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!!

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.

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:

Drogon

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!!

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!! ^_^

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. ^_^

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!

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!

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.

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. ^_^

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. ^_^

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. =)

My base is finally here!!

So, I was waiting on my robot vacuum to show up yesterday and when I went to the UPS store thinking I was going to get the vacuum, it ended up being my order for suspension base from misfitson8th.com!!

Needless to say, I spent the evening playing with polish instead of cleaning as much as I should.  I have a focus group that is helping me develop my initial polish set and they're waiting on me to get sample polishes mailed out!

Some colors I've considered

My thermal polish!  Purple in the cold, blue when it is warm.  I'm thinking I will have to lay back on the glitter some, though.  I put a little too much in it this time and it is really obvious.

I plan on opening the ETSY shop this spring.  I'm really excited and nervous... I want to succeed so I can use part of the proceeds to do different craft projects with my students.

My initial craft project will be string designs.  The students can pick the design they want, I will set the boards up, and then they can go to town with the design!

The other excitement was my graze box.  I forgot it was coming and when I realized it had arrived, I did a little dance.  Graze.com is a site that allows you to pick snacks you would like and they send you a box once every 2 or 4 weeks (your choice)  My graze-friend code is LARAK9D1P .  The first two people to use it will get their first and fifth boxes free.  Feel free to post your codes in the comments section so once mine are gone, others will have the opportunity to graze. ^_^

My box this time

I might have eaten my entire box upfront. >_>  I didn't have lunch, so when the box showed up, I ate it all!

The Chili and Lime Pistachios are pretty good.  I don't feel the urge to eat them all at once, so that is fantastic for long term grazing.

Scandinavian Forest was nice and fruity, but it wasn't as deep of a flavor as I originally thought it would be.

Bananas Foster was the BEST!  I wish the banana coins had been crunchy instead of chewy, but once I got used to that it was amazing.

Olive and Rosemary bruschetta was tasty.  It definitely came off as a snack I would eat regularly and never grow tired of.

The boxes are $6.  I feel this price is pretty fair: there are four sizeable and unique snacks so that is $1.50/snack.  I'm thinking I'm pretty well in love with this subscription!  I have two friends that currently love it too. =)

So here it is: Nick's masterpiece.  He used a photo from a friend, but I am hoping that my friend Alli is able to get a copy of one of her photos that actually has my apartment building in it.  Overall, I am very satisfied to see this print.  I plan on getting the hi-def version printed onto a poster and I'll frame it for my apartment.

Mealtime is becoming increasingly difficult: working two jobs and being wrist deep in polish most days is making it hard to find time to be the foodie I want to be.
I was really, REALLY excited to find Monet's Table at Second and Charles!  As the title suggests, it is a book about Impressionist Claude Monet's food choices.  It describes life in Giverny and then gives several recipes that were pulled directly from Monet's diaries.

As for fantasy football, this week is NOT looking good again... my Saints players have a bye and that knocks out two of my high point scorers.  Got my fingers crossed it doesn't end too badly!!! ^_^

Starry, Starry Birmingham

What in the world happened?!  Anybody that is part of fantasy football knows that college upset Saturday kind of turned into pro-upset Sunday.
My team lost, and I'm no longer undefeated, but that's OK. There is absolutely NO way anyone would have seen Jimmy Graham getting shut out (for the first time since 2010, btw).  I was right about Russell Wilson, but being right wouldn't have been enough to save me from the shameful 60-93 loss I suffered, hahaha. Next week I shall return with a vengeance!!!

My scores from this week (The Eagles defense was a last minute nervous decision, but at least it didn't hurt):

I have found a really neat idea on Groupon for a poster I want.  I usually buy directly from the site, but this particular deal features canvases of Starry, Starry Night with city skylines superimposed.  Of course, Birmingham Alabama is not nearly important enough to be on there.  So now I'm working with two of my friends to get a good skyline photo (of the Southside angle, since I live there) and get it placed over Starry, Starry Night.

<<In case you're not already on Groupon, let me plug for just a minute... it's a site with crowd-sourced deals that allow you to do things in your area at a discount or allow you to find neat things online at a good discount.
I've bought a canvas print for $30 that was originally over $100, I've had tickets to different events in the area at 50% off, and I have gotten good deals on cooking classes in the area.
Here's my referral link if you're just dying to check it out:
http://www.groupon.com//RAF/USERREFERRAL_RP/121015/10R1ACT/LK/UU53185538
>>

My manicure currently is featuring one of my polishes and using Sinful Color's Black Magic as an accent:

For those of you who are unaware, I'm starting a polish line this Spring called Lacquered Bliss.  I've got the Facebook page up and running.  https://www.facebook.com/LacqueredBliss  Feel free to "like" it for promotions.  Bloggers, feel free to email me about special pricing for your blogs.

I was totally going to write about food now, but I've realized the fridge is pretty well empty and tonight will most likely be my famous breakfast-for-dinner spread.  Simple but filling, I usually go with bacon, eggs, and pancakes.  I now have a smiley face pan for pancakes, so I think this may be happening more and more often. ^_^

The UPS-store has just sent me a notification that the robot vacuum I bought off of Groupon is here!!!  It looks as if my day will be spent picking up the apartment, setting the machine up, and pretending to workout to Jillian Michaels while watching the vacuum do my job.  ^_^  Tonight, I will be teaching my students, rearranging my bedroom, and cooking.

Hello!

So,  I have decided to start documenting life down here in Alabama.  Between my love of cooking, my obsession with nail polish, and my winning fantasy football team (5-0 going in to tonight's matchup against the only other undefeated team!!!), I should have plenty to talk about on a semi-regular basis.

Tonight I am keeping dinner simple.  I'm packing to head home to my parents tomorrow so I don't need to take too much time messing the kitchen up.  Therefore, a frozen Bertolli meal it is!!!  Target had a sale on them last week, so I stocked up.

Fantasy Football is making me nervous this week.  My matchups are disconcerting mainly because there is only a 5 point difference between me and the other player winning.

It's a pretty good lineup, but let the record show that I would rather Wilson be my QB... I'm afraid I'm making a mistake putting Luck in this week (even though he is playing against a weaker throwing-defense).  93% of the "Fantasy Football Pros" think Luck is the better choice, so I am going against my gut this one time!