My Christmas Coffee Set

Long time ago my brother's x-wife and me went to flea markets together, and once we visited one nearby her home I saw a nice cup with holly leaves on, and regretted I didn't buy it. I asked her if she could look for it the coming Sunday, because then it should be my special Christmas cup. I love Christmas, you know. She did, but unfortunately it was sold. Never regret what you didn't buy on flea markets. Well, about two months passed by and it became my birthday (26 November, in fact) and guess what she gave me:

Yep, a complete set for no less than 18 persons, which she had collected secretly during the months since I mentioned the cup I regretted not having bought. It was my best gift that year, and around 1 November I look forward to unpacking it, so I can enjoy it for two months and not only in December. And every year I think of my dear x-SiL.

Happy Birthday to Me

Today, I turn 29 for the 22nd time! :)

Monroe Monday

A Few Autumn Nails

Here are just a few autumn nails. Either I've forgotten to take photos or I didn't think it was worth showing, but here we go:

Here is a mani made with my fantastisk striping tape, which DH got for me from the car painter at his job. The broad tape was great cutting in with my funny scissors, even the cheap one worked well. It was a dream working with, it sat perfectly on the nails and didn't break when I took it off.

The golden polish is a mini from a no-name brand I bought at the local supermarket (containing gold, silver and bronze). The duo chrome dark brown is from Model's Own's Beetle Juice collektion and is named Pinky Brown.

I love my duo chrome polishes from Models Own during autumn. Here it is Golden Green with dots and an accent nail of the above mentioned dark brown polish:

Yes, I did this manicure last year too, but if you think it's nice then why not do it again. Here I have improved it a bit with the accent nail, so I could enjoy the beautiful duo chrome dark brown polish.

After I spotted Sally Hansen's Amber Ruby at Eva's blog Coewless, I simply HAD to own it, because it was simply so beautiful:

I could only find it in the US and of course I was unlucky that it was stopped in customs. Normally, the small padded envelopes never get caught in customs, so it became quite expensive, but it is worth it. Since it was close to Halloween, I made an autumn/Halloween combination with one black accent nail with spiders. I have also painted one layer of black polish as base (over my base coat of course), like Eva did. I have read before that a black base makes the duo chrome polishes really pop, and it truly did. But it is difficult to paint it nicely. Remember that a white base makes the neon polishes pop too.

Monroe Monday

Say Hello to Albert

Do you wanna meet Albert? Of course you do! :) Albert is an old fellow and the crown juwel in dad's collection of vintage vehicles. But why is he named Albert? Here is the story:

Albert is a Harley-Davidson from 1925, a very rare jubilee model, that were first officially released for sale in 1927-29, so some says that there max. are 10 left in the whole world. He is a beauty:

Let's look at some details - here is the nice tool box ("the lunch box") at the front of the handlebars:

And here is the simple engine that still runs impeccably - with some TLC from dad:

I love old speedometers:

A view from the tank:

The gear-change is at the tank and there is foot-clutch. Not many know how to drive like that today:

In 1971 we moved to the isle of Moen and dad heard the rumour of the fantastic vintage Harley, which an elderly gentleman would not sell - several had already tried. Dad went out to see it, he gave it some TLC, oiled it and started it and thus became friends with the nice old man - Albert. The engine had not run for at least ten years but dad started it with the old gasoline. Dad wanted to borrow it for a Harley meeting, since he thought it should drive and be shown, but Albert said that he should then register in his own name, since Albert himself was old. But dad didn't want to do that.

Time passed by and the friendship continued. I remember Albert became a kind of reserve grandpa for my siblings and I. He often came to dinner and we visited him until he could not recognize us anylonger. Finally, Albert said that dad could buy it, but since dad didn't have any money he had to refuse - although the price was only about 90 dollars. Dad just wanted to take good care of it and borrow it now and then. But Albert said that he could have it and pay when he could afford it. That is true friendship!

Dad took it home to his garage and took it completely apart. Albert was a milkman and when the weather was bad, he didn't want his poor horse going out with the milk, so he drove the milk in the sidecar, so the Harley has never lived an easy life. Dad changed the sidecar for a speedometer, which unfortunately got stolen with some other vintage spareparts. Albert also drove a lot of contour races and had a wall full of prizes. Dad only got a few of them, and you might always discuss whether such prizes should follow the machine or the family. Albert bought the Harley in 1925, and although it was very expensive - he could have bought two other nice cycles for the same price - it was the one he wanted. So it is also special that dad is only the second owner! Very rare for such an old cycle.

My parents have attended mc meetings in every part of Denmark, and my siblings and I also sat at the back seat since we were small children. We had a tiny helmet to share. Our favourite was when we were invited to a birthday party, then we wanted dad to drive us on the coolest mc in the world. But we had to pay, the cycle should shine, so the cleaning was quite easy for dad when we were kids. At each mc meeting dad won the prize for oldest cycle, and we were afraid if he would get disappointed if he one day didn't win it. At first mum sat at a back seat made of an old football directly on the rear mudguard, but her butt hurt, so later dad made a twin-seat by taking a cast of the original seat.

