Fun and Mental Changes

I just took a fun survey... "Which Grease Character Are You". I answered a series of maybe 12 questions and the character that I'm supposedly most like popped up: Sandra Dee! Can you believe it?!? Well, anyway, this silly little quiz got the song Summer Nights stuck in my head and before I knew it, I was sifting through my nail stuff to find the perfect summer look. This is beyond cute!!! The ladybug smeared just a little (I used the Konad special polish which is very touchy with topcoats), but it's still cute as all get out. The nail polish was recommended to me by a very wonderful clerk at Beauty Brands. I'm suspicious that it was just an up-sell, however, it certainly came in handy today. The color is OPI's Lunch At The Delhi. The image is a 'Fauxnad' image from plate K05. This manicure takes me to a meadow on a red and white gingham table cloth next to a huge rattan picnic basket under an amazing blue sky that is cradling white puffy clouds. I ca...

So I'm tweeting (yes, on Twitter) and I see a reference from one of my Twitter friends about a seriously funny blog. Being a lover of 'funny', I clicked the link and down the rabbit hole I went. Now, for the record, I'm not a big fan of profanity, but I'm also not a big fan of 'being offended'. I am a HUGE fan of funny and an even bigger fan of telling it like it is, so while I should be completely torn on whether to read this blog or not... yah, I'm not. So much so (not, that is) that I'm devoting an entire blog post to.... The Bloggess . This will probably be a first for her... her blog sharing credits with various Bible studies... but then again, after reading her blog, she'll probably LOVE IT and shout it to the world cuz after all she is a saint and just about everything she does and thinks is justifiable and for the betterment of human kind. I LOVE IT! I liken her to my favorite of faves Stephen Colbert whose egomaniac persona drives home ...

I do quite a few posts about the Konad nail stamper, I also READ a lot of other's posts about it. I've noticed that quite a few people ask about what to use: the Konad special polish vs. regular polish. Well, here is the low down! I use BOTH and I also use nail art paint. Each of them have pros and cons. Here's what I have found. NAIL ART PAINT PROS: Is thicker than regular nail polish (depending on the brand), but not as thick as the special nail polish. The nail art paint is usually HIGHLY pigmented due to the intended use. "Stickier" than regular nail polish which usually means a crisper image when stamped. It's usually super cheap. I buy mine from a local beauty supply store and spend $1 for each color. With some nail art paint brands , simple rubbing alcohol will remove a stamped image from your nail without removing your nail polish base color. CONS: The nail art brush is usually VERY thin making it harder to use. Image plate HAS to be cleaned in between...

Ever wonder why homemade zucchini bread is so moist and yummy? Are you looking for a super moist cake recipe? I was throwing together a box cake mix and realized that I did not have the vegetable oil that the recipe called for. Remembering the snippet I read from the New McDougall's Cookbook regarding oil substitutions, and really not wanting to drive to the store, I quickly grabbed two small apples from the fridge. It took me about a minute to cored them, peel them and throw them into the Vitamix with 3 Tbsp of water to make applesauce. The recipe called for a half a cup of oil. I ended up with about 2/3 cup of organic, unsweetened applesauce... I added the whole 2/3 cup to the recipe. That little substitution was the difference between a good cake and a GREAT cake. I have NEVER had a more moist cake! The same principal applied a few weeks ago when I was preparing a meatloaf. After reading a blog post at PeerTrainer.com about hiding vegetables in everyday recipes to increase veg...

They had been planning since the early part of spring. Being transplanted in this place was seemingly more than they could bare. Oh, at first they thought they could make it work, possibly even thrive, but extreme circumstances drove them to their end. Were there others to share their fate? Being brought in second hand to mature just to be used, eaten up by this hungry world! A glimpse in either direction gave them their answer... death was all around them. It looked like it was inevitable. But wait! A spark of life! Others were moving into place and from the looks of things were planning a great escape. There was hope! To reach up and out might mean freedom. They discovered a new-found will to live. This feeling was something they couldn't even have dreamed just a few months back. All of a sudden others were inspiring a new hope of an abundant life where they could thrive and be fruitful.... This is a little story about the bell peppers that I planted when we started our first gar...

