guest post: polka dot mani

hey y'all! i'm so excited to have my friend, andrea, from my chihuahua bites guest posting on the blog today. she's talking about something near & dear to my heart: nail polish. for as long as i can remember, i've always loved a mani that was different and what andrea has created is so fun & i cannot wait to recreate her look on my own nails. 

enjoy!!

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Hey friends! I’m so excited to be guest posting on Stuttering Shell today. I’m Andrea, a 30 something mommy addicted to Sephora, makeup brushes, reality TV, and nail polish. I found Michelle on Twitter through a friend, and I soon realized we have a ton in common - we share of a love of nail polish, k-cups, and Lis.

I haven’t always been into nail polish. Up until about a year ago, I was strictly a special occasion mani type of girl. I didn’t polish my nails at home, and on the rare occasion I did, I ran around with polish smeared all over my fingers and cuticles.

Not cute.

About 6 months ago, I picked up some Sally Hansen polish from Wal-Mart and decided to carpe diem and give myself a mani. I learned to erase my polish mistakes with q-tips and acetone, and I’ve never looked back. I don’t know what got into me that day, but I’ve had polish on my nails every day since. I’m about to enter Nail Polish Addicts, as my polish collection is starting to get quite out of control.

Today I want to share a fun (and easy!) Valentine’s Day mani with you. Polka dots are one of the easiest forms of nail art, and you can do it to your nails with stuff you already have at home.

I apologize in advance for the pictures – it is impossibly hard to take pictures of yourself with only one hand.

You’ll need the following tools:

• Red, white, and pink nail polish
• A dotting tool – mine came from Sally’s, but you could also use a pointed q-tip or even a toothpick.

I’ll share the exact brands/names of the polishes at the end of the post.

Start by painting the ring finger of each hand with two coats of pink polish. Paint the rest of your nails with two coats of white polish.

Let your nails fully dry; however, do not yet apply a top coat.  Drop 2 dots of each color of polish onto a paper plate. You can see I have a dot of red, white, and pink on the plate.

Using your dotting tool, q-tip, or toothpick pick up a small amount of polish on the tip of your tool. Start with pink; gently dot in a random pattern all over your white nails. Leave room for red dots!

After you’ve applied the pink polka dots, wipe off your tool (or get a new q-tip!) and start with red dots.  Apply to both the white and pink ring finger nails.

Now it’s time for the white! The white dots only go on your pink ring fingers.  Seal off your mani with a top coat, and you’re done! 

Enjoy your polka dot nails!

Base Coat: OPI Nail Envy & Seche Base Ridge Filling Base Coat

Pink: OPI Pink Friday

White: OPI Alpine Snow

Red: China Glaze Poinsettia

Top Coat: INM Out The Door 

guest post: i'm a writer.

i hope you enjoy this guest post written by one of my blog's sponsors, megg, from the life of a not so desperate housewife. i think a lot of you can relate to what she is sharing. i know her words resonated with me. enjoy!

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Recently my dad told me to "write boldly". It really made me think, and questions why I write a blog.

There are many people with many more followers. People who get many comments on each post they write. Then there's me, just muddling along. I get excited when I get one comment on a post that I write! But you know what? I don't write to get followers or comments, not that I mind either of those things. I write for myself.

It took me years to realize something about myself. I'm a writer at heart. It always amuses me, because my mom is a medical biller, and my dad is an engineer. My sister and I are both writers. In a previous life I was a reporter, and though I don't write now, it's in by blood, and I have to write.

It really isn't anything I ever thought about. Growing up I never thought to myself, I want to be a writer when I grow up, and yet I am. Even now, when I say I'm a writer, I almost feel odd, because to me a writer is someone who publishes books, and is famous.And yet, I am a writer.

Writing brought me my husband. I was working at a coffee shop, and I wasn't getting my writing fix, so I started an online, text-based game. The result? A wonderful friend who was in our wedding, and my wonderful husband. Shortly after we started dating, I got the reporter job, and my writing desire was fulfilled, again.

When I went back to school I wasn't writing, though I was focused on my school work, so I suppose I was distracted. After I graduated, I was home, alone, and bored. I turned to writing, and started a blog.

Writing is in my blood. I have to do it. I've been told that I'm a good writer, but I don't see it. I just write, the words flow, and I feel better. It's a part of me, and it always has been. While I love knowing that people read what I write (any writer does, I suppose) the most important thing for me is simply to write. To let the words flow. No matter what I'm doing it my life, in either my vocation or my avocation, I need to write.

I'm a writer.

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want to read more? subscribe or follow megg's blog, the life of a not so desperate housewife.

don't forget she's offering free shipping on purchases from her etsy shop, too! use the code: freeship10

psst...don't forget to enter my giveaway for a free print from lilo prints!

Reading Faux Pas {Faux Pas Road Show}

Mrs. Monologues here hijacking Michelle's blog today for the:




Reading Faux Pas
a.k.a. If you do any of these things I will probably think less of you

1. The I Only Read Classic Literature Person
Blech, this type of person makes me want to give a swift throat punch as soon as they start talking. NO ONE reads only classic literature, and if you say "oh, Mrs. Monologues but I do" you are full of shiat. Everyone reads other books, even if it is Harry Potter. Don't be that snobby person and try to act better than me. I know you have been known to read your trashy books. Don't lie.

2. The I Never Read Person
Really, wow, that is amazing. You can go an entire day without reading a single thing? Do you drive to work? Do you go to the bathroom and just keep your eyes closed? Is reading to you like sunlight is to vampires? Everyone reads. Maybe you don't read books, but you read something. You check your e-mail, you read TMZ (don't lie I know you do).

3. The Judgy Reader
You know this person. No matter what the book, they read it and hated it. Unless of course they read it before you did, then it is "the best book ever". Ugh, don't be jealous that I am better than you and find better books to read. I know I know, they are probably unhappy people anyways, but say to me again that The Help was just an okay book and I will kick you in the shins. Don't say you were not warned.

4. The Read It Person
This person has read every book. You mention a book and before you even can finish the title you hear "read it". Blech, you have not read every book known to man, stop being that person. You are almost as bad as the judgy reader. Oh snap I went there.

5. The Only Reads One Genre Person
I don't know if this is BAD thing, but it can be frustrating talking books with this type of person. If it is isn't their genre they want nothing to do with it. I just want to grab them by the shoulders and scream "you are missing on out so much!" If you are this person, grab a book outside your norm. You will be glad you did.


What kind of readers annoy you?



This post is part of the faux pas road show. Details about how you can join can be found here