Job Envy

If you have naturally ugly fingers and toes like I do, you already know what a lifesaver nail polish is. While I love that pretty pops of color on my hands and feet take the spotlight off of my flaws, my very favorite thing about nail polish is found on the bottom of the bottle.

Whose job is it to come up with the color names for OPI, for Essie, for NARS, for MAC, for Chanel? I want this job. I want to baptize nail polishes for a living.

Red isn't just red. It's wife goes on red or charged-up cherry. Blue isn't just blue. It's turquoise and caicos or lapis of luxury. Pink isn't just pink. It's pistol-packin' pink or pink me I'm good.

When we splurge and get manicures/pedicures, I have just as much fun reading the nail polish names as I do relaxing in the chair with warm towels on my legs.

Here's a look at some of the colors that I wish I had in my collection at home:

On My Wish List

(First row, from left to right)
1. OPI's Last Friday Night
2. Chanel's Nouvelle Vague
3. Essie's Fruit Sangria
4. OPI's Pinking of You
5. Essie's Pretty Edgy

(Second row, from left to right)
1. Sephora by OPI's Caliente Coral
2. Essie's Looking for Love
3. OPI's Gargantuan Green Grape
4. Sephora by OPI's Looks Like Rain Dear
5. NARS's Jungle Red

Caught Red-Handed

Sliced on top of cereal. Mixed into salads. Dusted with sugar for dessert. I could eat strawberries morning, noon, and night.



Just Picked and Just Bursting with Flavor


I love to eat strawberries that look clean enough straight out of the container. I love to eat strawberries that are covered in dirt right off of the vine.

The Ripeness Guide

Although this will be the third post this week about strawberries (mentioned here and here), I just can't resist sharing our first strawberry picking experience.

Where we went:
Lavigne Strawberry Farm in Sanford, ME

Old Sign, New Season

This fairly flat farm has wonderful directions set up from the highway, ample parking, a friendly staff, and 12 acres of strawberries.

Good Directions

Strawberry Field, Line for Weighing

Things we learned:

1). The early bird gets the worm (prime picking is at 6am, not 11am)

2). Timing is everything (we got last picks in the morning field and missed the rotation to the afternoon field)

3). Berry season is short but sweet (only about a 2 week window around here)

4). Check to see if you need to bring your own containers...and then find your own row!

5). Pick one, eat two...good for filling up my stomach, not so good for filling up my basket

6). Strawberry picking in theory is alot more fun (my lower back is still screaming)

7). Bring enough cash (although it was much more reasonably priced than we had anticipated)

8). Don't abandon the strawberries in the suffocatingly hot car to spend two hours at the nail salon

9). Drag Brother #3 along next time so he can pick like a maniac while I park myself in the shade and eat every berry in a three foot radius

10). Freeze the strawberries on a cookie sheet first so that they don't all stick together in the bag

At least we had the foresight to strawberry pick before we got our manicures and pedicures!

Playful Purple French Manicure (No Thumbs Today) 

Owning Up, Again

Yesterday my mom lured me out the door with promises of rainy afternoon manicures and pedicures...and dragged me into Talbots on the way. I thought I would give the store a quick perusal and deem it to be "cute but not for me." As much as it pains me to say this, I was wrong about Talbots (see my offhand condemnation here) and moreover, Mom often does know best.

I positively loved some of their shoes. Impossibly detailed ankle-wrap heels, delicately feminin and simple flats, gladiator wedges with touches of metallic, espadrilles in a rainbow of pastels, intricately twisted rope T-strap sandals...

I ended up walking away with two pairs that do a wonderful job of accomodating and concealing my square foot bed (discussed here). 

Faux-leather Side-bow Flip Flops and Leather Cinched-bow Espadrilles

The flip flops (dressed up with a sweet little bow) will serve as a daily go-to this summer, and I'm sure my legs will appreciate the teensy tiny heel after being run ragged all morning. The espadrilles, in a cheerful and sunny yellow, are just plain fun. I generally avoid anything with ankle straps because I worry about chopping my "long legs" in half, but this one is skinny enough that it highlights my small ankles and doesn't make me look too stumpy. I think they'll be adorable with cropped white denim jeans and any number of printed tops.

Afterwards, we did go for that mother/daughter manicure and pedicure (another one of the perks of coming home!). I settled on a gorgeous purply pink called "Bermuda Shorts" for my toes and suffered through the technician's lecture about my foot care (which amounts to approximately none, with 50 miles a week on top).