Yesterday I posted about my DIY lightbox & I Love Nail Polish, Birefringence. Today I have swatches of the other polish I ordered, Cygnus Loop.

Birefringence and Cygnus Loop look very similar in the bottle. Birefringence is more blue/purple with more multi colors at different angles. Cygnus loop is more purple/pink and even though the colors shift at certain angles, I still think there's more color shifting with Birefringence. They are both really stunning polishes. I only needed two coats and 1 topcoat of Seche Vite.

It looks like I got a new camera, huh? Nope! These photos were taken in my new DIY Lightbox! (More on that in a moment).


For my birthday I pre-ordered two of I Love Nail Polish Ultra Chromes. Birefringence and Cygnus Loop! They arrived the other day, but with everything going on, I didn't get a chance to play with them.

I decided to try out Birefringence first. I love these Ultra Chromes... they remind me of mood rings! The polish formula was really nice, not runny at all and I only needed two coats and 1 coat of Seche Vite topcoat. (I will post Cygnus Loop soon.)


It's been a little while since I posted about nail polish. With everything going on with my pets, I've been stressed out and was picking at my cuticles on both hands. So they weren't in the best shape to be photographed.

Also... the angle of the sun seems to be lower now since we're heading into fall. I didn't start photographing my nails using the sun until earlier this year when the sun was higher. Waiting for the sun to be just right has become very frustrating. I did an internet search last weekend looking for how to make a light box. I came across The Daily Varnish blog with a great post about making a DIY light box!

I followed her instructions exactly, (except I didn't have the black poster board... I have to get some). I bought the same light bulbs. (These are the $6 clamp lamps and the light bulbs I ordered from Lowe's). I used a ruler & a pencil to make straight lines before I used the box cutter. I taped my tissue paper down with clear packing tape, instead of gluing it. And my 12x12 box was the one my Lowe's order came in.

The past several days have not been very good... I lost both Teddy and Templeton to pneumonia less than 2 days apart...

It started really suddenly. I take the boys out every day and didn't notice any wheezing, etc. Tuesday evening Templeton's appetite was fine. He was wrestling with Emile on the bed like usual. Wednesday when I came home from work late afternoon Templeton has porphyrin all over his nose, and he had pee all over his belly. He was lethargic too. Teddy also had a bit of porphyrin around his nose, but not as much as Templeton. Thursday morning when I woke up Teddy was having a hard time breathing, he kept gasping. Templeton was also sucking in his sides and having a tough time breathing. I called my vet as soon as they opened.


We actually ended up taking them in a little earlier than their appointment because Templeton had seized up and panicked and his little nose and back feet turned blueish. The vet gave them both Baytril injections and Dexamethsone to help with the inflammation from pneumonia.... how in the world did they come down with pneumonia so fast? He also gave them Cipro antibiotics to take home.

We also picked up a nebulizer machine that my Mom lent us, with some Abuterol to try and ease their breathing. That evening after the vet though Teddy was still gasping a lot. He ended up passing away 5 hours after his vet visit... Templeton was upset. The other boys Emile & Remy lay down next to Teddy with their ears back, after he passed away. I always try to let them say goodbye.


Templeton didn't seem quite as bad. We were doing everything we could think of. He didn't want to eat or drink on his own. But he would lick water or pedilyte, ensure off our fingers. We kept pushing baby food and nutritional paste to see if he would eat it. He would only really take a full drink on his own twice a day...

Thursday night I kept Templeton in a carrier next to the bed. He hated to be in and would start to panic at first. So Friday when I had to go to work, we left him on the bed curled up in my comforter and my husband kept watch over him. Friday evening he cuddled with me on a heating pad and started chattering while I pet him. He drank a long drink of water, and he had some carrot cake icing that he actually got excited about and had two little spoonfuls of.



His breathing was still labored and he was very lethargic... but we were hoping as long as we were getting bits of food/water/meds down him that he would be okay. Late that evening (early Saturday morning) he started having issues with his back legs, they were slipping when he was walking. I was trying to wipe his nose off and he was trying to scoot off when his whole body seized up and went limp. He started gasping for air like Teddy had done... and then my Templeton was gone... my buddy was gone... ♥

You were the only male rat that ever gave me kisses all over my nose, the only rat that would ever use my arm as your pillow when I was reading in bed. The rat who loved to lay on his back a lot when he was younger...I always wanted to name one of my rats Templeton... you were my buddy... you were my heart rat... ♥





More videos of Templeton:

For my birthday I really wanted French Macaroons again. I was planning on going downtown to Miel Patisserie in Philadelphia during Labor Day weekend, right before my birthday on the 4th... but I forgot Philadelphia was having the 'Made in America' concert for two days straight. So downtown would have been crazy, the trains would have been mobbed... I don't do crowds. I get claustrophobic.

So since I was planning on spending a certain amount on French Macaroons anyway, I just decided I would order online from Macaron Cafe in New York City. I used a 10% off coupon too! (MAC10). They only have one shipping option, overnight shipping. It was $17 to Philadelphia, but since this was a birthday splurge it was worth it. (Sometimes you have to spoil yourself!)

 
I liked that you can customize your box with any of the flavors available. Most online places have set flavors. And the prices are pretty reasonable, the smallest box is only $16. (Compared to when I was looking online on Amazon and they wanted to charge $30 for 6 macaroons... what the heck?!)

Being a splurge I ordered the largest box of 24 French Macaroons. I ordered two of each flavor (so hubby can share too!) of: Dark Chocolate, Vanilla, Pistachio, Raspberry, Mocha, Peanut Butter, Caramel, Coconut, Strawberry Rhubarb, Nutella, Espresso, Chocolate Raspberry.

When they arrived, they were packed in a box and the gift box was within a thermal bubble envelope with ice packs. The macaroons themselves were in a special plastic separator tray inside the gift box, so none of them got crushed or broken during shipping! The gift box is nice too, it came with a pink ribbon. I'm going to keep it to put makeup or nail polish in after they are all gone!

They are so pretty! French Macaroons are normally pretty. These ones had shimmer & edible gold shimmer on some of the flavors. And of course they are so good! So far I've tried chocolate, raspberry & pistachio. Pistachio is my favorite so far. (I liked pistachio at Miel Patisserie too).


*This was purchased by myself. I am not associated with Macaron Cafe.