescreen looks like this:

You have to first put in some info (weight, height, sex, etc) in your settings and then you can explore your activity, your sleep, and your history and progress. You can set an individual daily step goal (I went with 5000 steps because that is roughly 5 miles) and monitor your percentage completed on your tracker. It also keeps track of your active time.

Now for how you wear it. As I mentioned the actual unit is a clip itself, so you won't be finding yourself working with any type of strings/ties/rubber connectors/plastic connectors/etc. This makes it SO easy to clip on your clothing (or wherever) even when you're in a rush. Also, you don't even need to clip it to your clothing. You can slip in your pocket, slide it in your purse, hide it under your beanie, whatever you can think of. As long as it's on you when you're moving it will keep track of your steps. The tracker can be flaunted with pride (you know, if you want everyone to see you getting your pedometer tracking on!) or concealed discretely (if you clip it to an undergarment or slip it in a pocket). The tracker also comes with a band...which I used to strap the pedometer to my ankle while I was just vegging around the apartment. The band looks like this and attaches with velcro so it's one size fits most:

So how do I wear my activity tracker?  Today I went for a walk so I decided to keep it on my waistband but you can also clip it to your sweater/top/jacket. I also tried the clip on my shoes too. And then when I was just relaxing on my couch I had it strapped to my ankle (oddly comfortable by the way and I forgot it was there).

Now, no pedometer will be 100% accurate. I view trackers as just giving me an idea of how much I move and also just making me more conscious that I should be keeping active. If you count steps in your head or use two different devices to measure your distance you will most likely find that the readings vary. I personally am okay with that because I just use for a general tracking of movement. I don't need to know that I actually moved 7282 steps even though my tracker reads 7300. That being said, I think this pedometer is pretty accurate when I compared it to my phone reading.

This tracker could be a great gift idea for YOURSELF if you want to keep track of your movement throughout the day, you kids if they are really active, your parents if you want them to maybe think about taking walks/becoming more active, or really anyone in your life. Who doesn't want to set goals and see themselves meeting them?!

The tracker retails for $23.99 so I think it's such a great deal compared to more expensive alternatives that do the same job (FitClip I'm looking at you!). I also think it's more accurate than the super cheap options that will break in five seconds. This tracker is also sweat and water resistant so don't worry about moisture. Lastly, whether you're a gym bouncing bunny who does insane workouts OR a leisurely daily stroll-taker, you will definitely find yourself enjoying this Activity Tracker.

I was provided this product for a very discounted price in return for my honest opinion and review. Rest assured, my opinions were not influenced in any way.

Wishlist Wednesday: Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is...

With Christmas fast approaching I've been tasked by my mother with coming up with a few ideas for presents I would like to receive from "Santa" this year. While there is honestly nothing that woul dbe appreciated more than some generous cold hard student-loan-payment cash, there are a couple items that I've had my eye on. Nothing crazy like my November Wishlist Wednesday but a few items that I would really love. Dear Santa, if the elves must spoil me perhaps these...

A Mortar and Pestle.

Andrew and I love to cook anything and everything. We frequently cook meals together and so we've been amassing quite a few new kitchen gadgets along our culinary adventures. Recently, we tackled a pumpkin cheesecake recipe that required us to grind whole cloves...a difficult feat when you don't have a mortar and pestle to use! Because we cook so often I'm thinking it's worth the investment to finally get a mortar and pestle for grinding spices and making quacamole (my fave!). I really like this option that I found on Amazon for only $10.99. It's the 4.5 inch Greenco Marble Mortar and Pestle in white/gray. It looks clean and it's small enough that I don't feel guilty adding it to our already overstocked kitchen cabinets.

A Wide Angle/Macro lens.

I've also been researching new lenses for my camera and I really like the macro capability of this lens (good for the blog photos right?) and the look of wide angle photos (for regular life picture taking). So this 52 millimeter 0.43x Altura Photo Professional HD Wide Angle Lens (w/ macro Portion) for only $29.99 is the perfect tester. If I really like I could invest in a better macro lens when I can afford one and give this to my sister, who just recently purchased a DSLR before her honeymoon.

A Wireless Adapter.

Pretty much all my wishlist items are camera related, haha. I researched this Nikon WU-1a Wireless Mobile Adapter for $39.99. It's a really cool attachment that allows the photos you take to wirelessly upload to your phone/tablet automatically. It also lets you use your phone to view the photo and activate the actual shutter (so you can actually see the photo before you take it even though the camera may be propped up across the room!). I love to post my nails on Instagram but I really only like the photos taken by my DSLR so I can't easily upload. I have to plug the SD card into my computer and then email the photo so I can access it from my phone and then post from the phone. Quite the process! :( This makes it easier.

A Shutter Remote.

If the wireless adapter isn't an option I would love this very simple option instead. It's a less expensive Foto&Tech FTML-L3 Wireless Shutter Remote that is only $9.99 and still lets you activate the shutter from across the room. You can't use your camera to preview the photo and the photos you take won't upload to your phone/tablet though because it doesn't have that capability. This is small though and doesn't have to be plugged into the camera so it sticks out awkwardly. This can just get thrown in my camera bag and pulled out when needed. It's also easier to hide this remote than a giant cell phone in the pictures taken.

A Flexible Tripod.

I'm also interested in the Vidpro GP-24 Gripster III Flexible Digital SLR Camera Tripod. This is a cheap but great option because it's only $9.58 and it has flexible legs so you can wrap it around things to secure the tripod. You also can accommodate any type of angle or hill the tripod might be set on. Can you say great deal?!

A New Planner.

I am a girl who loves planning. I plan and scribble notes constantly and I can't imagine entering a year without a planner to keep track of everything in my life. Last year, I invested in an Erin Condren Life Planner (remember my planner review post from last October) but I'm not sure I want to invest $mucho$dinero$ in a planner again this year. The EC is really steep and despite the custom coloring and various cover options, I think I would like this adorable Sugar Paper Planner from Target instead. It does the same job as the Erin Condren, you can still use stickers and stuff in it if you want, and how adorable is the black/white/gold? Clearly, I'm loving those colors right now...hence my new blog banner! Plus, this planner is more transportable because it's smaller and it's only $9.99 so it definitely beats the $50+ pricetag of Erin Condren life planners. I'll leave the EC life planners for the chic college students and busy moms!

So, what are you hoping Santa spoils you with this year??