Shine On Award and an epic nail fail.

Doctor Crafty and DUDE IT’S PRIMARNI both nominated me for the SHINE ON Award.  Thank you so much ladies!  The cool thing about receiving awards is that you also get to GIVE them!  I’m happy to nominate some blogs which I think always have unique and fresh content!

I’m also throwing in a nail fail just for fun!  Can you say hot mess?

Here are the ‘Shine On’ Award rules:

1. Display the award logo to your blog
2. Show appreciation by acknowledging the blogger who nominated you and link back to them in your post
3. Share 7 random, interesting things about yourself
4. Nominate 15 bloggers you admire and would like to pass this award to (making sure to link to their blog in your post)
5. Contact your chosen bloggers to let them know

Here’s seven random facts about me..

1. I can’t stop thinking about the OPI Brazil collection. Like everyday I think about it!  I really want that yellow called I Can’t Cope-acabana.  There’s a store a half hour from me that sells OPIs really cheap but I haven’t made it there yet with all the snow and everything.  I also want OPI Black Onyx because I love the OPI brush and I think that black would be a great base for nail art.
2. I hope to get married and prego in 2014.  Wish me luck everybody!
3. There’s so much money in the world and I want some more of it please.  kthx.
4. It annoys me when people don’t follow rules.  You think you are special?  You are not.  Ok, that sounds mean,  but really… rules are made for a reason!
5. The hardest part of blogging for me (other than photos) is putting my thoughts to the keyboard.  I have all these ideas in my head but when I start typing it goes blechagghhduhyuksheesh!
6. I never really feel tired.  It’s the weirdest thing.  The only time I’m tired is late at night when I’m dozing off or if I take Benadryl.  I also cannot fall sleep on an airplane.  I really envy those people that sleep during the whole flight!
7. I don’t check my cell phone that often.  If you wanna get a hold of me then you should email me, not text me.  My cellular device is lame, and it feels like my nails will crack from the pressure on the little keyboard.  #firstworldproblems

Now’s my chance to give props to a few blogs that I read regularly.  These bloggers personalities’ and style really shine through in their blog.  So here are my nominees for the Shine On award.  <They are in complete and utter random order>

1. rexxx did it
2. Lady Lacquer
3. My Faves Journal
4. The Nailinator
5. The Polish Playground
6. SEIZETHENAIL
7. Vic and Her Nails
8. The Adorned Claw
9. NailsLikeLace
10. Break rules, not nails
11. The Bookish Manicurist
12. For The Love of Nail Art
13. K’s Nail Art
14. Druid Nails
15. Be Happy and Buy Polish
16. Finger Candy
17. Life’s Glitz Pageant

Ok, so I picked 17 instead of 15.  It’s way too hard to pick only 15.  I read a lot of great blogs, people!  I hope you like my list and maybe you can find a new fave blog to follow!

Now for the epic nail fail! This manicure sucks… but I think I should get an A for effort.  It took me a long time to make it this hideous!  The sad thing is, the silver and purple zoya gradient was gorgeous before I screwed it up with a black nail art pen.  Oh well!

 

Here comes the sun!

I have been recently nominated for the Sunshine Award!  Wow I’m so grateful to learn that I inspire other bloggers out there!  Four ladies nominated me and I faithfully follow each one of their blogs, so it’s wonderful to hear that the love is reciprocated.  Oh, blogosphere- you are so full of inspiration, friendship and warm fuzzies!  A special thanks to the lovely bloggers who nominated me:

Brjit’s Digits

Diary of a Beauty Therapy Student

Little Bits and Pieces of Life

Eeeek! Nail Polish!

Here’s the deets about the Sunshine Award: 

-Thank the person who nominated you
-Post the award logo on your blog
-Share 7 facts about yourself
-Nominate 5 or more other blogs that inspire you

Who I nominate:

Ooh La La Nails–  Amy’s always inspiring me!  I wanna copycat her ruffian next 🙂

Upclose & Polished– I love Marthe’s feather nails!  Makes me want to dig out my feathers, for sure!

Nail Art for Dummies– Are these nails inspired by Kill Bill or sneakers?  Both!  And I love them!

Sparkling Noise – check out these raindrop nails! SOOO cool!

My Adventures in Nail Art– Months later I still remember this heart manicure of hers.  Amazing!

Seven facts about me:

1) Ya know how some people hate to see other people wearing pajama pants in public?  They think it looks sloppy and lazy I guess.  Well, it doesn’t really bother me.  I think hmmm, you look comfy.

2) I have a bread machine that I love and I use it all the time to make pizza dough.  Check out some of my creations (I get the side with eggplant n veggies, he gets pepperoni! And the white one is a chicken alfredo pizza).

3) The reason I’m posting pics of food is because I’m currently on day two of the 3 Day Military Diet and I feel really really hungry right now!

