Gita Soto

 

 

Gita Soto is 171 cm tall actress, theater artist and British model. She is daughter of an English mother and Mexican father.

Gita Soto will make her Bollywood debut in early 2010 with Salman Khan's movie Veer. She will perform in Veer along with other débutante Zarine Khan. Other leading ladies from the movie Veer are Lisa Lazarus and Neena Gupta.

She is also filming for Sales up to 50%.

Rachana Maurya

 

 

Rachana Maurya is an Indian actress and model who has appeared in Hindi, Kannada and Tamil movies. She is a hot item song performer and gave special appearance in many Bollywood and South Indian movies.
 

Overall Beauty Sale Haul!

Eeek they're here! I'm been dreaming about these nonstop since I first saw them and now they're finally here! *squeal* (Click these suckers to enlarge, they're ginormous!)


Kelly's Green, Redwood Forest, Vampy Varnish, Mendocino Midnight, Union Square, Napa Valley Red. OMG SO HOT

These are Kelly of Vampy Varnish's personal creations! Check out her swatches!

These came along for the ride as well:


Studio 54, Saturday Night Fever, Hard-On Nail Strengthener, Top Rock Topcoat.

Studio 54 almost seems a little frosty, Saturday Night Fever looks like it could be twinny to Emerald Sparkle. I'll admit, I only bought Hard-On for the name and Top Rock because it's scented. Heh.

Looks like they made the bottles smaller, as you can see in the second picture. They're .5oz now instead of .6oz.

I can't wait to try all of these on. OMG I'm so excited. SO MANY GREENS!!! SO MUCH GLITTER!!!! The colors, Duke!

Mary J Blige

 

 

 

Mary Jane Blige born January 11, 1971 in The Bronx, New York City, USA. She is an American singer, song writer, rapper, model, record producer and actress who has won nine Grammy Awards and sold more than 48 million records worldwide. Blige was sexually abused by a family friend at the age of five.

Check out her official website here.

Pine Valley Loop

Distance: 8 miles round trip
Elevation: 6,800 ft - 7,900 ft
Elevation Gain: 1,000 ft net, 1,300 ft cumulative
Dog: On leash while in the park, off leash outside of it

View to the west from the Strawberry Jack Trail

The Pine Valley Loop is not in anyone's guide book, but it is dog friendly, winds through interesting terrain, and is close to Denver. Like the Gashouse Gulch-Baldy Trail, its topography is dominated by the burnt out remains of a major fire, in this case the year 2000 High Meadows Fire. At times the landscape is stark and foreboding and at other times, with the help of a little snow on the ground, it is serene and filled with abstract images. Since the elevation is relatively low, it is a great shoulder season hike. We did it on Thanksgiving day and there was a little too much snow on the ground, which made for some slippery descents. Snow this early is unusual, however.

Map of the Pine Valley Ranch Open Space Park showing the Pine Lake Loop and the Park View Trail

Heading along the south side of the lake. Note that the trail on this side is full of snow while the other side of the lake is clear.

The Pine Valley Loop hike is actually a series of five trails, the Pine Lake Loop in the Pine Valley Ranch Open Space Park, the Buck Gulch Trail, the Skipper Trail, the Strawberry Jack Trail, and the Park View Trail (again in Pine Valley Ranch). You can take this route in either direction, but going counter clockwise (the Buck Gulch side) means you'll come down the view laden Park View Trail at the end.

A burnt out snag on the Buck Gulch Trail

The shadows cast by the snags on the snowy hillsides made for an engaging abstract landscape.

If taken counter clockwise, the loop starts out on the short Pine Lake Loop (0.4 miles from the parking lot), which travels next to the pleasant, can you guess it...Pine Lake. This segment is in the Pine Valley Ranch Park. At the far end of the lake in an intersection with the Buck Gulch Trail.

A brief glimpse of a health Ponderosa Forest at the intersection of the Buck Gulch Trail and the Skipper Trail

The two peaks in the distance were constantly in view.

The Buck Gulch trail departs to the left and heads immediately up hill for 3 miles and 1,000 ft of elevation gain. As it ascends, the trail winds in and out of the park until it finally departs all together. At this point the dogs are allowed to roam free. The trail is open, even in the unburned areas, with pleasant views to the east. At the end of the trail is a small kiosk and parking area. This is the intersection with the Skipper Trail, which heads to the east. It is also the highest point of the loop at 7,900 ft.

