Winter Manicures: Sparkles and Blue Ice

Sparkles and Blue Ice

Hello!  I thought it would be fun to start off the winter season with an original nail design.  My nail polish collection is a little limited, so I had to be a little creative with what I have!  And I have to say, the results were pretty cool.  I call this design Sparkles in Blue Ice because it is exactly that.  I'm not very good at naming things (or people for that matter), so if you have a better name for this, let me know!

Sparkles and Blue Ice

Revlon: Multi Care 965

Sinful Colors: Love Nails 282

 I USED...

-Claire's Cosmetics nail polish: this one didn't really have a name.  It was mainly just sparkles with a slight blue tint.  However, any sparkly polish will do the job.  

Sinful Colors: Snow Me White 101

Claire's: Sparkly Blue

-Sinful Colors: Snow Me White (White)

-Sinful Colors: Love Nails (Blue with a shiny incandescence)

-Revlon: Multi-Care base and top coat 

MY STEPS...

1.  Spread your base coat evenly on all of your clean, dry nails.
2.  Put on your white polish and make sure it is even.  This will be the supporting base for your blue.
3.  Paint the SHINY blue on all of your nails.  It doesn't need to be very even, since the white will show through and make it icy-like.  Because you have a white base, you only need to paint the blue on once.
4.  Take your sparkly polish and apply it lightly.  It doesn't need to be very thick unless you didn't have a SHINY blue nail polish.  
5.  Finish everything off with a nice liberal coat of your top coat.  Make sure to cover every millimeter of you nail so that your blue doesn't start to rub off in only a couple of days like it did with mine! 

Here is my thumb as an end result. 

I hope you liked the design.  Please let me know how it goes for you if you try it!  And if you decide to copy any pictures, give credit where it's due.  Thanks for reading!

Cimorelli's Believe It EP Part 2

Hey everybody!  I'm here on a brighter note to rave about Cimorelli's EP!  

The Believe It EP came out on December 11th.  I was quite wrong about the song list, since there's only one Christmas cover, "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town".  I still haven't listened to all of the songs yet due to my CRAZY homework loads, but from what I've read in the comments, they're pretty awesome.  

Song number one is of course, "Believe It".  I think I posted an acoustic version from YouTube already if you want to see them do it live.  Here's another version of it, also from YouTube.  I like this one a lot because of the setting of the music video is on an amazing California beach.  I'm assuming because they live in California.  They caught the sun at the perfect angle in the sky and it just makes you want to Believe It!  Whatever "it" is, haha.  And I've already said this before, but I love the parasols.  They add the perfect touch to the video and have very pretty designs.  The girls themselves made it look like tons of fun, which I'm sure was really fun.  I mean, who wouldn't want to run around on a beach with beautiful parasols and the sun setting behind you?  I guess I'm the only one that would.  

The second song is called "You Got Me Good".  I'm not very sure if it's a cover or not, since I haven't heard it yet.  But here's the interesting-looking video...

 
Song number three is an original called "Wings".  It's with an acoustic guitar (not in this video) and really beautiful.  It's a must-listen and has a message kind of like "Skyscraper" (by Demi Lovato, but covered by Cimorelli).  Also, I really like Amy's voice.  You can hear her singing in the first verse of the song; she's the one sitting on the piano.  I'm not sure if it's very good for the piano, but her voice is so good!  I'm not sure if they have a music video for this.  I just know that it came out a while before the EP was announced.  

Anyways, I really really enjoyed listening to what I could of the Believe It EP so far.  It's available on iTunes, Spotify, and music videos are available on YouTube.  Make sure to like the videos if you enjoyed them, and also to add Cimorelli's new songs to your playlists.  I sure have already.  :)  Happy listening!

Connecticut School Shooting- Prayers to the Hurt

As most of you in the US know, there was an elementary school shooting this morning in a Connecticut school.  About 26 people died, most of them children.  When I heard this, my heart was filled with sadness.  I don't understand why someone would want to shoot people, especially kids.  It doesn't bring satisfaction and it manifests hate.  Regardless of my opinions, I'd like to ask that you keep the victims, their families, and their friends in your prayers.  I can't even begin to imagine the kind of pain and loss they are feeling.  Especially the anger.  For more info on the shooting, check out the link here.  Thank you.

Cimorelli's Believe It EP!

I really like this cover!  The parasols are a really nice touch.  (Source: cimorellimusic.com)

I'm so excited!  In about 5 days, Cimorelli's new "Believe It" EP will be released!  I've been waiting so long for new Cimorelli songs.  There's an original Cimorelli sisters song called, "Believe It" on the EP that I'll post below this paragraph.  And I even heard that there will be a couple of Christmas tracks!  Could this get any better?  Keep an eye out on iTunes and Spotify for Cimorelli's new EP on December 11th!  There will definitely be more posts on "Believe It" soon.  Happy listening!

 

Libera: Vote for Your Favorite Music Video!

My favorite choir, Libera, is having a Music Video Voting Contest!  For those of you who are also fans, please check out the link and give your favorite video a vote.  Non-fans, please also check out the videos (which can all be found on Libera's YouTube channel).  Who knows?  You could be discovering a new artist(s) to follow!  A couple things to keep in mind, though: You are only permitted to vote once AND you vote through your Facebook account. 

It was a really hard choice for me, since I like so many of the Libera music videos.  If you wanted to know, I voted for "O Holy Night" because I absolutely adore Christmas songs.  Also my favorite soloist, Ralph Skan, is featured in the video and I love the whole church scene.  Actually, I don't even know if it is a church...?  But anyways, it was a beautiful song.  *PLEASE DON'T LET MY CHOICE INFLUENCE YOURS!  LIBERA WANTS TO KNOW WHICH VIDEO YOU LIKE THE MOST!*  Have fun choosing! 

