French Friday - Nail Art

December already.  Oh no, there's only 23 shopping days and I still have more things to buy.  The only gifts we purchased last month was for the grandchildren.  Hopefully we can do it sooner than later.  Although we don't have to buy a lot because we have a small family, we still want to be ahead and not be shopping on Christmas eve.  Now that Christmas is around the corner, I decided to start doing my nails with a festive design.  I know that I will most like have to change it at least three more times before the day itself.  Well, this is the one benefit of knowing how to give yourself a mani pedi including the nail art design.  Anyway, here's a few of the designs I did which maybe I have not shared.  I love doing a variety of French manicure because it's the easiest and quickest design to dry.

Freehand Friday - Nail art for this week

The benefit of knowing how to do your own nail art is that if it chips after a week or less than a week, you can do it the same day and it does not cost anything.  The disadvantage of getting it done at a salon is that if it chips after a couple of days because I did some dishes or I chipped it while taking my golf clubs from my trunk, I can't return to the salon to have them fix it.  And the most important one is that I paid for it and it's a waste of money.  This month I have picked the color orange.  So far I have changed the design on my nail twice but my toes still have the same plain orange color and no nail art.  I'm still hesitant about sharing nail art on my toes.  

This week's nail art.

Three weeks ago.

 

Last week's nail art - only lasted 5 days.

Manageable Monday- Hair and Nail Change

The latest nail polish I chose was a little too dark for the summer.  My daughter was right.  Although she loves the combination, it was more for the fall.  This past weekend I decided to change it.  It was time anyway since a couple of them are already chipped.  Not only am I switching nail colors, this week I booked an appointment with my hairstylist, Kevin.  It has been over a year since I've been there.  As you know I have been doing my roots and one time Jeff tried putting the Ombre look and it still looks great.  My dilemma is that my bangs are long and I can't stand it anymore.  I need my bangs again and the rest of my hair needs a good cut.  The last two times, Jeff was brave enough to just give it a quick trim just to get the dry ends.  I figured I have saved enough money from doing my roots and hair trim.  As for the style, it depends on what I feel like when I get to my appointment.  Kevin is pretty good with styling my hair the way I like and following a photo of the cut I would prefer.  I just hope that I picked the right style that is a bit shorter than what I have with more layers and maybe even have some high lights again.  I am also contemplating on getting a bit lighter color compared to the dark brown that I have right now.  Something where the grey won't be as noticeable when they start growing.  Jeff is really not ready to have a woman with grey hair.  Not just him, I know I am old but I don't want to look too too old.  

Motif Monday - Dots are so in

It is amazing what is available out there now when it comes to nail art design.  As for me, I have been doing my nail art for many years even before all the nail tools, DIY, Pinterest, etc.  I remember using just simple items I find around the house, like toothpick, Q-tips, old toothbrush, old paint brush, sponge, etc.  With all the different shops and stores selling all types of polish, a variety of tools, it's harder and harder for me to get a manicure and pedicure and pay whatever they are charging.  A couple of months ago, one of my golf buddy gave me a mani pedi coupon at a nice Spa/Salon.  My friend Jean and I decided to go together one of these days as it's more fun when you go with a friend.  This time I will just get a plain polish and do my own nail art when I get home.  Check out this week's design.

This is for the last week of July.

The flower on my toe is so detailed, I even impressed myself.

  

As you can see from previous design, I love the color green

This was for the third week of July.

 

This design was at least a couple of years ago.

One of my favorite designs.

 

Trembly Tuesday - Keeping it steady

Keeping the hands steady when doing nail art is the number one rule.  Although I have done this many times, there are days when my hands are a bit trembly.  Sometimes it's because they are tired from doing chores.  Of course there are times that it could be my blood sugar going low.  When I am doing the design on my toes, I have not issue because I am using my right hand.  It's only when I do my right hand is when it's a bit tricky.  If I cannot steady my hand, I try to lean it on something to make sure it does stay there.  My friend Jean and I were going to try and use our Mani Pedi gift certificate this week but unfortunately our life's schedule are much too busy to coordinate.  My toe polish needs to be changed and my nails were chipped from the trip.  Of course I had to do a quick job mani pedi.  What do you think of this weeks nail art.  The photos might not show the true colors but they are dark pink, purple and white.

Sparkles Saturday - Nail Art

It has been a while since I have posted about my nail art.  Last week I was talking to one of my BFF and she sent me a photo of her nails.  I was very proud of her because usually she just do simple nail color polish.  This time she had the ring finger with a different color and some sparkles.  It reminded me of what I use to do and it was timely also because my nails had some sparkles on my thumb and ring finger.  This week I had just change my nail polish and decided to do a french manicure in deep purple and some sparkles.  My toes have the same color polish but I did some design.  The problem with taking photos of your toes is not that pretty, although the design is pretty, I am not sure if my readers really would want to look at my toes. 