Rock formations on the Strawberry Jack Trail

My friends Kate and Elaine at our lunch spot

The Skipper Trail starts out in a unburned portion of the forest, and it large Ponderosa Pines provide a hint of what the area used to be like. Only 1.2 miles long, the trail descends 250 ft but regains 100 ft of that before it dead ends into a 3-way intersection with the Homestead Trail that heads southeast and the Strawberry Jack trail which heads north.

The intersection of the Strawberry Jack Trail and the Park View Trail

Just before heading down the steep side of the Park View Trail

The Strawberry Jack trail travels 2.2 miles before the intersection with the Park View Trail. It winds primarily downwards through large rock formations. We stopped to eat lunch on one pile with views in all directions. In the dead of summer this spot would be a broiler, but on a mild November day it was delightful.

This shot shows the nice view one gets on the Park View Trail but only hints at the iciness we encountered.

There are two options for final pitch back to the car, the Park View Trail or a continuation of the Strawberry Jack Trail. The latter ends up back on the Buck Gulch trail so you repeat some of the route. The Park View Trail is totally unique and has amazing views of the Pine Valley Ranch Park and lake. On most days this is recommended. On the day we did it, it was so slick with ice, we finally resorted to glaceed down on our tushes.

Map of the Buffalo Creek area showing the Pine Valley Loop and the extent of the High Meadows fire

Some people find hiking through burn areas to be either unappealing or downright disturbing. I disagree. Seeing how nature springs back from a burn is an interesting lecture in ecology and the realization that this process is slow is a moral tale we can all benefit from. Colorado is particularly prone to fire and many of the more recent ones have been caused by arson. Only by walking through these areas do we remember these events. The headlines disappear far too quickly.

Diane Lane

 

 

 

Diane Lane born January 22, 1965 in New York City, New York, USA. She is an American film actress who made her screen debut in George Roy Hill's 1979 film A Little Romance, starring opposite Laurence Olivier. Soon after, she was featured on the cover of Time.

Currently she is filming for Secretariat.

OMG super awesome sneak preview SPRING 2010 BARIELLES!

UPS man just totally surprised me with this package! A Festivus miracle!!

Darling Dahlia, Blossom, Myrza's Meadow (someone at Barielle plays Magic: The Gathering? Oh wait... that's Urza.), Snap Dragon, A Bouqet For Ava and June Bug.

Click to enlarge.

Two of these have GLITTER!!

I'm on my way to a Christmas party so I have to post and run... More info soon!

EDIT: Forgot to post these, too excited!


Myrza's Meadow


June Bug

100% of the proceeds from A Bouquet For Ava, June Bug and Myrza's Meadow purchased at www.orcf.org will be donated to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund

Kareena Kapoor

 

 

 

Kareena Kapoor is a bubbly hot Bollywood actress informally known as Bebo. She is the sister of Karisma Kapoor.

Kareena is playing lead actress in forthcoming Hindi film 3 Idiots directed by Rajkumar Hirani which also stars Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Mona Singh and Boman Irani.

She is also filming for her next release Milenge Milenge along with Shahid Kapoor.

Check out more details and hot pictures of Kareena in our previous posts here and here.

A polish I really like - China Glaze Afterglow

China Glaze Afterglow. I found this polish in my stash a couple weeks ago. I was moving all my China Glazes into an Ikea Helmer, attempting to sort them vaguely by color. That's when I saw it. I didn't even know I had this. I don't think I've ever worn it. It's a shame, cause it's SO FREAKIN' COOL! It's a sheer polish with a milky nude-peach-yellowy pink base, which throws you off because it looks kinda funky. But the funny base isn't what shows up on your nail- it's the wicked blue iridescence! It has both a bright blue flash and bright blue shimmer particles. It looks electric. I can't stop looking at it. I think it would be amazing for layering over other colors, but I kinda like how this looks all by itself. This is three coats. I think one of the reasons I'm so drawn to this is that it reminds me of a polish I had in junior high. It was from Afterthoughts, remember that place? They sold cheap jewelry and did crappy ear piercing? Anyway, the name of the polish was Angel. Angel looked a bit like this (and a lot of other polishes, white with blue iridescence seems to be a popular theme).

So, there you go. China Glaze Afterglow. Cool polish.

You know... I really like doing random posts like this. I haven't had much time to sit and do 'real' reviews of collections lately (despite the fact that I have months worth of crap to post! Oy) and it really has me thinking.... Random posts are fun. Reviews feel like work, unless it's something I'm super-super excited about, and then it's fun.

