Mommy Models Blog — moms, fashion, shoes!

Giveaway for Shellac Nails, Mani-Q Manicure that will last!

January 23, 2012 By Jill

Have you ever had your nails done professionally? I’m not talking acrylic nails, but just going to get them painted. You feel fabulous, right?
I know I do…I mean that is until I get to my car and open the door just to have them chip right there! Seriously, why doesn’t nail polish last?? Well it doesn’t, until NOW!

Meet Melissa.
She introduced me to Mani-Q nails, or as others call it Shellac.
Its a gel base that stays on! There are a few coats that go into it, and each one is cured by a light.
When the final coat goes on, there is no waiting for them to dry! Your hands go under the light for 30 seconds and they are done!
I’m able to grab my keys, purse, open my door and drive without one worry they are going to be ruined. Don’t believe me? Try it out!

Here is a picture of my nails the day I got them done. (Sorry about the light.)
Not the best picture but you know what nails look like the first 5 minutes, perfect.

Here they are 2 weeks later! yes, TWO WEEKS later!
I didn’t get a single chip in them. And I’m not gentle with my hands. I pick at things, clean, and wrestle an 18 month old.

And just a close up just so you know I’m not lying.

I’m in love. I used to get my nails done, but I felt like it was a waste of money.
Nail polish just doesn’t stay like I want it to, until now.
I’m so happy with my nails, and I’ve even gone back since because it keeps me from biting my nails (ahhh confession!).

Wanna know where to go to get this done?

Melissa at 56 WEST SALON in Spanish Fork.

Not only is it a salon, but a boutique. They sell wonderful clothing and accessories.
The last time I was there, I was able to get the perfect head for my little girl (I’ve been looking everywhere for one!) Take a look at these photos.

Melissa has been so awesome and wants to give one lucky winner a free Mani-Q!
All you have to do is go like 56 West Salon on Facebook (you will be glad you did since they do lots of giveaways)
and come back and leave a comment on this post letting me know.
The winner will be chosen randomly on Monday, January 30!

Also for all Mommy Model readers, If you make an appt for a Mani-Q with ANYONE at 56 West Salon and mention you read our blog, they will give you $10 off!! That is an awesome deal and believe me, it’s worth it!

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7 Comments Filed Under: Contests/Giveaways, Mommy Models Tagged With: giveaway, nail polish, shellac nails

WINNER for the GIANI countertop kit…

January 23, 2012 By Emily

Thanks everyone for entering the giveaway….it was a blast doing this review!

Congrats to JENN for being the #11 commenter… I let the Random Number Generator pick so I could be fair to everyone who wanted one. THANKS and keep checking back for more fun stuff this week!

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Carpe Diem?

January 19, 2012 By Emily

Well, fact is I have been a sick mama these last few days. Spending most of the time in bed…and trying to sleep with one eye open because when I sleep, my girls go turn into mischievous nightmares and usually end up doing something disastrous. I try to embrace these moments with a grain of salt…and try to find the humor in it all. Sometimes I yell at them (ug…guilty feeling), and sometimes I can manage a laugh, but usually I just yell at them (bad mom i know). With my new goal in life to handle stress better and to learn to stop freaking out about everything, I have made a goal to photograph as many naughty moments as possible. I think someday I will laugh at them right?

Well, I have found that grabbing the camera automatically made me feel better about the situation in general…and I managed a laugh in the moment instead of yelling.

It’s sunscreen….
and it was everywhere.
Today I stumbled on a GREAT article from a friend on facebook….. you NEED to read it if you are a mom.

it’s called Don’t Carpe Diem by Glennon Melton

I loved it when she said this:

“I think parenting young children (and old ones, I’ve heard) is a little like climbing Mount Everest. Brave, adventurous souls try it because they’ve heard there’s magic in the climb. They try because they believe that finishing, or even attempting the climb are impressive accomplishments. They try because during the climb, if they allow themselves to pause and lift their eyes and minds from the pain and drudgery, the views are breathtaking. They try because even though it hurts and it’s hard, there are moments that make it worth the hard. These moments are so intense and unique that many people who reach the top start planning, almost immediately, to climb again. Even though any climber will tell you that most of the climb is treacherous, exhausting, killer. That they literally cried most of the way up.”

And so I think that if there were people stationed, say, every thirty feet along Mount Everest yelling to the climbers — “ARE YOU ENJOYING YOURSELF!? IF NOT, YOU SHOULD BE! ONE DAY YOU’LL BE SORRY YOU DIDN’T!” TRUST US!! IT’LL BE OVER TOO SOON! CARPE DIEM!” — those well-meaning, nostalgic cheerleaders might be physically thrown from the mountain.”

You should go read the entire article…. it made me really think about life as a mom ALOT, and it made me feel BETTER…and human…which was the best part.

Later that day….

