I have been in love with that picture when I first saw it pop up in the Free People online catalog last year. The dusty pink and truquoise highlights have haunted me ever since then. It's something I always wanted to do, but never quite worked up the true nerve to do.
What if I hated it? Do I want to really give up my red hair? How long will it last?
All questions that taunted me.
Now, after happening upon this photo again, I'm still in love! And as luck would have it, I also found a behind the scenes photo about how they accomplished the look.
That's right...hair extensions!
While true hair extensions aren't really any easier to do then coloring your hair...I could at least perhaps try it out with those easy clip in hair pieces to at least see if I would be willing to live with it for the long term.
Hmmmm...a year of love is almost enough to push me to try it.
My finger nails have been naked for about a week, so I decided to change that this past weekend. I had been wanting something that was bright pink...but my pink collection was a bit lacking. Good thing I got Zoya's Areej (I cannot even begin to pretend to know how to pronounce that) in my nail polish haul. Funny thing is...it's not really that pink. In fact it leans a little more towards the purple side of things. Areej is from the Summertime collection and is a great creme color. Zoya describes it as:
"Soft, muted cool fuchsia pink with an opaque cream finish. A pink for when you want a bold pop of color but not something neon-bright."
It is pink...but like the description says, it's more muted. And I totally see purple undertones in it. But other than that, it's a great color. Maybe not the most unique, but it gets the job done and wears like a charm.
Indirect sunlight.
Natural sunlight.
Natural sunlight, up close.
With flash.
With flash, up close.
This is another two coats and you're good to go polish. I thought it would be too liquidy at first, but it slid on wonderfully. I'm loving this whole two coats thing. It makes for a quicker mani.
While I love this color, I know it's not for everyone. There are probably a lot of dupe colors out there and they are probably cheaper, but knowing that these polishes last for as long as they do makes it worthwhile to me. So if you're in the market for a good bright pink that isn't too bright pink, this is your girl!
I love to bake. I love to bake something scrumptious for us to eat after dinner, that typically ends up being exactly what the metaphorical doctor ordered. The only downside is that for the rest of the week, we have to be taunted by the remains of the dessert. There, on the kitchen counter, sits most of a cake, or most of a batch of cupcakes. It's a big downside because we are both trying to watch what we eat. As a result, I haven't exactly been baking as much as I'd like (although school is partly to blame as well).
Because of all of this, I love having a legitimate excuse to bake. That came upon us last week, with the arrival of new neighbors. After inviting them over for an introductory dinner, I broke out a recipe I had been saving up.
6-Layer Rich Chocolate Malted & Toasted Marshmallow Cake
This enormous cake is an astoundingly simple cake to make. It is a six-layer chocolate cake with two different icings. One is a malted chocolate frosting (as you can see on the outside) and the other is a roasted marshmallow icing (seen on the inside). The hardest part, honestly, is the assembly, as it requires splitting cakes in half.
I know it's not exactly pretty, but this at least gives you an idea of what's going on inside the cake. Each pair of layers is one cake that I cut in half, with the marshmallow icing in between.
I simply cannot recommend this recipe enough. Everyone who got a taste of it demanded more. The only reason it didn't all disappear within 24 hours is because of how large the cake is. All of the flavors mesh wonderfully, and the it ends up perfectly moist and light.
...AKA squirrels. We have the bastard variety of squirrel (also known as the Gray Squirrel) that never goes away. I don't think I have ever hated an animal more in my life. Last summer we dealt with them digging in our flowers, which was enough to send me over the edge. Durring the winter they never really went away...but now...now they are back in full force. Waving their little tails around to taunt us. While I could somewhat deal with them digging in my flowers, this time the have gone too far.
Thursday I decided to run some errands around town. No big deal right? Wrong. As I was a mere few blocks from home when I noticed an awful smell. Like someone had lit a thousand Barbies on fire. I accusingly looked around at the other cars while trying to power past the smell. Then I got home...and realized that the smell was my car and that smoke was trickling out of the driver side wheel well.
Awesome.
I popped the hood and quickly realized that there was a squirrels nest inside Otto the Auto.
Some squirrel had made a nest out of PLASTIC bags and they ended up falling onto the transmission!
I had checked under the hood not even a month ago...which means I better start checking a lot more. So now Otto gets to go in for a check up to make sure that those fuzzy little demon spawns haven't chewed through cables...and to clean up the burnt on plastic.
The nest...minus some plastic.
Mmmm burnt on plastic...such a wonderful smell.
Poor Otto.
Oh and to add insult to injury, they are back to digging in my pots as well as popping the heads off of my poppies.
It seems as though there is an Air Soft gun in my future...
You know my new found love of Zoya polishes. You know that I have been scooping up polish with every promo they have had (minus the St. Patties day one). Well now's your chance to get discounted Zoya polishes!
They are currently running a
Earth Day exchange promo where you pretty much get their polish for half price when all is said and done. You do have to buy at least 6, so keep that in mind. All that they ask is that if you have un-used and unwanted polishes in your house is that you send them to Zoya (after you get your polishes from them) so that they can dispose of them properly.
So go check out their rules, pick out 6-24 of your favorite polishes, add the code, get your new pretties and then send in your old/unwanted polishes!
It's just that simple...and really you know you want to try out some of their awesome collections and colors!
