Tag Catchup

I've been tagged quite a few times recently ... well, in some cases not so recently & I have to apologize because I really think some of these are fun =)  & I totally don't have time to do them justice, but I'd like to catch up a little bit, and if I miss any I apologize in advance!

To start (I don't remember if this one was actually first LOL) I was tagged by Angie over at Pandaphilia for this Beautiful Blogger award:

And this comes with telling you guys lots of things that I like, in 8s ... but since I'm short of time, I kind of just picked the ones I liked LOL =)  And didn't make it to 8 on all of them ... but it's the thought that counts, right?  I should also say these aren't like, in order of priority. 

8 TV shows I like to watch (& yes, I realize it's a little reality-TV heavy LOL):

1.  South Park

2.  True Blood

3.  America's Next Top Model

4.  The news - I'm almost a junkie LOL, I usually watch local every night at 5, 6 & 10 in addition to national

5.  American Idol

6.  So You Think You Can Dance

7.  Project Runway 

8.  Hoarders - if you haven't seen it, it is morbidly fascinating.  Something I sometimes feel like I watch the whole show with my jaw dropped wide open

8 favorite places to eat & drink:

1.  Home or family's home - you guys know I love to cook & so do Mom & Grandma =)

2.  Jamba Juice - if there was one closer I'd probably be there every day

3.  Chinese buffets

4.  Athens Cafe

5.  Truffles & Tortes - well, only desserts, but you've seen what I bring home from there!

6.  Salad bar

7.  Oak City

8 things I love about winter:

1.  Snow - on the weekend though please, so I don't have to drive in it LOL

2.  Beautiful Ice

3.  No bugs!

4.  Being snuggly & warm inside

8 things on my wishlist:

1.  A new camera

2.  A laptop ... usually I love being at my desk because I can multi-task, but when summer comes I wish I could take it outside

3.  A 3rd Helmer ... this should be coming true pretty soon =)

4.  A DVR - yes I am old school & actually record things on tape if I can't watch them

5.  A boyfriend ... no seriously, I'm sick of being single LOL

8 things I'm passionate about:

1.  Well, apparently blogging =)  I never thought I would last when I started

2.  Writing

3.  Reading

4.  Family

 

8 words/phrases I often use (several of which may make no sense if you don't watch/listen to the same things I do):

1.  Respect my authority!

2.  That's absurd

3.  For the win

4.  I'll do what I want

5.  Meh

Thank you Angie for this award =)  Sorry I'm so late putting it up.

I was also nominated by Kelsealaurel for this Happy 101 Tag:

So I'm supposed to put 10 facts about myself.  I have a feeling I'm going to come up short, I'm feeling kind of brain dead at the moment (I slept 13 hours last night, but I really only got up because I thought I should do so while it was still light out ... I kind of wanted to roller over & snooze some more LOL).  So some of these are on the easy-out side =)

1.  Along those lines, I'm always sleepy.  I short myself during the week, and I'm working on that, but during the weekends I sleep until I feel obligated to get up.

2.  I have a cat named Frisky, who hasn't made an appearance on the blog lately, but who does happen to be sleeping nearby on my bed ATM.  I know most of you guys like animals, I'll take a pic:

3.  I am really enjoying the whole YouTube thing more than anticipated (much like blogging LOL).  I reached 200 subscribers today - a feat that my blog only managed to just reach in January LOL, and I've had my YT channel lass than 4 months ... so I must be doing something right =)  I'm so glad people are enjoying it.

4.  I'm hoping to hit the lotto tonight - LOL not something I usually participate in, but we put together a pool at work, 30 people each put in $2.00 for a total of 60 tickets for the jackpot that is supposed to be over 200 million.  LMAO if we actually won, I don't know what our company would do since it's literally almost half of our Minneapolis office that would be rich.
5.  A good way to gauge how much I'm exercising is how messy my room is - I have to have an open area to do my yoga, which equals a pretty clean room, but if I've skipped a few days shoes, books, boxes of polish & other stuff start to create a lot of clutter.
6.  My desk is the same way - I clean it off when I do a video tutorial, but it soon fills back up with polish, Konad plates, nail files & other nail-related clutter =)

One more, and this one came from Mari & Lissi over at Nail Addicts Anonymous, the Best Blog Award:

Technically I'm supposed to tag some more people, but I'm ducking out on that responsibility because if I wait until I have time for that I'm afraid this would never get posted LOL.