The Harley was metallic baby blue for many years, which looked really good, but a few years ago dad painted it its original colour - horse shit brown, in daily speech. ;) He has improved it a bit, but it is the most original vehicle he owns. He has only built an alternator since he thought it lacked light. He often rides it with open exhaustion, which means he opens the little lid on the exhaustion and then it is really noisy. Much more than normally. Many years ago he was sure he woke up everybody in the City of Stege when he drove through early in the morning. The Harley has 7 to 9 HP when the lid is open, and 7 when it is closed. But those "tricks" are only for use in the country, as he says.

My parents have driven all the way to Paris on it, attending an mc meeting with 15,000 cycles and about 20,000 participants. And who did the oldest machine prize to to? Yep, dad! :) The Harley drove all the way down to Paris and almost back again, but right before the ferry the engine broke down (the cylinders got a huge grove). Ough! But another benefit of driving a nice vintage cycle is that everybody wants to help, so they were picked up by a truck. The truck driver drove the Harley into his truck by using a ladder. They have also driven all the way to the Netherlands and to Sweden, where they have visited High Chapperal.

Here is dad at the annual MC Moen meeting at the square of Stege:

Lovely moustache, dad! ;)

Notice the royal jools:

Dad has put on his old and original vest with the club logo:

And if you think his leather jacket looks worn, you're right - he bought it when he was 16 years old:

There is always a lot of audience when dad starts the Harley:

But beware, if you hear Albert, because it always starts raining when he is out.

Monroe Monday

Favourite Indie Polish Brands

I have never written about indie polishes before, perhaps because I think so many others do this much better. But I do own some indie polishes, all from Etsy, but I have also had a break from them, since it is almost solely glitter polishes. And although I adore glitter polishes, it became too much for me. But now I want to share my five favourite indie polish brands with you all.

Let's start with The Hungry Asian, the name alone made me wanting to buy! :) Here is her spring collection, which is still available (as all the other polishes I show today are). She makes polishes different from most other indie brands, and although her polishes do contain glitter, they are not specifically glitter polishes. She also carries minis, which I think is brilliant since they don't take up much space in my drawers and since I never use a polish completely. Her minis are the sweetest little heart shaped bottles with a big rhinestone at the top of the lid. They decorate my polish drawer, only negative thing is the very little and really annoying brush.

Here is Kiwi Smoothie:

Which I fell completely in love with and simply HAD to buy a bigger bottle of short after my first order. Look at it on the nails here:

Here is Li'Laquer, lovely jelly purple:

Here is Tickled Pink, nice pink with pale blue glitter:

And since grey is my basic wardrobe colour, I simply had to buy Zera, a jelly grey with just a bit green shimmer in:

And right now I'm in love with Brrr! Such a nice jelly-blue with red and white glitter in. It will look fabulous on my winter pale hands:

And look at the cute little snowman on the bottle - must have:

Next brand in my presentation is Pretty & Polished, who makes the most beautiful glitter polishes - ever! Just look at this fabulous jelly-blue beauty:

Named Heart of the Ocean, after the necklace in the movie Titanic.

It is SO beautiful and two layers are enough:

She also makes my favourite green polishes, first Labour of Love, which is a very dark green polish with holo-shimmer in:

And Martian Salad, which is simply beautiful, the perfect green:

Next in line is Piper Polish, who besides making beautiful glitter polishes, also makes lovely holo polishes. I found her when I searched for Spectraflair, the fantastic holo-top coat that makes all your ordinary polishes look fabulous:

I also bought a flake polish Pink & Yellow Basket:

And right now I am so in love with this lovely autumn colour - Wine Down, duo chrome in the best possible way:

Starrily makes my favourite glitter polishes! I have just invested in her "breast cancer awareness" polish:

Sheer pink with lots of glitter in different sizes and lots of shimmer, it's the best.

And she also carries minis, which I've just bought four of:

Unicorn Landia - a wonderful duo chrome top coat that shifts between pink and green:

Diamond Dusted - that reminds me so much of snow that I've already planned several winter manicures with it:

Halloween Night - if I shouldn't own a Halloween polish, who should!? ;) Lovely orange and black glitter in a clear base:

And since I had to choose four (because you have to!), I also bought a Christmas polish - Christmas Lights:

Yes, I know - it looks so much like Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday, but I love it.

Last but not least, Lacquistry, who also makes lovely glitter polishes. In fact, I bought my very first indie polishes at her shop, which she unfortunately doesn't carry anymore, but these two are fabulous:

Shaved Ice - the name says it all.

Squared to Death, another fabulous Halloween polish:

All listed brands ship worldwide, and if you ask politely you often get a discount code if you buy several.
If you know other great indie brands, please share. :)

Monroe Monday