One Year Blogiversary (Already??): Highlights From My First Year

I can't believe this! I knew it was coming up soon, but didn't realize that today was the day until I looked back at my first post. Lucky catch huh? I'd feel terrible if I forgot my blog's birthday. I'm going to celebrate by taking a look back at my 10 favorite manicures/posts of... all time. I also want to say thank you to everyone who's read/commented/chatted with me this first year. It really means a lot to me! Blogging can be tough sometimes but the love of polish and support from all you wonderful ladies keeps it fun.

*Disclaimer- this is much harder than it sounds. I ended up picking 25 posts that I had to narrow it down from. There are so many that I loved, but I ended up choosing posts from milestones in my year that were important to me. I hope you enjoy! If you have a favorite I didn't mention let me know.

10. Purple & Stripes, Jan 29

I had just started using my light box and I was super proud that these turned out almost as good as The Nailasaurus who is a blogging and striping tape goddess. I don't love some of my earlier work, but I still think these look great from only a month into my blogging career.

9. Vintage Rose Skittles, July 18

I call these my Pinterest nails. They just look like the kind of nails I see pinned to so many boards. I love the colors and patterns together which doesn't always happen when I do skittles.


Read on to see my picks for top 8:

8. Jiggly Puff, February 23

When I was just starting out I wanted to get more involved in the nail community and didn't know how so I jumped in by joining challenges. A few at the same time. Too many, probably! The Pokemon Nail Challenge was my first and I regret to say I never finished all the prompts. I'll always be glad I did it though because I met some awesome girls who share my nerdy love of Pokemon. And my Jiggly Puff came out so cute and angry.

7. The Witcher Nails, September 18

One of my goals for the year was to paint nerdy nails which should have translated to a lot of video game nails. I didn't do as many as I wanted because blogging about/thinking about/painting nails has taken up so much of my free time. I'm hoping next year will be a year of much gaming and painting nails inspired by it.

 6. Peacock Feather Nails, April 14

Not much to say here- I just really liked these.

5. Steampunk Nails, April 9

These were done as part of The Crumpet's Laid Back 31 Day Challenge. I actually stuck this one out and completed every prompt- on time even. I really like how it pushed me to be more creative and made me try out new techniques sooner than I might have on my own. This particular day was texture and I put my own spin on it by gluing lots of textured bits to my nails rather than using a textured polish.

4. Cupcakes!, August 18

Because they're so darn cute. And I got better at dotting and free hand painting with nail polish.

3. Nail Foils, September 2

These foils were so much fun to play with and I really enjoy trying new products and techniques. I tend to get bored quickly so unfortunately even the products I love get pushed to the back of the helmer. I'm going to try so hard to break these out again soon. I want to do some testing to see if I have a top coat that will leave my foils unwrinkled.

2. Meme Week, June 9-15

This was a really big accomplishment for me! I came up with the idea for this challenge and then did a somewhat successful job of planning and carrying it out. Quite a few people got involved and my meme week posts have some of my highest page views. I'm already starting to plan Meme Week 2014 so if you missed last year and love memes watch out for round two next summer.

1. The Time My Nails Perfectly Matched My Outfit, April 16

These weren't very complicated or hard to paint but I love matching so much that I picked them as my number one. I would have worn that skirt every day until I took this mani off, but people at work probably would have noticed. Add this to my list of goals for next year- nails that perfectly match my outfits.

It's crazy how fast a year can pass. I'm really looking forward to doing this same post for my next blogiversary. If there's something you'd like to see more of next year let me know. I always love hearing from you guys. <3