Relax & de-stress with China Glaze Sea Spray

Oh.my.word.  I seriously can't believe it's been about 3 weeks since I posted. :-/  Bad me!!  As at least a few of you know, I was involved in an off-Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof.  But let me tell ya, when I told my friend I'd help her out, I had NO IDEA just how much work I'd signed up for, and how much it was gonna take over my life for about a month.  There were four weeks of rehearsals, (each night going about 4 hrs + my 2 hrs of driving there & back) plus what I learned is referred to in theater as "hell week" - the week of the performances - we sold out the 4 planned performances & voted to add another matinee, just because we're nice. ;-)  YIKES.  It really was a fabulous experience and I have so many great memories that will likely stay with me forever (especially the songs that are permanently engraved in my brain...TRADITION!), but I will surely think long & hard about being a backstage manager/director's assistant if the opportunity presents itself again! :-P

The rabbi, the rabbi!  "May God bless & keep the tsar -- faaaar away from us."  Everyone: "ahahaha!" ;-)

The mani I have for you today is not current, as the production ravaged my nails like you wouldn't believe... I seriously have no idea how long it's going to take for them to get to a "presentable" point.  I was breaking them left & right (what with moving all sorts of set items in almost total darkness as fast as possible), so they're all nubbins (misshapen ones at that), I have hangnails that are running like your grandma's pantyhose, and lots of dried out, cracked cuticles. :-(  I've been using cuticle oil & balm like there's no tomorrow - even the occasional pure vitamin E capsule - but it is slow going!  Oh, and since many of the breaks involved the nails being bent quite acutely, the nail surface is flaky & choppy on quite a few nails. Aggggh! The HORROR! (think of that scene from the old, old movie The Pagemaster ;-)

So, that said, this is something I did during the first couple weeks of rehearsals as a simple, soothing mani. :-)

Two coats China Glaze Sea Spray, plus matte top coat (can you see the little "v" design I did on the middle finger? ;-)  I didn't intend to do an accent nail, but I hadn't tried OPI Solitaire yet, and it just seemed perfect!  I really like that with only one coat, you can kinda see Sea Spray peeking through.

This was my inspiration for the pattern with matte topcoat...
I think I'm gonna try it again sometime, except get more fancy with it. ;-)

Sea Spray has the faintest hint of  ultrafine silver shimmer. Just perfect.  I've really been loving the dusty grey blue shades lately!  The application was easy for both Sea Spray and Solitaire.  Just what I needed in the midst of the musical madness & difficulties. :-)

Just in case you were wondering - it really IS Sea Spray! (albeit upside down...oops :-P )

I'm not really sure why I hardly have anything to say about this mani.  If you've read my blog at all, you know I'm very long-winded and always have something to talk about. ;-)  Maybe I'm still recuperating from the "trauma of the drama!"  Seriously, if you ever think it's a good idea to only get 2-3 hrs of sleep a night for weeks on end - it's NOT.  Don't try this at home, kids!

Well, I hope I can keep up a better, more regular posting "schedule" now... I really did miss you guys and felt guilty every day of my absence. :-(

In closing, I share with you one more photo from a favorite scene of mine: The Rumor 

Seriously, this scene cracks me up, especially if you've gone over the dialogue as many times as I did to know the crazy (and true to life) distortion of "the town gossip." :-)  If you haven't seen Fiddler in any shape or form before, I would recommend renting the movie, or watching a clip or two on YouTube - although they are actually illegal (violating the UBER STRICT copyright - no performance can be videotaped or recorded at ALL).  But most of all, if you ever have a chance, get thee to a live theater performance of it!!

Ok, I'd best get to bed.  G'night lovely ladies!!