How I Keep My Blog Organized

Hey y'all!  Today I'm going to share some of my organizational tips with you.  I didn't write any of this out in advance, so I'm kinda drafting this as I go.  So, please excuse any ADD moments in this post. I'll sort of be walking you through the process of how a blog post (of mine) goes from start to finish, but I'll be jumping all over.

There's no set rules on how to blog.  You can be as organized or dis-organized as you want to be.  If you want to blog, do it how YOU want to do it.  Not how someone else says you have/need to.  This is just how I do it and what I've found to help me stay on top of everything and be organized while doing so.

These are just a few of the things that help me do just that.  I have several SD cards for my camera's, in fact this is just a smaller sized spare one that I have.  I used to keep my pictures on my desktop until I got a bad virus and lost EVERYTHING.  Since then, I've started keeping everything on flash(thumb) drives.  One is dedicated to everything nail polish while the other is for everything else.  I'm actually looking into getting an external hard drive because one of these drives is about full.  Both of these items, flash drives & SD cards can always be found easily online or in stores.  I always look for a deal online or during Black Friday deals.  In fact, I usually tend to stock up around the BF holiday shopping.

Having something external gives me the flexibility to do things on my desktop & move over to my laptop if/when needed without having to transfer everything.  It also makes it easy for those times when I've already edited the pics and just need to type the posts, but I have swatches to get done.  I can just take the drive into the office, plug it into the desktop, and swatch while I'm working on the blog.

I'm always dragging this notebook back & forth from the office to the living room.  I use this to take notes while doing swatches or testing products out.  I used to just use random sheets of paper just to note how many coats & polish names, but I was constantly losing where I put those at.  With this notebook I don't have to worry.  I make a note of the brand & collection name, then list each shade, amount of coats used, and any color/application notes for each one.  If it's a nail art design, I just list each shade used & kinda give it a nickname.

Then when I edit the pictures I have information I need so that I can name each file while saving & I mark each one with a + sign as I go.  That way, I can have everything in reach when I go to add the info to my spreadsheet and type up the blog posts.  Once I'm done, I just cross everything out so that I know it's completed.

I used to make notes with a pen, but I noticed it would sorta bleed through and I couldn't always see on the other side when I'd use my pencil to make marks for each coat of polish I applied.  Plus, using a pencil makes it easier to erase things if needed.  I have them everywhere now and even bought an electric sharpener for myself and the kiddo to use.

Once everything is completed with the actual post I'll either leave it as a draft or go ahead and schedule the post.  Because I'm a thrifty person, I make my own "calendar".  This is actually one I found online for free, and downloaded.  I had some extra plastic portfolio/folders with the 2 pockets & fasteners from purchasing school supplies.  Once the calendar was printed I just punched holes to insert it into the fasteners & use paper clips to separate the previous months from current/future.  Having the pockets helps me keep track of any info that companies might have sent with their products.

Having this in front to look at, rather than just my posts info on Blogger, helps me know when I have empty days to get posts done for.  Because I can schedule everything pretty much in advance, I can move things around if I need to because I write in post titles with a pencil.  This is about as "ahead of the game" as I've been in a while.  I'm trying to get ahead enough that I can take breaks from doing stuff if I feel like it without feeling bad for not having any content to post.  At one point last year I didn't have to actually do anything for about 2 months because I had everything done way in advance and it felt great.

The smallest notebook is something I use to keep up with my stats.  It's not something I actually focus too much on, but I think it feels nice to know what works.


There are also a few things that aren't pictured that I use to help once the post is completed.

• IFTTT - This is a HUGE lifesaver.  While you can do SO much with this one site I do the following: Blog posts automatically post to Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr, Anything I post on Instagram automatically posts to Twitter, anything I post in Instagram with #TrailerHoodChic automatically posts to my FB page, and anything I post on my FB page posts to Twitter.  
• Photofy - While there's a TON of photography app's out there, this is the one I'm currently using.  I have the free version and like the options to add to/edit posts.  It also helps resize my swatch photo's for me to post onto instagram without cropping half of everything out of the shot.  
• Latergramme - This is another HUGE lifesaver.  I can use this app to schedule instagram posts in advance.  Then I don't forget to share things.  I just go ahead and set everything up & when the time comes it alerts me.  I just click on the alert and it loads Instagram with everything I've already typed in.  

That's about all I can think of for now.  Any questions?  How do you stay organized?

May Empties & Life Update

Hey y'all!  I don't have many empties for the past month, as it's been a stressful and emotional one.  I'm not going to go too much into it at this time, because I'm still a little raw inside, but I will open up more at a later date. On top of that, I have come down with a horrible cold that has sucked all of the energy out of me. 

Now to the point of this post....my empties for the month of May.

Suave Naturals Shampoo - This is in the tropical coconut scent & is what the kiddo uses.  We both LOVE the smell of it and it's inexpensive.  Which is especially great since he still hasn't grasped that he doesn't have to pour half a bottle on his head while in the shower. 

BBW Ocean Citrus Hand Soap - I love Bath & Body Works soaps, but wasn't too big on this scent.  It wasn't bad, but it just wasn't me. 

Pledge Multi Surface - This is in the Lavender & Peach Blossom scent.  I have already repurchased this in another scent, but it's not as great.  This product is wonderful for cleaning, though I tend to only use it on my wood surfaces with a microfiber cloth.  Smells great, cleans, and shines....yeah I'll keep buying it.

