Walk of Tulips

These are from a gorgeous day of running errands the other day.  While waiting to cross the street, I noticed the flowers above and had to take a picture.  This turned into me taking a lot of pictures as I walked around getting errands done.  Tulips seemed popular in this area!

Love the multicolored display.  And found these two tulips pictures below growing around each other.  How cute :)

Pretty lamp post.  Pretty flowers.  Pretty tree.

Relaxing on the Beach

I spent a large amount of my my Mexico vacation on the beach.  This was the view I enjoyed as I reclined on my chair and read my book while sipping on unlimited pina coladas, mojitos, and caipirinhas.

Below is the water we swam in and the sand bar we played on.

Junk Nail 2

To start off with, I confess this is not a junk nail.  That was the intent but once I stamped this design on to my ring finger I realized two things.  First, the design was relatively subtle.  Second, I loved it too much to keep the prettiness on only one nail.  And so the junk nail spread to all the other nails!

For my nail posts, I was thinking about also providing info on what I used (nail polishes, nail stamping plates, etc)--that is, if there is any interest for that information...

Cenot Ik Kil

This sinkhole is located near Chichen Itza (a separate post on that coming up), a large archaeological site built by the Mayans.  It is not the main sinkhole at Chichen Itza where sacrifices were made, but we were told it is one of the prettiest.  There was a large sprialing staircase to take us down to the level of the water. 

This is the view across the top of the sinkhole from the staircase entrance.  You can see the gift shop on the other side.

And this is looking down into the sinkhole from the top.

There was an opening in the staircase behind some vines.

And we are at the water level!

Looking up just a bit.

And looking up at the opening from the water level.

Another shot of swimming tourists.

And a close up of the vines.

Chocolate Choco Chip Waffles

My favorite meal is breakfast, but unfortunately on most mornings it is a rushed bowl of cereal.  Well, no more!  I had a free morning and decided to attempt waffles--waffles not made with a mix.  The recipe said it would make 3 waffles...I got about 10.  Luckily, they freeze well and that means toasting a frozen waffle is as easy as pouring a bowl of cereal!  And another reason to love these waffles even more:  I don't need syrup!  I  drench pancakes and waffles in syrup, but these taste so good with frozen yogurt that no syrup is needed, saving my coronary arteries :)

Chocolate Choco Chip Waffles

   Ingredients

• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 oz mini chocolate chip (or regular sized ones) (I added them until I felt like I had enough)
• 2 teaspoons baking pwder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup skim or 2% milk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, separated
• toppings: frozen yogurt, berries, confectioners sugar, chocolate syrup, etc.)

   Instructions

• Heat waffle iron
• In bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, cocoa powder, sugar, choco chips, baking powder, and salt
• Stir in milk, oil, and water 
• Beat egg whites into stiff peaks and fold into batter
• Use your waffle iron to make waffles!  I could give you instruction but each iron is a bit different, and I bet you know how to use yours better than I do!
• Add toppings.
• Enjoy!

Junk Nail 1

The concept of a junk nail was recently introduced to me by a co-worker whose ringer finger nail looked like a disco ball, while the rest of her nails were a much more subtle, solid color.  She explained to me that while it would be fun to have all disco nails, it would simply be too much, so she limits the fun to her "junk nail".  The ring finger is a good spot for a junk nail because it's big enough to handle some design unlike many pinky finger nails--and it is not predominantly used like the thumb, forefinger, and middle finger.  This not only makes the nail less obvious for professional situations, but also preserves the work you did on it. 

A few days later, another co-worker had the cutest flower design on her ring finger, as well as a nice glitter layer on half of her other non-junk nails.  Inspired by the two ladies, here is my first quick and easy experiment with the junk nail.  I love the blue glitter nail polish, but it's usually too obnoxious to wear--perfect for the junk nail!  I added a fine gold glitter layer over the bright purple to my pinky and thumb nails to complete my manicure.  

Since then, I have discovered the art of nail-stamping, so expect much more intricate junk nails in the future!

DIY Masquerade Mask

It's almost Mardi Gras time, which always reminds of parties, beads, and masks.  This mask that I made was for a masquerade ball, but I figured it was a good time to share it.  Sadly, I did not take pictures of the process, so here is a brief step-by-step.

-Supplies: blank face mask, Lace trim, Sequin trim, Ribbons, Paint--and any glitter, sequins, feathers you want!

-My mask came gold, but if your's doesn't, paint it a base color.

-Then get creative decorating!  I started off using a thick lace trim to border the top half of the mask.

-The lace trim was too thick for the bottom, so I switched to a thinner sequin trim.

-Outlined the eye holes with black paint.

-Made a rose out of sheer ribbon, using intruction found here

-Where I was going to attach the rose, I first pasted a couple strands of thin ribbon and some feathers flaring out to the upper side, then pasted the rose on top.  I curled the ribbon using the side of scissors.

-Let it dry and go out!