Seize the Sparkle

Summer 2013 is turning into a drawn-out Wilden whodunnit season. And it's moving veeeeeeery sloooooooowly. That being said, his death is definitely connected to the disappearance of Alison DiLaurentis. I'm 88% sure of it. Last week's episode had a little bit of action. This week's episode was mainly exposition topped with more exposition.

Aria
Her brother Mike started taking self-defense classes with Jake. According to Jake, the guys on his lacrosse team were giving him a hard time. She's worried about him going out after a game, but Jake kept her company. Awww.

All Hail Gryffindor!

Spencer
She found her mom's intern with a couple of boxes from Wilden's case in her kitchen. They were sent to the house by mistake, so Spencer did a little digging. Turned out, when Wilden was just an Officer, he investigated Toby's mom's death. Eddie Lamb was working at Radley that night, so he was interviewed. By Wilden. Wilden's interview with Eddie differs from that of Dr. Palmer. Was Wilden dirty? Spencer seemed to think so, and offered that opinion to her mother.

Wilden's Interview with Eddie Lamb

Emily
After A sent that car crashing through her living room last week, she and her mom moved into a motel. Emily still met with Ezra and Zoe regarding college options. Emily was taking current events in stride, but her mother broke down when Em suggested heading to Nicaragua for the summer.

Hanna will protect her Mom at all costs.

Hanna
Helpful Hanna didn't slow down a bit last night. When the judge refused to grant Ashley bail, Hanna decided to take matters into her own hands. Again. She broke out the big guns and went to Mona for help.

Mona ALWAYS has a plan.

Mona
She coached Hanna through all the steps of confessing to Wilden's murder and making it sound legit. Thankfully, Caleb derailed the Hanna train pretty quickly, but Mona had another trick up her sleeve. Towards the end of the episode, she waltzed into the police station and confessed to killing Wilden.

Best Quote:

"Me, Spencer, the others, we all tell lies... but you're the only one who actually knows how to live in a lie."
- Hanna Marin

Thoughts: 

Can we pick up the pace? Just a little bit? Pleeeease?!? I feel like Wilden's murder is really being drawn out. I hope it's worth it.

If I had to say who killed Wilden, my frontrunners are Cece and Melissa. A looooot of people had motive, though.

Mona really stepped it up this episode. It was nice to see her being there for Hanna. She probably knew the whole time that Hanna couldn't and wouldn't really go through with it. It was nice to see the two girls as friends again. A little weird, considering all the stuff that happened when Mona was A, but still nice. Her confession should definitely earn her some points with the Liars.

The previews show Jenna face-down in the water. Will she die? I'm thinking yes. Remember a couple of weeks ago, when she seemed to think she was in danger? AND... she was killed off in the books, so why not in the TV series? In the books, the reasoning was that she knew about the twins. Is that the same knowledge she claims to have on the show? Or does she know that Alison is alive, like a few other characters suspect?

Next week's episode is titled, "Into the Deep." Could that be foreshadowing Jenna's death? Yes. No. Maybe. We'll see.

-S

It's been entirely too long since I've worn a glitter sandwich. This one is full of milky, glittery, patriotic goodness, quite by accident, I must admit.







Polishes Used:

1 Coat Sally Hansen White Veil
3 Coats L.A. Girl Celebrate
2 Coats OPI Bubble Bath
1 Coat Seche Vite

With Gray Suede on my nails last night, I decided I need some glitter on my nails. It was either that, or nail art, and the glitter won. (It usually does.)

White Veil is a really pretty glitter polish from Sally Hansen that I forgot I owned and have never tried. It's a white and gold hex glitter mix that I thought would look stunning over a neutral polish. I painted on 1 coat and didn't really like it.

So, I used L.A. Girl Celebrate instead.

3 coats using the dab-and-go method gave me a generous coating of glitter on my nails. Mostly red, blue, and silver glitter with an occasional fuschia. 2 layers of Bubble Bath were needed to completely tone down the glitter and finish off the sandwich. 1 thick coat of Seche Vite sealed it all off, and I was ready for bed.

