I Love Your Blog Award

I was recently given the I Love Your Blog Award by A Girl and Her Polish! Thank you so much! :)

So naturally, that means it's Q&A time! Here are the questions that go with this award:


1. What polish and color do you use the most?
This would be a hard one to figure out. I'd say colorwise I wear blues the most but I couldn't really single out a particular polish as my most-used one.

2. What polish is number one on your wishlist?
I would very much like to own Cult Nails Clairvoyant someday but as I understand it, Cult Nails' supplier for some of Clairvoyant's ingredients no longer stocks the materials in question so I'm not sure if I'll ever get the chance to own it. :(

3. If you could meet any celebrity who would it be?
If we include deceased celebrities in this, I'd really love to meet Marilyn Monroe. I have such a soft spot for her and think she is the ultimate screen icon. But if I'm limited to the realm of the living, I'd pick my fellow Irish-German mutt Michael Fassbender. I enjoy him as an actor and it doesn't hurt that he's foxy as all hell either. ;)

4. What is your biggest goal in life?
I don't really think I have a singular life goal. I guess I'd just like to die feeling accomplished and content--how exactly I'd acheive that is a mystery to me at this point though haha.

5. What is your favorite piece of clothing?
My Alexander McQueen dress.

6. What is you favorite store to shop at?
Target. I'm particularly obsessed with all of the designer collaborations they do!

7. What is your favorite book?
I really enjoy reading so it's hard for me to pick just one! I guess it's between To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (If my dad had his way I would be named Harper after her), In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (who incidentally was Harper Lee's best friend) and Crime and Punishment  by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

8. Who has been the best mentor in your life?
My parents.

9. Who would play you in a movie about your life?
I dunno. I don't think I look like any famous women, although I've had several people tell me I look like Jenny Lewis, which is odd considering I have neither red hair or freckles. But I like her music so hey, I'll take it.

10. What is your favorite candy?
I love Twix bars and Hershey's Cookies N Cream bars!

11. What is the first thing you would buy if you won 1 million dollars?
My dream house! I don't want or need an especially large house but I'd like one in a nice area that I can decorate to my heart's content.


The award doesn't specify how many people you should pass it on to, so I'm nominating:
1. ladyboss at My Vanity Case
2. MariJo at Polish Obsession
3. Lyndsay at Pixie Polish

Kreativ Blogger Award

A big thank you to The Dragon Lady for giving me the Kreativ Blogger Award!

Award rules:
1. Link back to the person who gave you this award.
2. Complete the form below.
3. Award 10 other blogs and let them know in a comment or email
4. Share 7 random things about yourself.


FORM:

1. Name your favorite song.
Ugh, this is so hard! I don't think I really have one definitive favorite song because I listen to a really random mix of genres. I can't pick only one song that I like best!

2. Name your favorite dessert.
Ahh, much easier! I mentioned in this post that I have an undying love for French silk pie!

3. What ticks me off:
Arrogance, condescension, people who walk really slowly and people who are rude to waiters/servers/cashiers. I think everyone should be required to work a customer service or food service job at least once in their lives because it teaches you so much about the value of patience, understanding and most of all, manners! You can easily tell the difference between customers who have had a service job before and those who have not.

4. When I'm upset, I...
Usually seethe inwardly until I either have the opportunity to vent about it later or eventually calm down. I'm not good with confrontation I guess.

5. What's your favorite pet?
My two Corgis, Taxi and Natalie!

 Taxi as a puppy

Natalie

6. Black or white?
Black.

7. Biggest fear?
If we're talking in a non-abstract sense, then needles or Great White sharks. *shudder* A lot of my nightmares are about sharks. I don't live anywhere near an ocean so I'm not sure why I'm so scared of them haha. I also used to have a big problem with plane rides, but I got much better about them after I took like, five plane rides during my study abroad in Russia two years ago.

8. Every day attitude.
Hmm... I guess naturally I'm a kind of cynical/sarcastic person but I tend to find humor in pretty much any situation--the weirder, the better.

9. What is perfection?
Enjoying some time with the people closest to you.

10. Guilty pleasure?
I think this whole blog is basically a shrine to my guilty pleasure haha. Although I've become increasingly less guilty about my obsession with nail polish--I'm not sure if that's a bad or good thing! My other big guilty pleasure is the TV show "Hoarders." My friend and I watch it together every week. It's gross but in the best possible way.


7 RANDOM THINGS ABOUT ME:

1. I really hate when you're taking clean dishes out of the dishwasher and the old water from inside a cup or on a plate gets on you. I dunno, it just completely skeeves me out for some reason.

2. I'm a bigtime procrastinator. I totally work best under pressure or against a deadline, which I guess is a good thing since I'm going into journalism.

3. My favorite Beatle is George.

4. English/Literature is my favorite school subject and my least favorite is math.

5. I'm currently obsessed with George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, as well as the television adaptation of it, Game of Thrones. They are both soooo amazing!

