Nail Polish Options For Trendy Adults

Confession: Although I would consider myself a very girly girl I don't typically find myself stockpiling beauty products. There is one very important exception to this rule.

Nail Polish. I am a nail polish junkie.

Since I've made the fiscally responsible switch from biweekly spa manicures to those of the at-home variety, I've ditched the tried and true french manicure for finger tips featuring lots of color, texture and variety.

Imagine how excited I was to open this email from my sweet friend Leslie* last week.

I want to wear a fun, bright nail polish since the summer months have arrived. However, I'm in my mid-30's and don't want to wear something that screams, 'Oh lord, that woman is trying really hard to be 21 again.' 

Any suggestions?

I think bright colors that aren't classic scare me. I'm more of a classic girl, but don't mind a nudge that pushes me out of that so I can be a little bit trendy. I don't care for neon colors, but wouldn't mind some other shoves in the right direction.

Challenge accepted.




Here are my Top 5 "Even though You're 30ish you Can Still have Trendy Nails" suggestions:




essie: Off the Shoulder
I'm opening up gently here. This is a "classic" pink that almost crosses the line into the neon realm. It's on my toes as we speak, however, I'm sparing you that picture. Neon colors are undoubtedly hot right now. But if, like Leslie, you're not comfortable glowing in the dark this little number is the perfect compromise. It's bright, it's summery, it's lady like and it's almost day glow. Almost.

{photo credit}

Sally Hansen: Snappy Sorbet

I've been lusting after this peachy dream ever since Ashleigh posted this pic on Instagram a few weeks ago. If neons are hot this season than pastels are on fire. And with Tangerine Tango named fashion's pantone color of 2012, peach seems like a logical pastel to try.

essie: Bikini So Teeny

Julep: Robin

No doubt pastel blue nails are a hit this season also. In fact, if you're wearing blue nail polish right now, raise your hands. Uh, huh that's what I thought. In the past month I've found two very different blues that have become quick favorites. I was excited to get essie's cornflower blue Bikini So Teeny as a Klout Perk last week and immediately put it on my fingers. Please tell me I'm not the only one who stares at their nails for hours after a new manicure wearing a cheesy grin.

I'm also totally ga-ga for Julep's Robin. I joined Julep with the intention of doing a free month promotion and then cutting the strings. But each month, the colors are so tempting I convince myself to stay in just one more month. If you're interested in joining use this link and I'll get a referral credit. (Look I'm not pretending like I don't want free stuff - we all know how these things work). Truthfully, July would be a fun month to join since each box includes a patriotic sparkly polish FREE. Plus, if you enter the code "PENNYINTRO" your first month only costs one cent! nudge, nudge.

{photo credit}

OPI: Funny Bunny

When Cait of Pretty and Fun fame shared her current obsession with white manicures, she immediately added a "to do" to my list. As a loyal OPI fan, I intend to add Funny Bunny to my collection. Funny Bunny is a soft white pearl that was a part of the Garden Party Collection. I'm excited not only to try something different, a la white nails, but also to try one of their gel polishes. Has anyone used one yet? Opinions?






Sally Hansen: Frock Star and Love Letter 

Who's tried the Sally Hansen nail polish strips? Last month, I got my very first ever Influenster beauty box in the mail and was thrilled to find these Frock Star strips inside. I found them easy to apply, fun to wear and no more difficult to remove than your typical sparkle nail polish. (read: harder than non-sparkle nail polish but nowhere near impossible) Since some might consider fully sparkled nails a bit on the "forever young" spectrum of polishes, I did a bit of research and found a more mature alternative. I'm looking forward to trying out Love Letter next.

I see the amazingly beautiful nail art all over Pinterest just like you do. It makes me oooo. It makes me ahhhhhh. But if I'm being honest, it takes an act of God to get a my right hand painted and have it not turn out streaky or jacked up. Trying to apply "nail art" is probably beyond my skill level. The great thing about the variety of Salon effects patterns is that you're able to jump on the nail art trend without having all the nail art skills.

What nail trend are you dying to apply this summer?

*Leslie, I linked to your blog.

I'm hoping it spurs you on to publish something new.

You are missed in the blog universe.

Waiting as Patiently as I'm able to...

One would think that I might have mastered patience at this point.

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One would be dead wrong.

Circumstances

For the past year or two I've been learning a few happiness lessons.

Over and over again, I seem to be stumbling over the fact that joy in my life does not - should not - be solely dependent upon  my circumstances. It's been a goal to experience contentment in my current situation, no matter what my current situation might be. 

{read me go on and on about it here and here and here... ya, I talk about it a lot.}

Well, the funniest thing happened.

When I stopped obsessing on my circumstances and looked elsewhere (I'm talking about you, God) for contentment, things began to change.

