Summer Challenge Day 12 - Favorite Beach Memory

Day 12 (July 23rd) of the Summer Challenge is Favorite Beach Memory - I actually had to think really hard about this one. I decided to recreate a memory from a beach that I live near. It's not on the ocean, but on a very large lake (Lake Erie) which looks, feels, and behaves a lot like an ocean. It has waves, dunes, and fish. When I was younger, it was a very popular place to be. Back when my husband and I were dating, we went there a lot. But we stopped going because the lakefront has become less well-groomed over the past few years and we have very little time for that sort of thing, anyway.

But, I have to say, there is nothing like sitting on a beach listening to the waves crashing and watching a sunset when your life feels like it is has been turned upside-down. It is so relaxing and soothing. My husband and I have been through some exceptionally tough times over the past few years. It has been very hard. So last year, we returned to the beach, for some much-needed relaxation and peaceful alone-time. We walked up and down the shore, picked up beach glass, and then sat down on a big piece of driftwood and watched the sunset over the lake. It was beautiful, and just what we needed to take our minds off of everything else. I dug around and found a picture from that night, and tried to recreate this pretty lake sunset on my nails.

This is one of my favorite summer memories because it is sad...but hopeful. Life isn't always easy and sometimes the hardest times are the ones that you look back on and see how very special they were. They are always times when you grow and learn, and can reflect upon. This was around the time of our wedding anniversary last year - 9 years and we have been up and down and all around. And all the while our relationship grows. Its hard to believe sometimes that we have been through so much and always stuck together. Well, I hope you like my memory and I didn't make you sad! I just thought I would explain why this particular sunset was so special. :)

So what do you think? I stated out with a new polish I've been wanting to use from Julep called Daphne, then I did the craziest gradient I have ever done with Julep Daphne, Julep Jessica, Revlon First Class, NYC Taxi Yellow Creme and Zoya Arizona. Yeah - all those - in one gradient. Heehee. Then, I painted on the sun and the reflection on the water using a mixture of Pure Ice Super Star!and Zoya Arizona. After that, I used a chocolate brown from Finger Paints to draw the shore. I really like how this one turned out - like I have a little masterpiece on my nails. :)

Here is Julep Daphne all by itself. 

Just as an aside, because I try to be honest about my experiences with polishes in my posts, this polish was completely horrid to apply. It was worse than Mandy. It is supposed to be a quick dry polish, and the problem is that it dried too quickly, so quickly that it was horribly streaky and as I tried to paint the second coat, it just dragged off the first coat. It was so thick, I also had a lot of problems with bubbles in it which I do not usually have an issue with. The only thing I like about this polish is the color, which is a bummer because the awful formula means I will probably never wear it...unless I can get it to improve with some thinner. ;) So, there you have it - my brutally honest opinion. Thank goodness I didn't pay for this. I have had some really bad luck with this brand. Anyway, I hope you like this mani - I worked very hard on it just for you!

Thank you so much for looking! A full outline of the challenge can be found here. Please be sure to check out the other participants in this challenge, too!

1. Theodora from Red Hair and Black Nail Polish
2. Kaki from GlitterObsession
3. Cuti-CLUE-les
4. Whimsical Glam
5. Sue from Creative Nail Design by Sue
6. Sangy from Lipgloss Affairs
7. Taya from Taya
8. Kelly from Adventures in Nail Art
9. Diana from Nails by Diana
10. Alexis Leigh from -XOXO Alexis Leigh
11. Namira from Namira Rahman
12. Chiro from Nail of This Week
13. IsaBella at IsaBella's World
14. Beautilicious Blogger
15. Nikki from Little Green Heart
16. Peace Love and Polish