I’m excited to announce that I’m looking for blog interns to help me make A Girl Named PJ into a smarter, stylish, more robust lifestyle blog. To be honest, I’m also a little bit nervous because — OMG — what if nobody wants to work with me?
I’m good enough. I’m smart enough. And doggone it, people like me.
Ok, so here are the areas where I need help… READ MORE!
It’s been two weeks since my Paintbox manicure in New York City, and my foil-tipped nails still look great. That’s the beauty of a gel manicure. When done correctly, it can last anywhere between 10 to 21 days — or so I’ve heard. Mine have never actually lasted a full three weeks.
The downside of a gel manicure (if there is one) is that you can’t switch up your polish colors at will. It’s a process to safely remove the color so you don’t damage your natural nails, and obviously, the whole point of investing in gel is for it to be long lasting!
However, after a couple of weeks of wearing the same manicure, I start to get a little bit . . . bored. I love experimenting with nail polish and nail art, and after falling down the Pop Sugar rabbit hole recently, I’m dying to try these 10 minimalist nail art ideas that are perfect for fall.
Which of these straight-from-the-runway manicures do you like best?
1. Sally Hansen Arm Candy and Dark Hue-mor at Tanya Taylor Spring 2016
2. Essie at Nanette Lepore Fall 2015
3. Essie In the Lobby, Devil’s Advocate, and Matte About You at Wes Gordon Spring 2016
4. Essie All Eyes on Nudes and Clambake at Veronica Beard Spring 2016
5. Butter London at Tadashi Shoji Fall 2015
6. JINsoon Tulle, Risque, Tea Rose, and Doux at Tibi Spring 2016
7. Essie Topless & Barefoot, Limo-Scene, and Set in Stones at Naeem Khan Spring 2016
8. Christian Louboutin at Cushnie et Ochs Fall 2015
9. KISS and Broadway Nails at Erin Fetherston Fall 2015
10. Caption Polish Look, Don’t Touch and Heaven Help Me at Nanette Lepore Spring 2016
PS – How to do color blocked nails at home.
If you dropped by my house at 1 PM, you’d notice something peculiar: Silence.
In the early afternoon, my home is finally, blissfully quiet. Levi’s at preschool, Asa’s been asleep for an hour, and the dog’s curled up on the sofa cushion.
After I eat my lunch, I usually grab a seat on the couch next to Briscoe and open up my laptop to work on a blog post or schedule some social media updates. My window of uninterrupted silence typically lasts only two hours, so there’s pressure to make the most of it.
However, between my post-lunch food coma, my chronic motherhood-induced exhaustion, and the cozy quietness of the afternoon, all I always want to do is snuggle up under a throw blanket for a nap. Every day I have to decide: Do I drink coffee or take a nap?
Since I don’t have the luxury of an eight-hour work day, I have to take advantage of any pockets of quiet time I can find. But as a sleep-deprived mother of two, I’m desperate to catch up on my zzz’s. A well-rested mom is a less cranky mom.
What would you do? Nap or pour yourself another cup of coffee?
(Yes, I realize this a very specific problem for work-at-home or stay-at-home moms. Unless you work in an office that encourages you to nap under your desk, many of you have no choice but to chug coffee when your cortisol levels start to drop.)
Science says nap. According to research, napping can improve perceptual learning, procedural motor skill, and verbal memory more than 200mg of caffeine can — as long as you’re asleep for 60 to 90 minutes. That’s a long time when you’re being haunted by a never-ending to-do list.
A power nap lasting 10 to 30 minutes is your next best bet, but it has to be timed just right. If you sleep past 30 minutes but wake up before a full hour, you risk sleep inertia, or grogginess, that can last several hours. And if you nap too late in the afternoon, you can throw off your circadian rhythm, making it harder to fall asleep that night.
Meanwhile, coffee will make you feel more physically awake but “may not be an adequate substitute for the memory enhancements of daytime sleep,” according to the study. In other words, caffeine may prevent your eyelids from shutting, but your Toasted Graham Latte won’t necessarily improve your ability to crunch numbers or string sentences together.
When I’m no longer able to keep my eyes open or concentrate on my work, I try a “coffee nap” — drinking a cup of coffee and then setting my iPhone alarm for a 15-minute nap. In a series of studies, sleep researchers in England found that coffee naps were more effective than cold air, a short nap, a break with no nap, or a 10-ounce cup of strong coffee. The idea is that the caffeine, which takes about 20 minutes to kick in, will start having its physiological effects just as you are waking up.
The key is, of course, to fall asleep before the caffeine starts doing its job. And since I tend to sip rather than gulp my coffee, I often end up reaping the benefit of just the caffeine and not of the actual daytime sleep. Which isn’t the worst thing in the world, I suppose, except that blog posts hard much harder to write when I can’t remember what it is I wanted to say.
How do you stay awake when you start feeling sleepy during the day?
PS – These are the two best times of day to drink coffee.
I like to think I’m someone who stays up-to-date on style trends. For example, I know that every fashion blogger will be photographed wearing high-waisted flare jeans and dark berry lip stain on their Instagram feeds this fall.
So I was kind of shocked when I recently learned that I missed one of the biggest hair trends this summer… READ MORE!
This weekend’s link roundup includes two fun quizzes, a calming breathing exercise, the perfect fall outfit, some thoughts on making friends, and more!
… READ MORE!
