Christmas nails and Candy Cane toes

So I got inspired by a Pinterest post (check out my Nail Addiction board) and a post on Chloe's Nails blog. I know I didn't do as well as a job as Chloe on my toes however I still had fun and love this design for something fun.

I recommend cutting your strips of tape skinnier than what you think. If you really think about it, your toes are a smaller canvas than what you use tape for normally or even your fingernails (except your big toe of course). The China Glaze little bottle is Ruby pumps. I got it at Sally's Beauty Supply for $1.99. I forgot to mention that when you are applying your top coat, make your strokes in the direction of your stripes. Luckily this only affected a smaller toe by smudging the polish when I tried brushing the top coat on just like normal nails.

Also I used two light coats of the Sephora OPI Good Tidings We Bling on the tips on my nails.

Merry Christmas!!🎄🎅

~Valerie Ram Rattan~

Simple organizational help - labeling cans

Don't know why I didn't think of this before?! I mainly have drawers in my kitchen instead of a pantry, so I'm mainly looking down and seeing the tops of my cans and then pulling each one up to see what the label is on the side.
So one day, I thought about writing with a sharpie what the can was on top so I could see what I had in my "cupboard" at a cupboard....don't know why I didn't think of his before...?

Vegan rice pudding

This was so easy to make!! I had about 2-3cups of left over rice and dodnt know what to do with and was getting pretty bored with some rice dishes. So I decided to change it up and make dessert.



So here is what I did (btw, nothing was measured and I just went for it):

• 2-3 c of cooked rice
• Sweeten Silk soy milk
• Trader Joe's soy creamer
• a palmfull of brown sugar
• 2 cardamon pods
• 1 clove
• sprinkling of cinnamon
• a dash of nutmeg
• a light dusting of egg replacer (center of pan)
• a dusting of Arrowroot

I used a 2" high saucepan and put my stove to 5-medium, bringing the micture to a boil stirring continously. Within out 5 minutes, I could see that the contents were thickening and starting to stick a little = keep stirring. After about 10mins I turned off the stove and left the mixture covered until we were ready for dessert (aprox. 20mins).

*Also, you can take out the clove and cardamon pod before serving. They were pretty easy to find while stirring (when the mixture was hot - FYI).

ENJOY!!

Halloween Nails

One of my favorite blogs is Chloe's Nails. On her site, she creates great French manicures with using scotch tape. She pleasing the tape to the palm of her hand about 5 times to remove the stickiness. And then one by one does each nail.

I thought I would try something a little different, inspired by a picture on Pinterest for Halloween.
I make little sleevers of tape hat I cute and put that down on my orange nails before painting them black. I must admit, Chloe does each nail one by one and I should have followed this as some of my orange pulled up a bit when I finally finished all my nails. I touched them up but in the future would do this extra step than wait.

I thought a red under color and then black on top would look really neat! Also I saw this design done with pinstriping tape which I haven't ordered mine yet from Amazon but that will be another post. :-)
Cheers

Gibson Tuck - easy, fast updo for busy days

Some days that extra 30 mins of sleeping in COUNTS!! however I don't want to go to work looking like I slept-in. My hair is curly hence some of the frizz however the Gibson Tuck is a REALLY easy updo that you can do in less than 5 mins.

I've accessorized the tuck with flowers, sparkling bobby pins or (as shown below) a pic-like hairpin stuck in the tuck. I found this YouTube video online and hope you can benefit from it also:

Less than 5 mins for work (by the way, I didn't wear a sweatshirt to work.....this is when I came home):

Bridal Shower Fun

My friend Sara came up with some wonderful ideas for my bridal shower and I just had to share. I was thinking that these ideas could be used for Baby Shower or just other party planning in general. I was blown away while walking through the door, and even though I did post everything she did I hope you can get the gist of it. :-)

 

My friend Sara, greeted guests at the door and then served red and white wine along with iced tea, bottled water and a variety of sodas.

