So...Hello

Hey guys!

Sorry, I know it has been a while (again) since I posted.

Let me 'splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up. Buttercup is marry' Humperdinck in a little less than half an hour. So all we have to do is get in, break up the wedding, steal the princess, make our escape... after I kill Count Rugen.

If you get the quote, two thousand extra brownie points to you! But for serious, let me sum up recent events.

Kissa got a new home after destroying about all of our electronics in one very failed jump attempt. I got a new hedgehog. A female. Her name is Dosa, she is a rescue! Pretty as a picture and just as easy to handle. (hahaha...) Annd... That's really about the highlights of the past 1.5 months.

She's cute. But I digress. I haven't been doing my nails all that much, in fact they went naked for almost two weeks! But they have polish on them now. Sally Hansen - Loves Me Not. It is very pretty but has a lot more dimension in the bottle. I also cannot capture it on my cameras. It just wants to look black or dark purple. :/  

So I am currently on vacation or a stay-caion with my boyfriend. We have some kinda-maybe-shifty plans but I am really just hoping for some down time, nail time, hedgie time and maybe some fishing thrown in for a balance of UV rays.

Any ideas for what we can do on vacation? Only restrictions: 1.) I have about $60 to "waste". 2.) Gas is expensive 3.) I will most likely be crawling the walls after about day 4.

Anyone...??

Be well! Stay safe!! Hopefully I will write to you soon.

 

A glamour shot to leave on. Color Club Holos! Waaaa??? A-mazing raibows!

Long story (not so) Short

Hello all,

I hope everyone is doing well. Things here have been up and down, but at least I have been keeping busy.

So a few days ago, something super awesome happened here! My bf and I have been looking for a cat for several weeks; going on petfinder.com, visiting pet stores that offer adoption and I have also been keeping my eye out at work for a special kitty.

We didn't have any criteria in mind for a new family member, just some-cat that would spend lazy days in bed and play with us. I guess mainly as a stress reliever and it seems like lately we (the bf and I) have had some crazy dealings with stupid people. But I digress.

The other day one of my managers comes into the store with a set of kitten that needed good homes... And I bet you can already tell where this is going...

But anyway I fell cup over kettle for a plain 'ol brown tabby cat that I had named Leilah at the store. (It doesn't fit her at all though...) That afternoon I took her in the brake room to have lunch with me and we bonded. After that, she would come to the kiosk door when I came over and talked to her.

A match made in heaven right? Wrong. The rescue for whatever reason had her declawed on her front paws and because of that her adoption fee was $100! (Higher than the usual $65.) So for two days I longingly loved on her, petting her or talking to her when I had free time. (Don't tell my managers...) Needless to say I kept falling for her. Even my bf told me to just bring her home. He didn't even meet her. But I couldn't swing the extra money.

So during my Friday training class with Sam and her Mommy (I don't want to name too many names until I get her OK...) I couldn't stop talking about this kitty and how she would fit perfectly into our little world. But long story short, I kept talking about the cat (and nail polish), we didn't do any training with Sam who was perfectly content to pull squeakers out of a toy and they left for the evening.

Or so I thought! (Dunn dunn dunnnnnnna) Anyway Sam and her Mommy come back into the store and Sam's Mommy ask "I have a favor to ask you and you have to say "Yes" before you know what it is." I unhesitatingly say OK thinking it was something to do with Sam or our classes. But she puts $40 in my hand and tells me, "Get the cat."

So I bring her home.

 

But now I have a nail polish assistant who likes to play with my brushes, cotton balls and miscellaneous things I have laying about. She is fitting in very well so far and is sleeping mostly though the night with us. 

 

I am dreading my 9 hour shift tomorrow because I just want to stay home and love on my ball of fuzz. But now I have another reason to blog and share pictures. Maybe I will even turn on the wifi in the house and share some things on Instagram again!

 

More to come soon.

 

Be safe.

 

sweetergrrrl 

My First Julep Box!

Hello all!

So, I have to say today was a pretty good day. Forget the rain, and the traffic and the headaches that come with both. I got to leave work a little early and came home to my first Maven Box from Julep.com! I wasn't expecting it until tomorrow, so it was a nice surprise!



The shipping box is solid black- very lux looking!