And speaking of reviews, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to do my full Nubar Prism review soon, as I STILL haven't seen the polishes in sunlight. It's been... what... a week? That's Chicago winter for you. I really wanted to see how much they sparkle in real sunlight and get some better pictures. I may just have to review them with my initial impressions. Hopefully I'll get a little sunlight before they come out and I won't have to do that.

I think that's all I wanted to say... I feel like I'm forgetting something. I don't know. *dodges avalanche of green slime*

If I don't get another chance to post before then, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! I know I will, I'm making rum cake.

McCullough Gulch

View looking east from the end of the McCullough Gulch trail

Here are a couple of photos from McCullough Gulch (see my official trail post) near Breckenridge. I finally got out and snowshoed this past weekend. Amen. I have been on near continuous travel since the beginning of October with Hamburg, Princeton NJ, Portland Oregon, Monmouth Oregon, and finally Ft. Lewis WA for two weeks of Army training. I will get back to serious blogging over the holiday.

Aspen sentinels

It has been three years since I snowshoed this route and now I have a GPS. I found it to be 1 mile shorter than the guide book. With all my travel, I am not in Colorado shape, and found the 700 ft elevation gain to be a chore, but you have to start somewhere!

Quandary Peak looms over McCullough Gulch

Nag, nag, nag. Sales!

Okay, since this is the third or fourth email I've gotten about it, I figured I might as well post it.

Barielle's still having their Holiday sale- 10% off orders over $25, 20% off orders over $60 (and free shipping) or 30% off orders over $100 (and free shipping.) No code needed. Ends December 25th. A couple swatches here: Barielle

Also, BB Couture is doing a buy one get one free sale. Buy one polish and get another of the same polish for free. No code required, ends December 25th. Only valid on BB Couture's site.

I know there was one more sale I'm forgetting.... I think I deleted the emails already. It might have been Lippmann.

Color Club Wonderland Minis Winter 2009

Holy crap. I just realized it's almost Christmas and I still haven't posted these Color Club glitters. I took these pictures BEFORE HALLOWEEN. Talk about backlog... I feel like I'll never be able to post all the things I want to post. Argh! Well, like I always say, better late than never. And there's no rule that says you can't wear green glitter after Christmas, so, there!

(These were sent to me by Color Club)

Under The Mistletoe. Let's just start off with my favorite. Green glitter, any surprise it's the one I like the most? Didn't think so. This is not generally what I think of for a 'mistletoe' shade, but it's still nice! It's a light yellowy silver-green glitter. The base seems tinted, but the glitter is dense enough to cover the entire nail with no problem. Very very sparkly.


Wonderland. Super sparkly light silver glitter. The picture speaks for itself. Uber-sparkly snowy silver glitter. Has a very bright reflective overall look. Not as dense as other silver glitters, this one would work well as a topcoat but it is dense enough to wear alone.

Yule Love It. Light red glitter in a light red tinted/jellyish base. Again, not the traditional red glitter Ruby Pumps close. I like it! This is a very pinkish red shade, almost more of a deep magenta than a true red. The base isn't as sheer as I had expected it to be, it's more of a jelly finish than a sheer tint. Lovely. Does double duty as a great Valentine's Day color as well.

Here's a quick indoor shot of them from the day I got them. That's Abracadabra on my middle finger.

The formula on these was good. The glitter was nice and dense, I did three coats of all and that was good enough coverage for me to be happy. They're a little on the thick side. Drying time wasn't lightning fast, but not what I'd consider long. Average for Color Club, but faster than the Glitter Vixens. The glitter does have a little grit to it and needs a coat of a nice thick topcoat but they're also not as gritty as the Glitter Vixen ones were. These are more of a slight bumpy finish than a scratchy gritty finish. Yule Love It is actually quite smooth for a glitter. This set also comes with a clear topcoat- I haven't used it so I can't really judge the formula.

Worth mentioning again, these are mini size, but they still have a decent sized brush. No stubby little OPI-Mini style brush. That's one thing I really like about Color Club minis, real brushes! And I just can't resist minis... they're too cute... Don't know what it is with me and mini things. Mini food, mini polish, mini perfumes... I'm just attracted to them like a magnet!

It probably goes without saying that this little set makes me squeal like a schoolgirl. Throw some glitter at me and I'll be singing your praises forever. I'm a total glitter ho.

Julianne Moore

 

 

 

 

Julianne Moore (aka Julie Anne Smith) born on December 3, 1960 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA. She is an American actress who began her acting career in 1983.