My girls pull my stupid couch cushions off EVERY SINGLE DAY. It makes me SO annoyed because they aren’t strong enough to put them BACK so I end up putting them away like 5 times a day. But…whatever, who cares right? It won’t last forever. How can I get mad at Sammy when I find her like that? Carpe Diem….

ps…. later that night when the husband got home and was “watching” them while I rested….I heard him yell “NOOOOOOOO!!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU DUMPED OUT ALLLLLL OF THE CORN TORTILLAS ALL OVER THE ENTIRE KITCHEN FLOOR!” I just giggled…. but I was too tired to grab the camera….next time though.

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3 Comments Filed Under: Parenting Tips to keep from going CRAZY

DIY Granite Countertops

January 15, 2012 By Emily

The kitchen is a pretty important place in the house. Don’t ya think? In our house….you LITERALLY can’t get anywhere in the house without passing through the kitchen. It is where everyone hangs out, eats, works, visits…. it is where the girls do all their art projects, and the very heart of our home. I have been thinking about how to re-do our kitchen since we have moved in last March, but in the cheapest way possible….which seems to ALWAYS eliminate everything I really really want to do. We have an abnormal amount of counter top space, which is a big plus of course…. but when you have lots of UGLY counter top space in your kitchen it seems to bring the whole room down. I have had my heart set on granite since we started house hunting. BUT…even though I LOVE our new home, it didn’t come with those nice counter tops I was hoping for. Not only that, there is no way we could afford them. So we started looking at other options….and… we found one.

Giani has come up with the most brilliant DIY granite counter top kit! So I contacted Giani and practically begged them to send me a kit…. and because they are awesome…. they DID. YIPEEEE!!!! The kit I chose was Sicilian Sand. So here we go on the before and afters….and everything in between. First off, take a peek at the old counter tops…..

As you can see the first thing we did was tape EVERYTHING off. We even used paper to keep anything from getting on the cupboards etc. Then we cleaned the counter tops…. like 5 times to make sure there was NO grease, dirt, or crumbs. They suggested that you don’t use anything with chemicals….and if you do, make sure you WASH the counter tops a few times to make sure there is no left-over chemicals on it.

*cleaning — check

*taping off — check

THEN we poured the black primer in our paint tray and went to town. We started in the bathroom to get more practice and I am SO glad we did! We were worried about the lines with the black primer but they all disappeared after we rolled it on. When it dried for about an hour or two…. we went BACK over and touched up some spots that looked like they needed a little more.

We then poured the 3 mineral paint cans onto separate paper plates and started on the black surface. I found that using a smaller sponge (just cutting the one they send you in half) gave me a little more control over my “dabbing”. If I could go back and start over…. I would dabb all over a 3 ft area and then go back and dabb more in any spaces that were too big. I kind dabbed right next to the other dabbings a lot and my eyes got used to a little space instead of the big picture.

Here is the video on how we did the project beginning to end: (note: if you don’t like the music on the video then you fully do not appreciate Sherlock Holmes)

And here are the AFTER pictures:

In between this time I painted the kitchen walls….but you can see the entire kitchen make-over later.

now side by side:

LOVE IT???? Because I keep walking into the kitchen JUST to look at how pretty it has turned out!!

At first…there was SO much black on the counter tops that I kinda panicked. It was too bold and I wanted the kitchen to be softer…with a country feel to it. So I went back and dabbed ALL 3 colors on it once again and it lightened the room up more. It was perfect after that. The only thing that I didn’t love was the final glossy primer on my island. I don’t know why or how but it left the streaked lines on it. You can only see them if the light is in the right spot but I am going to get some more final gloss finish to smooth them all out. All of the other counter tops were smooth and shiny…. but all in all….SO much better! We upgraded our home 5 notches with this product and I am SO happy with the final result! The amazing thing is…this kit is normally only $69.95!!! If it can cover our HUGE area of counter space and two small bathroom vanity tops then most likely it will be enough for yours too.

SO WHO WANTS A KIT???

Leave a comment and tell me how desperately BAD you want one….

Random Number Generator will choose next Monday. Good luck!

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48 Comments Filed Under: DIY crafts

15 minutes OUTSIDE a day with your kids…

January 12, 2012 By Emily

Well, we are back. I still feel like Christmas went by too fast. We might have had WAY too much fun in San Diego…….

Now that we are home and getting back into the daily routine I have been thinking….. A LOT about what I want this year to be like. There are so many things I want to accomplish….but I have learned the hard way that making too many New Year’s resolutions is just a big FAT setup for failure. I am proud of myself though….. last year my resolution was to take pictures of my girls EVERY month. So I did. You might think that since I am a photographer that of COURSE I should take pictures every month. DUH! Well here is a little secret….photographers rarely take pictures of their OWN lives. WHY? Because we are too busy taking pictures of everyone else’s lives around us. But, I succeeded….and I am making an AWESOME photo album/book of last year’s memories (more on that later).

