The Nail Files

Sharing my color of the week today with Tara and Vicki!

Also, this is one of my all time favorite polish brands.  The Complete Salon Manicure is seriously the total package - no base coat or top coat needed.  I don't have the patience to wait for the polish to dry and the top coat - so this is perfect for me!  Shoutout to Sister Swimmer for getting me this pretty color for Christmas!

What's on your nails this week?

Ladies,
If you like nailpolish, you'll love my GIVEAWAY going on right now!
We are giving away over $85 worth of beauty products
including an awesome ULTA nailpolish in Heirhead!
Go enter before it ends next week!

Book Club Friday: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

 

I'm linking up with Heather of Blonde Undercover Blonde for the first time eva today to share a book I recently read and loved.

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken without her knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization, and more. Henrietta’s cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can’t afford health insurance.

Soon to be made into an HBO movie by Oprah Winfrey and Alan Ball, this New York Times bestseller takes readers on an extraordinary journey, from the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers filled with HeLa cells, from Henrietta’s small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia, to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live and struggle with the legacy of her cells. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew. It’s a story inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we’re made of.

(From Rebecca Skloot's Website)

I'm not sure if being in the medical field cinched my interest in this book, but as soon as I picked it up in the bookstore I knew I'd be into it.  It sucks you in, and really makes you think about the medical research industry and all it has evolved from and into.  It is not all science and med talk though - it tells the sad story of Henrietta Lacks losing her horrific battle with cervical cancer, and the unraveling of her family that followed.

Now that I am the proud owner of a Kindle (Thanks, MIL Red!), I may or may not be doing more and more Book Club Fridays - what do y'all think?

Help me stock my Kindle full of goodies to read,

what's the last good book you read?

(And then go link it up to Heather's Book Club Friday!)

PS!

If you're coming over from Blonde Undercover Blonde, make sure to check our my awesome Beauty Bundle GIVEAWAY, complete with makeup perfect for blondes OR brunettes!  (Or redheads, of course.)

Things Thursday: Things You'll Never Hear Me Say

"Can you turn up that techno music?"

"I just wish someone would buy me a velvet comforter."

"Can you pass the brussel sprouts?"

 "There is too much glitter on here."

"No complaints."

"Another wedding?  Haven't we been to enough this year?"

"Ew, who drinks soda?!"

"No, I don't really feel like dancing."

"Why can't I gain just a few more pounds?"

"No, don't worry about returning my call."

"Who puts rhinestones on office supplies?"

"____ is the new pink."

"No thanks, I hate milk chocolate."

"Yoga pants as an outfit choice?  Yuck."

"I have way too many pairs of underwear."

Inspired by the ultra-fabulous and fashionable Caitlin.

And no, these photos don't have anything really to do with this post - sue me.

Life Lessons

I am so beyond excited to be blogging over on my new bloggy friend Neely's blog today, sharing my 5 Do's and Don't!  Please head over and check it out, y'all!

1 Week Left!

Ladies, you've still got a week to enter my BIG GIVEAWAY!
 
 Be sure to check it out before time runs out!

Quotable Tuesdays

Bling Bling Share Your Ring!

Linking up with Happiness Is...

What a wonderful link-up, right?  Who doesn't like looking at bling bling all over the blogworld? 

I wish I had been a bit speedier with my Love Story telling, so I could direct y'all to my proposal story, but alas, I am a slow blogger and have not even shared it yet (let alone my wedding recaps...hello looming one year anniversary!).

But, if you'd like to read Our Love Story, and get all caught up before I finally get around to sharing how I got this gorgeous ring on my finger, please do so!  (It's a good story - promise!)

Find out how we met, what it was like going to high school with HH, how he reappeared in my life after moving to San Diego for college, and how he went from a memory to a best friend in weeks.  Read how I found out he wasn't thinking of me as just a friend, and what he did for me while in Europe.  Most recently, I wrote about Our First Kiss.

But enough words, lets get to the pictures!

My engagement ring and wedding band nestled inside my hubster's aweseome ring.

We got married at a golf course, so this picture is totally fitting.  (PS Shout-out to our fabulous photographer!) 

And one last gratuitous shot I took myself in the cab on the way to our hotel on our honeymoon.  I was so in love with the way those rings looked on my ringer, especially after our 21-month engagement.

My engagement ring is from Robbins Brothers,

and my wedding band was custom made to match by a (fabulous) local jeweler, Nuggets & Carats.

Also - you've got one week left to enter my awesome Beauty Bundle Giveaway, with awesome makeup from brands like MAC, Stila, and Sephora - valued at over $85!! Go check it out!

I'm {Blank} Because...

