Birthday Weekend Wrap-Up

Andrew surprised me with a trip to Cedar Point for my birthday this year! I DIED. I've loved amusement parks ever since I can remember. My whole family would load into my father's work van in the early hours of the morning and drive out to Wild World or King's Dominion regularly, each summer. I remember bringing coolers packed with food and actually grilling when everyone got hungry. Countless birthday candles were blown out in the picnic areas; it became a family tradition. I was thrilled to relive a bit of that with our trip to Ohio. We didn't bring any proper cameras with us because, uh, roller coasters (!), so photos from Andrew's instagram will have to do.



During the ride up, we enjoyed our share of rotten rest stop food. I'd never even heard of Hardee's or Red Burrito before. Never again.



We stayed at Hotel Breakers. Our room was ultra accommodating and fabulous with a poolside/beachfront (lakefront) view and awesome state of the art TV. What a place!



There were adorable fur babies in the petting zoo. I got to see my very first Silkies in person! I'm still totally obsessed but, I digress...



The park was much larger than I anticipated, and surprisingly, we rode all 13 of the roller coasters. They were AHHH-mazing (see what I did there?)! I lost count of how many times we rode Millennium Force (left), it was so fun. Top Thrill Dragster was too intense for multiple rides, I mean, a ride that only lasts 17 seconds, lasts only 17 seconds for a reason...



After a trip in the Sky Ride we even managed to get a couple of cocktails in, and saved the ferris wheel for last so all of the rides would be lit up. The water park was a lot of fun, too, but we were too busy in the wave pool and lazy river to be bothered with photos! We had a blast and I can't wait to go back. Amusement parks still totally hold all of the magic from my childhood memories, I'm just sad I didn't have my loud-mouth family with me while waiting in the lines!

The Nail Saga Continues

New nails alert! I stumbled upon this great nail blog, Gorgeois, and immediately had to try her summer shatter mosaic for myself.



It's a really quick and easy manicure worth trying for yourself, and it puts crackle polish to good use. Though, things can get messy with your non-dominant hand while painting all those small squares. You've been warned!



From left to right: Pure Ice Crackle in Shattered, Funky Fingers in Teal, Black, and Silver Scales, Cherimoya Cracked in Sanctuary, Exodus, Purgatory and Peace, and ORLY in Naked Ivory. All but Shattered are new. Wait, it gets worse...



Between last Monday and yesterday I managed to do the unthinkable. A WHOPPING 25 NEW POLISHES. IT IS SHAMEFUL. SHAMEFUL! My habit is so uncontrollable, I mean, look at those grabby hands in the foreground! Ah!! And just when I thought I'd reached a new low (high?), I leveled up on my obsession:



I bought two more on my lunch break. There's added guilt, too, because American Apparel is so despicable! What have I become?!

Weekend Adventures

Near our apartment is a large nondescript warehouse-type building. After passing by it countless times, we finally figured out it's an archery bow range (whaaat?). Andrew and I decided to be adventurous and signed up for a group couples' lesson last Friday night. One of the small highlights was the lol-worthy confirmation email which referred to Andrew as my archer of significance!


Yes, Andrew has a mullet; he's very proud of it.
For only $40 we were given an introductory lesson, equipment rental and use of the space for almost two hours. We totally want to go back again. Have you ever been? I suggest everyone try it if there's a range accessible to you! It's so much fun. Promise.

Next up: Intergem! While Andrew was out racing Sunday, I ventured up north and checked it out again. I actually have a bunch of beads left over from the last time I went. Surprise, surprise, right? Every year it's held at the same time and location as Comic-Con. I always feel real cool passing all of the young people and heading up the escalators with all of the hip, older crafty ladies.


Crappy phone photos as proof!


I'm quite pleased with my haul, though I always forget to pick up findings! We'll see what comes of all these beads...

Nails & Friendship Bracelets

Lately I've been in a little bit of a funk. It's become this weird cycle of wanting to do one million things at once, overwhelming myself with planning, and nothing really getting done. Painting my nails is one of the few things I managed to do outside of work last week. No super cute designs either because I've dropped not one but two of my nail art brushes AND a dotting tool in my gallon container of acetone! Pitiful. Solid colors, tape, and half brushed nails are where it's at until I find replacements.


Itching to see something through to its completion quickly (other than food/nails), I decided to hop on a trend a bit late and start making friendship bracelets again. For the first time since I got this Klutz book in '96!

Having tons of embroidery floss and stacks of books laying around definitely helped. They're such simple, low commitment projects and you finish in no time. I finished this one before Andrew even uploaded the photo to flickr.


There are tons of super awesome and involved free patterns online but right now I'm obsessed with hearts. I've made a few for my BFF (not just for myself, I promise), too.