All of sudden, when I look around, my circumstances have improved!

My natural tendency would be to over-analyze and think the whole situation to death. Typically, I'd try to figure out why or when or how this all shifted. But instead, I'm choosing to just say, "Thank you." Thank you to my Creator and Provider, thank you to my amazing husband, thank you to my supportive friends and loving family, and thank you to me for getting out of my way to allow this wacky change.

While I don't want to cling too tightly to the "happy" circumstances that I currently enjoy, I do want to appreciate them while they are around. I recognize that there are seasons of joy and seasons of pain in life. To everything turn, turn, turn... and all that. I accept that the circumstances currently making me happy aren't going to last forever. They are temporary. So while they are here, I'm going to laugh and love and dance and smile and drink in every moment of joy that I'm receiving. Yahooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Any circumstances making you smile right now?

An Anniversary of a Different Kind...

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Today's a little bit of a different kind of anniversary for the handsome hubby and I. Today marks five years that we've been living in Chattanooga.  *pause for effect* That's right, it's been five. long. years.  We have spent five years living in a city that I could not have named the STATE in which it was six years ago. (It's Tennessee - for those of you who were wondering) Five years. That is a substantial portion of my life. Truth be told, I may have said at one point, "I'd rather be dead than still living here (Chattanooga) in five years!" Eeek. (Note to self: be careful what you blurt out in moments of "honesty.") But, as tempting and lovely as heaven sounds, and it does, I no longer feel exactly like that.

Thankfully in the last five years I've come kicking and screaming to a point of submission. I'm learning to recognize the wonderful things that Chattanooga has to offer. I've been given a handful of relationships that make this place feel like home. And there are moments that I'm incredibly thankful for the time we've spent here and the people we've grown into while living in this town.

All that to say, I've come a long way from this girl:

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The problem is I don't feel like I have anything in common with the people that I’m meeting. I'm not exaggerating or being overly dramatic when I say that I feel like I’m on another planet. They eat differently, talk differently, dress differently, worship differently - I feel like a first year French student. I'm still thinking in English (or in my case Yankee) and having to constantly translate what is put in front of me. And quite frankly, that hurts my game - it's difficult to be quick witted when you're conjugating in your head.


Everything and everyone here is just so peculiar. I really wasn't prepared. Geographically, we're not that far from where we left. These drastic differences don't make sense to me. And not only am I not sure how to fit in, I’m beginning to wonder if I even want to.

originally published here

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Sure, I still don't fit in all the time. I definitely still talk differently, I don't understand all of the traditional foods and I'm WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY over the Churchianity that seems to permeate the Christian community. But, I am picking up a few "Southern" traits. I wear a slip under my closet full of sundresses now. I tease my hair occasionally and I even like okra! Ok, so they aren't huge strides, but surely you'll admit there's some assimilation there, right? Unfortunately I still stick out like a sore thumb most days. If I had a nickel for every time I heard, "You're not from around here are you?" or the more polite version, "Where are you from originally?" I'd buy a one way ticket out of here I could quit my job. Slowly but surely though in the past five years I've begun to find my niche. I might not fit in perfectly, but I'm discovering ways to make this foreign land home. The longer I'm here the more I'm able to embrace the truth that different isn't always better or worse, sometimes it's just different.

That's why I'm recognizing this little anniversary. Five years in Chattanooga have brought a lot of changes into my life. I'm talking about heart changes that are much deeper and more gratifying than my love of okra. And though it isn't a plan that I would have made for myself, I am glad to be in a place where I can recognize that it has been a good and profitable plan for my life. And if this is where we're to live our lives for the foreseeable future, than here we are!

And I didn't even clench my teeth or shudder when I wrote that. Now that, my friends, is progress.

Has hindsight given you the perspective to recognize blessings that you never asked for or wanted?

Kinda Blue

I'm kinda having a rough day.

Now, before you try to comfort me or feel sorry for me, I just want you to know that I'm not writing this post to illicit pity or unnecessary worry.  I'm just writing it to be real.  I just want it to be known that even when I'm being present, even when on the whole I'm feeling content, I still have days that are yuck.  You do too, right?

Please tell me I'm not the only one who has days like this?  Today I know that I'm incredibly blessed.  Today I know my circumstances could be so much worse.  Today, even while I recognize the wonderful things in my life, I feel blah.  I feel dissatisfied and I long for more.  Tell me you've been here too.

Typically when I get here though, I'm so uncomfortable I try to figure out how to get out of it as quickly as possible.
I quickly try to explain why I'm feeling this way by using theological or faith based explanations.
I look to physiological reasons for my melancholy and do something about them.
I even point to circumstances that put me in the funk and start playing the blame game.

