Sunday, November 24, 2013

Football related food and a giveaway link!!!

So, three weeks ago, I beat my opponent, but only because he didn't update his lineup.
The last two weeks my opponent had the best/luckiest line up and I lost.
This week I will not lose!!!  Gotta hit up the waiver wire and redo my team.. so many of my players have gotten hurt...
So, instead of focusing on the fantasy football aspect, let's talk the sports bar that has just opened up a half a block from where I live:
https://www.facebook.com/TheRedZoneBham

This sports bar and grill now has the absolute best sushi chef in five points.  Weird, huh?  I'm not complaining.  Their lunch menu is also a really awesome deal: $6 gets you sweet tea and a meal (burger, chicken tenders, etc).  Their sweet tea is way too sweet for me (and I used to work at McAlister's!!), but they are never averse to bringing me a half sweet/half unsweet glass.  The staff is fantastic, and the food is awesome.  Their version of a philly cheesesteak sandwich is pretty amazing.  The only thing I'm upset about is they're talking about getting rid of the chocolate cake on the menu.
So if you are in the Birmingham area, check them out!!!
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Also, over 50 beauty-related prizes in this awesome giveaway!!
http://happyinholospolish.blogspot.com/2013/11/super-mega-holiday-giveaway-50-prizes.html

Thursday, November 7, 2013

My students designed nail polish...

So, most of you know that one of my goals is to raise money to fund arts and crafts projects in the residential program where I work.  I donate 10% of sales to the Horizons Residential program and as soon as we have enough raised for our first project, I will blog about it.

However, this project was put into place so the students could design nail polish for themselves (or a family member as a present), and we would sell a copy of each student-designed polish on my Etsy page to raise money for the school in general.

I had some extra old bottles for the bottles to sell, mixing balls, pigments, and a few types of glitter I donated. I also enlisted help from the general populace for a more diverse selection of glitter (I have 17 girls and some of the guys want to be involved as well) and Nikki from Glitter Unique stepped up.  She donated SEVERAL packets of samples of glitter and was absolutely the kindest toward our cause.  We are going to be able to do two activities thanks to the plethora she donated!

The work of a saint.  Glitterunique.com is now my go-to for glitter, for sure!

I cleaned out all the bottles by hand.  It was easier once I found a tip in the comments of the video that mentioned using salt with the polish remover in the bottle.

            

40 bottles later , it is finally time to have a blast!

I got some semi-candid photos of my students as they got ready for polish.  We used the evening as a chance to socialize and get creative.  15 students showed up out of 31 I have total, so that was fantastic.  Four of them were boys making polish for family members or girlfriends.  I literally had so many show up that a couple of them will have to work on their polishes tomorrow!!!!




We got to making the polish (they directed me while I poured pigment, glitter, and suspension base), and since it was bottle by bottle, there was a LOT of shaking to be done!




Finally, we have 13 polishes with more to come tomorrow!!  This means we currently have $130 worth of donations going up for sale in the shop under the Horizons Students tab starting tomorrow morning!



I will swatch these in the sun and place them in the shop tomorrow afternoon. ^_^


Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Julep's Champagne Trio and Giveaway Link

So, a little while back I received Julep's Champagne Trio as a gift.  I love Julep because most of their polishes stay on FOREVER on my nails.  I introduced my mom to them as well and she's in love too. ^_^

So here is my review of the three polishes that come in this set:
At 8 oz/.27mL for each bottle, 3 bottles, and the set costing $28 as a maven, this set is pricey.  They also dry out in the bottle after a couple of uses, but it is nothing a little polish thinner won't fix.  The unique colors and the fact the lacquer stays on three times as long as any other brand makes the price worth it to me.

Clio
This multidimensional glitter is one of my favorite toppers.  It smells weird during application, but I think that may be the suspension base and it is gone by the time it dries.
In the photo below, I've swatched it, one coat, on one hand.  In the reviews of Amity and Reiko, I will use it as an accent over them.

