Please excuse the construction!

A Real Person Debates Nail Polish versus DIY Gel Nails




Very pretty....very shiny....just like right after you've gotten them done at the salon. (No one can replicate salon-shiny nails at home and we all know it.)

Except...I didn't just go to a nail salon.

I did these exactly one week ago.

The pictures actually don't do the shine justice. 

I used Gel Nail Polish for this manicure. 

And maybe you should, too.

I tend to go in cycles, where I will use Gel polish for a few times and then I'll go back to nail polish. I like to let my fingernails "rest" after using Gel polish because if you're impatient and don't take time in removing the Gel polish, you can damage your nails a bit (and I'll be honest, sometimes I'm quite impatient). Regular polish will last one good day for me. Then I shower and it starts chipping. Gel polish lasts a good week and a half (and can last up to two weeks). 

Nail polish can be applied in like two minutes. Gel polish probably takes closer to thirty. Nail polish can be removed in seconds. Gel polish takes time to remove—no less than 15 minutes. But Gel polish is worth it. 

Admittedly, a lot of the final result depends on your skill level. Gel nails are easy, but if your right hand (or left hand, if you are left-handed) always looks horrible, gel nails may be more difficult for you to apply. If you paint your cuticles or get too much paint in the crevice between your nail and the side of your finger, you will experience early lifting of the gel product because it is not properly adhered. 

Unfortunately, while writing this post, I discovered that my favorite gel polish brand, Gelish, does animal testing. I have been scoping out new polish brands because animal testing just isn't okay with me. I have sent out emails to China Glaze and Orly, two companies that have traditionally been cruelty-free (but things can change). 

I have since heard a response from Orly:
Since day one, 38 years ago, ORLY has always had a strict policy against testing our products on animals. ORLY products have always been vegan and we do not use animal by-products in our ingredients.

Specifically, in regards to testing in China, we have recently confirmed that ORLY products are not being tested on animals by the Chinese authorities during their approval process to import our products to be sold in the Chinese marketplace
I did send one response out to Orly to double-check on some of the wording in the second paragraph—they state that the testing isn't done by the authorities, but I want to make sure that it isn't done by anyone. 

I am hoping that the response is "no animal testing is done. period." because I have already lined up a couple of very pretty Orly SmartGel colors to try out. Also, you can purchase Orly from Zappos, which is great. I have a pretty strong relationship with online shopping—I love having stuff sent to me versus me having to go get it. 

If Orly works out, this could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship. 

Update:

My email to orly:
I do have one more question. I see that you noted that the Chinese authorities are not doing testing, but it is also true that they are not contracting the testing out? That is, there is no animal testing in regards to getting your products into the Chinese marketplace?
And their response:
Yes, that is correct.
I have ordered two gel polish colors from Orly to try out. I am very excited to hear of this news! 

Orly "Luxe" SmartGel

Orly "Star Spangled" SmartGel

The Cuddly Cabin Throw

Sometimes, you want something. You know you probably don't need it per se, but you want it.

But you know you don't need it, so you don't buy it.

But then you see it again. And you still want it. You want it bad. But you suck it up and move on.

And then you see it a third time...stock is dwindling...along with your resolve. Surely, if you've wanted it for this long, you can buy it? Right? Right?

Meet the Cuddly Cabin Throw.

Via Sams

Cuddly Cabin Throw....doesn't that just sound like something that you need?

And here's the thing: $14.98 for this majestic blanket. 

And actually, I did kind of need it. The big blanket that I usually keep in my bedroom that my Granny gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago made its way down to the living room because the simple fact was that the little throws from Ikea I had purchased were more decorative than useful. 

My townhouse has an upstairs and a downstairs...and the upstairs master bedroom is always like fifteen degrees warmer than the rest of the house...so this means that, in order to keep my bedroom decently livable, the downstairs is usually quite cold. Like your nose is getting chilly cold. 

Also, let's talk colors.

I love white. Sometimes I wish everything in my house was white.

But why can't I have white things?


Her name is Harper and she loves to play ball and she has literally worn a spot in my grass because she plays ball like a baseball player sliding in to home plate.

