I haven't done nail art in a very long time...

I haven't done nail art in a very long time, and I wouldn't really count this as art, either. I just put on my structure gel for strength as usual, then plopped down the water slide decals I made.

I made these for the work event I attended. I didn't really know what to expect, but I had a great time. I met so many of my coworkers and it was so crazy to finally see everyone in 3D. I interact with so many people on Slack, many of who I felt super connected to, and meeting in person just took that to the next level. I definitely came away from the event feeling energized about work and more secure in my work relationships. I also met a ton of cool people that I didn't know already.

I can't go without saying that it was amazing seeing my friends from GCU. It was hard being in Cincinnati for those 5 months away from my family, but we had a wonderful cohort and mentorship and we learned so much and grew together. It was such a great feeling seeing those familiar faces.

Anyway, I didn't want to let the week end without shouting out my wonderful work place for planning, executing, and treating us to this get-together. I love working remotely, being here with the family and the pets, but I do think I needed this. I'm looking forward to the next one already! 💙

I'm not gonna bore y'all with a photo overload, but...

I'm not gonna bore y'all with a photo overload, but I'm in Scottsdale, AZ for a work retreat. The hotel is super elegant and has a botanical garden that I'm definitely planning to visit tomorrow. It's beautiful here; but of course I'm biased because I love desert life.

This hotel is bougie af. There's a real bidet in my bathroom, it has valet parking, and people who will shuttle you anywhere here at the resort.

I drove here because I love being alone and I love driving and OBVIOUSLY I love looking at the saguaros. It always makes my day when they start appearing. We don't have them in New Mexico. They need a very specific environment to thrive.

It's been a whirlwind couple of days with travel and getting settled in. Today we had tons of enrichment meetings. I'm super proud that 2 of our cohort have made it to higher positions despite having only been with the company for two-ish years.

The best part has been meeting my coworkers face-to-face. I knew a few from going to GCU together, but I've interacted with so many more on other projects and through Slack. Seeing these people in 3D has been so crazy. It's like "OMG - I know you!" every time I turn around. There are so many amazing people here. Everyone is so smart and friendly and supportive. It's wonderful.

I'm in my room getting some rest. Last night was a late night of catching up with some GCU peers, having pizza, and getting lost (this place is literally huge. 😂) My room is also not in the main hotel, but at a Casita and valet shuttled me to it after I gave up on wandering in the dark. 😂 Paired with an early start this morning and being on the move all day, I'm exhausted. Time to rest up for tomorrow!

I did these this past Monday, so they're slightly grown out...

I did these this past Monday, so they're slightly grown out because I just photographed them today.

It's nothing fancy, but I haven't dressed my nails up in months, so it feels really nice to have some color on. I keep a hard gel overlay down and that's the most effort I've been putting into them. I'm also doing a new shape. I've never been a huge fan of square nails, but I realized at some point recently that I'd been filing my sidewalls down super short to get my claws and was losing strength in my nails because of it. So I've put a lot of effort over the last few months into growing my sidewalls back out, as well as making sure my c-curve is tight when I cure my gel. I've had a lot fewer issues with breakage because of those things.

I'm really hoping I'll have time to get back into nail art soon. It's a little hard with a toddler dog around. He wants to help with everything and when he starts zooming, he parkours all over the place. 😂 I never know what he's about to do.

Anyway. This is what I'm wearing until next weekend or so.

Polish:  'Ard as Nails - Carol Anne

Stamping Plate:  Maniology - Spiral Illusions (M401)

It's been a while since I've posted a nail pic, but...

It's been a while since I've posted a nail pic, but here are my first spring nails.

Overlook my nail shape; I'm in the midst of making sure my sidewalls are even, so I haven't been shaping them as pointy as usual.

The base is a blue speckled gel polish by Born Pretty. I used the bunny/spring plate made by Pretty Fingers by Robin.

I'm not thrilled with my detail on the bunny. He looks chocolate rather than real, but it's fine. It goes with the season either way. 😂😂😂

Since I am particular about my nails...

Since I am particular about my nails I try to avoid using them as tools. It helps a lot to prevent damage and breakage if I don't use them that way.

I saw a smaller version of the Tab Buddy recommended on reddit, but it was made more for drink cans, not soup cans or cans of cat food. I bought another device from Amazon for lids with larger tabs, but it's clunky to use so I find that I just don't.

I emailed the team at Tab Buddy asking for a larger version for different types of cans and they actually made them! They emailed me once some were available for purchase, so I snagged 2.

These XL ones have been amazing. I didn't even realize that they were magnetic until Shaun stuck it to the fridge. That's great because it's always right within reach.

I think these are a wonderful idea. Even if I wasn't super picky about my nails there have definitely been times that my hands have been sore and uncooperative when my PSA flares up. I know this might seem like a dull thing to be excited about, but I don't care. I love things that make my life easier and our cats get wet food 2x daily as a treat (not to mention that I'm a fan of soup), so I am using this thing daily.

They have some super cute designs. I'm linking them below because they really earned my business by taking my suggestion seriously. ❤️

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TabBuddies

So this is what I'm doing to my nails for strength at the moment.

So this is what I'm doing to my nails for strength at the moment. It's not beautiful or interesting, but I do think it's a pretty neutral and looks nice with my skin tone. I could do nail art over it with gel or regular polish. I just haven't had time.

So this is just structure gel, which could possibly be considered an overlay. But it's not as thick as polygel and (in my opinion) much easier to apply. It takes a fraction of the time to create an apex in the correct position and get a nice glossy finish. With polygel I was using pop-its to get my apex and smooth finish, but there was always an issue of shaping/filing the free edge and creating a smooth transition at the cuticle. By the time I was done with that process I was no longer interested in doing any sort of nail art, which is the whole reason I ever want to do my nails.

