shhhh it's a secret....

shhhhhh it's a secret


GIVEAWAY!!!

http://inthelifeofamilf.blogspot.com/2012/04/your-my-little-secret.html

Stash Update & Midnight Manicures Anniversary Giveaway!

Latest Polish Hauls

Hello Girlies!  I have a quick post for you today.  My stash has recently expanded to include:  Bevin & Skylar from Zoya's True Collection, NOPI's Here Kim's the Sun, Essie & Tom's Barefoot in Blue exclusive shade, Sally Hansen's Limited Edition Diamond Strength w/ coordinating jewelry top coats, Layla's Hologram Effect collection (thank you Ulta for the 20% coupon!), and L.A. Girl's Fruity Collection.  After adding these to my spreadsheet I saw that my stash is now at 1,510!  

Speaking of milestones, Midnight Manicures is swiftly approaching its anniversary!  To celebrate, there is an epic giveaway complete with 10 different prizes!  Check it out!!  

http://www.midnightmanicures.com/2012/04/midnight-manicures-one-year-blog.html

How big is your stash??  Are your stash or blog approaching any milestones?  Bonus question!:  Have you ever won a giveaway?

Hey Good Lookin', Whatcha Got Cookin'? - Souvlakis

Hello Girlies!  Today I bring you the first of several different types of posts that I will be bringing you in addition to all the wonderful nail polish posts.

This "segment" will be called "Hey Good Lookin', Whatcha Got Cookin'?". My Dad used to frequently sing that particular Hank Williams song - having it stuck in my head so often as a kid, it pops into my head a lot even now, but now instead of annoying me it makes me think of my Dad and smile.  Anyway, good story!

"Hey, hey good lookin'!"

Today's post is brought to you by my sister, who has asked me for this recipe a few times and I repeatedly forgot to send it to her.  So here you go sis and all my girlies too!


Souvlakis

yield:  8 servings

2 lbs boneless pork loin
8 Tbsp olive oil
8 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp mustard
4 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp dried oregano
1 c sour cream / plain yogurt
1 peeled, chopped cucumber
1 tomato, thinly sliced
1 red onion, finely diced
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp dill weed
pita pockets

1) Cut pork loin into thin strips; place in a large Ziploc bag.  Combine olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, and oregano.

2) Pour over pork.  Refrigerate 1-8 hours.  Stir together sour cream/yogurt, half of cucumber, garlic, and dill weed.  Cover and refrigerate.

3) Remove pork from marinade.  Stir-fry in small batches in a non-stick pan over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.

4) Fill pita pockets with pork, remaining cucumber, and tomato.  Top with sour cream/yogurt mixture.  Sprinkle some red onion on top.

Ta da!  Greek-style pork sandwiches!  This is one recipe that I prefer to marinade for as long as possible.  Once you remember to marinade, prep is easy and even my kids love it!  

Mani Flashback - Studio M Purple Medallion

Hey Girlies!!  I am slowly trying to make a dent in the stockpile of pictures I have from the past several months.  I came across these today and had to share!

Studio M's Purple Medallion made its way to me in a swap.  I had seen swatches of this beauty, but there are no stores here that carry Studio M.  I was able to find a sweet girl in one of my nail polish groups who was willing to help me out.

In this shot it is shown next to Love & Beauty's Purple Cosmos which I used as my matching pedicure polish. PC has a darker base and unfortunately the holo glitter is a bit swallowed in the application, but PM is absolutely gorgeous!

: ( This picture makes me a little sad.  My ring and pinky nails were so long and beautiful!  *le sigh*  It seems all my nails are giving out on me lately....just the other night I re-broke my ring finger nail below the fingertip. 

 : (

I should also note that I did not, for some reason, think to put Gelous under the top coat.  As you can see it is pretty bumpy.  I think Gelous would make a big difference.  

*drool* aaahhh blurred holo!!  This polish is really quite beautiful.  Any movement under light and your nails are alive with fiery glittery sparks of color.

Check out the short video clip for a look at what I mean...trust me 100% more amazing in real life!!

Do you have any Studio M polishes?  Which are your favorites?

What are some beauties you have landed through swaps???

Spying on my Stash

Hiya Girlies!  I have a special request post for you today.  I have had several people ask me for a sneak peek inside my nail polish stash, which is currently creeping closer and closer to 1,450!  Due to the size of my stash I decided to give it a post of its own.

Right now my stash is "organized" in 3 wall-mounted racks, 2 spinning "counter" racks, a craft box, 2 make-up caddies, and several shoe boxes.  I am slowly but surely in the process of weeding out less-loved polishes to eventually make a blog sale / swap list.

Without further ado, The Stash:

Rack #1 Sephora by OPI, Nicole by OPI, Kleancolor, Nails Inc, more Kleancolor, Funky Fingers, NYX Girl, Gosh, Color Club, Deborah Lippmann, Chanel, and Clarins.

Rack #2:  more Nicole by OPI, Butter London, Hits, Glitter Gal, Layla, Barielle, Nubar, Girly Bits, more Color Club, Essie, and Zoya

Rack #3:  more Nicole by OPI, Nfu Oh, Wet N Wild (color icon, fantasy makers, and spoiled), more Zoya, Wet N Wild fast dry), and even more Zoya with 1 lonely Mac tucked in.

