J.Crew Ad: Publicity Stunt? or Pure Innocence?

OK, so I've really fallen off the horse and it would seem that my passion for sharing life through colored nails is not a priority. Truth is, laziness and a bit of low self-esteem has gotten the better of me. However, I continue to adorn my piggies in all colors and have no shame in displaying my set of nails for the world to see. Proudly, they are quite well done and even nicer than most of my lovely female counterparts, including my loving wife. The weather has been depressingly awful and frigid, which also compounds on my lack of motivation to write in my blog.

New issues that I've encountered and this is likely old news to anyone on the up and up of the nail blog cosmo is the controversial ad by J. Crew this month. Their president and designer Jenna Lyons was photographed painting her cute son's toenails pink. "OMG! WTF?!" the conservative crowd cried. Boy, the controversy this stirred up is mind bloggling. Surely it was an innocent moment that a loving mother was sharing with her son on a lazy weekend but the firestorm it ignited was ridiculous. Being guilty of indulging in nail lacquer as a grown "normal" man, I saw no wrong in that ad. I don't believe that boy will become gay or be psychologically or emotionally destroyed as even a psychiatrist pointed out on national television. How unprofessional of him to place his own bias and self righteous attitude to create a "professional" opinion about this matter. I honestly felt glad and happy to see such an ad. I printed it and have it posted in my office corkboard. I wanted to write her a letter of support but couldn't figure out where to send it. I guess I could just send it to J. Crew and hope that she receives it. It seems silly to ask any of you who reads this what they think since I would only expect support for Mrs. Lyons. If I had a son, would I paint his toenails too, like I paint my daughters' nails? I would do it only if he wanted me to and my wife agreed. The big question is: should I do it when I know that he can't make a mature, adult decision on it? If he did want it, he'd only want to be more like daddy and everyone else in our family (who are girls). I probably would if he wanted it so send me to Hell for feminizing my (theoretical) boy.

Be mine! I heart you! Kiss me!

Cupid was quite industrious buzzing around taking aim at many hearts last night seeing that many eateries were packed with eager hearts and hungry bellies. It occurred to me late last week that I should probably get reservations and by then the hours between 5pm and 830pm were booked at all upscale places. I toil until late on Mondays anyway and so it wasn't a big deal to have a late dinner with my wife, lover, and mother of our beautiful girls. We took our time savoring all the dishes in the Valentine's dinner special. New place for us and we were pleasantly surprised.

I hope yesterday went well with everyone and I'm guessing most of us lacquered men had fun wearing a strong red for the occasion. I certainly did ensure that this past week a red snuck in my rotation of colors.

Though any day is good for pretty nails, I make an effort to pair themes to many occasions. Red is very sexy and it fits occasions like yesterday and the holidays in December. Christmas shined brightly with a red sparkle number named Hulu Heels by Orly. Green is not my color but would fare well for this holiday as well as for St. Patrick's day. For fourth of July I like to wear blue and I'm considering a small patriotic decal for this year. Red, blue, and white over many toes seems a bit much for me but it could work for others. Halloween is fun and the standard black plays in. This year I hope to do pumpkin toes and find a spooky sparkly orange to wear. If I'm still here, Halloween is always too cold and the kids have to wear large coats over their costumes. Those ghouly toes will have to be contained in boots. No fun! What would one wear for Thanksgiving day? Black I suppose would do the pilgrims justice. Any other holidays? Easter with a pastel color. Mother's day with a warm, nurturing tone like pink. Birthday? Any color you want!

New year 2011

Summer and a chilly fall came and went SO fast. I've been quite distraught. New job; girls are growing fast and ever more beautiful; wife and I are ticking along with the usual ups and downs. She still struggles with the girly me but acceptance and my charm is winning over her.

My piggies have to stay warm but I sneak them out for quick yogurt shop runs or supermarket sprees in flip flops. Burr! The snow will only get worse as the winter swells. They did get a break during our recent trip to Arizona but without a snowy day at the end. Snow among Sahuaro Cacti?! Quite picturesque.

I am currently wearing Ruby Heels from China Glaze. It is a fabulous silver glittery red that I thought would express my holiday cheer and secure me a spot on Santa's good boy list. My pedicure skills have developed well. I find that the lacquer extends a fortnight unscathed. My right fourth piggy tends to chip first, followed by its smaller playmate. It's consistent and odd. It must be related to my swagger. Ha! Compulsion drives me to multiply my layers of color and topcoat which I attribute to their lasting power.

My routine fluctuates directly with my schedule. The most naked my toes have been over the past year was close to 3 weeks. It's all I could endure. Believe that I tried to quit this obssessive, eccentric habit. My condition has worsened, I'm afraid, and now on occasion, the chromatic fever has spread to my fingernails beyond the clear or pink-hued tones. My knuckly digits and veiny hands betray the pretty in my glossy nails. Nevertheless, it's fun when I get around to it. It's a challenge to keep fingernails from chipping from everyday living. Those are active high contact little guys.

I wish you all the best in this upcoming year.