Wow... this garden is taking on a life of it's own. From weekend to weekend fruit and veggies seem to pop up out of nowhere! Quite frankly, I'm very shocked by how quickly we are getting a harvest. Had I really known how easy gardening was, I would have done it much sooner! But when I say easy, please understand that it does and did require gathing information on how to garden, but beyond that, the work is very minimal. I sent my husband out to the garden this morning to water for 15 or 20 minutes only to have him burst into the house about an hour later exclaiming, "We have pumpkins!" Apparently he was out there pulling weeds, cutting back over growth (with a tear that he had to lose a couple of buds) and playing farmer when he noticed there was a pumpkin in our one row patch. How fun is this!?! Well the first surprise led to the second and then the third..... Another Pumpkin! How the heck did we not see that during the week? The second pumpkin is HUGE! No wonder he ...

Well, just a quick post tonight gang! For some reason I am on a black polish kick lately! I can honestly say, black is one of my favorite colors! And look how pretty (and even understated) black is! But then, of course, black is also dramatic! I was inspired to play with the black after reading Mary's "Dark Romance" at Etsy.com . She writes: Lately I've found myself gravitating toward the idea of a Gothic love story. I've fallen prey to the hit vampire series True Blood , and I'm looking forward to the upcoming sequel to Twilight , a movie series depicting the notion of a forbidden dark love. There's just something mysterious about an unattainable, slightly supernatural romance: am I right, ladies? If you're drawn to a darker aesthetic, I think you might like our Steampunk and Noir style guide. Without further ado, I bring you my Etsyfied interpretation of a dark romance. Wow... she's quite the writer, and we all know how much I LOVE Twilight ! A...

Wow! These look like a million bucks! I have four gold polishes (more than enough for anyone.... or maybe not! LOL) that are my favies... and here's why! From L to R: Color Club Golden Girl, Zoya Richelle, Essie The Cove Copper, and OPI Golden Rules. My all time favorite gold is the OPI Golden Rules. It goes on silky smooth and two coats is PERFECT. It dries silky as well. Next is Color Club's Golden Girl. Again, it goes on very smooth, but is just a tad bit richer in color than the OPI. My next favorite is Essie The Cove Copper... yah, it's not copper... it's gold. It goes on a little streaky and required three coats to cover completely, but when it dries, it's beautiful. It does have a hint of a copper undertone, but that just makes it an even prettier gold! And last is my new Zoya Richelle. It is a great gold, don't get me wrong. The only reason I listed it as my dead last favorite gold is because it looks like a heavy texture gold that I find very distractin...

Today's post is inspired by a dear friend who is urging me to see a doctor for symptoms that are a toss between a sinus infection and the flu. I refuse. And this topic also happens to be one of the changes in my life that definitely gets filed under Fun and Mental! I'll explain. This particular health journey began many years ago after sustaining an injury at work. I saw doctor after doctor and took prescription medication after prescription medication. Going from Darvocet to Ultram to Vicodin to tons of Ibuprofen all to "help manage the pain". No one was trying to cure the pain. The experience of being injured and the resulting lifestyle change along with just trying to manage pain led to deep depression and a very weak immune system. My doctor quickly prescribed Trazodone to deal with my depression which almost caused me to end my life. The weakened immune system was not dealt with at all. Thank God there were people in my life to explain that chemicals only treat ...

Congratulations to Jhoannz! You won the Seche Vite/China Glaze "A Match Made In Heaven" Set. Please contact me via email as soon as you can and I will make sure to get this to you quickly. You can find my email address in my profile. Thanks to everyone who participated!!! I promise there will be more opportunities to win more great prizes, so please check back often!

The nail polish giveaway ends today; the winner will receive the set pictured here!!! Be sure to read This Post and leave a comment answering the question in the post. Be sure to add me to your follow list!!! I will be posting the winner tomorrow! Good luck everyone! Here's a little something special.... I FINALLY got my hands on some fauxnad image plates, and I gotta say... they are almost identical to Konad. In some cases, the images are identical. There are a couple of things that I really love about these plates. The first is that some of the image plates contain mirror images which is VERY helpful when you are wanting to have the nail art placement on both hands look alike. The second is that these plates contain 9 images per plate instead of 7 and cost me around $2/plate (with shipping). The DRAWBACKS: they were VERY hard to find (I found them on ebay), I could not choose the plates that I wanted (they came in a package of 18), the edges of the plates are SUPER sharp (like ...