6. I'm an only child. However, my best guy friend and I call each other "spiritual siblings," because we have too much totally random crap in common to not have been separated at birth.

7. The only professional sport I truly keep up with is hockey. Go Wings! If Detroit is knocked out of the playoffs then I tend to root for the Washington Capitals and/or the Philadelphia Flyers. I'm actually wearing a Flyers shirt right now!

10 BLOGS I PASS THIS AWARD ON TO:
1. Pixie Polish
2. My Polish Stash
3. AllYouDesire
4. Nightly Nails
5. Body and Soul
6. Polish Chest
7. ChitChat Nails
8.Imperfectly Painted
9.Lacquered Lover
10. The Polished Perfectionist

Awards!

I was recently awarded the Cute Blog Award by two of my blogging pals: Ashesela of Art Evolve and Nory of Fierce Makeup and Nails. I also was given the Liebster Blog Award by two thoughtful bloggers: Cindy-y of Square Polish and Charlotte of Charlotte's Nails. Thanks, girls! :)

The Liebster Blog Award is given to blogs with under 200 followers. You can check out my previous Liebster Blog Award picks HERE if you'd like to check out some fabulous up and coming nail blogs! They're all more than worthy of a place in your news feed and I enjoy reading each of them.

As for the Cute Blog Award, is that owl adorable or what?! I've never received this award before, so that means I get to answer some questions and make some new picks to pass it on to!

Questions:

1.What is your go to make up product?

Foundation (liquid set with powder) and mascara. I'll go to work or class without mascara on if I'm running super late but I typically don't go without wearing at least a little foundation unless I majorly overslept or feel super tired.

2. What was your favorite fashion trend of 2011?

The return of bright colors!

3. What is your favorite dessert?

French silk pie, especially from Baker's Square. The fact that the only Baker's Square in my entire state closed down several years ago still depresses me to this day.

4. Favorite color?

Pink--just not on my nails haha. For nails I like blue and green best.

5. What is your middle name?

Leigh, for a couple reasons but mostly after the actress Vivien Leigh. My dad picked it out.

6. What was the last song you listened to?

"Life On Mars?" by David Bowie

7. Cats or dogs?

Dogs!

8. Tell us something about yourself you haven't told us in your blog yet?

Hmm... Well, I guess I'll share something completely random: I recently wrote my college senior thesis on the symbolic and political impact of the JFK assassination on Lyndon Johnson's presidency. Yes, I write about things other than nail polish! :) I probably enjoyed myself way too much in the process; I find the entire subject matter and the personalities surrounding it to be completely fascinating. But I got a 4.0 on it so I was very proud of myself!

 

I'm passing this award on to:

Amanda of Amandalandish

Sarah of See Sarah Swatch

Chelsea of The Nail Network

Ali of Ali's Nail News

Liebster Blog Award & Glitter In Their Veins Badge Featuring Nicole By OPI Kendall On The Katwalk

The lovely Anne of grape fizz nails has nominated me for the Glitter In Their Veins Badge and the marvelous Amber of Nails Like Lace nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award! Thank you so much, Anne and Amber! :)

You may remember that when Amanda of Amandalandish, the creator of the Glitter In Their Veins Badge, first gave me it, I showed you all my favorite glitter, OPI Absolutely Alice (take a look HERE, if you like). Last time, I was a dummy and forgot to nominate any fellow "glitterati" for this badge. So this time I'm going to make amends by inviting any of you self-proclaimed "glitterati" to join in by posting this badge and sharing your favorite glitters on your own blogs! :)

Now onto some glittery goodness! Since I've already shared my all-time favorite glitter for this award, I thought I'd bust out another one of my favorites: Nicole by OPI Kendall on the Katwalk. Despite the obnoxious Kardashian "spelling," Kendall on the Katwalk is seriously amazing. From the second I saw swatches of this beauty, I just knew I had to have it! The base is a sheer blue shade and the dominant glitter color is blue, but there's also green and purple in the mix as well. Something about this one reminds me of Mardi Gras. Am I the only one?

This is just too pretty! The color combination is very eye-catching and gives this polish some interesting depth. I used three coats here and after two days of wearing this to work, I only had one little chip on my right index finger. I was kind of determined not to like these Kardashian polishes but I must admit, of the three I got, I really loved them all. There's something for everyone in the bunch. This one is probably my favorite though.

Oddly enough, I saw some of the Kardashian polishes at Target the other day. Weren't these supposed to be Walmart exclusives? Regardless, that's good news if you missed out on these the first time around. They didn't appear to have the whole set-Kendall on the Katwalk was one of the absent ones-so I'm not sure if my Target was simply sold out of some or they'll only be carrying a partial selection. Have you seen these popping up at your local Target-or somewhere else besides Walmart?

Liebster Blog Award!

I was recently given the Liebster Blog Award by the marvelous Emilie of greeneyespinknails! Thank you Emilie for thinking of me, I'm so honored! The Liebster Blog Award is given to blogs with under 200 followers and as part of my award, I get to pass this on to five other bloggers!