I always rinse her paws off before she comes in (if it's muddy) but I never get it all off.

The reviews on the Cuddly Cabin Throw say that it's still cuddly after washing. I'm counting on this because I know I'll be washing it a lot. 

For a second, writing this post, I started to think now why on earth did you buy the ivory throw when you could've gotten the blue one?

Because ivory is pretty and I wanted it.

We'll see how I feel about this in a few months. 

Years of Halloweens

As I begin to plan for Halloween 2014, it's fun to look back on some of the costumes I've had over the years.

I've been a school-friendly Jasmine. This costume was made for me by my aunt.

Jasmine, 2008
Retro pin-up girl

This has got to be one of my all-time favorites. My homemade glue bottle costume! This white shirt-dress was fairly transparent, so I printed out the Elmer's glue logo and traced it and then painted it on the shirt with fabric paint. 


I still pull out the retro cheerleader costume occasionally (and I wore it to work last year). It consists of an old cheerleading sweater from my high school, which I bought at a school yard sale, and an old cheerleading skirt from my college.

Retro Cheerleader

This costume had great potential but I think I kind of wrecked it by pairing my belly-dancer shirt with a pair of leggings. I kind of dropped the ball here. 

Bellydancer

Last year, I didn't really dress up because I was being lame and didn't really have an event to dress up for. I did get the opportunity to dress up for work but that's not quite as fun. I just pulled out my old retro cheerleader costume for that. (Welcome to the real world!) Harper made up for my lame-ness by being an adorable penguin on her first Halloween. 

The best shot of her costume. She really needed the hood up for it to be obvious, but she wasn't having any of that. 
Penguin puppy in Mommy's lap

This year, after much deliberation, I have decided that I would like to dress up as Linda Belcher from Bob's Burgers. 

Harper is up in the air. It depends on where she gets to go for Halloween and what Mommy is doing. I am probably going to dress her up like Louise Belcher from Bob's Burgers, but if she has any additional events, she may get to be a Ty Beanie Baby, too. 

Oh, Paint colors.

I love looking at photos of rooms with perfectly selected paint colors...because I'm not sure if I have ever selected a perfect paint color.

In high school, I selected a bold pink to go along with the burgundy carpeting in my bedroom. I insisted it would look good, and while the colors didn't "clash" like my mom had suspected, my room kind of looked like Valentine's day had thrown up everywhere. And because my room was in the basement, the dark pink made my room feel cave-like.

My mom in the Pink + Burgundy cave. Please excuse the hideous camera phone picture.

Fast forward to my senior year of college when my parents remodeled the basement to give me an apartment so I wouldn't live on campus. I had since realized that the pink made my room feel cave-like and the maroon carpeting had been on a "it's gotta be replaced" list since we moved into the house. I had my dad paint the two larger walls in my room stark white, leaving two smaller pink walls because I kind of hated to have them covered up since he worked so hard on them in the first place.

Post painting & carpet removal
This was a definite improvement and I still adore the laminate I selected (although if $$ hadn't been an issue, I would've went hardwood, hands-down). 

But was the white....too white?

January 2014 I moved into my townhouse rental, complete with beige walls. I was over the stark-white walls in my old bedroom and began to overestimate how much I would like the beige walls. 

After all, beige fit into my color scheme... 

But then everything felt very beige.

Now I've decided that a new paint color might reign in my heart for my living room: gray.

Via Centsational Girl
Via 12th and White (formerly Honeycomb Creative)
Via Favorite Paint Colors

How has it taken me this long to realize how absolutely beautiful gray is?

But alas, my house is a rental and I am not going to be painting the walls. I have to get permission to do so, which would be a hassle. And since my house is so open, I couldn't just paint one room. I'd have to paint the living, dining, kitchen, stairwell, hall....

So perhaps I should let myself be inspired by other beige homes.

Via Decor Pad
Via Belle Blanc
Via Architectural Design
Although the majority of houses seem to be going gray (a search for beige living room brings up a couple articles about "better than beige!" or "how to change beige to gray!") I will be keeping it beige. 

