I love this time of year! I am not a fan of hot weather at all. I love cool crisp days. The weather has not quite turned yet here in sunny Northern California, but I hope it will soon. Joby’s Nail Stickers come in a variety of fun designs. These Halloween themed stickers, are great for the nail art challenged like me!

Joby Halloween Nail Stickers over Orly's Velvet Rope

The stickers applied very easily. I applied a quick dry top coat over them to ensure that they stayed put.

Joby Halloween Nail Stickers

Overall Beauty currently has these on sale for $1.25 a sheet. These nail decals are a bit of inexpensive and easy Halloween fun

**Please note, these decals were sent to me by Overall Beauty as part of my Glitter Gal giveaway. However, as always I will give you my honest opinion of any product**

This year for our anniversary/summer vacation my husband and I decided to go to Portland, OR. I had read that is was a great destination for bike riding, craft brews and excellent and abundant vegetarian food. Wow, what’s not to like?!? Those are things that both of us love!

Jessica and Ryan at Multnomah Falls

Portland turned out to be everything we hoped for! The city and surrounding areas were so green. I can’t believe how many tree pictures I took in the space of a week. This Californian was totally in awe of the lush vegetation! The food, cycling and tasty IPA were all better than I had dared hope. As far as nail polish goes, I was very restrained that week. I only bought one bottle at one at Whole Foods – a glittery purple by No Miss. Purple Xtasy practically jumped into my shopping basket I should have a swatch posted in the next few days. It is pretty sheer, so I will be showing it layered with another color.

What are your plans for this summer? Did you pick-up any polish along the way?

Jessica and Ryan on Mt. Hood

No Miss Purple Xtasy

On June the 29th my husband and I got to tour NASA Ames’ Sustainability Base! This new building is really cool. It was designed to use water and energy very efficiently, and includes many recycled (and even some reclaimed) materials. Good stuff!

Sustainability Base at NASA Ames Research Center

The building is oriented to maximize the use of natural light. It also uses photo voltaic power, LED lighting and skylights. In addition it has systems to greatly reduce the use of potable water (projected to reach 90% reduction in potable water use).  The building is LEED Certified Gold, although the goal is to become Platinum certified (the highest rating).

Sustainability Base makes use of an exoskeleton in its design

Native and drought tolerant plants were used for the landscaping (they will be irrigated using recycled water from the building). The building is supported by an exoskeleton (the exoskeleton  echos NASA’s wind tunnel design and in conjunction with flexible building connectors is excellent for seismic safety).

Me and Mr. Playing with Polish in the required hardhats!

Inside Sustainability Base

The building is cooled using a radiant cooling system in the ceiling (uses naturally cool water pumped from the adjacent field). Moving water for climate control is much more energy efficient than air. Radiators under the windows provide efficient heating. The windows are oriented to maximize penetration of natural light, and provide every occupant with an outside view. Skylights on the second floor provide further natural lighting. LED and compact fluorescent lights provide efficient supplemental lighting as needed. Windows are energy efficient, and employ glazing technology from the Apollo missions! They also open to allow fresh air flow which reduces the need for cooling (the bottom windows are can be opened by occupants while the top windows are controlled by computers using temperature sensors). The carpeting is recycled and recyclable, and the tiles are modular so they can be replaced if one becomes damaged. They are low VOC along with the paint and other building materials. Vents in the floor allow the building to intake fresh air overnight. I was amazed at how fresh the building smelled!

View of the iconic Hanger One and the field where the cooling water is stored

Here is a beautiful view from the open workspace (the workspace was designed to foster collaboration).

Last week in my graphic design class our assignment was to add creative captions to an image. One of the other students had an image of broccoli as a “cancer fighting ninja!” I commented that it looked tasty even though I was not a big fan of broccoli. Later she sent me a link Broccoli For Jessica – how cool is that?!? As a habitual broccoli avoider I was a bit skeptical, but I did want to avail myself of the “ninja’s” cancer fighting powers. So I went out and got myself a bunch. Yummy! My mom would be so proud! Here I am eating a whole bowl of broccoli without any coercion!

Yummy Broccoli?

Two days ago Chaosbutterfly made by day by giving Playing With Polish the Sunshine Award and the Happy 101 Award

Rules:

1. Save the image above and post it on your own blog.
2. Pass the award on to 12 fellow bloggers.
3. Link the nominees
4. Let nominees know they have won this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person you received this award from.

Rules:

1. Post who gave you this award
2. State 10 things you like
3. Give this award to 10 other bloggers and notify them with a comment

Ten things I like

1. My wonderful husband

2. Samwise and Princess Leia (our kitties)

3. Friends

4. Nail polish

5. Diamonds/jewelry

6. Nature & walking in the hills near our house

7. Reading

8. The internet

9. Taking pictures

10. Learning

I am sending the Sunshine Award and the Happy 101 Award to (in no particular order):

1. Carinae L’etoile’s Nail Polish Swatches

2. Sparkled Beauty

3. Linnie’s Favorites

4. Polish Me Happy

5. Also Known As…

6. Fleur’s Nails & Stuff

7. Beautopia

8. Parokeets

9. Nail Story

10. Tassa’s Blog

11. Fashioned in Finland

12. Chromatic Misadventures

We are generally spoiled with fantastic weather, but the past week has been rainy and grey. This morning I woke-up to a bright sunny day. Ahhhhhh! My husband doesn’t usually start work until 11:00, so we decided to eat a quick breakfast and go on a short hike. The hills were a riot of wild flowers and vibrant green grass! With the exception of a little mud it was honestly perfect! I was enjoying myself so much, that I did not think to snap any pictures until the hike was almost over (this is the best one). Ask anyone who knows me – I am not a morning person. Still I have to say there are few better ways to start the day than basking in nature’s beauty with my love

Sunny hillside path