Seche Vite - This isn't completely empty, but almost.  Somehow a few bits of debris got stuck in the top coat, towards the end.  I love this top coat and have backups galore. 



Now I must go eat then lie back down and finish editing some posts for the remainder of this week.  I'm hoping that I can get back into the swing of things soon as I have LOTS of stuff to share. 

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 Hey y'all!  In case you haven't noticed, I just recently switched my blog from a .blogspot.com over to trailerhoodchic.com.  Be sure you click that Bloglovin' link above to stay up to date!

Atlanta Snowpocalypse 2014

Hey y'all.  I know today is Valentines, but this isn't a normal post, so just hold with me.  I live north of Atlanta and I'm sure everyone laughed at what happened a few weeks ago when the ice storm shut down the city leaving people stranded everywhere.  I've lived in Georgia ALL of my life, so even I was laughing at some of the stupid stuff.  However, I was in complete awe at the generosity, humanity, love, hospitality, etc. that was put forth by those in the areas where able to.  I just saw this again as one neighbor got stuck at the bottom of the hill, another came by in his 4WD truck and helped tow him up the hill. 

Woods behind my house 2/13/14

Woods over the neighbors house. 2/13/14

Unfortunately, I've gotten nothing done this week for blog posts.  Between trying to stay ahead of making sure we're fed, bathed, warm, etc & doing dishes, laundry, cleaning...absolutely no time to play with polish.  Add to that, just the general excitement of snow, watching teenagers sled down the hill and wipeout in my yard, and laughing at noobs try to drive (and fail miserably) up a hill full of ice.

It's also cold in my office so I've not even bothered to do my nails tomorrow, so y'all get this for today.  Thankfully I have stuff in my drafts so that I can hopefully work on more next week to build back up my stockpile of blog posts.  I hope you all stay safe and warm. 

Resolutions for 2014....and a review of 2013's

Happy New Years Eve Y'all!!! 

Last year I did my top 10 resolutions HERE & I think I did pretty well in keeping them. I'll list them again below & tell y'all if I was good or bad. 

2013's resolutions

1. Comment more.  I started off doing well with this, then just kinda slacked off on it.  Though I am commenting on YouTube...not so much on FB, Blogs, or Instagram.
2. BLOG MORE!!!  Again, I'd started off doing great with this, but fell off the wagon a few times.  I'm hoping that I can get more into this without disruption since I now have a laptop to edit pictures on & blog while I'm spending time with the guys watching tv and stuff. 
3. Use More! I've done SOOOOO good with this one.  I'll have my December Empties post up in a few days, but so far I've had at least 6 empties a month.  I've found this feels great having stuff empty to post about because it's things I either really really love or things I've forgotten about completely.
4. Keep up with my social media accounts. I've done decently with this.  I post almost daily to Instagram, even if most of it is not beauty/polish related.  It sorta lets y'all see what's going on in my life.  I forget about Twitter half of the time, I think mainly because I manage my own account as well as the MABB account. 
5. Move all of my stuff into one room and ORGANIZE!!! This was completed rather quickly.  And since then I've moved things around at least twice.  I want to rearrange everything yet again already.  At least everything is all in one room now & I can do my makeup and nails in here.
6. Re-do my blog.  I slacked on this.  I re-did most of the layout then kinda dropped the ball.  I started working on a much cleaner layout a few months ago and sorta just forgot about it.
7. Get myself on a schedule.  I did this, and everything was going GREAT....until the kiddo gets more than a few days out of school.  I finally had a regular sleep schedule, blog schedule, and gaming schedule.  Now it's all out of wack, but I'm getting back into the swing of things with that.
8. More NAIL ART!!!  As you may have seen in yesterdays post, I've done at least more than a dozen different nail art mani's.  For my birthday I also got more stamping plates & stampers to see if that helps my failing at it.  I also finally got the hang of water marbling.  I even got some crafting scissors for tape mani's and stuff too. 
9. Take more ME time.  Occasionally, at least once a month or more, I've taken a day to just pamper myself.  Giving myself a mani/pedi, taking a long bubble bath, picking up my Nook to read, playing video games on the Xbox, watching Netflix. 
10. Open myself to new things.  I've been sort of a makeup junkie this past year.  I've picked up a TON of brushes & make-up.  I actually like doing my makeup again.  I don't go over the top, most times, but like to add a pop of color to a neutral look.  I bought my first MAC product, which was RiRi Woo...something I NEVER would have tried before and I LOVE IT!  I've watched several movies and TV shows on Netflix that I've never seen before....Love Actually & Breaking Bad  just to name a few.  I've also tried new foods and new restaurants.  In fact, I've been to Atlanta a few times this year & have been to a few old places for the first time and tried new things.  It's been fun.

For 2014, I want to do ALL of the things above again.  I've found that I actually did pretty great with most of it and want to continue to do so. 

The only thing I would add would be trying to walk a little outside each day.  Even if it's just down my hill and into the cul-de-sac & back several times.   That and re-organizing my make-up.  I've already started that process, just need to pick up a few things to help depot some of my eyeshadow trio's and stuff to make my own palettes.

I hope y'all stay safe & have a wonderful new year.

Birthday Stuffs

I didn't really advertise it, but this past Friday was my birthday.  It was kind of a chill weekend spent with some friends and a little bit of shopping.  If you follow me on Instagram, you may or may not have already seen some of these pics.

