NOTD

As much as I love Russian to a Party, I had to change up my manicure. I get bored after staring at the same polish for a few days. I decided to add two coats of OPI What Wizardry is This? from their Soft Shades 2013 Collection. WWiT is a tarnished antique-looking bronze color in their Liquid Sand formula. It seemed like the two colors would complement each other well, and I am happy with the result. It is textured, but not rough, and super sparkly! When I wear textured polish I am constantly touching my nails! This nail art design is quickly becoming my favorite. It is super easy-barely more effort than painting my nails in the conventional way.

This is in full sun. 

This is also in full sun. Look at that sparkle! Love it!

This is in the shade. I think this accurately shows the texture of the Liquid Sand.

With flash.

Spritz Cookies

Spritz cookies are similar to sugar cookies. They're made with a cookie press. The one I have is passed down from my grandmother.

I am so happy to keep the family traditions going! J is always willing to help in the kitchen, especially if he gets paid in cookies! These are simple, with few ingredients, and quick to make. The perfect project to do with the little ones.

I have been using the same recipe since I started making these when I was about eight years old. It is adapted from The Joy of Cooking cookbook.

1 C butter, room temperature

1/2 C sugar

1 large egg

2 vanilla bean pods, scraped, or 2 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 C flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix until incorporated. Slowly add flour and mix until dough holds together. Scrape the dough into your cookie press that has been fitted with a decorative plate. Hold the cookie press perpendicular to the ungreased baking sheet, with the tip almost touching the sheet. If you find the dough seems too soft, try refrigerating it for twenty minutes before pressing more cookies. Bake for approximately 10 minutes, until light golden brown. 

It doesn't seem like much dough, but it makes about 4 dozen cookies.

J liked the heart most of all.

Pressing the dough was easy enough that J could help. He kept trying to turn his head upside down to see the dough coming out.

Yum!

Russian to a Party

The nail salon at the mall has some amazing finds! This is Russian to a Party from OPI's World Collection, Fall/Winter 2001. It is a deep burgundy that leans brown, with a nice amount of sparkle that shows up in the sunlight. I love it!

This is in full sun. You can see the base color really well. I'm diggin' the slight shimmer.

This one is in the shade.

Even in artificial light it is pretty.

With flash. Ahhh! I can't stand it. So amazing!

Ridiculously pretty. It reminds me of German-icure from the Germany Collection, Fall/Winter 2012. I was really drawn to German-icure but I ended up not buying it. I like this one so much better. It looks a little out of place on my hands because I've been wearing pastels and brights for spring. But there was no way I could wait until fall to wear it! Love. Love. Love.

Yogurt Berry Smoothie

I make a lot of different smoothies, and this is one of my favorites. It is very thick, more like a dessert. Yum! If you don't want it so thick you can increase the milk to 1 1/4 C and decrease the yogurt to 1/2 cup. Serves two.

Combine and blend in a full size blender:
3/4 C fat free, plain Greek yogurt
1 C plain almond milk
1 C frozen blueberries
1/2 C frozen spinach
1/2 C frozen mangoes
1/4-1/2 avocado, depending on how much fat you want to consume

This makes about 24oz, which is enough for me and my four year old to share. He loves his "moothies"!

Easter Manicure

Here are my Easter inspired nails! I used:
OPI I Theodora You (pink)
OPI My Vampire is Buff (cream)
OPI You're Such a Budapest (purple)
OPI Which is Witch (holo glitter)
Zoya Neely (green)

I ended up really liking this, which was a surprise-I never thought I'd go for a multicolored manicure. I'm too much of a perfectionist. I thought the colors went together well. I am not really a fan of pastels, so this was almost my entire collection of soft colors. Well, I guess I can live it up every once and a while!!

Parenting Goals

This is a note I wrote myself a couple weeks ago:

• Be mindful of my words and intonation. This is important for all communication in the home, including conversations with my husband, and phone chats, etc.
• Give J enough time to complete his tasks. Don't rush him, he's four. Things will take more time than if I were doing it myself. I need to constantly remind myself of this.
• Take time everyday to spend with just J. This will go a long way to ease the jealousy of having a new brother. 
• Turn a negative into a positive. For example: Instead of, "Stop yelling!", say, "We use our quiet voice inside. You can yell when we play outside."
• Stop saying "no" so much! It doesn't work. J eventually tunes me out, and it loses all meaning. 
• Ask for help. He will feel included, and the workload will be lessened for me. That way, he still has the option of saying no. Ask if he will help me by doing XYZ, instead of ordering him around. I have been feeling so bossy lately!
• Get down on the floor more often and just  PLAY! Every minute counts. It doesn't have to be 5 hours straight to make a wonderful memory for him.
• LISTEN. When J tells me something it is important! I may not be 100% interested, but to him, having Mama pay attention means the world.

I'm hoping that this will bring me back to where I want to be as a mom. I have been feeling disconnected and frustrated lately. I have been more mindful of my behavior for two weeks. Not surprisingly, J's behavior has been much better. He stopped getting into things that were off limits. He doesn't whine as much. He doesn't have a huge tantrum every day like he used to. I'm curious to see if he is going through another stage, or if it is a direct result of my changes. 

NOTD

My take on the = for marriage equality.
OPI The Thrill of Brazil with stripes of Zoya Kimmy. I made my own striping brush by trimming down a regular paintbrush. Success!