My interwebz are down but my nails are painted!

It seems like I have been absent on my blog the last few days…. but the real issue is my internet service!  I’ve only had very intermittent internet connectivity in the last week… but don’t worry- I’ve still been painting my nails!  I have been extremely frustrated this week but there is some value to the saying: keep calm and paint your nails!!  If you don’t wanna hear all about my technology woes- then scroll straight down to my nail pics.  But if you want to be a shoulder for me to cry on… then keep reading!

Ya see recently I upgraded my Time Warner cable internet from standard to ULTIMATE!  Sounds great right?  Well, ever since hooking it up we have had a heck of a time connecting our month-old HP Pavilion desktop to the ethernet.  After much troubleshooting we have gotten it to the point where our wireless works fine on our tablet and WiiU console, but the hp desktop will NOT connect via the ethernet.  We have looked for malware and viruses, bought a brand new expensive modem/router, restored the desktop to factory settings, swapped cables, etc…  but to no avail.  I have had time warner internet come out to the house twice and have spent hours and hours on the phone with them and every other company I can think of.  Nothing works and it all seems to boil down to an hp (hardware?) issue.  I have already been on the phone for hours today, so I’m taking a break to update my blog and get the nail art challenge info rolled out.  But my next step is to call hp AGAIN and harass them- I won’t take NO for an answer this time.  I deserve some support since the desktop is new and under warranty.  Every other company I have called in the last week has attempted to help (especially Norton Security… this guy Norman went above and beyond to help me troubleshoot an issue that wasn’t even virus-related).  HP- now it’s your turn to be the hero.  Please don’t let me down this time!   The OMD nail art challenge starts today and I need my interwebz!  And if any of my readers have any recommendations or tips- I would love to hear them!!

Now that I got that off my shoulders- do you wanna see the nails I’ve been wearing the last few days?

Recently I have renewed my love for Zentangle®.  Have you heard of it?  It’s a cool trademarked drawing/doodling technique that is easy to do and is supposed to be relaxing and mentally stimulating.  I just love it!

The Zentangle® Method was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas and is copyrighted. Zentangle® is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com or view their blog- http://zentangle.blogspot.com.

I have the Zentangle 5 book which I ordered on Amazon a while ago…and I’ve been reading through it a lot lately.  When I saw the accordian design in my book I thought I could simulate that on my nails with a Sally Hansen nail art pen.  So here’s what I came up with. ↓

And here’s another shot of my zentangle-inspired nail art. ↓

Pretty cool, huh?  It’s sorta shaky looking, but not bad for my first try.  I like how my Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen doesn’t smudge under my topcoat. 🙂  The base color on this mani is gorgeous too!  It’s called Primrose by Funky Fingers.  It’s a pink shade with an amazing lilac duochrome effect.  Other swatches online don’t look as duochrome-y as mine.  Maybe I lucked out with this bottle?  I’m not sure, but my primrose is magical (it dried fast too)!   Here’s a swatch of Funky Fingers Primrose on its own. ↓

Another design I’ve been excited to try is a 4th of July mani!  I had so many great ideas, none of which worked out for some reason.  I really wanted to try a watercolor design that looked like an American flag… but it turned out to be a fail.  So here’s a quick dotticure I threw together instead.  It wasn’t quite good enough to deserve its own Independence Day post… but if I mix it in with my zentangle pics maybe it will seem ok?  LOL!

I also want to mention how happy I am to host The OMD Challenge with Brijit and Eeeek!  It’s going to be a blast.  Who’s joining in this July?  It’s almost time for DAY 1 (which is PINK) !

OMD NAIL ART CHALLENGE IN JULY