Thursday I had to go ahead & do the dreaded "renewing of the license".  Thankfully it was quite painless since new state laws requiring tons of paperwork.  I've never had a name change, so I didn't have to bring a lot with me.  After that, I stopped by Target & Sally's and picked up a few things. 



I was totally out of stuff to color my hair with and wanted to try a few other things.  I was also lucky enough to snag Orly Sparkling Garbage off the clearance rack at Sally's.

I also received my very first Ipsy bag, which I'll do a separate post/review/thoughts on later.
Friday morning I woke up to my kiddo running in to tell me Happy Birthday before he left for school.  Since I had no plans, I showered and stayed in jammies ALL DAY LONG.  Just because I could.

Later that evening, I did my nails then I was summoned to my neighbors house for gifts from them, which were unexpected and WONDERFUL.  I couldn't believe she sneaked Krispy Kreme's into her house without my seeing or even smelling when I went over earlier in the afternoon.



It was a very chill day.  So, Saturday the kiddo went and picked out a present for me while I was using one of my Ulta GC's above.  He got me a pillow pet, and I picked out some NYX goodies....the lipliner I got wasn't pictured, but I got Hot Red.



Saturday night I went out with some friends for a few drinks & my friend Amanda gave me a depot of her Sugarpill Asteria.

It's SOOOOO PRETTY!!!!

Then Sunday I went to Michaels and got some crafting scissors for tape/nail art and some brush soap for my makeup brushes.(forgot to take pics)

Now here's some quick pics of my nails.  Please ignore the growth as I did them Friday and forgot to take pics until now(with my phone).  I did one coat of OPI Fly and 1 coat of Orly Sparkling Garbage. 

I definitely plan to find a backup of Sparkling Garbage. 

I also received some sample baggies of shadows from MakeUp Zombie aka Wendi, and forgot to take a picture of those.  They're so pretty too. 

Like I said, it was a pretty chill weekend.  I did get some monies, which I used to purchase some of the items above & the rest I'm saving for Black Friday sales.  I do have some Candii Blossom Cosmetics shadows on order too since they already have their sale going on. 

25 Random Things You May Not Know About Me

I hope y'all had a wonderful weekend.  The SO is on vacation this week, so I'm scheduling posts in advance to allow myself time to maybe get some projects done around the house and stuff.  I've seen this tag going around YouTube and thought I'd do one here.  I think I've previously done one, but I always find them fun and challenging.

LoL at my smirk!