Gettin' weird in Vegas 2011

I’m weird because…
I really really hate velvet.
I don't like crunchy foods.
I don't like to be touching hubster while I sleep.
I have a minor addiction to Coca Cola.
I like to sleep with the covers pulled way too far up, so the blankets sort of pool around my neck.
I have a hard time sleeping with pants on.
I absolutely cannot sleep with socks on.
I hate washing my hair, and don't totally love showering in general.
I hated onions, pickles, and tuna up until the past 5 years or so - they are now all faves of mine.
I have an innapropriate love for sending things in the mail.

I’m a bad friend because…
I am brutally honest.

I am needy.

I plan to the point of excess.

I get frustrated when my friends aren't living up to their full potential.

I sometimes give unsolicited advice.
I'm weird about hugging.

Dancing with Cute Apartment in 2011, Singing with Swagger in 2010

I’m a good friend because…
I always want the best for my friends.
I love and cherish each and every single one of my friends.
I never ever give up on my friendships.
I will always tell you the truth.
I can be silly, but I can be deep and serious too.
I will be there for you any time of day, any day of the year if you need me.
I will always get up and do kareoke with you, dance with you, or anything else slightly embarassing.

A sad face in 2010?

I’m sad because…

I don't want rough days at work to put me in a bad mood.

I miss my family on the East Coast.

I miss Thanksgivings in the desert.

I don't want to diet, but I don't want to be pudgy either.

I don't want to miss my sisters next year when we won't all be living together.

I wish I was done with school already.

Happy with my hubster in 2010

I’m happy because…
I am lucky enough to have fallen in love with my very best friend.
I have a supportive family.
I have found such joy from the blogworld.
I have friends who know me inside and out.
I have so much to look forward to in 2012.

Excited with HH in 2011

I’m excited for…

2012.

Buying a home.

Becoming an RN.

Thinking about thinking about growing our little family.

Another Vegas trip.

Celebrating the end of our first year of marriage.

My little sisters being not-so-little and starting a whole new part of their lives with starting college.

New blog friends.

Inspired by this wonderful post by Little Miss Momma.

Grateful Sundays

This week, I am grateful for a new year.

2011 brought us so many exciting things - we got married, went on a fabulous honeymoon, I got my first nursing job and then my first big girl full time nursing job, Handsome Hubster started his journey of beginning law school.

It's been a big year!

What does 2012 have in store for us?

Guess we'll have to wait and see!

Christmas Gone for a Whole 'Nother Year

In December...

Mother-in-Law Red and I kicked off the month with Christams shopping at the mall.  Finished shopping on December 1st?  Success.

I attended Handsome Husband's Aunt Fancy Chef's annual Ladies Holiday Tea, and soaked up the holiday spirit.

L-R: Me, MIL Red, Gardening Mom, Grandma Beach Bum, Tutor Girl, Aunt Fancy Chef, and Cousin Study Buddy

(And no, contrary to what this picture may suggest, I am not, in fact, 6 months pregnant.)

I attended my first Holiday work party at my big girl job!

I spent some long overdue time over some glasses of wine and piece of chocolate cake with an old friend, Miss Art Teacher.

Handsome Husband and I got to head up to San Luis Obispo for the weekend to celebrate the graduation of his Cousin Eyeshadow!

We spent a fabulous weekend in Las Vegas with a wonderful couple friend - Twin Beauty School and her boyfriend, The Bouncer.

Best Friend Kindergarten Teacher made my day when she came by to join me for lunch during her winter break from work.

Cousin Ronomon and Tutor Girl hosted us for a fabulous dinner full of story-telling, laughs, and plans for a future trip to Vegas? (Spoiler alert: in March).

They served us these gorgeous things for dessert!

We kept on with the family traditions with HH's family with a baking day at Aunt Fancy Chef's House just days before Christmas!  So much sugar in one kitchen!

L-R: Aunt Fancy Chef, Cousin Study Buddy, Grandma Beach Bum, and Cousin Eyeshadow

Gardening Mom hosted another wonderful Christmas Eve dinner, this year fit with everyone's favorite kinds of potatoes along with prime rib and other fixins fit for a feast!

We celebrated another wonderful Christmas with presents at my parents' house in the morning, brunch, and an afternoon and evening full of family time with HH's family!

Clockwise from upper L corner: Sister Swimmer basking in her Hello Kitty presents, HH and I after brunch, Tutor Girl and family opening gifts, Annual photo of us and Cousin Eyeshadow at Christmas at Gma Beach Bum's House

We had a week full of fun dinners when we got to dine with HH's friends YouTube Star and Mr. Defense (we even got invited to Mr. D's families home and spent the entire night getting to know his whole family...love friends who become like family).

And I better be gettin' one of these at midnight tonight: