L.A. Colors Color Craze Nail Polish - Color #4 - Review

This was a Dollar Tree purchase for $1 and I have to say the first time I have purchased and L.A. Colors Nail Polish and not been happy with the result, although I absolutely love the beigish color with a hint of a grey undertone.

I think it is because it is a more opaque and not very forgiving of brush lines and although I tried several times, but in fairness though, I think it would do better with a base coat, but for trying out any product I prefer to try just the product on its own.

The above is 2 coats and a touch up to try to make the nail consistent.  I tried several time and never to get an even finish on my nails so it has been relegated to craft projects going forward.

In general, I have found the LA Colors brand  of nail polish will need touch up every day to every other day if you don't use a base and or top coat, but if you are a gal that likes to match her nails to an outfit or a look and change your polish every day it is a very affordable brand to do that with and they usually have a vast array of colors.

PROS

• Inexpensive - only $1- a great way to try out a new color
• Lovely neutral color 
• L A Colors in Cruelty Free per PETAs website

CONS

• Hard not to get brush lines in polish with this color
• Not long lasting - will need touch up every day or so unless you use a base coat and/or a top coat

Nine Mile Restaurant - Review

This is a small restaurant/bar that seems to be in the middle of nowhere on 27 South between Fort Wayne and Decatur, Indiana.

it is a place I took a pass on in the past as I figured it would just be a roadside dive with a minimal menu and barely passable food until a friend advised the food and service was good.

I found I had been missing out as it is a great low key, casual place to get some good comfort food and think about a piece of local history.

While the accommodations are modern, this restaurant/bar is on the site of a historic primitive tavern and store that had been there since 1837 when there were no real roads, just traces of worn paths that had been used by native Indians an was a stop for weary travelers coming to the area to have a drink and a bit of hospitality.   The place is named Nine Mile as it is nine miles from the Allen County Courthouse.

Upon entering the place, the lobby is spacious and has a bench on each side if either side is full up and you would need to wait.  A sign on the podium there indicates they do not accept reservations after 4pm.   The place is divided into two sections:  Bar on the left and restaurant on the right.

On the way into the restaurant there are swinging doors, not the type that you would find in a old saloon, but full length metal ones more like you would see on a boat.  I think it would have more charm it it had the old saloon type of doors but guessing what is there is to cut down on heat/air conditioning loss and noise.

Upon entering, there about a dozen booths and 9 tables and some decorations on the wall, but not high on ambiance.  If the place was full, it would be fairly cramped quarters so if you are the least bit claustrophobic, you would probably want to go during non-peak hours.   It does look like from the website they have patio out back for additional seating during the Summer.  They also offer carry-out.

In browsing the menu it was much larger than I had anticipated.  It had standard bar/pub type food along with comfort food dinners of beef, chicken, and seafood, the latter which is served with two sides.  They serve Pepsi products, but if you want something a little stronger to wet your whistle they do have been, wine and flavored Martinis.

We both ordered the Chopped Sirloin with home fries and a salad for $9.99 and  my guest had his topped with sauteed mushrooms for an additional $1.99.  The salad ingredients were fresh and crisp and the dressing served in a plastic container on the side so you could add what you liked.

The chopped steak was cooked to well done as ordered as well as the home fries which were ordered as extra crispy (many places we have gone never get this right).   Service was excellent with the waitress being friendly, checked back frequently to see if anything needed and refilled drinks and cleared plates without having to ask.

We were going to check out the bar side on the left side but there was a full house and no two seats were available together so we will check it at on a future visit as we do plan on adding this spot to one of our go-to dining spots.

 Lobby

Door between lobby and dining area

Dining area - view from back 

 

Side Salad

Chopped Sirloin with home fries

Chopped steak with home fries topped with sauteed mushrooms

Bar side

History

A few Menu pics

9 Mile Website Restaurant

9 Mile Restaurant Facebook Page

Free Create Your Own Disney Decal

One of my bucket list items is to go to a Disney Park, so I was excited to see that Disney Parks is offering again this year where you can Create your own free Disney Decal and downloadable image  . as dreaming is free, and so is this offer if you live in the U.S. and are over 18 years old

You start with options of Adult, Teen, Child, Toddler or Pet.  Then there are a few customization options for the people, such as hair, clothing, hats, facial hair, glasses, and accessories for the people and 3 options each for dog or cats under pets.  You also have the option of a few parks in the background or elect not to have a background at all.  Along with that, you can add can short phrase (I put in "Our Family" above) and pick one of three phrases or skip this step and just go without any wording.  

If you want a decal mailed, you will need to provide your date of birth, email address and mailing address, but you can download the picture without doing so and could print on your own sticker paper or print it off and put on an inspiration board or mood board if you have one.

I ordered one last year and it took a few weeks to arrive, but it is a cute addition to a vehicle or a planning binder.

How to Organize Your Freezer Like a Pro | Epicurious

As part of my declutter, I am gearing up to tackle my fridge so using this short video on freezer organization as inspiration, with the main points being:

• Take everything out of of the freezer
• Get rid of anything that won't be used - a great point in this video was make something and don't like it, it is not going to taste better after being frozen 6 months later - let it go.
• Sort thing into categories.  
• Label items and include the date.

In preparation for this will head to my local Dollar Tree for:

• Masking tab and a Sharpie - while fancy label look professional, they are more costly - just going to go old school on this one.
• Plastic bins (hopefully clear ones)
• Freezer bags

NYC - GET IT ALL LIP COLOR - SHADE #202 FABFUCSIHA - REVIEW

In going through stuff as part of my declutter, I found a drawer full of makeup items I purchased between Black Friday and Christmas.

I purchased the above tube NYC brand "Get It All" lip color in shade #202 "Fabfuchsia" for $2.99 at Walmart, but it is also available at Duane Reade (Walgreens).

On NYC's website indicates they are a division of Coty, and was developed by testing with a group of young makeup professionals New York makeup artists to capture a New York on trend appeal.  

It indicates this product is the first low-cost lip color that features a comfortable and creamy texture that is long lasting with high impact color finish and comes a dozen different shades.  

The ingredients are Candella Wax, Bees Wax, Shea butter and silk powder.  

As the website does not indicate they are cruelty-free so I checked Coty's website and they indicate that:

"We do not perform, nor do we ever commission any third parties on our behalf to perform, testing of our products or ingredients on animals, except where required by law."

They do go on to indicate that it is common knowledge China does require animal testing on all products imported to that country and that they are working with a partnership to offer alternate testing that the Chinese government to accept.   As they do business in China, the short answer for are they Cruelty Free is no, but not by their choice but by the laws of a country they do business with (and would be the same for any other brand that does business with China).   

While NYC website indicates the outer tubes are color matched to what is inside the tube, it does look close when you take off the top of the product, but when you apply it to skin it is much lighter.

On #202-Fabfuchsia, I thought the outer tube and product looked more like a wine color combined with fuchsia, but when I swatched on my skin and lips it looked much lighter and more like a dark rose with a bit of bright deep pink, which I really liked.  I think this shade would probably work with most skin tones.

The lip color glided on easily, was moisturising and it lasted several hours.   On the swatch that I did on my wrist I had to use makeup remover to get is completely off as it did not wipe of with just a tissue alone.

This shade had a chemical sort of cherry smell, sort of like the scent a cherry flavored fluoride rinse at the dentist office after you get your teeth cleaned.  It did have a slightly sweet flavor on the lips and I couldn't tell if it was a bit of cherry or if it was because the scent was the cherry scent.  

Pros:

• Inexpensive
• Color is pretty and would likely work with most skintones
• Color is long lasting
• Color does match the packaging while in the tube

Cons:

• Slightly cherry chemical smell
• Color goes on lighter than packaging or how it looks in the tube
• Brand is not 100% cruelty-free as sells in countries that requires animal testing.

All pictures were taken in Taken under fluorescent office lighting

DAY 26 - 100 Day Declutter - Coat for "Coats On A Pole" Movement

Yes, I realize we are getting near the end of April and I am only on day 26 of my declutter, but life keeps getting in the way and still trying to figure out the best way to organize and store what stuff I do keep.

On this declutter item, I had first seen the "Coat On A Pole" movement online in November 2015 where in bigger cities during the winter people would leave coats on pole for those in need.  

Where I live we are still having near freezing weather so in my continued sorting through of items I came across a work coat that was too small for my son and had a little discoloration on the inside of the arm so a thrift store probably would not want it.

I removed the name of company and name patch from the jacket and decided to leave it on a pole about 2 blocks from the homeless shelter along with a note to take it if you need it and that it was a Mens size Medium to Large.

DIY Hacks to Instantly Declutter Your Kitchen

I have been scavenging Youtube videos for organization ideas and came across this one that has several gems in this video.

One of the tips I know I want to try is the the trick for creating custom labels by printing on printer paper, covering with clear packing tape, then putting in a bowl of water to soak off the paper and you have a clear, professional looking label (the tutorial indicates the tape becomes sticky again after it dries).

I also like the ideas of the pan/picture frame.spice in magnetized tins organizer. 

Another idea is I like is of putting a measuring spoons or cups on the outside of plastic container to have it handy for quick access.

I am not a coffee drinker, but I also like the idea hanging a tension rod with Command Hooks and using S hooks to hang coffe must and other things for a small at-home coffee bar.

Did you find any useful hacks?   Do you have any useful hacks to share?  If so, please feel free to post in the comments section.