1. Even though I color my hair various shades of red, I am a natural redhead.  I started out with red hair, which changed to blonde, which changed to brown, which changed to auburn.  No matter what color I put on my hair, the red stays.  It's even a pain to try to bleach to blonde....I've tried several times and failed.  So red it stays.  Yes, I do have the freckles as well.
2. Chick-fil-A is like my favorite fast food....well besides The Varsity which now I need to go visit soon.  Anyway, in high school I'd take money my grandmother had given me to buy chicken biscuits every morning for breakfast.  CFA was one of the few things I could keep down during my entire pregnancy with my kiddo.  I swear their chicken and tea are like crack....I'm totally addicted.
3. On the topic of food(can you tell I'm starving at this particular moment?), my favorite donuts are Krispy Kreme.  I remember one time riding in the back of an ambulance on my way to the ER with the EMT trying to hook an IV up to me and I'm whining that I saw the hot sign on and didn't have my phone with me to call my mom(who was behind us) to turn around and go get me some.  Thankfully my dad brought me one with Starbucks the next morning.  
4. I was a total tomboy growing up.  I still kinda am as I don't really dress girly much at all.  I played softball, basketball, & bowled.  I was always out playing some type of sport with the boys as well.  
5. I once worked for an ambulance service.  I worked on the non-emergency side and transported dialysis patients to & from appointments along with medicare patients.  I met some interesting people and learned how to get around town rather quickly.  It was long hours, but the people I worked with made up for it.
6. TV shows are one of my obsessions.  I'm completely addicted to them.  Old and new.  Friends, Sex & The City, House, Bones, Drop Dead Diva, Game Of Thrones, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, Beauty And The Beast, RHOA, Army Wives, Chicago Fire, Rizzoli & Isles, Covert Affairs, How I Met Your Mother, NCIS, NCIS: LA, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch.  Thank goodness for my DVR. 
7. I have  HUGE family....well technically, by blood I have a small one...but when you're raised with people as your family though marriage, divorce shouldn't matter.
8. HI, my name is Harri and I'm a goo hoarder.  No seriously.  I have at least 5 different lip balms currently sitting on my desk, plus the numerous lip products I have in my purse, on my nightstand, and in my bathroom.  I have at least 10 lotions on my desk plus the ones in those other places.  I think my body spray/perfume stash area is completely full at like 15-20.  Not to mention all the hair products & shower gels I have in my bathroom.  It's redonk.  THOUGH, with my empties posts each month I've actually been forcing myself to use stuff and not just let it sit around.  
9. Unlike most people, I'd much rather text, email, or message on Facebook than speak on the phone.  My last job was in a call center and I think that killed everything for me.  
10. When shaving my legs, I ALWAYS seem to miss a spot.  I never notice it until later when I'm just sitting around or something.  It's a pain.
11. I forget stuff easily.  I have notes stuck everywhere, I screenshot stuff on my phone to remember things, I even have people text me when they're sitting right in front of me so I don't forget things.  It's bad.  I worked in a warehouse once where I was constantly writing stuff on my hand.
12. I've never really cared for the color orange, but lately I've been obsessed with it in polish form only.  Weird.
13. I used to have an extremely thick southern accent.  Like so thick that when I went on a trip to California, people looked at my funny when I spoke.  As I started working around more people from all over the US, the accent kinda disappeared, but it still comes out at times.  Especially when I'm tired or have been drinking.....or when I'm picking on my sister for her accent.
14. Reading is one of my favorite hobbies.  I used to beg for money to go to the bookstore or ask to to go the library ALL the time.  Sweet Vally High, The Babysitters Club, etc.  Then as I got older I was hooked on John Grisham & he was all I'd read.  It took a while to be turned onto new authors such as Patricia Cornwell, JR Ward, Laurell K Hamilton, and many others.  Now I read so many different series that when a new one comes out I have to re-read ALL the books before the new one.  I'm currently trying to read the Game Of Thrones series, but can't seem to get into the books for some reason.
15. My nightstand is a disaster, there's stuff everywhere.  Mostly nail care products, lotions, medicines, etc.  I often wake in the middle of the night in pain and don't want to have to go search my bathroom for something to take on top of having to grab something to take it with.  It's just easier, for me, to have it right next to me.  
16. I think I've actually admitted to this before, but yes....I'm in my mid 30's and still sleep with a teddy bear.  It's just something comforting for me and I find that if I don't have one, I have nightmares.  
17. I cannot sleep if I"m cold.  I have to be warm, especially my feet.  I pretty much sleep with an electric blanket year-round.  During the summer, it's on a low setting and higher during winter.  
18. With the above said, I hate summer....and winter.  My 2 favorite seasons are spring and fall.  I love when it's warm enough outside to roll the windows down and ride around or hang outside with friends & at night you can throw pants on or have a fire going in the pit.  
19. I didn't see Pulp Fiction or Clerks until like 5 years after they came out.  From then on, they were 2 of my many favorite movies.  I didn't even see The Boondock Saints until a few years ago & it came out in 1999.  There's still a HUGE list of movies I need to watch, maybe I'll do that this week.
20. While I listen to most genres of music....country is by far my favorite.  I've been to more country concerts than anything else.  
21. I hate paying full price for anything.  I'm always trying to find a deal or sale or coupon for something.  AND, if it's not on sale I look for the cheapest place or best deal I can find.  It was a habit I picked up when I got out of school and moved in with my mom.  I always shopped the clearance racks first before anything else.  
22. When I first meet people, I'm kinda quiet.  Until I get to know them, then if I like them...I'm talking and picking on them.  If I really like you, I pick on you. 
23. This one you probably do know....well at least if you follow me on Instagram.  My son is my world.  He's the reason I wake up every day and is the best thing that has EVER happened to me.  He'll be 8 in November and I'm so thankful for him every day.  I post pictures of him or of cute stuff he does all the time.
24. I suffer from migraines.  When I had insurance the neurologist said I had "daily headaches caused by a migraine".  Whatever that is.  I do know some of my triggers.....liquor(beer and wine are fine), bright light for extended periods of time, too much loudness, dehydration, certain smells(especially horrible ones), too much sun exposure, lack of sleep, stress, and that's all I can think of off the top of my head.  Each migraine is different, some way worse than others.  It's strange.
25. I learned how to shoot with a BB gun and my targets were coins taped to a poster.  My dad told me & my brother if we could hit our targets we got to keep the change.  Once we cleared our "board" we could move to the other one.  Yeah, I took most of the money.  Then a few years later I embarrassed him at the range with my marksmanship, my spread was the size of a quarter & his was all over the place.

Wow, that was harder than I thought.  A lot of times I'd think of something while I was away from the computer & totally forgot it by the time I got back.  It also took way longer than I'd planned, but I have focusing issues too.

What are some random things about y'all???  Leave a comment.
 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! My top 10 resolutions.

To start 2013 out with a bang, I want to share some of my resolutions.  Maybe this will help me be a little more accountable.

Source: someecards.com via Harri on Pinterest

While most of these are blog resolutions, some are personal too.  I'd actually typed a LONG list, but narrowed it down to my top 1010.

