Goodbye, 2014: New Year's Eve Mani

I've always found New Year's Eve to be depressing. I think what people sometimes feel on their birthdays is what I feel as the clock counts down to a new year. If it was a particularly good year, I feel like I'll miss it. I take inventory of my life. I note how I've aged. I do a bit of dwelling. 

This year, especially with recent events of my cousin passing, it could be easy to say that 2014 was terrible. I think a lot of people fall into a trap of letting a handful of awful moments define an entire year. But why don't we do that with the good times instead? 

Sure, I could think about the things I've lost and goals I didn't achieve in 2014 and write it off as a bad year, saying "don't let the door hit you in the ass" as the clock strikes midnight. But I've also had a ton of wonderful experiences in 2014 to be grateful for. 

I got a cat, who has become a truly joyous and beloved addition to my family. I started this nail blog and posted every week (which was one of my resolutions from last year!). I started a fun job that I am good at. I've made great new friends. I've picked up new hobbies. I went to concerts and parties and visited NYC a couple times. I spent time with people who mean the most to me. 

If you are like me and tend to be a NYE dweller, I urge you instead to celebrate the bright moments in your 2014, and to look forward to 2015 with optimism and hope. 

Happy New Year! 

Lightning bolt mani using Zoya in "Storm", "Trixie", and "Ziv"

Festive Stripes: A Christmas Mani

With Christmas just around the corner, I've been bombarded with wrapping, baking, and overall prepping for the holiday. So naturally, I got a wicked cold that I've been fighting since Tuesday. 

In an effort to beat the Christmas cold, I hunkered down in bed with all sorts of cold medicines and a bottle of whiskey (for my hot toddys!). I'm finally starting to feel better, and I even made time for a Christmas manicure :)

I was inspired by this giant ornament we have at Pier 1, along with some Christmas tree manicures my Dad posted to my wall about a month ago. Here is the inspiration ornament, along with the result:

I was supposed to have a December Ipsy bag review for you all too, but my bag hasn't arrived yet. I'll bunch it in next week with my last mani of 2014!

Not Jewish, but Supportive: Hanukkah Nails

I've always been interested in Jewish culture to a degree. Growing up, the Rugrats Passover special was my jam. In more recent years, I loved watching The Prince of Egypt. 

Relationship goal!

One of my best friends from high school is Jewish, but I'm pretty sure she also celebrates Christmas. It wasn't until my junior year of college that I got to celebrate my first ever Hanukkah. 

I lived with three other girls, one of whom was Jewish. When it came time to decorate the apartment for the holidays, I wanted to be as inclusive as possible. I bought a mini Christmas tree and put Star of David garland on it. I also picked up a mini menorah for my roomie, and we celebrated Hanukkah together each of the eight nights before exchanging our secret Santa gifts. 

Fry the latkes, eat the chocolate. 

Truth is, Hanukkah was a blast! I loved learning more about the culture, and occasionally I could turn to my roomie for any burning questions I had about Judaism ("Hey, Sarah! What does it mean to keep kosher, anyhow?"). 

Ever since having a Jewish roomie, I've tried to celebrate Hanukkah every year in my own small way: Hanukkah themed nail art. Alarmingly, this isn't a very popular concept. I went to Instagram for inspiration, and found the holiday manicure numbers are grossly skewed. 

Whomp whomp. 

Still, I managed to find a few fun ideas, and with the help of my brand new detail brush, I pulled off a manicure almost as miraculous as the oil burning for eight nights. 

I don't know if I've ever created a more beautiful manicure (in my humble opinion!), but I'm glad I could pull off this stunner for the Festival of Lights. Happy Hanukkah to all of my Jewish friends! 

Color of the Month: The Great December Debate

December's birthstone does not take one true form. While researching what December's birthstone was, I found that most gemstone websites cited Tanzanite, Zircon, and Turquoise as acceptable birthstones for December babies. However, if you log on to any jewelry store website and search December birthstones, they will usually show you blue topaz pieces of jewelry. I look at this as an advantage for December babies; you can get a birthstone at a variety of price points!

For my December nails I decided to try Chalkboard Nail's "Precious Gems" nail tutorial. 

It was a bit of a nail fail. 

Both my detail brush and my black polish were too thick, which resulted in sloppy line work. Maybe one day I'll try these again with a finer brush and a newer black polish! But it was a tedious process for sure. 

Here is the result: