OOTD: Lularoe Blues & Purples

Top: Lularoe Classic T

Skirt: Lularoe Cassie

Necklace: Kohls

Earrings: thrifted

Flats: usadawgs.com

The Indie Shop Polish Convention & Fun In San Francisco

My most anticipated event of the summer finally arrived!

First up, my mani! The event was mermaid themed so I really played it up and pulled out all my favorite mermaid and ocean related polishes. Colors used were: ChG Pearl Jammin', Pretty Beautiful Unlimited Mermaid Tears, Cupcake Water You Doing? over SC Koko-nuts, Julie G Mermaid Tale, Cuicco Iluminaton, OPI Sailing & Nailing It w/accent of Sassy Pants Polish Temptation, Tonic Rainbowfish, OPI This Color's Making Waves, Color Club Riviera, and Pinwheel Polish Sea Glass & Surf.

Also a huge rave for Seche Vive top coat. I applied it super thick to hold the nail jewels on and protect the art, and not only did it not shrink and dried really quickly, but it kept my mani perfect the whole day! I was really hard on my hands and these pics were taken today AFTER the event; can you believe it? No chips or missing jewels at all.

Anyway, I had a ball yesterday; other than my wedding day it might have been my most favorite day ever, haha!

My holographic Lularoe Nicole dress was a huge hit. I went with my lovely friend.

I tried to get pics of all the vendor tables but may have missed a couple. 

Everyone was super nice and it was fun to meet the vendors. The table decor was really cute too.

Painted Polish 

Poetry Cowgirl 

FanChromatic

Envy

Colors By Lalarowe

Polished For Days 

 

Lavish Polish

 

Moonshine Mani

NvrEnuff

Everything was very well organized; we got there right on time for general admission at 11 and there was no line at the door. Got our adorable free totes and went right in. There were probably a hundred or so shoppers already there but it was clearly a smaller event than LA or others. I hope it grows in popularity and adds more vendors because I'd love to go again next year! There were no lines or a short wait at most tables. CBL had a line but they were very efficient and I only waited about 10 minutes. The only part I didn't care for was NvrEnuff was not as efficient and I waited in their line an hour! They had 3 helpers but only helped 1 customer at a time and spent a lot of time chatting with each person. They were very friendly but I think it would have gone much faster if they each helped customers.

Anyway, afterwards we went to lunch at food truck row in Downtown SF. We chose Gyros and they were amazing!

 

Continuing the day's mermaid & polish theme; I got a new work of art! The shop was called Mermaid Tattoos and the artist was wonderfully talented and so fun to talk with. It was an amazing experience!

We then walked down the block to a Salvation Army thrift store and found some treasures! I got a flamingo print Merona blouse, floral DKNY skirt, polka dot Gap tee and 3 scarves for $21! The store was huge and we didn't have time to look at all of it or we probably would have found even more.

 

Then we fueled up with Starbucks and enjoyed the touristy sights along Fisherman's Wharf before we headed home. I finally crawled in bed at 1AM. I'm sooo exhausted today but it was the best trip!

Finally what you've all been waiting for: the polish haul. I got a dozen for myself and muled 7 others (not pictured.) Fortunately I was able to stick to my list and budget; yay!

Painted Polish Gray Goddess $12, Charmed at the Chateaû $5, Jewel Tones & Tweed $5

 

Polished For Days Serendipity, Aurora and Ineffable $10-$11 each.

Envy Beyond The Reef (exclusive duo $10 and Very Important Mermaid ($12 I think)

NvrEnuff mystery prototype (won a freebie; regularly $5) and The Song of the Sea (duo $10)

CBL Dream Big $11 and Poetry Cowgirl Under The Sea $10.

Several cool freebies too: free tote, scratchers with discount code and prizes, NvrEnuff had a prize wheel where I won a free polish. Polished For Days gave out a free sheet of mermaid stencil vinyls with purchase!

I hope you all enjoyed the pics; thanks for looking!

Recent Wax Reviews

Starry Skies Lavender Jam- lavender vanilla and rose jam. A beautiful scent! Strong notes of sweet, fresh roses and calming undertones of lavender and vanilla. Fairly strong throw for about 8 hours. Overall grade: A. Would repurchase.

The Bathing Garden Painting The Roses Red: A strong fresh and "green" rose aroma. Strong throw for about 8-9 hours. Overall grade: A+. Would repurchase.

Front Porch Strawberry Mallow Sugar Cookie: yum! Smells like sweet strawberry fluff and rich vanilla cookies. Strong throw for about 7-8 hours. Overall grade: A. Would repurchase.

The Scented Squirrel Vanilla Pumpkin Marshmallow Snickerdoodle- vanilla, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, maple, marshmallow, pumpkin. A wonderful blend idea but unfortunately the throw is light. Overall grade: C. Might repurchase.

Glitterati Toasted Coconut Cream: a yummy sweet coconut bakery scent. Fairly strong throw for about 7-8 hours. Unfortunately after a few hours it began to smell rather artificial. Overall grade: B. Probably wouldn't repurchase.

The Scented Squirrel Neptune's Ghost- awapuhi sea berry, sea moss, driftwood, sand, violet, jasmine and lily rose. A fresh, ethereal blend with slightly sweet florals on a sea breeze. Fairly strong to moderate throw for about 6-7 hours. Overall grade: B+. Would repurchase.

The Scented Squirrel Mrs Claus- butter cookies, vanilla, peppermint and sugar. A delicious sugar cookie and peppermint blend. Fairly strong throw for about 8 hours. Overall grade: A. Would repurchase.

Vintage Chic Scents God Bless America- a pleasant scent but rather light. Smells faintly of apple pie sprinkled with cinnamon and vanilla ice cream. Overall grade: C-. Might repurchase.

Destination Wax Southern Mint Tea- smells of an ice cold glass of freshly brewed spearmint tea, very realistic. Moderate on cold but light throw. Overall grade: C. Might repurchase.

Glitterati Lovespells & Bombshells: a fruity floral perfumey blend very similar to the popular Lovespell fragrance. Strong throw for about 8-9 hours. Overall grade: A+. Would repurchase.

NOTD: Illyrian Fire Pixie Dust

A fun glitter gelly, I like it a lot. 2 coats. Pretty easy to work with.

Leggings, Laundry and Lazy Sundays

The past couple of days have been pretty chill for me, which I enjoy. My sweet hubby has been working nearly 7 days a week for the past few months, and although I miss spending that time with him, it has helped me take steps that make me a little more independent. I'm slowly making progress on my anxiety related to driving and have been driving myself 25 miles to the grocery store every Sunday for several weeks. This may not seem like a big deal to most, but it's quite an accomplishment for me and something I hadn't done in over five years. I find that taking these steps at my own pace and driving during a time of day with minimal traffic makes me feel more comfortable. I'm beginning to enjoy my Sunday morning routine; putting together cute and comfy errand running outfits, swinging by Starbucks and then hit up a couple stores. I feel rather proud of myself for doing something so normal.

At Walmart I had my first sighting of my favorite 719 Walnut Avenue fall candle scents. It seems like fall comes earlier every year, lol. But actually I really love 719's fall scents so I'm not complaining. I picked up a Caramel Cinnamon Roll since it's one of my favorites and I believe the Apple Delight is a new one; yummy apple bakery scent. I can't recall if Evergreen Spruce is new or not, and I also saw one lonely Pumpkin Waffles.
Mine were quite cheap at $4 as opposed to $4.93 last year.

When I got home I treated myself to a yummy quice for Sunday "brunch" for one. I wish I could say I made it but it was a particularly tasty brand that I hadn't tried before: Edward's.

This morning (Monday), I wanted to stay in bed but instead woke up at the crack of dawn to take my laundry to the local laundromat.

I made the best of being up early by playing a little Pokémon Go and sitting outside and enjoying the early morning cool air. I was feeling a bit nautical so I wore my cute anchor leggings from brand Fabulegs with a striped tunic tank with lace hem from Nordstrom Rack.

I do like these Fabulegs leggings; they are quite soft with a comfy yoga waistband and feel very similar to Lularoe. They often have sales so I was able to get several pairs for quite cheap. In fact I wore this pair from my first order to go pick up my second order, haha.

I ordered 3 more pairs: elephants, mint, and pink during their "Christmas in July" sale for only $8 each (reg. $22 each.) My only concern was that a pair of black capri leggings from my first order had arrived with a rather large hole in the waistband seam where they had been stitched improperly. I was disappointed, but I understand that sometimes manufacturing errors occur and the owner did provide good customer service, responding to my email within two hours. Since the flaw was on a seam I decided just to sew them up myself and I'm glad I did. I wore them last week and they were super cute and comfy.

While going about my morning I was pleased to see a group of firefighters taking a hard earned break, playing hackey sack at the local gas station.

For nearly 2 weeks now they've been battling a monsterous wildfire about 20 miles away from me. The hard work of over three thousand firefighters have kept several thousand residents and their homes safe. I don't want to imagine how much worse it would have been without their efforts. Sadly over 50 homes and and a church were destroyed, but now the blaze is about half contained and many people were able to return to their homes. The beautiful day in my area stands in stark contrast to what's going on just up the hill. Tragedies really make a person count their blessings.

This week I'm gearing up towards one of my most anticipated events of the summer, The Indie Shop nail polish convention in San Francisco this Saturday. My good friend, my husband and I will be going, so I am preparing by gathering nail art ideas and supplies to go with the event's mermaid theme. I love a good mermaid themed anything so this will be especially fun. I found this summer themed nail art kit at Walmart to help with my mani.

I have a whole little itinerary planned out for the big day; activities, a list of polishes I'm interested in, and a sparkly outfit as special as the festivities. I can't wait to show you all the highlights!

What's been going on in your neck of the woods lately? Any small pleasures or fun plans you've been enjoying?