Today's the Shindig

I didn't think I'd have time to post this weekend...but here I am at 6am posting.

I have a tendency to wake early when I'm nervous, worried or excited. Today I'm nervous. 

Today I will be the centre of attention. Not a place I like to be! 

Mum is having an afternoon tea to celebrate my wedding, I guess most people would call it a Bridal Shower or a Kitchen Tea...but to be honest we avoided naming it and just invited everyone to afternoon tea. I didn't want to use a term that implied presents. I just want a nice afternoon of girlishness and delicious food.

There are 24ish people coming. Ranging from family members, including brothers partners, to old family friends, to work mates. My best friend and bridesmaid isn't able to come as she lives in Christchurch and my other friends from school are either not in the country or about to pop! Well one is due to have her baby girl next week. 

I guess I better show off some gorgeous polish! Today I wanted to show off Essie Shindig, in honour of the Shindig today... I have shown Shindig before, but these are much better pictures!

Essie Shindig

Playing with colour flitter on my new camera...fun :)

Essie Resort 2010

Yesterday was Friday...after an eleven week term it was the last day of school before the HOLIDAYS!

NZ government...eleven weeks is much too long for a school term. I don't care if the Rugby World Cup is on this year. Who plans school terms around sport. And I have to do it all again in two weeks time because next term is eleven weeks as well.

And in slightly scary news...It's only one school term until our wedding now. I really should start that exercising thing! I pick up my dress this coming Thursday...it should still fit...

I picked up the Essie Resort 2010 collection a wee while ago, and as it is the start of the holidays it seems appropriate to post a resort collection! Although I wont be going anywhere...I can dream about a resort and brightly coloured cocktails?

Turquoise and Caicos

 Turquoise and Caicos is a very pretty turquoise that leans green in my opinion. I wasn't expecting it to be so green toned. It's still awesome and makes me want to drape myself in Grandmas turquoise beads. I've used three coats and I'm happy with the super shiny result.

Lapis of Luxury

 Lapis of Luxury is my favourite. Actually it's one of my favourite Essie polishes ever. Awesome bright yet dusty periwinkle cornflowerish blue. Super shiny, it's not just a boring creme. Again I've used three coats. I know thee have been a lot of comparisons of Lapis of Luxury to Coat Azure. There is no comparison...Lapis of Luxury wins.

Splash of Grenadine

 Splash of Grenadine is actually rather unique in my collection. I'm not normally drawn to pinky purple tones. They have a tendency to give me the dreaded zombie hand. Splash of Grenadine is making me re-think my stance though. Perfect for Speing or Summer and once again three coats.

Playa Del Platinum

 To be honest I'm not sure how well Playa del Platinum fits in with the three other gorgeous dusty brights. It doesn't even fit the name Playa del Platinum. It's just not platinum, more of a greyed sandy beige. Playa del Platinum is alright...but i think the other three polishes alone would have been an awesome collection.

All four polishes have the awesome Essie texture...Jelly creme. So they are amazingly easy to apply. I think these four polishes look great in a collection together. I'm not sure they'd all stand up by them selves though. Lapis of Luxury is the stand out for me. A truly awesome blue polish I love wearing.

Glitter in Nice

I'm starting to feel very stressed.
We have an art exhibition of the kids work at school, we have parent teacher interviews (which I must do a portfolio for each child for), Nick has a work function and my house is a mess.

Luckily Nice is nice is a very calming shade to wear. I added Glitter in the Air and I think this a very calm, peaceful combination. At least it's working for me!

Glitter in the Air over Nice is Nice

Look at the pretty micro glitters! I just thought Glitter in the Air had large and smaller blue and pink glitters, but there is tiny micro glitter in blue and pink as well. So very pretty!

Essie Spam!

A couple of weeks ago I went on a crazy Essie buying spree.
No I didn't need most the colours I bought...but it was still fun opening the boxes they arrived in and testing them all!

Sand of a Beach...yup I bought this one for the name!

Monkey Business...another bought for the name!

Porcini, I so wanted this polish to be pinker. It's pretty but I wanted it so badly and then it wasn't what I had expected.

Bootleg, exactly what I expected. Muted pink tone with gorgeous subtle, yet sparkly silver shimmer. Yum!

Sew Psyched, delicious muted green with subtle silver shimmer.

Fondola Gondola, another that wasn't exactly how I imagined it. Pretty but disappointing. I'll get over it though!

I still have two more to play with, but I'm not really feeling the colours right now. So I'm feeling very unmotivated to try them. Very Autumn colours and I still want it to be Summer.

Now I'm off to hunt down One Less Lonely Glitter...there was one left in the store yesterday...So fingers crossed!

Last of a French Affair...

I loved the four Essie French Affair polishes I had bought so much I just had to buy the remaining two. I'm so glad I did, because I love these polishes. I'm not normally a pale purple person, but Nice is Nice is lovely. Kisses and Bisses is amazing as well!