So I'm passing mine on to:

1. Sabine of My Polish Stash
2. Melissa of Swatch Me Now
3. Anne of grape fizz nails
4. Meredith of Polish and Charms
5. Ashesela of Art Evolve

Congrats, ladies! You all have such great blogs!

Glitter In Their Veins Badge Featuring OPI Absolutely Alice

Recently the wonderful Amanda of Amandalandish gave me her Glitter In Their Veins badge! Thanks Amanda! She knows (and you probably do as well if you read Nailed often) that I love a good glitter polish!

So as part of this badge, I have to post my favorite glitter! Hence, I thought I'd share a very, very special polish with you all today: OPI Absolutely Alice. This legendary polish really needs no introduction, but for the record, Absolutely Alice is a vibrant blue and gold glitterbomb. The dominant color here is most definitely the bright blue, but the gold gives it that little something extra, don'tcha think? This polish is so bright and rich-looking in real life!

Gorgeous, right? I wish I didn't have to show you this on my super short nails, but unfortunately I got some really awful peeling on my middle and index fingers so I had to give them all a trim. My nails hardly ever break; they're more likely to peel than any other fiascos. Regardless, the formula on Absolutely Alice was excellent. I used three coats here and I didn't have any problems with glitter straying to the edges of my nails or anything like that.

I really adore this polish; it's easily in my all-time top three. This was my biggest lemming for a long time and I finally broke down and bought it on Ebay a while back and I haven't regretted it since! (Do be careful if you buy it on Ebay though; some people make fakes-yes, sad but true-of these rarer OPI polishes so do your research first and make sure the seller is one you trust.) Absolutely Alice really is even prettier in person and I think this is one of the most beautiful polishes OPI has ever done. I just wish there were other alternatives to coughing up the extra cash to get this one on Ebay, because I think everyone should have the chance to own Absolutely Alice. Do you ever wonder why OPI doesn't make any of its glitter polishes part of their core collection? I understand the limited edition aspect encourages people to buy right away, but I think a lot of people would continually pick up a glitter as amazing as this one!

Thanks again to Amanda for giving me this badge and for giving me a chance to share my favorite glitter with you all! What's your favorite glitter polish?

Versatile Blogger Award!

I got my very first blog award(s)! The lovely Amanda at Amandalandish and the wonderful Meredith at Polish and Charms have nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award! Thanks, girls! <3 Be sure to check out their blogs too-both are great and I have them on my blogroll so you guys can keep up with them!

So as part of this award, I have to tell you seven things about myself and then nominate 15 other bloggers for this award! Here goes...

1. I have two Corgis named Taxi and Natalie (She's named after Natalie Wood and it was the name she came with from being a former show dog. I know, it's a weird name for a dog but my mom likes Natalie Wood and wouldn't let my dad and I pick another name haha.) They are half-siblings and share the same dad, who is, ridiculously enough, named Bernard.

Taxi (Baby Taxi is my user pic.)

Natalie

2. I played violin for nine years, from elementary school through the end of high school. I wish I still had time for it in college! My favorite composer is Tchaikovsky.

3. I really love video games-and I have the carpal tunnel to prove it. I've got an Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii with me up at college, plus some older consoles back home. My all-time favorite game is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for N64. Some of my favorite games from the current generation are Mass Effect 1 & 2, Red Dead Redemption, the Dragon Age series and the Uncharted series.

4. I have several celebrity crushes but one of the biggest ones is Timothy Olyphant, especially on "Justified." His character on that show is basically my perfect man-and "Justified" is ridiculously well-written too, so check it out if you get a chance. In the meantime, I think I'll just leave these here...

5. My first job was at an ice cream place that's been open since the 1950s and still keeps the whole 50s throwback theme going. I worked there for five years and as a result, I can tell you not only everything you'd (n)ever want to know about ice cream but also about 50s and 60s pop music, because that's all we were allowed to play on the in-store radio.

6. I'm physically incapable of standing still when I'm on the phone. I'm one of those people who'll walk around in aimless, repetitive circles because I feel really fidgety if I just stand there.

7. I'm a huge night owl. I frequently stay up until 5:00 in the morning, sometimes just because I feel like it and even if I have to get up early the next day. I would say it's just how my body's wired, but ironically I also really, really enjoy sleeping. I usually wake up feeling like garbage and vow to go to bed early that night, then promptly forget that idea and do the whole thing again.

Hopefully that wasn't too dreadfully boring. Now I get to nominate 15 great ladies for this award as well! There are so many nail blogs I love, but in this case, I choose:

1. See Sarah Swatch

2. The Polished Panda

3. Top Coat It

4. Once Bitten

5. Stuff I (S)watched

6. Scrangie

7. ChitChat Nails

8. The Polishaholic

9. Swatch And Learn

10. Nails Made Simple

11. Vampy Varnish

12. Polished Prisms

13. Fashion Polish

14. Let Them Have Polish!

15. Greeneyespinknails

Thanks again to Amanda and Meredith! I am so happy that you both thought of me for this! :)