To Marian!

‎"Never take your freedoms for granted and every chance you get let the ones you love 

know that they are indeed loved." ~ Marian Curtner

My best friend died in a car accident last week. We have been friends since I can remember. My mother and her mother are best friends as well and have worked together for 20+ years. We used to call them "our moms" when we were out together - like my mother and her mother, but it sounded like they were partners and we had lesbian moms :P. We always used to laugh about that. The vast majority of our friendship was spent hiking together - we both love being in nature. She was a wild child, a free spirit, a hippie, just like me.

Her funeral was this past Thursday. I had brought a black dress and cardigan, not really knowing what to wear. Once I got to my home town and visited her parents before the funeral, we all decided that we should wear what she would have liked - bright colors, flowy skirts, and just be normal. I borrowed a skirt from my mum and wore this to her funeral, along with a large blue flower in my hair, and a bright and groovy manicure:

The service was in Tellico Plains up near the mountains and back in the country. It was absolutely gorgeous and just what she would have wanted. Sharon, her mother, said she hoped she had lots of flowers, and I can't even describe to you how many there were. If I could guess, there were about 50 things of flowers. So many people showed up to pay their respects, say goodbye, and honor her memory...there must have been 200 in this small church. Even the standing room around the walls was full. I didn't get to see her, as they closed the casket a few hours before the funeral, but her Aunt and I had a moment together and she told me she was just beautiful. The funeral director was a lovely woman and said she painted her nails for me - our favorite color, green.

I at first, like with my outfit, didn't know what to do for my nails. After a while I decided to go a little wild with them and just do what she would have liked. This is two coats of Barielle Decadence (thanks Jeremy :D) with one coat of Essence Hello Holo holographic medium sized glitter in a clear base.

Just check it out in the sunlight! It's a bit blurry to accentuate the sparkle. It really does look like this in person though, it's just difficult to capture in a photo.

Even in dim indoor light it's just amazing. This is what it looked like at the funeral as well. I was so pleased that it was still stunning indoors. 

Here it is when it isn't looking that holo-y and you can just see the silver glitter. 

And a little bit of just the Barielle Decadence.

Please excuse my awful nail shape. My corners have been breaking off multiple times a day, so I'm trying to find a happy medium where they look good but don't break as much. And I brought very little with me on my trip, so I didn't have any cleanup tools.

Here's one to Marian! May she rest in peace and be remembered for all the beautiful things that made her Marian, my best friend, my sister.

November 13, 1989- May 7, 2011