Summer Nails

I don't really know when it happened, but in the last few years I've become a bit of a nail polish junkie. I sorted through my collection this weekend, tossing any bad polish that won't me relocating to New Orleans with me. Unfortunately I've been left with an array of dark "winter" shades, but very few options for summer. So what's a nail junkie to do? Go shop the Essie 2013 summer collection. Duh.

This summer I'm absolutely loving the light nail trend. Opaque whites, pinks and blues feel fresh, a trend held over from Spring that I fully approve of.

What nail colors are you loving this Summer? I'd love to hear your recommendations!

Woes and Wins

Lately I feel like my life has been flip flopping all over the place. I'm so hyper focused on studying for the lsat, I'm losing it in other aspects of my life. And the hits just keep on coming. So I need a vent day. Here are my recent woes, and some of my recent wins. And if you make it through, I'm linking up with Niki for Loving Lately with my latest obsession.

Woe-ing

Flat tire on a Monday morning. Great way to start the week.

Forgetting about soup simmering on the stove. For 2 hours. Can we say burnt soup? yum.

Sucking at sleeping. I just have too much on my mind, AND I am on an over caffeination cycle where I drink too much during the day, then can't get to sleep at night. Then I'm exhausted the next day, so I once again over caffeinate, oops and there goes the sleeping. How do I get off this ride?

Instagramming. I keep wanting to do an instagram drop post because lets be honest we all like picture heavy posts (and they are easy to pull together). But I've taken like 4 pictures since my last one. Oh well. I'll throw in a few

Parking. I got a $100 ticket For parking on the street in FRONT OF MY HOUSE in DC, in a two hour zone over night during the week, when the "supposedly" don't monitor this block between 8:30 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. Annoying.

My room is in a state of disarray. One that it has never seen (okay, that's a lie but it hasn't been this bad in a long time). There are just stacks of clothes everywhere. I forget what's clean and whats not... then it needs to get washed again because Oliver inevitably sits on it and leaves his black fur everywhere.

Yoga. I haven't been in TWO MONTHS. and I miss it so... I need to start going again for my sanity. Maybe I'll squeeze it in tonight.

My Job. I normally pride myself on being great at my job. I'm super on top of things. Work through lunches when we're busy, show up early and stay late. I'm work hard, try to be as thorough as possible, and take on new projects regularly. I'm a pretty good employee if I do say so myself.   Well, I haven't done anything major, but I keep making just stupid mistakes. Losing receipts. Forgetting to print things for meetings. Not returning phone calls. I just have been so focused on the LSAT lately, I can tell my work is suffering. Time to step it up.

Winning

LSAT studying seems to be finally coming together. Just in time might I add. 11 days.

Losing weight. I'm currently hovering near a three year low! Yay.

Officially being free of a lease requirements for the first time ever in my life (we just went month to month!!)

Blogging. I feel like I've been kind of phoning it in since I started the LSAT studying, but I continue to add new followers at an astonishing rate! Thanks y'all. All the support and comments really mean so much to me! Don't forget to enter my starbucks reader appreciation giveaway.

Saving money/sticking to my budget. Having to study for the LSAT has been an awesome excuse not to go to happy hours or out for late nights on a weekend. Granted I paid a stupid amount of money to Kaplan for my class. AND I have to pay an even stupider amount to apply to schools. Oh yah... then there's that little thing about paying for school. Goodbye savings. I'm still counting this as a win, for now.

The GEORGIA BULLDOGS. 4-0. 40+ points in each game so far. #5 in the country. We are off to a great start. I'm feeling UGA vs Alabama in the National Championship. Anyone else? Gosh the SEC is awesome (4 of the top 6 teams are SEC right now. #winning).

And Since you read this far (and I'm so loving this link up so why not join in again)

Oscar de la Renta flat / Madewell leopard print shoes / J.Crew ballet flat / Faith leopard print shoes, $55 / L' Autre Chose ballet flat / Steve Madden flat / ASOS ballet flat / Madewell ballet flat

 

September Birchbox

It's time for another round of

This month's Birchbox was not my favorite ever, but once again I picked up a few good things.  First off they threw in a twistband. I seriously love these y'all. If you haven't picked one up, you need to! They are super flexible and don't crimp your hair!

Twistband

Then I got a pack of the La Fresh Instant Body Soothers. These are wipes for your hands, face body, etc. that are supposed to sooth skin. They smell great and are definitely refreshing, but I don't think I'd invest in them. 

La Fresh Instant Body Soother

This Custom Color Club Polish was my favorite find of the box. Birchbox and Color Club teamed up this month to put together a few of the hottest colors of the season. I got the rose gold metallic color called "put a pin in it" I'm OBSESSED. This is definitely worth the $8 investment

Custom Color Club Polish

They also threw in a few of these brush guards. Definitely a nice thing to have when traveling. These are supposed to protect your brushes and help them keep their shape. They're essentially like those chinese finger traps and they can expand around pretty much any brush.

