First Impressions: Llarowe

Hi Everyone! I am loving this nail polish! The line is called "Colors by Llarowe" or "CBL" for short. Llarowe was founded by nail polish fanatic Leah Ann LaRowe, who in 2011 decided it was time someone made ordering nail polishes from around the world easier (ixnay the hassle and expense of shipping internationally). So what started out as an idea certainly has blossomed into a well established business. Of course now she has her own line of polishes, which is aptly named "Colors by Llarowe."

Now that you know some history, lets delve into the polish itself. The two colors that I am wearing here are 'Vincent,' which is a creme black base, and for the top coat I went with 'River,' which is the most gorgeous blue/green flake polish. Originally I thought I might try to do a mermaid look, but on top of black it makes me think of dragon scales. Also this pairing is great if you enjoy anything with peacock feathers.

As far as laying down the polish, I only did ONE coat of each color and it turned out amazing. You can do 'River' by itself and simply layer (3-4 coats) for opacity. This would be a completely different look, but I personally think flake polishes look best when used over dark colors such as 'Vincent.'

I have yet to really test out this nail polish's durability. I do a lot of typing both at work, school, and now with this blog, so usually my nail polishes don't last more than 4 or 5 days without at least some wear and tear. I also always do both a bottom and a top coat using Seche Vite to prevent nail stain and chipping. I will post further info on durability as I use these polishes more.

If you want to check out more colors or purchase these ones, visit Llarowe's Website. I will also be doing a blog post soon about Llarowe's "A Box Indied," which is a themed monthly subscription. Let me know if you have any questions and have a happy day!

Daily Nuggets...

• Social psychology final tomorrow.

• An announcement from Bethesda should be made today around 6:30pm Pacific Time releasing further details on Fallout 4. 

• Looking forward to a female president. Go Hillary!

• I've been enjoying the Tim Hunt backlash especially after taking women's studies last quarter. #DistractinglySexy

• Still have to get some boots for motorcycle class.

Jurrasic World Ethics

Can we talk about ethics for a moment? Most of you know the premise for Jurrasic World, which opens this weekend; man messes with nature, and nature exacts its revenge. So why is it that in all of these films, not one person has served jail time for manslaughter? Even if we wanted justice for all those killed, who would we hold responsible? Do we hold the scientists responsible for recreating/mutating the dinosaurs? Or would we hold the parks accountable for not taking proper safety measures? 

In the beginning of the second movie we see lawyers meeting with John Hammond who is quietly settling an out-of-court matter about a little girl who had an 'accident' on one of his islands. I think one of the few reasons this man hasn't been led out in handcuffs is that he is reminiscent of Santa Claus (except in our case, it's a jolly old man whose elves have created macabre man-eating machines).

Fast-forward to the latest installment of 'money-making antics gone wrong,' and once again we see people running for their lives at a park they willingly entered. The park guests must have known what they were getting into, especially with the last three major park 'incidents.' If I were a producer/writer on the set, I would start the movie off with everyone signing waivers. It would be a full five minutes of paperwork, and then blood-bath. I think the moral of the story here is that the less movies adhere to rules, the less realistic it becomes. If you really want to scare a theater audience, start off with some legal documents.  

Daily Nuggets...

• Ken won the water balloon fight. I have a welt on the back of my arm to prove it.

• Is it fair to throw a water balloon at someone when they are both unarmed and retreating?  

• I REALLY hate steller's jays. I've been trying to get rid of them and they destroyed my lavender in retaliation. Admittedly when starvation didn't work, I resorted to rock throwing. 

Them's Duelin' Words!

How long has it been since you've had a good old fashioned duel? For me, it's been far too long so yesterday, as a last minute decision, I grabbed a pack of water balloons at the dollar store. Let me just say, filling 100 water balloons is enough to take the fight out of anyone, thus a water balloon battle should be planned in advance. It has been decided that Ken and I will duel at noon on Saturday (loser buys lunch). I have yet to come up with my strategy, but I think Ken might have an unfair advantage in that he plays more war games than me. Anyways, I think it is important as adults we find ways to be playful and maybe even a little 'childish' at times. Life is short. Go play. 

Daily Nuggets...

• Back on elimination diet. Cutting out breads/grains is probably the hardest food group for me to give up, but I'm almost sure I have a wheat or gluten intolerance. 

• Crossing my fingers that my eyes aren't swollen when I wake up tomorrow. I accidentally had some wheat and rye in my oatmeal this morning. Damn you Quaker Oatmeal guy who makes fancy packaging.  

• I wonder how much guacamole is too much guacamole?