 She also set up a table near the door with the party favors, a Wishing Jar (for words of wisdom for the bride) and little potpourri sachets she made.

 This was such a cute way of dressing up the favors. Yellow and Gray M&M's with some scrap book flowers hot glued to our colors of the wedding ribbon along with Thank You stickers. I'm thinking about doing this for a baby shower soon also.

And yes, it was a vegetarian delight bridal shower. The only thing I didn't eat was quiche however ever thing else she made vegan for me. I LOVED IT!!! and so did the guests!

 This was my favorite part of the food. She made sandwiches and then used a heart cookie cutter to cute them out. It was the little touches like this for the bridal shower that blew everyone away. And she did all of this by herself the morning of! WOW!

 And when you first walked in the door, you see all the balloons on the ceiling and couldn't help but smile and get in the spirit of celebration.

 And to top it off, she brought in a massage therapist for all the guests to relax, let go of their day and BE HERE for me. This so over the top, I couldn't believe it!! I am so fortunate to have someone like her in my life and to have such a big heart to do something like for me. Especially during our school year, this was like a mini vacation to remember what is important and bring us all back down to our hearts and out of our heads.

Thank you Sara!!! <3

Baggage and Your Life

As much as i would love to expland on this quote, Yogi Bhajan sums up "your baggage" pretty sweetly:

You have baggage; it has wheels and handle. WHen the handle breaks, that bag becomes a load. That's life, When you lost the handle of your own life and it is nor under your grip and control, you can't run it."  Yogi Bhajan    6/27/93

Another quote that I heard the other day while watching Yogi Bhajan's Lifecycles and Lifestyles DVD was (along the lines because I forget exactly how it goes):

We hesitate to meditate. Don't hesitate to meditate.

Meditation is getting you mind/life back under control. It's best to do it first thingin the morning. IT's the mental shower of spiritual cup of joe to start your day grounded. I personally find that when I meditate, I'm less nit picky on aspects of my day. I work in a very analytical job which can spill ouver my 9-5 work day. With Meditation, I find that I bring the calm, neutral, pleasant self to work......and a lot more focused. I find that my monkey mind doesn't wonder as much or be resentful about long hours if needed to get my job done. And it's basically because I have taken care of me before anyone, anything else = I was not forgotten.

Sat Nam

No Sales Tax Days by state

I know a lot of people, especially with school around the corner, are already starting shop and look for deals for back to school or just look for deals in general with summer almost being half way done. I found this the other day and hope that it helps some people with their shopping (whatever the reason):

No Sales Tax Days By State

For most states, it's in early August--- FYI.

Ingenious Quick Shave

So by the title of his post, you can guess that I'm not as hippie-dippie as you might think. Normally I take a bath when shaving to take my time and not worry about "getting in and out" without hurting myself. Practice has not made this girl perfect so I don't know why I didn't think of this before...

In order to conserve water and not feel rushed, I got an of plastic cup and my shaving tools. Filled the cup up with water and turned off the shower. Then shaved. I used the cup water to rinse of my razor when needed by swirling/shaking it in he filled cup. And then emptied out/refilled the cup between legs.

It was so MUCH easier than a bath or shaving during a shower because the water never accidentally ran down my legs taking my shaving cream with it. And with not feeling "rushed," I shaved faster than normal.....ingenious yet so simple. Wish this occurred to me before Haha.

Bathroom Cleaning in Seconds!!

I use Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap in peppermint to start and awaken my day. I love this soap….the smell is awesome and you can use the soap to clean dishes, clothes, etc. It's very versitile and comes in a number of scents. On my weeekends they are so many things I try to do "get ahead" for my busy school/work week and for some it reason it never occurred to me to do 2 things at once in the shower.  

After shampooing and while your conditioner is in your hair or face mask, turn off the shower and use the Castile soap to clean the tub with a scrub brush. I did this quickly = less than 3 mins to scrub my whole tub. Turn the shower back on and rinse out the conditioner and tub. 

