BLOGGER AWARD!

So fellow dog lover and nail polishaholic Miranda from Splat by Arfblat nominated me for this cool blogging award! It's called the Versatile Blogger.

Rules

• Nominate 7 fellow bloggers
• Let them know that you have nominated them.
• Share 7 random facts about yourself. 
• Thank the blogger who nominated you.
• Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your blog post.

7 Random Facts

1. I love sports. I'm a sports editor at a local newspaper and I love my job. I've known since third grade that I wanted to be a sports writer. I went to school at Penn State and got my degree then came back home and started working at my local paper.


2. I'm a huge fan of the show Doctor Who. I've been watching the original since I was a kid. It used to be shown on Saturdays at 11 p.m. on PBS. Back then it took weeks to get through an episode. I do watch the newer version, although I confess I did boycott it for awhile. I love the new show, but the older version is still my favorite. In fact, I named my boston terrier, Zoey, after one of the characters.


3.  I'm a speed reader. No really. I read very quickly and can finish a very thick book in a couple of hours. My love of reading goes back to when I started getting my first books from my first grade class. I used to take one home, read it and bring it back the next day. My teacher didn't believe I read it, so she used to quiz me on what the book was about. I'm also a fantastic Jeopardy player because I can read the question before Alex Trebek even gets it out.


4.  I met my husband at a high school wrestling tournament. He was working at a different paper and we both were covering different schools at a regional tournament. I was deathly ill with pneumonia and he offered to finish my results up for me so I could go home. Later that year we started dating and got married in 2006. He's a fantastic husband and I'm lucky to have him.


5. My favorite color is blue. I love blue. My car is blue. My favorite baseball team's colors are blue. In fact, 80 percent of my wardrobe is blue. The colors in my wedding were blue. Well, you get the picture.


6.  I have an obsession with Uga, the mascot from the University of Georgia. My living room is painted Georgia red and I have photos of Uga up everywhere. My husband bought me my first one for our second Christmas together and I've continued to collect them. I even have a framed photo of Russ, the mascot who has been filling in while they find a new Uga.


7. I hate shoes and socks. I love being in my bare feet. I can't wear socks on my feet when I sleep, even in winter. It makes me feel too constricted. The day it gets even remotely warm enough for sandals, I put them on. I love to be able to wiggle my toes and walking in the grass in bare feet makes me happy.

I also got the Kreativ Blogger Award from Miranda!

Rules

1. Post the link to who gave you the award.

2. Answer the questions.

3. Share 7 random thoughts about yourself.

4. Pass it on to 10 blogs and inform them.

The Questions

1. Favorite Song: Come on Eileen. Followed very closely by Snoopy and the Red Baron. I love both songs and crank the radio up every time I hear them.

2. Favorite Dessert: Creme Brulee. I had it once at Disney World and now anytime a restaurant has it where I go, I get it. Love it!!

3. What drives you insane: People who abuse animals, especially dogs. I have complete faith that someday they will get what's coming to them.

4. When I'm Mad: Watch out. I can be a handful. But once I'm done, I don't hold a grudge.

5. Favorite pet: All my puppies!! Tuggers, Smidgens, Zoey, Zeke and Brinlee. They're all my favorites!

6.Black or white: White! Nothing looks better than a crisp white shirt with jeans.

7. Biggest fear: Slugs. No really. They scare the absolute crap out of me. I once had an anxiety attack so bad I almost passed out.

8. My daily attitude: Optimistic. 

9. What's perfect? My family. My husband and my puppies are the best things that have ever happened to me. I love them all immensely.

10. Guilt: iced tea, oreo blizzards and Ke$ha. 

7 Random Thoughts
See my response to the Versatile Blogger Award! 

Finally, Miranda tagged me with 11 questions... thanks Miranda!

Rules

• Each person must post 11 things about themselves on their blog. 
• Answer the questions the blogger has left for you, and add 11 questions for the bloggers you have tagged to answer
• Choose 11 people and link them to your blog
• No tag backs. 

