We Sail Tonight for Singapore

At the end of 2013, my parents were told they wouldn't be moving home to the states from Germany, and they would be moving instead, to Singapore!

Singapore!?  I knew nothing about Singapore! I barely knew where it was, aside from Asia...somewhere. 

So it was worked into my dads contract that the company he works for would pay for me, hubs, honey, and my sister and brother to fly (business class!) to Singapore and back.   For over a year we have been planning this trip; it seemed like it would never come. I mean, who goes to Singapore!?

We just got back last week. My sister and brother took Honey with them a week earlier than hubs and I went. The flight schedule was as follows:

•Milwaukee to Detroit

•Detroit to Tokyo

•Tokyo to Singapore. 

24ish hours of travel 

Well that was SUPPOSED to be the flight schedule. We got delayed four hours in Detroit and had to stay overnight in Tokyo before flying to Taiwan and finally Singapore. We missed a whole day of vacation but finally got there in one piece!

                                                         Breakfast in the Delta Sky Club before leaving Milwaukee

                                                     Next stop Detroit 

                                                                                           So much leg room in business class 

                                                                                                       With fold flat seats!

Business class is where it's at. I've only ever flown coach, with one exception. Flying first class from MSP to LAS for my wedding. 

But business class! Lay flat seats, gourmet meals, unlimited wine (or beer or cocktails). Look at all that leg room!!

I mean if you have to be stuck for 4 hours on an airplane at that gate, I'd rather be in business class than coach. 

So after the delay due to a mechanical, Delta put us up in a hotel with dinner and breakfast before leaving the following day. 

                   Breakfast in Tokyo before our flight out

So we flew to Taiwan, where I finally beat my dad to a country!  My dads been all over the world, but not to Taiwan yet!  Had an authentic Taiwanese lunch, but I'm not exactly sure what we ate...

And were rewarded with business class on Singapore Air. Singapore Air is one of the highest rated airlines in the world. Their business class is top notch, you can even get your own suite!  

We didn't have suites, but we did have larger seats, and they lay flat like Delta. 

                                                                (Photo from Pinterest)

With the same accommodations as Delta, but with amazing service.

                  A couple of Singapore Slings and we're off!

We finally landed in Singapore. About 18 hours late, but better than never!  

       

More to come!

New Year, New Me

Exactly like the title says!
 Welcome to the new blog, with a new title, new web address, new layout...and new posts! Finally!

I decided to take the blog from mainly blogging about polish and reviews of beauty products to blogging about, well everything.  I still spend a lot of time with nail polish and beauty products, but there is so much more to me than that!

From now on, I'll be blogging about daily happenings.  Meals and recipes, beauty regimines and products, travel (theres a lot of travel going on here!), and much much more (did someone say new house?!)!

So come check out the new me, and stay along for the ride!

~Kat

Dollar Store Jackpot!

Honey and I decided to have a movie night tonight while hubs was at work. We recorded Wreck It Ralph for her to watch with a babysitter last night and she never watched it. So we watched it tonight. 

I told her we would go to the dollar store and get some candy to have with the movie, and I also wanted to check out the Halloween decor. 

And because I can't go to the dollar store without going down the beauty aisle, I hit jackpot. 

Essie Sleek Sticks. Essie's version of nail wraps or nail stickers. For $1/each. Guys. These usually retail for around $10 a pop everywhere else. I'm not sure if they are retired styles or what, and I don't really care!  I bought 10 of them for the price of one!  

And here is where it gets photo heavy. I think I got one of each style; I didn't like a red with glitter that was available so I doubled up on one style. 

I got two of the very first style. And to be honest, I just realized as I was posting these that they had names on the side of the packaging. Hello!  So I got two of Glam It On. 

And there is one more, but of course I had to try them out tonight!!  So this is the one I chose for my mani tonight. 

It's called Over the Moon and I love the glitter gradient effect!!  I saved the ones I didn't use, because they can always be used as accent nails in a future mani!

 

They went on easily enough, just like the Sally Hansen stickers go on. And came with a file and a plastic cuticle pusher that I used to smooth out any air bubbles. Air bubbles seem common, but maybe I'm just not used to using the stickers? But I'm happy with the value!