4) I have two cats named Fergie and Aphrodite.  They’re the perfect combo of sugar n spice!

 

5)  I may not be the most patient person in the world, but I don’t really get road rage.  I figure some people drive stupid and there’s nothing I can do to change that. 

6) I’m looking forward to summer because I love getting tan, my hair gets blonder and I can go swimming!  When I was a kid I’d stay in the pool as long as possible.. or until my lips turned purple and my mom would make me get out!

7) I ordered some nail stuff from an amazon seller but they totally messed up my order.  Once they ship me the correct items I plan to organize a sweet giveaway.  One prize pack for US entrants, and another one for international!

Thanks again for the Sunshine Award!  All this sunshine brings a big smile to my face!

A Lovely Award and Some Lovely Nail Spam!

Just a quick post to thank a few bloggers for recently nominated me for the One Lovely Blog Award!  I read each and every one of their lovely blogs!  Here’s a special shout out to these ladies for nominating me:

Eeeek! Nail Polish!

Short & Sweet in Texas

Ooh La La Nails

buy ALL  the colors!

The Nail Boss

Nail Art for Dummies

DailySofia

Award Rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you
2. Add the ”One Lovely Blog Award” image to your post
3. Share 7 things about you
4. Pass the award on to seven nominees
5. Inform your nominees by posting a comment on their blogs

Here’s who I nominate:

Maiden Aunt

everysensory

Polish Me, Please!

PROMAKEUPME

Pocket Money Polishes

In The Gray Areas

Here’s my 7 random facts:

1. I played field hockey and basketball in high school.  Field hockey I can live without, but sometimes I miss playing basketball all the time.
2. I’m seriously thinking about getting one of those fitness gadgets that you wear 24hrs.  Like maybe FitBit, Nike Fuelband or the Jawbone UP.  Did you know some of them monitor your sleep and have an alarm that won’t wake you up til you reach the correct sleep cycle?  I need all the help I can get when it comes to waking up in the AM!
3. I have become addicted to seltzer lately.  Water, tea and seltzer are my faves.
4. I have the weirdest dreams and remember most of them in the morning.
5. My favorite nail polish brand is Orly.  But they recently changed the design of their bottle and cap?  This is upsetting to me.
6. If I ever have a son he will probably be very tall and blond and I wanna name him THOR… but I bet my friends and family won’t let me 😦
7. My name is Jacqueline but the shortened version is JACQUI.  Everyone spells it like the more common version: JACKIE.  My name is misspelled so often I don’t even notice it anymore!

Here’s some random pics of my nails… a lil spam is always nice!

Orly Gumdrop… a nice cream turquoise.  I used this as the base for my AriZona Green Tea Nails ↓

OPI Elephantastic Pink… a beautiful vibrant pink.  I used this color for my crazy underside mani ↓

Nautical nails using my new Cheeky stamping plates (CH36 and CH38)↓

Thanks for reading… and thanks for thinking my blog is lovely!!  Muah!

Liebster Award and some LOLCATs

I have been lucky enough to be nominated for the Liebster award!!  It’s such a joy to share my nails with you all, and to know that you view my blog and actually LIKE IT!  Ya never know when you start a blog how it will work out.  Especially since most of the people in my life couldn’t give two hoots about my fingernails.  So, I start a blog and expect complete strangers to give a hoot??  Well, it turns out– many hoots have been given!  Over 11,000 hoots (views) to be exact!  And those ‘complete strangers’ are no longer strangers… you’re all like my online friends now!  It’s so cool to pull up wordpress and check in with you all everyday !

I had several Liebster nominations piling up…why did it take me so long to write this post?  Not sure,  maybe because it feels like bragging?  Anyone else know what I’m talking about? lol  Well, I got over it, and the time has finally come for me to shout a big THANKS to the following bloggers who nominated me.  There’s some gems here so check ’em out:

http://littlebitsandpiecesoflife.wordpress.com

http://willworkforpolish.com

http://dailycharme.wordpress.com

http://brushmeblush.blogspot.com

http://brijitsdigits.net

http://oohlalanails.wordpress.com

http://paintthosepiggies.blogspot.com

http://10prettyfingers.wordpress.com

It’s hard to find the official rules for this award, but here’s how the Liebster work if you have been nominated:

1. List 11 random facts about yourself. 
2. Answer the questions designated by the blogger(s) who nominated you.
3. Place YOUR nominations for the Liebster Award!  Nominate five (or more)  other bloggers that have less than 200 followers.  Make sure to notify them via comment/email, etc.
4. Make up a set of questions for those nominated bloggers to answer.  I chose 5 questions.
5. Lastly, display the Liebster award badge on your blog!
   

