the last day of october...

Happy Black Nails October!

Thanks to {Rachel, Laura, Tia, Monique, Anne Marie, Jenn, and Kayla} for participating in the extravaganza!

Oh yes... the prize winner... 

I have very fancily written everyone's name on a piece of paper and drawn one randomly....

The winner is....

LAURA!! 

Email me your address so I can send you a surprise!

happy halloween!

Dude, I need a new camera BAD.

Hurry and send your BLACK NAILS PICTURES!
I'm posting the gallery tonight!


{And keep voting for me! Remember to confirm your vote in the email they send you!
Thanks to everyone who has voted.}

Vote for me PLEASE!!

Brad made some sweet music and took some photos.

I photoshopped and brought back my old video editing skills.

Instead of having a baby like the rest of our friends, we made a video baby.

Watch it, because it's awesome, and then vote for me, because I'm awesome.

If you have multiple email addresses, vote for me with each of them!  You have to confirm your vote (they'll email you have have you click on a link - super easy).

I will love you forever. 

Also... keep sending your black nails photos!

Halloween Drama

I'm seriously freaking out about what to be for Halloween.

Naturally, Halloween is usually my ultimate creative outlet, but I'm feeling semi-uninspired. ;(

I was thinking Little Red Riding Hood (with a super on-trend hooded cape) because I've been in love with woodsy forest looks lately (and obsessed with Little Red Riding Hood as a fall wardrobe inspiration), but it feels so blah compared to last year.

Any thoughts? I'm seriously having anxiety.

(As a side note, today I had to work late aka a 9 hour shift. When I got home, Brad not only had dinner waiting but also a chocolate cake with chocolate mousse!! HOLLA!!)

(Another side note: keep taking your black nails photos and sending them to me!)

PS Our last year costumes were on this blog today... I wrote something super gay to put up there, but whatevs.

a game of tag.

photo by Coryn

Alright friends.

Mitchell tagged me to play a random game of Q&A in which I answer random questions from her and get to make up my own random questions for five people I tag.

you just won 1 million dollars. you have to spend it all in one month. no investments allowed. it all has to be gone in one month. what do you buy/do?
Little did you know I'd write an essay.... see post below.*
Basically, buy clothes, travel, bring friends to travel, pay photographers to document our travels, throw a party, buy presents for friends, get Brad some tvs... this list is subject to change.

you are being forced to listen to either EFY music or boy a cappella group music for the rest of your life. which one?
Easily EFY.  I did it for my sophomore year of high school... and boy acapella groups make me feel a little bit... weird.

if you were famous for something...what would it be for?
Being myself, i.e. reality tv star on a show about me/my family.  Keeping Up with the Kardashians nothing... we'd blow them out of the water.

what did you do to get boys attention in junior high? for example i smeared glitter all over the top of my flat chest before church dances. it didn't work. 
 HOLY HOLY!!! Oh my gosh I laughed SO HARD at this that Brad had to come in and ask what was up.  I totally remember doing that, which was probably not as cute as I remember (Brad's response: "That's why I always had glitter all over my lips.").  I would say... I wore brightly colored clothing (hot pink and neon orange pants of ripstop nylon) and extremely large pants (ah the days of JNCO - thanks Kendall for letting me borrow those) with little kids t-shirts, and I wrote ridiculously artistic notes. I also occasionally wore a plastic tiara, but more for myself and less for boys.  Oh, and brightly colored eyeshadow with LOTS of glitter... Also, Bath and Body Works body spray and that Bonne Bell Lip Smackers vanilla frosting lip gloss... even though I didn't kiss boys...


I'm tagging (yes I realize this is six not five):
Tia (Tia, tag Risa when you're done because I said so)
Emily (check out their header, is freaking awesome)
Rachel
Quit aka Ashley
Britt
Julie

My Questions:
We'll stick with Mitchell's clever million dollar question because that was good...
1: You just won 1 million dollars. You have to spend it all in one month. No investments allowed. It all has to be gone in one month. What do you buy/do?
2: Three awesome blogs... Go.
3: Please share your most embarrassing life moment. 
4: If you had to choose between being an awful speller or awful at math, which would you choose and why?
5: If you could be awesome at any one thing in the world (like painting, public speaking, roller skating, snowboarding, etc.), what would it be and why?

a game of tag, extended answer to question 1.

*the extended version of question 1 from this post.

A: Buy LOTS of pretty clothes/shoes/bags/purses.  This includes but is not limited to: A classic pair and a sparkly pair of Louboutins, something off of a runway - maybe Chanel or Louis Vuitton or John Galliano, lots of pretty purses made of amazing leather, vintage pieces, a leopard coat... {$80,000}

B: TRAVEL for the whole month - Morocco (3 days), a Mediterranean cruise (for 7 days because Brad LOVES a cruise), Thailand (for 5 days), a European train trip (Spain, France, Greece, Netherlands, Amsterdam, Croatia, Portugal, Italy, London for 10 days), Machu Picchu/Peru (3 days), and New York City to convince Brad that it's awesome (3 days).  One month is NOT enough time... If I could pre-purchase all of these trips during the month and travel for like five months, I would take back the donation to charity and buy a cheaper house and spend more money in the traveling section. {$100,000}