Inside I was greeted with a "Welcome Letter" that was very sweet. But who wants to read a whole letter when there are nail polish and goodies inside?!



Remove the letter and YAY my free-bies! Super adorable bobby pins with roses on them. This is very similar to something I almost bought at Ulta the other day, so it is a huge bonus for me!



This month's theme is the "Roaring 20s" and the nail polish and extras are geared toward that. The lipstick box reads "Silky little lip colors inspired by the Roaring Twenties". The packaging on these items is so feminine, I love it! 



So this is everything unwrapped. The nail polishes are Alice and Millie. Alice on julep.com is described at an "Antique lilac shimmer" and Millie is a "Vintage indigo crème". I will be swatching these soon, most likely tonight... My line of untrieds continues to grow... I need to get on this!



Here are the lipsticks, from left to right Lady in Red, Satin Doll and Tea for Two.




Again from left to right: Lady in Red, Satin Doll and Tea for Two. TfT is the little bit of shimmer to the far right, it is pretty much skin tone with a hint of shimmer. This will most likely be the one I wear most often as I am super pale lol. I had to try on LiR because I have never worn a red lipstick before. It is fierce on me lol, so it may be used only for going out.

So for my list of untrieds... my super awesome boyfriend got me the Color Club 2013 Holographic collection, all 6. I have already worn most of them, but have not sat down and taken pictures yet. I also have most of the China Glaze Hologlam collection, some of the OPI Euro collection and several miscellaneous polishes I have to show you!

Be ready for some color awesome in the coming days (read weeks, knowing me)...

Be safe!

~sweetergrrrl

Namine Final Update

Hello all,

Sorry for not posting in so long. The day after the previous post, Namine began to urinate blood. My managers were nice enough to let me rush her to the store's vet. After some testing, it was discovered that not only did Namine have an advanced internal infection, but diabetes as well. She was also malnourished and the mites were causing her immune system to have more trouble fighting the infection.  I decided that her quality of life would have been less than stellar, and with a heavy heart I made the decision to put her to sleep.

It has been several weeks and I still think of her often. I had only known her for a few days, but she left a huge impact on my heart. Send her your prayers and think of her fondly. She was a very sweet little hedgehog and is missed greatly.

Namine Recovery #3

Hello all!

So I went to work early (as will become the norm around here I'm sure). I went to check on Nami and after cooing at her for a bit, changing her water and spot cleaning the fleece; I was kind of dissapointed to only see one poo by her tube. But, just a minute later my manager, who opened and did animal care today, popped his head into Wellness and said, "I can't believe how much that thing can poop!" I (of course) about died laughing, because it is such a hot topic with new hedgie owners. Apparently there had been four other "piles" that he had already tidied up for me!

Poopy that I was WAY too excited about...

I did my little happy dance knowing that she is happy and nomming away at the soaked kibbles. She also had a poopy wheel, I was so happy she was comfortable enough to run even with some of her back nails sill long. Her poo is a little green, but I think it is from the Innova I have introduced to her diet. :) She eats it right up, though I can't tell the difference between kibbles once they soak up the water.
I also got some pictures of how bad her back is with dry skin, sores, and bald patches...


:( But it only gets better from here...Right??

I put my hand in her giant igloo and just kept still till she figured out who I was when she stole my heart all over again. She huffed at first, then gave me some licks and rested her little head on the back of my hand. :cry: This little girl has stolen my heart completely and I can't wait to being her home. :)

We'll end on a cute note.




So here is her trying to wake up. She also likes to show off her pinto spot...that sadly I just noticed today. But to be fair, I love her face too much to look away! lol

Namine Recover #2

Hey all,

So I have today's pics of Namine ready to go! Today she got her first dose of Revolution for her mites and I got her started on soft foods! I soaked some of her old/ crappy Iams and Eukanuba cat foods mix with some higher quality Innova cat food and water. She was so hungry! She ate and ate, but didn't want anything to do with the sweet potato baby food I offered her.

Soo Happy!

I also have her on light (pink and white) fleece now so I can monitor her bowel movements and make sure she doesn't have any big internal issues. She did poo for me while I had her out, before her Revolution dose lol.