1. I'm named after my aunt (Jackie) and Jaclyn Smith from Charlie's Angels.
 2. I drive a 2000 Dodge Neon called Nia.

 3. I worked at a copier place and a uniform business before I got my job at the paper.

 4. My favorite baseball player is the Oakland A's Brandon Inge.

 5. Someday I want a Scottish Deerhound named Boris. 

 6. I love Dooney and Bourke purses. I have several.

 7. My engagement ring is a blue diamond surrounded by white diamonds.

 8. I live in a house that was built in 1922.

 9. I love Birkenstocks.

10. I have really long hair and I hate to get it cut. I only get the split ends trimmed.

My Questions from Miranda

• What is your favorite color - period? OPI No Room For The Blues.
• What is your favorite nail polish color? Blue. Surprise!
• If you had to live in one room for the rest of your life, what color would you make it? Georgia red.
• If you had to become a color for the rest of your life, what color would you be? A bright light blue!
• Enough about color - dogs or cats? Dogs.
• Chocolate or vanilla? Vanilla.
• Rice or Noodles? Noodles.
• Beach or Pool?  Pool.
• If you had to be one age for the rest of your life, which age would you be? 29.
• If you had to lose one sense which would it be (i.e. vision, hearing, touch, taste, smell)? Smell.
• Your top 5 favorite nail polishes? OPI NRFTB, Butter London Toff, Butter London Diamond Geezer, OPI Blue Moon Lagoon, Orly Skinny Dip and Catrice Blue Cara Ciao.

My Questions for you....

 1. If you were stranded on a desert island, what one polish would you want with you?

 2. If you could name a polish, what would you call it?

 3. If you could paint your room with your favorite nail polish color, what would it be?

 4. What's the one color you won't be caught dead with on your nails?

 5. If you had a choice what four polishes would you save in a fire?

 6. What is your dream job?

 7. Favorite sports team?

 8. White diamonds or colored diamonds?

 9. sandals or heels?

10. What is the favorite thing you have ever received in a swap?

Here are the blogs I've tagged.....

Got Polish?

Elfleidy's Stuff

alizarine claws

Polish Fixation

Captivating Claws

Southern Sister Polish

Mimi's Manis

Nothing But Nail Polish

Lacquered Lover

Caitlins Creative Corner

The Kracked Kat

Thanks again to Miranda for such a fun award!! 

CATRICE - Blue Cara Ciao

A couple of weeks ago, I did a swap with my friend Laura from the Netherlands. She lives very close to Germany, so she has access to polishes like Catrice. For those who don't know about Catrice, it's a German-made brand that retails for around $3 US. Their formula is awesome and now I have several thanks to Laura!!

Today's polish is a blue called Blue Cara Ciao. It reminds me of what deep blue water looks like.

Catrice's Blue Cara Ciao

First off, let me say that I only had one Catrice before my swap with Laura and I loved it. The formula is awesome and I like the brushes even though they are smaller than OPI brushes. This too was a dream to apply.

Two coats of Blue Cara Ciao

For my base coat I used Essie's all in one base. Then I added two coats of Blue Cara Ciao and a top coat of Seche Vite. There are no problems with shrinkage like Seche seems to do with some other brands.

Blue Cara Ciao

In the picture above, I filled in the spots where the flash looked funny. It bothered me to see so much white, so that's why the nails look almost matted. 

Blue Cara Ciao in natural light

Here's a pic of what the color looks like in natural light. It was dark out the day I took my pics, so I don't have any outdoors. This is a great blue. It's very vivid and I think it would look awesome on any skin type. For those ladies who haven't tried a true blue nail polish yet, this is a great shade to try. Although Catrice isn't sold in the United States, if you are involved on the polish boards and can find someone awesome like Laura, you may be able to do a swap!

Thanks again to my friend Laura, and her adorable son Yari, for packaging up my goodies so nice and including all of the wonderful candy!!

