Road trip moments: Strečno castle, Slovakia

Hey people! It was a gorgeous day here in Ljubljana! I went on foot wherever I could and then even went jogging, it was so awesome. Right now I'm hungry as hell and have to work on a paper, but I still owe you a few road trip moments that I'd love to share with you!

We left Spiš Castle rather late, being so impressed with it, and were rushing to Žilina, a town close to the Slovak border with Czech Republic, where our first concert on this trip occurred. Honestly, it was more of my BF's interest than mine, 4 local (3 Slovak & 1 Czech) metal bands, I didn't know any of them, but the ticket was cheap and well, I don't say no to a good night out.

The hotel Grand in Žilina was so-so. Very cheap equipment, better said - very old and it showed. A lot. But the restaurant next to it was awesome. Seriously awesome, one of the best Caesar salad I ever had and the coffee was amazing! It's an open restaurant/bar, it's not hotel-only, so I really recommend it. 

But I'm skipping things, let's start with our arrival to Žilina, being very late for the concert that started at 6 p.m. already (4 bands and all). When we realised we'll have to walk around 20 minutes just to the place where they were playing I totally saw us missing half of the concert. Since there was one band that my boyfriend wanted to see particularly, that wasn't the best position for us. In the end we missed one band, and luckily it wasn't the most wanted one. I must say the band itself REALLY surprised me, it was fantastic! They don't even have a web page or a CD out yet, but the concert was freaking awesome. Plus the beer was 1 € only, ah, the good old low prices that are no where to find in Slovenia anymore. :)

Žilina wasn't interesting for us just because of the concert, it was also interesting because of the Strečno castle, Slovaks call it Strečniansky hrad, that is located nearby Žilina. Again info on the net told me the thing closes up at 4 p.m. and that there are no guided tours in November. As we came there, we saw naturally there are guided tours but that we missed them. Figures. Then again, they were in Slovak language, as far as I could figure, but we could at least go inside the castle with a guide. Luckily, the castle itself was beautiful on the outside too. Pictures!

 IMHO this view alone was worth the walk up hill.

 The path to the castle is gorgeous. 

 The view from the castle hill.

A poor picture of otherwise awesome scene. This is where you have to park your car and then walk up to the castle, off the road it looks kinda like this. 

Strečno castle is beautiful. Really, I want to go there again and take the tour too. Slovakia, like Czech Republic has a lot of castle, that's why I'm probably a fan of both forever. :) 

I have one more post prepared. From Žilina and Strečno castle we went to the Slovak neighbours, Czech, very close to their border with Austria, where *the* concert happened. :)

Hope you liked the entry, thank you for reading and commenting!

Misa - Hot Couture

Hey people! On my previous post the first comment was about Misa Hot Couture and I realized I haven't shown you this beauty before. BTW, the commentator, as I discovered after clicking her nickname, has an amazing set of nails and amazing set of photos on her blog, The Scholarly Nail. New blog to me, but I fell in love with it yesterday, I recommend checking it out. :)

So, Misa Hot Couture. One of those polishes I get in Kris' packages that surprise me, thinking it's not really a me colour and then I put it on and it's 100% love (also one of the reasons why I call her the expert on "my colours"). But I was immediately drawn to Hot Couture. It's such an unusual colour, I couldn't wait to try it on. It looks amazing on the nails. It feels like a yellowish nude, being yellow enough not to bore me. It reminds me of Winnie the Pooh and cosequently of honey and that's why I love this polish even more. Major, major win, Misa.

Hot Couture is a part of Misa Runway collection. I have no idea when it was released, but it's an older one. The Polish Addict says in 2008 that it was released several seasons ago. I didn't even know it existed before I got Hot Couture. Other colours in the collection are classy, but I wouldn't buy them, we've seen too many of those shades already, but Hot Couture is a winner. 

It's a two coater, the application was good, I didn't have any troubles with the polish. I understand this is one of those colours people either love or hate. I adore fugly colours with a bit of edge so it's a great discovery for me. 

How are you with fugly colours? A fan, or do you get, like a lot of people all kinds of more or less repulsive assotiations with the colours? 

Thank you for reading, have a great Sunday evening!

Born Pretty Store review m69 plate

Hello people! How are you doing? I'm finally posting this review. I am so late with it I actually feel bad about it. After I got the plate (the package appearantly got lost somewhere on the way and it took longer for it to get to me) I went on my blogging break due to the studies and now that I got back to blogging I still didn't have enough time for my plan on this review. I planned to do each pattern in seperate post, having at least 3 manis done with it. Since now I'm back to my studies, I realize this is not going to happen this year. So let's make this the official Born Pretty Store review with extra linking on every design I'll do from now on with the plate, making them little reviews too, deal?

I'm showing you what I already created with this plate and my experience with stamping. With this plate it's basically the first time I tried stamping and liked it. Since I'm sure you all know your stamping and are admiring the same bloggers simply rocking the whole stamping deal as I am (yeah, I'm looking at you, Ohh Shinies!), you'll immediately notice my stamping is still rookie stamping. 

So let's see some observations of a rookie that just might help another rookie out. :)

• Stamping actually takes a lot less time than full scotch tape mani.
• Practice makes perfect. Seriously, the more you do it, the better will you get.
• Born Pretty Store plates have the design cut deep enough you actually pick up the pattern.
• It's fun! I used to think it's just a lot of work, but it's really fun! :)

All in all, I can only recommend buying from Born Pretty Store. They're really really nice and helpful and their prices are very low. Plus the choice they have of plates is almost endless: click! IMHO they also make a very awesome place for your Chirstmas/NY gift shopping. 

Pictures!

Misa Grey Matters with Brucci Sapphire. My latest mani too, I loved it. :)

Misa Hot Couture with Catrice Back to Black. This is the pattern I don't really understand. What is it suppose to be? Well, Hot Couture reminded me of Winnie The Pooh and the pattern of honeycomb, so this is what came out. 

Finger Paints Give Pink A Chance with Color Club Hot Like Lava and Cold Metal. You've already seen this. I wish I would do the blue pattern on all my nails ... oh well, next time!

Essence Barefoot Thorugh The Moss with BB Couture Clyde. My very first try and I disliked how I couldn't capture the tiny dots.

The funny thing about the whole deal is, I didn't use my favourite pattern on this plate, wanting to do an awesome green combo and ran out of time. That one is waiting for the proper moment, the idea is running in my head for way too long. 

What do you think of stamping? Are you a fan? Did you shop at Born Pretty Store yet? Any suggestions what I should buy when I place my order?

Thank you Born Pretty Store for providing me the plate for the review! 

Misa - Phazers on Stunning

Heya! I'm going to be rather short today, I don't have much time. It's December the 1st and it hit me with full force I have two exams in a month. Panic? Oh yea. 

I've always thought Misa isn't getting the love she ought to get, so I'm going to say it again: Misa rocks! Sure, they had some quiet time (that still wasn't as quiet as OPIs IMHO), but they remain, next to Nubar and China Glaze, the brand that came out with a collection I want to have as a whole and I think that's a major achievement.

I'm wearing Grey Matters as I type this for the second day now and I'm not tired of it at all, it's so perfect. Grey Matters and Phazers on Stunning are the only two from their Winter 2011 Surreal Escape collection, but they are so perfect they're getting solo posts. 

Phazers on Stunning. Love!

I need to wear it over black, to see if the duochrome effect gets even stronger. This is three coats, the application was good (i was worried about it, Scrangie said it's a bit tricky, but I didn't have problems with it) and the duochrome effect is very strong, cool strong green colour and redish brown compliment each other wonderfully, plus the silver specks are a major win. 

I think this is a must-have, really. Gorgeous shade. Did you get any colours from Surreal Escape collection?

Thank you for reading!