I did these nails at the end of May...

I did these nails at the end of May...

They ended up being my "going on a trip" nails.

I did these nails on Tuesday...

I did these nails on Tuesday...

...and then I put the ghosts on the night before Halloween. I don't do holidays, so my nails are the closest I get to acknowledging that they exist. 😆

Nails this week...

Nails this week...

Click for the video! I got shorties because they are recovering from a bunch of stuff, but shorties can be pretty, too!

I've been so busy trying to get ready for the show next weekend...

I've been so busy trying to get ready for the show next weekend. We got a Silhouette cutter so I could make vinyls and decals. This ghost was my first print and I think he's cute! If y'all have suggestions for me, I'm open. I want nail art to be easy, accessible, and fun!

Vinyls are super easy to apply, as are waterslide decals. I also plan to make vinyls that you paint over and remove, leaving an image behind. I'm finally making the shop into everything I always wanted it to be. Slowly, but surely!

Pardon my grown-out concert nails. My next set will be Labubu for the show. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some press-ons created over the next few days!

Road trip snacks...

Road trip snacks (spicy for to stay awake), featuring concert nails. So shiny! 😍

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 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 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....

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...

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...

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...

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. ❤️

These are the nails I did...

These are the nails I did...

These are the nails I did after seeing a new layering technique on the 'Gram. The bottom layer is a sheer purple, then over that is a silver cat-eye magnetic, then it's topped with a chrome powder...

👀

👀

Sneaky peeky...

I never did anything else to these.

I never did anything else to these.

I just haven't been energetic lately, and that's probably because I'm not allowed to exercise. So this is what I'm wearing this week. No complaints.

Work in progress.

Work in progress.

This is a holographic chrome powder over black. It's GORGEOUS on its own, but I would at least like an accent nail...

It's been such a long time since I've done any nail art for myself.

It's been such a long time since I've done any nail art for myself.

As lame as it may sound my one and only goal for this weekend was to do nail art on ME. Before this the most I could manage was to put on a pretty color (there is a reason for that). It's nice to have a pretty color to look at, but it's not the same a being able to flex my creativity....

Boyfriend picked out my nail polish.

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

Between last night and today...

Between last night and today...

Between last night and today I swatched all of my burnishing powders that are used with gel polish. I swatched them over both black and white polish because they look dramatically different depending on the base over which you put them. I have ~50 powders, so x 2 colors, that's ~100 swatches. 😳...