Life always hands you lemons...followed by cupcakes

[Note: this is long, but I'd really appreciate it if you read it. -G]

One of the best things about the beauty community is the overwhelming love and support bloggers and readers give to each other. And sometimes, when you really could use a nice surprise or pick-me-up, it can come from unexpected places.

I've been going through some really sad personal issues in the past year. I won't bore you with the details but let's just say it hasn't exactly been a walk in the park for me lately. But with age comes wisdom, and since I'm turning the big 4-Oh tomorrow (December 13th), I feel like I'm wise enough to know this:

Life always hands you lemons...followed by cupcakes.

In other words, right after you have bad things thrown your way, small yet significant surprises still await you. Sometimes we get bogged down in the big bad things and don't even notice when the beautiful little things come our way. I'm guilty of the oh-woe-is-me attitude from time to time, but as I get older, I try to NEVER, ever be so self-consumed with the bad in life that I cannot recognize or see the beautiful little miracles and kind gestures that are right in front of my eyes.

Even if tears cloud your vision, I don't want ANY of you reading this right now to forget that goodness is out there. Sometimes you just have to wipe those tears from your eyes in order to see it.

So first and foremost I want to thank YOU, for your comments and for keeping this blog alive with your wealth of information, kindness, humor and love. As a small token of my thanks, I have added a "Top Commenters" feature on my left-hand sidebar, just as a little way to celebrate you. I tried to have it evaluate all comments from the past two years but that made my blog load very, very slowly. So it's only scanning comments made in the past few days and forward. Sorry to those of you who surely have earned top status in the history of this blog, but now everyone's on an even playing field, which I think is nice as well. I hope you agree!

Now, I'd like to thank the beautiful Miss Kelliegonzo, who, without even really knowing it, brought me joy at a time when I really needed it. I feel like KellieG. and I have always had a special little bond and I felt an instant connection with her from the moment I first visited her blog. But when she sent me a care-package for no reason at all (I mean, really, no reason) I just knew she was somethin' special. That girl's got a heart of gold, and I just want to take a minute to let her know how very much I appreciate her.

So what did she send my way? Try four nails polishes I don't already own, two of which from brands I have always wanted to try! Let's take a look at the pretty colors she sent my way:

Diamond Cosmetics Never So Evergreen

with ManGlaze Matte-Astrophe on ring finger

It's been a very long time since I owned a Diamond Cosmetics polish, and I just love love love this deep green with gold shimmer (I'd love it in an eyeshadow as well!). Kellie also sent me ManGlaze Matte-Astrophe, and I'm tickled that this is my very first ManGlaze polish! I've never been a big fan of matte polishes, but having a matte top coat is a whole different ball of wax. Now I can transform existing colors and still keep the long-wearing qualities of regular polishes intact. Yay!

Deborah Lippman Today was a Fairytale

Worn alone on pinky and ring finger

Worn over Milani Cyperspace on middle and index finger

Kellie also sent me the Deborah Lippmann polish (how generous was that?) and I LOVE it. I was curious to see what it would look like alone and also layered over another polish, so I dug out Milani Cyberspace from my own stash to play with.

Here is Today was a Fairytale worn alone--I love how the base is such clear blue--it reminds me of clean ocean water and the glitter looks like it's just softly floating in that water. Aaaaah!

I thought that layering it over Cyberspace was going to make it extra-blingy, but in fact I think it dulls it down a bit. I much prefer it alone, after looking at these pics.

Kellie also sent me my very first CND polish, but I'll reserve that for its own separate review.

Thank you so very much, Kellie, for such a lovely and random act of kindness.

And also, I want to thank each and every one of YOU for your unending support and love. I know I haven't been the best at responding to comments/tweets/facebook/email these past several months, but it's very important to me to let you know that NO comment or email goes unnoticed. I read every single one of them, and I cannot begin to explain in this post how your words and kindness have impacted my life. Without even knowing it, each one of you has gotten me through some pretty tough times. For that, I will be forever grateful and in your debt.

G. xo

PS: And while I'm at it, I want to give a special shout-out to some other fellow bloggers who are not just bloggers to me, but dear, dear friends. Please give them some love if you haven't already:

Amber

Stef & Tyna

Yuliya

Nicole

Phyrra

Kimberly

Lisa & Beth

There are so many readers, bloggers, tweeters, Facebook pals and vloggers I would like to add to this list, so please know that in 2011, I WILL be mentioning all of you. 2011 is my Year of Gratitude, and I intend to shower love and thanks to all of you next year--you can count on that.