Changing Tides: January 2012

Friday, January 27, 2012

RBL - Piu Mosso

So, a few weeks ago I did a post on Rescue Beauty Lounge Pizzicato...remember? (If not, you can see that here). And it was based off of the Firebird Suite, which I still get all giddy about every time I think about it. Well, this is actually the first color I got from RBL. Piu Mosso is pretty much the storm. It has a unique subtle shimmer that makes this polish what it is. It's a dark blue with a fiery orange/copper shimmer that comes out to play in the sunlight.

That copper shimmer was harder to capture than it seems. A lot of the time the sun reflected so much on it that it made the shimmer look yellow. Obviously, from that last bottle shot especially, it's not yellow at all. You can't see the shimmer at all when you're in the shade, so it looks like a dark blue creme. But once this baby hits the sunlight it just explodes into life. A subtle beauty. Love it.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Zoya - Ki

Hey! I hope you all enjoyed the break from polish related posts...but now we have a couple in a row. Today I have Zoya Ki. I'll be honest...the first time I wore this polish I hated it. Like, never wanted to wear it again and wouldn't even take a picture of it, hated it. It was a streaky mess. But I always saw it on other people and it looked so amazing with all of it's duochrome-ness. So, I decided to try again. And I like it a lot more than I did before. I have no idea what I did differently, but it wasn't as streaky this time and actually looked decent. Here we go...and watch out, it's picture heavy.

Can I just say the bottle shot in this picture is AMAZING! Look at that rainbow! If only it looked more like that on the nail!

In all of these pictures I had 3 coats except on my pinky. My pinky had 2 coats over black. It slightly darkened the color, but it didn't change the duochrome effect like it does for some polishes (which we'll see in another post). I'm really glad I gave this color a second chance. It really is pretty! Just be careful with those brush strokes.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Wedding Venues!

Already? It's so exciting to get things in motion and starting to get the big things out of the way. I picked up my wedding dress last week! My actual dress. It's crazy! Even though we have a year and a half before the big day it's been a lot of fun (and stressful, don't get me wrong, haha) planning everything. And everyday I can't wait to marry my best friend. So...want to see the venue?

We fell in love with the restaurant Bali Hai on Shelter Island. It has a very tropical feel to it, and has the backdrop of downtown San Diego with a beautiful view of the bay. And, compared to the other places, this had a more personal feel to it. Of course people we don't know will walk by and see, but it's not like the hotels that we saw where rooms were right there. It's definitely more private. On to the pictures!

Here's the view walking in from the parking lot.

These are the steps I'll be walking down on the big day (: God, I hope I don't trip hahaha.

Here's one possible location for the ceremony.

You can slightly see San Diego in the background to the left.

Here's a better view.

Here is the second ceremony spot that we can choose from.

This is their awesome firepit. Firebending, anyone? (:

This is the little dock they have where we can take pictures.

View from the inside where the reception will be.

Reception venue.

So, there it is! We love it. And it's nice because there is a lot of tropical foliage so we don't have to worry too much about decorations. Can't wait until July 6, 2013 <3

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Homemade Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Yum! It was so good that we've made it twice and I felt like I needed to share the recipe with everyone! I've been on a chicken alfredo and fettucine alfredo kick lately, so why not make my own pizza? Here's what you'll need:

Ingredients:

Alfredo sauce (canned is fine)
Pizza dough (I use the Pillsbury dough, but you can make your own!)
1-2 Chicken Breasts
Shredded Italian Cheese
Italian Dressing
Any other toppings you want (we had mushrooms for me dad).

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
Unroll the pizza dough and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Optional: Roll all ends of the dough in slightly to create a border/crust.
Saute chicken breast(s) in about 2 tbsp of Italian dressing. Cook for 5 minutes on each side. Then slice.
Spread as much Alfredo sauce as you want onto the pizza dough.
Sprinkle as much of the shredded Italian cheese as you want onto the pizza dough.
Place chicken strips randomly on the pizza.
Place any other toppings you may have on the pizza.
Bake for 12-15 minutes.

There you have it! I hope you make it, and if you do, let me know how it is!

Friday, January 20, 2012

Stop and Breathe.

Sometimes you see something so beautiful that you just have to stop and breathe. It can be an act of kindness, a song, a dance, friendship, family, animals, anything. But a lot of the time we don't actually stop and take a look at the world around us and appreciate everything that we have. We get so caught up in life, working to make a living or worrying about getting a job so you can work to make a living. But, the other night, there was a beautiful sunset. And it was nice to take a picture and just appreciate it's simple beauty. We need more of that in life.

