How To: Barely there manicure

Sometimes less is more, and I think that is especially true for nails. Clean, well-kept nails are appropriate for any situation, and definitely for the office. Some women have a standing nail appointment to keep their pointers on point, but I prefer a DIY approach.

Everyone has their own nail preferences of shape, length and color. As long as your nails are clean and tidy, any length can be appropriate for the office (as long as they don't get in the way...you should be able to type just fine).

Tools

• Large nail cutter [similar]
• Buffing block (switch out every other month) [available]
• Nail polish remover
• Orange stick (disposable) [available in stores]
• Q-tip
• Nail file (I prefer metal because I can wash and re-use) [available]
• Cuticle cream [available | similar with remover]
• Base coat/nail hardener [available]

 
Before
My nails are uneven and the cuticles are a little scraggly. I have a bad habit of picking at my cuticles, so they're often rough and messy. They're also longer than I prefer (I usually cut the whites off completely).

Cut. I like to use a large nail cutter. I think they're designed for toenails, but they're much flatter in curve than the typical nail cutter, so I use them to get a flatter shape on top. Still, there are usually some weird angles sticking out here and there, which leads to the next step.

File. This is where the shaping really comes in. File in a sweeping motion from one consistent direction; don't saw at your nail! I usually do a few up-strokes along each side, too. Do this over the same paper/basket you cut your nails over, to catch the nail dust. It's ok if the edge is a little rough...we'll take care of that in the next step.

Buff. I like this buffing block (and its sister, the buffing stick) because it's super easy—just follow the numbers! Side 1 cleans up your filing job and Sides 2-4 are for your nail bed. If you buff your nails often, go easy on Side 2: Smooth Nail, because you don't want to wear through your nail bed. Since I do this on an almost-weekly basis, I only swipe 2-3 times per nail, and in the same direction all times (sort of like filing).

Condition. Rub the cuticle cream into your cuticles on all sides. If you have not touched your cuticles in a while, start with cuticle remover (follow directions on package; this stuff can be potent) and follow up with a cream for moisture.

Push back. Using the flat end of the orange stick, push your cuticles back gently. I do not recommend trying to clip or trim your cuticles; it can lead to infection (and that is not healthy). After the cuticle is pushed back, I rub any excess cuticle cream in again for good measure.

Clean the nail. If you plan to leave your nails bare, you can skip this step. But if you want to polish them next, use nail polish remover and a Q-tip to clean the cuticle cream off your nail bed (try not to get too much on your cuticles...they're still moisturizing!). Any residue on the nail (even hand soap) can weaken the bond to your polish, which results in peeling.

From here, the world is your oyster. I stuck with basic nail hardener today. Much better than before, wouldn't you say? And not bad for just a few minutes of work. Because I keep my nails short, I cut them once a week (usually Sunday afternoons while watching whatever sports game is on), but your home manicure will last longer if you're not always picking at your nails like I am. In between manicures, if I'm just relaxing and reading a book or watching some TV, I'll rub in some cuticle cream (right on over any polish) to keep things smooth.

Are you a home manicure girl or do you prefer the full service treatment? Share your nail tips and tools below!

Office supply hack: hemming denim

Though the average American woman is 5'4" and rocks about a 29"-30" inseam, the average inseam of "regular" size denim averages 33"-34". This makes it a lot easier to wear heels with your jeans, but we all need at least a few pairs of pants to go with flats. A few years ago, a friend referred me to YouTube learn how to hem jeans yourself without losing the original hem (like this video). It's easy, especially if you have a sewing machine, but I wanted a more temporary solution.

Why do I prefer temporary? Pants inevitably shrink over years of washing and wearing and then the hem doesn't fall right anymore (or I'm getting taller, but that's not likely). I usually buy jeans for heel height and then they eventually get transitioned to flat length after a while. The one time I did get jeans professionally hemmed (for heels, mind you), they were too short to wear even with flats two years later. It's not the dryer...I run my jeans through cold wash and air dry them. Does this happen to anyone else? 

My temporary solution: staples

You follow basically the same concept—cuff the pants leg up half of what you want to hem—and use staples instead of sewing it down. This usually lasts me about six months before I remove the staples and re-staple. I don't recommend doing this on thinner or more delicate fabrics; denim holds up really well, though. Here is a messy step-by-step.

The further away you stand, the more seamless it looks (noone actually gets this close to my feet). If you want a more permanent fix, YouTube has some great video tutorials.

Do you DIY your hems?

Groovy [outfit]

Target sweater - 2011 - $20 / Target tank - 2011 - $8 / Old Navy jeans - 2009 - $12 on sale / LOFT sandals - 2008 - $10 on sale / DIY scarf / Kate Spade Doodle necklace - 2011 - gift

Friends, I have been on a roll lately. Just thought you'd like to know.

I've been on the hunt for a poncho sweater for a while, so when I turned around from the Target sale racks disappointed and walked straight into this gem, my brain nearly exploded. I rarely have gottahaveit moments, but I had a big one with this sweater, so much so that I bought it at full price (a rarity for me). I bought it a size too large because they didn't have my size in the store, but I like how loosey goosey it is this way. Definitely a new favorite.

Friends, I have also been on a majorly dramatic mood lately. Just thought you'd like to know.

A month of dressing up and how NOT to thrift [outfit]

Mossimo tank from Target - 2010 - $7 on sale (available) / Pleated skirt from Goodwill Miami - 2011 - $6 (similar) / Gray scarf - 2010 - swap (similar) / Mossimo flats from Target - 2010 - $18 on sale (similar) / Premier Designs faux pearl drop earrings - 2010 - $20? (similar) / J. Crew belt - 2011 - $10 on sale (similar) / Hair tutorial from The Beauty Department

[Worn: 09.30.11 | To: Write, write, and write. Changed into jeans and a sweater for dinner w/ family]

Is it really October already? Dressy September just flew by. A few thoughts on the experience:

• Getting dressed dressed in the morning does wonders for my motivation and work. Being dressed up even affects how professional I am on the phone (but maybe that's just me).
• Walking around Target in heels isn't so bad. Walking around Target, Michael's (x2) and Pearl Art (x2) in one afternoon in heels can get pretty bad, though.
• Miami may be hot, but on my regular weekday jaunt from home to volunteering to grocery store back home, I'm only in the sun without air conditioning for a maximum of 5 minutes. Even Publix has a parking garage! 
• If I didn't dress up regularly, about 70% of my closet would be ignored. I didn't repeat that many items this month, but still barely dented the surface of my wardrobe. I've done 3 major closet purges already this year, but it might be time to do some more editing.

If you're curious, the entire album of all 30 outfits is on my Facebook page.

And now on to how NOT to thrift. I was so excited when I passed by a Goodwill Superstore on one of my first days in Miami (before I knew that every Goodwill in Miami is a superstore, whatever that means).  I stopped by to see what I could grab for  cheap while I was living out of my suitcase and waiting for the rest of my stuff to get here. This skirt immediately caught my eye, and for $6, I figured I could test-drive the pleated skirt trend. I also picked up a new belt, some dress shirts for K (we hadn't packed any work clothes for him because we thought our stuff would be here by the time he started his job), and a book.

Fast-forward to later that afternoon, after getting caught in a thunderstorm and sloshing through a flooded parking lot in my leather sandals. I dry off and decide to test drive my new skirt. I go to put it on and it buttons, just barely, at my ribcage (the narrowest part of my torso). Whew, that was a close one. I go to zip it up, and...umm...where in the world is the zipper? It hasn't been ripped out. It looks like it was never even put in. All the seams are smooth and finished, there is just a giant open slit where a zipper would normally be.

