Monday, August 19, 2013

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!! 

6 comments:

  1. This is a totally beautiful palette cleanser and I actually really like that Sea Spray is peeking through Solitaire. Very purty.
    Backstage work is SERIOUSLY HARRRRRD and I commend you for signing up for such a task. Working on a play production, in any capacity, is so very rewarding, though, it almost makes me miss my high school and college days of performing. Almost. Actors are a strange bunch. lol. Fiddler is a great show, a story that never gets old, and your version of it looks fantastic :)

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    1. Awwww thank you, Liesl!! Ya know, I was going to mention somewhere in my post that you asked me to "paint my nails already!," but as you can see, I forgot...oops! ;-) That was just soooo funny...I seriously laughed out loud when I read it again later.
      And yeah, it really was hard! Couldn't believe how exhausting the whole thing got. By the end of the 5th performance, I was like a wet noodle. But ON THE OTHER HAND (hahaha!), I still had a great time and met sooo many cool peeps - since it IS such a huge cast & all. ;-) And it was a very cool experience to share with my "BFF" (Michelle from the Shell-O post). She was the director. Did you perform in a lot of plays and musicals? I did a few children's plays in the summer, but never anything in HS. Being a part of Fiddler really made me yearn to actually be IN it, but as I told a good friend of mine who played the role of Tzeitel: in the words of that dude from Pitch Perfect, "I can't sing a lick, and I hate myself every day because of it!!" :-P

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  2. Hey Emily...quit whining...the end.

    No just kidding. You were a great asset to my team and I'll always be grateful of it. If you think you'll get out of the next production, dream on my friend. :)

    p.s. like the silver look.

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    1. You visited my blog & commented on my post!! YAY! :-D
      You visited my blog & commented on my post . . . nooo . . . :-(
      I really didn't mean to come across as sounding so negative & whiny. I guess I have nowhere near the strength and fortitude that you do. :-( (*hangs head & slinks away to hide in shame)

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  3. It sounds like you had a great time during this whole experience. I did the backstage thing myself back in the day on a production of Camelot, and it was the most tiring and best thing ever! These days I direct and act in anything I can throw together for church, LOL! Oh, and my sister and I were fortunate enough to see Fiddler 3 years ago with TOPOL himself as Tevye. Yes, you read that right. :) But I am glad to see you back here...and I really love this polish. You do need that calm after your backstage storm! :)

    P.S. And that's what comes from men and women dancing!!!

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    1. *squeee! NOOOOO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You got to see the original Tevye?! :O I'm SO...happy for you! Yet, a tish jealous because that would be UHmazing! However, I get confused because the two most famous Tevye guys I see on YouTube & hear about are Topol & then Zero Mostel. So which is actually the original??? Personally I really like Zero Mostel's version of "If I Were a Rich Man." You gotta check that out on YT! :D
      Thank you, my dear! It was actually a nice "calm in the MIDST of the storm." :-) My nails are just nubbins still. :-(
      Hehe! I LOVE that you used a Fiddler line! I was just chatting on FB with the actress who played our Golde, and she used a line, and I told her how much I miss being able to do that - go back & forth, & play off eachother, using lines in everyday conversation. :-D It was sooo perfect because at the end of our chat, I was able to say: "well, goodbye Golde. It was a pleasure talking our hearts out to eachother!" :-D LOLOL!
      How awesome that you write, direct, and act in church theater!! Michelle did that for YEARS at their church in Chicago. Wish we had that up here, but I don't think our church would be "into it?" I dunno. It would be a big change, and you know how THAT can go... ;-)

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