Cinco De Mayo Nails

I was thinking about nail looks, and since it's Golden Week here I was thinking about Children's Day (a Japanese holiday) nails. But since I already did that before I thought I'd give another holiday a try: Cinco de Mayo! 

So first, I thought I'd use colors from the Mexican flag - green, white, and red. I was initially going to blend them together (gradation) but... I didn't lol.

So I'm using gel instead of polish today, so I used a couple of brushes. You can use one or two (one for light gel colors and one for darker ones) but since I was going back and forth with the colors I just decided to use one brush per color except for the gold and yellow.

So this week I am resting my nails, so I am using fake nails. Unfortunately, I wasn't very careful and so I got some of the gel on the tape under the nails which stayed on the sides of the nails after I peeled the nails off...

So I started with one coat of the green on the left...

followed by the red on the right...

then the white in the middle to help straighten the lines too. You can cure the gel after each color to help the colors not blend in together, but that might take a while. 

After paining all three colors, I cured it for 30 seconds then put on one more coat.

 

Next, taking a super thin brush, I used black to make these prints and then cured it for 30 seconds once more. All nails except for the thumb and ring finger's ended there.

Both the sombrero and the maracas had this metallic gold color.

So I started by making a somewhat triangular shape, then something like a sideways 8 or infinity sign underneath and color it in. Then I cured it for 30 seconds.

Lastly, I outlined the hat with black, shaded it a bit and added a line of yellow on the bottom on the triangular shape we first drew. Cure.

Same with the maracas on the ring finger's nail. I started with two round balls and draw a line with a smaller ball at the bottom. 

Again, I outlined it and used yellow for some details on the maracas and cured the nails. 

After adding on the top coat I cured them, this time for 2 minutes.

And finito! That's it! It took a bit of time with the black, but I like it =) I wish I didn't have to wait to do my own personal nails... Happy-soon-to-be-Cinco-de-Mayo!!!!

Baseball Fun

So I was not dressed to go to a baseball game, it had actually gotten chilly after the sun went down... But my boyfriend surprised me and took me down the street to see a game. It was the Yokohama Bay Stars vs. the Hanshin Tigers. Since we live in Yokohama, we decided to cheer for the Bay Stars, even though they generally suck... And it was pretty much our only choice since all the seats in the visiting team's section was pretty much sold out!

So if you saw my last post, you know I had to get me some of that!! lol I got some fries and BBQ chicken, cause the alternatives were some bento boxes with rice balls or noodles!

The Bay Stars actually did great today!! They actually started with 2, 3 home runs while the other team had 0 throughout. Even the other fan sitting behind us were like, "Wow, we are on a roll today. This is so unusual!!" They kept making comments about how unbelievable it was lol, and I was just thinking, "Jeez, they must really suck if even their fans are in disbelief that their team is in the lead". 

Well if you guys know anything about Japanese baseball games, then you'd know all about the fans. They make songs for each player on the team and sing/chant for them when they are batting (trumpets, drums and huge flags included). It's just such a fun and lively atmosphere that anyone can enjoy the game even if you don't really know what's going on =). 

This upcoming week is Golden Week, and pretty much everyone is going to be off for the week! Fun times await us as prices go up for vacation deals and everything's booked up and over crowded =P. I hope you are all enjoying your weekend!

Spring in Kyoto

I totally missed hanami (cherry blossom viewing....or rather having a picnic under a cherry blossom tree with friends who mostly get wasted lol) this year. So when my best friend from elementary invited me to visit her this past spring break, I was happy to know that I could still get a chance to at least go see the cherry blossom trees in Kyoto.

The weather started out real badly, it had rained the whole previous day as well. But by the time we got to her work place (That's right. She gets to work by this beautiful garden everyday. How peaceful...) the rain started to stop and the sun even came out briefly once in a while.

That's obviously her hand lol.

Someone at her job made these and were just outside (drying?) but it looked so pretty so I snapped a shot. 

I went to see a traditional Japanese dance performance later that day with my best friend who got some great tickets.

Those special tickets included some Japanese sweets and tea. The maikos, as seen in this picture, served us some tea! I'm not much of a fan of Japanese sweets (toooooo sweet) but we got to keep the little plate as a souvenir.

That was the stage, which also extended to the sides. It had some trap doors lol, it was hilarious and unexpected to see them pop up or disappear. I enjoyed the show so much. The colors, make up, kimonos,... it was really beautiful. 

Please tell me I'm not the only one who got hungry reading that bus stop's name, lol =P

Anyway, I'm still anxiously waiting for warmer weather... I hope the weather is a lot better wherever you are<3

Too soon to be thinking about summer?

 I can't believe so much time has passed since I went to Guam! I think it was 2011?! Well the weather here in Tokyo keeps going up and down. One second you think spring is finally coming and next thing you know the lows are back to the 40s and the weather is all rainy or cloudy. I kinda just wish we could get past this transitional time and jump right into summer! I miss the beach, the weather, the time off... I think I need another vacation =P.