Thanks to everyone =)  & Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Very Very Late Tag

Everybody gets busy. I give myself credit that I manage to cram in posts as regularly as I do, but stuff like comments & awards sometimes fall by the wayside ... It was over a week ago that I was tagged over at Juicy Nails, but I'm finally getting a chance to say thanks!


I am late enough that I think I will pass on tagging 15 more blogs because everyone has already been tagged =) But I appreciate being thought of, and "better late than never" seems to apply a lot to my blogging LOL.

Off to answer some equally old comments & etc. Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

Kreativ Blogger Award

I got nominated for this fun little award by Brooke. I love Brooke's blog, and it seems like we think along the same lines a lot of the time LOL I'll go over there & think, "hey, I was just looking at that polish" or "now I want to do something like THAT."

Anyway, the rules are 7 facts about me & nominations for 7 other bloggers. Hmmm, these can sometimes be an excuse for me to ramble =) I'll try to keep it short:

-I can take a nap basically anytime, but for me to actually go to bed (like in pajamas under the covers) early is difficult.
-On the same note, I can EASILY sleep until after noon on the weekends.
-I'm a news junkie. If I have nothing else to do, I will watch it at 5, 6 & 10:00. I just like knowing what's going on & what the weather's going to do
-I spend every Friday with my grandparents & other family members
-I have over 10,000 songs on my iPod
-Other than music (which I can listen to at work) my preferred method of relaxation is yoga (which I do as soon as I come home)
-I currently have over 700 bottles of polish ... & counting =)

And here are my nominations:

Sakura
Astasia
Nihrida - even though I see you just did it! I was thinking of you =)
Kae
Olmi
Charming Nails
Wan

I have a lot of blogs I enjoy (have you SEEN my blogroll?) but I picked these ladies because they really do some of the most creative nail art out there. They are a constant inspiration, if at times a source of envy =) Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Awesome? Me?

Well, Diana of Painted Lady Fingers thinks so, and so does Chocaddict of Mon Coin a Moua =)


The rules are to give 10 random facts about me and select 10 blogs I read regularly. Hmmmm, seems like I only get a chance to really catch up on blogs on the weekend, I don't know if I can claim to read any regularly! But I highly advise checking out my blogroll, because when I do catch up, I go down the entire list =)

On to me ... well, I guess I've gotten more comfortable talking about myself, having 2 blogs, but this still was kind of tough.

1 - I'll start with a fact most of you already know, since I have an adorable pic to post - I have a cat, Frisky, who is 18 years old & what I don't think I've posted before is that I found her as a kitten in the tree in our front yard when I was 10 years old. She's a polydactl spoiled princess (poly-what? take a look at her feet here) and has made several appearances on the blog.



2 - I can't stand coffee - which is fine since caffeine has absolutely no effect on me anyway - but I have almost an entire drawer full of tea at work. Off the top of my head, flavors include: Plantation Mint, Peppermint, Vanilla Chai, Chocolate Caramel Enchantment, Acai Mango Zinger, French Vanilla, Tangerine, Apple Cider, Madagascar Vanilla Red, & Eggnog - and that's maybe about half of them LOL.

3 - I am sadly the most extremely single person I know ... 3 years & counting. I guess by choice, since I'm not exactly looking at the moment, but I really wouldn't object if I happened to run into someone oh ... tall, dark, handsome & rich at the grocery store or something =)

4 - I have pretty severe asthma, which is under control currently but has put me in the hospital 3 times in the past. Nowadays all it really does is keep a serious dent in my wallet paying for the meds that let me keep breathing.

