Friend Friday...

Welcome to this week's edition of Friend Fridays, sponsored by ModlyChic.

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1. Fess up - if you could do anything professionally what would it be?

Oh crap, this is the whole "What do you want to be when you grow up" questions, isn't it?? Yknow, I still have yet to figure that out!

When I was little, I wanted to be a Rockette. Then I decided I wanted the job Tom Hanks has in the movie Big. At another point, I was intrigued by the idea of doing something in forensics -- but then the idea of dealing with dead bodies oogied me out. When I was heading into college, I was *thisclose* to being a Psych major, because I was really convinced I wanted to be a psychologist.
Honestly, at this point, I still just don't know!

For the sake of being able to answer the rest of the questions, I will say an Interior Designer/Decorator, because this is the one career that has piqued my interest all my life.

2. What draws you to this?

I love the idea of decorating -- it's kinda like getting dressed for your house! You can create a feeling, evoke a time and place... You can take something that's not practical or functional and make it so. I think the main thing that appeals to me about it is that it's sort of a more technical way of expressing my creative aspirations -- and that is just so very me.

3. When did you first start dreaming about this ideal?

I remember when I was a kid in elementary school, we took one of those career aptitude tests. This is actually the career it chose for me, and for just the very reasons I stated above -- it is a good mix of technical and creative, concrete and abstract.

4. What's holding you back from going all in?

Well, lack of knowledge, for starters. And let's be honest -- laziness. Plus, unless you land million-dollar contracts or one of those shows on TLC or HGTV, I'm not sure that it pays amazingly well ("I'm not sure" being the key phrase -- I really don't know), and I will be blunt -- I need money to support all of the hobbies/habits I have in my life.
Beyond that, there is fear of failure. What if I put all this work into something and my client hates it? And speaking of clients, the main thing that turns me off is that I would actually have to put together a design based on what someone else wants, instead of what intrigues me at that moment.
What, I'm supposed to care what someone wants in their own home? Pshaw.

5. Sometimes the first step is the hardest... what's one step you can take now on the way to realizing your dream?

Well, hubby and I are currently starting the process of figuring out if we can afford to buy our own home. There will be meetings with money-people and realtors and lots of house-hunting in our near future. I have always held back on really decorating the places we have lived together because they have all been rentals -- why put that much time, effort, and money into something that we will only live in for a year or two? (Did I mention that I am both cheap and lazy??)
But once we have our OWN home, I would LOVE to turn it into exactly the type of place we want to live, to create a home that works just right for US.
After all, if I can't even create my own perfect oasis, how can I even consider trying to do that for someone else?

Friend Friday...

Welcome to this week's edition of Friend Fridays, sponsored by ModlyChic.

Actually, this week's Friend Friday is a visual one sponsored by Miss Rockwell of the blog Lifestyles of the Thrifty and Shameless.
For her selection, Miss Rockwell requested all of us to share photos of our manicures.

Now, I have been keeping up my manicures all summer long -- ever since winter ravaged my nails, I love to keep them in shape and colorful! Sometimes I have a bright color, sometimes it's dark. I have done glitters, jellies, cremes, appliques... you name it!

For this week's post, I had originally wanted to do something that would make my readers ooh and ahh, but unfortunately, I have had the week from hell. Mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausting. I just didn't have it in me to do much more than simply paint my nails.
However, I did recently buy a fun new super-glitterly polish while on vacation that I have been dying to try out, so I took this opportunity to do so!

I recently picked up a bottle of nail polish from Claire's called "Bedazzled" (I think). I normally don't buy Claire's polish because the one bottle I bought many years ago was terrible, but recently, I had heard ok things about their polish. But really, the main reason I bought this bottle was because it reminded me SO MUCH of "Happy Birthday" by Deborah Lippmann.

Let's Compare.

My bottle of Claire's "Bedazzled" :


Deborah Lippmann's "Happy Birthday" :


Multi-sized, Multi-colored, Multi-shaped glitter.
Check, check, and check!
Why spend $15+ when you can pay $5 or less and get the same thing?

Now, let's see this gorgeousness on my fingers.


Sooooo sparkly...



It only took me 2 coats to achieve uber-sparkles. One coat even looks good on its own. I could also see myself doing 3-4 coats to seriously cover all visible bare nail or even applying a coat of this over a multitude of other solid colors.
Seriously ya'll, this stuff is like a party in a bottle -- oh wait, Deborah Lippman already said that on her site.

I can only say that after the total crap of a week that I had, it's wonderful when something as simple and silly as glittery nail polish can put a smile on your face.
It certainly did that for me!

Friend Friday...

Welcome to this week's edition of Friend Fridays, sponsored by ModlyChic.

1. What part of the world do you blog from? (feel free to be as specific or as vague as you are comfortable with.)

I work in Washington DC and live in Maryland. Sometimes I blog from home, and sometimes I sneak in a quick post in my downtime at work.

2. If you had to describe the overall mode of dress for where you live what would you say?

In DC, the general look is businesswear: suits or business casual, mostly. Where I live in MD, people have money and often dress in clothing that reflects that. Does that mean they are always well-dressed or tasteful? No. But they do look expensive.

3. Do you fit in with the status quo around you or do you break the mold?

At work, I follow the rules while bending them as much as I can. I don't even own a suit, but thankfully my office is business-casual. I express my creativity as much as possible, and I think I manage to do so while still being office-appropriate.
Outside of work, I think I totally break the mold. I don't spend tons of money on my clothes, I don't care to wear name brands, and frankly, I don't even dress like a lot of my friends. I'm not sure exactly what my look is, other than "me."

4. If you have lived or traveled to another part of the country/world did your clothing choices evolve?

I traveled ALL THE TIME growing up. my parents are from England, and my mother worked for an airline. Travel was our MO!
I think what I loved about traveling was seeing all the differences across the country and around the world. There was so much variety, and to me, it pretty much just solidified my desire to be unique...or at least to not worry so much about trends. Did I ever follow trends growing up? Sure. But only the ones that actually piqued my interest.

5. If you had to describe your style by naming a specific city, what would you be?

I'm not sure. But definitely not DC. heh.