HERE’S WHO I NOMINATE:

Small Things Made Significant– http://stmsignificant.wordpress.com

Flight of Whimsy– http://flightofwhimsy.wordpress.com

My Faves Journal– http://myfavesjournal.com

Sockmonkey’s Kitchen– http://sockmonkeyskitchen.com/

3 City Girls NYC– http://3citygirlsnyc.wordpress.com

escape.by.beauty– http://escapebybeauty.com/

HERE’S THE QUESTIONS I’D LIKE THEM TO ANSWER:

What’s your favorite post that you’ve written?

If someone told you that you had to start a brand new blog with a different  topic… what would you blog about?

Big city or small town?

Do you have any pet peeves?

What’s your star sign?  Do you believe in horoscopes?

What’s your favorite band or album?

11 RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ME:

1. My hair is long and straight so I don’t really style it.  Wash, brush and go!
2. I ❤ Leonardo DiCaprio
3. I can’t live without vegetables!
4. When I was a kid I was awesome at Bowling!  I won 2nd place in New York State in a big Coca-Cola Tournament.
5. What’s my favorite word in the english language?  WHATEVER
6. You can’t tell from looking at my nails- but I am very tall.  Almost 6 feet!
7. I love Pixar kids movies.
8. I have a Bachelor’s degree in International Business.
9. I have been a fan of Sinead O’Connor’s music for decades now.
10. I exercise a lot but I am not skinny and it looks like I never will be.
11. I didn’t know exactly how many polishes I owned… but it didn’t feel like a lot to me.  So I just counted them-  I have 166 full sized bottles of polishes and 42 mini bottles or stripers.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS THAT BRIJIT ASKED ME:

1. What made you start blogging? — That I was always painting my nails and wanted to talk about them… but no one really cared.   So I decided to widen my audience!
2. Do your ‘real life’ friends and family know about your blog? Do they follow? –Yeah my friends and family know but most don’t read my blog regularly.  Well, maybe more people read it than I think?  But they don’t hit the ‘follow’ button so I shall never know.
3. How many blogs do you follow? –I follow 296 blogs in wordpress.  A few more from outside of wordpress too.
4. Are they all beauty blogs? –Nope.  Most are about nails, crafts, cooking and diet/nutrition.
5. What is your must-have nail polish right now? –Zoya Ali.  I got it for free a few months back as part of my Zoya order around valentines day.  I only tried it a few wks ago and it’s hot pink and I love how bright it is!  I can’t wait to wear it this summer when I’m rocking a nice tan.  Would look great on my toes too!
6. Your favorite nail art technique?  –Chevron French Manicures.  They make your nails look long and strong and if you use nail guide stickers they are super easy.
7. Do you take part in nail art challenges?  I’m participating in my first one right now.  Lotsa fun!
8. Are you more of a summer or winter person?  –Both.  I really love them both.  Spring and autumn are just blah for me.  I like the extremes: snowy white winter… or sunny and hot!
9. How do you store your nail polish?  –I have a built-in floor to ceiling corner shelf in the main living area of my house.  I sort by brand…and they’re all pretty on display.  I also have a lot of boxes/containers that I store my not-so- faves in.  That helps keep everything consolidated.
10. Do you prefer cats or dogs? —I love all animals!  I have two cats but I really want a dog too.
11. If you were a biscuit, what type of biscuit would you be? –In the U.S. a biscuit is a roll that you eat with dinner.  But biscuit may also mean a COOKIE, right?  I guess I would be an Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie. Good and bad all at once..but nice and sweet!

Thank you for reading my blog!  If you made it all the way through- then you deserve a prize.  Here’s a LOLCAT just for you….

Versatile Blogger and my favorite posts!

Ok, now would be a good time to let your nails dry….this is going to be a wordy one.  Well, wordier than my normal posts anyway.  I was nominated for the Versatile Blogger award and I’m going to take some time to show my gratitude and gush about all the other cool bloggers I know!  A sincere thanks to these wonderful bloggers for nominating me.  It’s so great they they enjoy reading my posts as much as I enjoy theirs- Short & Sweet in Texas, beyondthebasecoat, thebubblybrunette, Live, Light & Beauty, and Brijit’s Digits !

Here are the rules if you’ve been nominated:  Nominate 15 fellow bloggers that you love and who are relatively new to blogging.  Let them know that you have nominated them.   Share 7 random facts about yourself.  Thank the blogger who has nominated you.  Then add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your post.

Who I nominate: Keep in mind that all these awesome bloggers are pretty new to the blogosphere!  Here’s who I nominate along with my favorite posts from each of them…

• Mouthwatering Motivation « I love this diet and nutrition blog!  Reading Sammy’s daily posts reminds me to keep on track with my healthy eating!  If you like to focus more on protein than on carbs, then you will love this protein bar recipe!

• Sockmonkey’s Kitchen « I love the name.  I love her foodie posts.  Here’s a yummy ‘Ironman’ post to remind you to eat your vitamins!  Thanks mom.

