Showing posts with label mani-pedi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mani-pedi. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The Real World

A couple spring days off work? Can life get any better!?

I'll be rejoining the real world tomorrow, but I sure enjoyed my long weekend. I spent it 1) shopping, 2) looking at art, 3) spending time with family, 4) reading, and 5) getting a pedicure.


Evan-Piccone Dress now in my closet - I know, I know. It's not exactly what I thought I was looking for, but it really suits me! Plus, black-and-white is oh, so versatile. I can add colored accessories to suit any mood or situation, not to mention this baby is washable and wrinkle-free!

1) My mom, sister and I went shopping for Easter dresses/spring staples on Friday. We all found some springy wardrobe updates, and my sister and I both found Easter dresses. Because the one I found (a really pretty American Living dress) was dry clean only, my mom and I went back out on Saturday, where I found a more user-friendly dress. Yay for dresses that are washable and don't wrinkle! Looking for dresses can be trying, so I am grateful I found more than one option! 

My cousin really enjoyed Jennifer Onofrio's work on display at Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art. Her work is gorgeous and inspires me, too. Above: The Space Between, 2010, Silver gelatin print with ink, 38 3/4 in. x 27 3/4 in. x 3 1/2 in.

2) On Friday night, my sister and I took my 16-year old cousin Robert to his first First Friday. I felt really good about introducing him to the modern art world. Oddly, enough, there were lots of skulls and skeletons featured in the exhibitions we saw. This was great, because that is one of Robert's favorite art subjects. After we walked around taking in all the art, we treated Robert to dinner at Rosedale Bar-B-Q. Rosedale's been around since 1934, but it was our first time. The meat was divine (especially the pulled pork), although the sauce was a little spicy for me. The baked beans also had a little kick, which I liked. All in all, I think Robert had a good time. It's hard to read teenage boys.  

I felt a great deal of responsibility while sharing art with Robert. My goal is to impress upon people, and especially young people, the value of art in and to our society. If more people grow up learning and believing art is meaningful, then art programs will be valued even when things get tough economically. Maybe. Hopefully.

Easter Eggs!


3) I stayed with my parents over the weekend. I always feel recharged after spending time with them. It's true, there's no place like home. I also saw all my cousins on Easter Sunday. After a really thought-provoking church service, we drove down to my cousins' home in Raymore, MO. They live on Silver Lake, and they know how to throw a party. We had good conversation, a delicious potluck and an Easter egg hunt. Growing up, we always collected candy during our Easter egg hunts, but my cousins fill their eggs with money... Aaaaand, I am still considered a "kid." Maybe I'll be one until I have kids of my own?? Or perhaps until I have a few noticeable wrinkles? 

Enjoyable read.

4) I have made it about a quarter of the way through The Girl Who Played with Fire, the follow-up to Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I am really enjoying the series. It's dark. It's suspenseful. It is filled with intriguing and "human" characters. The first book hinted at Lisbeth Sander's disturbing past, and in the second book we begin to learn how and why Lisbeth is who she is. From reading the book jacket, I know there's another large-scale mystery or two to untangle. As soon as I finish here, I am going back to reading!

5) My mom treated me to a pedicure today. What more can I say? Thanks for the luxury-treatment, Mom! Now, my feet are fit to be seen (but no pics to prove it).

How do you fill your time off of work? What do you do to treat yourself when you have a few days of your own?

Alison :)

Friday, April 6, 2012

100th Post!!

Pretty wildflowers in the park across the street from my office. Perfect for a great day!
Hi, all! Woo! I'm writing my 100th post today! Thank you all for reading along!! I truly appreciate you guys for taking an interest in my various outings and inner workings!  Blogging has been a tremendously satisfying creative outlet for me, and knowing you guys are here keeps me at it. Thank you!

In addition to reaching my 100th post, I have the next four days off work! As you can imagine, I'm feeling pretty good right now. I am operating in vacation mode. Let this post reflect that! My mom, sister and I are going shopping tomorrow, and I am hoping to find a fun springy dress or two. Maybe something like this -

Donna Morgan dress. I love the bold shape and its off-center placement.
or this -

Mango maxi dress. Ooh, Impressionistic Easter egg-like!

I don't know what I'll find, and that's part of my anticipation. All I know is I will be coming home with something, hopefully something I can wear on Easter Sunday.

In other style-related news, my friend Chalanna turned me on to soak-off gel nail polish when we recently treated ourselves to manicures. I have had this nail-do for a week, and my hot pink nails still look perfect and shiny. I am hard on my hands and tend to use my nails as tools, so this is pretty thrilling. In fact, tonight I did a ton of dishes.  Dish-washing normally damages my manicure, but my nails didn't suffer a bit. My hands, however, are a little dry.

Here's the major difference between a regular manicure and a manicure using soak-off gel nail lacquer: between each layer of polish, you briefly place your hand into a little dryer where ultraviolet light cures the nail polish to a hard finish. This is the creepy part of the process. That and the fact you have to soak the color off with acetone for 15 minutes or so. For special occasions or an occasional treat, though, I am in. This nail color makes me feel like a grownup and a professional. Chipping nail polish looks tacky, and gel nail lacquer makes me look a lot less lazy about my nails than I actually am! Oh, and because it looks so nice, I am not at all temped to peel it off, which I know is bad, bad, bad for one's nails. 

I like to get at least one pedicure in the spring to scrub away the winter, but I haven't had one yet this year. Maybe that will happen this weekend... Have you had your first mani-pedi of the season yet?   More importantly, do you have any hot tips on cute spring dresses? Cuz I'm on the hunt!

Alison :)