Voila! Done! 

Also, I love the disposable antibacterial wipes that you are get from your grocery store to wipe down the toilet and/or counter tops. I also keep a bottom of glass cleaner with paper towels under my bathroom sink so at any time, I can clean my mirrors. With these last 2 steps. I've cleaned the majority of my bathroom in under 10 mins. 

Hope that helps with time.

By the way, if you are new to castile soap, here are some (of the many) different uses for it:
1. Shampoo - even for your dogs!

2. Laundry detergent - I have definitely used this soap when i go camping to be my all in one!!!

3. Dish Soap - did I mention this was my all in one for camping

4. Mopping solution - Use 2 or 3 tablespoons of castile soap in a bucket of water

5. Soap dispenser refill - You can refill your foaming hand soap dispenser with 1 part castile soap to 4 parts water.

6. Body wash - use this on a loofah everyday = LOVE

7. Carpet cleaner

Nail (Stamping) Art Lessons

So this is what I learned from messing around with my Konad stamps and researching on the web:

1. Hold the scraper at 30 -60 degree angle while scraping off the nail polish

2. Scrape in one strong stroke

3. Using thick nail polish will work however I may buy the Konad white nail polish --- my white is too watery
1. I have Fingerpaints black and it's fine

4. Rough up the stamper with a fine fingernail file to help transfer of stamp but not too much
1. I used a 600 nail file and it seems to help

5. Press hard/down with the stamp -- I didn't do this initially and I couldn't get the transfer to stick to my nails

6. Use Acetone nail polish remover to clean

Wedding Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Click here to create your own Shutterfly photo book.

Above Time & Space

"The mind is above time and space. If you decide not to complain, it will immediately compensate you with intuition."
-Yogi Bhajan, July 12, 1984-

Challenge yourself.....or someone else will

Why Living a Life of Gratitude Can Make You Happy

From: http://zenhabits.net/why-living-a-life-of-gratitude-can-make-you-happy/

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.” – Meister Eckhart

Post written by Leo Babauta.

Many days, I try to humble myself and hold a 2-minute gratitude session. I simply sit or kneel, with no distractions, close my eyes, and think about what I’m grateful for and who I’m grateful for.
I don’t do it every day, but let me tell you, on the days I do it, it makes me very happy.
Why should that be? Why should the simple act of thinking about who and what I’m grateful for make such a big difference in my life?
Just a few reasons:

• Because it reminds you of the positive things in your life. It makes you happy about the people in your life, whether they’re loved ones or just a stranger you met who was kind to you in some ways.
• Because it turns bad things into good things. Having problems at work? Be grateful you have work. Be grateful you have challenges, and that life isn’t boring. Be grateful that you can learn from these challenges. Be thankful they make you a stronger person.
• Because it reminds you of what’s important. It’s hard to complain about the little things when you give thanks that your children are alive and healthy. It’s hard to get stressed out over paying bills when you are grateful there is a roof over your head.
• Because it reminds you to thank others. I’ll talk about this more below, but the simple act of saying “thank you” to someone can make a big difference in that person’s life. Calling them, emailing them, stopping by to say thank you … just taking that minute out of your life to tell them why you are grateful toward them is important to them. People like being appreciated for who they are and what they do. It costs you little, but makes someone else happy. And making someone else happy will make you happy.

What do I give thanks for, privately, in my little gratitude session? It varies every day. I thank all the readers of this site, for the encouragement you have given me, for the donations you’ve made that have made me that much closer to realizing my dreams, for the criticism you’ve given that has made this site better … for the time you’ve given me, just reading the articles when you have the chance.
I thank my loved ones, for all they do to me. I thank strangers who’ve shown me little acts of kindness. I thank God, for the life he’s given me. I thank people around the world for the things they’ve done to make the world better. I thank myself, for things that I’ve done (it’s important to recognize your own accomplishments).
How to Live a Life of Gratitude
The thing is, simple acts of gratitude don’t cost you much (especially once you get over the initial discomfort some people feel with thanking others). But they can make a huge difference.
If you’re interested in living a life of gratitude, here are my suggestions:

• Morning gratitude session. Take 2-3 minutes each morning to give thanks, to whoever or whatever you’re grateful for. You don’t have to do anything, other than close your eyes and silently give thanks. This one act can make a huge difference.
• Say thank you. When someone does something nice for you, however small, try to remember to say thank you. And really mean it.
• Call to say thanks. Sometimes you might think about something nice that someone did for you. Perhaps you remember during your gratitude session. When you do, pick up the phone and call the person, just to say thanks. Let them know what they did that you’re grateful for, and why you appreciate it. Takes a minute or two. If it’s too early to call, make a note to call later. Even better is telling them in person, if you happen to see them or if they’re on your route. Almost as good is a thank-you email — keep it short and sweet.
• Give thanks for “negative” things in your life. There’s always two ways to look at something. Many times we think of something as negative — it’s stressful, harmful, sad, unfortunate, difficult. But that same thing can be looked at in a more positive way. Giving thanks for those things is a great way to remind yourself that there is good in just about everything. Problems can be seen as opportunities to grow, to be creative. See the prayer below for more on this.
• Learn a gratitude prayer. There are many prayers, religious or not, that can remind you to be grateful. Find one you like, and print it out or make it your desktop wallpaper. Here’s a religious one, and here’s a collection from a multitude of religions. You can find many others on the Internet, or write your own. If you’re not religious, make one that doesn’t include the concept of God. A good one is below.

Let me leave you with a prayer of gratitude that I’ve always found … well, perfect:

Be Thankful
Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don’t know something
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.
Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge
Because it will build your strength and character.
Be thankful for your mistakes
They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you’re tired and weary
Because it means you’ve made a difference.
It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.
GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles
and they can become your blessings.
~ Author Unknown ~

http://zenhabits.net/why-living-a-life-of-gratitude-can-make-you-happy/ 

I usually say Meditating is like the mental shower for the mind. And Yoga Bhajan's words make so much sense. Even on my second day of meditating, I feel off. I wasn't always like that but the more I changed my diet/lifestyle, the more in tune to the subtlies of shift that go in me. Not to say, one has super powers powers yet meditating is like using into a frequency, that biorhythm of life every morning before starting the day. Tap into YOU before electronics and the hustle takes you away from what is really important.
Because "When you consistency in contentment, even tea without sugar tastes sweet." YB

Nail therapy

I really enjoy doing my own nails and find it relaxing, or a nice treat in taking care of myself. While in university, I used to have "me time" every Friday night by taking a bath, doing my nails, reading a book (not school related) or what and stayed in. It was really relaxing, nurturing and even grounding. The "me time" basically tells me that I'm important too in this busy life and need the same amount of attention that which I give.

So with being in school again and trying to save money, I recently got the Gelish kit and UV lamp but wanted to experiment with using regular nail polish the Gelish system. And they do work HOWEVER you must have the nails dry before putting on the top coat of Gelish or else the nail polish will wrinkle. I also tried putting some nail art in of heart sprinkles. And they sealed in the "Gelish Sandwich" but again....it depends on the regular polish drying.

So if time is of the essence, but you still want to pampered yourself, use the Gelish nail polish. I love it! Your nails are 10x stronger and if your nails break off at a certain point like mine, you can grow them super long! I like having fun with nails art spribkles, stickers and konad stamps personally. The Gelish nail polish cures in 2mins under the UV lamp and is hard as a rock afterwards (you do need multiple coats as wells so a manicure takes 30mins or less. Then you can be on with life immediately. On the other hand, the regular nail polish will slow you down however....isn't that the point with having "me time" anyhow?   ;-)

Either way, have fun with taking care of yourself and not be so serious. The mistakes create opportunities for creativity.

You may be able to see some of the wrinkles (since the polish didn't dry completely)

In the end, it makes me smile =)