C: Donate $50,000 to a good cause. {$50,000}

{shoot a million dollars is a LOT of money}

D: Pay for friends to accompany us on each of the 5 trips... you may fill out an application to be considered in my imaginary list. {$50,000}

E: Duh! Buy and AWESOME house with a HUGE closet for all my new things. If I have money leftover, I will buy a cabin in Sundance. {$500,000}

F: Buy Brad some really nice big tvs since he's dying for some. {$20,000}

G: Give each of my sibling/parents $20,000 to spend on shopping sprees with me (because the only thing I love more than shopping for myself is shopping for other people). {$120,000}

H: Pay photographers to document all of our traveling. {$30,000?} So far my photographer list would be: Angie (of course... and probably with Sara Boulter as her second shooter since they are FREAKING HILARIOUS together... and apart), Nick Adams, Jonathan Canlas, Green Apple Photography, and the last two spots are still up in the air. Eh, let's throw in Tim Walker taking pictures of something too just for good measure.

I: Use the rest of the money to buy the $1000 sundae, have a ridiculous party (Ashley, you'll help with the party plans), and buy unnecessary gifts for friends/family. {$50,000}

*These decisions are all subject to change - I would also enjoy a lot of random things like taking a circus trapeze class, learning to tightrope/slackline, riding an elephant (on the docket for Thailand), buying the recipe for Starbucks caramel apple cider, getting a dog and a gun, a HUGE mac, getting a graphic design degree, going to hair school so I can be Amrita's assistant, oooh... paying for me and all my sisters to go blonde, entering a demolition derby, getting awesome furniture, learning to reupholster, hanging out with the Junk Gypsies....

Let's all play along Black Nails October Extravaganza

Here's the deal: I love black nails october.
You should too.
So, in order to encourage everyone to spread the love, I'm going to turn this into an extravaganza as suggested by Jeanette.

Here are the details of the extravaganza:
Your part:
- Paint your nails black.
- Take a photo.
- Email said photo to me at either my personal email address or thesunglassesgame@gmail.com.
(Please email photos soon. I will hopefully post them all on Halloween, the 31st of October.)

My part:
- I will post a [hopefully large] collection of the photos on my blog so we can all see how cool we are.
- I will also be bribing everyone to participate by sending a gift in the mail to a randomly drawn participant. Anyone who sends me a picture will be entered into the drawing. The prize will be COOL because I am awesome.

For those of you who only look at pictures, read this:
SEND ME PHOTOS OF YOUR BLACK NAILS!!

a gift for you.

This is the recipe I used for Brad's birthday cake. The only alteration I would have made is that I would have halved the ganache since I had LOADS of unnecessary ganache (acknowledge that mine covered the WHOLE cake and not just drippy like her photos... yeah, extra ganache). Oh, and I added about 4-6 chopped up Reese's on top; just sprinkle them on top right after your pour the ganache.

*Hopefully this week I will be making a fun announcement (if I find the appropriate photos)... be sure you're painting your nails black...

*Is the gift the Baywatch-esque photo of Brad or the link to the recipe? You decide.

*Also, Brad, is this picture better than the last one? Brad was all upset that I posted "the most disgusting picture" of myself in the last post. I think it's funny; he finds it just plain gross.

new hair!

I love when trips to Vegas include a visit to Amrita.

I'm officially addicted to changing my hair and dying it.

This one included a discussion about going blonde next September as inspired by Tia... ballin!!

Blad.

Brad's birthday is in September.
There was a football game two days before his birthday.
So we had a little family dinner followed by cake with family and friends.

Yep, this picture is crooked. Nope, I don't want to change it.
I thought I couldn't make a richer cake than the chocolate peanut butter cake I made last time... but this thing was THICK. Like, cut REALLY thin slices and serve with milk thick.

But REALLY good....

Sundance Hikage

In the summer, you can ride the lifts at Sundance and hike around (or ride them... just to ride them, but to be honest, the lift ride is kind of boring after like five minutes).
We took the hike to Stewart Falls (fun and easy) and scaled the side of the mountain to get a closer look.
The leaves had started to change in the canyon (in mid-September) which made for a colorful adventure.

Utah State Fair

I have a minor obsession with fairs: the food, the animals, the crappy rides, the lights...
And so, every year I drag Brad out to the Utah State Fair.

top (L-R): pulled pork, deep fried snickers, the other offerings at the snickers stand (I TOTALLY forgot to go back to the alligator and fried frog legs stand - LAME!)
middle (L-R): the big yellow slide was surprisingly cheap and fun, and yes, I screamed the whole way down - it's scary when you get up there; Brad with the Snickers
bottom (L-R): this year, I made Brad watch the FFA (or 4H?) steermanship competition which has REALLY weird rules; this is a CHICKEN - crazy right?!; a view of the fair.

the first day of october...

Happy Black Nails October!



{Apparently October makes me feel all stripey.}
Black Nails October is a month long celebration in which participants can paint their nails black without feeling any social phobias (or you could be like me and paint your nails black just because you like to, ESPECIALLY in October). This holiday has been in effect for at least seven years.

Black Nails October is always looking for new participants!! In order to join in on the fun, feel free to stop by my house for a fresh coat of black. Alternatively, you can purchase your own black nail polish at a convenience store near you.