I guess you all noticed I hadn't updated in a long time and that this has been a reoccurring theme on my blog for the past months. There has been a LOT going on in blogland which has, quite frankly, taken the fun out of blogging for me for a while. I started this blog because I love nails and nailpolish and wanted to share this with anyone who was interested in reading my ramblings. Painting my nails is relaxing for me and even when my arthritis is flaring up and I can do very little else and even the most basic daily tasks are hard, fiddling around with polish is something I can do to relax and take care of myself and my appearance. Playing with colors makes me happy. Sharing this with you guys made me happy.
This blog however, stopped making me happy. It had become a big giant Thing on my ever growing To Do List of things I don't have time or energy for next to my everyday life. My heart wasn't in it anymore and painting my nails and playing with my polish became something that drained energy instead of giving it. Where blogging and polishing my nails used to be a fun addition to my life, it now was something that life got in the way of. It took me a while to realize I did that to myself.
I do not HAVE to blog, I like it. I do not HAVE to keep up with other blogs, I like it. I do not HAVE to blog solely about nails. No matter what my blog title says, it's MY blog. I do not HAVE to have to buy myself silly to get all the latest collections and quite frankly, I DON'T want to. I have no intention of ever going professional. I have no intention of ever joining any kind of bloggers union no matter how important they think they are. I do not have to get anyone's permission to post, say or do anything on my blog and no one needs to approve. I blog for me.
So, there are probably going to be some changes to my blog over the next few hours, days, weeks, months... Or not. I won't commit to anything because that takes the fun out of it for me. If you want to stick around for that; GREAT! I really appreciate you guys and the fact that you take time to read and even comment to my blogs. I can't promise I'll respond to every comment but I will read them all and please know I appreciate them.
On a positive note: I've found something else that makes me happy. I've been growing my hair out for the past two years and it's getting to a length where I can start to do fun stuff with it. I've joined a couple of long hair fora and learned a lot about haircare and ways to put your hair up and have found a new passion: making hair sticks and forks. This means you can expect the occasional post on haircare, updo's and new hair sticks and forks I made and I'll probably catalog my hair growth here too. I might even write a tutorial on how to make hair sticks if you guys are interested.
To end this Big Wall 'O Text, here are some pics of things that made me happy today:
OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui with a gold colored holographic glitter called Stardust from Wet Glaze.
A Lazy Wrap Bun with a couple of hair sticks I made.
My bento lunch! Anyone who can look at a bunny-shaped egg without smiling should have his funnybone checked.
On the left: fried rice with red pepper, garlic, courgette, peas and tauge, a soy sauce fishy and a bunny-shaped egg. On the right: mini pancakes (poffertjes), clotted cream, strawberry jam, a couple of mini roma tomatoes and some pistachios. Not the healthiest of bento's but it's perfect comfort food!
ETA: My comment system is spacing out on me. Hang in there, I'll see if I can fix it!
.JPG)
Somehow two replies to this post got deleted. I didn't delete them but my comment system is spacing out on me. Sorry!
I'll try to find out what went wrong and figure out a way to fix it.
Aly wrote this (I got it in my email but it's not on here, weird):
"Welcome back :-)! I understand the "I have to blog" thing and confess it happens to me too, sometimes. Write whatever you want, just enjoy it!
Personally I'm quite interested in hair & sticks, as I'm growing my hair (last cut in April, 2010) and would love to learn how to put them up, also with sticks (mine are bra-strap lenght now and I use to do a ponytail or a simpe braid)."
Thanks! I plan on bringing the fun back again and not getting sucked into the whole "have to post" thing.
I am not really set up to do tutorial videos but I can always post links to excellent YouTube videos done by others who are far more talented than I am.
Sticks are great to put your hair up! They hold like a rock and are not as damaging as barettes and elastic ponytail holders. You can make the most basic sticks with just a dowel from the hardware store, a carving knife, some sanding paper and *surprise* nail polish. I've been mucking about with it for weeks now and it's really fun to actually make something that lasts. Nail-art is fun but also very temporary. Sticks are forever.
When I wrote the message there were other two before mine, hope you received them, too!
Links would be useful, too :-) and now that you mentioned polish + sticks I am so eager to learn (just hope I can manage the carving knife)!!
Aly = maisenzasmalto (twitter name and blogger one)
Thanks Maisenzasmalto! I did read those comments but I wasn't able to recover them and I didn't catch the names. :(
If you don't feel comfortable using a carving knife you could also use regular bamboo or wooden chopsticks, cut them to the right size and paint those. Most people use sticks that are around 5-6".
I can't wait to see all the fun non-nail polish posts. I love learning new stuff, especially hair!
Oo i look forward to the hair styling posts too! My hair is ridiculously long right now and I never know what to do with it >.<
Those hair sticks are really gorgeous!
And *squee* the egg-bunny >.<
poffertjes!!!! oh how I miss holland! i visited family there a few years ago and eating poffertjes in delft is a very fond memory :)
can't wait to see what you have in store for your blog. honestly, i don't know why people put so much pressure on bloggers...you should do it because you have a passion for what you blog about not because you feel obligated....makes it no fun for the readers or for the bloggers. either way, i will continue to follow!
Ik ben niet zo'n reageerder ;) dus mss heb je me nog niet voorbij zien komen. Maar op deze post moet ik wel reageren.
Ik begrijp je heel goed, en ik zou ook zeker zeggen, niets moet en alles mag. Het gaat om wat jij wilt en waar jij gelukkig van wordt, toch? Ik geef je groot gelijk, en ik ben ook heel benieuwd naar je andere posts.
Ik blijf je volgen hoor, no matter what.
Wow wat een mooie kleur nagellak! En die bento box is geweldig! Hoe krijg je dat ei in de vorm van een konijntje??
Ziet er allemaal heerlijk uit, en wat leuk dat er poffertjes bij zitten, hmmmm.
Gelijk heb je, hou het gewoon leuk wanneer jij er zin in hebt. Hebt niets te maken met de rest toch?
Ik ben ook al maanden erg druk met werk en heb nauwelijks vrije tijd, dus ook ik post gewoon lekker whenever I feel like it!!
Ik ben nu wel benieuwd naar je haarlengte! Hihi
I can't wait to see how you make the hair sticks :)
I worked in Rotterdam for about 6 months and was introduced to poffertjes by a coworker. YUM! There are so many things I miss :(
As far as what/when you write... totally your choice and why I haven't written anything on my blog to date LOL. I have issues with commitment - lol
Enjoy it most of all!
OPI is coming out with a DUTCH collection!! Im so excited
Hi your hair looks lovely,like golden fairytale princess hair. My hair is very long reaching my hip bones. I' d really appreciate tips on making nice hairsticks. The ones you are wearing are beautiful. I love your posts on nail art and nail polish colours. I hope you'll feel good about blogging and just blog when you feel like it. I'm going to visit a relative in Amsterdam soon. She is a student at Gerrit Rietveld academy.I'm looking forward to experience Amsterdam , parakeets and poffertjes with her. xoxo fr Stockholm
I agree with your philosophy of blogging for yourself. I know I am pretty bad at it, but I enjoy it because no one else has my exact take on each polish. I think every blogger has something unique to contribute.
I enjoy your blog, you are doing a great job here. I like the fact that it is Dutch too! T are interesting.