5 - I (luckily? unluckily?) live with my parents. On a good day I know that it's logical & everyone wins with our resources (money) combined in one household ... on a bad day I think maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be stuck in a crap apartment living on ramen & Kool-Aid just to have more of my own space.

6 - I'm allergic to tree nuts. That means I can eat peanuts (which grow underground I think) & cashews (which apparently grow on some kind of bush) but have to stay away from walnuts & pecans unless I want to swell up & get itchy.

7 - I love cooking & baking but don't do either very often because I hate cleaning up =) Although I do have plans to make cake balls for Halloween ... I'm thinking chocolate cake with orange coating & maybe ordering some better food pens & turn them into little jack o lanterns.

8 - I have a lot of hobbies I don't indulge in very often because I just don't have time for everything ... for example I've started drawing more often since I started my other blog, but I can't remember the last time I finished a cross-stitch.

9 - I enjoy yoga. I have DVDs of the series Namaste Yoga, which is a style where the movements flow tidally with your breathing. I don't do it as often as I should, even though whenever I do fit it in I'm happy that I did afterwards.

10 - Because it all comes back to the polish =) My stash recently passed the 700-bottle mark. I finally got around to adding my last hauls to my spreadsheet (yes, I said spreadsheet), and they put me at exactly 700 ... and then I kind of bought some more & now I'm at 708 =) I know I'm on a no-buy, but does it really count as breaking it if I kept it under $10.00?? Pics of that little haul coming later of course.

Well, hope I didn't bore anyone too much with the long, picture-lacking ramble of a post LOL. Maybe more than anyone wanted to know but then again maybe not; I know I am always interested to know about the people behind the nails of the blogs I read.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Silver NOTD

So, after my freehand success on the 4th, I thought I'd do it again ... and I did a pretty good job on the actual nail art, but I ended up not too pleased with my color choices. The silver base - Sally Hansen Celeb City - was so shiny it made it difficult to see the art - done with China Glaze QT & 2Nite - except in indirect light or shade. Chalk it up to another learning experience:


Also, 2 more people think I'm adorable!


I got the Adorable Blog Award from Lacquer Laine & Nailz-in-Aus =) The rules for this award are:

–Include the logo in your blog or post
–Nominate as many blogs which you like
–Be sure to link your nominees within your post
–Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog
–Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received this award

Keeping it short but hopefully sweet, I have just one nominee today: Tartofraises : Nail Art sur Ongles Naturels This amazing nail art blog is in french but she does provide translations & the part I love the most is she has a ton of tutorial VIDEOS on her blog! She makes it all looks so easy, I now have a lot more designs I want to try =) I found this blog actually because she found me first & after I saw her nails I was quick to add her to my blogroll - which I of course encourage you all to browse at your leisure =)

I promise the Helmer pics are coming soon. Maybe even tonight if I can get my butt in gear, but don't hold me to that too strictly LOL. Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Nails, Nails, More Nails, Mini-Review & Award

LOTS to cover. Probably because several of these things I meant to post over the weekend & just never got around to doing it!

I'll start out with my nails, since that's probably what you came here to see =) I kept it simple, no nail art, because this polish is pretty enough by itself. I can't quite decide if this is a duo-chrome or just super super shimmery; Nubar Gold Leaf:

Then, my friend's mani chipped, so there was nothing but to redo it. This time we used China Glaze QT, another great holo from the OMG Collection. Unfortunately the sun didn't show while she was around but here are the pics I did take:

I also did my toes over the weekend. From the Color Illusion Collection, this was a Big Lots find, Revlon Purple Twilight (excuse the sun pics ... pre-clean up but it was the only instant the sun was out):

OK, that brings us about halfway through this giant post! And all of the real manicure-related stuff out of the way.

Those of you who read my Mini-Review of the Revlon Runway Collection Fake Nails will probably recall that I pretty much dissed them all around. If you don't remember, well, click the link & go back to check it out =)

Given that I was less than enthusiastic and none too complimentary, I was pretty surprised when they contacted me to say they'd be sending me more free fake nails. Yay!... I guess?