Kisses and Bisses

 Kisses and Bisses is a sheer Essie. Yes...another sheer Essie, but Kisses and Bisses is stunning. Pearly white with a strong deep pink flash. Maybe not the best look for me worn alone...those are some long nail tips! It's not my fault my nail bed is so short :(. Kisses and Bisses is amazing for the possibilities it brings. I loved Topless and Barefoot, but would have loved it more with some shimmer...Kisses and Bisses can provide that shimmer! I can't wait to try layering it over the other polishes in the collection. It just adds that something special.

Nice is Nice

 Nice is Nice is an amazing soft pastel purple. I'm not very good at naming purple shades. I'm not a pastel person. The last pale pastel purple I tried made my hands look hideous and dead. Nice is Nice doesn't do that. I actually find the polish very flattering, I'd go so far as to say I like it more than Marely. Nice is Nice just seems to suit me much better. Though I find the name difficult...is Nice nice or nice is Nice!

OMB!

Yes I did just say OMB.

I found the Justin Beiber polishes at Farmers today. I walked away with Me+Blue and Step to the Beat of My Heart. I'm kicking myself for not buying One Less Lonely Glitter...Even though I know I don't tend to wear glitters. I still haven't worn any of my Burlesque glitters. But maybe I'd wear One Less Lonely Glitter...

I also did something super naughty...
I can't believe I'm actually saying this...but omg I totally want to have a giveaway. I keep seeing things that would be so awesome to include. So today I finally did it...I purchased some awesome polishes...they're enroute to me...so when they arrive I'll scheme more!

And so this post has some content...

Essie Bachelorette Bash

Should I have a bachelorette party...or just do a bridal shower....decisions!

Earthquake

On Tuesday something awful happened, there was another earthquake in Christchurch. So many buildings are destroyed and a lot of people are missing and dead.

One of my closest friends is a teacher in Chrischurch. Tuesday I managed to get hold of her and found out she and her partner and dog were ok. Thursday she managed to get flights out of Christchurch to Wellington.
So we got to hang out and talk wedding stuff, watch movies, paint nails and drink some much needed wine.

Unfortunately she has to go back on today. It's going to take a very long time to rebuild the city, so she's going back to ruble in some areas. Luckily her house is standing and had electricity. I hope she has water when she gets home.

Everyone nationwide will have 2min silence today, at 12.51pm. We've pushed lunch back half and hour so the kids will all be observing the 2min silence s well.

Happier thoughts...

Here's two of the awesome China Glaze Crackle combo's I've used recently.

China Glaze Lightning Bolt over OPI Do You think I'm Tex-y and The One That Got Away. Love love love this combo.

China Glaze Crushed Candy over Essie Coat Azure with Color Club Si Vous Plese on top for sparkle.

Haul!

Yesterday was a bad day. I was still getting over this head cold I had all weekend and it was stinking hot.
The kids lost it by the afternoon...and I thought it was still a good idea to do art?

So they weren't listening, mangaged to accidently spill a whole jar filled with blue dye and while I was sorting out the blue dye, one kid came with blood dripping out his mouth...luckily it was only a tooth! 6 year olds lose them all the time.

The dye went everywhere. All over the birthday girls birthday dress, all over another girls tshirt and then another girl managed to have her foot in the way...bright blue foot!

I guess I have to laugh now, but at the time when all the other kids were being nosey and tryingto but in I just had to yell stop. They've not heard me yell before, I try to stay calm...but they were so noisey I had to do something big to get everyones attention. Right after we had a chat about everyone being positive!

Then we had our staff meeting...Then I rushed home to get home before Nick.

The letter box was empty, the house was a mess and there were two parcels on the back door step. I squealed. I got very very excited. That meant my crackles had arrived!

Crushed Candy, Broken Hearted, Lightning bolt and Cracked Concrete.

First base, Matte about you and Good to go.

Catch the Bouquet and Supernatural. Honest these are very very different!

Monkey Business, In Stitches, Island Hopping and Sew Pysched.

Kisses and Bisses, Nice is Nice, Fondola Gondola and Sand of a Beach.

A French Affair...

The other day I received some of the polishes I ordered while on my Essie kick.

Most notably four polishes from the French Affair 2011 Spring collection. I know a lot of people would complain about boring Essie pinks and nudes, but I actually really liked the four polishes I ordered. So much so that I ordered the other two polishes while I continued my Essie ordering kick.

 Topless and Barefoot is a nude. It's streaky at the first coat, depending on application you may even need 3 coats. In saying that the formulae is smooth and I liked the application. It's an Essie polish. The colour of Topless and Barefoot is why I love this polish. It's a nude beige with a hint of pink and I think it's the perfect nude for me.

 Coat Azure will be the only polish that most nail fanatics will want from this collection. It's a stunning blue with silver shimmer. Reminiscent of Lapis of Luxury but not quite the same blue, and definitely not a straight creme

.

 Sand Tropez is another stunning nude. A beigey tan with a grey tint. I think this is another nude that looks near perfect on me, but it lacks the pink girlishness of Topless and Barefoot. So Sand Tropez will have to settle for being my second favourite nude!

French Affair is the Essie pink of the collection. It applies well and opaquely. I don't recall French Affair being quite as stark as it looks in my pictures. French Affair is a pretty soft pale pink. Very feminine, not normally my colour but I actually like it. I don't own many pale pinks.