painted girl fingers and a ladies' brunch

Hello ladies,

Yesterday, I met with Beauty Judy for an afternoon of dining, horticulture and nail polish. We began with coffee and walked across Rittenhouse Square for brunch at the Continental Midtown. We chatted in a second floor booth with a perspective of the city outside and with a view of the giant modern chandelier inside, its spheres of light dangling from the ceiling. It often makes me think of textbook illustrations of chemical compounds. Other days it has a planetary vibe.

The food was as delightful as the atmosphere and the company. I ordered a Big Daddy Mac, the high end vegetarian alternative to a Big Mac. Judy was more up for the breakfast side of the menu with pancakes and fresh fruit. She brought a little gift for me, a bottle of China Glaze Free Love. It's a rusty orange with gold shimmer. I am saving my first wear of this polish to coordinate with autumn leaves. It was a very sweet and much appreciated keepsake of the day.

We ventured across town to the Navy Yard for the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society member's event. My friend David gave us his household membership card for the day. I gathered a collection of little rose shaped cacti from various booths. Judy discovered a snaky cactus with lady fingers in the name. That accompanied me home! I am going to arrange these in a container once I purchase some potting soil formulated for desert plants.  I will share photos then. I do wish the sun had been out for us. I did get a picture of my dessert from Sweet Endings, a frozen yogurt establishment. 

After the plants came the nail polish! We returned to center city on a drug store hunting expedition. Judy noticed all the Wet 'n' Wild Crave polishes were stocked at our second Rite Aid of the day. I was so excited to finally behold the collection! The cylindrical bottles are even more adorable in person! I helped her choose some Brucci polishes. At CVS, together we stormed the Milani Black Magic display. We didn't purchase every shade, but the display showed evidence of our zeal when we departed for the register.

It was a pleasant ladies' day out. I thank Judy for her good natured company. I am certain we will be meeting up again soon. 

I decided to create the most girly manicure possible for the afternoon. I am wearing Zoya Emme from the Ooh La La collection with a funky french in Strobe Light from Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear. There is a profile of girl with a ponytail along with a ribbon from Konad plate M71. I stamped these designs using white Konad special polish. I thought of her as representing a French girl, but the similarity to the Barbie logo was pointed out to me. That furthers my amusement. 

I am so glad the sun was out today in the garden to highlight my ten girly nails and these two bees. I love how one has open wings and the other bee has snug wings. 

Here is my dessert from Sweet Endings. In my cup, there are two kinds of frozen yogurt: sesame and french vanilla. I topped it with fresh mango pieces, strawberries and whole raspberries. Then I drizzled honey over top. It was healthy and decadent at the same time.

Zoya Emme was a little tricky to apply. I wish I had used Get Even as a base on all ten nails. I noticed the color was far less streaky to apply when painted over a base. My manicure shows three coats. I had some bare patches after the second coat I fixed by adding a heavy third. Brushstrokes appeared when the color was wet, but they lessened as the polish dried. For serious devotees of pink, Emme would be worth a purchase. Though the color has a seashell beauty, I don't think it's wholly original. I do appreciate the trademark Zoya shimmer. 

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Strobe Light didn't boldly read as pink on the nail the way it seemed it would from the appearance of the bottle. I loved the application for a funky french. It was easy to control for a glitter formula. It was neither too runny nor too dry. I think Strobe Light would coordinate well with any blue based polish. 

I hope you enjoyed hearing about my time out in Philadelphia with Judy. I am going to be showing some colors from the Nubar Royal Gems Collection this week as well as rolling out a new contest. 

Happy painting, ladies!