gorg

gorg

Saturday, July 30, 2011

fried ends? fake it til you make it.




ever take a bit longer than you should between your trips to the salon I'm just rounding out the 10th month since my last haircut, and while I know what I need is a good cut, one too many nightmares in the past makes me nervous about taking the plunge. Add sun damage from the summer's rays, salt water and chlorine from swimming and you have a recipe for fried ends. No self respecting girl likes to go out with raggedy hair, you put in the effort to look nice, you don't need your hair to ruin your ensemble! My favorite trick? Curl just your ends loosely with a big barrel curling iron. It smooths and seals your ends, and gives your hair a finished look. Even after they start to fall out, which they will between the humidity, weight of your hair and the loose curl that you gave them, you'll still look polished and put together. Exactly the look you were going for :)

xx,
Marissa

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

my love affair with D.C.

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I had planned a trip to DC to visit my best friend who had just graduation from George Washington University. The trip was a gradations present from her family, and a kind of two- for-one treat for the both of us. Having never been to DC before I wanted to see some of the sights, but we both agreed a relaxing/mellow visit was just what we needed. Just a sprinkling of tourist, but mostly spending time with her and enjoying her life down there.


Our first night out in Adams Morgan- the bar and club area of the city. Full of crazies, but so much fun! Highlights included 4am pizza that was larger than my head, running away from creepers at the bar, her roommate stepping on a baby walking the streets at 4am, biker gangs and a group of weirdos speaking in accents for no reason and saying they were on the Boston Real World. It was crazy.


Walked the GW campus. For four years I've been on the phone with Kaitlin as she walked from building to building having no idea what anything looked like. It was nice to finally have a layout and visuals to put everything together. But the true highlight of the campus was seeing the hippo statue that I had heard about for years. According to Kaitlin, the former president purchased this statue for his house, and when his wife told him to get rid of it, because who in their right mind would want this thing in their house, he donated it to the school. However, the sign below said nothing of the sorts. Good lie Kaitlin, good lie.


Cupcakes! Cupcakes! Cupcakes! After what seemed like centuries of hearing this cupcake shop get rave review, I finally was able to sample them for myself. After waiting line like the rest of the tourists and cupcake groupies, we finally made it inside and were faced with the impossible task of choosing our flavor.





Lucky for us, they give you a menu listing all the different cupcake flavors that they carry, and which ones are available that day.





First bite! So much build up for this. As a cupcake connoisseur, Kaitlin was scared that I would be disappointed.


Worrying was completely unnecessary. Literally, the greatest cupcake that I have ever eaten.



Then we left Georgetown and headed downtown to check out some of Washington's sights.


Typical tourist White House picture was totally necessary. Frame worthy shot right there ;)


And finally, while continuing my quest for the perfect iPad case, I made a completely impromptu but absolutely perfect purchase to serve as a moment of my trip. Because honestly, how many oversized city t-shirts and name-sake shot glasses do you need? At least this will remind me of my trip every time I wear it, which lately has been a lot.

Good job D.C. for having me for the weekend, making me fall in love with you and ending our love affair just as soon as it started. But no worries, I'll be back soon.

xx,
Marissa

- Posted using BlogPress from my

Location:Washington, DC

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

perrrfect manicure

I'm definitely a girl who prides myself on having nice nails. To me, it's just a part of life as a lady. While the average woman may paint her nails once a week, or even longer, it's hard for me to wait more than a couple days. My constant need for manicures has led me to the perfect step-by-step process that can take as little as 10 minutes and be done right before bed.




Start with clean nails.

Use cuticle clippers to trim any hangnails, or cuticle around the edges.
Push back cuticles around the base of your nail- I use my pointer nail instead of an orange stick or nail tool. One less thing to have in my nail drawer!



Clip your nails to the perfect length for you. The best for me is just a bit below my finger tip. Make sure you only file in one direction, going back and forth in a sawing motion makes your nails weak and split super easy.

My go to shape is the "squ-oval", an almost square shaped nail with rounded corners. This shape is the best for preventing chipped corners since you don't have any corners to snag on.

To get the smoothest surface possible before you apply your polish, use a 4-sided file to even out and buff the surface. This makes your polish stay on and really have something to bond to.

Right before polish, use a fresh cotton ball to fully clean the surface of your nail. Paint your nails using three smooth motions; one in the middle, then one on either side. It's best if the first coat is thinner, while the second can be a bit thicker to make sure your polish is totally opaque.






The top coat that I swear by is Seche Vite Dry Fast Topcoat. It gives nails an almost-plastic, perfect look that I love. But the reason that this is my holy grail nail product is that it honestly stays true to it's name. I can paint my nails and they're completely dry within 10 minutes. Love, love it.




And of course my perrrfect manicure wouldn't be complete without a glitter nail <3

xx,
Marissa
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad