NOTW: Uneven Lengths + Simple How-To

After getting the perfect almond shape I love oh so much, I promptly broke a nail on Andrew's car door. I told myself "alright, just make sure you crop out that bad boy in your next nail post." Then I broke another while walking Princess and Muscles the same day... of course. So uneven nails it is!


I love drugstore shopping, which I know I mention all of the time, so it should come as no surprise that I spent a lot of time hopping from Walgreens to Dollar General to CVS this past week. My final stop was Five Below where I picked up three new nail polishes I used for these nails.


From left to right: Unlabeled Skull Nail Polish in Black, Funky Fingers in Pink Pixels and Fool's Gold, and Love & Beauty in Purple/Black (which I already owned).


To get this look I started with two coats of Pink Pixels followed by two coats of Fool's Gold. Next, with very little product on the brush, I lightly covered each nail with the Purple/Black glitter. Using a small brush, I made sure to slowly build the glitter starting at the cuticles, moving outward to get the gradient just right.


Using a cosmetic sponge, I applied black just at the cuticle (be sure to use a moist sponge with a very small amount of black). Then, I placed a small oval stone at the base of each accent nail with a toothpick. Finally, I painted two layers of top coat (three on the accent nails so those stones will stay put). If you try this look please comment below with a link! I'd really love to see it!


In an effort to catch up with all of you savvy internet users, I signed up for Bloglovin' (finally). I'm only a few years late... I was suprised to see I already have quite a few of you following me there, so thanks guys! Follow my blog with Bloglovin' if you'd like!

WIP: Round Two

Just a super quick quilt update! I finished another 24 hexagons and moved on to the next set a few days ago. A whole 48 down and only 73 to go! I would be way more enthusiastic about my progress if it weren't for all of those ends that need to be sewn in. Somehow I only just managed to realize this... Yikes!


Just in case you missed my previous posts on this project:

• Quilt Making? Me?
• WIP: Round One

Comida Venezolana

Most of the food I cook is based off of my mother's lessons in the kitchen growing up, as I assume is true for many people. While I enjoy branching out and trying lots of new recipes, those old traditional meals bring me a lot of comfort. Now, I'm not sure if I've written about being Venezuelan before, but my father was born and raised in Maracaibo. He, my mother and I would fly back every summer till I was about 7 or 8. Sadly, I haven't been back since but I remember it fondly and relive those memories (even if it's just a little bit) when making one of the traditional Venezuelan foods that my family has always eaten: arepas.


Arepas are delicious patties made from corn flour that you slice open and stuff with various toppings, then eat like a sandwich. They're simple and absolutely amazing. I mean it! They're also pretttty messy. Dominó, which is stuffed with traditional black beans and white cheese (plus nata), was always most popular in my family. Since I have no idea where to find nata or the proper white cheese from my childhood memories, I just use crema Mexicana and queso fresco.


Like most delicious latin@ food I know how to make, I start my beans with sofrito. There are a lot of recipes online and it's even sold in jars in stores. I was raised on the green, tomato-less kind but I'm sure the red stuff is delicious.


Normally I'd boil the arepas then bake them like I did in this giant feast, which was actually the first time I cooked for my in-laws(!), but my mom recently suggested I switch things up and make the masa with milk (whaaaat??) and fry 'em. TOTAL GAME CHANGER. These were so delicious.


Apparently in Puerto Rico, arepas are made with coconut milk, lard or butter, flour, and baking powder. I'm pretty pumped to make them like that next time, minus the lard of course! Have you ever had arepas?

Beauty: Past, Present & Future

While I've been crocheting up a storm little else has gone on creatively, not even with my nails. In fact, they've been bare quite a lot recently and I feel like I'm losing my touch! I even have my little table set up with polishes and tools but I haven't had any great ideas for what to do with them. I thought I'd give myself a little push (slap in the face) and post a few manicures I've done but skipped on posting here.


Muscles as a prop didn't work out so well...


Lumps of coal did however work wonderfully. As did my craft rhinestones!


These tiny bows took ages but they were SO worth it (click through to enlarge).


One of my favorites and done using cheap-o dollar store polish, too!

Truth be told, I've been enveloped by beauty bloggers blogging about beauty. Like, I've actually subscribed to YouTube channels! It's as if I've been sucked into a vortex of swatches, tutorials, and reviews with no escape. I can't help it!! Here are a few of the fabulous people I can't seem to get enough of and their opinions on what's worth putting on their/your/my face: Destiny Godley, itsjudytime, Makeup By Leina, Start2FinishMUA, and Wayne Goss. Thanks to them Andrew was forced to spend a wild Friday night at Ulta with me last week:

On my way to Ulta and I've watched 600+ hrs of makeup tutorials and videos. I AM SO READY FOR THIS. #LETSDOTHIS

— JLV (@HipOh_Potamus) March 8, 2013

I HAVE ARRIVED twitter.com/HipOh_Potamus/…

— JLV (@HipOh_Potamus) March 8, 2013

Do you have any go-to beauty people you recommend? I think I can dig up another 600 hours to dedicate to the right channel... On second thought, maybe I should quit while I'm ahead. I mean, this is what my makeup collection looked like a few years ago and it has only grown since:


¯\_(ツ)_/¯