Fast-forward a month and a half to late September. September 29 to be exact. Half of Miami is closed for Rosh Hashanah and I'm waiting for a conference call I have scheduled for the afternoon with a client in California. I grab the skirt, an invisible zipper I picked up at Joann and my sewing box and get to work. It takes less than an hour to hand sew the zipper into the inside lining. I left the outside gap intact because it was on the inside of a pleat and would have been more awkward with the zipper than without. Still, the skirt barely buttons, but I'm only on week 2 of half-marathon training...I have high hopes (and hopefully high-enough motivation and energy) that it will fit better by January.

My suspicion is that someone made the skirt as a sewing project, and when they realized they forgot the zipper, they sent it off to Goodwill (it also has no tags or markings on it, or any indication that there ever were any). But for $8 ($6 plus a $2 zipper), it's not bad. Here's hoping it will fit eventually, or Goodwill may just have a repeat resident. At least the next owner will have a zipper.

Have you ever come home with a thrifted item to find out something's missing? Do you fix it yourself, return it, or do something else with it?

A shawl to stay warm

The Rundown:
6 + 7 + 15 + 29 
Forever 21 necklace - 2010 - $5 (similar)
DIY cowl - 2009 (similar)
C.O. Bigelow Mentha Lip Tint #1138

I woke up this morning to the soothing pitter patter of raindrops on our deck. So soothing that it nearly soothed me back to sleep. Luckily I tore myself away from my warm bed and got myself to work. I'm getting a little sick of my combinations, so I threw on this cowl/shawl to mix it up a bit.  I was inspired by a cowl I saw on etsy last year so I made one. I like it a lot. Sometimes I toss around the idea of starting an etsy store, but there are already a ton of really talented vendors on etsy and the last thing I need right now is another project. But if you'd like I can do a basic tutorial on it!  I also recently crocheted a similar (but smaller) neckwarmer for my best friend's birthday after I saw she'd linked a few etsy ones on her gift list.

Lip color experiment: lip gloss.  This one does not show as much as I thought it would. The tint, when it comes out, is a bright red. 

After work I headed over to Created in California, a great event organized by Juniper James to showcase local Sacramento designers.  My faves were Marty May and Morris & Terry.  Had a great time with my other blogger gals, too!

What worked:
The cowl! I've never actually worn it all day as a shawl before, but I really liked it. It really made the outfit. So comfy. (can you tell that's my buzz word this week?)

What didnt:
I'd rather not have worn jeans on a Wednesday, but it was a good day for that.

What do you revert to on days you really really want to be comfortable but still have to get it together for work?

DIY: Turning an A-line into a pencil skirt

I've wanted a print pencil skirt for a while now. I also happened to have a printed A-line skirt in my closet that never got much wear. One day these two facts clicked and it came to me: make the A-line into a pencil! Can't be too hard, right?  Well, it wasn't.

This works best with a skirt that zippers up the middle in the back. For the measurements, I cheated and just traced around a pencil skirt I already had. Other than the fact that the skirt is cut on a bias, which makes it harder to work with, it came out great!

Here is what I started with:

Skirt: Nordstrom Rack - 2002 or 2003 - birthday gift from mom

Step 1: Take off any embellishments. Use the plastic brush eraser end of a fabric pencil to buff out the holes.

Step 2: Turn the skirt inside out. Position your favorite pencil skirt on top of the skirt you're altering, making sure to align the waistbands.  Trace around the pencil skirt with a ballpoint pen or fabric pencil (if your skirt is light and your pencil dark, you may want to turn the pencil skirt inside out, too).

Step 3: Pin and baste the layers of the skirt together about a half inch away from the line you just drew. Make sure you're smoothing fabric from the middle out. Sew your new side seams on the line.

Step 4: Cut off the extra fabric, leaving about a half-inch.  Zig-zag stitch just over the edges to close them in and prevent fraying.

Step 5: If you like the length of your A-line skirt, just turn up the bottom hem to form a straight line across from the shortest point of the A-line skirt (usually the side seams).  Bring it up about another inch to allow yourself space to hem. If you want it shorter, you can raise it higher, too.  Many pencil skirts usually have a 1"-2" hem, so you may want to go that route (I only had about enough allowance for a half-inch hem to keep it work appropriate).  Pin and baste.