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But, today I'm trying something a little bit different.  See, if I went down any of those paths right away I would fall into my usual trap of intellectualizing my dilemma and gloss over all the feelings.  And let me tell you that doesn't really help me in the long run.  (...just ask my analyst) By dismissing the feelings as a byproduct of some bigger issue, I've gotten myself all tied up in knots in the past. 

Instead today I'm going to go ahead and feel the feelings.  Today I'm going to go ahead and marinate in the "blue."  I'm going to let these feelings teach me what they need to.  I'm going to experience the blah and not try to explain it away.  It's not going to be comfortable, but it just might be growth.

And then hopefully tomorrow I'll wake up feeling differently.

Okay, now if you still feel like comforting me I'm ready for it!!

*If you like this piece you really should check out Audrey Kawasaki's website.  There is some amazingly beautiful stuff there.

List Therapy

What do you do when life seems out of control?


Now, when I say out of control, I'm not talking about “our internet is down and I can’t check email” out of control. Nor do I mean, “this traffic is not moving and I’ve really gotta pee” out of control. I definitely agree that these short term situations are certainly annoying and stressful. But, I'm talking about when a situation is so out of your hands that it is difficult to even get your mind around it… think more, “I’ve done EVERYTHING in my human power for years to change this situation and it is NOT budging.” You know that kind of out of control.

I recognize that the right answers for me are:
1) pray
2) surrender
3) eat chocolate
4) accept
5) adapt

Looks easy enough on paper, right? Problem is I'm not really a patient or passive person. Knowing that, go ahead and re-read those “right answers.” You’ll see that they are not quick fixes that I can just work a little harder and accomplish quickly. Those right answers do not come easily, at least not for me. Most days, those right answers are accompanied by growing pains. Meaning, I kick and scream my way through spiritual and emotional growth. There is progression, but it moves slowly. Over time those right steps are becoming a little more a part of who I am and how I behave. (I said a little – please don’t misunderstand –they are A LITTLE more a part of who I am) But really taking those right steps can often leave an aggressive and impatient person like me feeling a bit itchy and unsatisfied in the short run. Blech. Not how I want to feel on a daily basis.

Enter coping mechanisms.

Having been stripped of several unhealthy and inappropriate vices that I used to cope in my previous life, I’ve discovered another much more innocuous and healthy way to trick myself into feeling a temporary semblance of control. I'm a list maker. I have been a list maker all my life and will probably be a list maker until I die. But it’s only recently that I truly grasped the therapeutic advantage that lists provide. Crossing something off of a list is a momentary victory. It makes me feel really good. I silently think, “You may not have the big stuff under control but you dusted the hell out of that living room. Cross ‘er off. Way to go. Now, it’s time to move on to the next thing.”

With a handful of out of control situations permanently hanging out in my life, lately I’ve been a list making fool. Last week I crossed a few items off the “Ultimate To DO” list and even added a few new items to the mix. Still feeling the itch, I created a whole NEW list (of my 50 MUST READ books) to keep me busy. And, you know what? It’s working. Moments of relief are a welcome and necessary thing.

Sure, I know that ultimately these lists just offer a temporary numb from the lack of control. I truly get that the “right answers” listed above are the only way I’ll feel lasting relief from the out of control-ness that I'm experiencing. So, believe me when I say, I'm working on it. (More accurately, I'm letting the Holy Spirit work on me.) But in the mean time, I find a nice manageable list to be a momentary distraction from life’s hard stuff.

I'm curious, how do YOU cope when life is out of control?

Thankful Thursday/ Episode 57

We had a meeting with the group fitness director yesterday at the Y. Recently I got a job teaching Hard CORE Dance and the Fall class schedule is about to be announced. Before it was finalized, the director wanted to discuss our availability and what the Y had to offer. There was a bunch of anticipation and a teeny bit of anxiety growing inside me concerning if/when/how many additional classes we would be offered.

I experienced one part of my brain pushing for more, more, MORE classes. I heard, “As many as they'll allow, snatch them up and fill your calendar.” I equated more classes with more income (which IS true) and also more praise from those in authority over me (which is probably ALL in my head). My brain chanted, "More is better, Molly." And that is a tempting argument to believe because it is a partially valid point. Plus, that advice lines up with my typical M.O. I jump into things with both feet and once I'm in up to my neck I figure out how to navigate and negotiate the situation. "More, more, more is better." The message played over and over in my head.

However, there was this other part of my brain preaching a different message. This part was coaxing me to slow down. It was trying to convince me to accept additional classes at a slower pace. This part of my brain was sending messages that don't really mesh with my personality. "Take it easy, get comfortable and situated in what you've been given before adding more to the agenda," it cautioned. The fact that I even gave this suggestion any consideration surprised me. “Moderation” and “caution” and “slow” aren’t usually visible on my radar.

