Nail Mail!

I told you ladies I'd be back tonight. And here I am :) The day is finally over. I went for my walk in the stupid cold and wind (stupid because IT IS APRIL.). I ate dinner and now I'm watching Glee. I'm so glad its back. Although I'm a little weirded out by how they are handling the Quinn storyline...

But you're not here to talk Glee, are you? No. You're here for the polish.

I got some nail mail yesterday when I was having a terrible day and it just made my day better :) I purchased some polishes from Jacki @ Adventures in Acetone's blog and managed to get my hands on OPI Love Is A Racket. And two Elf polishes that I will definitely be showing you in the near future because they are perfect spring/summer colors. 

Love Is A Racket is pinky red jelly with blue undertones and FILLED with glass flecks in red. It's gorgeous. I could not stop looking at my hands today.

Ready? I don't think you're ready for this jelly hahahaha.

*ahem*

outside, cloudy, no flash

outside, cloudy, flash

tip wear :(

that's what I get for tippity-typing away at work all day.

you can see some of the flecks in the polish.

extreme closeup, trying to capture the flecks.

this was taken on an iPhone. I'm quite impressed but I do need to charge my actual point and shoot and start using that to take pictures.

Oh, I'm in LOVE with this polish. Love. It's so...juicy!

that's all from here.

until next time.

xo, ali

Hoppy Easter!

hey ladies! Just a quick post from the office because I know I didn't get a chance to post yesterday.

I hope you all had a great Easter/Passover and were able to spend time with your loved ones.

I had a great Easter. My mom, dad, sister, and I all got dressed up and went to church, followed by brunch at one of our local golf courses. And the brunch included a mimosa, which I love, and my family loves. Because we are fancy :) Brunch was delicious...all sorts of breakfast foods and pastries and lunch/dinner foods. Then it was Easter basket time!! Lots of chocolate and jelly beans. AND. Cadbury Creme Eggs. My number one favorite Easter candy.

Also, in my Easter basket was this little beauty!!

yay!! Time for stamping! It's just the as seen on TV kit, but I can't wait to buy some more plates to use with it. I havent had a chance to use it yet, but I can't wait.

I haven't used it yet because I have OPI Love is a Racket on and it's gorgeous! I'll be showing you that later tonight.

See you then!!

xo, ali

Let's Go To The Tropics!

Hey ladies!! It's Thursday night. Isn't that a beautiful thing? I'm glued to American Idol, right now and relaxing because I have a busy weekend ahead of me. It will all be worth it because my sister, Ashley @ Fatto Con L'Amore, is coming home for the weekend!! You guys should definitely check her out...she makes amazing adorable awesome cards and has some great packages available. Tell her that her fabulous older sister sent you ;)

We have lots planned--Titanic in 3D on Friday night; pedis, lunch, and shopping with our mom on saturday; and Easter goodness with our parents (church, brunch, lil gifties, chocolate, and CADBURY CREME EGGS)!!

My midweek mani definitely has me longing for the beach and 80 degree weather. It's only been in the low 50s this week and I could use some heat. Right now,  I'm rocking Wet n Wild MegaLast Tropicalia and it is GORGEOUS. I'll definitely be sporting this A LOT this summer.

Tropicalia is a pinky coral that looks amazing in natural light as above.

indirect sunlight, with a little prop from my mom's Easter arrangement on our front porch.

one more shot...ugh, just gorgeous!!

I have no idea what I'm going to do for Easter nails. Plus, my mom said she got me something for my nail art for Easter. I'm super excited!! I'll definitely be posting about that AND my Easter nails :)

Idol is killing me tonight--Elise is in the bottom two :( Thankfully Philip was safe. They are my picks this season.

The Sabres, on the other hand, are doing great. We're down to the last two games of the regular season--the Flyers and Bruins, and we're tied with the Capitals for the final playoff spot. It's the 2nd intermission and we're beating the Flyers 1-0. Fingers crossed!!

Go Sabres!!

Until next time.

xo, ali

me and my nail polish addiction

Hey ladies!! Happy Tuesday :)
Tonight is only a quick lil post cuz I'm beat. I went for a 3.5 mile walk tonight after and I guess I hadn't exactly worked my way back up to that from last summer.
I also want to say thank you to my 15 followers! i'm so thankful for your support :)
Ready to find out how my obsession started? Here we go!!


What got you into nail polish?

As a bigger girl, I couldn't always wear the trendy stuff shown in the magazines but I could accessorize and paint my nails. Plus, it was something to do between incoming calls at a customer service job I had. 
Your age/age range?
27, going to be 28 in May

How many polishes?

I haven't counted but I must have between 50 and 100

Favourite brand?

for drugstore brands, i LOVE Sinful Colors. They have such an amazing color range and wear really well. For salon brands, I really like Essie and Zoya. I love how Zoya names their colors after women so I can buy my best friends their name polish ;)

Favourite polish?

I'd say Essie Demure Vixen because it's not a loud color but it's still unexpected. I also love OPI I'm Not Really A Waitress and China Glaze For Audrey

Mani no-no?

acrylics!! and i have fallen victim to this in the past but no more.

Favourite effect?

from time to time i like crackle but i do also love duochrome polishes

Crackles - yay or nay?

it depends on my mood.

Do you franken?

no! but i wanna try...i think it would be easy to dupe deborah lippmann's ray of light.

Favourite polish blog (other than your own!)?

I love Chloe's Nails and that's where I first learned to do tape manis (hers are BOMB) and All Lacquered Up was one of the first nail blogs i started reading so it has a special place in my heart.

