Day 4 books - 10 Day You Challenge

Today is book day! It has been a while since I've read books other than school related type and also am more of a movie type gal, but a couple of the ones I have enjoyed reading are:

"Animal Farm" by George Orwell

My dad recommended this book to me. Initially I found it very amusing reading about a bunch of farm animals talking and plotting against their master and then against themselves, but as I went through it and reading about the author, found it is really about corrupt leaders.

"Vampire Hunter D" by Hideyuki Kikuchi

First I saw the movie and enjoyed it so much that I went out and bought the book. Which also enjoyed equally, the story is very entertaining and dark, so if you are a supernatural tale lover like I am, this one is for you.

"The Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley

Although this one is so well known, I was never a fan until I was assigned to read it for a Humanities class in college, from which I just could not get enough of. Really well written science fiction tale.

"The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" by Ann Brashares

Another one that first saw the movie and then read the book, although did enjoyed more the movie.

Day 3 Films - 10 day you challenge

I don't know about you, but I could spend an entire day watching movies. I am a very versatile person. I watch from action, to drama, to war, to foreign genres. Anything that has either a good story, a good laugh, or a good move.

The Last Samurai has become one of my most resent favorites. I am sure many of you have seen it, and would love to read your thoughts on it. This is a film where every little detail of it was built with passion and strength. The story captivated my attention from the very beginning, and watching how hope, determination and discipline freed one lost man and an entire civilization from the tyranny of  a "better world" vision, did put me on the edge of my seat. This movie has it all, drama, suspense, romance, action, and an amazing story behind it. I definitively cried at the end. Loved it.

The Notebook is definitively my most favorite love story of all. It has this amazing story about how love can conquer all and live past the roughness of time. Also, Rachel McAdams is one of my fav. actresses, I've seen almost all of her films and have enjoyed her performance.

Inception (2010) is one of those movies that really captured my complete and total attention from the very beggining. The directors idea is a completely fresh view on the topic. I remember "Being John Malkovich" about a puppeteer finding a portal into J.M. mind. That was very interesting yet limited, but Inception has unlimited possibilities of evolving into something much bigger. Now, the question to those of you that have seen this movie (and those who have not I really truly recommend you watch it), please tell me what do you think happened to Cobb, was he stuck in limbo? Or did he go back home?

In addition to this, I find that Leo has come so far since the making of Titanic. He has grown from a teen heart-throb into a leading man, because of this he has won over my admiration for his current work.

Day 2 Songs - 10 Day You Challenge

Today is music day. When I was a child, I sang through every song in the radio, clueless of what music really was. It was only recent, about a year or two ago, that I began to search for my music soul. And as I pushed myself through today's popular music fest of pop, rock, reggeaton (Puerto Rico), balads, salsa, merengue... I just found myself lost in the loneliness of time, always feeling out of place because I never fitted in with most of today's music. Until suddenly I  found myself in the past. Yes, I fell absolutely in love with the oldies of the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's. But as I am still a newbie in this world of what I like to call REAL music, the origin of today's, I will choose 1 song from my current oldie love, and choose one from one of the few bands I truely love and admire from today.

The first would have to be "Somebody to love" by Queen

The second song "Somewhere only we know" by Keane

These were my very two first songs of each band that connected with every part of my being that I simply fell in love with their music. I find myself searching back through the past and finding me in these beautiful songs, originally written and sang with the heart.

Day 1 Photo - 10 Day You Challenge

So I was over at my pals Christina's blog and read about how she is following this 10 day challenge and decided to give it a go. This is a fun way for you to know me a bit more, and for the next 10 days I will be writing 10 different things about myself, but with a little twist of focusing it more to be review type answers more than personal  ones.  I hope you don't get bored, so let's go!

here is a big picture in case you're interested in doing it. If it's the case, please let me know so I can follow!

And the link to Christina's blog: http://gettingitrightat30.blogspot.com/ in case you'd like to know her as well!

1one picture of myself

That is me with my son Denzol, a couple weeks ago on a local park. My boyfriend and Denzol are two of the most precious ones in my life. Especially on this day, we had so many happy moments and a lot of fun. This park used to be one of those extremely popular ones, a place to gather round with friends and family, bring the young ones to play with other children and spend some quality time. But as time passed, families (including mine) suddenly stopped going. Partially because the town was losing its popularity, charm and security. The streets were abandoned, stores closing like crazy and people moving out into the capital. But after years of falling, it has began to gain a little bit back, or at least as I am grown up I see more than the eye can see. 

I see a small children park where I can go with my family and be in peace with nature, watch my son run around, sit down at the grass with my b-friend and look out at the marvelous sea and stare at the sky. The little wondrous in this World that are taken for granted are the ones that really make me happy. Specially when shared with the right person.

Outdated before it came out?!

Yesterday my father told me something that really did not make sense to me at that time.



Father: "Tammy, your Kindle is outdated"

Tammy: "What are you talking about?"










Father: "You bought something that was outdated even before it came out"
...

Yeah, that was me after a 15 minute discussion.

So, because I could not win the argument stating how wrong he was, I had to find out for myself, and after reading about a couple dozen articles on how the Kindle has practically become obsolete, I mean with all those Tablets coming out every six months and new Android phones coming in every 3, with their nifty new technology advances, why of course it is outdated!.

But to me, the Kindle is just Packed with the necessarily tools to be used as an E-READER. Why would I spend $800 in a tablet that will do just the same, in addition to playing movies, music, web surfing, game playing and 10,000 other fun things. Which all would simply distract me from the one small reason why I decided to buy this $79 gadget, instead of the $199 Kindle Fire... to READ. Plain and simple. I wanted free from all distracting activities (for that, I have my Android!) that would interfere with this little hobby that I've decided to pick up. 