Ok, necessity really is the mother of invention! Yesterday I had a dinner party for my in-laws and planned a wonderful meal. Zucchini burgers were the totally awesome headliners, but I still needed something to end the meal that would steal the show. So I checked the pantry... cinnamon, check! Apples, check! Whole wheat pastry flour, check! Hmmm.... What is the BEST part of the dutch apple pie? The Crumbles!!! I've got it! Note: You can click on the pictures to enlarge them! :) Apple Dutchess! (a FitterTwit Original!) 4-5 Organic Apples Cored 1/2 C. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour 2 tsp. Cinnamon 2 Tbsp. Maple Syrup Powder 2 Tbsp. Agave Nectar Slice apples to about 1/4 inch thickness. I use a mandolin so that all the slices are uniform. Place apple slices is a very large bowl (or, I use a Ziploc bag) along with all other ingredients. Stir well so that every slice is well coated. Place mixture into a pie plate and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Then broil for 3 minutes so that top is...

They FINALLY arrived!!! I participated in the Zoya polish exchange sending Art of Beauty 12 old bottles of polish in exchange for 12 NEW bottles of Zoya. I got them for FREE, but I had to pay $1.50 per bottle for shipping + postage to mail my old bottles, so I ended up spending about $23 for 12 new bottles of nail polish. Considering these polishes retail for $6-$9 a piece, getting 12 bottles for $23 was a STEAL, and these polish colors are GORGEOUS, natural, formaldehyde free and DBP free. Check em out! The new Zoya Colors from L to R: Jo, Blair, Irene, Emme. I literally slapped two coats on over my gels, so I apologize for how they look. These polishes completely covered the Konad nail stamps in just two coats and are beautiful! Jo has me reeling... I LOVE this color!!! I can't believe that I got all these colors for free by exchanging old bottles of polish... I mean I sent them bottles that I was getting ready to throw away. Most of them were more than half used. Soooo, I excha...

So, I really had a "nail art-fest" over the weekend. I really just wanted to play around with a couple of the french tip image discs that I have to hopefully inspire readers who are reading my blog to participate in the polish give away (click this link for details). The give away is a Seche Vite/China Glase polish set. I credit the Seche Vite for my ability to do my nails three times over the weekend with some really great designs! The quick dry topcoat works super fast and is one of my "must haves"! Well, with the deadline fast approaching, let the inspiration begin! Oh, and don't forget that you too can get these image discs at 20% off with FREE shipping over $20. Go to http://store.ocnailart.com/ and use discount code 'MENTAL' at checkout to save 20%! I will list the image disc numbers below the picture. For this one, I used a teal nail art paint with clear polish and Konad's black special polish. The little gems were a really cute effect! The ...

Since I started this "healthy" kick in my home, I've made it a point to make my family's favorites with a healthy spin. Everything I make has become my family's favorite recipes and are actually requested over the "old" way of making these meals! They do know this stuff is healthy right? So this week I'm going to share taco night with you. I serve tacos (just like we got them on a trip to Mexico) and I also make quesadillas. The quesadillas are MY favorite, so that's what I took a picture of right before hoovering! LOL! And I gotta say, these tacos are better than any taco you can get at a restaurant. Tacos 1 pound of ground Turkey 1/4 Tspn of Cumin 1/4 Tspn of Black Pepper 1/4 Tspn of Sea Salt 1/4 Tspn of Oregano Pinch of Cayenne Pepper 3 cloves of garlic diced 1 small onion chopped 1 diced jalapeno (optional) The Juice of one small lime 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro set aside Cabbage Fresh Corn Tortilla Shells (Not fried) for Tacos Mission Car...

Ok folks! Life is NOT like High School Musical... unfortunately. People do not break out in song and dance at pivotal moments throughout their day. That is unfortunate too because song and dance is so good for the soul. Fortunately, we DO have workout DVD's. I hate that we call them that. While most do a great job of working up a sweat, some DVD's are more like a dance party. Popping in certain DVDs elicits gratuitous dancing. And when you're done, you HAVE gotten a great workout, your energy is heightened and your spirit soars. I have found one such gold mine and it can be found at http://www.beachbody.com/ . So far I have Slim in Six, Turbo Jam and Hip Hop Abs. I love them all! I really think that Beachbody.com has hit the jackpot... they seem to be one of the few fitness companies to actually understand that if you're REALLY having fun, you will stick with it... and it really is all about the instructor. You just cannot find the caliber of instructors like you find a...