I also got to trim some of her nails today, and though I quicked her, she was better about it than my boys usually are! I didn't want to push her too far, so I will leave her back feet for a few days from now. It is going to take her a while to walk normally on the pads of her feet though. See her front foot? She stands on her tippy toes.

I also switched her water bottle out for a water bowl. She took to it right away, and I am thinking the water bottle may have been what knocked out all her teeth!



This is her naked hedgie butt, with her one white quill hanging in there. lol. I can't wait to see her quills grown back in!


I rearanged things in her house too, put down the fleece and got her loads of blankies for her giant igloo. The wheel.. I am going to leave for now, just in case she wants to run, but I am going to have to save for a new bucket wheel (hint, hint Larry!) lol.

Here is a post nail trim pic, it is easy to see which nails havent been done, and it is going to be an ongoing process to get them back to where they should be...



My favorite. She loves all her blankies now! I left her only when she went to sleep. I teared up when I saw how happy she looked!

The "Quill" Part of Brushes and Quills *graphic*

Hello all!

So I have aquired a new rescue hedgehog. As you may know, I got Navi a few months ago as he was surrendered by his owner. I got very lucky with him and he had no health problems or other issues.

I wasn't so lucky this time. But I am already in love, so she is mine. :)

I have named her Namine, and as fitting with the continuing "Video Game Names" theme that we have for all our pets, hers fits right in. So forgive me, most of the posts will be about her progress and recovery for the next several weeks, but I think it will be nice to have everything documented! Forgive me! lol

So Namine or Nami, got dropped off two days ago to my job, and several of my co-workers texted and called right away to let me know! I am the "Crazy Hedgehog Lady" for my store, so anything to do with them gets sent to me. Everyone at work fell in love with her personality, but I asked them to hold her for me until the next day.

So the next morning I actually leave for work early, super ready to meet my female hedgie and I rush to the Wellness room she is being kept in, and promptly bust into tears.

Her entire back is covered in dry sheets of skin, small scabs and her entire bottom is naked of quills and fur. :( So I finally get a hold of myself and whisk her into grooming and rinse her down and give her a VERY mild oatmeal bath. That helped get rid of a lot of the extra flakes.

Ok, so her has mites, which is most likely the cause of her dry skin and quill loss. I have the meds to treat her- so that isn't a huge deal in itself.
Then I notice her toes. Her little toe nails are so over grown, I am supprised she can walk at all. Her "thumb" nails on her front feet have grown completely over the top of her "hands" And her previous owner had her on some kind of corn cob bedding/cat litter and you can immediately tell she was having a hard time walking on it.

So that is my sob story, I will prolly post later tonight with the pics I took today and you can see how happy she is already!!

Thanks

Naked butt

Awful and Painful Nails

Sinful Colors Innocent and Mauve

Hello all!

Sorry it has been a few days (again). But it was a big weekend including a trip to visit my parents and my grandfather's 90th birthday! His daughters hosted a lovely party with Italian food and live music, played by some of Gramps' good friends. Gramps is the most active 90 year old I have ever met, still making mosaics and selling them at local art fairs!

So of course I had to do my nails and I took a page from the current trend book. I matched my nails to my dress. Of course, I got so busy doing my mom and younger brother's girlfriends' nails that I ran out of time to do my own... But I think they came out pretty good!



This dress was given to me by my Grandma, and it is super vintage, but luckily the style has come back aroung again with big, bold prints! Sinful Colors Innocent and Mauve matched the colors exactly!

The only sad part is one of my nails cracked really low so I had to take some length off. :( But I still have something to work with, not little nubbins.

Sorry for the short post, but I will have more soon!

~sweetergrrrl

OMG I almost missed February! (Pic Heavy)

Ok so I know it has been a while, but things (as usual) got a little crazy... On a positive note, my nails are looking pretty good, if I do say so myself. And though I haven't been posting to the blog, I have been posting some of my manis on my Instagram.

But I will do a quick Feb recap and show you whats been on my nails!

Alright! So that huge project I was working on?

It was sorting though my entire stash, swatching everything and creating a nail polish rack!







It was a lot of fun and took all day to complete the project but I think it was well worth it. The only problem I have been having is keeping up with my swatch wheels! I have already aquired so many new polishes that haven't been added...