1. Comment more.  I've been viewing blogs since before I started blogging 2 years ago and lately have really slacked on comments.  I've just recently gotten back into the groove of doing it on YouTube, so I need to do it more on actual blogs.  This also includes replying to the lovely comments y'all leave on my own blog.  I do see them, because I approve them all, but I don't always reply or thank you.  
2. BLOG MORE!!!  I know the past few months I've taken a few breaks or mini-breaks and while it's been for personal reasons, I need to get back into the habit of having enough content drafted to cover downtime.  At one time I had enough content to take a month off from doing anything.  It was nice.
3. Use More!  I have products that I use, but forget to blog about.  Or ones that I use up I forget to do an empties post once I get a lot of them.  I need to remind myself to use products up.  Sometimes I put something aside when I don't like it and I end up liking it later.  Or I use about 3/4 of it and toss it.  That's money down the drain so to speak.  Use the lotions, cuticle oils, body sprays, hair stuff, make-up, etc. that I have.
4. Keep up with my social media accounts.  In the past month, I've remembered to go into YouTube daily just to check a few videos that I subscribe to, before that I hadn't even looked for months.  I missed out a lot.  I'm rarely on Twitter, but I do usually share my Instagram pictures and blog posts on there.  I always forget to post my blog pictures into my albums on Facebook, so I usually end up doing several at once and it fills up news feeds...I need to remember to do that daily.  I go in and pin my own stuff daily, but forget to look at anything else.  I need that inspiration in my life.  I do mostly Facebook, and I check Instagram every morning after I go through my Facebook stuff.
5. Move all of my stuff into one room and ORGANIZE!!!  I got a Helmer for Christmas and I'm planning to move my computer into the "office" where my manicure desk is.  I want it all in one spot so I'm not having to go back and forth after taking pictures to edit them.  I can do it all in one spot and type up notes as I go.  I'll be able to do my nails where I sit, then switch over to another chair and take the picture.  I also have some new lamps(which need bulbs) to hopefully make the lighting situation a little better.  That room will totally be mine, with the exception of sharing the tv with the kiddo.  So it'll be nice to be able to do things without being bothered or without bothering them if it's too late.
6. Re-do my blog.  I've been saying this for a while that I need to sit and do my own layout & header, but I've not taken the time to do it.  I really don't know what I want just yet, but I don't want to pay a lot to do it all.  Especially when I have Photoshop and some basic skills to do it myself.  Get a tab up of my basic/holy grail/things I use all the time products.  Like what I use for swatches, what top coats I use on a regular basis, etc.  In fact, if you have any questions for that post, please leave a comment and I'll include my answer once I get that up.
7. Get myself on a schedule.  I've trained myself to reward myself with computer time in between breaks from cleaning.  Otherwise I'd never get anything done.  I need to make a schedule for myself to ensure that I take time to do stuff for myself too.  I generally multi-task like a mad woman, but sometimes it's just too much.  Right now, I'm actually watching the boys play with stuff on the Xbox, catching up on my YouTube subscriptions, playing on Facebook, reading blog posts, and writing up this post.  
8. More NAIL ART!!!  I have stamping plates that I rarely use, I gave up marbling after trying it twice, I suck at freehanding, BUT occasionally I do decent jobs.  I have all these pretties and I need to do more than just swatch & wear them.  I have the tools to do it, just not the motivation.  I promise to try to do more.  
9. Take more ME time.  Take time to spend with friends, read without being disturbed, take time just to relax.  I've been stuck in a funk for a while and really haven't wanted to do anything.  I'm working on that and working on bettering myself.  Actually read, I've not been able to focus on reading or playing WoW at all.
10. Open myself to new things.  New authors, new movies(or even old ones I've never seen), new music(though I"m a music junkie), new make-up, new looks, colors, new artistic methods, etc.  If I like something, I become instantly addicted to it.  In fact, in the last year, I started watching at least 10 shows that I've never seen before or even thought I'd watch.  Some things, such as food, are a little difficult to try due to some medical issues I have....but I can at least try.  

I could honestly sit here and type a super long list, but I won't.  Basically, I want to inspire and be inspired.  I want to see beauty in life again and not so much ugly.  Only I can change that.  Only I can change me.  With the things I want to change about myself, it's going to be a rough long road.....but I have to start having confidence in myself to follow through and finish the drill.

I've already started a few things I want to work on, I just need to do one thing at a time and believe in me.  I also plan to do more with my kid.  I'm hoping that, with his new Christmas presents, I can start doing a family game night a couple of times a month.  

What are some resolutions that you have this year?

My beach vacation! (pic heavy)

I haven't been on vacation since 2007, so I was really looking forward to this.  Some problems came up & I had to stay in my room for a few days while everyone else went out having fun, but I still enjoyed it.  If you follow me on Twitter/Instagram, you may have seen some of these pictures, but I'll share here anyway.

I didn't take my camera out much, since I really didn't get out much.  When I did get out, I just used my phone to take pics.  Warning....there is a foot pic down below....

I died laughing at the name of this road....my name!!!

Daytona Motor Speedway

Entering Daytona Beach

I had Ice Ice Baby stuck in my head after seeing this road sign.

My nails at the pool. :D

A pic of my kiddo in the kiddie area.

One of the amazing sunsets.

The only sunrise pic I got....and that was because my coffee creamer was left in the other room.

A beautiful church that I got to see from my room.

The 2 pics below were taken in Angell & Phelps Chocolate factory...yes those shells are made of chocolate.  We picked up a few things & it was nommy.  Luckily, we had a coupon!!

From the Angell & Phelps chocolate factory

Conch shell made of chocolate!

My kiddo picked out his own boogie board....he was cold since it had just rained.

My toes in the sand!

I laughed SO hard when I saw this in one of the stores. 

A packed beach....there were people ALL over.

I used this stuff on my face ALL week.  It's AMAZEBALLZ!

Below are the shirts the kiddo & I got.  The two on the top are from Wild-N-Crazy Airbrush while the bottom two are from The Shirt Shack....both are near the main pier. 

our t-shirts

Another beautiful sunset...

yet another one...

Then one day we were out running around & decided to go to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co for lunch....we had a blast.  Our server asked some trivia questions & it took her forever to stump me.  I think I amazed her big time & even more so that I answered in the Forrest Gump accent. 

I loved this quote on the table....in fact, every time I get Ice Cream I have to yell "Lt. Dan, I got Ice Cream" just like Forrest does.

My non-alcoholic drink....liquor is a migraine trigger for me.

Our yummy food.