Guilty secret?

my nails peel so I sometimes *help* that along

Real, acrylics or falsies?

real although I've had acrylics...it's just a lot of upkeep and I like painting my own nails.

Lemming?

It WAS OPI Love is a Racket but I just ordered that from Adventures in Acetone's blog sale. I'd say it would be Essence Irreplaceable. It's so pretty and beige and sparkly.

What would you be doing if you weren't doing your nails?

probably making jewelry more often.

Top polish tip?

for perfect french manis---TAPE.

Favourite mani?
Probably the one I just posted yesterday. I love how it's fun but it's also sophisticated  :)


I linked up to Glitter Glam Sparkle Shine, so make sure you check out her blog!! She has great swatches :)

 hope you enjoyed!!
until next time.
xo, ali

she's always buzzing just like neon, neon

hello, lovely ladies!! hope you are all doing well and had a relaxing weekend. Mine was very quiet--volunteering, movies, and sleeping. oh, and nail painting :)

The mani that I chose for the first part of the week (depending on how long it takes to look tore up) is something that is showing up on racks everywhere. Neons and neutrals. I'm trying it out on my nails first, until I work up the courage to try it on my wardrobe. Which will probably happen soon. I'll try anything.

anyways. I started with 2 thin and one thick coat of L'Oreal Honeysuckle, which was a one-off from Christmas Tree Shop. I was digging through a bin of hundreds of bottles of an ugly peach color when i stumbled upon it. and I thought it would be pale enough to give me some semblance of "mannequin hands." Honeysuckle is a VERY sheer beige jelly. You could paint it on all day and still not reach opacity, IMO. Definitely a great polish for funky french or regular french manis.

Then, I taped off my tips and used Zoya Ali, which was my first Zoya polish, expressly because it was in my name-correct spelling and all! 

I also used Nina Ultra Pro in Solar Flare for an accent nail on each hand. Both of these colors are true neons. Ali is a neon pink and Solar Flare is a bright, in your face, neon yellow.

morning sunlight, at a stop light, on my way to work.

with flash and quite true to color.

That's all from me. What do you think?

Gonna tuck up with some Toddlers & Tiaras on instant Netflix and cuddle with my cat, Doug. 

until next time.

xo, ali

We Want to Know Wednesdays!

Hello, my loves!! Taking a little break from the polish b/c last night's manicure is sticking pretty well, so I thought I'd introduce something new from *Dandelion Wishes* called

*Dandelion Wishes* is a great blog run by Colleen and sometimes her hubby, "Big Daddy," too :)

We Want to Know Wednesdays are a pretty cool way to get to know your fellow bloggers by posing 5 questions about a certain topic. This week's topic is money

Here we go!!

{1} What is something that you currently spend money on that you consider a splurge or frivolous?

Something that is definitely frivolous is documented here...nail polish/makeup. I LOVE IT. I can't stop buying it but it's definitely a frivolity. Once Lent is over, i have a lot of catching up to do ;)

{2} Tell us about your first paying job. How old were you?

First paying job was a cashier at a grocery store chain in WNY--Tops. I was probably about 15 or 16 and saving for a trip to France. I started as a cashier and at the end of two years, I was working at the customer service desk
{3} Do you plan date nights and extras into a monthly/weekly budget?

If there is something that I really want, I save for it over a couple of paychecks. Right now, I've got my eye on a rose gold watch from Fossil once Lent is over :)

{4} Share one of your money saving tips with us.

I don't have any, haha. I try to maintain a savings account but that never ends well. I'm trying really hard because I want my own apartment within a year. Giving the money to my mom to put away works well, too. Also, COUPONS.

And finally, Christine @ http://cmgendreau.blogspot.com wants to know:

{5} If you won the lottery - would you spend it frivolously or use what you need and save the rest? Why?

I definitely would do some shopping...What not to Wear style, take $5000 and buy clothes, shoes, and bags...maybe a house and a new car, then save the rest in some type of account that earns a good amount of interest.

that's all for me, tonight :) about to finish watching idol and hit the hay...tomorrow's another day and I gotta be prepared for anything.

until next time

xo, ali

megan's got a lovely secret

hello, beautiful girls!! i hope you are all doing well :) I had a great weekend...saw THE HUNGER GAMES. Holy, my goodness, was it amazing!! exactly like the book. I had goodies from start to finish. Before I saw the Hunger Games, my friend Blair and I went for ear candling. It sounds dangerous, but it's really not. Basically, they use fabric that's been rolled into a hollow cylinder. They put it through a hole in a tin plate and stick it in your ear. Then they light it and as it burns and generates smoke, the smoke creates a vacuum and sucks all the garbage in your ear into the center of the cloth.

there's me, getting it done!! I sleep like that too haha (except then I have my eyes closed and don't have a candle in my ear).

There's a reason you're here and I know it's not to see my pretty face haha. You're here for the polish! Who am I to make you lovely ladies wait??

Tonight's mani is brought to you by a little Birchbox find and my first essence :)

I started with Sally Hansen Salon Manicure base coat and two coats of Zoya Megan, which was a mini in the January Birchbox

this is under artificial light

with flash.

thennn, I got out my trusty tape, cut it into a triangle 

and painted over it with Essence Colour n Go A Lovely Secret

super easy, super fast, super cute!

(with flash)

A Lovely Secret is a mute purple with purple glass flecks in it. This is my first essence and I love it. I definitely need to get more :)

overhead lighting.

You guys like? I hope so!!

Be back soon with something else fabulous!!

until next time.

xo, ali

ps. sorry about the corny subject line haha