Cloud 9 Nails

Before I became a mommy, I used to get my nails done all the time. Acrylic nails were a part of my bi-weekly ritual. For the first couple days after getting my nails done, I would find myself staring at them. Stuck in traffic? Look at my pretty nail polish. Talking on the phone? Stare at the sparkle of my colored nails. I thought there would never come a time where I would stop getting my nails done... or at the very least, having them painted!

When I got pregnant, the trips to the nail salon were one of the first unnecessary expenses to go.

When I had my daughter, painting my nails went by the wayside. Didn't have the time to sit and wait for my nails to dry while my baby cried or crawled or toddled around or flung baby food at the cat.

Now that my little girl is three, we can paint our nails together. Unfortunately, every nailpolish that I could afford and find easily would begin to chip within the day. Even my favorite OPI colors!

I let kiddo pick out a color for us to paint our nails when we went to Target recently. Sinful Colors had many different colors to choose from and was pretty cheap at $2.49 compared to OPI and Sally Hansen. She picked out this shimmery orange-peel color named Cloud 9.

We painted her toes and my fingernails with this summery, orange-ade color. Color goes on sheer so to get a deeper color just keep adding layers. Dry time was about the same as most nailpolishes.

The result: sunshine on our nails! I have to admit, I have been staring at my finger nails again.

Five days later, the polish is beginning to chip. Just around the tips, nothing major. For a cheap, long-lasting, at-home manicure, I would absolutely recommend Sinful Colors. We've already been scouting out our next nail polish color, which is looking like it will be 'Beautiful Girl'.

Gotta love those pink colors!

*Moment4Mommy hasn't received any compensation for this review.

Lemon Pasta For Dummies

I am not a chef. In fact, I am not much of a cook. There is a handful of things that I can make well. That very short list includes baked ziti, lasagna, tuna casserole and shepherd's pie. I make some mean vegetarian tacos and a pretty decent macaroni salad. See a common thread there?

Pasta. Noodles. They are pretty much a staple of almost every meal that I make at home. Thankfully, I have a three year old, who loves noodles or as she calls them depending on the presentation "noon-els" or "sketties".

We don't have central air in our home. We have individual air conditioning window units in our bedrooms and family room. So needless to say, it get very hot in our house in the summer months. Too hot to cook or stay in our balmy kitchen for very long.

One sticky, stiflingly hot night, I was throwing together some things to spice up a regular bowl of noodles for dinner. The result was pretty darn tasty. Kiddo licked her plate clean then told me that that was "the best dinner ever".

I know the idea of Lemon Pasta is nothing new, but this is my version. This one is best for the cooking-challenged mama's out there! I thought I'd share this super easy concoction.

Lemon Pasta

Spaghetti Noodles (about 6 oz. dry, uncooked)
One Lemon
Parsley Flakes
Nature's Seasons
Garlic Powder

I cook the noodles till they are al dente. I like a little bite to my "sketties". Drain the starchy water.

Cut lemon in half. Squeeze the juice of half the lemon onto the noodles. Stir.

Add Nature's Seasons to your pots o'noodles. I cover the top of them with the seasoning which seemed to be the perfect amount. Add two pinches of garlic powder. It is important to not go overboard on it. Stir.

Add LOTS of parsley flakes. Honestly, do it to your own tastes. I'm a parsley fiend and have been known to snack on fresh parsley. If you aren't as big a fan then add less of it.

If you have some parmesan cheese, I'd top it with some. I have yet to try that, but it just sounds yummy together.

There you have it. One delicious and SIMPLE summer dinner.