This Rose-gold color is one of my favorites to wear.  It dries quick and is opaque in two coats.  Here it is on one hand with Clio as a top-coat accent on my ring finger

Amity
Here is the last of the three polishes.  This sparkly white-gold is really pretty, though it takes three coats to be completely opaque.  It also looks a bit spooky, so it satisfies my love of the legend of Amityville. =)  Here it is, again with Clio as the accent topcoat:



Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Eastern State and Elfreth's Alley from Philly Loves Lacquer's "All Holo's Eve" collection

Recently, my friend Alli bought the minis from Philly Loves Lacquer's "All Holo's Eve" collection.  She already had a "botched" Eastern state and wasn't fond of Elfreth's Alley's color on her nails, so she gave me the regular Eastern State and her Elfreth's Alley: her 'trash' became my treasure!!!

The formula on this is thin, but gave me nearly full coverage in three coats.  It dries quickly and the colors are phenomenal!!  I tried to get several photos, and right as I got home I snapped this one outside and it finally shows the brightness of Eastern State and the shininess of Elfreth's Alley as the accent:


They're Limited Edition, so hurry to the shoppe and get them before they're sold out!!

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Football and Baklava

So, unfortunately I lost this last week, but I am still number two in the league and I go up against Nick again in a few more weeks.

My graze box arrived today!!!!  Once I get a chance to go through it all, I will review this box.

As for the rest of life, I get paid Thursday and will be looking to cook a few awesome treats then.  I'm going to get the stuff to do a cheese fondue one night and I'll also be grabbing things to make baklava!!!

Here is my take on baklava.  It's a recipe I've played with since I was given the original my senior year of high school:
3 cups sugar
1.5 cup water
1&1/4 cup local honey
4 tablespoons brandy
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 (3-inch) stick cinnamon

A few shakes of ground cinnamon
Combine ingredients in a saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Immediately remove from heat; cool syrup completely.

8 cups Walnuts (or other nut to taste) - 
CONSIDER subbing: 6 cups walnuts + 2 cups Dark chocolate chips
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
AT LEAST one of the three following:
1 teaspoon ground cloves (optional)
1 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
1 teaspoon allspice (optional

Combine the nuts and other ingredients, stirring well for nut mixture

1 (16-ounce) package frozen phyllo dough, (best to thaw for 2 days in fridge... can be thawed a few hours ahead of time on counter... DO NOT attempt to thaw quickly in bowl of warm water)
1 pound unsalted butter, melted (favorite option: cook the butter Beurre Noisette style.  It will give more of a nutty flavor to the pastry!)
Brush 2 (13- x 9- x 2-inch) baking pans with melted butter. Place ~8 phyllo sheets in 1 pan, brushing each sheet with butter; top with 1.5 cups nut mixture.
Place ~3 phyllo sheets over nut mixture, brushing each sheet with butter; top with 1.5 cups nut mixture. Repeat with ~3 more phyllo sheets and 1 cup nut mixture; top with ~6 phyllo sheets, brushing all but the top sheet with butter. Repeat procedure with remaining phyllo sheets, butter, and nut mixture in second pan.
MAKE SURE you are keeping the phyllo dough covered during this process or it may dry out and become impossible to work with!!
Cut layers diagonally into 3/4-inch diamonds; empty remaining butter over the baklava
Bake at 300° for 1 hour.
Remove from oven, and pour syrup EVENLY over baklava. Cool completely in pans on wire racks.

Introducing "Deck Your Holos"

When I was a kid, mom used to always put the fancy-shmancy stocking stuffer in the toe of the stocking. THIS is that gift.

Introducing: Deck Your Holos


A christmas-y crimson scattered holo, this is one of my favorites.  I'm going to have a hard time selling this: I'd rather just keep it all for myself!!  It's darker and I would feel comfortable wearing it to staff meeting, but it still has that playful holographic shimmer.  It reminds me of a dark goldstone.

There are six of these in the shop at $10 each (plus shipping).  The bottles are .43 oz and 10% of each sale goes to the Horizons School's Residential program so we can continue to teach arts and crafts to our students.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Fandom Cosmetics' "Rhaegal" and "Drogon"

I recently had a good friend of mine buy me a set of Fandom Cosmetic's Game of Throne's "Mother of Dragons" polish collection.  I have enjoyed their line of polish: having a bunch of different fandoms in one place is awesome for quick gifts.

