Manicure Monday

Today, for Manicure Monday, I'm showing mine and Chloe's Halloween inspired nails. Chloe is dressing as a vampire for trick-or-treat, so we decided to go dark with a little bit of cute...ghosts. She is in-love with her nails. I keep catching her staring at them. I am hoping if her nails look cute maybe she'll stop biting them.

China Glaze Strong Adhesive Base Coat

 Wet n Wild Black Creme

Sally Hansen XtremeWear White On (ghost)

Revlon ColorStay Sparkling Scarlet (sparkle for ghost)

Wet n Wild Black Creme (ghost eyes/mouth)

Beauty Secrets Top Coat

I googled Halloween inspired nail images and saw a blood spatter that seemed kinda cool. I then got on YouTube and looked for tutorials. I stumbled across the video below to help. Mine are not exactly like the videos, but my kids think I'm really cool and that is all that really matters.

 The polishes I used...

China Glaze Strong Adhesive Base Coat

Sally Hansen French Manicure 2 Natural Color (a pink/neutral opalescence)

Revlon Colorstay Sparkling Scarlet

Rimmel Red Rock

China Glaze Phat Santa

Beauty Secrets Top Coat

Essie good to go

 

Bloody French Tip Nails - Twilight Inspired!!! 

This past weekend we had friends over for dinner... 

recipes to come!

Till next time, have a safe and Happy Halloween!! 

Oh, How Pinteresting

Today I am linking up with the vintage apple and will be showing some favorite "pins". I am going to focus on recipes because I have found some yummy pictures and I can not wait to try them out!

I have not quite figured out how to directly link the pin to the blog. I'm still new to this. None of the instructions are working for me. So I'll try to link the description to the pinned page.

Pumpkin Pie Dip

This looks so yummy, I might just make this  as soon as I finish this post. I'm thinking this with some apple slices might be yummy for Josh & Chloe's after-school snack.

 Mummy Dogs

I think I'm going to make these Monday night for dinner before we go trick-or-treating. I need to figure out the rest of the meal. I'm sure Pinterest will be involved in the search.

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon tortilla chips

My sister-in-law made this last year and I forgot about how much I loved it until I saw it on one of  Star's  boards. I am a big fan of her blog and I have found myself repeatedly re-pinning her stuff. She has great taste... Pink, baking, Target, Twilight!

Tiramisu... 

Um, YUM! I'm having company for dinner this weekend. I'm making my mom's lasagna recipe. So super excited. I am thinking this may be an option for dessert. The question is, am I brave enough? or will I be searching for a chocolate cake recipe? Who doesn't love chocolate cake? Got a recipe you can suggest? If not, that's okay, I'll go pinning!

Tyler just woke up, no time to proof-read. Hope it's not too messy Have a great afternoon!!

Manicure Monday

Today I'm not feeling well, so this will be short and mostly pictures. I'm sorry.

Last week's manicure...

This is Essie's Raise Awareness and Revlon's Colorstay Sheer Sparkling Sealant topcoat. Loved. Very girly and the manicure lasted like 6 days :)

This week's manicure...

This is Wet n Wild Wild Shine in Black Creme. This is my first time using this shade. Um, hello Gorgeous! Very opaque and super shiney! This is 2 coats (almost didn't need 2). I then added ...

This manicure is perfect for the last week of October, I get the black that goes with Halloween and my sparkly pink ribbons for Breast Cancer Awareness month. I love the look way more than I love the durability of this manicure. The ribbons catch on anything and everything fuzzy. After the above picture of my nails I added ribbons to my ring fingers. Well, in less than an hour I pulled those off. One "jewel" had already come off and fuzzy stuff from Tyler's blanket were everywhere. I may have to redo my ring fingers nails because they are scuffed and there is some sticky residue left. I'm hoping my thumb nails last. Here's to hoping! 

I hope you're all having a better Monday than I am. I'm gonna try to rest before naptime is over.

Friday Favorites

Today I'll be linking up with Veronika at  Veronika's Kandy Koated Dreams for Friday favorites. I have recently stumbled across her blog and have really enjoyed reading current and past posts. Her blog is beautiful and has a very positive feeling about it. :)

I love the idea of gathering a bunch of my current favorite things because I never have enough of one type of thing to blog about and they change from week-to-week or day-to-day so this is a nice way of sharing.

Favorite song (this week)... Down for Whatever by Kelly Rowland. I am L.O.V.E.ing this song right now. When you cook dinner tonight... listen to this and just try to not dance your booty off. That would be me last night. lol I was wearing Ty in the baby carrier, my dancing around put him right to sleep. I get most of my "exercising" done while cooking or doing the dishes. :)

Miss Adele. I have loved her voice and music for several years. This picture. Sigh. She is my favorite girl right now. Yes, she is my girl crush. She makes me feel better about myself even though I am not a size 6. Anyways, this look. Wow. I am so not good with makeup but THIS is my inspiration. I have similar hair and eye color, if I can figure out the products and technique, I could totally rock this look! 

