Woo Pig Sooie!

The University of Arkansas Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium and the fans 'Calling the Hogs'. Below- me & my very best friend Jessica Ryan in the stadium for a Hog football game!!! 

Hey y'all! I am sad that summer is over but I am not at all sad about Fall & COLLEGE FOOTBALL!!!  I graduated from the University of Arkansas with my undergrad in 2011 & did some graduate work there last fall. Going to the Razorback football games & sitting in the student section has pretty much been the highlight of my fall semesters the past years. And I am so depressed that I am not a student anymore & can no longer get nice student athletic passes for the games. Then I have my brother who is currently a Sophomore at the UofA & could care less about going to a game...blasphemy. As for me, I live for it. No greater thrill than watching my Razorbacks plow down the field & 'calling my hogs'.  Here in Arkansas we dont have any pro football teams, so the entire state loves & cheers for the Razorbacks. I kind of love it & it makes us unique. A whole state behind one college team, diehard devoted fans with THE MOST UNIQUE mascot & cheer in the country. And let me also add that we are not just any college team. We are a Top 3 SEC team (Southeastern Conference aka best conference in the USA). Last year we finished in the top 5 in the nation, only losing to the #1 & #2 teams, Alabama & LSU - also SEC teams. This year we are ranked #10 for pre-season. I am pretty excited about our chances this season with our Senior-led team & our QB Tyler Wilson. We have our first game of the season this Saturday against Jacksonville State (who?) haha! GO HOGS! 

So this entire fall will be riddled with red/white/black manis because of my Arkansas Razorback football games. From not until November, you will see lots of red! I am not super happy with the way these turned out & will be doing another round of red nails in a couple days. I painted all nails, except ring nails, with 4 coats of OPI "Don't Touch My TuTu!" from the NYC Ballet Collection - a sheer white jelly. Next I sponged China Glaze "Salsa" on the tips, followed by some China Glaze "Ruby Pumps" on the tips. I painted the entire accent nail with "Salsa" and then put some Milani 'Red' glitters on all the nails. Let me just say that China Glaze 'Salsa' is the most perfect red...perfect shade & such great formula. Again, not in love with this mani but will be trying something else this weekend...

my lovely Arkansas Razorback license plate! I love my HOGS!

Top Starters: #43 Tenarius Wright, #8 QB Tyler Wilson, #7 Knile Davis, #11 Cobi Hamilton

Everyone should know how to "CALL THOSE HOGS"!!!!!!!

Wooooooooooooooooooooo PIG SOOIE!!!!

also gotta have a badass song to accompany my team starting the 2012 season...

Who Gon Stop Me "...I cant stop!"

Music to my ears...nothing better than hearing 76,000 Razorback fans 'calling those HOGS'!!!!!! Hope yall enjoyed my first enstallment of red Razorback nails for this fall! More red to come!! Do I have fellow college football fans out there? Do you root for your alma mater? What team will you be pulling for this fall? Cant wait to hear from everybody! 

"For it's A-R-K-A-N-S-A-S for Arkansas...FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"

WIDE AWAKE...

I'm wide awake. Yeah, I was in the dark. I was falling hard. With an open heart. I'm wide awake. How did I read the stars so wrong? I'm wide awake. And now it's clear to me. That everything you see. Ain't always what it seems. I'm wide awake. Yeah, I was dreaming for so long. I wish I knew then. What I know now. Wouldn't dive in. Wouldn't bow down. Gravity hurts. You made it so sweet. 'Til I woke up on. On the concrete. Falling from cloud 9. Crashing from the high. I'm letting go tonight. Yeah, I'm falling from cloud 9. I'm wide awake. Not losing any sleep. I picked up every piece. And landed on my feet. I'm wide awake. Need nothing to complete myself, no. I'm wide awake. Yeah, I am born again. Outta the lion's den. I don't have to pretend. And it's too late. The story's over now, the end. I wish I knew then. What I know now. Wouldn't dive in. Wouldn't bow down. Gravity hurts. You made it so sweet. 'Til I woke up on. On the concrete. I'm wide awake. Thunder rumbling. Castles crumbling. I'm wide awake. I am trying to hold on. I'm wide awake. God knows that I tried. Seeing the bright side. I'm wide awake. But I'm not blind anymore.........

I’M WIDE AWAKE.

Hey yall! The Olympics are coming to a close and so has my patriotic 'Team USA' mani. But i can't even begin to tell you how excited I was to do this current mani, and more to actually write up the blog post, about my inspiration. I've always loved the insanely gorgeous & inspirational Miss Katy Perry...but never as much as I am in love with her right now because of "Wide Awake".  She has always just been this genius of instant hits, she makes ridiculously catchy songs, has been very unique & quirky with her sense of fashion.  During/After the release of Teenage Dream, she just really started coming out with new deep sensitive material with some thought-provoking messages in her videos & an insight into her personal realities. The lyrics & the video for 'Wide Awake' does just that & then takes it 10 levels deeper. We all know about Katy getting a divorce from Russell...that's a nice big scandal for the ruthless & heartless paparazzi/media.  There is so much symbolism in this video, I'm just in love with it. I can't get enough!