My kiddo got sick early in the week, we think he has a molar coming in & something happened to my foot & it feels like I have a horrible splinter stuck in it.  We tried several things to get it out with no luck, couldn't even see it. 

So, on the way home we stopped in Savannah to take the kiddo to River Street.  I'd really have loved to go to The Lady & Sons, but there's no way we could've even gotten in to eat. 

The lovely River Street

Me taking the picture above.

The storm that chased us out of Savannah.

I didn't get many pictures while there, because I totally forgot to charge my phone.  We went to River Street Sweets for their awesome candies.  Lunch at The Cotton Exchange & walked around a bit.  Eventually, I'll take a weekend trip down there & get some pics of the beautiful history in and around Savannah. 

New(or a reminder) and To Do

I find this absolutely funny.  I found it on Pinterest recently and it cracked me up.

So, some things you may or may not have noticed around my blog or seen me mention on twitter......

• You can now follow me via bloglovin' and NetworkedBlogs if you don't have GFC.
• I also have a Pinterest page.  :D  I do sometimes pin funny things that may offend some people, so if you're easily offended, please unfollow the boards which contain those pins.
• I am a Brazen Beauty :D  You can click the link I just posted or the affiliate banner to the right if you wish to check them out or purchase.  Let me just say what I've tried so far is awesome. :D

Now some things I'm planning to work on while the kid is on vacation and NOT HOME this week.....

•  Design a cover picture for my Facebook profile.  I dislike the timeline, but there's nothing I can do about it.  
• Get some swatching done, I have a box of untrieds that doesn't even have everything in it and it's full.  I figure I can just get through as much as possible this week so I can be WAY ahead and be able to do more nail art for a while.
• Work on some reviews.  I have some Brazen shadows to swatch & review, other than the green ones I wore for St. Pats.  I have a couple Girly Bits polishes to swatch, even though you may have seen them already.  I also have 6 on the way from Hong Kong to review. Lastly, some Lush products I was lucky to snag over the weekend and am totally loving.
• All this on top of cleaning the house & doing laundry.  I may rearrange my living room if my back is up to it. I also need to put my new rug from Ikea on the floor.  
• Throw everything in Easter baskets for my son.  He will have two this year.  One from us and one from my Dad.  He gave me some money and said go get some things.  SO, all of that was purchased this past weekend and I get to throw it together and hide it before he comes home Saturday.

I'm sure there are other things I forgot to mention above, but oh well.  I have to write them down so I stick to it and make sure I get things done.  Otherwise I say I'll do it and slack off.  

Hope everyone else has a wonderful and if you or your kids are on Spring Break, have tons of fun.

LATER Y'ALL!!!

Another random mani I forgot...

I totally forgot to put this in my last post, so here it is.  I did this for a friends birthday party since one of her fav colors is pink.  Again, I didn't get any camera shots, but took these with my phone.

This is China Glaze QT with some funky french tips in ManGlaze Matte Is Murder.  I put this on twitter when I did it, so I apologize if you've seen it.

Holo & matte just work awesome together IMO.

TOODLES Y'ALL!!!

I'm alive, I promise

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you already know I'm still here.....but I actually forgot to write a blog. 

I've taken a break from blogging for a few weeks for several various reasons.  Two of those reasons being that I'm waiting on my light tent to arrive and I'm kinda burned out. 

I have a TON of stuff to swatch and I still need to work on a post showing y'all the cute things I got for Christmas.  I've not really done a lot of photographing my mani's except with my phone, but I'll show y'all pics once I get everything settled.

ALSO, you may or may not have noticed I changed my layout yet again.  I made the header, but I'm still not sure how I feel about it. 

So, I'll probably start back up in the next week or so......as long as life doesn't get crazy again. 

TOODLES Y'ALL!!!

*Fail Friday* On HOLD........

There will not be a Fail Friday post this week.  AND, since College Football starts next week, I'm going to start doing Football Friday posts throughout the season.

I'm a HUGE fan of UGA football and have been known to do mani's and make-up to show that pride.

I may even throw a few different teams in since my SO is also a fan of the Iowa Hawkeyes, but I WILL NOT do another SEC team OR GA Tech.  Sorry, just won't happen.

BUT I do encourage you to do your own team.  If you'd like to do a guest post with your own team, let me know.


There are now 8 days until the Dawgs season starts!!!

TOODLES Y'ALL!!!

Would you rather???

My friend Melissa over at Melissa's Random Musings did this & I thought it would be fun.

1.  Would you rather lose all of your mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks and lipglosses or lose all of your palettes and eye shadows?
~ That's a tough one.  Technically some of my palettes have liners and lip stuff in them so I could go that route.  OR I could say forget the palettes & shadows as I could just use certain eyeliners for all over the eye and lipsticks for blushes.  But I think I'd have to lose all of my mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks, & glosses.

2.  Would you rather chop off all your hair or never be able to cut it again?
~ Chop it all off....it grows back.

3.  Would you rather have a coral cheek or a pink cheek?
~ Pink. I'm not much of a coral person, though I do wear it on occasion.

4.  If you had $1000 to spend, would you rather buy clothes or makeup?
~ Make-up/nail polish.  I have enough clothes.

5.  Would you rather apply lipstick as eyeliner or eyeliner as lipstick?
~ IF I had to choose, eyeliner as lipstick......because I could change it up & add gloss.

