Halloween decorations 2015

It's the eve of All Hallow's Eve! So it's a perfect time to show you my Halloween decorations for the year. Each year, after Halloween, I go and raid the craft stores for Halloween decorations for the next year. That meant that in addition to the few things that I keep each year (lights, a couple of signs, giant spider, broomstick), I always have something new too. Works well!
Note: Henry did tell me yesterday that our house wasn't scary enough, when he saw fake graveyards in front of some other houses. So apparently my efforts to go more cute are not appreciated by my son!

A couple of weekends ago was the perfect weather for going outside and decorating. Henry and I did most of this while Natalie was at dance class one breezy Saturday afternoon.

Look how cute!

Here's the front porch. Wow, I just realized that my daisy welcome mat doesn't match at all! Time to get a seasonal one.

Two different views of the porch. I love the big spiderweb! I had this idea last year, and it worked pretty well, although I had to keep fixing it when it blew in the wind. Either it's been less windy this year, or I've figured out how to fasten it better, as I've only had to fix it once this year.

 

And yes, I did say that I have lights! I've had these for many years now, and I love them. It always makes me sad to take these and our Christmas lights down - it's just nice to have the front yard glowing at night.

While most of my decorations are outside, I do have a few inside as well. I think I got this candle holder last year? I can't really remember, but I almost completely forgot about it. The kids loved the glow!

 And on the small table by our front door I have these little knick knacks. I found the sign this year in the $1 section at target - since I'm dressed as the Wicked Witch today at work, I'm definitely a fan!

Nutcracker Audition 2015

Last month was Natalie's now-annual Nutcracker audition. This year she and her friends auditioned to be "Little Mice", who are in the first act of the show, during the big party scene. Their dance is adorable, and the lighting and background on the stage made for some fun photos, even from way in the back of the auditorium!

I played some in editing and came up with these black and white silhouetted shots. I love them!

Nutcracker week will be tiring, but I've made some great friends with other moms in the class and we're there to help each other out! Can't wait to see our little mice up on stage.

My latest Jamberry applications!

Ok, I've been prepping this post for a while, and it keeps getting longer since I keep doing new jamberry applications, so I think it's time to finally get it up here. I think this post runs me from about mid-May through end of October (this week!) - so many pretty nail options! And of course I'll have more to show for the holiday season...

Anyway, here are a couple that I did in May/June. The left was a favorite: the striped wrap is actually clear and pink, and I put it over a silver nail polish. The left was also a clear wrap (silver pattern on clear), that I put over a green nail polish for my conference in June.

Another favorite: mermaid toes! I did these for our beach vacation in July and absolutely loved it. Can't wait to put them on again next summer!

Here are a couple of girly/floral applications I did. The one on the right I ended up NOT liking, and was able to trade away the rest of the wrap for something that I like a lot more.

This was another favorite: a double wrap! I had seen tutorials online about layering wraps, and thought I'd give it a try. I put on the purple solid wrap, and then the clear/white over top. It turned out SO GREAT! The pic on the left was when I applied it, and on the right was about 9 days later. Held up so well! I've got another double wrap below, as I liked this one so much.

Then it was time to finally put on some butterflies! I thought that a full hand of butterflies was too much (although I changed my mind on that below), so I added it with the "lotus" flowers. So pretty!

 

The next application was both toes and hands. I liked both of these! The nails turned out better than I thought too - again, an animal/flower combination.

 

I then had some difficulty choosing my next application, and decided to finally put on this one that I'd had for a while but had never used. Since I didn't have any specific applications to do, this one worked for a week or so.

Then, I received my order from the latest catalog, and I put on the one I was SOOOO excited for - Butterfly Bliss! This looked gorgeous in the catalog, and it came out on my nails even better than I could have hoped. This one lasted a good almost 10 days (which for me is a long time!), and I could not stop looking at my nails. So pretty!!

I even did butterfly toes to match! This was an older wrap that I hadn't used yet either. Loved my butterflies!

Then, in late September, I headed to Arizona and threw on these black/clear wraps over 3 colors of nail polish. I was going for a southwest/Aztec vibe (the wrap is called "Lost Ruins"), and I think it worked! I also had blue on my toes to match the blue on m fingers. Not something I would normally apply, but it worked for Arizona!

Now, the second double wrap application. As I mentioned above, I had traded away one of the wraps I didn't like. My friends told me about a jamberry trade group on Facebook, which I joined. I've since done DOZENS of trades (I'm slowly breaking myself of my addiction). I had joined three additional jamberry design/trade groups, and I've spent way too much time thinking about this. Pro: I've traded away everything now that I didn't really want, and gotten some awesome things in trade...like this one! The top wrap (colors) is actually a tinted clear (with the leaf pattern on it); I put it over a silver sparkle wrap, and it looked AMAZING together. So, thanks to the woman I traded with for making this happen!

Then, in early October, I put on the foxes that I traded a friend for half of. This means i only have 4 wraps left, but that should get me a pedicure out of it, and maybe a couple of accents with another wrap, so that's ok! The kids still have a lot left too. I say kids, because Henry finally wanted to wear some jams too!

He wasn't totally sure about it (and I wasn't too sure that he'd keep them on), so we just did 3 on him as a trial. Luckily, he loved them and they lasted almost 3 weeks!