Now on to the spinning racks, which were a present from Santa.  Thanks Santa!!

Spinning Rack #1 side 1:  All OPI!  Serena Williams duos, Pirates of the Caribbean, Katy Perry, Miss Universe and more.

side 2:  more OPI including Suedes, Ulta exclusives, Nicki Minaj, and others

side 3:  Alice in Wonderland, Burlesque, and Muppets, and others

side 4:  Designer Series, Summer for Shore, and others

Spinning Rack #2.  This one was hard!  I started out filling it with China Glaze but there wasn't enough room for them all and I KNOW I'll be getting more China Glaze, so now it is a bit of a hodge podge.

Spinning Rack #2 side 1:  Milani, Piggy Polish, Sally Hansen Prisms, some Rimmel

side 3:  Finger Paints and Revlon

Side 3:  Revlon (scented, matte, various) and Beauty Treats

Side 4:  Revlon (glimmer gloss, just tinted, and duos) and Milani (holo, jewel fx, fast dry, and various)

<3 <3 <3 my highly prized Disney Princess Designer Collection!  I have another set on my makeup table that is unopened.

My craft box filled with Jordana, L.A. Girl, Diamond Cosmetics, and Love & Beauty.

Make-up Caddie #1:  Sally Hansen, Savina, and overflow

Make-up Caddie #2:  Maybelline, Pure Ice, and Ulta

Nail Polish Caddy:  L'Oreal and Golden Rose

They are normally stacked together on the shelf like so:

The rest of my polishes are currently in shoe boxes or other containers next to my shelf.  

Box 1:  Mary Kay, mini OPI, mini Essence, mini Ulta

Box 2:  Pixel, mini Borghese, Sally Girl, scented Crayola and candy minis

Box 3:  Orly and a few stragglers

Box 4:  China Glaze overflow and other overflow

Box 5:  CQ, LeChat, Hard Candy, Jessie's Girl, L.A. Splash, Maybelline, Pop, Cosmetic Arts, Studio M, Borghese, Avon, Bonne Bell, etc)

Box 6:  Sally Hansen

Box 7:  China Glaze OMG, Kaleidoscope, and Tronica)

Box 8:  China Glaze including Specialty collection

Box 9:  Sinful Colors and Nars

Box 10:  Hot Topic, Payless, and Sinful Colors

Box 11:  Blue Cross Beauty, Claire's and L.A. Color

Box 12:  China Glaze, Icing, Essence, and more Wet N Wild

Then finally is the weird stuff that is necessary but not as much fun to display...

Bases, Top coats, treatments, acetone based remover and toothbrushes (great for that hard-to-remove glitter)

Konad special stamping polishes and jewels

Nail strips

Files and buffers / metal files and cuticle tools / stripers

and last, but not least, my tin of stamps, plates, and scrapers.

Whew!!  

Rapunzel Mani / Pedi (aka "I want something that I want")

Well hello Girlies!

I'm back!!  I have an extra special post for you today.

A few weeks ago I saw a post on the Disney Store facebook page regarding a new limited edition 17" doll....not just any doll, but a Rapunzel doll from the end of Tangled or from Tangled Ever After featuring her wedding dress and SHORT BROWN HAIR!!  It was love at first sight and I scrambled to get as much information as I could.

I feel like such a Gork!  All I could think of was the end credits of Tangled....

I do want something that I want....and I was definitely telling myself that I NEED her!

It seems these limited edition dolls are quite sought after, so I made plans to make her mine!  I'm a bit superstitious, so these plans included a Rapunzel themed mani / pedi for good luck.

Below are the colors I used for my pedicure:

OPI Meet Me on the Star Ferry and Essie As Gold as It Gets

First I started with 2 coats of Meet Me on the Star Ferry

MMotSF is a pretty and sparkly mauve color.  The name reminded me of the boat Rapunzel and Flynn ride in to watch the lantern festival.  I decided to add 2 coats of Essie As Gold as it Gets to simulate the lanterns.

Just look at all those golden shimmery bits of light!

Now for the manicure...that was the easy part!  2 coats of Rapunzel from the Disney Princess Designer Collection (now long sold out ~ sorry!)

Rapunzel looks a bit shimmery and mysterious in the bottle and there is a good reason for that....

 The reason for the mysterious shimmer....it dries to a lovely "suede" finish! (Rapunzel is actually quite a close cousin if not a dupe for a HTF OPI Suede that is also in my collection) Gorgeous and no top coat needed!!

That brought me to....Presale Day!

I woke up at 4:45 and arrived in line at 6:07.  I was 3rd!!!  Wahoo!  Only 3 hours plus till the door opened....but I know I'm getting my doll!

Once the store had opened for presales we were able to see the doll in person.  Say it with me now, "Oooooo!  Aaaaah"!  

With my presale voucher in hand, I headed home.

When I got home, I decided to celebrate by adding As Gold as it Gets to my mani...

Wow!  If you've ever put a top coat on a "suede" polish, you know that will bring the hidden shimmer out of the suede, well add AGaiG to that and KaPoW!!  Shimmer and sparkle and a very unique layered effect.

Well Girlies, that's all for today!  I missed you and I missed blogging.  I hope to be back now with fairly regular posts.  If you are interested in getting a better look at Rapunzel (the doll) I'll be taking some pics when I pick her up on March 28th.  Have a great day!!