Long time no blog!  Hey there everyone!  I hope that you've all been well, and you all are still here reading this lovely little blog of mine.  I apologize for going MIA, but I have had a few really hectic weeks, and then on top of it an old friend of mine lost her battle with cancer.  It was a huge wake up call for me to slow down and enjoy each moment.  She had sent me a text a week before she passed away, and I'm kicking myself that I didn't slow down and catch up with her more than what I did.  It was a hard lesson learned, and I just needed a little break from everything, including the blog.

Here I am though, back at it.  I've been painting my nails and now just need to edit some photos.  I'm really into the florals again, which you will see soon.  First though, it's my Monthly Mani Favs for April.  I know that it is May 6th, but it would kill my OCD if I didn't post this little roundup post.

Let's take a look!

• The One With the Floppy Eared Easter Bunny -Is earred spelled with two R's or one like I have in the title?   I'm not sure, both are coming up as proper in the spell check.  I'm going to go with my gut and say it's spelled with one R.  This manicure is one of my favorite Easter designs. I have done a variation of it for years, but this year is my favorite switch up because of the outline of the little bunny.  Thank you to SRG.Nails on Instagram for the idea!
  
• The One With the Pink Floral Spring Time Manicure - Pretty sure spring time is one word.  I'm failing all over the place with my post titles in the month of April.  One of my all time favorite floral designs.  You should see the floral designs I have coming up.  I'm really getting proud of myself with my pretty little florals.
  
• The One With the Easter Manicure! - My favorite Easter manicure.  That Serendipity Polish blue with that cute little bunny bootie!  Another design inspired by SRG.Nails.  I'm not going to lie, I was super nervous to create this design because I have failed time and time again at that little bunny.  I kid you not, I've tried to do similar designs since I started this blog.  Finally, success!
  
• The One With the China Glaze Dry Brush Manicure - Who can go wrong with a dry brush?  Especially when you use this color combination and mix it with a holographic?  Ugh, love it.

• The One Inspired by JasmineNobleNails - The first of many abstract manicures that are coming up on the blog.  Jasmine created this design and I absolutely fell in love due to the color combination.  Her design was better because she has longer nails, but I still think it turned out well.
• The One With the Mani Swap with NailsBySammie_ - I took to my Instagram Story and asked if anyone would be interested in doing a ManiSwap and NailsBySammie_ was quick to answer.  She has some of the best manicures on her page, so you really should go check her out.  I love how she uses little accent rings.  I loved her rose manicure, so I had to do it for my mani swap.  Plus, I was able to use Spare Me A French Quarter which is a lovely shade I forgot I owned.
• The One With the Abstract China Glaze Manicure - My favorite of the month.  Simple design which looked like it took forever to create.  Loved the gold accent with the fun neons.  Part of me wonders what it would look like with a silver accent....so I might be re-creating it real soon.
• The One With the Floral Manicure Inspired By Srg.Nails - I had a lot of manicures this month inspired by fellow nail artists.  Might be because I went on a mass unfollow of dead accounts and followed a lot of new, talented artists.  I need to become more active on Instagram more often so I can be inspired by more lovelies.  This manicure was absolutely lovely and I was really impressed with my nail art.

• The One With the Pink Dry Brush Manicure - This was me dipping my toe into pink manicures for February, and well as you can tell by the rest of my favorites (minutes the next one) I kind of stuck to the pink theme.  It's weirdly growing on me, but I don't think this will last, especially after I slap some green on my nails over the next few weeks.  I really enjoyed the black mixed with the pink for this manicure, and that accent.  You know me and my silver accents, so this really was a nice change.
  
• The One Where I Used 100 Pieces of Nail Art Tape and ILNP Mega X - Yes, you read that right, 100 pieces of nail art tape.  If you haven't checked this post out yet, you really need to.  It by far is my all time favorite manicure that I've ever created.  It was worth every.single.second. of time that it took me to create.  My crazy self might attempt to re-create it with some other colors in the future.  Maybe.
  