• Worked out today at Xtra Fitness. I felt so out of breath. I'm not sure, but I think I might have a condition called "out of shape."

My New Obsession: Beirut

The band Beirut has been around since 2006, but I recently discovered them through their June 1st release of the single "No No No." The full album isn't set to be released until September this year, but if their first song is a precursor to the album, it's gonna be flat-out awesome! Their musical style seems to be indie with heavy horns. You can listen to their new single and older albums on Spotify. For those in the Seattle area, they will be in concert at the Paramount Theater October 13th. I bought tickets this morning. #FirstConcertAsAMarriedCouple ♥︎

Single "No No No"

Daily Nuggets...

• Participated in reliability training at work. Seriously how many acronyms can one company use? I created a new one called "J.U.S.T.-S.T.O.P." (patent pending)

• Finally got my oil changed today. If my car were human, I might be charged with neglect.

• My cuticles are crazy dry. 

• Found some goodies at the dollar store including a cooling eye mask for my puffy eyes (allergies).

Kinda feel like cat-woman in this mask...

Sunday Catch Up

I've been feeling 'green' with envy this weekend over those who don't have schoolwork right now (weather is gorgeous). I've also been feeling the heat today, so I added gold polka dots to my nail polish today :) Just a heads up, Sally Hansen nail polish is on sale at Ulta right now as a buy one get one 50% off through 6/27/15.

Sunday to do list...

• Laundry
• Study for lab quiz Monday
• Read "Letter to Menoeceus" p.653-656
• Read "My Confessions" p.659-664
• Philosophy discussion board
• Study for philosophy final
• Calculate Mean, Median, and Mode for Psychology experiment 
• Endocrine research write-up

I did spend this morning in bed getting my psychology project done, so mission accomplished. One less thing on my plate as I start to wrap up this quarter. 

Daily Nuggets...

• I tried to make a smoothie this morning out of blueberries and unsweetened almond milk, but it smelled and tasted like play-dough. Down the sink it went.

• No make-up today, but at least I did my nails. 

• Why do I feel like a dork when Netflix asks me, "Are you still watching Pretty Little Liars?" It feels more like, "Seriously? You're still watching this show?"

Why Bethesda Made My Weekend...

Oh my. I've been waiting for this game to be announced for SEVEN YEARS! I was 20 when Fallout 3 came out and had a blast playing it. I ended up buying all of the expansions and only stopped exploring the post-apocalyptic Las Vegas landscape when my PS3 gave out. Fallout 4 will only be available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC platforms, so if you haven't upgraded your console, now might be a good time. The official release date is December 31st 2015 and pre-order is available. Currently the price is $59.99. Winter quarter at Edmonds CC starts January 4th which gives me approximately 4 full days to play my heart out, before turning it over to Ken. I'll definitely be keeping my eyes and ears open as Bethesda is set to release further details June 14th. 

Daily Nuggets...

• Brad's birthday party last night was awesome!  

• Fajita left overs are the bomb. 

• I'm about 1,000 miles over on my oil change, but Saturdays are too busy at Jiffy Lube. I'm thinking Monday I'll do it. 

• Still need to find low-heel boots for the motorcycle class in two weeks.

Poor Ello Bottle

One of my Ello bottles finally broke, but not in the way I was expecting. With the amount of times I've dropped my glass water bottle, I had expected it to break sooner or later, but surprisingly it wasn't the glass portion that broke, it was the plastic flip-top lid. Luckily I can get a replacement lid on Amazon for around $6. Either way, I'm glad they made these things with rubber around the glass. While I prefer these water bottles for the taste factor (they don't add any sort of chemical taste to the water), they also save the environment from more plastic. Each bottle holds 20ml of water (at times a little less if you spill it down the front of your shirt). A few months ago Costco sold them as a two-pack for $20, which is a steal since usually they are $15-18 for one bottle at Target or Amazon. However, if I don't get the replacement cap, I can still use it for bicep curls (that much glass is is heavy).

Daily Nuggets...

• I'm looking forward to seeing friends tomorrow night at Brad's birthday dinner. My dear friend will be turning 50, and I can't wait to hear stories about his latest trip to London. 

• It might be too early to tell, but my eczema seems to be improving with my elimination diet. 

• I'm thinking about doing the Saturday bootcamp at Xtra Fitness. The last time I tried the class I felt frustrated as I was unable to keep up. Of course any exercise that involves coordination usually leaves me looking like a drunk back-up-dancer.

• I need to make some room on my phone; the next phone I get must have lots of space cause I'm tired of deleting things. Hoarders (IPhone edition).

• Any ideas for using Pumpkin that doesn't involve bread, pie, or cakes?