Brush Guard

Boscia Purfiying Cleansing Gel is preservative free, which is great. I've only tested it out once, so I don't feel like I can give you a recommendation one way or another, but so far so good!

Boscia Purfiying Cleansing Gel

I think I'm just not a Beauty Balm person. I need/want more coverage. While this Dr. Jart Beauty Balm is by far the best I've ever tried, I still got oily and felt like my imperfections were obvious a few hours into wear. I do have super oily skin and am constantly battling all of my products to extend the wear, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. 

Dr. Jart Beauty Balm

So that's it. My September Birchbox. Want to see more? Here's my August, July, June, and April reviews.

AND. Don't forget about the Starbucks GIVEAWAY 

Currently Crushing :Nail Trends for Fall

Wow. I feel like that huge rain storm on Saturday was the end of summer. This weather is amazing. LOVING it. While fall may not be officially here, it's coming... so I need to bulk up my nail collection for the coming season.

Neutrals

Miss Fancy Pants

Sand Tropez

Best Dressed List

Darks

Jewel of a Girl

Downtown Brown

stylenomics

Metallics

Penny Talk

I think the whole world is obsessed with Penny Talk, and I on board. Obsessed with this color.

Good as Gold

I also love anything sparkly for fall and winter. With the holidays coming and the short days... glitter obviously makes any manicure better.

Happy Wednesday!

Thursday Randoms

Welcome back for another edition of Thursday Randoms. I had a great 4th yesterday and I hope you all did the same. I'm super excited about the Rocks Paper Metal Giveaway! Don't forget to check it out! 

Get ready for a photo intensive 4th of July Recap/Random happenings. 

• I made these cheesecake yogurt cupcakes from Skinny taste and they were a hit! See the original recipe here. I did add a little lime zest to kick it up a bit, but that was the only change.

• I have a rough life. I know. 

• Red (White/Gold) and Blue Nails.
• I need this to be my living room. 

via

• I made this yummy salad for dinner the other night. Lettuce, blueberries, avocado, home grown tomato, feta, kalamata olives and homemade honey mustard dressing. yum

• Homemade mojito, with random wild mint from our back yard. winning. 

• Due to the crazy storms last weekend our internet was out (thank GOODNESS we didn't lose power). I hit up one of my favorites

• Y'all! I braved the public pool, and I'm SO glad I did. It's awesome and totally not sketchy. okay it's slightly sketchy, but that can't keep me away!

• Gotta Love Summer Time :)

• I'm OBSESSED with this beer. Hell or High Watermelon from 21st Amendment. LOVE it.  

• Here's to hoping the week ends ASAP. that one day off was such a tease. 

Weekend Recap

Is there anything worse than a rainy Monday morning? I don't think so. I really could have used a three day weekend, but work promises to be far too busy slash I will be here until probably 9 tonight (ugh) thus adding to my pain. This weekend those was one of those wonderful, only in DC kind of a weekend.  

Painted my nails. 

Sunday we brunched in Columbia Heights at The Getaway with a few friends, and let me tell you it was awesome. I got a spicy bloody mary and this gem of a sandwich. A Fried Green Tomato BLT. WHAT? I know. It was SO good. Fried Green Tomatoes. Bacon. Avocado Ranch. Goat Cheese. Brioche Bun. and Sweet Potato Tots. Are you dying yet? This place is right on 14th Street in Columbia Heights but you have to walk maybe 4-5 blocks up from the metro to get there (I doubt I would have ever found it if my friends didn't live next door)

Saturday Night we hit up H Street Country Club, which you know if you follow me on Twitter or Instagram. I was a posting fiend. 

also. I'm not trying to be that girl but can we talk about how tan I look? For reals. I've never been any color other than white. Sunless tanner is changing my life. oh and bronzer. and bronze primers. and maybe a little time in the sun. But still. 

dress is from Forever 21

Found some time for a Pitango stop at Eastern Market. Man I forgot how good that stuff is. Lemon + White Grapefruit Sorbet. my mouth is seriously watering as I type this. 

Saturday afternoon we went for a walk/yard sale-ing in the hood and did the obligatory stop at Big Bear. I wore a fedora so I would feel slightly more hipster and fit in. but lets be honest I will never pass for a hipster. 

Oh and this happened. 

I know its a very blah tweet. but still. Emily Eddington is like my makeup idol. I seriously worship her, and everything she does. and she tweeted me. I died. 

So. That's about it. Sorry it was all out of order, but that's how my photos loaded, and I didn't feel like changing them around.