I like this layering, but I don't love it. I'm not sure if it's the 4th of July vibe my nails are giving me or what. Maybe the fact that Bubble Bath turned everything pink? I don't love it, I don't hate it, but I definitely don't feel like wearing it for another day.

How would you layer Gray Suede?!?

This polish is one of my favorite nude shades from my stash... if not thee fav-o-rite. Simple and classy... this shade does exactly what you want a neutral polish to do... complete and compliment without competing. (Try saying that five times fast. Whew!)





Polishes Used:

1 Coat Beauty Secrets Ridge Filler
3 Coats Revlon Gray Suede
1 Coat Seche Vite

Nude polishes are tricky. If you've ever been on the hunt for the perfect one, you know what I'm talking about. Too much yellow, not enough pink, too gray, not enough brown... I could go on and on, and those are just complaints I've had about some of the not-quite nudes in my collection.

Then I found this one.

Gray Suede from Revlon was honestly a one in a million find. Seriously. It's part of their core collection, and a pretty decent match to my skin tone, but not a complete match. The shade compliments my skin tone without looking harsh or garish. Gray is a bit of a misnomer, considering this is a warm, slightly pink leaning, taupe. I don't really feel like I can call it a french gray, because it's warmer than that. There's also a silver shimmer that's apparent in the bottle, but faint on the nails. It adds a little more shine, just enough that you don't need a layer of clear before you Seche Vite it.

As much as I love bold nail color, sometimes I like to step back and wear a neutral for a little while. It's a nice change of pace while I brainstorm new combinations. :)

Has Gray Suede found its way into your collection yet?

Am I fan of the name? No. Not at ALL. But, do I love this color? YES!!! From OPI's Holland Collection for Spring/Summer 2012... I Have a Herring Problem.

Natural Light

Bottle Shot - Natural Light

Sunlight

The Claw - Natural Light

Polishes Used:

1 Coat Beauty Secrets Ridge Filler
3 Coats OPI I Have a Herring Problem
1 Coat Borghese Clear Coat
1 Coat Seche Vite

If Jeans don't already come in this color, they totally should. This is THEE perfect shade of antique dusty blue. OPI added in some superfine shimmer, most noticeably gold, and a bunch of other colors if you REALLY look at it.

This polish came out in the Holland collection OPI put out last year. That came on the heels of a bunch of denim colored polish collections. A few of those blues were similar to this color, but I don't recall any of them having the shimmer included. That DEFINITELY sets this polish apart, in my opinion. Contrasting shimmer was a bit of a thing for me last year, and I Have a Herring Problem was a must-have when I spotted it. 

It's been a long time since I wore it, and I honestly forgot how much I like it. Not sure if this will be incorporated into some nail art, but I'm thinking that some gold and cream could make this into a dusty Nautical look. It would also look great in a half-moon manicure... or maybe some sort of jelly sandwich? Hmmm.

How would you wear I Have a Herring Problem?

I think we might actually be moving somewhere. Slowly. But we're moving! We picked up the pace a tiny little bit in this episode compared to last week. Toby and Caleb played Hardy Boys, Ashley Benson continued to deliver some great emotional scenes, and Spencer, Aria, and Em were there for her every step of the way.


Aria
Connor's car was vandalized last week, and this week, Mike looked to be the vandal, but alas, it wasn't him. He claimed that he wished he would've done it. He should've done it. While all of that was going on, Vice Principal Hackett behaved a bit unethically, questioning Aria about Mike's illness and pills. Ezra stepped in and saved the day for Mike, calling out Hackett's behavior. All of the charges were dropped and Mike swore to be there for Aria next time.

Spencer
She served as a liaison between her mother and Hanna, communicating what news she could. Unfortunately, she was the one to deliver the news about Hanna's mom looking at Voluntary Manslaughter at best or 1st Degree Murder at worst. She and Toby had a few brief asides while Taleb played detective.