• thebeautifulcraft « Since I have a fondness for craftiness I love her cute homemade headband tutorial !  She also posts about makeup and nails- basically, anything that’s beautiful!

• Galaxy Star 7 « Wanna read some book reviews? Wanna learn some cool new nail tips?  And did you know you could print and download ‘nail doodle sheets’?  That reminds me to visit her post and print some of those sheets right now!

• escape.by.beauty « Ashley is a new nail blogger and says that this zebra stripe design was her first try at acrylic paints.  Well, look how awesome this animal print came out!

• Short & Sweet in Texas « Want some serious nail art eye-candy? Every one of Julie’s nail posts is beautiful.  Check out this beach-themed manicure she created!

• Naillion « I cannot get over these Rockabilly nails!  I freakin love them.

• Eeeek! Nail Polish! « Her long sassy fingernails will blow your mind.  Do you follow Eeeek! Nail Polish’s blog?  If not, click your way over there right now and follow her, ok?!  Do it like now.  I can wait….

• Lekker Lacquer « For someone who just started nail blogging a few months ago, Talia’s nail art looks so professional!  Check out the ‘ugly sweater’ manicure that she did for a holiday nail art challenge.  Her nails totally look like ugly sweaters! And I mean that in the nicest way possible.  LOL

• Polish or Die « I think the photos of Kelli’s nails are beautiful- maybe she should be a hand model lol.  Check out these cute sunglasses that she stamped on her nails!

Random facts about me:

• I really enjoy music and my current favorite band from the last few years is Kings of Leon!

• I’m very interested in spiritual, paranormal, and other fun stuff.  I own a few sets of tarot cards and I check my horoscope everyday (I’m a Cancer).  I’m also into psychic phenomenon which has been inspired by the weird psychic stuff that happens between my mom and I.  Palm-reading, ghost sitings, dream interpretation… I love all this kinda stuff!  I feel like there’s more to the world than what we can see with our own two eyes.

• I love cooking- my faves are soups, vegetables and big huge homemade pizzas.  I contemplated starting my blog about pizzas and recipes…. but I’m glad I chose nails instead.  Can you imagine having to cook and eat giant pizzas several times a week?  Well now that I think about it- yes…. yes I can!

• I think I might be too empathetic since I can cry at the drop of a hat!  I easily tear up several times during the course of a movie, a Dr Phil talk-show episode, or even a silly commercial.  I love to laugh, or feel sad, or feel scared or any extreme emotion really.  In life I feel like if I don’t feel anything, then what’s the point?

• I work as a college financial aid counselor that specializes technical/computer stuff and student loans.  As a result, I’m very passionate about financial literacy and student loan debt. I could go on and on about rising college costs, loan repayment, the government’s role in providing access to affordable higher education, etc…  I think I’ll stop while I’m ahead.

• Ya know those ugly plastic shoes called Crocs?  Well, I love them.  I know a lot of people think they are horribly ugly.  And they are.  But they are so comfy and I would wear them 24/7 if I could.  In fact, I wish I had a croc blanket to wrap around myself from head to toe.

• My French ancestors settled my little U.S. town (in New York State) back in the 1600’s.  I am the 11th generation in this same town!  My full name is very French-sounding but I don’t pronounce it that way normally.  I usually go with the Americanized version … but if I’m feeling fancy I’ll say it with a french accent!  Mais, oui!

Thanks for reading my blog everyone!  I’m having a blast on wordpress and I’m so happy to have met so many wonderful bloggers!

Award! Pour moi?

Wow…I have been nominated by Mommy Loves Nail Polish for the Blog of the Year Award 2012!  Thanks brooklinmommy!  I’m pretty new at blogging so this is very exciting and gives me the motivation to keep up with my posts!

I would like to take this opportunity to nominate a few blogs that I adore–

• brooklinmommy at Mommy Loves Nail Polish: Her blog is so fun.  “Mommy Loves Nail Polish and other random things my kids know about me!” What a great tagline!
• Danette at No Bottle Left Behind: I recently got hooked on Danette’s blog during the Holiday Nail Art Challenge.  This girl created some beautiful festive designs!
• Anna at Compass & Quill: Anna is an internet-savvy blogger from N’orleans and she’s all about origami and crafts, pets, photography and any other fun stuff you can think of!

I’m so glad I started blogging in oct 2012!  It’s much more fun to share my nails with people who actually care about nails.  Before wordpress I felt like the only one in my universe to give a dang about my pretty manicures.  Now I can post my pics here and share them with like-minded people.  I also have some blog friends who aren’t completely obsessed with polish- but they must enjoy looking at my pretty nail pics once in a while- so that’s cool!  Thanks to everyone for reading!  I’m excited to be nominated for the Blog of the Year 2012 and I can’t wait to see what 2013 has in store for craftynail!!

If you want to know more about how this award works you can read more below-