Puppies and Pawlish gives Catrice's Blue Cara Ciao two PAWS up!!

Purple Nails for EMILY!!!

Today, I have a very special post for you!! I have been following the story of a local child who was diagnosed with leukemia. Emily Whitehead has not only become a very big inspiration to me, she has become my hero. Em is the toughest seven-year-old you will ever hear about. She has overcome the odds and her fight has become the fight of not only a small town and surrounding towns, but as you will see later on, worldwide.

Happy Birthday Emily!! (Photo courtesy of Emily's facebook page)

In honor of Emily's seventh birthday, I have organized a worldwide Purple Nails for Emily Day today. Let me just say I was pretty overwhelmed with the response. I wasn't surprised at the local support for Emily. We live in a small town and it's just our nature to want to take care of one of our own. But when I started getting emails from across the country and foreign countries from people who wanted to take part, it literally made me teary-eyed.

I painted my nails with China Glaze Spontaneous. It's a beautiful purple color. And, since Emily's favorite color is purple, it was only fitting to paint them that shade. I added a special message for Emily and a fimo flower with a coat of Hippity Hop from Pam Heil's Girly Bits collection. Here's what it ended up looking like.....

Jaclyn Wechtenhiser - Puppies and Pawlish

Several very talented bloggers have also jumped on board with today's theme and sent pictures of their PURPLE NAILS FOR EMILY!!! They used all shades and brands and some even stamped some awesome designs. Thank you to everyone who took the time out to help me with this post.

Shannon Brown - The Kracked Kat

Patricia Medina - Southern Sister polish

Dana Kurtz - Artistry of the Nail Salon

Jeanie Barbee - Midnight Manicures

Lots of great people from the nail polish communities on Facebook also jumped in and sent photos!

Linda "Red" Stewart

Sheila Lagergren

Several ladies who had never heard Emily's story before have now become followers of her page. If you are interested, check out Emily's page.

Brooke Ritchey

Dana Whaley

Diana Smith

There were a lot of great designs. Some people went with the all purple nail, while others used purple shatter or purple with stamping!!

Donna McCrudden

Araceli Guttierrez

Debbie Taylor

Some people had inspirational messages to send to Emily and even got their kids involved!!

Crystal's daughter

Crystal Kriner

 Everyone's nails look great!! Even people who usually don't like to show off their nails got involved. Like my friend Karla, who's kids go to school with Emily.

Karla Trude Coudriet

Some people got involved through their friends, who may have mentioned it to them after seeing posts up about Purple Nails for Emily.

Michelle

Brooke Silva

Novita Erasma

Some people who participated lost a close family member to this awful disease. One of them was Christine Peterson, who recently lost her brother Derick. She used her most prized polish DS Original for her mani in honor of Emily.

Christine Peterson

There were lots of people who have pledged to send pictures, and I will do a second post of photos once I get them.

Everyone who sent photos wants to send their love and support to Emily and her parents Tom and Kari. As I type, there are handfuls of fundraisers going on to support Em. From T-shirts (here) to ribbon stickers to bracelets (here), thousands of people have stepped up to show their support to this little girl who has captured the hearts of everyone.   I BELIEVE!!

Today, the students at Penn State made a banner, which is to be signed by thousands of students and sent to Emily of the week. There is also an e-card and regular card drive going for Emily. All cards can be sent to

Emily Whitehead

c/o Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

34th St. and Civic Center Blvd.

Philadelphia, PA 19104-4304

United States

Emily also has a Caring Bridge site here http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/emilywhitehead if you would like to keep updated on her progress. 

Please keep Emily and her family in your thoughts and prayers!

And lastly, there is one thing that Emily loves more than the color purple, and that's her little puppy Lucy. Anytime you see a picture of the two, you can see how much they love each other. So, I wanted to leave you with a picture of my hero, Emily, and her pup Lucy.

Emma and Lucy (Photo courtesy of Emily's facebook page)