Mother is back

So my mom went on this crazy 8 day trip around the south visiting family.  Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Missouri all in one week.  Crazy right! After all that visiting all this woman brought back is junk food. 

BLOOD SPLATTER

So I have been seeing these all over the web all month and I couldn't wait to do mine for Halloween.  I can't do fancy nail art with a brush and I don't have the steady hand for spider webs so I went with something more abstract. Thus blood splatter nails which I'm more than a little in love with.  I might just wear this manicure again when it's not Halloween although they are a little gruesome.

Random

Pasta ( on netflix)

I've recently been addicted to Korean Romantic Drama (Soap Opera). They are sooooo dramatic and there is something about reading subtitles that makes it seem like I'm reading manga that moves.

Hand Knit Gifts

So my best buddy is moving to Atlanta Georgia and I'm going to be paying her a visit for my birthday (which is in 1 week). I've decided to make her house warming gifts as well as buy her a few things. These are my first completely hand knit items for her gift basket.  I made her a hand towel and a kitchen/body scrubber, depending on how she wants to use it. I think I want to make her another hand towel because to decorate a standard bathroom towel bar you usually need two folded towels. I also want to make her two face towels to match the hand towels and I plan to include some Lush body products. All in all I think she will like the basket I put together.

White Pepper Towel

Tribble

Memphis Trip In Pictures

Trolley Rides Everywhere

Riverside Art

Pretty Windows

Old Fashion Trolley Ride

Roof Top Pool

Live Blues Music

Hand Obbsession

I know this may sound crazy but ever since I became nuts for nail polish I find myself staring at other people's hands. If someone pushes the elevator button I look at their fingers. If you type in front of me I stare at your hands. It makes me feel a little creepy...I've become a finger voyeur. And don't get me started thinking about what severely chipped nail polish does to me. I mean I know people that paint their nails and just let the polish wear off naturally. This didn't used to bother me, now, I want to demand that they let me fix their nails.  When oh when did I become nail crazed?

Hauling in the polish

So for the past couple of weeks I've been shopping like a mad woman. I'm not proud that all my purchases have been nail polish but I am very pleased that its all been inexpensive nail polish. So really how could I turn down things that were on sale or just plain cheap. Besides there are plenty of women who have way more polish than I do so I feel no guilt. Here is what I got...prepare to be underwhelmed. 

1. Sally Hansen - Celeb City
2. Ulta - Mint Condition ( $2)
3. Ulta - Sun-Sational
4. Ulta- High Roller
5. Ulta - Encore Pink

1. China Glaze - Smoke and Ashes
2. China Glaze - Fast track ( My new favorite almost-nude)
3. Orly - Fresh ( brightest green I've ever seen)

1. NYC - Uptown
2. NYC - Big City Dazzle
3. NYC - Central Park
4. NYC - Lincoln Square Lavender 

1. Essie - Set in Stones (looks good over every polish my favorite glitter. I have to force myself not to put it on everything)
2. Sally Hansen - White On (bought it to stamp with because it's just so thick)

1. Essence - Gold Rush (yep, I only paid 49 cents )
2. Essence - Wake Up
3. Essence - Let's Get Lost
4. Essence - Sweet as Candy (extremely sheer pink that I don't have a clue what to do with???)
5. Essence - Choose Me!

See nothing special but lots of colors I didn't have. I feel like I rounded out my nail polish selection so I can do more nail art type things.

Knitting fail

So I woke up this morning and thought I would do something creative and make my own hand towels for the bathroom.  In my mind, knitted towels seemed like a wonderful idea. I mean, how often does one see hand knitted towels? So I thought I was being clever and unique and to keep that streak going I figured I would create my own pattern so the towels would be truly original. I searched the Internet high and low looking for the perfect stitch pattern to use. Then once I knew exactly what the I wanted the towels to look like I cast on and began knitting.
I did a few rows of garter stitch feeling very pleased with my creativity. I do the first row of my pattern thinking about just how artistic I am but once I get to row 3 I notice something odd. Although the front of the towel looks just as I imagined, the back looks a hot mess. In my creative frenzy, my brilliant mind completely forgot there was a back to the towel. So it is official I am a sock knitter and anything else, including knitting a double sided square, is just too complex for me. Not to worry I'm not giving up on the towel, I'm just going to use someone else pattern. That way I have someone else to blame if disaster strikes.