So having said that, to me the Kindle is just right the way it is.

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AVON nailwear pro - fabulous or disastrous?

Many months ago, AVON launched a new set of colors in their NAILWEAR PRO line called Carnival of color. 

The selection of colors caught my attention so I decided to go ahead and try out four of them.

*Sweet Mint, **Fuchsia Fun ***Blue Escape ****Orange Creamsicle

I have read many positive reviews on how girls love them and so on, but I've also happen to stumble upon many others who have been disappointed. So let us take a look at some small details that could either make them fabulous or disastrous.

First it is their main attraction, the price where 2.99 would make them rather inexpensive, is that it says they can last UP TO 10 days. At first I thought: "Wow, 10 days I've got to have them", but what they are really saying is that they could last 10 days or less, depending on so many variables.

Then it suddenly caught my eye the * next to the LASTS UP TO 10 DAYS* and see that bellow it says "With normal touch up" meaning that in order to make them last at least 10 days, one must touch them up every so often.

Experience:

So having all of that in mind, I will share with you my experience with them and show some pictures of the sweet mint, which I am currently wearing.

This is my fourth day. Its difficult to notice, but all of my fingers have started to chip off at the end of the nails. I just applied one coat and a top coat to touch up. Initially I thought what a great product this was, the second coat applies smoothly and the color selection is fantastic.

Pros:

• Inexpensive (when on sale, $2.99)
• Good variety of colors (at least 28)
• Smooth even finish
• Somewhat thick consistency (not watery, but not thick. More in between)
• Can last up to 10 days***

***How to make them last:

1. Do a manicure (a properly buffed nail will make the color last even longer)
2. Turn off any fan (the breeze will ruin the smoothness and dry off the brush applier)
3. Apply base coat (wait 1 minute)
4. Apply 1st coat of enamel
5. Wait 10-15 minutes (make sure to put your favorite tv show)
6. Apply 2nd coat of enamel
7. Wait another 10-15 minutes
8. Apply a top coat
9. Touch up every 3-4 days (with 1 coat of color and 1 top coat)

So this is what I basically do every time I paint my nails with any brand. And I find that each step is essential to making them last those promised 10 days. I have skipped at least 1 step some other times and believe me, the quality will be much less. The color would start to chip in a day or two. 

Cons:

• They take forever to dry, even after 20 minutes of patience and watching Vampire Diaries, they could still get ruined if you rub them against fabric.
• They chip off at the end of the nail probably by the second day

Overall, I find that for the price, these enamels provide a decent quality finished "look". But they do require the nail to be prepped. It is important to follow the steps on How to make them last, otherwise you'll simply end up with a disappointment. On the downside, and this part is very upsetting, they take way too long to dry up. So I am giving them 2 out of 5** (1 for color selection, 1 for smooth even finish) (-1 for difficulty of use, -1 for dry time, -1 for easy chip)

If you are one of the lovers out there, I'd suggest you follow the before mentioned steps to make your nails last longer with this brand.

 

 

Good for:

• People who want quality look for less, but
• Are willing to invest time or have lots of free time for prepping their nails, and
• Touching up every 3-4 days
• Girls that have the patience to wait at least 20 minutes to dry up in between coats and 1+ for the nails to fully dry)

Bad for:

• People who want good results in less time
• Those that do not like to prep their nails
• When looking for enamels that dry fast

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Easy breeze

Product details:

• Retail price: $34.99 (at Walgreens)
• 1875 watt
• AC Motor – delivers more powerful, fast air-flow and up to 3x longer life
• Ceramic technology – safely dries and promotes healthy hair
• Ionic technology – to reduce frizz and enhance shine
• 2 concentrator attachments - for achieving different styles
• Removable filter – prevents damaging lint build-up and extends motor life
• True cold shot botton- to lock in styles

My thoughts:

As I searched through Walgreen’s selection of hair dryers I stumbled across this little beauty and immediately fell in love with it. But of course, I had to google it before making my final decision, and read all its little wonders. What attracted me at first sight was its color and design, very slik and to me looked as something a proffesional hair salon would use. Then it came to my attention two features my older hairdryer did not have: his AC motor, which promised me a fast drying result; and a removable filter, which promises to extend its life. Two things I always look for in hair products: fast results and long durability. Oh, and that it had a 25% discount!

Results:

After using it twice, I have to admit that I have found a new love in my life. It complements me in so many ways: it never complains, doesn’t make me wait and makes me feel more beautiful. And yes, I am talking about a hairdryer… I do not enjoy spending 45 minutes drying and styling my hair and having a sore arm afterwards, so I opted to always air dry my hair. I have straight, thick, dark hair. And living on a Caribbean Island, where most days are hot and humid, my hair somedays would have lots of volume and shine, others it would be very dried and a bit frizzy, and some days it would be static free and dull. Its like a pandora box, you never know what you might get. But with this it only took me about 5-10 minutes to dry it. Afterwards, my hair felt softer and smoother (even more after the 2^nd and 3^rd day). This product has worked really well for me and it delivered its promise of “styling easy, healthy hair, and frizz reduction”. Now I actually enjoy it. I am giving it a 5***** stars.

Pros:

• Sleek
• Attractive
• Dries fast (5-8 minutes on long thick hair)
• Gives shine
• Diminishes static
• Sound and looks professional

Cons: still searching

Useful for:

• Those of you who would like to spend 8 minutes tops drying your hair (without dividing)
• Those of you who are looking for something that looks professional and does the job for less money
• Those of you who want shine back
• Those of you who want do minimize the static

    

     Don't forget to follow! Please comment bellow with your thoughts, opinions, suggestions and experiences!!