 

Then, in mid-October, it was time for some Noldus nails for our big Society for Neuroscience conference. We wore both green and purple this year, so I put that polish under a black/clear wrap. Not something I would do for any other reason than a conference, but they were fun for a week!

 Now we come to our current wraps....kids first! I traded a friend for a half sheet of the kids' monster jamberry wrap, and they are too cute! Henry liked his foxes so much that he wanted a full hand of monsters. Look how great these are on both of them!

Now, my Halloween application. I purchased one of these (black with spiders - Itsy Bitsy), and traded for the other (Eerie Nights). I thought that a whole hand of just one of these wraps might be too much (or not enough, depending), so I mixed them together, and LOVE how it looks. The matte finish of the spiders with the satin shine if the graveyard is so cool together. And it looks so great! Will definitely last through Halloween this weekend.

 I even did Halloween toes! I put the spider wrap on my big toe and painted the rest of them black. I realized that I went 35 years of my life without having ever put on black polish - guess I made it through my teen years relatively happy!

New makeup!

My friend Helen recently contacted me, as she's trying to increase her side business of selling Younique makeup. She knows that I wear makeup and would definitely be up for trying! So, she gave me some samples to try out last week:

Moodstruck Addiction Shadow Pallette (#3) - cool colors, including silver and purple

Moodstruck 3D fiber lashes (I was most excited about these)

Moodstruck Precision Pencil Eyeliner (in Perfect)

The first day I tried them, I hadn't really "done" my face - I mostly just wanted to see how the eye makeup worked. And holy cow, did it ever work! Here's a photo I took in my car of my eyes, both open and closed. Look at that gorgeous purple/silver color, and the lashes! I have actual eye lashes!

Applying the 3D lashes wasn't hard at all - it's just a two part step where you put on the transfer gel, and then put the 3D fibers on while the gel is still wet. They really do fill in your natural lashes nicely, and it almost looks as if I'm wearing fake lashes, in a way easier to manage system.

So the next step was to try this with more makeup for work. This meant doing up my whole face (I think you can see here that I'm actually wearing foundation, versus above). I took these photos again with my iPhone, this time in front of a white wall with natural light coming in, at the office. Once again, the silver/purple color is really nice on me, I think, and the lashes pop!

The collage below was to show how the makeup "wore" all day. The photos on the left are from the morning (including one from above), while the photo on the right is from about 7 hours later. Still have beautiful eye color, and the lashes are evident too!

So, one morning last week I thought I'd document the makeup application. Unfortunately every photo I take with my phone in my bathroom comes out with my skin rather orange, but I think you can still see the application and differences.

1) Left: no makeup (beginning)
2) Right: Loreal BB cream (primer) and Bare Minerals liquid foundation

 

3) Left: Urban Decay Bronzer and Blush applied, and some pink lip gloss
4) Right: eye shadow, liner, and mascara applied

 

5) Left: close-up of the makeup
6) Right: close-up, eyes closed to show the eye shadow and lashes

 

I really, really like these products. The eye shadow in particular is really pretty - it holds up all day, and I love the colors on me. The lashes are also pretty dramatic, especially if you add two coats (I've only done that once). I'm so happy I got to try out this makeup - I know if you live in the area Helen would help you with that too, so let me know and I can put you in touch!

Natalie is rocking second grade

I recently posted a Henry update, so I wanted to do the same for Natalie! Starting back in August, our big girl decided she needed a new look for second grade. I loved her long hair, but the shorter is cute too! And she was so happy to have a shorter 'do.

 

We did our back to school shopping, and she was very excited to show off some of her new clothes. When Henry saw her in the outfit below, he said "Natalie, you look like a grown up teenager!" He's right - she's looking too grown up!

Even with her shorter hair, we like to practice some new hair styles. Here was my first attempt at a waterfall braid - not too bad!

And look at this beautiful girl on picture day this year! I never buy school photos (I figure I can take my own), but we just got the proofs today and I have to say, both kids look pretty darn adorable. Maybe I have to order just a couple!

About two weeks ago, Natalie got something new - a new bike! Evan's mom and I picked it out at Target. She was definitely outgrowing her 16" Cinderella bike, and we found a 20" for a great price. She was so excited!!

It took her a little bit of getting used to,

 But pretty soon she was an old pro!

Oh, and school? We are so proud of her. After struggling some with reading in first grade (I'm so happy she had the teacher she did to work so hard with her last year!), reading has really locked in for her this year, and she's doing great with it. She finally loves reading, and wants to all of the time. In the past month she's made so much progress!

They've been spending a lot of time this month on counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s, and her worksheets have been perfect. They're also working on odd and even- love seeing this "E" for "exceeds the standard" on it!

 They also took their very first test of the year, on what it means to be a good citizen. Her teacher sent home a study sheet, but we really had no idea how the test would be structured, or what would be on it. Turns out we didn't need to worry - she rocked it!

All of this, combined with the dancing she's doing (I haven't been able to take any photos during class of course, but watching her on the monitor, particularly during her Showkids class, has been wonderful)...well, it really hit me how grown up she's becoming. I'm going to post soon on her Nutcracker audition - she's going to make an adorable Little Mouse!