So what do you think?  Did I hit the jackpot?

Where Have I Been?

I know I know.  It's been too long.
But I wanted to let you know why.

I've really been getting back into my health and fitness again.  I joined Beachbody and started with the 21 Day Fix.  And I loved it and it's results so much (15.5 inches lost in 21 days!!) that I became a Beachbody coach!

So I'm now selling the products, and running challenge groups with other ladies (and gents) who want to do a round or two of the Fix or other Beachbody workout programs.

And I just started another blog, sharing my story.  And I will be posting fitness tips, recipes, workouts, beachbody promotions, etc.  So come check it out here!

Hope to see you there!

Kat

Zoya Naturel Deux

I just got an email from Zoya that they are expanding their popular Spring/Summer naturel line with 6 new, darker neutral shades, perfect for fall!!

From the pictures the look absolutely gorgeous, and I need to get my hands on these!  Presale starts July 21st and the polishes are the standard $9.

I do know that three colors are brown shades and three are plum shades, and I have the names and what colors they are, but I don't have a picture with names next to the color. Starting with the browns we have:
Spencer: A caramel creme
Chanelle: A toasted almond creme
Emilia: A dark chocolate creme

And for the plum shades we have:
Marnie: Deep warm plum
Aubrey: Medium mauve
and Madeline: muted rose.

If any more information comes out I'll be sure to let you all know!

Kat

Septoplasty Recovery: Day Of/Day One

It's done!!  I wasn't as nervous going into the OR as I though I would be! I did have some trouble sleeping last night, mostly because I was afraid of missing my alarm. 

We got there at 645 and by 7 I was in the pre op room getting changed and vitals and everything. By 730, the nurse was walking me into the OR. There they put these amazing leg massagers on me, to help prevent blood clots. They also did the anesthesia in the OR which I have never had done before; usually it's done beforehand. The last thing I remember is a nurse asking if I was excited to get started. 

And then they were waking me up in the recovery room. That was terribly uncomfortable. My throat was so numb from the intubation tube it was hard to swallow. And I could feel blood dripping out of my nose (sorry if that's tmi).  But they quickly padded it for me to catch it all. 

Pain meds came next, quite a cocktail of IV drugs. The pain wasn't so much pain as it was burning in my nostrils. That time in the recovery room went quickly; why doesn't the work day go that quickly?!  After some quick vitals and discharge instructions, I was on my way home. 

I doubled up my pain pills and was in and out of sleep all afternoon with no pain. I did have to change the drip pad under my nose several times. It's about 12 hours later and im not bleeding much at all.  

So far day one has been better than expected!

Kat

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I'm Nervous for Tomorrow

This is a 100000% non nail related post.  And for that I apologize, but it's a look into what's about to go down here tomorrow, June 2nd.

I've recently started noticing (like within the last year and a half) problems breathing.  Usually trouble catching my breath most of the time.  After visiting the doctor and being tested for asthma (negative, by the way), I started noticing that I was almost constantly congested.  Mostly in my right nostril, but it would go to my left occasionally, usually when I slept on that side.

So my GP recommended me to an ENT for further testing.  He noticed that I have a deviated septum; slightly, nothing serious.  And on top of that, my nasal turbinates are too big and my nasal valves collapse when I breathe.  Awesome.  So those things all combined create a perfect storm of not being able to breathe correctly through my nose.

He prescribed that I start using Breathe Right strips at night, and use nasal gel and spray to help open things up through out the day.  And the only thing that worked were the strips, and even that didn't last.  And it was only at night that I would wear them.

Next step: SURGERY.  Yikes.  Tomorrow.  At 7:45 am.  No food or drink after midnight tonight, and be at the surgical center an hour early.  I'm freaking out.  I took "before" pictures of my nose last night, because there is a chance the surgery could alter the shape and appearance of it.  Is that weird?

So, as often as I can, I will come here and try to document how things go.  What pain am I in.  Hows the swelling?  I'm reading there is a lot of gross drainage, and I will keep that to myself.  You're welcome.

And soon, we will be back to nails and reviews and  pretty things.

Wish me luck!

Kat