I mean, free stuff is always good, but in this case I'm thinking Revlon is going by the old adage of there's no such thing as bad press. Even if I pan their product, you guys all still get to see it. So I'm going to do another mini-review, this time focusing more on the designs, but please Revlon reps if you're reading this: next time give me polish. Because I really have no love of your fake nails. They're kind of cute but tiny & short & not for me.

All of these are from the Runway Collection and I received in the medium length.

Sequins:

This is one of the designs that I received the first time, but I didn't really talk about what I thought of the pattern. This design is ... well just OK I guess. I'm not impressed, although they're better than just plain french in my opinion.

Starlet:

This is also one of the designs that I received the first time. I like this one a little better than the first but still not blown away.

Minx:

I really can't say that I like this combination for some reason. Either the squarish design OR the silver smile line alone I like, but not together

Stella:

Very neutral & I'd think work-appropriate even in a more conservative office. Just enough of a design that they don't feel plain.

Studio:

Cute but unremarkable except for the fact that it has silver tips instead of white.

Mystic:

This is my 2nd favorite design, I like non-traditional dark tips. But this has the downside (for me) that only some of the nails have rhinestones at the peak of the chevron - I counted, and of the 24 nails you get, only 8 have rhinestones =(

Sateen:

I think this one gets the most points for originality. It reminds me the most of a kind of konad-tip design, which I prefer most of the time over the simpler designs of just dots or lines. This one was my overall favorite design, but it did have one problem that the stripe of glitter is not applied very well on all nails (or else is already coming off before they've even been out of the box...). Maybe not noticeable to a normal person, but I'm used to really scrutinizing my mani.

That's all, although I felt like that was a ton! I wasn't sure what to expect when I opened the box & was pleasantly surprised to see that they were so generous.

Finally, I got another award! And I kind of hate to stick it at the end of the post, and I don't have time to do it full justice & nominate other blogs for it like I'm supposed to, but I think saying thank you & getting it up here is better than it landing in "draft limbo" with other things on my to-do list...

Natalie over at Nani's Nails gave me the Uber Amazing Blog Award!

The rules for this awards are as follows:

1. Write five (5) interesting facts about the person who gave you this award.
2. Jot down ten (10) interesting facts about yourself or your hobbies.
3. Pick your ten (10) most deserving recipients and describe them.
4. Leave a comment on the recipients' blog to tell them they've been tagged
5. Paste the award badge in your side bar.

5 facts about Natalie who I got this award from:

• She's a mom
• She loves nails
• She loves Konad
• She just started her blog on June 4th
• If you really like her blog you can follow her on Twitter =)

10 facts about me:

• I've always loved my nails but blogging has really made me up my game
• My next-favorite hobby is reading
• I love to write LOL & I'm sure that probably comes across when I get to rambling
• Music is super-important to me. Most of the time my job takes up a tiny fraction of my brainpower & if I didn't have an ipod I think I'd go crazy.
• I like video games
• A hobby I don't always have time for but enjoy is cross-stitch
• Uhhh ... (reaching here) my cat's name is Frisky
• My dog's name is Dude
• And I don't know why it's so hard to come up with 10 things other than I feel put on the spot! And that's why I could never try out for Jeopardy, although do pretty good playing from home =)

OK, here's the part where I cheat out on the rest of the award rules ... I'm running out of time but as always I'll urge everyone to check out the blogroll to the right.

I think I just set a new record longest post! So, if you're still with me, LOL, thanks for reading =)

~Colette

Very Pink NOTD & I'm Adorable =)

Pink isn't usually my thing. If I had to pick a least favorite color, it's probably down there with orange ... but I am learning to appreciate both colors on my nails at least. And for today's lesson in appreciating all colors, I'm wearing Claire's Lulu Belle Konied with Black Special Polish & plate m40. This neon pink has some holographic glitter in it, which I did manage to catch in one out of focus thumb pic, and was distractingly bright on my nails all day =):

As a bonus, I haven't found anything My Nails Look Like lately, I guess I haven't been looking too hard, but I couldn't miss my mom's roses when I was taking the sun pics:


Also, Lachelle from Polished Beauty Blog gave me an award!


