Essence & OPI Gradient

Feeling a bit under the weather today. Also... the keyboard in my laptop decided to go... so I am left without N, M, H, J, Y, U, 6 & 7... ordered a new keyboard. (They are not difficult to install. I have a Dell Inspiron 1545. It's about 3 years old now. I've done laptop repairs before). For the meantime, I have to either use my Kindle Fire HD 8.9", or the on-screen keyboard in Windows 7 (under accessibility) to fill in the missing letters when I use my laptop... not fun...

I decided to do a gradient with Essence Hello Marshmallow & OPI You're such a Budapest. I used Konad animal print stamp M57. My stamping wasn't the best, because I was feeling dizzy... I smeared them a little bit. The colors are pretty though!

Right before I stamped my nails. (And my awesome Lush Lemony Flutter cuticle butter!)  

This is the ‪acetone nail polish remover‬ I use. It's 99 cents from Shop-rite & works better/faster than any I've used before. I only use it once a week to remove my polish. I usually only change my polish every Friday. (Unless it chips really bad during the week).

Look what I found on drugstore.com! Herbal Essences brought back two of their old favorites. I used to use this rose shampoo and conditioner when I was a teenager. It still smells the same! I love it!

I also re-swatched Layla Hologram Ultra Violet. I love Layla Holo's! 

The most amazing pork chops...

I get a lot of hits on this post! Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments, if you've tried this recipe!

These are the most amazing pork chops ever! I've made bone in pork chops using this recipe (my own) three times already... and they are out of this world. Every time we have them, I feel like I'm eating restaurant pork chops or something. They are that good! I wanted to share my simple recipe with everyone.

Ingredients 

• 4 Bone-in Pork Chops
• 1 Large Onion
• McCormick Montreal Chicken Seasoning
• Goya Adobo All Purpose Seasoning
• Dark Brown Sugar
• Soy Sauce
• *Optional: 1 can of mushrooms (or a package of fresh sliced mushrooms).

Note: Don't try this with boneless, it tastes completely different. You need the dark meat bone-in chops.

1. Coat each side of the pork chops with brown sugar, McCormick Montreal Chicken Seasoning and Goya Adobo all purpose seasoning. (I don't really measure, I just shake the seasonings on each side of the pork chop until coated). Line pork chops in a large casserole dish or pan.

2. Slice a large onion, toss in a bowl with a little soy sauce. (Just to coat). Pour onions on top of the pork chops.

3. Cook on 400F for about 40-45 minutes.

I usually serve these along with some white rice. They are amazing! Enjoy!

There's some pork chops hiding under there. ;-)

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Layla Coffee Love & Owl Nails!

I recently got another Layla Hologram polish I've been wanting. Coffee Love. (I still want Emerald Divine!) I don't usually buy brown nail polish but this one is too pretty. I own 7 of the Layla Hologram polishes. They are my favorite holographic polish brand. They dry incredibly fast. So even though you usually need 2-3 coats you will be amazed how fast each coat dries.

 No Top Coat here. Just 3 coats of Layla Coffee Love

I did some owl themed nails with my Winstonia Store stamping plates. I used 3 different stamps from plates: W115, W110, W119. I used Konad Special polish in white to stamp. And I covered everything with Seche Vite topcoat.
 

I also got a mini gold Konad Special polish... but it's super sheer. Blah... what is a good gold polish to stamp with? Does anyone know?

If you haven't already. Check out my Complete Nail Polish Collection!

Peacock Nails

I call these my peacock nails. I used Zoya Aurora, LA Girl 3D Effects: Teal Dimension, Revlon Celestial FX (for the diamonds which I applied with a toothpick), Konad White stamping polish and Winstonia Store plate W108 for the feathers & peacock. I used Seche Vite top coat when I was finished.

(Click on image to make larger)

Sweet Pea: Dec 2011- Jul 2013

Sweet Pea came down with a bad respiratory infection a few day ago... she was on antibiotics but by Saturday was having a hard time breathing. She was making awful wheezing sounds, struggling to breathe. We had her in a towel and I was petting her to comfort her and calm her down. She ended up messing herself really bad in the towel, (side effect of the antibiotics) and I wanted to rinse her off a little to clean her up. She passed away while I was rinsing her off in the sink....

