Pink Wednesday: 3D Pearl Manicure

Happy Wednesday, beautiful people! If you have been keeping up with this blog for a while, you already know that we like to wear pink around these parts come Wednesday. And since it's been a long time since I've done a manicure post, I knew I had to share my current manicure with you guys.  

If you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen the excitement I showed when receiving this Academy of Color Embellish 3D Manicure Set from Kemba of Beauty By Kemba.  I had expressed how much I wanted to try the "caviar manicure" a while back on my Facebook Fan Page, so receiving this package from Kemba was right on time.  Not only was I able to try the caviar manicure trend, I was able to try it using my favorite color!


I was hyped to see that creating the caviar manicure is quite simple.  All I had to do was apply two coats of the polish to each nail, then pour the beads onto the nails while still wet. Then, after applying the beads, gently press the beads down into the polish.  After about 15 minutes or so, the manicure was dry and I was good to go!


And since this was my first time trying this set, I decided to just do a caviar accent on my ring fingers.  You guys know much I like a simple manicure with an accent nail, right?  It made the manicure so much easier to do, by the way.  For the finishing touches, I added Out the Door Top Coat to my manicure.



What are your nails looking like this week, ladies? 
Have you ever tried the caviar nails trend? Love it or hate it? 
I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

CURRENTLY: 10.28.13


CURRENTLY
(inspired by Chymere)

In Lust With: The smell of fresh flowers, peppermint, and wild berry cheesecake in the morning. I have these wild berry cheesecake wax bars that I buy every time I'm in Walmart so that I never run out of the scent and so my home always smells like them.  The scent combined with fresh flowers (usually daisies or roses) and the peppermint oil I use in the mornings (to open up my nasal passages) is like heaven.  It truly smells like home around here (and not dirty diapers lol).

In Love With: The TV show New Girl.  I don't know why I didn't start watching it when it first aired, but I should have.  Thanks to Netflix, I was able to catch up with ease, though. Jessica Day is so fun to watch, as she is always so upbeat and quirky.  I swear she makes up a song for everything lol.  Her and Nick make the cutest couple I've seen on TV in a while.

Missing: Those Friday and Saturday night chats I used to have with my friends + J's friends back at our first spot.  Man, listen--- we used to talk about some of everything! We would fire up the grill, play cards, watch movies, and have all kinds of male versus female debates.  Now that I look back on it, I really do miss the closeness we all shared and the lessons I learned from those talks.  We need to bring those days back!

Can't Live Without: The goodness that is those Grandma's Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Now that there is no more baby in-utero, I feel like I can indulge in cookies to my heart's content (not really, but you get the idea). I keep a couple of packs stashed in the cabinets around here in case of an emergency.

Obsessing over:  Capturing memories of everything.  With Jj growing like a weed and changing everyday, I find myself taking so many random shots of him.  I take pictures of his smile, his laugh, and even his stank face (yes, he has one already). I record him cooing all the time.  And not only am I capturing shots of his milestones, I'm taking pictures of everything everyone is doing around here.  I'm snapping pics of Gab and Core riding their bikes and playing kickball in the yard (thank God for the yard!) because they seem to be having so much fun.  It's like lately I don't want to miss a beat.  I guess it's because I'm finally realizing that they won't be this small for long.  Oh, and I try to take pics of my husband J cooking, but he isn't having it!

Working On: Holiday plans. I'm not sure if it's too early to get started on my planning, but I'm too excited not to! I've already planned my Thanksgiving menu, my shopping lists for Christmas, and even a few things for mom's Tree Trimming party this year.  I'm still debating on having a NYE party at the end of the year, but I have a couple of things in mind-- just in case.

Reading: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.  In fact, my beautiful blogger buddy Daja has a book club hosted by her blog, No Boiz Allowed.  In this book club, all participants will be reading The Happiness Project starting on Friday, November 1st.  For more information, click the link here!  If you're interested in reading The Happiness Project along with us, leave a comment!

Listening To: I've had Nothing Was the Same by Drake, The Electric Lady by Janelle Monae, Love & War by Tamar Braxton, and Three Kings by TGT in heavy rotation for the last month. Seems like I've been listening to "Wu Tang Forever" by Drake and "Bad Things" by Cults (thanks J. Cole) on repeat these last few days.

Favorite Visual: The leaves falling from the trees. I'm too hype about finally having trees :D  And what better time to enjoy the scenery than the fall?

