October Fan's Choice Poll

I've gone through the comments on my submission video and picked a baker's dozen of the suggestions to be voted on - please check out the poll in the upper right corner and vote for your choice!  The top 4 designs will be featured on Fridays in October =)

This poll will be open until next Sunday 10/2/16.

Also, please let me know if you think I should do Fan Choice Friday in November & December also?

And, stop me if you've heard it before ... I WILL be posting more here on the blog.  Like, for real this time.  I had a lot of trouble getting myself on a normal schedule after I quit my job, but I've managed to kind of get on track while I'm on vacation in California, which is unfortunate since all I have is my Chromebook so my productivity is a little limited.  But once I get back to my main PC & my external drives with all my old pictures on them, I am making it a priority to dig in and start editing & posting!

Thanks for reading and for voting!

~Colette

Nail Art April Fan's Choice

OK, I got lots of suggestions in the video comments, now it's time to VOTE!  See the poll at the top of the right sidebar (mobile readers, select "view web version" to see the sidebar), voting will be open through the end of the day Monday 3/28.

You CAN vote for more than one idea, so if you see 2 or 3 that you like, vote for them all!

I'm exited  - and, OK, a little nervous! - to see what you guys pick for me next month =)

Thanks for reading

~Colette

5th Annual Water Marble March: Viewer's Choice!

OK, if you didn't see my video announcing this year's Water Marble March, here it is:

And I got a ton of suggestions!  Enough that I think I'll definitely have to do this again sometime.  BUT ... while I am almost sure I've used polls on Facebook in the past, apparently they've changed things and so I'm not polling there - I'm polling here on my good ole' blog =) 

The poll is at the very top of my right sidebar (If you're on mobile, select "view web version" to see the sidebar).  You can choose more than one answer, so please vote and the top 4 choices I will do next month!  The poll will be open through the end of the day MONDAY 2/29/16.

Any questions let me know but I'm kind of rolling with the punches LOL.  I only about 75% know what I'm doing =)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Being A Responsible Adult ...

...which entails, among other things, doing my taxes rather than blogging, since I did get the final piece of paperwork I was waiting for on Friday.  So that's out of the way & a huge weight off my shoulders, but it took up a good chunk of my weekend.

 

One of the things I wanted to do was get the top 20 manis of 2010 done, since January is over like, tomorrow.  I'm rather irked that we're moving into the 2nd month of 2011 & I never even got around to writing down my resolutions LOL. Where has January gone?!  Anyway, I'm going to stick up a poll, in the right sidebar - just take a minute & let me know if you are still interested to see it?

 

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Barielle Two Timing

I had a hard time picking a color last night.  I didn't have enough time to do the mani I was thinking of, (that I did tonight) so this was kind of a compromise, but I like the way it turned out.  This is Barielle Two Timing:

Then I used Misa Ghetto Fabulous - my favorite gold for Konading - and a full nail design from image plate m56:

I hadn't used this design before, partly because unlike some of the other full nail designs, it doesn't have a perfect match that you can line up for double-stamping.  But I found if I flipped it to stamp the opposite direction, instead of going end to end, that worked pretty well.  When I have seams I want to hide I tend to put them towards the bottom ... here's an example, the nail that matched up best:

Also, by total coincidence since I did this mani last night, I got an email today from Barielle with this sale:

As if I needed more temptation on my no-buy LOL.

I have a new naked nails post coming soon, including a breakdown of my normal nail maintenance routine after several requests last time.  I took some pics today but have more still to do so I'm not sure if the actual post will come this week or next, but it is on the way =)

Last thing, I'm putting up a quick poll regarding my YouTube content - please take a moment to vote =)  I'm just running it for 1 day, to kind of test the waters & get a quick sample of what my readers & watchers want. I'll be discussing that once it's finished & the January book poll also, hopefully by the weekend. Thanks for reading (& voting!).

