Thank goodness that's over!

So...let's talk about my day, ok?

I woke up at O'God Thirty in the morning, took my shower, got my hair done, and then forgot my makeup so I couldn't finish getting myself ready. I drove by myself three and a half hours in the dark, getting slightly lost to get some gas when I was just a hop, skip and a jump from Greensboro. Thankfully, I made it to the convention center just fine and in time to see each of the opening categories walk the runway.

I was uncharacteristically quiet the entire morning, spending time breathing deeply and trying to not let my nerves get to me. It came time to head to the holding area where we were placed at our table. A ridiculous amount of time later, our time began and I spent the next 45 minutes doing my final nail art design while the judges walked around hovering and nodding. It was easy to ignore them. It was not easy to ignore the people walking around taking pictures while we were working and getting close to our work and giving praise that I had to thank them for.

Thankfully, I finished my design with 5 minutes to spare, which was just enough to set up a professional looking presentation and put some simple jewelry on the mannequin hands. Which was almost all in vane because we ended up walking with our hands to the judging table.

Two or so hours later, it was time to call the winners of all the categories. All in all, my school wracked up. Especially with the big trophy that was given out due to the number of contestants per schools. My friend Marisa got 1st in female haircut and style, which she was super excited about. As for me...I GOT A TROPHY!

But not just ANY trophy...

FIRST PLACE, KIDS!! HECK YEAH!

I can't even BEGIN to tell you guys how tickled I am about this. I got a trophy that is as big as my head! For reals! It's as tall as my head. Which is pretty crazy. And you guys, seriously. The only trophies I've ever gotten in my life were "Good job kid, you played this sport!" trophies and one in 1988 that I won in a costume contest at a bank dressing in a Minnie Mouse costume that my mom made. And now I have a First Place trophy! In a category that I've become seriously interested in.

Yeah. That's right. I won first place.

The final nail design.

DETAILS!

I totally started crying from surprise and happiness at one point. Seriously, I'm so tickled. As I was leaving the venue to get to my car, the male judge (Who looked like he was trying to be David Bowie) stopped me and told me that my design was wonderful and very wearable. It was a pretty surreal moment. On the 3 and a half hour drive back home I just couldn't wrap my head around the fact that it was true. I had one first place with a design I came up with on my own.

That trophy is mine and I totally deserve it!

Won't Let My Nerves Get Me.

Or, at least I'm trying to.

I've just spent the last few hours trying to get last minute things done for the competition. Sadly, my friend Kim won't be coming with me, but I'm still trucking on. At least I get like 15 extra minutes of sleep. LOL

While getting my things ready I just remember the competition I did in Myrtle Beach last April and how hectic it all was. There's something comforting about knowing I'm actually going to sleep before this one. Last one I was running on 7 hours of sleep total for three days. I ended up having a mental break down in the middle of doing the fantasy hair competition and started crying. It was not a fun time.

The good news is that I don't feel like that right now. The main thing that I'm nervous about is not having a clock in front of me to see how I'm doing on time and then end up running out of time. My other fear is getting lost on my way to the venue, but thankfully, I have a cell phone with google maps and a Tom-Tom. I think I'll be ok.

But now I must away to finish looking for my battery charger so that I can take pictures tomorrow and to get the rest of my things together. Oh, and finish watching "Into the Woods."

We'll be back to picture filled updates tomorrow, I'm hoping. If not tomorrow, then Sunday!

Yawn.

So, is a hard thing to try and post every single day in your blog. I don't see how the 365 people do this kind of thing! But I'm still trying. And that's got to account for something.

Today, I took my hands into school to show my professors. While we love each individual nail, we all agreed that it was just too much. That's when we decided to simplify the design and go from there. And with that, I went about how I spent the remainder of my day.

First, it took about 30 minutes to get all of the nail polish I had on the nails off. Something I'm not looking forward to do tomorrow in between cleaning things. Once the polish was off, I sat down with Rachel and proceeded to fall in love with the nail file drill thinger. Whatever its called, I flippin love it! My friend Craig was joking around that it was scary for me to be using any type of power tool. To which, I gave him an insane look, revved up the drill, and held back the desire to evil laugh. And then I told him I was good with power tools thanks to the years of building stages.

