Pool Party!

Hey y'all! Ryan here with my first bright neon of the summer! And just in time for the hottest week of the year here in Arkansas! This entire week it was over 100 degrees (aka: hotter than Satan's ballsack) and I was on a court 5 hours of the day teaching tennis in this blistering, drought-inducing heat! My last mani was black & white inspired by my CrossFit obsession. But I was way overdue for some seriously obnoxious neon brightness since we are already at the end of July! And where is the best place to be spending your summer if you're not near a beach....??? AT THE POOL!!!! I've spent a good amount of time at my girlfriends' pools this summer.  My 2 best friends both have pools and I don't sadly.  And, as you will see when you get to the end of this post, no pool party is a party without some fun upbeat music!

Now for this mani, I bought China Glaze "Pool Party" a few months ago after falling in love with "Flip Flop Fantasy".  Those have got to be the 2 most unique fabulous neon pinks & both very different. I will say their application kinda sucks, the way the polish dries mid-stroke & very unevenly.  I put 4 coats on my fingernails & 3 coats on my toes.  I then did an accent nail inspired by something I saw on Pinterest. For the accent nails & big toenails I used: ULTA "Snow White", OPI "No Room For The Blues", & NOPI "Nicole's Nickel" (a Target exclusive).  I tried to do wispy lines with a fine art brush then followed those up with some dotting tool dot trails.  Lastly, I finished the mani with 2, yes 2 coats of Seche Vite to really seal it ;D On top of "Pool Party" being a hassle to apply, it was nearly impossible to photograph.  And it dries very differently than the bottle color.  In the bottle, it just looks like a straight up hot neon pink.  But once dry on the nails it seems to have a radioactive orange-coral hue in the pink.  Regardless of the application & not being photogenic, this has got to be the most unique fabulous loud perfect color for summer! I may need to buy a backup! I highly recommend buying this color. It's a must-have for any girl's collection! Now let's get this party started! 

 IT'S PRACTICALLY GLOWING!!!!!!!!!

Like I promised, no pool party is a good one without some tunes...

This has been one of my faves this summer....just makes you wanna party & bullshit

Have you tried some China Glaze neons like "Flip Flop Fantasy" or this one "Pool Party?? Hope y'all liked this mani & keep enjoying the rest of what's left of this summer! Till next time! :)

CROSSFIT

Do you WOD??? Hey y'all! Ryan here with another mani for you...inspired by my newest love: CROSSFIT!!!! Do I have any fellow CrossFit sisters out there? Have you heard of it? Let me tell you, I thought tennis didn't go well with my girlish hobby of painting my nails constantly; but CrossFit pushes it to the next limit & REALLY doesn't go well with pretty nails ;D But that's just CrossFit: pushing the limits. I did my On-Ramp training in the middle of May this year & have now been going to classes about 5 days/week ever since. I have played varsity sports my entire life and I've never experienced a fitness regimen quite like CrossFit. I live in Arkansas & attend probably the best "Box" there is - CrossFit NWA & have the most amazing badass coaches any Crossfitter could ever ask for.  It's the epitome of what a 'real' beautiful woman should look like: muscular & fit. Some people call it a 'cult'.....well I call it a family. No matter what time of class I've shown up for, some really incredible people have stepped out to help me with form, encourage me, give me the greatest compliments, and cheer me on.  It hurts. It's painful. I'm still nervous & scared every time I walk in (unless it's a strength day) before I start the day's WOD (Workout Of the Day).  But I always walk out feeling better than the day before. Finishing a CrossFit WOD leaves you with such a fulfilling sense of pride & completion. It's intense & hardcore. I'm in love.

My mani was inspired by my CrossFit Box's logo with a splatter design and the fact that this week & weekend is the 2012 CrossFit Games in California. It's like the Olympics of CrossFit and is being aired on ESPN3.  So I did a black & white splatter mani.  I've done 3 or 4 splatter manis....I really love em because they're so fun & easy.  Painted all my nails with OPI "Black Onyx", except my ring fingers.  I left those to be accent nails painted with ULTA "Snow White".  Then just take a short straw, dip it into the bottle, blow hard & get a unique splattered look on each nail. I love this black/white contrast.  Now if these calloused & ripped up palms from pull-up bars aren't just the sexiest thing you've ever seen, then I don't know what is ;) But at least when I'm doing snatches & split jerks I have fab nails haha!

Some CrossFit Mottos....

 Ring Dips or Muscle-Ups anyone???

 The Kettlebell: an essential piece of CrossFit equipment

What is CrossFit? Check out this video made by Reebok, aired at the 2011 Games...

That's it for my protest of love for Crossfit & my splatter nails! Hope y'all enjoyed it....both parts of the post. I would love to know if I have any other Crossfitters out there; and if you've never heard of CrossFit, maybe my enthusiasm & the video will inspire you to find a 'box' near you & join!!!! 

Train To Survive!!!!

Mint Mojito

Hey y'all! Hope everyone had a fabulous 4th of July! I'm sure many of y'all celebrated with drinks & fireworks.  I spent mine at a friends pool party, playing volleyball. We didn't have fireworks because of a burn ban...all of NW Arkansas banned fireworks :( oh well. I just took of my patriotic red, white, & blue to get into something more summery! 

Ever since buying Essie's "Mojito Madness", I wanted to do a green gradient.  So I paired it with China Glaze "Refresh-Mint" to create the sponge gradient effect with a wet makeup sponge.  Just the 2 polish color names was a minty mojito.  Have you ever tasted a mojito? Pretty simple Cuban drink (and yes, apparently the only good mojito is made with Havana Club Cuban Rum)...made of muddled mint, lime juice, sugar & rum. So I thought my nails looked like a glass of a mojito: the mint being at the bottom of the glass, lime juice squeezed in then topped with rum (aka Seche Vite).  Here's the Havana Club recipe:

ingredients

2 teaspoons of sugar

Juice of Half a Lime

2 mint sprigs

2 parts of sparkling water (9cl)

1 part of Havana Club Añejo 3 Años (4.5cl)

4 ice cubes

method

In a tall glass, add 2 teaspoons of sugar, the juice of half a lime, 2 mint sprigs and 2 parts of sparkling water (9cl). Muddle gently. Then add one part of Havana Club Añejo 3 Años and the ice cubes.

Stir well, and enjoy responsibly!

Now if you don't know me by now, I love music & always incorporate a relatable song into my posts. To go with my Minty Mojito Madness, we need something in party mode! One of my fave songs this summer is "We Run The Night".  And how perfect is it that it is sung by Havana Brown (to go with our Havana Club Rum), and featuring Pitbull (who is Cuban).  Now with my nails, I am imagining myself dancing in a Miami club to this song while sipping a tasty Cuban Mojito. Aren't you??? :)

Hope y'all enjoyed this 'mint mojito' post! Until next time! Hope you're having a sexy summer!