Snowflake Saturday - Frozen

Did I get a lot of attention just by using a creative title for this post?  Did you think we got snow in sunny California?  Well, I am sorry to disappoint you.  No snowflakes but definitely cold last night.  This is the reason why I thought about doing my nails with the Frozen theme.  I am guessing this was the favorite toy for a lot of the little girls and even big girls.  Last night when I checked my nail polish which had the Christmas theme, I noticed that the tips are chipped and of course my nail has grown.  Even if it was late, I still decided to change polish because I don't like having chipped nail polish.  My nail salon is open 24-7 so it was easy to get an appointment.  But before doing my nails, I needed to finish making my ham and beans soup.  Oh no, I forgot to take a photo of the soup and they are all frozen now.  Wait, I did remember to take a photo of my Frozen nail art. 

Festive Friday - My nails are ready

What is it that women like to do when they want to feel good?  A mani-pedi, right.  Well, that is what I did but only a pedicure.  Because I know I can do a better job doing my nail art on my finger nails, I have decided that it's not worth it. Plus, if I have to do dishes, I would hate to get it all chipped if I paid for my manicure, but if I did it, who cares, I can repair it, change color and design any time.  One time when I got a pedicure, the salon girl nipped my cuticle a little deep and of course I got a cut.  For some that might heal in a couple of days.  It took over three weeks to really heal.  This has not happened to me before but because I am diabetic I have to be so careful when getting a pedicure.  That is why I only do it maybe twice a year.  I thought I would check to see how good they can do a design on the big toe.  Well, you guess it right.  I can do better.  Check out the design on my toe.  I was hesitant to share it but you can see for yourself the mistake.  She offered to correct it but I did not want to spend any more time at the salon.  Again, they failed me. 

It's suppose to look like a red gift box with Christmas bows(not white bugs).

This is my own design, simple and festive.  I've received many compliments already.

Metallic Monday - Silver and Black

Before I start my post about nails, I would like to wish my favorite son in law a very Happy Happy Birthday.  I did not forget to send him a card but I did not send him a gift because I am not sure what he needs.  For now, I wish him all the best and a year filled with good times and special moments.  Happy birthday Mike.  Today is all about you so enjoy your day.

Just a quick post about metallic, silver and black.  I am talking about my new nail art for this week.  Not really sure if you are like me when it comes to nail polish, but I cannot stand chipped nails.  Lucky for me, I can reapply the same color or just do a complete manicure. This weekend we were invited to Jeff's relative who is celebrating her 24th birthday.  She had a 90's theme party and I needed to change my polish as they were a few that was chipped.  As for dressing up for the party, we tried to find something that was 90's.  Jeff actually said that it's like his day to day clothes.  Wait a minutes, I wanted to share my version of metallic nail in silver and black.

Steady Saturday - From left to right

Designing nail art on your own nails requires a very stead hands specially when you are not ambidextrous.  It has been a while since I have been doing nail art for my fingernails and toe nails.  One of the things that makes it easier to try out new design is having the proper tools. Lucky for me there is a really good nail supply store that I found with great prices.  Although I have not been there for a while, I still have the tools that I originally bought when I first started doing my nail art.  Last week I noticed that my brush that I use for cleaning the edges is starting to get dull.  I might have to stop by there sometime to find out if they have new tools, new colors, and latest brushes for nail art.  So here's my latest nail art.

Trendy Tuesday - Nail Art

When it is time to do my own mani-pedi, I try to check out the latest colors and design.  Most of the time I just pick the colors that go with the color of my purse.  Some of you might pick colors depending on the season, the occasion and sometimes just the mood you are in.  Last week I decided to chose two different shades of violet or purple or lavander.  My apologies for the photo of toes as they are never cute but I wanted to show you the details of nail art.  As a surprise treat, my daughter gave me the permission to share her current nail art.  Like mother like daughter, one would say.  The only different is that I do my own and this time she had it done.  Although I have seen some of her nail art and they are pretty and classy.

Timely Tuesday - 49ers or Chrismas?

Last night I had to change my nail polish because as soon as I see a chip on any of the nails, I have to repair it or start from scratch.  Since I don't have to make an appointment because it happens that I do the nail art myself, I can afford to do it anytime or any day.  After doing the dishes, it was a perfect time to change nail polish as my nails have been soaking while I do our dishes.  Since it is only nine days before Christmas I thought I should do something festive.  So I picked the colors red and gold.  When I showed Jeff the finished product, he says - are you cheering for the 49ers this weekend?

 

Freehand Friday - Back to my nail art

The recent disappointment of getting my pedicure done at the Queen Nails made me get back to doing my own pedicure again.  This time I gave myself the whole works, soaking my feet, scrubbing, brushing, trimming, moisturizing and many more. I also did my manicure but only did a change of polish.  Enough words, here's the results.

Just simple design with dots on the big toe. 

This is Tyler design.  I seem to recall Steve during his last season at the American Idol, except his was gold and black.