~Colette

Final 2009 Books: 68-77

Believe it or not, this was a slow reading year for me. I've said it before, but if you're a new reader, I read 130 books in 2008, so not even hitting 80 in 2009 was a huge personal disappointment for me. Well, maybe not huge, but I was disgruntled, believe it. My goal for 2010 is 100 books, which would be about 2 a week. I'm already off on a good foot, I finished my first book day before yesterday on the 1st. But before I can start to tell you about my 2010 books, I've got to finish up 2009 =)

You may have noticed a little Amazon link showed up over in my affiliate section in the right sidebar - starting with this post, if you're interested to purchase any of what I'm currently reading, the titles & book covers will be click-able for you to purchase through Amazon.com. I personally get the vast majority of my books from my local library, but if you're the type who likes to own their favorites, please consider starting here, as a little commission on my end would be pretty sweet =) If you are another heavy-using library patron & only care about the reviews, the links will be pretty unobtrusive & easy to ignore.

Last thing before the books is, I'm put up a poll (which I haven't for a while ) - I'm curious, how many books did YOU read over the past year? Are you pleased with what you read, wish you'd read more, feel like you wasted your time & should have read less? Please vote & feel free to leave a comment. Now on to the books:

#68

Must Love Hellhounds

Anthology

This anthology featured stories by Charlaine Harris, Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, and Meljean Brooks.

I mainly got it because I wanted to read the Charlaine Harris story, but I actually ended up liking that one least.  The Ilona Andrews story turned out to be my favorite, set in her Kate Daniels' universe but featuring one of her friends, Andrea.  This short fit really neatly into the established storyline - something which unfortunately isn't always true & can really lose an author points with me.

#69

The Titan's Curse

Percy Jackson & the Olympians Book 3

Rick Riordan

At first I thought I saw where this book was going, then there were a few turns & I started to doubt myself, then in the end it turned out I was right in the first place LOL.  The movie based on the first book in this series comes out in I think February, I would like to have finished the series by then, I think I have 2 books to go at this point.

#70

Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit

Mercedes Lackey

This is an Arthurian tale, and while I can't claim to have read very many, I quite enjoyed this one.  Might have something to do with the fact that Lackey is one of my favorite authors LOL, I don't ever really have to worry about disliking one of her books.

#71

Fantasy

Anthology

This anthology featured stories by Christine Feehan, Sabrina Jeffries, Emma Holly & Elda Minger.

I picked this up for the Emma Holly short - as it is the story that started one of her series - but most of the rest were OK.  Christine Feehan is not my favorite, although she seems to be pretty popular because I've run across her stuff in anthologies before.

#72

Lucinda, Dangerously

Demon Princess Chronicles Book 2

Sunny

The demon princess with a heart of gold, if that isn't too hard to believe.  This book finds her stripped of her powers & imprisoned.  This series is a spin off from Sunny's other series, the Monere.

#73

Moon Awakening

Children of the Moon Book 1

Lucy Monroe

This is the first paranormal book of Lucy Monroe's that I've read, and I think she handled herself pretty well.  The Children of the Moon are - no surprise here I'm sure =) - werewolves.  Seems like usually you find werewolves in a more modern, urban setting, but this is actually set a few hundred years ago in Scotland.

#74

Never After

Anthology

This anthology featured stories by Laurell. K. Hamilton, Yasmine Galenorn, Marjorie M. Liu, & Sharon Shin.

The weirdest part of this book, the part I (sadly) remember most at this point, is that it s not standard size.  It was a paperback, but it was a little narrower & an inch or two taller than most paperbacks.  I couldn't quite figure out what the point of that was, other than making it so that it wouldn't fit neatly on a bookshelf LOL

The other disappointment was that, despite the fact that she had top billing & her name is literally bigger than the title of the book, Laurell K. Hamilton's story was less than 40 pages.  Of a book that was nearly 400 pages., with only 4 short stories.  To say I was miffed is an understatement, I mean come on!  That's kind of like false advertisement.