Mona
M.I.A.

Hanna
Poor girl. She was a mess last week and not much changed this week. Last night's episode featured her coming to terms with her mother's arrest for Wilden's murder. Most of her scenes were emotionally charged, and Spencer, Aria, and Emily were right there by her side.

Emily
She is definitely fighting to lose the title of "weakest link." She risked her Mom's job and stole the key to Wilden's apartment from the police station.



Along with the help of Aria and Spencer, the 3 girls broke into Wilden's apartment to search for clues. Wearing gloves, they discover a package in Wilden's apartment. Steaks sent from A to Wilden, and they were definitely rotten. Someone was watching them during the search, most likely A, considering the text Emily received later that evening.


The episode ended with a car crashing into Emily's living room, nearly mowing down Mrs. Fields. Fortunately, neither of them were hurt.

Toby & Caleb
The boyfriends teamed up Hardy Boys style to figure out this question...


Umm... well, either that or WHO is A? They started with the plane that landed at Thornhill the night of the fire at the lodge. They got some interesting information from Nigel Wright... the boy behind the lighter.



Taleb questioned Nigel about the flight information for the plane, and he fed them a bogus story. Later, Toby realized Nigel knew an awful lot about that night, so the two returned to confront him. He admitted that he was paid to change the flight information and feed a particular story if anyone inquired about the flight. He claimed that CeCe Drake was the person who asked him to do it, then freaked out and ran out of the office, but he didn't run fast enough. Caleb managed to lift Nigel's phone. Later, they cracked his password and found the numbers he was calling, including one immediately after the fire.

After that, Nigel made Lady Gray tea for a mystery person. When he set the cup down, he warned mystery person that it was hot, and we saw these accessories.

Best Quote:

"I play lacrosse, it's a tiny little stick."
- Mike Montgomery

My Thoughts:

Pretty sure Ezra was the man with the bat. Go Fitz! 

I'm glad that we're FINALLY addressing CeCe Drake. Is she A, on the A team, Red Coat, Black Veil, or just another red herring? And what is her connection to anything, really? Spencer surmises that CeCe killed Wilden, because she was trying to get away from him when she left town. Seems a bit coincidental. And then there's what Toby said... What would she have against the girls? She might know something about Ali, maybe she drove her out of town to meet someone. I'm not sure how she could fit into everything. She got pretty chummy with the girls, but there was also that incident with Spencer and the snake, so... Oo.

Emily really should've thought before swiping that key, but I like that she's trying to be more bold. Someone was watching the girls while they were in the apartment, but who? A? Someone pretending to be A? Perhaps... the cops? That package was obviously at Wilden's for a long time. How did the police overlook it? Did A plant it after they had searched? What would the point in that be? I just... I don't understand that.

Emily's mom is the latest in the string of family-related incidents being blamed on A. I'm pretty sure this one actually was A, although I don't really know what the girls found in the apartment, or what A thinks they found or know. Could taking the parents out of the way be some FBI manipulated scheme to get the girls to finally admit that A came back? Is A trying to get rid of the parents to get to the Liars?

That whole "Where is A" Post-It. I get searching for A, but aren't they searching for the WHO not the WHERE? Or are the boys really just trying to find all the stuff from the lair? And why would you write it so blatantly on a Post-It when you know that A sees all AND has a temper?

What's the deal with all the blind accessories and Lady Gray tea? Are we to believe that Jenna is back to being blind, so she's back to being evil? Or could it be that Black Veil is blind because of the fire? Or could Red Coat be blind? I just... I don't know.  Maybe Jenna is still trying to get info for Melissa and protect the girls?