I just got a new Konad Nail Art image disc, M28. Should my family be worried? I mean, I have like 27 of these image discs now... well, of course they shouldn't! Really, I kind of HAD to get this one... oh and a couple of others. With free shipping over $20 at http://store.ocnailart.com/ , well that would just be leaving money on the table... right? And this was my first purchase with the new 20% off discount code (MENTAL... for all of you who haven't heard me the first 100 times that I mentioned it... hahahahaha!)! And this one rocks... literally! Take a look at this beauty! I used Color Club's Lazer Pink, which is my all time favorite pink with Konad's special polish in white and black. PS... this neon pink took a while to dry and dried to a matte finish. From what I hear, that's pretty typical of neon colors. I also got image disc M63 to do a very special Konadicure. And it turned out BEAUTIFUL! I wanted to copy the Konadicure that I saw here . I think it's a ...

When we started this garden, we had no way of knowing how it would take off. Some of our crops didn't make it and others seemed to do very well with little effort, which is very surprising since we live in a desert climate. But we were able to relax and have fun with our garden once we took the time to prepare. I've said in past posts that Extreme Gardening by has been a valuable source for us. I would probably have stopped gardening all together if it hadn't been for this book. We lost just about EVERY crop that we transplanted (from Home Depot at about $3/pot), but every crop that we planted from seed has thrived. That was the first thing we noted... nothing beats 'from scratch' and nothing beats organic. The second thing that we have noticed is that once the prep work is completed (soil turned, organic compost added and the garden actually mapped out), the bulk of the work is pretty much done. We have been spending all of about 15 minutes every other day watering...

Anyone who reads my blog knows that I love nail polish. It's just one of those cheap luxuries that satisfies my yearnings for shopping and being "girly" without wrecking my budget. In an economy when we all have very little time and very little money, a new polish can be quite therapeutic . Which was the very discussion I had with my oldest, dearest girl friend (I don't mean she's old, I mean that we've been friends since I was in the 8th grade! LOL). She swore to me that she did not have time to spend even a couple of minutes on herself, for herself. So I sent her the coolest polish staple in my arsenal... Seche Vite. In fact, check out this Polish Give Away post ! That's the same set that I sent her! And while her life is uber chaotic (you'll see what I'm talking about in a sec), I think she too discovered the pleasures of spending just a couple of minutes pampering herself. Because, believe it or not, with Seche Vite... that's all you need. ...

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this color!!! I was originally looking for a black with pink sparkles, but this one is WAY better. It is actually a charcoal-grey with tiny pink sparkles (reminds me of pink gunmetal). I absolutely adore this color. I did need to apply three coats, but it went on nicely. I then used my Konad Nail Stamper (M24) and China Glaze OMG for the nail art. I think it turned out PERFECT. The picture just does NOT do this nail polish justice! It's beautiful indoors, but changes outdoors and is even more beautiful. NOTICE: I am going to make a bigger effort to post the colors that I'm using along with the nail art images. To purchase Konad Nail Stamper kits or accessories at 20% off with FREE shipping over $20, go to OCNailArt.com and use discount code "MENTAL" at checkout. And don't forget about my nail polish give-away that ends June 15th! It's a Seche Vite set... one of my staples! Click the link for details.

Well, I don't have anything big to share today other than how I organize my Konad image plates. If you've ever read my closet conversion post, you know how big I am on organization that is mobile. My nail art isn't any different and I wanted to show you my trick. The pic you see here is a clam shell case that had an acrylic stamp set in it... you know, the kind of stamps for card making, scrapbooking, etc. The case was the perfect size (well so far) and currently holds approximately 24 plates with room for a FEW more. I then printed a list of all the plates that I have and what images are on the plate so that I can find them easily when doing my nails. I cut the list to fit the lid and attached with a dot of acid free glue. This little thing has been gold for me and was a "free" fix to the clutter that was forming in my bathroom from the nail art. Gotta love recycling!!!