The mixed messages sent me into yesterday's meeting conflicted. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to hear from the director.

Episode 57: “Today I am thankful… to be under authority.”

The director offered us two additional classes. That brings us to a total of three per week and makes for a very manageable schedule. She also hinted at the possibility of additional classes at another location in the near future. It was a great compromise and satisfied both warring factions in my brain. There were additional classes with the hint of others in the future for Mrs. MORE and only two additional classes immediately for Mrs. WHEN DID I BECOME CAUTIOUS.

Having someone else make that decision for me and actually place that boundary in my life was such a huge gift! Left to my own devices I probably would have overloaded myself letting Mrs. MORE win the fight. Chances are that choice would have eventually led to stress and burnout. But, this time I wasn’t in control. My authority figure carried the burden of the decision and delivered the news that I was happy to accept.

This might be the first time in my life that I’ve felt that a boundary set upon me by an authority figure is for my benefit. Please don’t misunderstand. OFTEN throughout my life authority figures have set boundaries for MY GOOD. I’ve just always experienced those boundaries as nooses around my neck instead of gifts to appreciate. Today I'm experiencing gratitude for the change in my perspective not a change in my reality. I think this might be kind of huge. Trusting those placed in authority over me is one hell of a little bit of a paradigm shift. Who knows, this just might lead to radical growth.

So today, I am thankful.

A Mailman

My sabbatical may be coming to an end relatively soon. I know. I totally agree with you, it IS kind of a bummer. Mainly because I'm still no closer to figuring out what ONE job I meant to have.

Remember when George Carlin explained the reason why adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up? Carlin joked, “It’s because they’re looking for IDEAS!” And you know that is totally brilliant and perhaps a little bit true! So, that’s exactly what I'm doing. I’ve decided to talk to some young (or young at heart) people who I hope might give me insight into the question that has been chasing me for most of my adult life. What do I want to be when I grow up?? I'm sharing the conversations with you guys in case you're looking for ideas too...


So, without further ado, meet Matty:



Take away lessons:

 Think practically. Sometimes taking a job that isn’t the most glamorous can provide stability and security. After all, unsung heroes rock! Who doesn’t love getting stuff (like books, for instance) in the mail? Surprise People… Even Yourself. Until that very moment Matty hadn’t talked about being a mailman when he grew up. Sometimes spontaneous, off the cuff remarks can turn out to be goldmines. Consider the Perks. Perhaps there is special housing or restaurants (or killer health benefits & a secure retirement package) reserved for someone in a particular line of work. Don’t be hemmed in by silly job descriptions. Matty isn’t content to be your everyday, average mailman. He’s looking to develop a brand new hybrid superhero/mail carrier. Flying really fast would certainly get his route finished quicker and I think a cape would be an excellent addition to the postal service uniform.

Cheers to Matty and his bright future with the Postal Service.

A "Balleter"

I applied for a job last week.

The whole thing got me thinking AGAIN about what I want to be when I grow up. At 34 29 shouldn’t I have this figured out? Truth is I'm just getting comfortable with WHO I want to be, but WHAT I want to be… I mean that’s a whole other question. It’s something I’ve been wrestling with for years. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve found LOTS of answers. But not one of them has really stuck long term.

So, I’ve decided to enlist a little bit of help.

I believe it was George Carlin who explained why adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up. Carlin suggested, “It’s because they’re looking for IDEAS!” And you know that is totally brilliant. Who better then little ones to go to for advice? They aren’t tainted by the practical aspects of “making a living”. They can still dream BIG. They don’t let past failures or set-backs determine what their future holds. And most importantly, they haven't learned to settle.

With that in mind, I found some old video footage (I was playing with my new toy at Christmas which explains the tree in the background of the shot) and decided to put a little something together. My hope is that this will be the FIRST in a series. (Friends with children, can I borrow them for a minute???) I'm hoping this might help me answer the question I’ve been trying to answer for-ev-ah. Or at the very least it might give me some fresh ideas. If it doesn’t (because, quite frankly, I'm starting to wonder if there really is ONE answer to this question for me…) at least I’ll have some fun doing the research.

May I introduce Claire:



Take away Lessons:

Start Early. Claire is four and she’s already got her eye on the prize. Turn your Weaknesses into your Strengths. Claire noted at the beginning of the video that pointing and kicking was something she wasn’t “good at.” However, when asked what her favorite thing to do in class is, she said it was "pointing." She’s obviously not letting her weakness stop her; in fact it’s her “favorite” part of class. Push Past Obstacles. Did you notice how Claire reacted when her a-dorable little bro tried to steal the spotlight? She was having none of it. She pushed him right out of the way, knowing the only way to make it in show biz is to be FRONT and CENTER.

Cheers to Claire and her bright future as a “Balleter”.