Also, customer service is REALLY fantastic.  Mhysa is now a clear glitter topper and I wanted the original formula.  When I messaged them about it, they got right back in touch with me, sent me an original formula replacement, and kept in touch with me until they were sure I was satisfied.  I dealt with Annie, I believe, and it was a very pleasant experience (which says a LOT about the business).

Here I am reviewing Rhaegal and Drogon.

These four polishes are nice, but very sheer.  I have used a base coat underneath each of them.  They also require a polish hardener when I used them.  I've used Sally Hansen's for each and even then I had to be reeeeaaalllly careful not to mess it up, though it may be the way I handle them.

Rhaegal
Unlike the photos on the website, this had large black dots instead of the smaller dots.  It was very disappointing for me, though if you're aware of it, it is probably not as big of a deal.  The larger dots do seem more like dragon scales.
I used Julep's Leah as a basecoat:

This is my favorite of the set.  Here I have it layered between Sally Hansen's Black Heart and Julep's matte top coat:

So skip on over to their website and check out the myriad of fandom polishes! ^_^


Some LacqueredBliss one of a kind polishes

Here are a few of my one of a kind polishes that are now in the shoppe!

The Red Wedding
So, I read Game of Thrones, knew what was coming, and the TV showing of the Red Wedding still shocked me.  In the aftermath, I took to my hobby of nail polish making to calm me.  This polish is really nice as a topper for a gold polish.




Ostara
As I began making polishes for this spring, I started this beauty.  I attempted to capture all of the beauty of all the egg hunts we used to go to in the country when I was young.  Thus, Ostara was born.

Plumstruck
This one will be the hardest for me to let go of.  Dark purple with teal glitter, this one is my absolute favorite so far:


These along with several other OOAK or LE polishes are now available in my shoppe!!

Sunday, October 27, 2013

General life post...

So, I've been hyper-focused on the nail polish lately.  I should probably stop and talk about life again. ^_^

My students have decided to meet in my apartment on November 5th to create their polishes.  I'm excited for them. They'll go on the etsy page and the sales will all go to the Residential program.  I've got about ten students that will participate, so I am hoping we can make $100 for the school!

OK, so Fantasy football is getting crazy!!  It's a good thing I'm playing with my nails right now or I'd be biting them...
If Peterson keeps this up, tomorrow will be the thing that makes the difference.

So I totally failed the food challenge: got sick and then worked a few night shifts I wasn't expecting.  Going to try it again this weekend once I get paid again. ^_^

One of my students bought me a Gradation set by Kiss. Yayy!!!  I will try it out soon and post about it then. ^_^

I guess that's all for now.  I hope everyone has a good evening!! ^_^

Saturday, October 26, 2013

LynBDesign's "T.A.R.D.I.S" and "The Fires of Gallifrey"

Ok, tonight seems like the perfect time to show off some swatches from one of my absolute favorite Indie makers.  LynBDesigns has one of the best formulas coupled with cool ideas hands down!  Not to mention her awesome sales allow me to pick up cool polishes all the time. =)  I have several of these polishes including "Wait, Wait, Wait, is this a Kissing Book" and "Melody Malone" and love them all.
Below I've swatched my two absolute favorites of LynB's colors.

T.A.R.D.I.S.
This blue polish was the first blue polish I ever fell in love with. =) I wear it with my Tardis dress and it reminds me of the sky right after the sun goes down.  The formula is flawless and dries relatively quickly.  This polish takes about three coats to become opaque enough for me, but I know other people that get satisfactory coverage in just two coats.  I think I also like the depth three coats gives this polish... like you're seeing some stars closer and others further out.  This is a masterpiece that my puny Iphone camera cannot capture.


Fires of Gallifrey
This is my second favorite LynBDesigns.  It's just like fire!  The formula is a little thicker and it's more glitter-bomby, but it fits the polish well.  

What's your favorite LynBDesigns polish?


Calling all glitter nuts!!

So, a lot of you know I work for Horizons School here in Birmingham.  I am working to keep up some craft opportunities for the students, and one thing several of the girls want to do is make nail polish.  I have decided to allow them to design one polish (I will do the pouring since the pigment and everything could be messy) and we will make two copies of it: one for them to keep and another to sell on ETSY.  The money from the sale of the polishes will be donated to the school.