I love how she tells this intricate story in just 4:37. It's her own autobiography mixed into this creepy edgy dark fantastical fairy tale. She's lost in this labyrinth, of life really... just that feeling of being lost in the midst of all the shit & you can't find your way out of the trials & struggles.  I love how she is saved by the nostalgia of her childhood, her young innocent self saves her from herself when it seems hopeless. In turn, she teaches her former little girl self some better versions of reality....like the fact that all the fairy tales about 'Prince Charming' arent exactly accurate. I LOVE WHEN SHE PUNCHES HIM! Don't we all wish we could go back & tell ourselves not to be so naive & be less vulnerable??? I sure know that I do. But the reality is, we cant. So we have to learn things the hard way & come out stronger. I can't get over how much I'm in love with the song & video. Some days, I just listen to it on repeat...every time I'm driving in my car. Both heartbreaking & empowering. 

All of this inpired my current mani. I could never pull it off, but i freakin LOVE her blue/purplish hair in the video. But Katy Perry can look stunningly beautiful no matter what her hair color, or even without hair in her amazingly patriotic video for 'Part Of Me".  She's simply wonderful. So to go with her beautiful blue hair, I painted all my nails with 3 coats of a Revlon classic, "Royal"....pretty fitting for Katy since she is music royalty.  Then to go along with the lyrics, "...how did I read the stars so wrong?" For my ring finger accent nail, I used the new Wet'n'Wild Fergie star glitter "Hollywood Walk of Fame"...also ridiculously fitting for this because the video gives some symbolization of the crippling effect fame & celebrity has had on her. I told yall I was excited about this entire mani/blog post ensemble!! :) The star glitter is set in a pretty thick clear base, making it difficult to work with. I didn't like how it looked when I tried to place the stars individually separate from the whole base. I wanted a more natural, randomly placed look/feel...plus theres little tiny flecks of glitters & hairies mixed in so I wanted all that incorporated onto the gorgeous Royal blue jelly. 

LOVE how she ends it with little Katheryn getting back on her bike, stronger & more aware of the world around her. EPIC. Did you notice Katy rocked 4 different manis in just that 1 video??? That's it for now...this is probably my longest post to date.  But I just couldn't say enough about the beauty of this song, this video, how it inspired my nails, and just how beautiful Katy Perry is. FABULOSITY! Hope yall liked the mani too! Did you buy any of the Fergie glitters/polishes? I always love to hear your stories! Until next time....

TEAM USA! London.Olympics.2012.

(Top left: Michael Phelps - swimmer; most decorated Olympian in history at 22 medals, 18 of them being Gold. Top Right: Miss Franklin, 17 years old. 4-time Olympic Gold Medalist & world record holder for 200m backstroke. Center: Misty May-Treanor & Kerri Walsh - 2-time Olympic Gold Medalists & currently fighting for a 3rd, considered 'greatest beach volleyball team of all time. Center Right: Ryan Lochte - 11-time Olympic medalist & 2nd best swimmer of all time AND object of many lust affections. Bottom Right: Sanya Richards-Ross - 3-time Olympic Gold medalist, 1 being last night when she earned her first gold medal in the women's 400m sprint which is the 1st USA Gold Medal in that event since 1984. Bottom Right: McKayla Maroney 16, Kyla Ross 15, Aly Raisman 18, Gabby Douglas 16, & Jordyn Wieber 17 aka "THE FAB FIVE" - First time for the USA gymnastics to win Team Gold since the Magnificent 7 in 1996.  Gabby Douglas is the 1st African-American to win an individual all-around Gold Medal and first US Women's Gymanast ever to win Gold in both Team & All-Around.)

Hey yall! So 2 weeks later, I'm finally showing off my American pride by doing a TEAM USA Olympics mani! I hope yall took the time to read the bio info for all my favorite American Olympic athletes and what theyve already accomplished this 2012 Olympics in London.  Pretty spectacular & thrilling stuff.  I've also noticed many of the our female athletes were rocking some pretty fab patriotic manis during the games.  I specifically noticed Missy Franklin & Sanya Richards-Ross' nails when they won their Golds & were holding up our beautiful flag. I couldn't be more freaking proud of the awe-inspiring performances of our USA athletes. We really live in the most incredible country in the world. 

Now, I actually painted this mani last Thursday night, and just now photographed my nails today.  So I apologize for the wear the tips already have. I was having a little sleep-over last Thursday night with my little adopted sister, Yuriko.  And I did both our nails and my toenails with this USA Olympics-style mani.  This was my very first time to use a Sinful Colors polish, we used "Ruby Ruby" red. It's pretty sheer, a jelly pretty much. It's a gorgeous shade.  I ended up doing 3 coats to get it pretty opaque. After that I followed it up with a cuticle gradient of blue glitter, Essie "Stroke of Brilliance".  I have been looking for this dang glitter everywhere...finally found it at Ulta. It was the last 2 bottles, so I got 1 for me & 1 for my best friend's birthday.  I applied the glitter with a triangle makeup sponge.  Now once I applied my SV topcoat, it reacted poorly with the Sinful Colors & had major shrinkage.  I also noticed tip wear after just 24 hours.  So I don't think Sinful colors will be at the top of my list of polishes.  But it is less than $2 a bottle, so it's still a pretty good deal. And this post is the christening of my blog being changed to: Nail'd In The South!!!! First pics with the new watermark! Check it out!

 Alright my fabulous readers, that is all for my love for Team USA, the Olympics, and inspired manis! Have yall seen the USA Swim Team lipsyncing Carly Ray Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe"??? I'm not gunna deny that I have always loved this song, and now its even more awesome watching our Gold-medal swimmers being playful & singing along! Only 1 week left of London Olympic awesomeness! Hope yall have been tuning in for all these inspiring acts of athleticism & determination! GO USA!