Remember...stop and breathe.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Some Flakie Magic

Just a fun fact to start the post: Flakie polish is my absolute, hands down, favorite kind of polish. I hoard flakies, even if they're dupes. And I have been traveling all over trying to find all of flakies from Finger Paints and have only found 3 of the 5. (So if anyone has Motley or Twisted I would be willing to buy them from you!!!). People are selling them for ridiculous prices on eBay...they're only $5 at Sally's Beauty. Stupid. Anyways, on to the polish.

Today I have NARS Zulu, which is a gorgeous dark green jelly. It's seriously so shiny without a top coat. I love it. I decided to do some layering with Finger Paints Flecked, which is green and blue flakies in a clear base. It brought Zulu to life. So pretty! Take a look:

First, Zulu all alone. Pretty! This was 3 coats.

This is 1 coat of Flecked over Zulu.

Here's a good shot of the duochrome flakies, they flash green and blue.

Look at that! The polish glows from within. So pretty.

This is in natural sunlight.

So what do you think? Do you like the whole flakie trend? Personally, I don't think you can ever have enough. (:

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Nails Inc. Magnetic Effect Nail Polish

Yes, that's right, magnetic nail polish! Most of you haven't heard of this but its definitely an up and coming trend in the nail polish world. We've already seen several magnetic polishes from LCN, and now from Nails Inc. And I've recently heard that China Glaze is coming out with 6 magnetic polishes with 3 different magnets! That's awesome because China Glaze is definitely more accessible and a lot cheaper than the previous two brands. But enough talking, come see the magic of Trafalgar Square! (And please, please, please ignore my awfully dry hands in the pictures below. I was painting my bathroom that day and was scrubbing the paint off and didn't lotion up until after the pictures...dumb, I know).

You take the bulky cap off, which contains the magnet.

Close up of the magnet...ignore the smudge of polish in the center of it. You can see there's a lip on the magnet which you line up with your cuticle to make holding the magnet easier because your hand can get shaky and bump the polish (which I did anyways because I'm clumsy).

After painting your nails with one coat each of the polish, you move on to doing each nail one at a time.

Close up of the magnet at work.

You put a coat of the polish on, hold the magnet over your nail for 10-15 seconds and...

Voila! Awesome nail design!

This is really simple to do. If I can do it, you can do it. I'm awful with nail art but I got so many compliments with this polish! It comes in a few colors, I got the trio which is this color, a purple and a green/teal. Formula was great and dried really quickly!

There are a few downsides to this polish:

Cost: I got the trio for $30, which is great. But individually they are $16 each. Yikes! Now that number is starting to not faze me anymore, but it still is up there.
Accessibility: These are only on their website and at Sephora. I hate going into Sephoras. And all the ones around me don't even carry this polish. I came across these in Downtown Disney. And, as far as I know, these are limited edition.
Design: There's only one design with the magnet. Now, you can hold it different ways to get a different look. I'll be experimenting with that the next time I wear it. But just one magnet design is kind of boring, and limiting to a certain extent.

Magnetic polish. So awesome, and I'm really looking forward to the China Glaze polishes! I advise you to find these while you can...or wait for CG. (:

Monday, January 9, 2012

RBL - Pizzicato

Today I have Rescue Beauty Lounge's polish in Pizzicato. This is from their Firebird collection, which I had to have (I now own 3 of the 4). From swatches I had seen online I thought that Pizzicato was a dainty white polish with apparent shimmer in it. When it arrived I was shocked that it was a light pink/lavender shade with shimmer. I thought I wouldn't like it, but I ended up loving it! Well, the color anyways. We'll get to the formula after the pictures. Take a look!

All of those photos are under artificial light and are 2 coats. And the shimmer was impossible to capture! The bottle shot gives you an idea of what's in it. I was hoping to get some natural sunlight pictures, but the manicure lasted a total of 10 minutes because I got so frustrated.

I only have 3 polishes from RBL and this is the only polish that gave me trouble. The formula took forever to dry. I think I waited 5 minutes between coats and it was still tacky. But, me being totally impatient, I went on anyways. The polish never set. I was going to add some leaves from a bundle monster stamp, and just as I put the stamp on my nail it went sliding...and took the polish with it in a big, gloppy mess. At that point I was so fed up that I angrily took the whole thing off. Besides, it was 11 PM and I was totally over it.

Maybe, one day, I'll return to Pizzicato. It really is a beautiful color! And this has happened to me 2 other times with different polishes that were amazing colors that I hope to revisit one day. In the mean time, let's just enjoy the beauty from the pictures!

