the glow bracelets are a nice touch, right?
when packing for a trip, I always find it helpful to go in with a sartorial vision from the start. for my college roommates’ recent bachelorette getaway to lake tupper in the adirondacks, that meant bathing suits, headscarves, shortalls, and the cherry on top…a watermelon manicure. it was a lot of look and I certainly didn’t get any new facebook profile shots out of the weekend, but I felt great!
most items on my list were easy to check off. bathing suits? ready to go. headscarf? thanks, grandma. shortalls? ebay (don’t judge me). to make my watermelon manicure dream a reality though, I did my research. I put my trust in the literal hands of Valley NYC, nail artists of the highest order. booking the appointment, I giggled awkwardly as I specified my nail art of choice was to be a not-so-subtle watermelon design, but the receptionist didn’t bat an eyelash. though this trend is definitely making a comeback (just like short-alls, I swear) I hadn’t even thought of doing nail art since I was a flower girl in a family wedding and was allowed one crystal on one nail of my choosing. on the day of my appointment, I felt just as special.
I arrived, selected my colors, changed my mind and then chose different colors, while my patient and steady-handed artist smiled at me supportively. the manicure and custom, hand-painted design took about 45 minutes all told and necessitated at one point an actual paintbrush and acrylic paint.
amazingly the worst part of the 5.5 hour night drive to the cabin on the lake that followed, besides the inclement weather and the winding, dark country roads, was really the frustration that I couldn’t admire my newly done-up nails the entire time. flipping back through my film, it would appear I had found my muse. I definitely took more pictures of my nails than of the bride-to-be (sorry, mary!).
though I wouldn’t spend the time or the money to have this done on a regular basis, it was an entertaining one-off experience that landed me with a silly, summery manicure, which, like most summer activities, was fun while it lasted.
~ jamie