If anyone wants to donate some leftover solvent-resistant glitter, please email me at larabeth.pm@gmail.com.  Any tiny amounts would be good: these will be for two 15mL bottles only.

Thanks everyone!

PS- if you want to make a monetary donation to the school, click here!!  We are non-profit. ^_^

Friday, October 25, 2013

Polish Yer Hooves' scented "The Purple Cow"

This is my first Polish Yer Hooves Polish.  Leigh Anne has a fantastic idea with this brand: allowing you to choose the scent that goes into your polish.

So I chose The Purple Cow scented with Cotton-headed Ninny Muggins!  This is Polish Yer Hooves' special Christmas scent: and I completely am IN LOVE with it!!  It's a bit like vanilla and cotton candy mixed, but it isn't sickly sweet like some similar scents are.


The polish went on smooth and gave the deep, pretty color in three coats.  It dried relatively fast as well.  There is a bit of a texture because of all the microglitter, but it isn't noticeable once you get a top coat on there.

I absolutely adore this and am looking forward to her releasing Cotton Headed Ninny Muggins so I can stock up on some stocking stuffers!!!

Getting setup with BlogLovin!

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Excitement and nervousness

So, all the good news first:
I've had two dispatch shifts this week!!!!  This means I can take all of next week off, or if someone has a shift for me, I can take it and finally enjoy my raise! ^_^

Next on the list is my exciting sets of pigment and glitter!!!!!
 My batch of glitter from The Glitter Source.  They always have a good discount if you buy bulk.

Solarcolordust.com has amazing pigments.

Of course, I immediately started playing and ended up with this holo: 

I need a better camera... this doesn't look as awesome as it really is!!!  This will be up for a listing in my shop soon.
And this little cutie from Walgreens has just made my night:

Onto my worries:
HALF my roster is injured!!!  I'm scared to pick up another tight end, but what if Graham's problems actually keep him out Sunday?!  I can deal with Mendenhall since I think Wallace could hold my flex position OK, but should I bench him?  Also, is McGahee worth keeping?  Gah, my weekend (and especially Sunday morning) is going to be full of nail biting decisions!!!!  My lineup will probably change a thousand times between now and Sunday.

OK, off to deal with work and life!

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Graze Box!

So, my graze box is being prepped on the website!!!


Remember, my graze friend-code is LARAK9D1P 

I'm not as excited about this box as the last one.  That's ok, though.  The whole point of me taking this subscription was so that I would branch out and try some new stuff.

I've decided to use my old gumball machine as a healthier snack opportunity for the students.  I thought I would put trail mix in there and readjust the settings so that for a quarter you get 100 calories' worth of trail mix.  I don't know how I will get this approved, but I'm gonna try!!!  If I had one machine up and running for a bit and it made enough to introduce a second machine with a second option for trail mix, I might do that.  I figured anything extra the machine made could go to the school to help with whatever we need.

I made it through day one of my sugar free drinking with success!!!  I'm halfway through day 2 and I must say: thank the gods for filtered water bottles!

Also, in fantasy football news, the waiver requests went through last night and here is my lineup for this week's matchup:

I really doubt the projected points are correct, but either way, I've got my fingers crossed!!!  I think Nick hasn't quite set his lineup yet, so I am predicting this will be a much closer game.  I really want to win this one!!

I've thought about setting some prototypes in my shop to sell to begin with.  I'm also currently working to grow my nails out so I can make better swatches myself.  I have butterLONDON's Horsepower on my nails currently and have started looking for a good prenatal gummies vitamin (best stuff for your hair and nails EVER!).

OK, off to the elliptical for 30 minutes!



Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Food and budgeting oops!

So, with everything going on, I was unaware of how close my budget is this week.  On that note, I am now working to clear out my freezer before I buy fresh things to cook.
Tomorrow I will be cooking the Pastichio from the Greek Festival we went to a few weeks ago.  I bought a frozen tray and have been saving it til now.

I'm currently on a 4 week commitment to drink non-sugared drinks (and mostly water).  Today was day one and I made it through without any blunders. 27 more days to go!!!

