#PrayForBoston

I can't imagine what state of mind a human must be in to harm innocent people in mass quantities. It's not a personal vendetta against someone who hurt you, its a plan to go out and inflict pain on men, women and children you have never met. To kill people...without regard to human life. I don't understand.

We can blame it on the lack of proper care and attention to our mental health system (which is true), but there is something inherently dark and evil in these people who perform these acts, how can you inflict so much pain, not only to the innocent people directly involved, but their families, their neighbors, their town's and this country that suffers so much already? The people who do these things, bring pain into the hearts of AN ENTIRE COUNTRY with mindless actions. And they always hit where it hurts the most, at a time when we celebrate, at our schools and our churches, at times and places where there should only be joy, and they are forever marred by sadness.

Pray for Boston today, and remember Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, Columbine, 9/11....keep those victims in your heart today too, because every time this happens it's a sad reminder to the families and friends of the victims of every other massacre in our time. Just pray today. 

How to Apply Jamberry Nails

Application Instructions

To apply Jamberry, you need just a few tools:
A blow dryer or personal mini heater
cuticle pusher
scissors
nail clippers
nail file
alcohol wipes or nail polish remover (without moisturizers)

Instructions:
-Prep you nails like you would for any normal manicure. Push back your cuticles, file and shape your nails.
-Clean unpolished nails with alcohol or nail polish remover
-open your Jamberry Nails package and match the nail (finger or toe) to the wrap that best fits. It should not touch any of your skin. If the wrap doesn't perfectly fit your nail you can cut it down, but a smaller wrap will stay on much longer if it doesn't touch any skin.
-Peel nail wrap off clear backing and warm with blow dryer or mini heater for 3-5 seconds or until the shield becomes soft and flexible. You will begin to see this change pretty quickly. If you over heat the wrap, it will curl up on its self and become unusable.
-When warm, press the wrap onto the nail. Smooth down the center of your nail with a cuticle pusher, then smooth down the sides.
-apply firm pressure around the edges to adhere the wrap to the nail.
-use cuticle pusher to seal the wrap around the base of the cuticle.
-trim the top with scissors and trim wrap to remove excess.
-apply heat and pressure to the wrap again until it is bonded to the nail. This is the best time to smooth out any bubbles with your cuticle pusher.
-Trim off any remaining excess wrap at the top of your nail with clippers. You can also file in a downward motion to smooth out the nail edge.

The Story of Jamberry Nails

The story of Jamberry Nails begins with three sisters. After an expensive afternoon together at the nail salon, Lyndsey, Christy and Keri vowed to find a simpler, more cost effective way to keep their hands looking polished, while still spending time together.

After lots of trial and error, Jamberry Nails launched in late 2010. The DIY, at-home application and incredible variety of designs caught on quickly and sales soared. A new era of nail art was born through in home parties and vendor fairs.
Our apply-at-home nail wraps are made from an innovative material, that doesn't chip, doesn't have to dry and doesn't require a trip to the salon.

• See the Application process on The Vine

• Jamberry Nail Shields, Nail Wraps - Buy Jamberry Nails
  Jamberry Nail Shields offers the hottest trend in fashion. Wrap your nails in over 250 different designs.

St. Louis in the Spring

Welcome to St. Louis, Missouri. The land of Bi-Polar weather.

In the last month we have experienced a snow storm that left 11 inches of snow on the ground, bitter cold, beautiful sunny 60 degree weather, Tuesday reached almost 80 degrees and last night a tornado hit dead center where I grew up and passed through my dad's neighborhood.  And this morning is a crisp 45  degrees.


Where the rest of the country has mostly packed up their winter clothes, we in St. Louis know better and our closets are overflowing with Winter, Spring and Summer clothes. Its not uncommon to experience all 4 seasons in a week this time of year and last nights storm was just the beginning of our crazy Spring weather.  Before we know it, the sweltering  110 degree weather with 100% humidity (and no rain mind you) will be upon us.


