Staying at home means avoiding the nail salon, and as someone who always smudges regular nail polish (seriously, how is it possible that they can still be ready to smear by the time I go to bed?), I have a newfound appreciation for the variety of modern manicure solutions available. I previously reviewed Ohora's at-home gel strips , which are a great option for hassle-free designs. Another option that I really like, even though I am far from a pro, is dip powder. Dip powder is essentially an acrylic powder that contains pigments or glitters. You purchase a set of liquids that can be used with the powders of your choice for a quick and clean manicure that requires very little dry time. Dip powder is easily accessible, and if you're new to dip nails in general, I'd suggest a reasonably priced option for practice. I started with the Lavender Violets brand on Amazon, which comes with a set of powders + all the liquids you need for a beginner. I did find that the l...
It's been a while since I've blogged, and so much has changed in the past year-- not just for me, but for everyone!
We've obviously been dealing with a pandemic situation, and whether you're in an area that is still under lockdown, recovering, or somewhere in between, there has certainly been an adjustment over the past several months.
I've always been a bit of an introvert, so I've actually embraced the opportunity to be a bit more focused at home. We've completely revamped our life, but I think it's for the better, and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to grow; while at first, it seemed like the coronavirus pandemic would be a quick disruption, I've shifted to a home office, long-term, abandoned daycare for a mix of in-home care and virtual schooling, and finally (finally!) started to organize this "new" house.
We bought our first home because it had "potential", and while I don't regret living there, I don't think we were quite cut out for it at the time. Knowing more about what works for us, and what doesn't enabled us to package up those sweet memories of our first home, and move into something much different for our second.
The result of that is that many of the rooms in our new home are still completely unpainted! After moving, I was so tired of fixing and painting and remodeling and repairing that I was just done with any home improvement project. So since I'm spending a lot more time here, I've been focusing on really making it into a space that I love. Sometimes it's a new closet system to organize a space, and turn it into a pantry. And sometimes it's as simple as painting over some errant pen scribbles that won't scrub off.
The things I've done in the past 2 years (with much of it condensed into the past few months) include:
- Discovering that my straight hair that just needs to be brushed a lot and also "settle" after it "freaks out" from drying is actually wavy.
- Discovering a really cool paint company with a small selection of paint colors that just work, and appreciating that the color you think you want might just be a bit too much.
- Starting my foray into being more sustainable and mindful of my impact on the environment, and my wallet.
- Cloth diapering, the modern way.
- Getting decently good at makeup.
- Venturing away from makeup, and focusing on skincare and lashes.
- Spending a lot more time outside.
- Gardening.
- Learning to do more things myself, and having the time to actually do it.
- Getting really, really ridiculously organized.
- Trying to focus more on cooking-- my waistline will thank me since quarantine did a number on me.
- Volunteering.
- Playing a lot of video games.
So, I'm excited to get to blogging a bit more, even if it's less about just cooking, and more just a rambling of thoughts in general.
Anyway, the first topic to cover is the before and after of our downstairs half bath!
There's really nothing about this house that I didn't like (besides any yellow shades-- not a fan), and so this was a room that was just "fine" as it was. It's a downstairs bathroom-- the colors were fine and it did its job.
It was so fine, that I didn't get a great "before" shot, but you get the point. There was a basic builder grade mirror hanging over the sink-- again, fine. But with such a small room, I wanted something a bit bolder. I love neutrals and prefer to mix textures, but for a tiny little place, it needed to pop. This room featured two brown walls, and two white, which was either for dimension or because someone didn't want to paint around the sink and toilet-- admittedly these are intimidating feats, which is why I bought the paint and let the can sit in the bathroom for about two weeks before I dug out my trusty paintbrush and got started.
I wanted a bold, dark blue-- not a teal, but a true blue. I chose Hyperlink by Clare. The kids wanted Sublime, but I knew what I wanted, and I think I made the right choice. Oddly enough, it photographs differently and so it is difficult to get the "true" color, but it looks like the photo on the left.
I'm also making an effort to really go for it with decorating this year, so I've brought out the fall decorations this weekend. Just look at how the orange pops against the blue! The color wheel, my friends.
My best friend told me, upon seeing this, "I want to poop there!" which until you receive that as a compliment, you don't realize how high of a compliment it truly is. That Febreze is for you, boo. 😘
When we sold our last house, our realtor told us a fresh coat of paint can make a huge difference, and I think this project proves just how true that can be!
I'm also super excited to be back to blogging, so I'll be sure to update a bit more frequently with everything that I've been up to lately. Thanks for reading!
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