I chose these two colors because the turquoise matches the color of my fall purse and since hockey season will begin soon, it represents one of the SHARKS colors.  I am planning to have this color and then just use either black, white and maybe a bit of orange for my accents.  This will be my way of cheering for the San Jose Sharks.

 

Three Tuesday - ETC.

Today is one of those days where I cannot just feature a single story or photo.  It will be just a mix up of left overs from the week before that I just need to share.  The photo will explain itself which I feel like cheating because I am not doing any write ups.  But I hope you can understand.

1. July 4th Nail Art

2. Second zucchini harvest

3. Just a little something to cool us during the hot summer nights

Manipedi Monday - It's back

There's nothing special today so I will just share the nail art design I did last night for my fingers and toes.  I have been getting back to nail art again because I have not been happy the last time I had it done.  If I have to pay for it, I would think it should be better than my own. Unfortunately, my photos did not come out perfect as I was in a hurry.  Happy Monday!

 

Tricky Tuesday - Too many things so little time

It has been a few months since I've done nail art for my nails and like any type of skills, if you don't use it, you lose it.  I'm embarrassed to show them because it was such a rush job on my toe nails and it's a little messy.  As for my finger nails, I kept it simple and it turned out not so bad.  My excuse is that in between doing my nail art, I baked a lemon nut bread and I did one load of laundry.  So you can imagine what I am going through.  It was one of those days where I was multi tasking.  I almost forgot that I also made some spaghetti sauce and I went out to check out some blazers at Kohl's before lunch.  I've been busy and it's only Tuesday.  

Glitter nails

Lemon pecan bread

Ground turkey spaghetti sauce with mushroom and red pepper

Messy nail art

Selective Saturday - Nail salon

How many nail salons do you have in the area where you live?  This is the one business that is not lacking in our area.  When I was searching for one salon I could go to when I need to get a full service (mani-pedi), it was amazing to see that there's one and maybe even two in each of the shopping plaza or strip mini mall.  Although I can do my own nail art and usually do my own, I treat myself to the full service when I am going on vacation or when there is a special event.  Last Tuesday I decided to check out a few of them.  I would take a peek to see if they are busy and then maybe go in a little bit to see how clean the place is.  The first one I checked was close on Tuesday.  The next one was open with a couple of customers but the place was a bit cluttered and dusty in several places.  The person asked my to pick the color but did not tell me how long I have to wait or just have a seat.  After a few minutes of observing, I left because I saw more negative stuff.  I drove across the street to another plaza and there I found Queen Nails.  It was not too busy so I decided to try them out.  The price for the service was a good deal and the place was clean.  The lady who did my nails was very gentle but gave a great hand and feet massage.  Check out my nails.

Once they start to chip and my nails have grown, then I do my own nail art which are very similar design to these.  I don't feel too bad getting them done every now and then because I know I save a lot by doing my own during the in between months.  Do you have a favorite salon you go too? 

Timely Tuesday - New nail supply and more

With summer being just around the corner or for some summer has already arrived, it was nice to get some new summer colors for my nail art.  My MIL gave me some really neat stuff for mother's day and the regular Sunday flowers.  

As you can see, I received a variety of nail polish supply with two palettes of eye shadow in earth tones and very neutral colors that with go with anything.  The great thing about it is that I could take one for our cruise instead of taking a few little single ones that takes space.  The current nail polish I have just happen to match so perfectly. 

It's very simple, apply the base color and apply the sparkle just on the tips similar to a French manicure.

My cheap and chic combo,

Sweet Saturday - Bright nails and toes

In preparation for my week with my BFF from Canada, I decided to change the polish on my toes and applied some nail art on my finger nails.  At first I was just going to have it in different colors and then it looked sort of plain so I added some simple nail art.  This is my result.

Very happy because my nails look very alive.

My apologies but toes were not cooperating for this photo shoot.

Dots are very easy and fast nail art. This is my daughter's nail art that I did while she was visiting.

Almost forgot, today is CINCO de MAYO - a special holiday in the Bay area.  There's parade downtown San Jose with food and entertainment. There's a two day a la carte and art festival in Mountain View with lots of artisan display, live music, great food and drinks and the best part - it's free.  If you are visiting the area, don't forget to support any events.

Simply Saturday - Simple Nails

In a way I am so glad that I do my own nail polish and nail design because I would not want to pay that much money only to have the polish chip after two days.  This is the great thing about doing your own nails.  So here's what I did last Tuesday night.

I chose this color to match my toe polish

Because I cannot look at my nails each time I check it for any chip, I had to remove all the work that I had done and just replace it with a simple nail design.  French manicure are easy, simple and very classy.  I still had to keep the color green so match my toes so this what my nails will look for the weekend.  Last night I went out with girlfriend NB for dinner and drinks.  I tried a new drink that I saw some guy ordering it the last time Jeff and I went out.
It's so yummy and the bartender at PF Changs made it not too strong as per my request.

This blue drink is called Adios MF (you can just imagine how I had to whisper my order)