So what about this year? The fact is I will be working more than ever this time around. So I can’t plan on too many lazy summer days taking the girls to the pool, or lots of weekly girl-nights, or even DATE nights with the husband! So, I have already excepted those things. So to make my life as stress-free as possible I wrote down everything that actually causes stress in my life:

1. a messy/cluttered house

2. not being able to find anything….. in my messy/cluttered house

3. feeling guilty because I work more than spend time with my girls

4. not having enough money

5. traveling too much for my job

6. not having time for myself or friends

Well…. there ya have it. Of course there are more things to add but those are the MAIN things in my life that cause me stress. I have the admit… I am pretty lucky. There are many of you out there that have hard marriages, or a disabled child that is hard to care for, or are dealing with death of a loved one. So all in all…. I have a pretty good life and I hope I don’t ever take it for granted (which I do a lot). I do want…like everyone else in the world, is to take away as much stress in my life as possible and live my life ENJOYING it for what it is.

I have recently picked up a book called 15 minutes outside….

I LOVE it. I have read it….and Rebecca has changed my view on spending time with my girls completely. She lives in VA….where it is FREEZING, and she talks about how they still go outside and play, and have outdoor picnics (yes in the freezing).

She sucked me in from the very beginning of her book… she says:

“Despite many good things in our lives and various kinds of success, nothing seems quite right. We are stressed, tense, and fretful-about money, work, schedules, children, relationships, and the future. Daily we struggle, frantically trying to balance work and home.

When we pause for even a moment, we realize deep inside that this is not the way God intended for us to spend our precious days—not the way we planned to live our lives.

Amazingly, there–in our craziest, busiest moments–is where we decide to live more fully. It starts with a tiny thought.”

I felt like she knew exactly what my life was like. Even last month when I started taking my girls outside to play in the snow and cold, I felt happier. Being outside, and actually PLAYING with them instead of just “watching” them. One of the first steps Rebecca suggests is to make it as easy as possible to just put on the shoes/jackets/gloves and head out the door. I know what you are thinking …. “ya right! It’s too exhausting finding shoes, socks, both gloves that match, and its too messy to bring it all BACK into the house afterwards.” She talks about have a place where everything is easy access…. socks, shoes, BOTH gloves, etc. So…she motivated me to give my closet by my front door a facelift.

Here is the “BEFORE” of my awful closet. I think I have squished as many coats/jackets in there as possible.

Seriously most of those shoes we rarely wear, but they are overflowing out of that broken basket that always scratches the girls when they get in it. Plus….when Hailey is looking for a shoe, she likes to EMPTY the entire thing.

All of our mittens, scarfs, hats are all stuff in that basket to the left….just lovely. Our church diaper bag, Hailey’s backpack, and like 8 purses shoved into that summer pink bag.

So….since this closet DOES in fact ADD stress to my life. I wanted to make it easy to get in and out of the house a lot more than we normally do. So, I gutted it first. Took everything out and started with a clean slate. Don’t mind Hector…he isn’t very photogenic

My goal was to spend absolutely NO money organizing my closet. It looked so bare and ugly, so I ran to the garage and got some leftover blue paint and painted the back wall. I grabbed an extra basket from the playroom downstairs and decided to make a basket for each of them to keep all their stuff together in. I took out LOTS of jackets that we never wear and stuck them in our garage sale box, put my purses upstairs under our bed with the rest of our duffel bags, went through the shoes and added to the garage sale box, and put the others away for summer time. I am an avid scarf wearer so I just stuck them on a door hanger so I could grab them fast instead of always pulling that basket down and searching for them. NO money required! I even dumped out my purse…both the little one and big one and cleaned them out. The church diaper bag…. same thing and it was nice on Sunday to just go and grab it, knowing it already had everything I needed in it. (I just got rid of 5 little stressed in my life). Hailey’s backpack was stuck on a little hook in the door, it’s short so she can finally put it away herself and grab it when she is ready (another little stresser gone…because we can’t ever find her backpack before preschool). I gave myself my ugs to keep by the door…. they are super fast, go with anything, and you don’t even need socks if you are in a hurry because they are like a CLOUD on the inside! And we have our giant umbrella ready to go. Not bad for zero dollars huh?

I have had these letters forever now…just never used them. So… I seriously just painted them and hot-glued them. We had no scrapbook paper to modge-podge to make all cute but I thought this was good enough. Note: the one thing we can NEVER find when we want to leave is SOCKS! So I grabbed a ton of pairs of socks and just threw them in the basket with everything else. Each basket has all their winter shoes, one pair of mittens/gloves, one scarf and one beanie.

All of the extra snow gear is back in the basket on the shelf. I let myself have two purses at a time to change around when I feel like it. YES aren’t they girly and cute???

So NOW we go outside all the time…and it’s EASY. This book talks about how getting your kids outside more will lessen aggression, increase focus in school, boost their immune system with Vitamin D, build a healthy life-style, and more. Plus…it keeps them from video games and watching TV and creating giant messes inside your house. From my point of view….it has helped with my own personal winter blues, BIG TIME. Sometimes I think I need outside time more then they do. More than anything, for me, it makes me happy playing and spending time with them.

This book and project have helped create LESS stress in my every day life. AMEN.

YOUR turn to read the book and clean out your closet!

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