The Adorable Blog Award rules are as follows:

• Include the logo in your blog or post
• Nominate as many blogs which you like
• Be sure to link your nominees within your post
• Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog
• Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received this award.

Now, I've got a notoriously long blogroll, so it was really hard to pick just a few to pass this award along to. (Especially since this award is making the rounds & I'd like to shout out some blogs that haven't received it yet LOL!) Otherwise I'd get no sleep posting comment notifications LOL. So I'm limiting myself to 5, and here they are:

The Nailphile - The blog that started it all for me. I love lots of blogs now but I'll always remember that it was Siobhan who hooked me into the blogosphere & inspired me to start my own.
La Passion Des Ongles - Really great manis & konis. I also love that she shows her natural nails periodically, it's always nice to see what's behind all the polish.
Polish Pixie - Another of the first blogs I started reading & still love.
Sasse's 'Nad Stamping Stampede - Great Konad tips & pictures!
Alexlyndra - NOTDs with some really unique nail art & FOTDs too. A lot of blogs from other parts of the world all I can do is look at pics but I appreciate that she gives translations.

Check out the rest of my favorites to the right =) And, as always, thanks for reading.

~Colette

The Kreativ Blogger Award

I just received this award from Body & Soul & I'd like to start out by saying thanks! For a long time I wanted to start a blog & kind of put it off because I didn't want to log on every day to "0 comments" & "0 followers" & feel like I might as well just keep a journal in a notebook. I really appreciate all of my readers & getting awards like this just totally make my day & I'm really flattered.

The guidelines for this award are to list 7 things that I love, and then to pass the award on to 7 bloggers that I love. Since I just tagged 10 lovely blogs a little bit ago, I'm going to spread the love around & pic 7 different blogs, leaving them a post to make sure they know I think they're great.

7 Things That I Love (in no real order):

1 - Nails, polish, Konad, etc (of course!)

2 - Reading - lotsa lotsa books - and writing

3 - Family (if this list were in order they'd have to be at the top)

4 - Pets - you've all met Frisky, one of these days I'll have to introduce our dog Dude

5 - Friends - because I don't have very many (more online than IRL sadly enough) but the ones I have are really good friends

6 - Music - just about anything honestly. I'm pretty sure my iPod has a little something from every genre, from rap to rock, country to classical.

7 - Summer - this is on my mind because we had a teaser on Saturday, I spent a long time sitting in the sun, but today it is chilly & raining

7 Blogs That I Love (in alpha order)(and more on the sidebar of course):

1 - Body & Soul

2 - Dr. Frankenpolish

3 - Fifty-Two Flavors

4 - Gettin' Nailed

5 - Never Too Much Glitter

6 - Polishaholic

7 - Trendy Nail

So, now off to notify my winners. But before I go, I know I haven't had a My Nails Looks Like for a while, and I happened to get lucky & stumble across today:

MNLL a manila envelope LMAO. The color isn't exactly as bright, but the tone is right on in most lights. Thanks for reading.

~Colette

I'm Fab!

WOW! So I post my NOTD & then I check my comments & see I have received not one but two awards from my fellow bloggers =)

Both Brooke and Nixxy think I'm fab! Of course, with great power (or fab-ness) comes great responsibility, and here are the rules:

#1 - Put the logo on your blog or post.
#2 - Nominate at least 10 blogs which you think are fabulous.
#3 - Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
#4 - Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
#5 - Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

Of course, I've got a veeerrry long list to your right, but 10 particularly excellent blogs ... I don't know if I could really pick a favorite, like honestly rank them 1-10, so they are listed alphabetically:

Contests & Such
e-polishblog
Getcha Nails Did
My Manicure
Nail Art Tuesday
Nail Juice
Nixxy's Nails
Polish Pixie
Scrangie
The Nailphile

Now off to notify my winners ... then I think it will be time for bed LOL. Thanks for reading.

~Colette