• The One with the Rose Manicure for Valentine's Day! And Blog-Versary - I'm kind of surprised that this manicure didn't have more "likes" on Instagram.  Truly loved this little dainty rose design with the pretty Mystic Maven by ORLY.  Also, can you believe that I've been blogging for 7 years???  Just still crazy to me that I've been doing this for so long.  I don't see myself ending anytime soon either.  Well, unless I just forget to blog like I have been.
  
• The One With the Heart Manicure - My pink hating self absolutely loved this manicure.  Just everything about it was so perfect.  It was something truly out of my comfort zone and I loved it so much that I can now see myself going out of my comfort zone again in the near future.

Hi all!  How are you all doing on this fine Saturday?  We are coming out the other end of the Polar Vortex, meaning that it's not going to be -1 degree with -35 wind chills.  We will be in the 30s today, and then I think the 50s on Monday.  Thennnn we will rewind back to the single digits towards the end of the week.  It just needs to stay one temperature for the next few weeks so my sinuses don't explode.

On top of the weather being all messed up, my week was crazy busy and the exhaustion is real.  I am so tired that I'm shocked I got this post up.  I'm really looking forward to staying in bed most of the weekend, watching Hulu Live, and literally pretending that there is no outside world.

Until those moments occur, let's take a look at my Monthly Mani Favs for January!

• The One With the First Snowflake Manicure of the Year - I had a real black, silver, and white kick at the end of December/beginning of January.  Honestly, I feel I may go back to it because it's so clean, neat, and sharp.  Loved this snowflake manicure accented with my favorite - ORLY Mirrorball.
  
• The One With the Snowman and Snowflake Nail Art - A re-creation of one of my all time favorite manicures which was inspired by Ruth's Nail Art.  After seeing a few people re-create my design, I decided it was my turn to re-do it as well.  Love it this time around so much better.
  
• The One With the Smoosh Snowflake Manicure - After discovering an amazingly easy way to create a smoosh manicure, I got to work on this manicure.  This has to be my all time favorite snowflake design!
  
• The One With the Galaxy Manicure - Who doesn't love a good galaxy design?  Every year I create one, and every year I love it!

Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  I apologize for my Monthly Mani Favs and Year and Review post being late.  As expected 2019 is much like 2018 where I'm busy as can be.  So therefore, I am going to have my Year and Review post up later today.  Maybe tomorrow....

Anyways, hi, how are you?  Is 2019 treating you well so far?  Can you believe December has come and gone and now we are already four days into 2019??  It's weird how some days the time seems to go so slowly, then others it goes so fast.  No idea how that happens, but it does.

So before more time ticks away, let's take a look at my favorite manicures for December 2018!

1. The One With the Christmas-y Looking Roses - This has to be one of my all time favorite rose manicures to date.  I was inspired by mvargas_nails on Instagram and I am so happy I came across her manicure. I never would have thought of the color combo.  I'm also impressed with my roses.
2. The One With the Holly and Snowflakes - One of my favorite Christmas designs this season.  This design was inspired by badgirlnails on Instagram.  The color combo just screamed classic Christmas.
3. The One With the Christmas Light Manicure - The annual Christmas light design!  I believe this is my favorite since I started the blog.  The frosted tips turned out so well, and my art just looked like stencils.  I'm just very impressed lately with my art.
4. The One With the black, White, and Silver Manicure - Another all time favorite manicure to date.  If you know me, you know I love black, white, and silver, and this manicure just was perfect for my everyday wardrobe.  I was so sad when it chipped.

Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  It's the first post of December, therefore it's time to share my #MonthlyManiFavs from the month prior.  I meant to have this post up on the 2nd, but I thought today was the 2nd and not yesterday.  Fail on me for not looking at a calendar properly.

Well, anyways, it's time to share those monthly mani favs so I can get my butt onto posting Christmas manicures!  Cannot believe it's December and Christmas is just a few weeks away.  I have spent my whole weekend watching Netflix Christmas movies.  Top picks: Christmas Chronicles, Christmas Inheritance, and Spirit of Christmas.  All of you need to go watch those now, or after you read this post....

Let's take a look!

1. The One With the Re-Creation of the Fall Dot Manicure - Absolutely have loved this one each year that I've done it.  It's been about three years in a row and it just never gets old.
   
