exciting news.

Hi everybody! I know I've been away from the blogging world for quite some time, but I have some exciting news to share. I recently began going to school to get my nail technician license, and I have already found a job at an awesome local salon. I've decided to bring my blog back from the dead in an effort to continue to grow in the industry. I have been posting my nail work on my Instagram (@c4rped1em) but I wanted to return to the blog so I would have an outlet that was exclusively nails-only. I am committed to doing my best to keep this blog up & running with various nail looks, things I'm working on in school, and anything else that might pertain to this exciting little world that I have been in love with for so long! 

I am so grateful that I am going to be able to make something I am so passionate about my daily career. Having a career is so different from working, and I have been merely "working" for far too long. It's time to put myself first and allow myself to do something I have wanted to do for so long. For those of you that know me personally, my overall plan is to continue in school to obtain my Masters of Arts in Teaching so I will be able to simultaneously teach elementary school while I pursue a career in nail artistry. I am so excited for these new chapters in my life. 

I'd like to show you my first attempts at nail tips & wraps, two services that I previously had no knowledge of performing. I will admit that I did get quite frustrated when I first attempted tips. Adhering tips on to your own nails is hard, or at least was at first. All things considered, I was pretty content with how mine came out: 

I couldn't believe how (relatively) natural the tips looked on my nails. The next day, we worked with OPI MicroWrap. I was intent on putting a wrap on each of my nails. The more practice the better, right?

I was really feeling these. I planned on painting them when I got home, but things got super busy & I was unable to find the time to do so. I eventually hated how they felt on, and ended up soaking them in acetone. Now I'm rocking really short natural nails. I regret putting tips on all of my nails, but we're back on the road to strengthening my natural nails so all is good.

Please take a look through my blog and keep an eye out for new posts. I'm excited to be back in the wonderful blogging community. I hope everybody enjoys the rest of their weekend.

while i was gone...

Holy moly, where did the past few weeks go?! I've been working about 50-60 hours a week plus school and babysitting/tutoring... along with trying to maintain a social life. I've been doing an ok job of all of this, but the blog just inevitably got put on the back burner for a while. Working 12 hour days and trying to find time to paint my nails is one of the hardest things I've ever tried to do. I miss it, but sometimes other things take precedence.

While I was gone (brace yourself for lots of pictures!)...

I turned 21.
WAHOO! I am now a fully legal adult. Scary. At least I can be on my parents' insurance for another 5 years. PHEW. Here are some pictures (in chronological order) from my special day:

My amazing boyfriend hand-delivered flowers to my work.

A happy, lucky girl :D

Pre-dinner at The Cheesecake Factory with my best friends and family

Nom nom nom nom cheesecake!

Heh heh. First shot of the night- bacardi 151!

The boyf & I: he came to Diva's Drag Wars with my friends and I. He must really like me. ;D

I had a great birthday with my friends & fam but it was shortlived and I was back to work the next day. Moving on to other big developments in conjunction with my big day... 

Sharing a (legal) beer with my mom:

 

This was excellent. We saw Scotty McCreery just a town over from where we live and even though the beer at the venue was 7 bucks a pop, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to buy my first legal beer. 

I met the boyf's parents... and I started wearing makeup again!

This is a big one! I ended up spending Thanksgiving with him and his family: my first Thanksgiving EVER away from my mom and dad! I was so nervous to meet his parents, but it all went really well. We all got along well and I think I made a good first impression. Out of sheer nerves, I broke out all of my benefit makeup and decided to give it a shot. I haven't work makeup in a long time but I think I'm getting back into it! Perhaps some FOTD posts in the future...? 

 

Even though the past two weeks have been insane, it's been a fun ride. I'm reallyreallyreally stressed but I'm surviving. I haven't gotten to paint my nails much, but I've done a few manicures. I'll show you those over the next week. For today, my birthday manicure!

 

I used two coats of Urban Outfitters Hangover and a glitter gradient on top using Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday. I thought that these shades were appropriate. ;-) 

WHAT DO YOU THINK?! I'm glad to be back- it feels good to type up a post! :)) 

off topic tuesdays: what i learned by cleaning my room

 

I've been wanting to do this for a while now- I always blog only about nails (with a few mentions of other things), and I want a chance to talk about other things. This is why I'm starting off topic tuesdays: one day a week where I can talk about other things!  I'd love to turn this into a link-up but I want to see if anyone else is interested first. :)

Today, I'm going to share some pictures with you from when I cleaned my room last week. Yup- it's already messy again... I just can't keep it clean. It's funny what you can learn about yourself from doing a little cleaning...

I have far more clutches than any girl should have.

Like, honestly, self? Not to mention the legit stockpile I have in my car. There's gotta be at least five in there too. Every time I go to the outlets, I must get a Coach clutch. I always justify it by saying it's a collection. Right. At least they're cute?

No matter what, I never recap my perfume bottles.

And... I subsequently lose them. Even the cap to my $120 Coco Chanel Mademoiselle. Oops. Is anybody else guilty of doing this?

I still have my high school tennis uniform.

Sweat stains and all. Contrary to what they say, you can still graduate even if you don't return your uniform. Maybe it's because they ordered new uniforms the year after I graduated... whatever. I also don't blame them for not wanting it back; not sure if you can see the emanating sweat stains that permeate the white shirt.

Too much tie-dye? Wut.

Yup. Tie-dye o b s e s s i o n. It's bad. I've outgrown it this year, but the past few years it was necessary to tie-dye several times a year. Because one... two... three tie-dye shirts are not enough. Fun fact? One of these shirts actually made it to Iraq & back- a few years ago I dated a member of the military and sent him a tie-dye shirt as a cheer-up gift in one of his care packages. It somehow wound up back in my closet, but I'm not complaining. Not many people can say they own a shirt that survived the war... and a tie-dye shirt at that!

My obsession for Ashton Kutcher was embarassingly evident.

I was a bridesmaid in my cousin's wedding several years ago (scary that it was several years ago... why does time fly by so fast?) and this purse filled with several Mrs. Kutcher items was my bridesmaid gift. Pretty sure the other bridesmaids got Tiffany bracelets. Sad part? I was overjoyed with my gift and wanted no part of the silver jewelry. I will never ever ever get rid of these. 

 

I love art, but I am horribly un-artistic.

This was a geometric/color scheme watercolor painting I did during my intro art class freshman year of high school. I accidentally smudged the black paint, so I decided to go with it and smudge other paint spots so it would look purposeful and meaningful. Oy. I wish I were more artistic, it's actually kind of sad how poor and lacking my creative skills are.

Is this something you'd like to see again? I hope so. I like featuring different things on my blog for once. What are you thinking? Would you ever consider joining me and linking up for this? I would absolutely love that!

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