This gel also removes faster and easier than polygel. You can buff the surface and soak off with acetone. To make it faster you can use an e-file to take down the bulk of the product. This is similar to removing polygel with an e-file, but takes a lot less time. My polygel overlays were always on the thick side.

Here's hoping this is a good solution for growing out the damage I did to my natural nails. It would also be nice if it worked as a reinforcement for them once they grow out. I don't like to grow my nails super long, but I really hate it when they break. Who doesn't, I guess. 😂

So far they feel nice. Not thick or heavy, but somehow strong. They aren't bending at all. Hopefully, my application was good and I won't get any lifting for a couple of weeks. We shall see!

I did not plan / stage this, but...

I did not plan / stage this, but when I saw it I had to get a photo. 😂😂😂

First 50 done!

First 50 done! Now <100 more days of this and I'll be done. 😂😂😂

It was actually really fun once I got started and got over my nerves. I miss my polishes and I love them. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤🤍 They are so beautiful and bring me joy.

So all of these were in one of my "red" drawers. As you can (most likely) see, they are not all what is usually considered to be red. So when I do the big sort with my friend, we are sorting them by the color that the swatch ring says. That makes a lot more sense to me for ease of finding what I'm looking for.

I'm not in love with these and...

I'm not in love with these and the stones weren't a great idea (Shaun told me so), but they're not bad. This is a pretty purple polish with an orange flash, so I wanted to use gel stamping polish and chrome powder to see if I could make it look like the orange was cracking through. It didn't turn out the way my brain expected, but that's ok. It was fun to do them and  I'm gonna keep them on until I'm tired of them. 😂

Shaun's nails I did yesterday.

Shaun's nails I did yesterday. He won't let me use cuticle oil (he doesn't like the feel of lotions or oils), so ignore the dry cuticles. 🙄 But his favorite colors are red and black. I found out yesterday that I could use gel stamping polish and then use chrome powder over it to make it pop. He really likes these. The patterns are all different because we were just trying stuff out.

We had a little date the other day...

We had a little date the other day. Those are the nails I tested on Shaun.

Why is my husbang so cute, even when he's chewing? 😂 I love this human being so much. ❤️

Boyfriend picked out my nail polish.

Boyfriend picked out my nail polish. Now let's see if I still got my nail art skills.

I painted my nails the other day.

I painted my nails the other day. There's a lot going on here.

I used a milky white gel base, then applied a unicorn powder on that. Then, since those flake off the tips easily and I type a lot I sponged a sparkly gradient from the free edge. I stamped one nail because OBVIOUSLY I needed to. 😂 If only I had some stones here with me I would have put at least one of those on there, too - right near the cuticle of my ring finger.

But anyway. I had fun and treated myself to something pretty. Got kind of a "gelly sandwich" going on here. I like it. 😃

Phone pic is all I've got, but...

Phone pic is all I've got, but these are my nails. I was going for a fall-ish theme, but Shaun said that they look like wrapping paper and I can't un-see it. 😂😂😂

Every year...

Every year GlideFast hosts an event for the employees called GlideFest. This year it's in Montana and it starts tomorrow. Since me and the other ATCs are still considered trainees we're not invited. We did get the week off with pay, though, and WHO in their right mind could complain about that after only 2 weeks with the company?

Not me. I flew home yesterday. Did the "connecting flight" and "check a bag" thing both for the first time AND all by myself. Made it here in time to celebrate Shaun's 40th birthday with him tomorrow. I missed my family. I missed home. But GlideFast is absolutely where I want to be and the time spent away from home for training is going to be worth it for us all. Can't blame me for having so much enthusiasm.

#LFG

I think I invited...

I think I invited most of my nail art peeps who would be interested in these custom stamping plates to the group for purchasing, but if not, there's going to be a second round of orders so comment below if you want in. I received my plates today and they look great.

I did my nails twice recently.

I did my nails twice recently. One time I had high hopes but hated the way it turned out. The second time (pictured) I was just going to wear a polish but Shaun told me I should stamp purple on it, so this is the result. I actually really like how it came out. Sometimes less is more, I suppose.

We're twinning.

We're twinning. Tripleting? 😂😂😂

Me, Shaun, and Kira gots matching toes! 😊

Better shot of my nails.

Better shot of my nails. Still dry cuticles, and dirty creases because I'd been playing in my plants. (Sorry.)

Even though white polish doesn't look great on me I enjoyed these while they lasted, which was about 2 weeks and that's impressive to me since I'm rough on my hands and wash them about 391204 times every day.

I used a plain white gel as a base, then topped it with aurora powder, or one of two types of holographic powders. I was mostly just playing around and testing the powders out since I bought them ages ago and hadn't had time to use them. Also, I was procrastinating doing my enormous math final exam and this was a fun distraction.

The final touches were the holographic snowflakes. Those were decals. I'd also had 3 gemstones on my nails; a clear crystal at the corner of the snowflake on my index finger and two iridescent ones on my middle finger. They were pretty, but I hadn't really planned to share this mani and waited until I'd abused it a bit before changing my mind and photographing it. So you'll have to use your imagination on the stones. 😂

There was definitely a lot going on here, but I liked it while it lasted. I don't usually get this extravagant anymore, but like I said I was experimenting and it turned out ok.

I am feeling a bit better today.

I am feeling a bit better today.  I've got a list of things to do before school starts back.  One thing on the list was posting the nails I did over SPRING BREAK.  🤣🤣🤣  I have been behind on life.  I haven't done anything fancy since these, although I've wanted to.  It just takes effort.

These were inspired by my succulents, obviously.  The multichrome polishes are by Tonic Nail Polish and the stamping plates are from Maniology.