Author Archives: MonicawithRA

Nail Art: Flight of Whimsy Challenge

05 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by in Nail Art

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This was my submission for Eva‘s nail art challenge. I had so much fun with this!!

I did not have a clear cut vision for this manicure but I love how many colors there are!

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I know I watercolored the base with reds and pinks over butter London “Tea with the Queen”.

I used two coats Sephora by OPI Jewelry Top Coat “Be-Claus I Said So”.

I continued with a very dense coat of Milani “Gems”.

After that, I splattered with Sephora by OPI “Metro Chic” and Urban Outfitters “Westside”.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Nail Art: Diwali!

05 Tuesday Nov 2013

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Happy Diwali all! In India, Diwali is known as the Festival of Lights. It is a time spent with family, lighting fireworks, protecting against the evil spirits, and eating sweets! (Unfortunately, I seem to be the only Indian in the world who did not get the sweet tooth gene – I’d rather go for salt than sugar!)

 

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I used 2 coats of Chanel Le Vernis “Gondola” as my base.

I sponged Chanel Le Vernis “Peridot”, “Pearl Drop”, and Color Club “Poptastic” to mimic candles. 

I used a water decal from Born Pretty Store for my ring finger.

I used Orly Won’t Chip top coat to sporadically apply flitter flecks in Florentine Gold (gold), Fire Opal (orange), and Brownstone (copper) to mimic fireworks.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

NAIL Nov Theme One: Solar Eclipse

03 Sunday Nov 2013

Posted by in Nail Art

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I used 2 coats of Sephora by OPI “Go My Own Way” for my base.

For the shadow I used Sephora by OPI “Cab Fare” and “Mr. Right Now”.

The moon is a mix of Urban Outfitters “Westside” and Sephora by OPI “Cab Fare”.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Home-Cooked Dog Food Recipes: Ground Beef

02 Saturday Nov 2013

Posted by in Animal Sciences

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I promised I would slowly post the recipes for each component of our dog’s home-cooked diet.

These always change. They really depend on what Saachi can digest.

Lets start.

 

Why Ground Beef?

When we buy ground beef as 80% meat, 20% fat there is very little water loss along with the fat. We get very close to the 1lb slab of meat the we originally bought. Maybe it becomes more along the lines of 80% of the original purchase.

Of course, in this metropolitan area the price of beef is really really high. Not at Trader Joe’s! We consistently find 80/20 meat for 2.69/pound. 

We used to find pork for 1.69 or 1.99/pound. However, not only was it difficult to find it boneless for the price but there was so much fat and water loss we actually lost about 50-60% of the product. Definitely not worth the price.

Beef liver and chicken liver used to be our go tos because we ALWAYS found them for 1.99/pound. Beef liver has gone way up in price to 2.99 or more. Saachi has developed an allergy to any chicken-based products.

And the main reason to go with ground beef (for me at least), no cutting or chopping or heavy use of my shoulders, wrists and elbows! 😀

After I was diagnosed before we switched to ground beef I had to stop cooking the meat specifically because I could not manage cutting through it.

Ground beef I can break apart very easily. No stress, no strain! That is definitely worth the price!

 

Recipe (10 pounds)

  • 1/2 teaspoon cinammon (anti-inflammatory)
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (increase nutrient absorption)
  • 1 tablespoon tumeric (anti-inflammatory, anti-tick)
  • 2 bay leaves (anti-tick, anti-flea)
  • 10 pounds ground beef, broken apart
  • 1 large take-out plastic container of water

 

In a large pot, add the water and spices. Make sure the cinnamon, black pepper and tumeric are completely mixed in the water.

Turn on stove to high heat.

Add the ground beef , stir until evenly coated with spices.

Bring water to a boil.

Cover pot loosely and lower temperature to low or medium-low.

Set timer to 45 minutes. Stir occasionally to evenly coat meat.

**You may need to add time accordingly.**

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Neon Halloween | #nailart #halloween

31 Thursday Oct 2013

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Nothing to disclose.

Join my Spoonie family!

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My local climbing gym hosts a Halloween party every year. It’s like any other night except people dress up and climb in their costumes. It’s different and cute and not scary, at all. The lights are bright, there is loud music and NO scary outfits. I generally hate (edit: strongly dislike) Halloween because of its creepy, chilling nature. I do not do scary. Never have, never will.

