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!

WAITING SUCKS.

Hey y'all! Any fellow Trubies out there?? Because it's fang season again!!! TRUE BLOOD is back with Season 5!!! We are less than 12 hours away from the premiere!!!! What's going to happen?? Russell Edgington is coming back for revenge. Pastor Newlin is back as a vampire. Sookie broke up with both Bill & Eric. Tara got her head blown off & Debbie is dead as a doornail...How many people can die in Sookie's kitchen? Will Tara come back to the show as a vamp? Will this be the season of Sookie and Alcide? We are gonna see Chris Meloni as the new Authority... Will Bill have to pay for killing Nan Flanagan? Do Jason & Jessica have a future together? What's with Renee's warnings to Arlene? What's up with the creeper guy from Terry's past? OMG. so many questions, not enough episodes per year!!!!

So in honor of my hardcore Trubie obsession, I had to do some bloody splatter nails for the premiere! And let me tell you, these are a serious bloody gory MESS!! Haha, I'm currently in love with sponge gradients. So I started the mani by painting my nails with 3 coats of OPI "Don't Touch My TuTu!", then did 3 lines of color on a wet makeup sponge: OPI "Don't Touch My TuTu", "Suzi Skis In The Pyrenees", and then "Black Onyx".  After finishing the black-grey-white gradient up the nail, I started on my straw splatter.  First I used my darker deep blood red, OPI "Got The Blues For Red".  Let that dry, then went back & splattered OPI "Vodka & Caviar"....one of my very favorite reds of all time. It's got a little more orange to it & is a lot brighter.  After removing the tape from the surround skin area, I applied 1 coat of Seche Vite topcoat. (I wish I had taken pics of the sponge gradient by itself)...oh well.

Any other True Blood lovers out there? Team Bill? Team Eric? Team Alcide?? I'm a Bill Compton lover myself. He's not the most physically sexy but he is the one i love the most for Sookie.  Anyways, hope y'all liked my gradient-splatter mani! Fangtastic! :D Cant wait for tonight....

EVERYTHING'S AT STAKE.

VAMOS RAFA!!!!!

 RAFAEL NADAL: The Object of My Obsession

The King of Clay

¡HOLA! Ryan here with a first! So to let you know more about myself...the thing i love most in this world, more than painting my nails, is playing tennis. It is my ultimate passion. I started playing tennis when I was 14 years old. As soon as I started playing, I fell in love. Once I began, I never stopped or slowed down.  I still to this day play competitively as an adult and have been teaching tennis for about 8 years now.  In fact, this weekend I played 4.0 & 4.5 doubles in an adult tournament at the club where I teach.  Played 4 matches & 8+ hours of tennis just yesterday. My body is sore & aching but theres no better feeling than being out on that court, hitting the ball, and continuing to express my competitive edge. Ever since I can remember, Rafa Nadal of España has been my ultimate favorite tennis players, men or women.  He is just incredible. Temporarily he has moved from the #1 in the world to #2 to Novak Djokovic (vomit). But he will rise again. He is fierce & powerful & raw & passionate & humble & the epitome of sportsmanship.  I am more than in love. I want to marry this man. We are both 26 years old. We both speak Spanish. He's a driven determined athlete...everything I want in a man ;D

So my latest mani is inspired by my love for Rafa, mi amor. Right now, RAFA is competing in the Roland Garros: French Open Grand Slam.  It's the Grand Slam that has made Nadal one of the greatest players of all time & the King Of Clay. He is currently going for his 7th French Open title on the red clay. Rafa is also so sexy for his ability to rock pinks when he plays. Right now at the French Open, he is wearing a pink-toned red shirt with white shorts & anthracite grey accent stripes.  I absolutely want a pair of his shoes he's rocking right now...Nike Air Courtballistec 4.3s in Nike's color description of Scarlet Fire/Anthracite/White. Haha I keep straying, I did my nails with a first attempt at a sponge gradient. I wanted to pay homage to Rafa's sexy ass outfit and did a sponge gradient mani of the pink-red & dark grey.  I used an Ulta "Eye-Popping Poppy" and OPI "Suzi Skis In The Pyrenees".  I did 3 coats of the Ulta color as the base. Then with a triangle makeup sponge, I dipped it in water first to keep the sponge from absorbing the polish too quickly.  Then painted on strips of both the Ulta pink & the OPI grey. I then pressed the painted sponge to my nail so that the dark grey was going on my tips.  I keep dabbing & sponging a little up & down so the gradient gets blended really well.  Also later in the post, I also did a girlfriends nails with the same technique but with more nude/peach colors. 

my little sister, Yuriko's nails, I did with the sponge gradient with

OPI "Barre My Soul", Essie "A Crewed Interest", & Essie "Haute As Hello"

back to the sexy star of the show...Rafa in Armani. 

and one of my favorite Shakira songs, just because Rafa is shirtless in the video

haha ok yall! thats all for now. that was a mile-long post. So many pictures and videos & rambling about my love & affection for Rafa Nadal! Let's hope he wins the French Open title this Sunday! 

VAMOS RAFA!!!!!!