September 2016 - Homestead Holly

Great fall nail polish at a great price

hollymarietong Encouragement September 29, 2016September 29, 2016beauty, best reasonable nail polishes, fall beauty, fall colors, fall fashion, fall nail polish, fall style, revlon color stay review 0 Comment

Fall is officially in the air, folks. To kick off the season, I just ate some warm pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting. Mmmmm. Let me tell you, if you pick up a box of Pillsbury Perfectly Pumpkin Premium cake mix, alongside their cream cheese frosting, you will want to thank me later. For less than $3 (as long as you already have eggs and vegetable oil on hand), you can enjoy the most amazing cake of your life. Just poke some holes in the cake once it’s baked, pop the cream cheese frosting in the microwave for 45 seconds and then pour it all over the cake. Enjoy a piece (or ten), and then refrigerate the rest for later. I guarantee it’s the best boxed cake of your life. Guarantee.

Ummm….this is actually supposed to be a beauty post, not a food post. Sorry I got carried away there, BUT beginning to write a fall post is what caused my crazy detour. Sorry guys. Focus Holly….focus.

Okay….so back to the point of this post: Great fall nail polish at a great price. I found my pick today.

Now, I realize you may be loyal to shellac nail polish. A lot of girls are these days. If so, I get it. I LOVE shellac! It’s gorgeous and highly durable. Unfortunately, my frugal lifestyle just doesn’t love the price of keeping up with it.

I also must admit I do not love how quickly most cheap nail polishes chip off. Unfortunately many of the higher end brands even chip off quickly. I also detest the smudged look just as much as anyone. So since I rarely get shellac and since I hate chipped off nail polish…..I have to find a happy medium because I do LOVE my nails painted.

My happy medium tends to always be Revlon ColorStay Gel Envy. The cheapest you’ll probably find it is at Wal-Mart (under $5). Anyways, I’m not going to lie and say that this polish lasts forever once applied. However, I can tell you it’s among the best I’ve found. It’s made to resemble shellac. It contains the color + base and the gel envy part of it provides extra shine. I have this brand in all different colors. Light blue. Pink. Purple………and now this:

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This, my friends, is called “Hold ‘Em” (#460). I’d consider it magenta meets mauve. When I think of fall inspired nail polish….this color just does it for me. It’s not too light and not too dark. Other consumers must agree with me as I took the last one on the shelf at my local Wal-Mart tonight. It glided on perfectly, and there’s a good chance it’ll last me for a good week. If this color isn’t your style, they have probably around 20 other choices. In addition to Hold ‘Em, they are offering dark reds and purples which would also give you that “fall-tastic look.”

So basically for a grand total of $8 tonight….I’m one happy girl. Who doesn’t love pumpkin cake and a new bottle of nail polish?

What are your favorite nail polishes this fall? Share your thoughts in the comment section below! 🙂

You Are Enough

hollymarietong Encouragement September 28, 2016September 28, 2016bible, christian blogs, christian encouragement, encouragement, faith, holly marie tong, inspirational blogs, jesus, personal growth, positive blogs, positivity, strong with holly marie tong 5 Comments

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Hey you.

You with the gas gauge flirting with E. You with the split ends because you can’t afford a haircut every six weeks. You with the screaming kids making a scene in the middle of the grocery store. You with the burnt out lightbulbs. You with the clocks that never quite spring ahead or fall back when they’re supposed to. You with the broken iPhone screen. You that completely forgot you had to bake cookies for your child’s bake sale. You that just tripped in front of a fairly large audience. You with the car full of half empty water bottles. You that struggles to keep a plant alive. You that just cheated on your diet with the dollar board. You with the crumbled up receipts in the bottom of your purse. You that isn’t so successful at love. You that just received bad news. You that’s struggling paycheck to paycheck. You that can’t seem to catch a break.

I’m talking to you. Yes, you.

God sees your struggles. He knows when you’re trying. He knows when you’re giving it your all. He knows when you’ve surrendered all to him. He knows when you’re putting others above yourself. He knows life on earth isn’t easy.

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However, He’s given us the hope of Heaven and the promise that he will guide us in the here and now. He wants us to have joy in the midst of our circumstances. He wants us to focus on Him instead of our problems. He wants to cover our shortfalls.

Maybe a completely balanced, completely organized life just isn’t going to happen for you. Maybe it isn’t supposed to. Maybe that’s where faith comes in. Maybe that’s just another way we humble ourselves before Him and others. Maybe that’s just another way we partner up with Him and allow him to be the driver. Maybe He just knows we just can’t do it all no matter how hard we try.

Now, that’s not to say that we can’t improve every day. That’s not to say we shouldn’t be disciplined. That’s not to say we shouldn’t do serious inventories of our lives as much as possible. That’s not to say we shouldn’t get organized. That’s not to say we shouldn’t be good stewards of our finances. That’s not to say we have an excuse to be lazy or to procrastinate the important things. That’s definitely not to say that we shouldn’t strive for more overall. We SHOULD do all of those things. He does want us to take care of ourselves, however. He does want to finish the work he’s started in us. His word says so in Philippians 1:6.

Here’s a thought though…..possibly a whole new way of thinking that you’re not quite used to: Stop being so hard on yourself for a change. Celebrate your successes and praise Him for your progress. Do what you can in His strength….not your own. Once you do that, treat yourself to something fun and spiritually positive. Then go to bed proud of the seeds you’ve sown, believing those seeds will reap a harvest (Galatians 6:9). Then rise again and repeat. Remember His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). His grace is sufficient for you, and His strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us (Ephesians 3:20).

Remember these things as you go through your day.

Hey you. You are enough…….because He is more than enough.