Valentine's Day is Looming

Well doesn't that sound ominous? I would like to think that after almost 26 years my husband and I are still madly in love and giddy with happiness and floating on air and.... oh who the hell am I kidding? We're comfortable. Sure we still love each other and there are times he'll call me and say he's on the way home and I'll still get that familiar flutter in my heart (chest? stomach?) But romance? The candlelight and exploding stars just don't seem to be there like they were 25 years ago. So Valentine's Day isn't the day we choose to celebrate our love. We do that every day. From "Good morning, how are you feeling" to "Scratch right here" or "I went to the store and look what I found for you." Lately it's keeping count of my medications for me so I don't miss a day or my applying his eye drops so they go to the right place. The little everyday things start to become so much more important than coming home to a dozen roses and a frilly box of candy.

Whether you've been married 26 years or 2 years, love takes on the meaning you give it. You find love in what matters to you at that time in your life. But your life, as well as your love, will constantly go through phases. With a young couple starting a household, the importance is on working hard, going to work, a phone call during the day from work, working to managing finances, and working to build the home you dream of. As you continue to building your family, your love is shown in raising your children together, sharing mealtimes, family outings and vacations, celebrating special moments and occasions that make your family strong. Empty nesters find love in other new ways such as preparing and enjoying quiet meals together, a loving glance over a quiet cup of coffee, holding hands while watching a tv show or movie, taking a trip you've planned for a long time or an evening out with dinner and a show. Then, one day, you wake up to the sound of running feet slapping across the floor, giggles and laughter and children bouncing on the bed, and you remember the grandchildren have come to visit. You cherish these new life moments together and realize that this is what it was all about - the continuation of your love, everything you've worked for and spent a lifetime growing. This is love.

So whether you've been together for a couple of weeks or a half century, cherish the phase of love that you're in now and those that you've passed through or can look forward to. Take some time to reflect on what matters in your life right now and what your love means to you. Don't just rely on a commercialized day to celebrate your love for each other. Make a point of celebrating that love every day. Every small act of love adds up to a lifetime of happiness, joy, commitment and togetherness. And that frilly box of candy? It's going to be 75 percent off on Feb 15th..... surprise your loved one with a special treat, not because the calendar says you should, but because your heart says you want to. It counts just as much, if not more!

Switching lanes, here's the Nail Art I'll be rocking this week..... pink for love and flowers because those old groundhogs promised Spring is on the way!!!

The flowers I used were water transfers (not to be confused with stickers!!) and you can find them really inexpensively at the Born Pretty Store here....



Enjoy your Valentine's Day and celebrate the love with your friends, children, parents, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, cousins..... just love someone! Then do it again the next day. And the next. And the next........

Our First Nail Art Post

It really makes sense that the first official post is about Nail Art.  No, that was our introduction. THIS is our first "post." I made sure the account is current with the older and newer pictures of Nail Art on Instagram so it seems logical to me that we'll just start with what I have on my nails at this moment. I may go back later and pick up an older design and post it. Also, I'm willing to answer any questions here that you might have about my Instagram pictures. I don't do tutorials like those you would find on YouTube or other outlets but I can certainly share pictures and discuss the methods and colors I used for a particular style. So if you have questions, just ask!

So here we go............

This is what we're wearing currently. I used a base coat of  Sally Hansen Double Duty. Always, always, always use a GOOD quality base coat. These polishes do some strange things to our nails so to avoid the "cost of beauty," protect what you can, when you can.

Carrying on... the next layer is OPI Alpine Snow. I'll often do different bottom coats on different fingers but for this design I used the Alpine Snow on all of my nails. I prefer doing thin coats because they seem to dry more even as well as faster so this time I used 2 coats of Alpine Snow.

Once this was very dry I used my Nail Art Plate: BORN PRETTY BP-L006 12.5 x 6.5cm and my new 2pcs/set Clear Jelly Nail Art Stamper Clear Silicone Marshmallow Nail Stamper & Scraper, and I started with Sinful Colors Thimbleberry 108. Once I applied my stamps, I added accent to the ring finger nails using Sinful Colors Why Not 951.


I finished the design off with, as always, Seche Vita Top Coat. This always fills in any indents and smudges and leaves my nails looking smooth as glass and incredibly well protected! I love the always-wet look it gives too! The fact that it dries completely in less than 1 full minute is also a HUGE selling point for me!

This was my first time using the Clear Jelly Nail Art Stamper and I won't ever use anything else! The pick up with this stamper is amazing and I had NO empty spots when I transferred the stamp. I also love looking through the stamper and knowing exactly were the design is going to apply. Usually it's a half-hoping and half-wishing game to see what you end up with when you lift the stamper. Not with this one. You know exactly where to line it up and where you put it is where your polish stays! One thing I did notice that I want to call to your attention - I clean my stampers with a lint remover roller and it works well with this one too. BUT for some reason I haven't discovered YET, you have to wipe the Clear Jelly Stamper with a paper towel or napkin after using the lint roller or it will NOT pick up your polish! It scared me the first time it happened and I'll find out why eventually but it works great once you quickly wipe it.