Back in March, Sweet Pea had a really bad inner ear infection. She was left with a permanent left tilt to her head afterwards. But she still had a lot of energy and was still running to hoard food or treats even with her tilt. ♥

My husband picked Buttercup & Sweet Pea out back in December 2011. Sweet Pea was really shy at first and it took her a really long time to finally show her personality. She could be very mischievous sometimes, sneaking up beside one of her sisters and then nipping one of her sisters on the ears or face & running away. ♥

Sweet Pea had really interesting coloring. She was a beige hooded rat, but her beige color was so light it was almost gray, and with the camera flash she would sometimes just look all white. ♥

Sweet Pea yesterday a few hours before she passed away...

Happy 4th of July!!!

Here are my festive 4th of July nails! With Zoya Liberty & Blaze. Konad special stamping polish in white & Winstonia Store stamping plate W107. And Revlon Celestial FX stars!

(You can click to enlarge the photo).

I did a clear coat of Seche Vite over Zoya Liberty so I would have a more even surface for stamping. And I used a toothpick to place the little stars from Revlon Celestial FX once I fished them out of the bottle. Then a few more coats of Seche Vite covered everything. I'm really happy how this turned out, I don't usually do "Nail Art". :-)

 (Left to Right: Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, 1st Congress and the Betsy Ross House, from our 2011 trip)

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday! My husband & I are just hanging out in the air conditioning (It's in the 90's outside) and I'm making barbecue chicken later on our George Foreman grill, with corn, squash & fried onions. And we have apple pie & fruit salad. :-)

Nail Mail from Florida & The Netherlands!

It's been awhile since my last blog. I've gotten 7 new polishes since then. :-) But... I only actually paid for one!

My long time blogging & twitter friend Lynn sent me a package a few weeks ago. She sent me a DelSol color changing polish! (I also love the mouse card she sent!)

I've never owned a color changing polish. It's so cool! It changes from a super sparkly purple to a deep magenta in the sun. And as soon as you go back in the shade it goes back to purple. The color Lynn sent me is called 'After Party' I only have mobile photos, but the color change is significant! It's a super sparkly polish in person, I love it!

 DelSol After Party in the shade. 

  DelSol After Party in the sun!

Then I got another lovely surprise. My Instagram friend Maaike (Mee-ka) in The Netherlands sent me some more goodies! (This was the 1st package she sent). She felt bad it cost me so much to send her package, and that I included more than I said I would. She is so nice! She sent me so much stuff! I have to send her back something in a few months, because now I feel bad! lol. :-)

She sent me more Essence polish, some nail art polish, facial cleanser, Coconut Lip Balm, which tastes amazing! And Lipton Blueberry Muffin green tea. :-)

Essence 'That's What I Mint' & 'Hello Marshmallow'

This was the manicure I did with the Essence Polish. Pastel & Daisies! I used Winstonia Store plate 110. And Konad Special Polish in White.

I shared my manicure on Winstonia Store's Facebook page and a few days later they shared it with all of their fans! That was so neat! (You may have to click on the photo below to enlarge it),

The only nail polish I've actually purchased myself was Essie DJ Play That Song. I've been wanting it forever. It's a pretty neon purple. Of course being Essie, the formula was thin and watery, so it took 3 coats, and even then I still had some bubbles. But it's a really gorgeous color regardless.

I added stars a few days later with Winstonia Store stamping plate W107 and some Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Silver.

If you haven't already. Check out my Complete Nail Polish Collection!

Zoya Destiny & Konad Animal Print Nails!

These turned out really pretty! I used Zoya Pixie Dust in Destiny, then put a clear coat of Seche Vite over it, (because it's texture polish) and then I stamped the animal print (cheetah?) with my Konad stamper plate M57, (and 1 more coat of Seche Vite). I love the way Destiny sparkles in the sun! I'm getting much more used to stamping now and my shorter stamper I bought from Winstonia Store helps a lot too! :-)

(I do use Amazon Associates, but not because I've made any money- because I haven't! lol! But I like that I can show a picture/link with a product when I'm blogging. Plus I do recommend Amazon.com for their low prices. That or Ebay!)