Belated Birthday Gifts!

Tuesday morning after the Government Shutdown set in and I was told not to report to work, I got a nice surprise in the mail. Belated Birthday gifts from my cousin in Georgia. Boy... did I ever need that to cheer me up!

 At least I got to take my mind off the shutdown by doing some swatches of my new polish.

This is OPI Dining Al Frisco. I could have gotten away with just one coat the formula was that nice. But I did 2 coats & 1 of Seche Vite topcoat. I stamped with Messy Mansion plate MM20.


OPI Solitare. I've wanted this actually, it reminds me of snow. It's a pretty white texture polish with silver sparkles. I needed 3 coats. I stamped with Winstonia Store plate W120. I used OPI Dining Al Frisco for the snowflakes. I can't wait until it's cold enough to wear this design again.


OPI Gargantuan Green Grape, is a pretty light mint color. The formula is runny though, I needed 3 coats and 1 coat of Seche Vite topcoat. I used Messy Mansion plate MM06 for the design. 


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Government Shutdown...

 Photo from CNN

Tuesday at 12am, the US Government failed to agree on a new fisical budget, and the Government shut down. I don't talk about my job too much on this blog. I've worked for the Dept of the Treasury, for the past 11 years. All non essential government employees were placed on immediate furlough. 800,000 federal employee's now have no job and no paycheck. Myself included.

We only have one income. We are not rich, we live paycheck to paycheck. This morning I had to put in a request to borrow money from my credit card and opened my claim for unemployment. The last shutdown back in the 90's lasted 21 days... that's far too long to go without a paycheck. National parks and monuments are closed. The House and Congress do not understand how this effects regular people- because they are still getting a paycheck while they bicker about the budget. I'm not sure how long this shutdown will last... but it's scary... 

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Nire's Desire Polish

I discovered Nire's Desire Polish last week while looking on Etsy for indie nail polishes. The two that caught my eye reminded me a little of the elusive and very hard to get Emily De Molly polishes from Australia: Cosmic Forces & Oceanic Forces. The polishes I ordered from Nire's Desire are called Bubble's Berries & Cosmos-tology.

 Bubble Berries

They aren't exactly dupes, just similar in that they have those gorgeous large holographic circle glitter's. Though I do think Bubble's Berries is quite similar in color to Cosmic Forces. Cosmos-tology is more blue than Oceanic Forces which is more green. (See swatches of Cosmic Forces & Oceanic Forces on: The Mercurial Magpie.) There's more glitter in Nire's Desire Polish which I like. They are both stunning, and have definitely taken away my hankering for trying to obtain the Emily De Molly versions. (I'm surely not paying $44 for Cosmic Forces on eBay!)

Bubble Berrie's in the sun:

  Lightbox Photos:

I used 3 thin coats for each polish. I didn't have to go digging too much for the glitter. Though I did fish out a few of the circle glitter with a toothpick. I also did 2 coats of Seche Vite topcoat, which brought out the sparkle even more.

Cosmos-tology in the sun:

Lightbox Photos:

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My Nail Polish Storage

For my birthday my parents ordered me the Sterilite 3-Drawer Medium Cart's from Walmart, they come in a set of 2 for just $21. We picked site to store shipping which usually only takes one week... but due to shipping delays it took three weeks to arrive at our Walmart. My husband picked them up this week.

The drawers are 24 inches high, just a half inch taller than our night tables. They are made of sturdy plastic & have wheels. I only needed one of them at the moment for my nail polish, so we are using the other one to store dvds, etc in the living room. I also stopped at Dollar Tree and picked up 6 small storage trays to organize the inside of the drawers better. Now all of my polishes are stored upright instead of laying down. :-)


This was how my polishes were being stored before, they were separated in plastic baggies by brand.


I've updated My Complete Nail Polish Collection page, with newer photos. Check it out!  

P.S. I will be swatching these pretties from Nire's Desire Polish soon. 

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Black & White: Messy Mansion MM20

The inspiration for these nails, actually comes from one of my favorite pieces of furniture.


I ordered two of these Arista accent chairs from Walmart back in 2011. When I saw Messy Mansions 'In The Garden Plate' MM20, the pattern on it immediately reminded me of my chairs.


I used Sally Hansen Insta Dri in white and Konad Black stamping polish. I also used a topcoat of Seche Vite for the 1st two photos, then I tried a matte coat. (1st 3 photos were taken in my DIY lightbox, the last one is a flash photo.)


Matte coat on these last two pictures. 

I've updated My Complete Nail Polish Collection page, with newer photos. Check it out! 

*Stamping plate was purchased with my own money. I am not affiliated with Messy Mansion.

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Jasper & T.J.

The day after Templeton passed away I woke up feeling like I needed to check the Petco we bought Teddy & Templeton at back in February 2012. My husband & I took a drive up there. Petco sometimes hosts animals from shelters in the area for adoption, besides the pets they have for purchase. One of the Petco associates wanted me to check out the rats for adoption first...

And... that is how we ended up going home with our little Himalayan guy & beige capped with a blaze boy!


Meet Jasper & T.J.! (The cage was included when you adopt!)


Jasper is a Himalayan rat. His markings on his nose will get darker as he gets older. He is a friendly curious little guy who loves belly rubs.


As soon as I saw T.J., I said "Baby Templeton!" He looks so much like Templeton in the face. ♥ Their markings aren't quite exact, but they are very similar. Templeton was beige variegated with a blaze and T.J. is beige capped with a blaze. T.J. stands for "Templeton Jr". Even though we'll call him T.J. And right now his nickname is "Bitty Boy".


 Here is Templeton when he was little, you can see how T.J. resembles him:

I ordered myself a photo bangle bracelet from Paper-Moments.com with my Templeton on it, I can't wait until it arrives. ♥


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