#75

Kitty Raises Hell

Kitty Norville Book 6

Carrie Vaughn

In the last book, during her trip to Vegas, Kitty managed to piss a few people off - as usual I guess you could say, but these particular people decided to take their vengeance through a being that at first appears to be a demon.

#76

First Lord's Fury

The Codex Alera, Book 6

Jim Butcher

Ah, this book was bittersweet for me, I'd been waiting for it for about a year, anxious to see what happened next, but it's also the final book of the series, so I'm sad there won't be any more.  I always want to know what happens next, so maybe I'm never really satisfied when a story ends LOL.  This ending came close though, everything came together in the end & there were several last minute twists that I didn't see coming, unexpected confrontations & some that I'd been looking forward to that never ended up happening.  I think The Codex Alera is my favorite series I've read in a long time, maybe ever.  I can only hope Jim Butcher picks another story to tell in this world.

#77

Hot for the Holidays

Anthology

This anthology featured stories by Lora Leigh, Angela Knight, Anya Bast & Allyson James.

I'd actually been on the waitlist for this one since last Christmas I think LOL, the timing was pretty good that I got it in time for the holidays this year.  Just a quick read, filler while I waited for a few other things that were in transit.

There are sooo many books I'm looking forward to in the next year =)  Here's to meeting & beating my goal.  Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Polls Coming & Going

It was fairly obvious from the beginning which way this one was leaning. And you may have noticed I'd adjusted my style a little in response.

On another note ... I have a very strong desire for the Blogger collection from Rescue Beauty Lounge ... on the other hand, I have a very strong aversion to paying $18/bottle for polish. Especially after a couple of other recent hauls of around the same price range that netted me a lot more than freaking 3 bottles of polish. Still. They're gorgeous! And kind of historic, like the All Lacquered Up collection by Barielle (which makes up a goodly portion of one of the aforementioned hauls). I mean, this is The Limited Edition Blogger Collection. I need this ... or do I?

Thus the inspiration for my new poll: How much of which collection will you be buying? Check it out & let me know your thoughts! Thanks for voting & for reading =)

~Colette

Sunday Post-A-Thon: A Poll

OK, I thought of one more thing I'd like to post ... after this little mini-marathon of blogging, I'm thinking: Do you guys like a bunch of little posts on individual subjects, like I did today, or my usual style which is kind of cram it all into one?

My poll on nail length will be over this evening - please go & vote if you haven't already! - so I'm going to pose this question on a new week-long poll. Check it out & let me know your thoughts!

Thanks for reading (& voting) =)

~Colette

My Short(er) Nails & Guest NOTD

OK, no need to scold me, before we even get to the pics I have to say right up front that I know they're not really short. But they FEEL short after having them so close to what would be my perfect length. What can I say, I like my nails long - although my friend told me she thought they were nearly to the point of too much. I told her well, they're not fetish-long, and she said yes they were - I said no they're not & she said well then put up a poll ... so what do you think readers? I'm assuming you're probably a long nail fan if you're hanging around here, LOL. But check out the poll at the upper right - just how long would you consider my nails?

So at this point you're probably wondering what exactly I'm fussing about. Well, it's been around a month since I gave you guys a glimpse of my nails without polish. I didn't take them down quite as much as I was planning to, but they're still considerably shorter I think. Here are some pics before & after filing today:




I was going to take my left hand even with my index finger but I just couldn't quite do it.

For Guest NOTD we have T's nails, I redid a patch for her & then did a fresh mani. This is Sally Hansen Nail Prisms in Emerald Amethyst, and I forced her to take lots of pics in an attempt to capture the duo-chome lovliness of this old polish:


I did my own nails too, but I'm now wearing a holo - and you know that means lots of pics! Too many for me to edit right at the moment, as it's already pretty late for me to be posting. So stay tuned tomorrow! Thanks for reading.

~Colette