6.  Would you rather only shop at MAC or Sephora?
~ DUH! Sephora.  More variety!

7.  Would you rather use only one eyeshadow color or one lip color the rest of your life?
~ I could totally deal with one lip color.  I generally do nudes or glosses anyway, so I don't really do anything different.  I couldn't go without changing my eyeshadow up once in a while.

8.  Would you rather wear winter clothes in the summer or summer clothes in the winter?
~ Summer clothes in the winter........I wear t-shirts year-round anyway & I've been out in the "snow" in flip flops before.  It's never really winter here.  Though I do complain when I'm cold. 

9.  Would you rather have dark nails or bright nails all year round?
~ As much as I try to get brighter nail colors I still gravitate toward dark colors.  I usually do the bright ones on my toes.

10.  Would you rather only be able to wear your hair in a pony tail or a messy bun?
~ When my hair is long, it's mostly in a pony tail anyway.

11.  Would you rather never be able to paint your nails again or never use lipgloss?
~ *cringe* I'd have to say never use gloss b/c I could still use lip balm. 

12.  Would you rather shave your eyebrows and have none at all? Or sharpie them in everyday?
~ neither

13.  Would you rather live without makeup or nail polish?
~ I couldn't do either.  Even though I rarely wear make-up anymore I couldn't go without it.  I don't have perfect skin, but I can make it look like I do with make-up.

I'm not tagging anyone in particular, so if you read this and want to do it.  GO AHEAD!

TOODLES Y'ALL!!!

Changes around the blog...

I'm sure some of you have noticed the new layout.  With that new layout, I've also added some tabs to the top of the page (they're underneath my header).  I need to add a blogroll tab since the layout killed the one I had on the right sidebar. 

SO, here's your chance.  If you want me to add you to my blogroll......send me an email and I'll start working on it.  My email is on the contact tab up top.

You may also notice I'm now posting press releases from some polish companies.   I've also added the RSS Grafiti app to my Facebook page, so hopefully it'll work and automatically post there when I post something.

I've got a lot of stuff to swatch & review and will probably be working on some of that this week.  The other half is off work for his birthday & we're going to try to do some family stuff so I may not be posting as much this week. 

That being said, I do have some good stuff to show you.  The stuff I have on my nails right now is freaking amazing & I can't wait to let you see, but I have to wait 2 weeks. 

Now, I'll stop rambling and go get ready to go grocery shopping.  I hope all of y'all are having a wonderful weekend.

TOODLES Y'ALL!!!

ZOMG!!!!!!!

I noticed earlier that I had 149 followers.  I went to do an ombre mani after drafting some posts.  When I got back to my computer to note what colors I used (so I didn't forget), I noticed I now have.............

That's right..........if you click it, I HAVE 150 FOLLOWERS!!! 


Words can't express how grateful I am.  So, now I must get my giveaway together as I promised when I hit 150.  I should have it up sometime this weekend.  I will need to play around with the google entry forms as I know it'll be easier than entering everything by hand like I did last time. 


Be on the look out, it'll be a "wild" one. 

TOODLES Y'ALL!!!

Update

I'm still visiting with my family so I'm updating from my sister-in-law's laptop. 

My Aunt is still in ICU.  The big scare the other day was just the blood pressure cuff being on wrong.  I saw her Sunday and she was trying to rest, but doing ok.  She has some type of bad infection. 

My Uncle was either released last night or he's being released today.  I saw him Sunday as well and he looked better than I was expecting, but I could tell he was sick.

My Grandfather has now been moved to a hospice.  This was yesterday afternoon and I saw him shortly after he was moved.  He's at peace and was just annoyed that it wasn't cold enough.  He's ready, but just wants to make it to his 82nd birthday which is June 4th.  I may go see him again today so I can spend a little bit of time with him without the kiddo needing my full attention. 

I'm doing ok.  I'm one of those who keeps it together for a while then just breaks down and has a good cry or three. 

HOpe you ladies are doing ok yourselves.  I'm now up to 141 followers!  9 more and I"ll have my next giveaway. 

TOODLES Y'ALL!!!

A-B-C easy as 1-2-3

I was tagged by my girl Melissa at Melissa's Random Musings.


A. Age: 32 blah

B. Bed size: Cali King (though the frame is King.  LoL)

C. Chore you hate:  I hate them all, but mainly Laundry.

D. Day: I'd have to say ummm Saturday.  I can usually get a lot of stuff done.

E. Essential start to your day: Hugs & kisses from the kiddo, but after that......Coke, Facebook, & Blogger.  LoL

F. Favourite colour: Red.....Black

G. Gold or Silver: Silver :)

H. Height: 5'6"

I. Instruments: Loud mouth!.

J. Job title: Stay at home mom.

K. Kids: I have a 5 year old boy who is finishing up Pre-K

L. Live: Buford, GA

M. Mum’s name: Victoria (Vicki)

N. Nicknames: Mostly it's just Mommy......others are Harri, Red, Bitch.  I could go on & on.

O. Overnight hospital stays: Only two, my miscarriage I had about 8-9 years ago & when I gave birth to Hunter in 2005 on Black Friday.  LoL

P. Pet peeve: I have a TON.  Chewing food with mouths open, bad drivers, people who leave their blinkers on after getting over or turning, poor spelling.  This is another one I could do a whole post about, but I won't.   