I hope everyone had a happy new year!

Friday, January 6, 2012

2011 Annual Review

I know I posted this to facebook already, but in case you missed my note here it is. Enjoy!

January:

[-] Spending New Year’s Eve/Day eating dinner from a gas station and sitting in the hotel room.

[+] Katy Perry collection

[+/-] Chargers v. Broncos game in Denver. We won, but there was that fan that kicked me in the knee and who was a complete jerk.

[+] Richard bringing me lunches before class

[-] My attempt at taking BME 437 with an awful teacher

February:

[+] GB won the superbowl.

[+] Approved to student teach in California

[+] Big night with SAI

[+] Making homemade bread with Richard

[+] Getting into a baking war, throwing sugar and flour (:

[+] Wrote a drum cadence for class which resulted in an A (:

[-] Getting really sick

[+] New Plain White Ts album

[+/-] New phone…in the long run I hate it.

[+] New MITs, including my second little, Sam (:

March:

[-] Lame competency exam

[+] Strombolli’s date with Richard (where we went on our first date)

[+] New recipe: Avocado stuffed chicken

[+] Lunch with my mom for her birthday

[+/-] Seaport Village with Richard, but he got sick so we had to leave early

[+] Zoo with Richard for the first time in years!

[+] Walking around Balboa Park

[+] Friendship Garden

[+] Finding a whole sand dollar from Coronado (:

[-] The jerk who almost made me crash because his lights weren’t on and he drove across the street to get to the movie theater. So close to hitting him.

[-] My car got stuck at the bottom of my apartment complex

[+/-] Trying to learn how to play drumset

[+] Dropping my BME 437 class so I could take it over the summer with a different teacher

[+] Signed up for my last semester at NAU

April:

[-] Got sick

[+] Monopoly with Nicole

[+] Wrote a percussion ensemble piece (which was…ok)

[+] One year anniversary with Richard

[-] My ortho told me I had two more visits for my braces…only after telling me I could get them off on the next visit.

[+] Sweetwater approved me for student teaching in their district.

[+] Bought HP7:P1

[+] Movie date to go see Rio

[+] Staples fixed my computer!

[+] Super weird Arranging project that I wrote whatever and aced (the one with the paint cans)

[-] Stupid stupid stupid Project 3 (the 45 lesson plans from hell). Did it in 9 hours…straight.

[+/-] My final college concert…very bittersweet.

May:

[+] Initiation went great, and yay for the new members, including my little Sam!

[+] Richard premiered one of his compositions

[+] Got snow for my last finals week at NAU

[+] Richard bought me bundle monster plates (nail stamping plates)

[+] Nicole graduated!

[+] Officially became a super senior.

[+] Got all A’s and B’s

[+] Mom made her cabbage rolls.

[-] Car had to get a new radiator and water pump.

[+] San Diego Symphony playing Firebird.

[+] Actually enjoyed Pirates 4

[+] Boogie-boarding for the first time in years.

[-] Ridiculous sunburn on the backs of my legs, and Richard’s back. Hurt soooo bad!

[+] Finished making Richard watch all of Lost…and still bawled like a baby.

[+] San Diego Symphony with Gil Shaham and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.

June:

[+] Found the Crayola scented nail polish that I had been looking for.

[+] Started my blog, Changing Tides.

[+] Walking around town and going to the movies with Nicole.

[+] Got my braces off! :D

[-] Summer school

[+] Driving out for Lauren’s graduation from UCSD.

[+] Got engaged to the best fiancé ever, Richard

[+] Replaying and beating Pokemon Snap with Richard.

[-/+] Not receiving her book for her presentation, but being able to BS it and still get an A.

July:

[+] My 4th of July manicure.

[-] Getting stuck in major traffic on the 17 on our way to pick up my dad from the airport.

[+] Finding a butter beer recipe for the HP premiere.

[+] Bought my engagement ring.

[-] Casey Anthony trial outcome.

[+] Spending time in Montana to see DJ, Rachel and Freddy.

[-] Awful hotel…the War Bonnet (aka the War Buffet).

[+] Driving through Yellowstone on the way back to Flagstaff.

[+] Finally got my engagement ring, which was my mom’s diamond put in a new setting.

[+] Received my mom’s Tiffany’s ring for my wedding band.

[+/-] Moved out of my apartment.

[+/-] HP premiere and the end of my childhood.

[+] Seeing that one guy propose to his girlfriend in the theater.

