My 7 facts and nominees will be at the bottom of this post!

However, with my being busy I haven’t completely given up my “me” time. I need it. Simple as that. What do I do with the little amounts of “me” time I’ve been able to steal? My nails, of course! Here’s a snapshot of my last two, perfect for the Spring weather the East Coast has been having!

The first was done with Sally Hansen Maximum Growth as a base and Essie “Raise Awareness” for the tip. The flower decals are from my gorgeous pen pal and friend, Lulu. The second, which I actually just took off this morning are a rainbow water marble! I think I’ve finally figured out the secret. It’s room temperature water!

My next nail project will be attempting to do my own acrylic overlays at home. I purchased a KISS Acrylic French Sculpture kit at CVS the other day. I’m a little nervous because I haven’t had acrylic on my nails in about two years. I think I just want to challenge myself and see if I can take my DIY nail obsession to the next level. That will be happening in the summer, hopefully! I still have to get the guts to do it on my own. I will be doing it all by hand, no drill whatsoever! That drill will KILL your nails as I’ve learned many a time.

Until next time, enjoy the photos and I’ll be back on the blogging train soon. I just ordered a ton of Lush products with some of my birthday money (did I mention I’m 25 now???), and I haven’t tried some of them, so reviews will be coming full steam ahead. Thanks for sticking around and understanding the chaos that has been life for the past couple of months! <3 Love you all!

And now...seven facts about me: (and my nominees!)

1. I have been in school since I was 4 with no breaks. I'm currently finishing my M.A in English and in a year it will be the first time I have not had the identity of a student...until I enroll in my Ph.D program that is!

2. I am an adjunct professor at a local university and I teach Composition to college freshman! I love my job and wake up excited to go to work everyday.

3. In 2007 I lost 52 pounds and have been maintaining that loss since. It is one of the things I am most proud of.

4. My favorite vegetable is an artichoke.

5. My boyfriend and I have been together for almost 9 years and we have no plans, yet, to get married, haha.

6. My favorite hobbies are research, writing, and painting my nails.

7. Scarves are my favorite accessory and I wear them almost daily.

And my 15 nominees are [drum roll please...]

1. Katy
2. Alex
3. Joyce
4. Tashina
5. Deanna
6. Janine
7. Caity
8. Mallory
9. Grysh
10.Kate
11.Pamela
12.Holly
13.Shellie
14.Justin
15.Brandon

For me, I first wore makeup when I was 4 and it was for dance. I danced ballet, tap, jazz, and pointe from the age of 4 until I was 18. Makeup was a thing! We had to doll up for pictures, competitions, and of course for our end of the year recitals. I never thought makeup was a big deal because my Mom did it for me, and it was just something that I was used to. It was nothing different than simply doing my hair for a dance number (but that’s another blog post). I didn’t start wearing makeup to school until I was about 9, and in third or fourth grade. I was allowed to have my Mom put a little bit of blush and lipgloss on, but that was about it until 6th grade when I decided it was time to go with the 90s trends of dark eyeliner (as inspired by the raccoon living in my yard at the time) and nothing else. Today, I wear makeup on a daily basis for work, but to me it was never something I abused because I was taught to do it naturally, and because it was just part of my young life. I feel like when makeup is treated as something forbidden that’s when young girls want to try it out for themselves and it becomes more of a problem. I also think that depending on how parents show and put makeup on their children makes for another problem, typically with what I see on the “Toddlers and Tiaras” shows and the multiple spin-off’s of young pageant girls and their overbearing Moms.

Simply stated, for me, makeup is something that is fun and can be very age appropriate depending on how the concept of makeup is introduced in the household. I also think that guidance is key when it comes to how parents and guardians introduce it. My Mom introduced me to makeup and it was something that was done for dance until I was old enough to ask if I could wear some to school. It was introduced with restrictions (No, you cannot wear my Chanel Lipstick to school for 4th grade photos), but there was a balance (Why not try your Bonne Bell clear lipgloss instead?).

Here are two pictures of me in the 3rd grade at about age 8. One is of me “au natural” for school pictures, and another one is me all dolled up for dance. Are the differences really that stunning?

Either way, I think that letting your daughter experiment with makeup is just fine. There was nothing better than trying out my Mom’s Shalimar or looking at my Mom’s eyeshadow and trying to “look like her.” Moderation is key, and I think that if we can moderate how we introduce makeup into our young girl’s lives there’s nothing wrong with doing it.

What do you guys think? How old were you when you first wore makeup?

First up, Life is Crime! I’ve been absolutely addicted to this game and it finally came out for iPhone USA users in January. In fact, I haven’t updated about it because I’ve spent the last two and a half months playing it. I kid, but it is addictive. Basically, this game uses your GPS setting to turn your nearby locations into a virtual battleground. You can form a gang, steal locations for other gangstas, become the Kingpin of your locations, drop packages of stolen goods, and more. To be honest, this game is one of my favorite for my phone. I run my end of town, and it’s just a fun time waster that makes you look like you’re doing something important. Best of all? It’s FREE! Red Robot Labs offers R2 coins that get you real swag for real money (much like FarmVille), but you can actually achieve good gameplay without having to spend real money, which I appreciate. Take a lesson from them FarmVille and Pet Society. Here’s to hoping that they won’t get greedy in the future.

Remember Tamagotchi? Boy, did I love those little plastic eggs of happiness. Portable Pixels recently released their own rendition (and the best I’ve seen so far) of a Tamagotchi app complete with adorable pixel design! Hatchi is a virtual pet that doesn’t take control of every second of your life. I load mine up three times a day and play whenever I feel like i. It does cost .99 cents, but I chose to pay the money to support the app developer. Portable Pixels tends to listen to their fans and the updates have been coming in like wildfire which means they’re listening. Besides, is less than a dollar really that much to pay when real Tamagotchis are going for a couple of Bens on eBay?

Last up, the Weave app! I’m a sucker for a planner app, but I tend to end up sticking to my pen and paper planner from yesteryear. However, the new Weave app is fabulous and FREE! The interface is clear, it’s easy to navigate, and doesn’t lag when you load it up. I think I’m also a sucker for an app that talks to me (It sends me a good morning text each day, haha!) but if you’re looking for an app that is functional, free, and without all of the bells and whistles (this one keeps it simple unlike 2do which overwhelmed me), this is the planning app for you. I’m currently using it for my thesis planning and it’s working like a charm.

What new apps have you been using to keep yourself inspired, organized, or entertained? I’m always looking for some more to try out!

All of this brings me to his latest, and final, book from the Fratire genre he so gracefully created, Hilarity Ensues. Still funny, still offensive, and still able to piss off numerous women with his comments and digs, the book had a completely different tone for me as a reader. I still loved it, but like I mentioned, this is his final book in the “series” that he has come to own. You’ll learn how to get through law school without even attending class, how HILARIOUS sexting with Tucker Max can be, and my personal favorite, how to roll with the guys from Deadliest Catch. With all of that being said, the final portion of the book wraps up this portion of Tucker’s life in a snarky, yet contemplative mode, that only Tucker Max can master. Read the final portion of the book and you’ll get to see each of his law school friend’s bachelor parties and weddings. His writing style made this section of the book fit the mold that you’ve all come to love and know from his previous books, but also demonstrates growth, for lack of a better word to explain it. He and his friends are moving on, moving from the rowdy law school kids who paved a path of sex and destruction to “adults” who are settling down and as Tucker says, passing the torch to someone else.

I’ve gotten questioned many times on to why a raging feminist English teacher would read something like this. I’ve heard, “He’s degrading to women” or “He hates fat girls” or “All he does is drink and have sex–what’s the point?” The point, my friends, is Tucker Max was smart enough to document it and to do it well. As a woman, a lesson my father taught me when I was young echoed through my mind while reading these books, “Act like a slut, and you’ll be treated like one.” As I read, and laughed, at many of the girls in Hilarity Ensues (especially the used condom girl–but I’ll let you enjoy it on your own), I also thought to myself, “Well…the treatment you’ve received is pretty much par for the course.” Act like a bitch, and you’ll be treated like a bitch. Act like a slut, and you’ll be treated like one. Tucker Max doesn’t hate women, he hates bitches and people who pretend to be smarter/hotter/more experienced/etc than they really are. End of story. If anything proves Tucker Max’s love for women, it’s his ex-girlfriend Bunny who in three books HE HAS NOT SAID ONE NEGATIVE THING ABOUT! Why? Because she obviously did not fall into the above criteria of girls who try to battle with the Max and lose terribly. I imagine Bunny would be a pretty cool person to hang out with just based off of what I read about her.

Tucker Max, whether you want to admit it or not, has made a mark on the literary community and will continue to entertain and horrify readers for years to come. Maybe we’ll see courses based on analyzing Fratire at colleges (sign me up to teach that one!) or maybe we’ll see a barrage of stories coming out within the next few years that will try in vain to measure up to the original. Whatever the future holds for the Fratire genre, we will all pay homage to the one who started it. With all of that being said, Hilarity Ensues was a fabulous send-off, and an invitation for all of us to invent and share our own stories, whatever they may be.

So I posted my dark fade, and people in my classes and online began sending me questions via tumblr and e-mail, so I decided to do a short tutorial, but this time with brights! Brights, for me, have always been hard to work with. I don’t know why exactly, but they’ve never been my friend. I managed to attempt a bright ombre style fade with a nice glitter tip. Below are all of the visual steps as well as a short tutorial on how to achieve this look. The photos really don’t do the design justice!

1. Start out with a base coat. I used Sally Hansen Maximum Growth. I then applied three coats of China Glaze in Happy go Lucky. The yellow was pretty streaky so I had to compensate for that.

2. Once the yellow dried, I applied a small amount of China Glaze in Shocking Pink. At that same time I took my clear topcoat (Orly Top2Bottom) and quickly fanned out the color as you can see in the bottom right hand small photo. It looks a bit streaky, but that’s okay because next you’ll apply the glitter.

3. I used Essie Luxe Effects in Set in Stones for the tip. I gently applied it to the tip of my nail and let some of it slide down. I did NOT keep the tips uniform. That’s the point of the gradient effect. It should be free-form.

4. Finally, I applied a generous coat of Sally Hansen Maximum on top. Ta-da!

About five minutes after, I wanted more sparkle. I can never be satisfied. So I added one more coat of China Glaze in Fairy Dust over the whole nail so the glitter would have a gradient effect as well. I’m happy with the result, but with Valentine’s Day coming up, I’ll probably have a new nail design by the weekend!

Overall, thanks for all of the amazing compliments and keep the questions coming! Hope you enjoy your fancy, bright, sparkley, nails!