Once the edges of the acrylics were filed, it was time to paint a base color and let it dry. And then...it was timing time. Thankfully, I made it in about 30-35 minutes, which is great and gives me plenty of time to clean things up a bit. And to be honest, I'm super excited about that. Like, ridiculous excited about that. My fellow students were really supportive and I have so many people that want me to do certain bits on their nails. LOL I think I know how I will be spending my last day of Cosmetology this semester.

Now, here is where you would think I would post a picture of the final design like I said I would in the last post.

Well...I'm NOT! HAHAHA!!!!

But that's because I want to wait until after the competition to post it. Not that I think anyone will steal it. I could care less about that. But I'm so tickled with how it all looks that I just want to save it all for a post about the competition.

That, and my head is bothering me, so I think it's about time I pass out for the night. Tomorrow I shall update you all on my recent purchases. :D Because everyone needs to know more on the fact that I really need to join Nail Polish Anonymous.

Gettin' it all ready.

Oh sweet molasses! Things have been crazy lately. I've been trying to get things together at school because this weekend I'm traveling to Greensboro to compete in a competition at the hair show there! I'm entered in the nail art competition and I'll be honest with you guys, I'm pretty nervous about it. Well, today, with the help of the awesome Rachel from school, I was able to do a really decent set of acrylic nails on the mannequin hands to get then ready! She did one hand and I did the other. But I'm still pretty stoked about it.

This is my hand. It's a little lumpy, but you can't really tell until you put polish on it.

Both hands together. There are some imperfections, but it happens. We're gonna hit them with the drill tomorrow...and I'm kind of excited about that!

So, once it was totally decided that I was going to do the competition and I was supplied with the two mannequin hands, next came trying to figure out what I was going to. I sat with my main professor today with my nail portfolio, which is such a work in progress. We went through and narrowed everything down. While I have a pansy that I LOVE and a few really nice beach scenes, It was decided that flowers and beach were commonly used themes in these competitions. So, we moved on to one of my favorite designs...the bow.

I had created a set that I call "Pink, Girlie Punk," which is a set of designs that are pink, white, black, and silver. And, after I looked at them, not that punkish. But whatevs. So, we decided to mess with some of those. I came home, played on the Wii Fit for about 30 minutes, then decided to time myself doing these designs. Because I have to do two hands in 45 minutes. Its kind of nerve wracking if I think about it too much.

So, I get things situated in my recliner, which was my first wrong decision. Next time I time myself, I'm sitting at a table with only the things that I need. Sheesh, what a time I had! It was ridonkulous! I ended up not making time, but I know why and its stuff that can be easily fixed. Once I was done with the hands, I looked a them and thought, "I'm not totally ok with that."

The finished look.

Close up of my favorite nail, the houndstooth.

There just isn't a consistency that I would like, to be honest. I love the houndstooth and the argyle. The bow on the middle finger is also a favorite of mine. I will be doing something with that bow, the houndstooth, and the argyle. I shall have some pictures on that tomorrow.


GOOD NEWS, I have found my camera! Bad news...I have no idea where my battery charger is. This is my life, guys...this is my life every time. But I will have it and my battery charged for the competition and then we can finally move on from the crappy camera phone pictures. The day to rejoice shall be in the near future.

Anything that I was to send out is in the mail. I'm terribly sorry that it has taken this long to get anything out there. I'm getting really tired of life kicking me in my face. I'm about ready to start fighting back.

Also, as I am sure some of you know, the month of November is Nanowrimo. National Novel Writing Month. I'm working on a story myself, though I thought it might be fun to sort of honor Nanowrimo in my blog and make a really conscious effort to write a post a day.

AND! This is what I'm super excited about. The preciously mentioned Rachel from school used to be a nail tech for like...years. AND she's agreed to teach me in her ways. haha She also said I was welcome to video her with doing nails and everything and that I can share it on here. Which, I probably will be doing. I'm also thinking about doing things with reflexology and massages...because hand massages are amazeballs.

But, that's all for now. I'll post the final nail idea for the competition tomorrow.

It's good to be back :D