[+] Bob turned 7! (:

[+] Cast announced for the new Avatar show.

[+] Taught myself how to flutter tongue on the trumpet…and then annoyed my Dad with it (:

[+] Got my student teaching placement after being placed at 3 different middle schools.

[+] Found my wedding dress after a spontaneous shopping trip with my mom and Neil.

[+] Started student teaching at Olympian High School.

[+] Created my very first quizzes as a teacher (:

[+] Cowboys and Aliens!

[+] Bridal bazaar with Lauren, Neil and my mom.

August:

[-] First time in my life going to school on my birthday.

[+/-] Turned 22, but doesn’t feel like it was my birthday at all.

[+] Birthday flowers!

[+] Got Rio on DVD…such a cute movie! (:

[+] Registered for the AEPA

[+] Survived teaching the entire day by myself.

[+] Ordered my graduation announcements.

[+] Richard came for a visit

[+] Making peanut butter fudge with my grandma’s recipe and actually succeeding!

[+] Mary Poppins, it was good!

[+] Did extremely well on my student teaching midterm.

[+] Went to the Trevor Hoffman retirement ceremony…it was a bit too long though.

[+/-] Wrote letters to all of the band directors in San Diego, but didn’t get any responses…but that’s ok, what matters is that I tried.

[+] My first SCSBOA Fall Conference

[+] Got my very first hotel room all to myself…felt weird haha.

September:

[+] IHOP trip and bowling with friends.

[-] Water was trapped in my ear for days.

[+] Saw one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen in my life.

[+] Hornswoggle concert

[+/-] Blackout. It was insanely scary driving home trying to cross major streets, and getting gas was a very interesting and frustrating adventure. But it was fun playing Yahtzee and then leaving at midnight to drive to Flagstaff.

[+] My trip to Flagstaff, which was mostly for the AEPA.

[-] My drive up to Flagstaff was so scary! Crazy lightning storm.

[+] My short visit with Nicole where there was another power outage (for me) and another crazy storm.

[-] 10th anniversary of 9/11.

[-] Having a dentist appointment with snobby people to schedule the last 2 of my wisdom teeth extraction.

[+] Rocked my student teaching final for my first placement.

[+] The oh-so-fun filming at 5 AM for the wannabe PPR at Olympian.

[+/-] My dad flushed all 3 of my betta fish down the toilet because I didn’t want them anymore…poor fish!

[+] Finished my Candidate Work Sample

[+] The Lion King 3D with my dad.

[+] Lauren got me hooked on pistachios!

[+] Went and saw the Blue Man Group.

[+/-] My last day at Olympian, where my students surprised me with posters and gifts and pretty much made me cry. But they made me realize that I absolutely, 100% , love what I am doing. I learned so much from them.

[+] Fall break, which included a trip to Flag.

[+] Hanging out with Lauren in Flag while her mom was at her conference and Richard was in class.

[-] RIP Joel DiBartolo.

[+] “The altitude…it’s so tall!” Lauren being tipsy.

[-] Had to get 2 new tires for my car…after running over a bolt and having a leak in the second tire.

[+] Symphony with Jean-Yves Thibaudet…amazing pianist.

October:

[+] Walking out to find my dad crying while watching Maid in Manhattan, haha!

[+/-] Color Oops…trying to get the color out of my hair. It made my hair smell burnt for weeks and it didn’t even work.

[+] Dyed Dustin’s hair a blue-black.

[+] Lauren was nice enough to drive me to my wisdom teeth extraction.

[-] Had to take antibiotics on an empty stomach, therefore threw up in Lauren’s brand new car (which I’m still so so so so sorry for!).

[-] Got my wisdom teeth out on my right side.

[-] Had my very first IV…and got really bad bruising from it.

[+/-] Didn’t remember anything for the first half hour after I woke up…which I guess was entertaining, haha.

[+] Teaching Lauren about nail polish (like NOT using a top coat for a base coat, hahaha).

[-] Bob freaking Lauren and I out with all of the ghost encounters in my house…we called my dad to wake him up so he could walk across the house and turn a light on for the whole night, haha.

[+/-] Trying to see the Red Tides with Lauren but we were too late so it was really small :(

[+] Lauren stayed with me for a few days while I was home alone because my dad was in Colorado.

[+] Passed the AEPA!

[+/-] First day of student teaching at Bonita Vista Middle School.

[+] Got the highest marks in every category for my Candidate Work Sample.

[+] My cap and gown came in.

[-] Graduation pictures...really weren’t that good.