Favorite Sound:  The falling rain.  Though I tend to complain a lot when it rains, the rainfall at night is quite relaxing.  Being nestled up in the dark listening to the raindrops falling is love!  It calms me and the little one down into the greatest of slumbers!

Over the Moon About: My approaching weekend getaway with hubby!  It's been too long since we've spent time together minus the children, especially since the little one arrived.  And now that I'm back to my old self again (you know, without 9 pounds of baby resting in my midsection lol) there's no telling what I may do the the poor man when we're alone.  Ok, that may be TMI.  But it is what it is. Get it how you live :D

header photo source

My Lip "Picks" for Fall

 

One thing I am always very excited about in the fall season is the beauty trends.  I just love planning how I am going to incorporate color into my look-whether it's my makeup choices, my nails, or even my hair. The easiest way to incorporate color for me is always through my lip color.  I can't explain to you how amazing I feel when I apply my lipstick or lipgloss as I start my day-- it enhances my mood, expresses who I am, and makes others stop and notice from time to time also! Today I decided to share my obvious lippie obsession with you by posting a few tubes of lipstick and gloss from my stash that I'll be using a lot this fall. I'll even throw in some swatches for good measure!


1. MAC Amplified Creme Lipstick in Violetta
2. MAC Lipglass in All of My Purple Life (LE-Blogger's Obsession Collection)
3. MAC Lipglass in Wrong Spell (LE-Venomous Villains Collection)
4. MAC Matte Lipstick in Heroine (LE-Reel Sexy Collection)
5. MAC Seasoned Plum Pro LongWear Lip Creme (LE Daphne Guinness Collection)
6. MAC Riri Woo Retro Matte Lipstick (Riri  MAC Collection)
7. MAC Lipglass in Athena's Kiss (LE-Wonder Woman Collection)
8. MAC Lipstick in Spitfire (LE- Wonder Woman Collection)


Below are the lip swatches. Nevermind the fact that I am not wearing a full face of makeup, honey.  
It was all about the lipstick here, okay? Lol


MAC Amplified Creme Lipstick in Violetta
MAC Lipglass in All of My Purple Life 
MAC Lipglass in Wrong Spell 
MAC Matte Lipstick in Heroine (right)


MAC Seasoned Plum Pro LongWear Lip Creme
MAC Riri Woo Retro Matte Lipstick
MAC Lipglass in Athena's Kiss 
MAC Lipstick in Spitfire (right)

WHAT LIPSTICKS OR GLOSSES ARE YOU WEARING THIS FALL?

If you have any questions about these lippies or would like to see looks using these lippies, let me know in the comments!

He's Here!

Alas, after 39 weeks, 6 days, 3 hospital visits, several appointments to the ob/gyn and maternal-fetal center, and 7 hours of active labor-- my 8 lb 13 oz baby boy was born! Ladies and gentlemen, meet my Jj.


As many of you may already know, this is baby number three for me. And let me tell you, every experience I've had with childbirth has been different. While I was younger and less experienced with my older son and daughter, I felt more at ease in my pregnancy with Jj. I was more relaxed, I was less stressed (until moving time came in August), and I was more in tune with my body. Unfortunately, I didn't have the same body or energy I had at 19 or 21, so I had a few issues with blood pressure and fatigue. Nevertheless, I pulled through that labor like a gangster for real and am bouncing back much better than I did with my other two children. Now ain't that something?

In the meantime, I am falling in love with this little guy more and more each day. He will be three weeks old this week and I swear my love grows stronger by the moment. It amazes me how happy he seems to be-- always cooing and smiling (unless it's gas lol) and how much sleep he's letting me get so far (win, win!). He does sleep longer in the daytime than at night, but I'm sure he'll get straight on that with time. He has a hearty appetite already-- just like his daddy lol. And he's in awe of his big brother and sister, as they can't wait to get home from school so they can ooh and aww over him in the evenings. I would say we are all adjusting well to the new addition to the family.

Overall, my pregnancy has been a beautiful experience. My husband has truly been my rock through everything and my two oldest babies have been a great big brother and sister so far. I've had such a great support system also-- among others, my mom has went above and beyond the call of duty and my bestie (aka Jj's godmommy) has been such a huge help to me. I could not have asked God for better. With the help of a great family and awesome group of friends, I am confident that our transition from a party of four to a party of five will continue to be seamless 

So what have I been missing out here in the blogosphere?  What have you guys been up to? I will be catching up on my blog reading and visiting today, so I hope to see more from you guys. Wave, wink, leave me a comment and let me know you all are still hanging in here with me! :-)

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