And lusting over gray.

Free Printable + Cookie Recipe


Last night, I made chocolate chip cookies.

The same chocolate chip cookies that are featured in my kitchen on my chocolate chip cookie poster. If you'd like, feel free to print out my chocolate chip cookie wall art, inspired by this but reproduced with my Granny's chocolate chip cookie recipe AKA the best chocolate chip cookie recipe.


And if you're just interested in the recipe?

Granny's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325°.
  2. Cream together softened butter and white and brown sugar. I use salted butter and 1/4 tsp salt because I'm a rebel. Or maybe because that's how Granny does it.
  3. Add in eggs & vanilla.
  4. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt, and baking soda.
  5. Gradually add flour mixture. 
  6. Using a large spoon, mix in the package of chocolate chips.
  7. Use a teaspoon to spoon dough onto un-greased cookie sheets.
  8. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden. 

Is it Fall Yet?

It's beginning to look a lot like fall on Blog-land, but I'm not ready to let go of summer yet. 

On the other hand, I'm quite excited about decorating for Christmas.

I've been slowly working on my fall decorating, trying to get myself all pumped for one of my favorite seasons, and I've even recovered some of my Halloween decorations from my parents' house. 

I would really adore having a mantel or some floating shelves to decorate, but until then....




Cost:
Tablecloth, bed bath & beyond: $11.99 with coupon
Table runner, Walmart burlap, $5.97
Vase, Walmart, $2.97
Branches, free, cut from the bottom of the bush in my backyard
Tray, already owned ($1 at the dollar tree)
Votives, already owned, filled with split peas, red beans, and popcorn, all from Walmart originally, and inspired from this. Orange candle and jute cord** also from Walmart.

**A word on Jute rope/twine: if you get the jute from Walmart or Hobby Lobby, it's probably treated, and if so, it will likely have a very strong gasoline smell. I purchased some Jute from Hobby Lobby and am taking it back because it smells so horrible that I didn't really want it in my house. The Jute I purchased from Walmart  that I used on the fall votives wasn't quite as bad but still had a smell and still, after one year after airing out , smells faintly of gasoline. 



Linked up to: Liz Marie Blog, Up to Date Interiors, Glitter Glue & Paint, Craft Dictator, Create with Joy, Craftberry Bush, My Repurposed Life, My Romantic Home, Remodelaholic, Paper & Fox, One Project Closer, Whipperberry, Shabby Art Boutique, Thoughts from Alice, Boogieboard Cottage, Dwellings-the Heart of Your Home, 

 Thank you for stopping by! I would love if you left me a comment!

Pumpkin & Peanut Butter Doggy Cookies

Sometimes you just want to spoil your pet. Or maybe you decided you needed to break a milkbone in half and since it was so tiny you couldn't break it with your hands, you had the thought to do it with your teeth because why not—and then you learned that milkbones taste exactly like cardboard.... 


I have made three variations of dog cookies for Harper. She loves them all perhaps equally. These have been tested by other dogs as well, who seem to think that they taste wonderful as well. All of my recipes for dog cookies have pumpkin in them because pumpkin is so great for dogs, helping with both diarrhea and constipation. But just a note, like all good things, too much of a good thing is a bad thing, so don't feed your pup a can of pumpkin a day.

Harper has a bit of drool from smelling puppy cookies

Pumpkin & Peanut Butter Cookies 

2 eggs
1/2 c. canned pumpkin
1/4 c. peanut butter
2 1/4 c. rye flour

Preheat oven to 350. 

Mix pumpkin and eggs until smooth. Stir in peanut butter. Begin adding flour in—you will have to knead it. This makes a really thick dough.  

Roll and cut out cookies. I have this set of cookie cutters.

Bake for 13-15 minutes, then flip cookies and cook another 13-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of your cookies.  

These cookies will also be hard and crunchy. They're technically edible for humans, too, but if you taste one you will find that it's very bland. I purposefully did not include any sugar, butter, etc. because I want these to be lower calorie and a treat I can regularly give my dog.