So, this funky party at the gym is right up my alley.  I don’t mind this chocked up sugar “holiday” when there are no creepy clowns, murderous babies, or zombies devouring human flesh. I can get right behind it in bright colors and happy music.

This may be the Hispanic part of me (I am half-Peruvian) and observe Día de Los Muertos. It was initially a celebration and remembrance of those who have left us. There is none of the black and gray and scary nonsense. Colors! Celebration! Happy thoughts!

With my Rheumatoid Arthritis, heavy clothing was not an option so I opted for some neon sportswear (UnderArmour did a great neon legging in neon orange, red and green. I only bought the green and to this day regret not buying all the colors), a white tank top and some fun neon nails.

This nail art was not meant to stay on past the night so I did a quick, arthritis-friendly watercolor. I applied dots of polish then thinned them out with a paintbrush and acetone until I got the splotchy effect I wanted.

Neon Watercolor Halloween Nail Art | Monica with RA Easy, Fast, Arthritis- Pain- Friendly Nail Polish Technique with Seche Vite, Color Club, MilaniBase: Julie G White Orchid, Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat

Details: Color Club Almost Famous (yellow), Wham Pow! (orange), Warhol (pink), Sephora by OPI Cover Me in Petals (purple). Milani Peacock (blue) — all discontinued

Matte Top Coat: Cult Nails Wax That (brand no longer available)

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Like what you see? Please consider supporting my content by donating through PayPal or Venmo: @Monica-Sengupta!

Ahhh-Choo! (the musings of a flu shot)

30 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by in Rheumatoid Arthritis

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I am conflicted. My rheumatologist wants me to get a flu shot.

I never had a flu shot. I did not see the need. I rarely got the flu.

The shot only protects against one strain of the virus. By the time “flu season” is in full swing there are so many it does not even matter, right?

 

What are the pros?

It may protect me from getting severely ill. Now that I am immuno-suppressed a routine flu can be five times worse, and dare I say it, dangerous.

Last year, the winter holidays were pretty bad. My doctor put me on two weeks medical leave. I ended up with a mix of pneumonia and a sinus infection. My medications (all of them!) stopped working. My father had to feed me my Christmas dinner because I could not even grasp the fork, let alone bring it to my mouth.

I spent at least three days in bed. My father took full responsibility for the pets and brought me my meals.

If the flu-shot prevents all that, I am all for it!

If I had gotten the shot last year, would it have prevented it all? There is no way of knowing.

 

The vaccine will not negatively affect me so there are no consequences.

 

Is it necessary?

Before I was diagnosed I rarely took medications. I did not even take a multi-vitamin because I did not want to get lazy about my diet. Go figure, I now take too many supplements to keep track of.

I know I have very rock-solid health concerns. I should get the vaccine. Still, part of me feels if it is unnecessary I should not get it.

It will not hurt to get the flu shot and it might (no promises) keep me healthy through this winter season…

 

I know the responsible course is to get the vaccines.

I am still on the fence. Too big a part of me says it is totally unnecessary.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Nail Art: Bleeding Firefly – Halloween Part Two

30 Wednesday Oct 2013

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The wonderful Brijit went out of her way to make a tutorial for me for the Dragonfly Wings manicure that I absolutely loved.

Since I do not own acrylics I decided to try with plain polishes. I did not get the desired effect and I will definitely re-try with acrylics.

I am not all that pleased with the outcome (as wings) but it still looks interesting. It almost looks like my nails are bleeding? So I guess it works out for Halloween. HAH!

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For the index, middle, and pinky finger I used 2 coats of Sephora by OPI “Cover Me in Petals”. The dots, Essie “No Place Like Chrome” and Color Club “Almost Famous”, were done with a dotting tool.

I realized afterwards that fire-flies had the lights…not dragonflies….and I’m a Zoology major >__<

 

For the wings, I started with a base coat and a generous coat of the Sephora by OPI Jewelry Top Coat “Come to Pappa-razzi!”. I added a generous coat of Seche Vite to protect the bottom layers from the nail polish remover.

I tinted my nails with Zoya “Reece”. I think the next time I will not tint them as much. I could not tell with the lighting but I thought it was a lot more sheer.

I used Sephora by OPI “Mr. Right Now” for the veins. I added Reece between the veins.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.