Let me just say, that in watching this show, My idea is that the clues should add up so viewers can figure out whodunnit in true murder-mystery style. Rosewood is turning into a big old mess of secrets, lies, red herrings, and dead bodies. Does all of it somehow connect into the bigger Alison DiLaurentis mystery? I have no idea, and I sometimes get frustrated at the lack of answers, but I still find myself tuning in every week. I have to admit, despite the frustration, I really do love PLL. There. I said it.

Next week's episode is The Guilty Girl's Handbook. And if you watched the preview, you saw that devious Mona is back! And teaching Hanna how to admit that she was the one who killed Wilden... Oh, Hanna. I feel like I keep saying that this season. Until then... Kisses!

-S

If you're familiar with DIY manicures... I'm sure you've seen half-moon manicures made using reinforcement stickers. Instead of reinforcements, I used foil star stickers for a unique and different shape. This is my first official foray into Nail Art AND my first tutorial. Enjoy!

Materials Needed
Foil Star Stickers like these
Nail Polish
Tweezers

Step 1
Paint your nails. I cheated a bit and used the polish I was already wearing as my base. Why? I've tried the half-moon thing in the past, and every time I try it all at one go, I end up pulling off base coat. This was a stress-free way to be sure that my base coat was dry. Here are the layers for my base:

2 Coats Beauty Secrets Ridge Filler
3 Coats Bongo Catching Kisses
1 Coat Borghese Clear Coat
1 Coat Seche Vite

Catching Kisses by Bongo

Step 2
Anchor one point of the star on your skin, and firmly press the star onto your nail. The point anchored on your skin will make for easy removal with tweezers once you're finished painting. Double-check your stickers for any gaps. If your stickers aren't firmly attached to the nail, your lines (and polish) may blur.

Foil Star Stickers

Stars Upon Thars!

Step 3
Paint your nails! (again.) 

Bongo Catching Kisses Staricure

Staricure (OPI Bubble Bath)

Staricure (Nails Inc. Old Vic)

Staricure MACRO

Polishes Used:

Base Polish (see above)
3 Coats OPI Bubble Bath (star outline)
2 Coats L'Oreal Lilac Coolers (star outline)
1 Coat Nails Inc. Old Vic
1 Coat Borghese Clear Coat
1 Coat Seche Vite

Is it really that simple? Yes and No. Like I said above, I highly recommend starting with day-old polish on your nails. It takes a lot of waiting time and stress away from the manicure. Part of my problem with any type of stencil manicure is that I'm horrible at judging when my nails are fully dry. That's why I paint my nails right before I go to bed. A coat of Seche Vite or Good to Go sets them up nicely that I can't ding them, and I wake up with perfectly dried nails 97% of the time*.

I don't recommend using 5 coats on top of the stickers. I think I would max out at 2 or 3 next time. I had a pretty clear idea of the look I wanted, and it called for a lighter shade over a darker one. To achieve that, I had to use Bubble Bath to bring Catching Kisses down to a point where I could layer something over it and have it turn the shade I wanted.

I took my time on this manicure, and it shows. And not in the greatest of ways. My stars have a bit of an edge to the outline because the polish started drying before I removed the stickers. I was going to pass on the layer of clear polish after Old Vic, but I was hoping it would help smooth off this edge. It smoothed it out well enough, but I was envisioning a more seamless look. I think that will come with a few more attempts.

I'm really happy with how this manicure turned out. It may not look exactly how I imagined, but it's a fun and simple way to amp up your nails. I kept my star stickers uniform, but next time, I might switch them around from nail to nail, or just use a couple for accent nails.

Staricure (Bongo Catching Kisses)

Staricure (L'Oreal Lilac Coolers)

Which do you prefer... A half-moon manicure, or a star manicure... Or are they both out of this world?!? (I'm cheesy and I know it.)


* 3% of the time, I'm a ninja in my sleep and I wake up with a dent or smudge. It's pretty rare, but it has happened. 

This week's episode kicked it up a notch compared to last week, but not by much. While some rather interesting things happened during this episode, we're still laying groundwork for bigger plotlines and weaving Ravenswood into the storyline. So, without any further ado...