I have been thinking about picking up another job for some random shifts until my dispatch work picks back up.  It's a catch-22 because it means I won't be able to work the 12 hour dispatch shifts when I am scheduled at the other gig, but I'm not really getting any hours right now and I need to be able to eat and function.  I've applied at Starbucks and I may apply at Chick Fil A.  We will see how the Starbucks application process goes.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Funday Sunday

<<posting a day late, but this was Sunday night's ramble>>

Well, here we are again: Sunday football, getting fired up for kickball, and grocery shopping sometime this afternoon.

Julep came out with their November collection: "Right at Home"
((If you haven't tried them before, your first box is free and you only pay shipping.))
http://www.julep.com/november-right-at-home-collection
I've decided to go ahead and get the "It-Girl" box this month and add-on Autumn.  These are some of the swatches directly from the website:
Lola, Winter, and Chloe
Autumn add-on

We have cleaning tonight with the students.  I have five rooms that I check and I have to say I am very proud of my group this year.  We've really cracked down on cleaning and they're all starting to learn to keep their rooms really clean.  I almost wish I went through this program!!!  I could do with a regular cleaning schedule and a little better cleaning habit.

At the risk of angering the football gods with my preemptive bragging, I think I've pretty much won this week:
*does a little dance*

OK, on to my four dishes for this week:
Red beans and Rice with Shrimp
NY Strip Steaks on my George Foreman
Cheese Fondue
Omelets

I will be heading to Publix in the morning to get what I need for these (yay BOGO deals!).  I will update as to what I do for each meal throughout the week. ^_^

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Girls' Time

It's Saturday!!!
Currently watching Vanderbilt vs. Georgia.  My dad graduated from Vandy, so I'm rooting for them, obviously. ^_^  They're my number two college team: Alabama Crimson Tide being my first love. ;)  Though I think I like James Franklin better than Nick Saban as a coach.

We have girls' time this afternoon with my students.  There's been a lot of roommate issues and they're starting to get a bit catty, so we are going to talk about appropriate ways to handle roommate concerns and then watch Mean Girls.  =)
I also have jeweled flowers and hairpins, so I am going to let the girls glue them together for some cute bobby pins.

We have kickball tomorrow.  So far it has gone really well.  Our kickball shirts came in this week and we put stars on the MVP shirts, Cs on the captains shirts, and Nick and I got Ms for "manager".
I enjoy kickball even though I'm reffing more than playing.  The only concern I have is I keep forgetting that when someone catches the ball directly from a kick, the other players have to tag up before they can run.

I'm saddened that it has gotten cold: the grill won't be out as much now.  I'm not really sure why we don't grill more in the winter, but it just doesn't happen.  I love steaks or burgers and the charcoal taste that the grill provides makes me really happy.
I used to work for Publix as an Aprons cook and have a huge set of recipes.  My new goal is to cook something really fancy every other day.  I'll blog tomorrow about my four recipes for the week.  I may have to wait til Monday to go get all the ingredients, but at least I'll have a plan. ^_^

Friday, October 18, 2013

EMD dispatch...

Last night I worked a shift at 911-dispatch.  I work there part-time because we've been unable to set me up with a full time shift that complements my work with the special needs group.  It's rewarding and I hope to train in police dispatch soon as well!  I got to work with my favorite coworker and we enjoyed the night in spite of the mouse that somehow got in.  @_@

There was some car trouble yesterday before work and I was unable to get polishes mailed out til this morning.  I am looking forward to what the ladies in my focus group say about the polishes! ^_^
My partner at dispatch saw some photos of preliminary swatches and wants to buy!  I already made a sale!!! So exciting!!! ^_^  It's always nice to know someone else thinks you have good taste, hahaha.

In the Fantasy Football world... I am highly satisfied with Russell Wilson's performance last night.  The fumble in the second quarter upset me because he was on such a good roll.  At least he came back and proved himself again!!!  I don't know if you've seen my lineup for the week, so here it is:

I got the trophy for most satisfying Thursday night player this week due to his performance.  Awesomesauce.

Tonight the students made invitations to the Halloween party that is next week for the teachers.  We watched Hansel and Gretel while making the invites.

Now I'm taking a break from pouring the next set of polishes.  I'm sending out everything in the morning. =)