Favorite... hmmm. pattern? Gray leopard print. I seem to be gravitating towards this pattern in everything! Clothes, shoes, purses. It's neutral without being boring. I'm late to the party with animal prints. I have not purchased anything yet, because of course, everything I want is sold out or too expensive for my "saving for Christmas" budget. I'd really like a simple turtle neck to wear under my new sweater wrap I wrote about here or maybe a scarf. I'm really into gray right now and always into PINK so lots to work with.

Favorite person, my husband. This picture is an oldie but goodie. Love him so much!

I don't do well with blogging on the weekend but I'm trying to be a more consistent blogger. Have a great weekend!

a little retail therapy doesn't hurt

His new favorite place is IN the toy bin.

I meant to share earlier, but my sweet little Oliver, who understands everything and chooses to say nothing, has finally said "mama". He has the most adorable little voice and hearing it call for me is the best! I definitely prefer it over the point & shriek method he has been using to communicate.

I've been doing a little retail therapy this week. I've been kinda down in the dumps. I am 8 weeks postpartum and my 7 year old keeps asking me when I'm going to get smaller, you know loose "this" (as he puts his hands at his stomach and motions a big belly). Yes, I have some weight to lose, and yes some of it shouldn't have been there before Tyler (2 babies in 2 years- cut me some slack). Anyways... I've been trying to inspire myself to take better of myself. Some of the lovelies that are waiting for me at my in-laws house in Ohio ( I don't ship to Canada. I either can't get it here or the postage is as much as the item. Um, no thanks, I'll ship it to the good ol' USofA and wait till we travel again.)

via

This is the Columbia Mom-O-Gram Benton (whatever that means) in Isla. It is the pink ribbon edition. I will buy anything with this little symbol.  $1.00 for each garment sold is donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation- awesome!

via

I got this pretty little thing from Victoriasecret.com because it was the closest I could get to this...

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They don't exactly look the same because they are being worn differently in each picture, however the top pic shows the color I got, that's why I used it. The gray sweater, that I did purchase is onsale and I had a gift card, so after all of that and adding in tax, I paid about $16. The Leopard print cashmere sweater (that my dear friend wore to brunch on Sunday) is almost $400. YIKES! So, imitation is the highest form of flattery, right, I went out and found the closest thing in my budget. I have high hopes! 

This is a random picture of a bottle from google images. This is Essie Raise Awareness (yup, another pink ribbon item). "A portion of the proceeds from each bottle will be donated to Living Beyond Breast Cancer." I love that my nails are the same color as my Kitchenaid mixer. :) I have not taken pictures of my nails because I have been lazy. My motivation and camera are never in the same place at the same time. I know pictures aren't that hard to take, but I am a lousy photographer and the weather has been so gray. Doesn't make for pretty pictures.

via 

AJ bought me this book to "entertain" me while he plays his new videogame. He is very thoughtful. I really wanted this book (I'll let you know what I think after I've read it.) He really is sweet, he brought me Starbucks too!

Yay for Tyler...

Friday was the day our little Tyler became an official U.S. citizen (born abroad). We (me) got up at 5:45am to start showering and preparing to spend the day in Toronto at the U.S. Embassy. It was raining cats and dogs... awful travel weather. The worst part was the rain... the drive to Toronto from London is usually beautiful and I was really looking forward to the fall leaves and the rolling hills and farms. Oh well.

I don't know if you've ever been to an Embassy. Nothing electronic. No phones, no cameras, no DS video games, no iPods and no keyless lock clickers. I kept telling AJ to take the clicker back to the car, he was like, I'm sure it's not that big of a deal. Ugh. This happened last year. We didn't know about the no electronics so he had to run phones, etc back to the car leaving me to maneuver through the embassy with 2 kids and a new born in an intimidating environment. I started having flashbacks to my flustered state. Sure enough we get up to the security area, think TSA, and we are instructed to take the clicker back to the car. Down and across the street and up to the third floor. So, AJ takes off, leaving me to navigate with 2 kids and the double stroller with newborn and toddler (both are crying) and all of our crap from the xray machine. Did I mention my husband loves to cram his pockets full of crap? Yea, so I'm trying to gather all of our papers, my purse, the diaper bag and his wallet, keys, papers, receipts, change, etc. I was a mess. I love being an unorganized mess. NOT. 

Tyler at lunch after the Embassy

Anyways, Tyler is officially a documented American citizen. We'll get his fancy Birth Abroad Certificate in about 2-3 weeks. To be completely honest, because we took the time to have all the papers the Embassy's website requests, the process is very very simple. Getting there is easy to, there are guards at every locked door to escort you to the next door. It was just the crap we brought with us and the crying babies that made it stressful.

I shouldn't have told you all of this. I should have told you I was supermom and the kids were angels. LOL

Our long weekend

I'm sorry for my absence, I've been soaking up time with my sweetie. We had a busy, but fun weekend. The weather was amazing. The kind you wish would last year round.