2. The One With the Pure Ice Floral Manicure - Guys, do you see that blue?  Okay, it's called Teal Appeal, but it looks more blue to me.  Regardless, one of my favorite manicures ever.  I need to use that polish a lot more.
   
3. The One With the Pumpkin Mani I Meant to Post a Week Ago - This is the manicure I meant to post a lot earlier in the month but totally forgot about.  I did this in the beginning of November to match a cute leaf swing dress I bought for the Harvest Dinner at work.  Not only did the dress receive a lot of compliments, but so did this manicure.
   
4. The One With the Fall Floral Manicure That I Forgot to Post for Thanksgiving - Do you notice a theme with the last two posts?  LOL . I loved this one though none-the-less.  I actually wore it for about 5 days which is abnormal for me.  Loved my glitter gradient.

• The One With ORLY Olive You Kelly and Sunflowers - Absolutely love ORLY's Olive You Kelly.  Talk about a perfect green for Fall!  Then with the sunflowers on top, this truly is the perfect Summer to Fall transition manicure.
  
• The One With the Spooky Spider Web Manicure - Serendipity Polish holo + creepy fog look + spider webs = perfect Halloween manicure.  Really love this different twist to a design I do almost yearly.
  
• The One With Ghosts and Googly Eyes - Love this manicure!  It was such a cute Halloween design.  Kind of sad I found a dress that would match it too late in the season and was unable to order it in time.  Hopefully they'll have something cute like it for next year!
  
• The One With the Fall Leaves - AHHH guys!  This is my favorite manicure!  First time I was able to master the leaf manicure which I have been attempting each year since this blog started.  This is one of my proudest accomplishments since I started this blog and really showed me how much I've grown as a nail artist.

1. The One With Sally Hansen Smartease and Metro Midnight - That holo!!!  Main stream brands like Sally Hansen need to come out with more holographic polishes like this one!  This truly compares to some of the ILNP holos that I own and well, Barbara's polishes are amazing!
   
2. The One With the Last Summery Palm Tree Manicure - Still held onto summer since summer was still hanging on.  One of my favorite palm tree designs I've done . I don't think I've ever been able to fit two designs that large on my little nubs of nails before.  Huge accomplishment for me.
   
3. The One With the Neon Yellow Pineapple Manicure - ORLY Glowstick and Pineapples - need I say more?
   
4. The One With Sally Hansen Bourbon Belle, Sundown Socialite, and Sunflowers! - Love this sunflower design, especially because of that base.  It was that perfect Summer to Fall transition design!

Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  I apologize for my lack of posts.  My motivation for blogging has gone down the toilet this past week.  I've been super busy with work.  Finally though I'm feeling slightly caught up.  I'm almost wondering if I've been sick this past week with a virus or something because I haven't had the want to paint my nails for the past 7 days.  That's right, I had the same manicure for the past 7 days on my nails.  I'll paint tonight though and get back into the swing of things.....hopefully.

It's September.....already.  I do not know where this year has gone.  Since it's the first post of the month, that means it's time for my #MonthlyManiFav recap!  I only had 7 manicures last month, and I still had a hard time picking my favorites.

Let's take a look!

1. The One With the China Glaze Palm Trees - Absolutely loved this palm tree design.  I did one more and have to share it ASAP because it's now September and I need to start sharing Fall themed manicures.  Although, it's in the 90s all week therefore it's really not too fall like.  Anyways, LOVED this palm tree design, and cannot wait to share the next one with you.
   
2. The One With the Blue Serendipity Polish Flowers...Again - A beautiful recreation of a design I did a few years ago.  Love me my Serendipity Polish's, and love anything blue.  This reminds me, I have yet to do my annual sunflower manicure this year on top of a blue base.....
   
3. The One With the OPI Daisies - A re-creation of a design I used to do on one of my favorite resident's nails.  My lovely lady passed away recently and I miss her terribly.  Not a day goes by where I don't think about her.  I'm lucky to have known here, and the countless other residents that have came into my life.  This manicure is a reminder of not only her, but the others I've been blessed to know.
   
4. The One With Flip Flop Fantasy - FFF is one of my all time favorite polishes.  Love this bright neon and the pretty floral design.  I had something different planned, but love this end result!