Since this is the first Nail Art Post I want to touch on a couple of things here: First, the stamp plates from Born Pretty are exceptional quality. They are stainless steel and have very deep grooves. This is important because other brands aren't etched as deeply and your final design is either "sketchy" or missing in areas. I have several BP plates and haven't had any trouble with any of them. They are covered by a blue film that protects it during shipping and attached to a cardboard backing that serves several purposes, the main one is to keep it from being bent. Others don't have this bonus. They also come in a heavy cardboard sleeve that keeps them from being scratched when not in use. I highly recommend Born Pretty stamping plates.

Second, I've used several of the marshmallow and other types of stampers from several places and although the traditional stampers from Born Pretty work well, for reasons I already stated, I cannot stress how happy I am with the Clear Jelly Nail Art Stamper and I especially recommend them if you are just starting out. Your stress level will decrease enough to make the additional small cost worth while.

There you have it. Our first official Nail Art post. I hope I've answered any questions you may have had. If not, feel free to leave them in the comments below and I promise I'l answer quickly. Also, if there's a particular design that you've seen on my Instagram Page that you have questions about or would like more information on, let me know in the comments.

Thanks for hanging out here with me. I hope it was worth your time and you'll come back soon for the next Post. To make sure you don't miss the next one be sure to follow me on Google+ up on the top right side of the page. Until next time, I hope your nails stay healthy, long and strong!!!!


Several people have asked me about the Peel Off Liquid Tape that saves so much time with clean up after you finish your designs. It's on sale now at the Born Pretty Store and you can find it here.....





Also, most of the products I've used in this post can be found at the Born Pretty Store. I shop from there often! As a reward for reading this far, use this link to place an order and receive FREE SHIPPING!!!

Hello World! Let's Get to It!

This is my very first blog so let me start with 1.) I'm open to suggestions, 2.) I apologize for the mess while I figure this out and 3.) Who am I and why do you care???

My name is Christy and I live in a beautiful little country town in South Georgia. I'm 50 years old -that still sounds strange to me!!- and my husband and I have been married for 25 years. Over half of my life!! You'll hear about him in future posts so let's start with his name is Ronnie, he's 20 years older than I am, and I'm still as much in love with him today as I was the day we married. Yeah, I'll tell you how we do that.... later. I have 2 beautiful daughters and you'll hear about them too. Tina is 32 and married. She's the mama to my Grandpuppy Paris (what? they don't let ME name them!!) My other child is Amanda (she changed her name to Mandi when she was 13; I didn't name her that and I'm not calling her that) Amanda is 29, married also and the mother to my 2 skin Grandchildren. You will hear a LOT about them because they are the reason my heart beats. Silly, precocious Riley is 8 and sassy, cheeky Maddie is 6. I love taking and sharing pictures so I'll start with this year's Santa pic with me, Riley and Maddie and a rare picture of me, the girls and grands at Christmas this year.

My passions in life are:
Being a Grandma - the grands are here every weekend so I always have stories

Being a Mom to Adult Daughters - it's hard. Harder than when they were teens. We'll get through it.

Being a Loving Wife - that's hard too sometimes but we'll talk about that as well. Good, bad and ugly.

Fingernail Polish Art - My newest hobby and I love trying new things and sharing pictures. Until I get this blog straight, you can see my past nail art (and some cute grandkid pictures) on my Instagram at Christy's Instagram 

Being Mom to my Boxer - Dixie is 6 years old and she runs the house. We just follow her lead.

Surviving Rheumatoid Arthritis - I've had RA for over 20 years and have an amazing doctor who       allows me to participate in my own treatment and we are very aggressive with it. I moderate a support group for people with autoimmune diseases and I love helping people who are newly diagnosed and starting to freak out. You CAN survive this. I'll help you if you ask.

Occasionally I'll throw in some Scrapbooking, Painting, Sewing, Decorating and crazy life moments that I've attempted. If any of these topics interests you I hope you'll come back to see what I've got to say. A warning... I've got a very sarcastic tone. I like what I like, I don't like what I don't like and since this is MY blog, either like it or leave it. I can't promise no "adult" content as in language, jokes, funny-to-me memes that catch my eye or rants about life events, etc - nothing hardcore, THAT I will promise! I would love feedback giving me hints, tips, ideas and your thoughts on my posts but do not send me hate messages. I don't care and I won't read it so you're wasting your time.

I also love contests! I've won some big ones (car, Vegas trip, diamond jewelry...) and I love to share good ones that I find. I would also love to share the wealth and I think I'm going to attempt to have a contest of my own in a couple of weeks.  Hang in here with me while I figure this all out and send me whatever help you can! I look forward to sharing life with you and getting to know everyone!