I'm back!  Recently there have been many changes in my life that I was not able to talk about outside of my immediate family, but my therapist thinks it would be helpful to write down the details of these changes from my perspective.  Hopefully this will help me organize my thoughts and maybe sharing things may help others in my position. Those of you who know me personally are aware that in April my spouse begun transitioning publicly from Robert to Amanda. This was not a surprise to me, she had begun transitioning in private a year ago or so.  This journey has sometimes been difficult but has been equally rewarding. Having my partner change completely is something I never expected, but we are adapting.  My father tells me a lot that he doesn't understand and that he feels like he is losing the part of his family that he once considered 'Perfect'.  I'm not giving up on my Dad, I will help him understand eventually.  In the meantime, from my side I never completely enjoyed life as a perfect family, there is a lot of pressure when you are perfect.   I really do hate the word PERFECT, makes me feel like one step in any direction will lead to failure.  I do love going on an adventure and this does feel like the ultimate adventure.  We are meeting new people and experiencing things I never thought we would.  Although there have been low moments, the high moments bring real tears to my life and I actually feel like I am living. 

Here's a picture of Cate and Amanda walking in the Pride parade in NYC. They stood in the street on Madison Ave:

Our kids are doing great & watching them adjust has been heartwarming to say the very least. Turns out I helped raise the kindest, most loving girls & I am just amazed by them each day.  Below I've posted my recent manicures, head over to my IG (@polishedjenn) for full descriptions. Feel free to ask me questions. Jenn ❤️

My Chihuahua Bits! from OPI

To The Mouse House We Go by OPI

Mrs. Robinson by Color Club

Lucid La La Land by SuperChic Lacquer

Halcyon by Cirque Colors

Posh by Revlon with Stassi by Zoya over the top 

My obsession with the "Skittles" manicure!!!

A skittles manicure is so much fun and I love them!  Even if I do get the occasional odd look which I interpret as judgement for wearing my nails in a fashion that is a bit young for my age.  Oh well!  You basically pick a main color and then add a few decorative nails, usually 2 (sometimes 3) that compliment the main color you have picked.  I always add a sparkly nail and then one with a pattern.  See examples below:

The purple polish is OPI I Lost My Bikini in Molokini with a textured glitter and a marble nail.

The blue polish is China Glaze Sky High-Top with a blue metallic glitter and stamped nail (using two colors).

The deep purple polish is OPI In The Cable Car-pool Lane with a Zoya Pixie Dust polish and a stamping nail as accent.

This pink polish is Essie Delhi-dance with an iridescent topper and a stamping nail as accent.  

This Tiffany blue is China Glaze For Audrey along with OPI Ce-less-tial Is More and a stamping nail as accent.

Another sky blue polish this one is Essie Blossom Dandy with Orly Mirror ball and a stamping nail as accent.

Another polish from the untried pile...

This polish is from the 2015 Electric Nights collection by China Glaze and holy cow it is BRIGHT!!!  Actually I think it might be too bright for my taste, I mean at least on my fingers. 

From the untried pile...

Recently I went through my entire collection and cataloged every polish in it using swatch sticks.  This is when I realized that I have quite a few more than 20 polishes in my untried polish stash.  It is actually closer to 60 polishes, she says rather sheepishly...   

So with that omission I have decided that I am going to make an effort to wear those untried polishes ASAP. 

Zoya Earth Day Polish Haul

I ordered six polishes in April during the Zoya Earth Day polish sale:  Aurora, Ivanka, Chita, Charla, Chyna, and Seraphina.  I knew the sale was coming and that I definitely wanted to take advantage of those lower prices.  I did my research, watched some YouTube videos, and then made my selections based on input from Bloggers and YouTubers that I follow regularly. 

So far I've worn all of them with the exception of Chita, but I've only taken pictures of three of the polishes on my nails (see below).  I just haven't gotten around to Chita yet and since summer is upon us I feel like its much too nice for a army greenish color. 

SuperChic Lacquer is a brand I came across on Instagram, which led me to watch a bunch of YouTube videos, which led me to purchase three polishes from their online store. 

These are three polishes from the Dreamology collection:

Realm of Erotica, No Rest for the Wicked, and Wake Me Up (from left to right)

Before I knew it I was obsessed with holographic polishes.  It's been all downhill from there...

  

As soon as I tried them I knew they were different from the mainstream brands I usually find at TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Nordstrom Rack, they also cost a bit more than polishes from the bargain bin.  This was now an investment! LOL....I'm kidding of course.  About the investment thing, not about the beauty of these polishes. 

They dry down to a dull finish that can be corrected with your favorite top coat

I find that they dry down to a less than shiny finish (see swatch sticks above), but when you add a top coat...BAM!!!  These pictures are taken in natural sun light.

No Rest for the Wicked ~ SuperChic Lacquer

Realm of Erotica ~ SuperChic Lacquer

I don't know where my swatch picture for the purple polish went, I'll need to take another picture next time I wear it.  A few notes about these polishes: They are very pigmented, so a base coat is a must and they tend to stain the skin upon removal.  I only have darker colors from this brand, so I'm not sure if this goes for any of the lighter colors as well.  The bristles on the brush from their current bottle were a little unexpected, they are very short and I was worried about it causing problems with application, but it ended up being fine.  See photo below. They are about $10.00 per bottle plus shipping.  They do have a free shipping promo right now. (I am trying to resist buying anymore at the moment) I covet these polishes so I always wear my favorite long wear base coat from Nubar to make my manicure last as long as possible.  I know this seems like a strange thing to mention, but I normally save my more expensive base coat for my favorite polishes.  I tend to change my polish sometimes daily depending on my schedule and when I'm going to change it quickly I don't use the Nubar base coat.  My untried polish stash is 20 polishes deep at the moment. The price is comparable to full price OPI polishes in the core collection or any of those specialty collections they offer throughout the year and quality-wise they are definitely better because they are so unique.  As a side note:  I never buy OPI or any other mainstream brand full price.  Why would I?  I can always get a coupon at the drugstore (my last one was for $5) or wait until they are on clearance at other stores (i.e. jcpenney, ulta, etc.)



So, I am new to blogging.  I've seen a blog before and I feel like I can express my inner monologue into useful information that the world might be interested in reading.  So here goes...

I'm a collector, always have been.  I might even admit to having an obsessive personality that feeds my need to collect things and line them all up and look at them.  My current focus is nail polish!  It's not a bad thing, yet.  I mean I haven't collected anything dangerous or harmful to myself and/or my love ones.  I'm not counting some old China Glaze polishes that I bought from eBay that smell like toxic waste and may be radioactive.  I promised I wouldn't open those bottles anymore, I'm just going to line them up and look at them (LOL).  Here they are if your interested:

This blog might seem like a cave painting posted on a cave wall at this point, but I m new at this so bare with me.  Leave me a comment, let me know that someone is reading this.  Ask questions, I may actually have the answers. 

Jenn