Step 6: Sew the hem. I opted to do two lines for aesthetics (just looked sort of sad with just one).

Step 7: If you don't have a lot of leftover fabric from the bottom hem, just leave it be (like I did). If you have quite a bit of fabric leftover, trim and edge like you did with the side seams.

Step 8: Wear your new pencil skirt...

... at home, to make sure you didn't screw anything up...

 

...or to work!

So what do you know, the New Professional can sew! This could change the future of my wish list.


What do you think? Is it convincing? Would you try this simple DIY? If you do, let me know!

Beating the heat

The Rundown:
Max Studio wrap dress - 2008 - gift from my mom (similar here and here)
Enzo Angiolini peep-toes - 2007 - $70ish (similar here)
DIY necklace - 2010 - cheap (sort of similar here)

What worked:
I rarely wear this dress because it's really flimsy and I don't really wear prints all that often.  But breezy and flimsy is exactly what I needed today, when the thermometer hit 106 here in town.  This wrap dress (really, it's like a giant robe that wraps around) is great for showing off a waist I barely knew I had and I think the length--right below the knee--accentuates the calves so well. Why are most of my skirts above the knee? I don't know, but after today I'm on the lookout (err...will be on the lookout in March) for more right-below-the-knee skirts.

What didn't:
Even though I was nearly sweating in my apartment by 7:30 this morning, the office was still freezing. I would have added on a brown blazer to biz this up a bit and fight the chill.  And for some offices this look may be too casual altogether.

This necklace is something I picked up back in March, right after I started my shopping diet. Well, I picked up the pieces from a bead store. It's a big bone "bead" (there are holes at the top and bottom of the shape), and I looped a leather cord around it.  Tada! I also got extra leather cord in black and brown so I could switch it up. I can't remember how much it was, but it was really cheap for three necklaces (I got an extra bead to make a bracelet, but couldn't find it this morning).

On another fun note, I took the plunge and ordered the Moleskine weekly notebook today! I got it in black softcover, and the 18-month version so I can start using it right away and it will last me through December 2011.  It was $10.95 at Border's, plus a rebate through Ebates (not an Ebates member? Click here for a referral).

Do you go a little more casual for bad-weather (super-hot or super-cold) days? Does it fly in your office?

Luck be a lady

I mentioned earlier my successful Saturday shopping trip. No clothes were purchased (yes I'm going on a bit of a technicality here, but I never claimed to give up more than clothes), but I did get some cool accessories. Two of them came into play here, in what I think could be called my most ladylike look in weeks.  Just a normal day at the office, but why wait for an occasion?

Shirt: J. Crew - 2009 - $20 (sale); Belt: Vintage - 2010 - $12; Skirt: Loft - 2009 - $13 (sale + coupon);
Bag: Vintage - 2010 - $12; Shoes: Enzo Angiolini - 2007 - $70

I've got to say, this is my favorite outfit that I've worn to work since I started this blog.  It's the first time I've ever worn that shirt, and the bag and belt are two of my finds from this weekend.  Both were found at Bows and Arrows, one of my favorite Midtown Sacramento shops.  I almost didn't wear the belt this morning (the skirt has a nice waistline with no belt loops), but at the last minute decided to keep it.  Some detail pics:

 

These beaded bracelets were also a result of my weekend jaunt...across the street from Bows and Arrows is an amazing bead shop called Bead Fetish.  I picked up these square hematite beads, gray matte seed beads, and some light coral matte seed beads, too, to string together some of my own stretchy bracelets.  Threw these together quickly last night and didn't get to the coral, but I know what I'll be doing in front of the TV tonight during Lost! [um...beading, in case you didn't catch that.]

I was originally going to wear some ruffly satin t-straps, but I think the brown peep-toes kept the look a little more grounded and office-appropriate.  Maybe next time!