Manicure

It's not the manicure of the week just me playing around with some new polish I bought. Pictures of my hauls coming soon, but don't judge cause I've bought a lot of polish in the last couple of weeks. All of it was on sale!

The good things

When things are not the best I find myself looking for ways to be happy. It's the reason I start new hobbies and attempt crafting projects because such small tasks give me a sense of accomplishment. Knitting a dishcloth may not be the same as conquering the business world but not many people I know can do it. So every time I finish something like that it's as if I've done something special.

Manicure of the week

Bright purple cream with silver glitter (love this glitter)

Nature in a box

Came home after a weekend with some friends and found these little green things waiting for me. I'm amazed at how fast something as small and lifeless as a cilantro seed can transform. I'm sure there is a life lesson in that but I'm not deep enough to figure it out.

Random Pictures

Cherry tomatoes and cottage cheese (I have strange tastes)

There has been some crazy weather the past week in Chicago. High temperatures, thunderstorms and at one point it haled which knocked out the lights forcing me to read by candle. Don't know how people used to do it and keep their eyesight. 

A current knitting project that I'm not sure I'm going to even attempt to finish. This yarn is murder on my hands. 

Random Pictures

Bits and pieces from the past week. This my attempt to use my camera more. One of my goals this year is to take pictures of everything.

Shoes in the middle of the floor

Favorite cup 

Weekend in the park...I like to hike

There are secrets hidden in the cluster of trees

Old men gather every weekend to take advantage of all that space by flying model airplanes. 

Rose bush in my front yard. 

Manicure of the Week

Although this mani is striking I can't help but think it would be better suited for a  teenager. It's something about the combination that's a little too young in appearance, I think it may be the glitter. Despite the fact that it may not feel age appropriate to me it is at least attention grabbing, two of my male coworkers complimented me on this mani. Yes, I think it's weird for me to be complimented on my nails by guys, cause really how often does that happen in life. 

Wet n Wild -  Kalidoscope
Illamasqua - Collide (turning out to be my summer favorite)
Essie - Armed and ready

Pink and Gold

Illamasqua- Collide
Essie -Shifting Power

So shiny (hard to photograph)

This is my most successful attempt at gradient nails and although it's not perfect I'm proud of it. For some reason this technique was really hard for me to get. I used the sponge method and it sort of worked but my sponge was an old kitchen sponge and it wasn't in the best shape. Next time I'll get a fresh one from the dollar store and try again. All in all this I'm very proud of my nails this week probably because I made so many attempts before I got it right.

Simple bookends

In an effort to make the dungeon I call home tolerable, I've been trying my hand at decorating. Now to be fair what I consider decorating some people might simply consider cleaning, but to me it's a big deal. I'm taking teeny tiny baby steps toward a more pleasant and comfortable living space and I'm doing it on a budget. My first project, gold bookends for my nightstand so I have an organized place to put my current reading. These are not exactly rocket science to make but they look really nice for how simple they are. 

Gold Spray Paint $3 & Two Brick Pavers $.69 a piece

All painted

My 2nd attempt to capture how gold they were after painting.
 I just couldn't get the color right.

Add rubber feet $2.49 

All done and so very shiny! 

 This is a pretty cheap way to make book ends and I like the look a whole lot. I've seen this done with any old brick and in most cases they chip away at the sides before they paint to make it look my gold ore like. I didn't want that look so I skipped that part. I figure in a few weeks if I want  a new look I can just take a hammer to them and repaint.