Including my very first two OPIs!
Nein! Nein! Nein! Ok Fine! and Thanks a Windmillion!

I love these two colors and they go so well together. They are perfect for this trasitional part of the season where it isn't quite winter and isn't quite spring. :)


I love them!

So for Valentine's Day I had two main manis, nothing super original but I thought they were cute.
This was mostly done with acrylic paint.

This was not my favorite of the two, but you guys know how I love to post the fails I have. I don't remember the names of the two polishes, but the pink glitter was from the NOPI set from last year.

I have more pics, but I am going to save them for a later date because this post is so long already!

I will be writing soon!
~sweetergrrrl

Sorry for the delay...

Hey guys,
Sorry I haven't posted in a week. Things have been nuts here an the past two days I have had a killer migrane so I haven't been up to doing much of anything. I have so many pictures I need to post of my stash and some Valentine's Day mani ideas. I hope to get to them tonight or tomorrow!

Be safe.
See you soon
~sweetergrrrl

More on Thurday's Project...

Hello all!

So after that little teaser yesterday let me give you an overview of my project tomorrow.


This is most of my nail polish stash. I around 21 more on my desk and this is not including topcoats, basecoats, striping polishes and the Migi pens. So in the 7 or so hours my boyfriend is at work I am planning on organizing the entire thing.


These are the 20 nail art wheels I am planning on using to swatch my stash. Each wheel has 18 nails on it, so hopefully by the end of this project I will have a final count of the polishes I own and have a catalogue of which colors are on which wheel. I made a spreadsheet in Excel so I can have everything in the computer and I can update as I add to the collection. :) 

Wish me luck!
~sweetegrrrl

Under the Sea nail fail and FingerPaints Grape Gumball

Hello all!

Sorry for not posting yesterday. It was one of those long days at work and I was just beat by the time I got home. Sunday night though was a nail fiasco!

I spend quite a bit of time playing with my Migi nail pens again and I had created a neat mani of sea creatures! Fish and an octopus and seaweed, the works. Unfortunately I used some polish as a base that I got for Chirstmas that turned out to be really cheap quality... It chipped after less than an hour and I hadn't even done the dishes or anything!

But on to the beauty that didn't last.

Left hand (Thats the cheap-o polish in the back...)


Right hand


Close up of some fishies!!!!

I was so fed up with the issues I was having I took the whole thing off. I set my stash infront of my boyfriend and asked him to pick my next color. He chose FingerPaints Grape Gumball. It is a pretty dusky purple with a slight shimmer hidden in it. And just to make sure I had something pretty on my tips, I used my Migi pens to make little pink daisys on them. :)

How cute are they?

Anyway, this is getting long so I will post again tomorrow with a project I will be working on!

See you soon
sweetergrrrl





Orly Ingenue and a Simple Mani

Hello all!

Just finished getting the crazy pirates off my nails. They survived pretty well, with some chips on both my thumbs and the ring fingers. But it was well worth it for the reactions from people at work. :)

But chipped nail polish drives me crazy so I took it off and opted for something new and simple for tonight. My local Sally Beauty Supply had buy-one-get-one free Orly polishes when I stopped by yesterday and I grabbed four new bottles. Some will have to wait for summer before I can show off, but I knew this polish wouldn't stay in my untried stash for long!

Orly Ingenue is super amazing in the bottle and no less impressive on the nail. I looked up some swatches and reviews for it once I got it home. Thanks to the reviews I knew I would have to put another color under it so it wouldn't be too sheer. I went with a simple lavender that I picked up a while ago at Walgreens for $2.99. Sally Hansen Smooth and Perfect in Whisper.


This is two coats of SH Whisper, I knew it was really sheer, but it worked well for an undercoat. (Please note the still squared nails... I haven't given up yet!)


This is one coat of Ingenue over Whisper. Still very sheer, but the plum base and the SUPER gold shimmer are showing already.


And the final two coats, before Seche Vite.


See how pretty in the bottle? I couldn't quite capture the green micro-glitter that are swimming about in there. But they are in there!

So, which lighting do you prefer? I need to start doing my nails in the daylight so I can swatch the colors with the best light.

:)

See you soon!
sweetergrrrl