Saturday AJ and I took the kids to Apple Land Station (apple orchard). We picked apples, had lunch, took a train/wagon ride and played in the pumpkin patch.We had so much fun, except for Tyler, he slept through the whole thing.

We followed up Saturday with a pretty good Sunday. I spent the first part of the day cleaning and preparing dinner. We had a couple over for dinner to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving. The original menu was supposed to be turkey and all that jazz and then last week my oven crapped out. So... we switched to potroast in the slow cooker. I felt lame. It took 20 minutes total prep time and cooked itself for 8 hours. Then I couldn't heat the dinner rolls. Ugh. I was trying in warm them in a skillet on the stove top. Didn't works so well. lol Oh well. I'll be that much more excited for November to celebrate for real. We usually celebrate with my husband's family because my parents are in Florida. (Although, I was looking forward to MY gravy and MY stuffing! and I found a recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake I really want to make!)

Only not happy thing to happen this weekend was Monday. I did my nails twice. No good! Revlon Perplex and Revlon Cherry Crush. I've never been a huge fan of Revlon polish. I find it chips really soon- except for Hot Chocolate, love that one! So neither "mani" looked very good and photographed even worse so I have nothing to share with you. AJ is working crazy overtime and the boys' naps aren't insync so who knows when I'll get this ugly-bubbled polish off.  

Hoping for things to calm down a little tomorrow. It has taken me all day to write this, which is kinda lame. I need better content. lol Hopefully more tomorrow. 

Have a good night!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!!

Today (this evening), for the first time I'll be linking up with this kind of love for What I'm Loving Wednesday. I've seen these posts on lots of other blogs and I need help getting this blogging thing down, so here we go...

image courtesy of google. This is a sexier version of us. ;)

I'm loving that this weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving so AJ will have a 3 day weekend. I love having him home. Movies and cuddling on the couch.

I'm loving the fall weather. London is called the Forest City because there are so many trees, so you can imagine how gorgeous it is here this time of year! 

I'm loving that my sweet sister-in-law is going to deliver my sweet nephew, Trent, any day now! I am so excited to become an aunt!! (Cross your fingers that her husband can make it home in time for the delivery. He's in the ARMY and away training for a new position.)

I am loving these two songs. They play on repeat in my head all day long!

Arms by Christina Perri

I had never watched the video until I looked for it to post here. It's a little weird. I closed my eyes and just listened. 

Someone Like You by Adele

I have loved her for several years. Her most recent album, 21, is on fire! This song is so beautiful-emotional-haunting... sigh! I would love to hear her duet with Josh Groban. 

I think I found this on Pinterest. I just love what it says. It completely sums up how I feel about a lot of the relationships I've had in my life,  boyfriends, friends and family.

And most of all I'm loving AJ and my children.

Essie Lady Like and Carry On

I am loving yesterday's mani! I decided to try the "accent nail manicure".  I painted all nails with Essie's Fall 2011 shade, Carry On (a deep plum shade that seems to have a brown base) except for each ring finger. On this special finger, Essie's lovely lavender Lady Like. Both shades are very rich in color, seem to be a cream, and have a great shine. The boys cooperated with me so well, I was able to paint all fingers & toes and only have to redo one fingernail. Very cool!

Both colors are gorgeous! They each took 2 coats. Including my China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat and my Beauty Secrets Top Coat, 4 layers in all and my nails still dried quickly. Now that I've mentioned my base & top coats.... LOVE. I stumbled upon each at Sally's Beauty Supply. They work amazing. I love that my base coat has added days to my manicure and my top coat is very shiny and seems to resist chipping also. I usually change my polish before the manicure is ruined so I can say I get at least 4 days from a manicure and with some polishes (Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro Nail Lacquer), as many as 10! This is becoming quite the run-on post... The Rimmel polish, I love the stuff! However they have limited selection in colors. To be fair, the website says 32 shades, what I have access to here in London (Canada) seems to be a lot less.

Fabulous Fall Blog Challenge: Day 10

Today I am linking up with Neely & Amber for the Fabulous Fall Blog Challenge. It's day 10 and today's topic is: Thanksgiving memories

I love Thanksgiving. In my opinion, it is the kick off to the holiday season. Bring on the Christmas music and holiday decorations. I love Christmas lights! It's my favorite time of year. 

My favorite Thanksgiving memory is probably from 2007. AJ and I were dating long distance, he was in Los Angeles, CA and I was in Columbus, OH. This was our first major holiday as a couple. Josh & Chloe were spending it with their dad,  AJ flew me out so I wouldn't be all alone. What a sweetie!

He picked me up from the airport, we grabbed a bite to eat and then went grocery shopping together. We were going to make a turkey dinner for several of his friends that were living in L.A. and not spending the day with their families. We had so much fun... cooking, eating and board games.

The whole long weekend was fantastic! We went to the Getty, to the L.A. Auto show, had lunch and walked on the beach and just had an all-around great time!

AJ helping in the kitchen

Me on the beach with sun in my eyes

On our way to the Getty