[-] One of my students stole my phone…but I tracked it down and got it back. Stupid kid.

[+] Seeing old awards and scrapbooks from when I went to BVMS.

[+/-] Went to see Hair…it was ok.

[+/-] Having to face a demon from my past…but surviving it.

[+] My students chose NAU for college week.

[+] Got to wear my BVHS letterman jacket that I pretty much never got to wear because I transferred schools.

[+] Mt. Carmel Tournament…which included seeing Liz! (:

[+] Some of my students from OHS were really able to make me smile at that tournament…and I really needed that.

[+] Richard and I set a date! July 6th, 2013.

[+/-] Symphony Spooktacular…too many kids though.

[-] Had a rough week which was a real test of my character and showed me how strong I really am, even in my moments of weakness. And it showed me what I’ll have to do for the rest of my career.

November:

[+] Survived teaching middle school by myself all day. Never want to do that again, haha.

[+] Kicked a student out of my class! It was crazy haha.

[+] San Diego Symphony playing Liszt Piano Concertos.

[+] Going to tournaments with OHS, feeling like a band director, haha.

[+/-] Chargers game in the pouring rain, it was so cold.

[+] Bought my wedding dress!!!

[+] Did really well on my student teaching midterm.

[+] My mom surprised me with several polishes that I had been looking for after the Otay Ranch Band Review.

[+] Band Pageant, juggling OHS and BVMS.

[+] Not letting my 6th period class leave without their instruments in their hand for Thanksgiving break…and they actually practiced! (:

[-] Oreo tipped over my trash can multiple times one night because I threw away the wrapper for his treats and he was convinced that there were more. Ridiculous cat.

[+] My grandma came to SD for Thanksgiving and for my graduation.

[+] Richard was here for Thanksgiving

[+] Richard treated me to a mani/pedi done by him. It turned out pretty well, too.

[+] Family House!

[+] Chargers game with friends and family.

December:

[+] 2 concerts at BVMS: 1 beginning guitar, 3 beginning bands and advanced band. They went really well, especially my beginning band that did a piece with multiple time changes! So proud of them!

[+] San Diego Symphony: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

[+] Took the CBEST…and passed!

[+] Donovan’s for my grandma’s birthday dinner.

[+] Did really well on my student teaching final and turned in my massive portfolio.

[+] Got to help out OHS at Qualcomm Stadium…it was cool being on the field and I made sure to score a touchdown with a drum stand when we walked off, haha.

[+] Bob thought my EOS chapstick was his bouncy ball, it was cute. He protected it all night.

[+/-] Lost Bob’s bouncy ball in the tree out back so I had to buy him a new one…and he actually accepted it. That’s huge for this dog he’s so picky about his toys.

[+] Got my hair cut and colored, thanks to my mom.

[+] San Diego Symphony playing Beethoven’s Ninth.

[+] Completed student teaching.

[+] Woke up to see the lunar eclipse.

[+] Visited my grandpa’s grave.

[+] Drove around looking at Christmas lights.

[+] Got to stop wearing my retainers during the day!

[+] Drove to Flag for graduation!

[+] Got to see my whole family together again for the first time since my high school graduation. And, of course, Lauren who came with and is pretty much family, anyways.

[+] Chargers game with family again.

[+] Got a 4.0! Haha.

[+] Spent time with Richard and his family in Phoenix.

[+] Got my pajamas for Christmas Eve, keeping the tradition alive.

[+] Looked at wedding venues and found some that we really like.

[+] Spent New Year’s Eve at the Galley with Richard and my dad. It was fun!

[+] Nail polish, Kindle Touch, Nintendo 3DS, homemade sand candle, Disneyland tickets, a real leather teacher bag, a cute piggy bank, slippers, pajamas, teacher clothes, new DS games, hello kitty polish and gel pens and time with family. Good Christmas/graduation/New Years.[+] Finished reading The Hunger Games Trilogy. Great book! One of my favorites now.

Overall, 2012 was great. I learned a lot, especially during my student teaching. But probably the most important things that I learned this year were:

I absolutely love what I’m doing. It’s nice to know that these past 4.5 years have paid off and that teaching music is truly what I want to do.
I’m stronger then I give myself credit for. Even in my moments of weakness I can still hold it together. And I will always do my best to be the bigger person.
Relationships and friendships go both ways. If they don’t make the effort and I do, they aren’t worth it. And vice versa.

Thank you, 2011. And thank you everyone who has been a part of my life. Bring on 2012! Here’s a small look into a few of my resolutions (but not all of them):