Aria
Early in the episode, a Lacrosse player named Connor asked for her help on an English paper. She helped, he tried to kiss her, she wasn't interested, but he lied and told his friends something more happened. Aria's brother Mike believed what Connor said, and angrily confronted Aria. She then stormed into the boys locker room to set Connor straight, and he made some rude comments about her relationship with Ezra. She's conflicted because while the comments are crass... the affair did really happen. Later, Mike apologized and said that he'll make it up to Aria. Towards the end of the episode, in a montage set to Shana's violin, Connor's car is vandalized. Was it Mike... or A? The word "LIAR" is painted on the side of the car, and we know A doesn't like liars.


Mona
Mona came back for a few scenes, one in which she outed Spencer's secret about Toby taking the lair. In the other, she has a conversation with Emily. Em wants to know what A has on Toby. Mona claims she doesn't know. Em claims she "wants in," because Mona "has the fast track on A, while the rest of us have nothing." Mona's retort... "I'm not the one pulling the strings anymore, Emily." Mona pointed out that she is just as vulnerable as the Liars, because the RV had proof of everything. "Everything bad that I've done, everything you've done... A has proof. One wrong move, we all go up in flames. Maybe this time we don't get out of them." Youch.

Emily
Spencer and Emily apologized to each other early in the episode, but their truce didn't last long. Emily found out about Spencer keeping the RV secret, and got pretty angry. She decided to take matters into her own hands, asking Hanna for the footage from Wilden's car. Emily burned the footage from the hard drive onto a DVD, and set it on Lieutenant Tanner's desk.


Later, Spencer attempted to reconcile, inviting Em to Creepyville. Em politely declined, seeing as Spencer only wanted to go to clear her guilty conscience. No matter. We meet up with Em at the end of the episode when Lieutenant Tanner showed up at The Brew for Open Mic Night. She asks Emily to come to the station with her, where she shows her something we've all been waiting for.


Lieutenant Tanner knows that Em was at the station, and the DVD wasn't on her desk when she went back for her glasses. Oh, and about that DVD on her desk...


Definitely not the one that Emily left! But the handwriting matched a card left for Mrs. Fields by Emily. Em tried to explain that it must be someone pulling a prank.

Hanna
She tried to help her mom in the last episode by burying the gun at Cicero College. This episode dealt with the aftermath of Hanna's actions. The entire Marin clan is on lockdown inside their home.


Hanna came to the realization that A was framing Ashley. The stakes rose even higher for Hanna when A threatened to implicate her Dad in Wilden's murder if she mentioned anything about A to her parents. Hanna gave Emily the footage from Wilden's Car, so Emily could hand it over to the police, in the hopes that it would clear Ashley's name.


But Em's plan backfired, and by the end of the episode, Ashley Marin was officially arrested for the murder of Officer Darren Wilden.


Spencer
Mona revealed her big secret to Aria and Emily. Spencer decided to be proactive, chasing down the Grunwald lead from the last episode in an attempt to regain some trust. She invited Emily on her sojourn to find Mrs. Grunwald, but Em declined. So, Toby went instead. Things were tense for Spoby in the car, but even weirder when they got to Ravenswood.

Welcome to Weirdsville

When they first arrived, Spencer tried to talk to a woman and her children. They all walked right by her, almost as if they couldn't see or hear her.


Spence and Toby! Spotted through the window of a shop by a set of eyes.

These Eyes

Spoby is freaked out, but for the most part, undeterred. They continued on to find Mrs. Grunwald. Magically, or by GPS, they find what they believe to be the correct house, but a caretaker denied them entrance AND information. He's the only one there, and he only deals with the master of the house. Spoby split after claiming to have the wrong address, and Mr. Caretaker made a call on his flip phone. Hmmm.


Back downtown, Spencer spotted Mrs. Grunwald in a salon.