Here are some pics from last nights storm. Thankfully my neighborhood didn't experience any damage and all of my family and friends made it through ok.

St. Louis's Best Kept Shopping Secret

Today's post is about my work and the little hidden gem inside of our corporate office in Earth City. 

While our brands our internationally recognized, almost NO one in St. Louis knows that we have a store inside of our office that exclusively offers our Bronx, Diba True and Luichiny brands.

Let me give you a little tour:

When you walk in the door at 3630 Corporate Trail Drive, take a look to your right. You will see our current season selection of shoes along with some great accessories like hats, bags, wallets, jewelry etc. We often host events here and have a great program where you can host a shoe party.

That's right...an entire PARTY just about shoes!! 

You bring in some drinks and appetizers and your girlfriends and we provide the venue, music and great discounts on shoes!

Now here is the part that will make any shoe lover's heart melt. 

Take a deep breath.

Ready?

Our clearance room. It's not just any old clearance room, its a room filled to capacity with shoes and boots with a permanent discount of 4 pairs of shoes for $100 or 2 boots for $100.

 

 

I don't know why the word hasn't gotten out yet. I think the St. Louis ladies that know about Bronx Diba keep it a secret so that no one else has the same shoes as them. But the secret is out there now, so come give me a visit!

Stress

Everyone always tells me, Amanda you are so calm under stress.  Let me tell you the reality of the situation.

In the heat of the moment I can keep my shit together. I will figure out a way to get through the current situation and do my best to fix the problem....then I absolutely fall apart.

I messed up big time at work this morning. My inherited forgetfulness and inability to function in the morning, led me to forget a SUPER important task this morning, but I figured out a way to get through it and in the end everything was ok. But since exactly 9:24 this morning I have been completely stressed out, non functional and can't get it out of my mind. And because of the mood I am in, I haven't been able to be productive for the rest of the day.

I should have stayed in bed this morning.

Getting Crafty

I've always been a crafty person. I've tried it all: Scrapbooking, knitting, sewing, painting, drawing.... Since I am super broke right now I've been racking my brain for some side jobs and hobbys that I can do to put a little extra  cash in my pocket. And I think I found the answer. Along with selling my Jamberry Nails (PLUG: Check out my website here---they are amazing!, www.amandabrown865.jamberrynails.com, but more on that later), I think I am going to start restoring furniture!

A while back, I ended up with my great grandmothers old dresser when she passed away. It wasn't in the best shape, but it served its purpose. One summer, I had enough with how it looked and decided to restore it myself. I had NO idea what I was getting myself into and it was A LOT more work than I thought it would be, but to see how great it looked after I finished, it felt like a great accomplishment. And to top it off, for about $50 I had a whole new dresser!

 Here is the before. As you can see it is a pretty gross yellow color with chips and missing knobs. This pic doesn't do it justice for how horrible of shape it was in. The top was nothing but paint chips and one of the sides was about to literally fall off at any second. (how cute is my niece by the way? I'm corrupting her already with the shoes LOL)

 

Here is the finished project. I am still on the look out for the perfect replacement knobs, but it looks so much better than it did before!

 

So my goal this summer is to find hidden little treasures with so much potential and make a little business for myself! I'm so excited to see how it goes.

I came across this little project today, and I think it will be my first resoration! 

 

Do you have any little side jobs to bring in extra cash?

My Favorite Campaign images

We have had some REALLY Great images with our shoes over the last few years. Here are a few of my favorites.

20 years of friendship

I met my best friend when I was 5 years old.
We had just moved into our new house when these two girls came walking down the street. One girl yelled from across the street..." HI, Im Ali, do you want to come play?" and that was the beginning of it all. We survived school, moves, our parents divorces, babies, living together, boyfriends and so much more. Even though we don't see each other or talk as much as we probably should, we have some how made it through it all. 20 years later, my friend, is my sister and I can't imagine my life without her.

Happy birthday girl. I can't believe we are 25. Here's to another 20 years of double A nights and getting old together!