3 Year Blogging Anniversary - A Look Back at Lacquered Lover! (and a Deborah Lippmann Nail Art Manicure!)

Good afternoon my fellow Lacquered Lovers!  Happy Tuesday to you all!  First, let me show you my fun manicure today to celebrate:

Above:  Simple Nail Art with Deborah Lippmann Spring Reveries collection

Today, I have something a bit different.  On May 20th, 2011, I decided, mostly on a whim, to start a blog.  You see, I have a degree in Journalism but was having trouble finding a job writing and was working at an architecture firm at the time.  I missed being a writer and wanted to get back into the habit.  I read a few nail polish blogs since I had stopped biting my nails a few years prior and become obsessed with nails.  I probably had about 25 nail polishes that I kept in a cosmetics bag in my apartment that usually I would bring to a salon to get a manicure or sometimes would just change my nail polish at home.  Every once in awhile, I would do something fun like put a glitter on top or do my nails different colors.  So, I decided that I too could write about nail polish and combine my wanting to write with my love of nail polish.  This was the first picture I ever posted to Lacquered Lover:

Let's all soak that in for a second.  It was blurry, cut off, not cropped, and taken with my BLACKBERRY.  I didn't have an Instagram account for another 6 months, and once I did, this was my first pic:

I never could have guessed the amazing things and opportunities that would be in store for me over the next three years.  I've gotten to meet some of my nail polish idols like Essie Weingarten, Deborah Lippmann, Suzi from OPI and Zoya herself!

 Above:  Me with the gorgeous Deborah Lippmann

 Above:  Essie loved my mani!

Above:  Suzi was the sweetest!

Above:  Zoya is amazing!

I had the opportunity to name a ManGlaze nail polish due to a funny Facebook conversation and create a polish with the amazing Pretty and Polished:

 Above:  ManGlaze Lesbihonest by yours truly

Above:  Pretty & Polished collaboration with me New York City Lights

I've gotten the incredible opportunity to attend 5 seasons of New York Fashion Week and had some awesome opportunities from it:

Above:  Just hanging out on the runway at NYFW

I've gone to an event in Vegas, countless in NYC, met fellow bloggers, and basically had an incredible 3 years.  I invented my Carly manicure and style of pictures, learned (sort of) how to do nail art and started to blog about makeup:

 Above:  The first ever "Carly" manicure

 Above:  my favorite gradient

 Above:  An early dot manicure

 Above:  A tape manicure to be proud of

 Above:  my first attempt at free hand nail art

Above:  My first ever makeup post!

All in all, it's been an amazing 3 years.  That little collection of 25 nail polishes is now in the thousands with a bunch of makeup as well that I've gotten to share with you guys.  I've been able to work with some unbelievable brands reviewing their products and it's been incredible.  And the reason it really has been amazing is from the support of my incredible family, my amazing friends, fabulous fellow bloggers and my loyal readers who have been on this crazy journey with me for the last 1,097 days and almost 1 million page views.  So thank you to all of you, you are all amazing for looking at my little corner of the Internet, saying hi on Facebook, liking a picture on Instagram and tweeting back to my ramblings.  I love you all and am looking forward to what's next!