Q. Quote from a movie: "I can drive any forkin' thing around."  from Smokey And The Bandit

R. Right or left handed: Right handed.

S. Siblings: One older half brother, a younger half brother & half sister, one step-brother and one-step sister.

T. Time you wake up: it really depends.  Hunter is finishing up school and sometimes I actually wake up at 6:30 to help get him ready.  Other times it's anywhere between 8-10.  Weekends it's 9ish or later if he lets me sleep in. 

U. Underwear: Leaving this one alone.

V. Vegetables you dislike: Mushrooms, Brussel Sprouts, Asparagus......

W. What makes you run late: Oversleeping or just taking my time getting ready.

X. X-Rays you’ve had: Mostly dental.  I have had a few done on my knee when I hurt it at a job several years ago.  Other than that, I can't think of any.
 
Y. Yummy food you make:  Chili or pot roast.

Z. Zoo: Well, I haven't been to a "Zoo", but I have been to an animal rescue farm recently.




Now, I'm tagging anyone who wants to do this as I'm sure this will be spread around quickly soon.


TOODLES Y'ALL!!!

Things I need to get done...

I've been doing some major procrastinating. 

So, I figure if I post this here, I may get motivated!

• Make a spreadsheet with the polishes I have so I don't have to worry about dupes.
• Update wishlist.
• Clean desk, badly.
• Start on blush swatches, pics, posts.
• Finish swatching polishes on nail wheel.
• Make another header & work on a layout for blog.
• Play with, and do a review on the BH cosmetics 6color shadow palette that I won.

I know I have several other things to do, but just can't think at the moment (doesn't help that I'm writing this at about 1am.)

This week is going to be a little scattered for me.  I have the final parent/teacher conference with my son's Pre-K teacher Wednesday morning at 7:20am (hopefully I can stay awake for it) and I need to focus on getting an achievement in WoW (world of warcraft). 

Now I'm off to get some sleep so I can get started on this first thing in the morning.

TOODLES Y'ALL!!!

Good news, even better news, and an EPIC FAIL on my part!

So in a previous post I stated things I'd planned to get done this weekend.  I really haven't done much of that.  I did get my foot file in & will be working on a review of that.  I will just say now that it's the shiz.  I also did my nails....Zoya Zara on the toes & Zoya Caitlin on the fingers.  I'll be posting pics and info on those later as well.  I want to try a few things out on top of Caitlin before I do the post, so hopefully I can get that done this week.  If not, I'll be getting a LOT done during spring break so I can get things out of the way and drafted to post later. 

I didn't get much further on the Merry Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton either, but I did finish book 4.  I'm now reading Mistral's Kiss.  I just have to complete the remaining books before Friday.  I also need to go through my stash for my giveaway as I've changed my mind from what I grabbed out of it the other day.

Now to the reason for this update rant.  LoL.  I saw on one of the blogs I follow, sorry I can't remember which one or I'd definitely give the credit, that Sally's was having 50% off their clearance items.  I've hit that store up several times lately and gotten some good things.  I went and looked through, but wasn't impressed with what was left.  So, I looked at China Glaze polishes.  They're still 2 for $10 through the end of the month.  I picked Rainbow since it's on my wishlist of polishes that I want.  I'd grabbed a diferent color from the Tronica collection than I already have and went to check out.  While standing at the register, I noticed more clearance bins to the right.  Didn't really see much, but did see a Seche Plus (nail strenghtener) for $6.49...that was before the 50% off.  So, I had the cashier take off the CG Tronica polish and snagged the Seche Plus for $3.25. 

The even better news is I finally got through to the other half and showed him how using coupons pays off.  This morning I went to Redplum and snagged a few coupons.  Most of them were for beauty products, but I did grab a few for ClaritinD, which he takes for allergies, and Childrens Claritin.  I figured we'd be better off getting it at one of the drugstores because I saw a good deal in one of the ads....though I can't remember which one now.  Well, he went to Publix instead of taking me to any of the drugstores.  While we're walking through and getting groceries, we took a detour down the childrens/baby isle.  I look just to see what the cost of Children's Claritin is there and was shocked.  They had 2 different flavors of the liquid.  Grape was $8-$9, but they had Original, which I think is peach, for $4.21.  I checked the expiration date and it's good for another year.  SO....we went ahead & snagged it.  I had to run back out to the truck to get the $3 off coupon I printed, which would make it $1.21.  BUT it gets even better.  Publix had an in store coupon for $2 off, and the cashier used both!!!  So, essentially, we were PAID $0.79 to take this stuff home! 

You'll see in the pic below where Claritin was scanned, then a few other coupons, and the $3 & $2 coupons were scanned.  I'm sorry for the quality as I didn't feel like pulling my DSLR out and used my camera phone instead.

Lastly, my EPIC FAIL.  Last Sunday, while my dad was here, I went to look at my wishlist so I could print off just the Zoya polishes I wanted.  That way I could mark them off on the booklet as well.  I just went to go edit said wishlist to see if China Glaze-Rainbow was on it to mark as "have" and to add this polish...this is what I found.

Somehow, my stupid non-focusing ass, deleted everything off except the Zoya polishes.  I don't know HOW in the world I managed to do that.  The awesome news is that right before I hit publish on this post I decided to see if I could restore the list.  I went to File>See Revision History...then over to the right it gave me dates of when I revised the list.  I went back to last Sunday and restored it!!!

If anyone knows of any great polishes I should check out, that aren't on my list, please let me know.  I know there's a few I keep forgetting to add on there.

TOODLES Y'ALL!!!