OMG, I'm feeling girlie! Quick! Call someone!

It doesn't happen very often, but once in a while I forgo my tomboy leanings and have an overwhelming urge to be girlie.  I don't think there is anything wrong with being girlie, it was just never my thing.  When I went to grade school way back when, the boys used to take delight in flipping up the skirts of all the girls they caught at recess.   Granted, we are talking about 3rd grade or so, but still.  It can be traumatic.  I was so worried that whenever my aunt had me wear a skirt I would always wear shorts underneath - just in case.


In the end, my skirt never got flipped.  It probably didn't help that I was taller than pretty much my entire grade level. And rather husky.  So, maybe they were slightly intimidated.



As I was happily working scrolling through my Pinterest homepage I found this these awesome nails that just made me SQUEE like a fan girl smile. Now I have been known to get manicures and pedicures - I am a firm believer in both because the money is well worth it for the massage they make me feel good. Typically I stick with plain colors and no "accent" nail for me!





[I still can't believe how fashionable this became, all because of the Olympics.  Then again, I did live through moon boots, harem pants and Members Only jackets. And Flock of Seagull hair. And Devo heads. And disco. So by now you would think that I wouldn't be so surprised when trends start.]

But the picture that made me SQUEE smile... Wow.  I'd gladly do that design on purpose -- unmatching nails and all!  I absolutely love the speckled gradient nails (left) done by Alice at One Nail to Rule Them All.  Youtube tutorial here. I don't think I could give you a good answer about why they called out to me, but I believe I am drawn to their overall chaotic-ness, that matches my chaotic soul.  Or I could have just been feeling happy.  Nope, sticking with the chaos theory.  Had to happen, right?

And it didn't matter that instead of diligently working away taking a break I was drawn into Alice's pictures and tutorials and blogs.



Then I found her "franken" colors. Alice is such a bold minx!  The greens weren't my cup of tea, but I loved this royal and copper penny mix (below).

And I found myself exploring the other artists that she was linked through by blog contests.  And all of a sudden, this grey gloomy day had some color and shine for me.  And even though the Pintester herself wasn't able to do water marbling, the tutorials by ProfessionalDQ and ilovemylongnails made it look easy!






Normally you would find me running away from these bold, neon colors.  There is something about the water marbling that reminds me of butterfly wings and somehow the colors become okay to my mind.  I absolutely love the combo of these Zoya Beach Collection colors.





I was lucky enough to stumble upon this pic (left) and tutorial from Chelsea Franklin at The Nail Network.











And once my mind got used to the bold marbling, I really appreciated the gradient half moon design done by Felice from S-lacquer (right).

















And who doesn't appreciate the beauty in a butterfly wing?