Spencer confronted her about Alison's disappearance, giving her a few vague details about the case. Mrs. Grunwald simply replied, "Well, I must have missed it." Spencer continued questioning Grunwald, adding the fact that Alison is supposed to be dead, but might not be. Mrs. Grunwald politely maintains, "I didn't know her alive, I certainly don't know her dead."

The Bulldozer didn't believe her, and pushed on, but continued to get shot down. During the whole interaction, Mrs. Grunwald was poised and polite. She ended the conversation saying, "I'm very sorry about your friend, really. But I can't help you. I'm not who you think I am."

They left the salon, and Toby went across the street for food. Angelic music began playing, and Spencer followed the music, only to find that everyone in town was also following it. They ended up in a park with an angel at the center. It seemed like the music was coming from the statue, and the townspeople simply stood and listened.


The crowd seemed to be mesmerized by the music. Well, everyone except for Spencer and...

Shana in Ravenswood

Shana seemed to be casing out Ravenswood too. Spencer immediately figured that Shana got to Mrs. Grunwald first. Spencer ran to get Toby, while Shana hightailed it toward a car. Spencer found Toby just in time to watch Shana jump into Jenna's car, but it was unclear if Jenna was driving. Spoby tried to give chase, but were slowed down when this crashed into their windshield...

No... You falled.

Sufficiently weirded out, they head back to Rosewood, only to find Shana playing violin for Open Mic Night at the Brew.

Best Quote:

"I'm not driving back to Rosewood with low-blood-sugar-Spencer, that's worse than no-caffeine-Spencer."
-Toby

My Thoughts:

Umm... let's start at the end, shall we? Well, we all knew that Ashley was being framed, so her arrest was really no surprise. I enjoyed watching the scenes between Hanna and her Dad. They're really doing a good job of showing just how much he HASN'T been there for his daughter. Hanna's actions were definitely rash, but she was desperate to protect her mother. It's been nice seeing Hanna in some more serious situations.

Aria in Hester's shoes a la A Scarlet Letter? It's about time we have some reaction to the affair from the student body. It's a bit anti-climactic happening when she and Ezra are off, but it's about time they addressed it. Connor was a jerk though, and I can't say I blame Mike if he WAS the one who went all Carrie Underwood on Connor's car.

Emily's story was predictable this week, and I can't help but be impressed with her tech skills. I would never have guessed that she could take video from a hard drive and burn it to a DVD, but maybe she's learned a thing or two. Or, maybe she had help from Caleb? Either way... I figured A was lurking around to wreak havoc on Em's plan. She's always watching. Always. 

Ravenswood is creepy in a LOT of different ways.


A lightened up version of this pic doesn't give away any clues as to identity, but those eyes. Reminds me of Toby's eyes. Does he have a twin? Does anyone?!?


This caretaker moves pretty fast. But he's also zombi-esque like the rest of the town. What's with huddling around the music-playing angel?


And that sign?


"So named for the vast wooded area to the east and frequent raven sightings, Ravenswood first rose to prominence during the Revolutionary War for its use as a rest station and later a burial ground."

It looks like the town was established in 1764, but it's tough to tell for sure. It claims that Ravenswood was used as a burial ground. It does have an abundance of tombstones and cemetery space.

Mourning

Downtown Tombstone

While Spencer was interrogating Mrs. Grunwald, Toby looked at a few of the framed photos in the salon. Each one used a cemetery as a backdrop, and ravens are generally thought to be a bad omen. So, what's going on in this weird little town?

And why was Shana there? Are she and Jenna investigating for Melissa during her absence? Was Jenna driving the car, or was it someone else?

According to the previews, Mike will be blamed for Connor's Car, It's the birth of Coby, (or Taleb) and Em gets shots to help her shoulder, but surgery is the least of her worries considering that car coming through the wall! Next week's episode, "Crash and Burn, Girl!" is the 7th of the season. Hard to believe we're halfway through the summer season!
-S