• The One With the Butterfly Nail Art - I have decided that I'm going to do some sort of annual purple butterfly post in honor of my friend's friend who passed away from a horrible disease.  Click on the post to learn a little bit more behind this manicure and my reasons why I'm going to do so. :)
  
• The One With the Dainty Dot Flower - Love, love, LOVED this manicure!  One of my most popular ones in a long time.  I feel like my Instagram account hasn't gotten a lot of hits lately, and i'm losing followers left and right.  But as soon as I posted this design and another shot of it, the like's kept coming and the followers started up again.  Of course though the next design they fell right off again, but it is what it is.  By far one of my favorite designs that I've ever done.
  
• The One with the Orange Floral Manicure - Loved this design too, which was inspired by mvargas_nails on Instagram.  Only thing I didn't like was that my nails were stained afterwards, but it was well worth it.
  
• The One With the Pink Smoosh Manicure - Nothing better than a good smoosh manicure.  Add a neon polish in there, and you have an awesome one!  This pink by ORLY was beyond bright!

Good morning polished world!!  Happy July to you all.  Can you believe that the Fourth of July is almost around the corner?  Sadly I think I'm going to have one manicure for it this year, which I should probably post tomorrow since it's the 2nd today.  Goodness, I don't have enough time to breath lately it feels like.

Luckily though, here I am remembering to post my Monthly Mani Favorites for June!  Only had 7 manicures this month, which I don't even know why I didn't post more.  Other than the fact I did have a week of just wearing swatches while my nail grew out.  I bet that's why I did it because I was scared that I was going to run out of manicures to share.  I worry too much.

Anyways, let's take a look at my favorites!

• The One With the Random ORLY Gradient Manicure - Love this design because I was able to get my gradient skills back.  Plus, do you see that neon?!  I need all of the neons in my life.  Has someone made a neon holo yet?
  
• The One With the Negative Space Daisies - I love negative space manicures, and now that my damaged nail has grown out, I'm able to do them again.  Actually wearing one now as I type this.  I bet that means you're going to know what my next design will be.  Anyways, I have a bunch of negative space florals I want to try and cannot wait to share with you all!
  
• The One With Daisies and ORLY Blue Suede - Guys, look how amazing Blue Suede is by ORLY.  Speaking of holo, I think that I need to make this holo using a top coat.  It's just so damn beautiful.  And of course, adding dots and daisies on top of it makes it even more fantastic.
  
• The One With the China Glaze Tribal Manicure - I swear I've done this design a million times over, but it's still a good one.  Love the color combination, love the tribal design...it's just all beautiful.

Good morning polished world!  Where has the time gone?  I cannot believe June is here.  I also cannot believe that it is June 3rd and I have yet to post my Monthly Mani Favs for May.  Speaking of Monthly Mani Favs, did I post one for April?  Hmmm, I'm too lazy to go back and check.

Anyways, I've been busy with work, as usual.  It was in the 90s this week and the heat kind of got to me too.  I really had no want to do anything, and that included eating.  I came home one day from work after eating just a cookie, went to sleep, and then didn't eat until about 2pm the next day.  I don't know how people live with humidity year round.  I'd die.

Let's take a look at May's Monthly mani Favs!

1. The One With the Blue Zebra Print Manicure - Love the blue sponge design and love the zebra print on top.  I need to do more of these random sponge manicures.  I also need to start doing gradients again.  It's been forever since I've done one.  Probably because when I tried last time it failed miserably.
   
2. The One With the Abstract Dry Brush Manicure - The color combo here is so great.  Doesn't surprise me since Serendipity Polish was beyond amazing.  I'm truly sad that this company went out of business.  They had the best cream polishes and the most amazing holographics.  Sigh.
   
3. The One With the Sally Hansen Floral Manicure - Absolutely love Sally Hansen Let's Jam.  My favorite red polish, which says a lot seeing as I hate red polishes.  Okay, I don't hate red, I just don't like what they look like on me.  This one though really goes well with my skin tone.
   
4. The One With Another Floral Manicure - Mint, dots, and floral?  LOVE.  I wasn't really sure where I was going with this design but really loved the end result.