There Are Others

Now that the snow is quickly defrosting into a muddy slush, those sheltered warm feet are crawling out from their winter haven shoes. It's refreshing to see decorated toes again wrapped in stylish sandals or plain flip flops. Flower decals are a sweet touch. I'm jealous that girls have much more fun with dressing. Not a second thought is given when their toes have flair but boy are brows raised when I wear mine. Girls, you are blessed and be glad.

Last week I was dragging feet at work when I spotted an ultra shiny set of nails in silver. Only this time they belonged to a rather manly of a man. He was dressed casual with jeans and an untucked shirt, pacing as he spoke on his cell phone. He lacked hair and looked rather intimidating. Cage fighter on the weekends? He must have been discussing the pay outs from the last brawl. I'd wet my pants if I found myself cornered against that rusty bloodied fence and his fists charging. Kudos for him

TOMS Without Shoes- Made It!

I was pleased to have gotten off work early and find that the day was super pleasant and warm, especially after a recent snowfall. I picked up my youngest daughter and brought her to the park where the TOMS crew was present. There were a group of about 40 people and as expected the majority was composed of young teens and college kids. Having come directly from work, I was the only one in (sharp) business attire walking through the downtown area to help raise awareness for the TOMS benevolent cause. Though the trek was short, this was likely the most distance I've travelled barefoot. Ever. To think that hundreds of thousands of people don't have shoes to walk with is just sad and I'm glad that I have made a small contribution. My daughter joined me hand in hand on the walk and did great. I didn't have to carry her and I'm proud. She's too young to grasp the idea behind this silly hike to the mall. We'll discuss it over dinner.

There was a local band that played and hot spiced apple cider awaiting us at the store. They've sold over 6000 pairs of TOMS shoes and therefore have directly contributed 6000+ pairs of shoes to needy children. In fact, the owner of the store has been invited to Argentina to help deliver those donations directly. Shoes and giveaways topped off the energetic event but sadly I did not win anything.

I did take advantage of this event to show off my little piggies in Sally Hansen NO CHIP 10 day Nail Color in Tenacious Ruby. It's just the perfect vivacious red to prance about and welcome the sandal season. I borrowed my wife's swirly toe ring (which annoys her to no end. Please!) and as you noticed, I no longer try to conceal my poor injured toe. I now embrace it more openly and even accent it. I feel much happier in my own pathetic way.

I hope some of you were able to also participate and I'd love to hear how other cities performed on this day. My soles are so dang dirty that I'm running off to wash them.

TOMS One Day Without Shoes

I've been on hiatus from many things besides my blog. The weather, though balmier, is still restrictively cold. I frequently receive e-mails from TOMS headquarters and this last one caught my attention. As many of you know (all handful of you from my blog), TOMS is a charity that gives shoes to needy children in developing countries. On this April 8th, they are organizing what sounds like their 2nd nationwide event to have the privileged (that's right: us) experience for themselves what it's like to be without protection for our pampered, sheltered soles. Sure, some of us are tough and choose to be barefoot all the time but I'd venture to guess that's a minority. Rain or snow, it's happening. It snowed today and skies should be clear for thursday.

If you've been waiting all winter to finally break free and show off your pretty manly toes, here's the perfect excuse to do it and help raise awareness in your community for a charitable cause. For more information, check out: www.onedaywithoutshoes.com and look for an event in or near your town.

The above picture is taken from their website. One does what one can when dire situations fall upon you. Creative way to make shoes. Bravo!

Our local event starts with a short walk at 3pm. Logistically, it's going to be hard to pull it off since I'm at work miles away. Does this make me a bad person if I'm announcing it but not making a sacrifice to participate? I'll certainly be there at heart. I'll let you know what happens. I'm a bit of a slave right now and like I've mentioned before, I'm moving on to bigger and better things this summer and hope to regain control of my life. 3pm? Who planned this? It could be because the temperature drops precipitously in the evening and no one would show up? Wasn't the point to suffer a bit?

Sad Recovering Piggies

Happy New Year to everyone! I've dragged along this winter and I'm in the middle of getting a new job. February is just around the corner and a good thing since warmer weather is near. I can only hope. This transition period has been rough and I've finally gotten out and went snowboarding this past weekend. I have a trip to Vail, Colorado soon which should be revitalizing. I was just in Anaheim near Disneyland but it rained the whole time. Good thing I didn't take the whole family with me and spent a thousand or more to fly into gloomy weather. My girls would've still gone to Disneyland in rain coats.

I haven't had lacquered toes for a while now. The very end of that nail yellowing is slowly growing out. Ever notice how toenails grow slower in the winter? I've thought about this problem and I think that maybe it's the nail remover (acetone) that damaged the nail so much. Nail polish all the time certainly doesn't help. I did purchase a non-acetone remover but didn't use it much. It was oily and dissolved the paint slower. I'll have to dig it up and show you. It might be gentler on the nail. I will also try to give my toes somewhat of a break in between colors but that's SO hard to do. Even if the weather was better, I'd be embarrassed to show my toes at this point. They are still nicely pampered and polished. Let me know your thoughts on nail polish removers and acetone vs. non-acetone.

I will try to make better efforts to write. I will reveal something that will likely shock most of you but I'll save it until March or April, when I start painting my toes again and showing those piggies off in a new way.