Strawberry Ice and Nail Designs

Hello everybody!  I'm here to post some pictures from when I went to California last month.  By the way, southern California (Irvine, Los Angeles, places around there) is a pretty great place to get really really really good Asian food.  I recommend a place who's specialty is Taiwanese food, Class 302.  :)

These pictures really don't have much to do with anything I did in California (I really went for a wedding), but I really like them and thought I'd share them with you.  I especially like how clear the detail is because I used the "macro" setting to take the close-ups. 

Pictures #1 & 2:  Strawberry Shaved Ice!  I had this on the last day I was in California, and we ate this outside in the bright sun.  For those in the Midwest and other places that are already super cold by October, it was in the 80's!  The only thing I would have added was some chocolate drizzle for the strawberries.  I'm a lover of chocolate-covered strawberries!  Gosh...  These pictures make my mouth water even now!

Pictures #3 & 4:  Yes, these are my wonderfully beautiful fingers and sleek blue iPod!  Haha, just kidding.  A couple of nights before I took these pictures, I was visiting with old friends I hadn't seen in a while.  We ended up doing our nails because one of us brought her whole collection of nail polish.  It was fun and my nails matched the dress that I was wearing for the wedding.  I've got to say, my photography is better than my nail job.  My nails were completely perfect the first night and then I chipped and nicked them all over.  I might have even bitten one of them in my sleep, which is very strange.  Oh well...   

Pictures #5 & 6:  Once again, my fingers are the stars of the show!  I actually did my nails again a week and a half ago.  If you can see the purple underneath the silver crackle, that was my original color for my nails.  Then, being the wonderfully clumsy person I am, I managed to mess them up in one hour.  I feel quite accomplished though, since I had the brains to cover it up with crackle.  :)  And in the second picture, I'm holding these AMAZING Japanese pens called Frixion Point.  I love them immensely because they're erasable!  I don't even mean leave-streaks-of-color erasable.  They're really really erasable!  But...  I think they're only sold in Japan. 

Picture #7:  This picture should probably go along with 3 & 4.  The e-ma circle thing is actually a box for candy.  And once again, it's Japanese!  It's probably my favorite Asian brand of candy.  They're little pearls of sweet tartness that are available in different flavors.  Wow, now I sound like I'm doing sales!  Point of the story, try them out!

I hope you all enjoyed the pictures I shared with you.  If you want to copy them for any reason, please give credit where it's due!  Thank you so much for reading!

10,000 Reasons- Matt Redman

This worship song has been a favorite of mine for quite a while.  But while I was at a Christian Thanksgiving conference hosted by my church this weekend, I realized that I like it a lot more than I thought I did.  I hope that makes sense.  I think the vocals are perfect and message is really great.  Please like the video if  you enjoyed it!

Korean Colonel Sanders

Last night, my god-sister came over after youthgroup at church.  She showed me the most HILARIOUS video I have seen for a long time.  My stomach hurt so bad from laughing that I actually had to stop watching for a couple of minutes.  I don't know what is up with this band, but I'd love to see them live!  I really really hope you enjoy this video!  *Watch the WHOLE video in order to see the highlight of the show: the Korean Colonel Sanders!*

The Old Times: pureNRG

Hi everyone!  Sorry it's been such a long time since I lasted posted.  Lately, I've been given a lot more homework than usual and it's very tiring.  But let's all cheer up by talking about an old obsession of mine: pureNRG!

This band, pureNRG, was a very large part of my 6th grade through middle school life.  My parents, being the good Christians that they are, didn't think that secular music was a very good influence on me, especially so early on.  Pretty much all I listened to was...  I don't even remember what I listened to!  So when I discovered the Christian teen sensation, pureNRG, we were all overjoyed.  

L-R: Carolyne, Jordan, Caroline

pureNRG was composed of three preteens/teens: Caroline Williams, Jordan Yates, and Carolyne Myers.  They started out in 2006 when the girls were about 12, and the boy, Jordan, was 14.  pureNRG's music was a spunky preteen rock type of thing, mixed with Christian music.  It especially appealed to young girls with huge crushes on Jordan.  Might I say that I was one of them?  Don't worry, I got over it a long time ago. :)  Every time there was a new album, I would bother my parents until they took me to the local Christian bookstore so that I could buy it with my own money.  I followed them wholeheartedly for about 3 years and then a little less wholeheartedly for a year or so, until they disbanded in 2011 (I was so sad).  

Reasons I Loved This Band So Much
1. pureNRG (spelled with a lower case 'p') is pronounced "pure energy" when you kind of mash the NRG together.  My scrawny middle school self was quite impressed when I figured out their band name.  I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.  

pureNRG album no. 1!  The first one I ever bought, obviously.  Compared to the last album, they look very, very young.  L-R: Caroline Williams, Jordan Yates, Carolyne Myers  (Source: lyricspond.com)

2. All three, Jordan, Carolyne, and Caroline, were pretty amazing at dancing.  During all of their live concerts, they would sing AND dance (not just the hand motion kind of dancing, but actual really good, clean hip hop) at the same time.  I had the great pleasure of seeing them live once and my jaw was probably all the way to the floor.  I think I have a couple of pictures that I took during that concert that I went to, so I'll try and dig them out sometime.  

pureNRG: Here We Go Again.  Album no. 2!  L-R: Jordan, Caroline, Carolyne (Source: en.wikipedia.org)

3. They loved God! And their music also helped me develop as a worshiper.  I'll be eternally thankful for that.  

A pureNRG Christmas.  Album no. 3!  L-R: Carolyne, Jordan, Caroline  (Source: amazon.com)

4. The whole Jordan crush thing.  I pretty much explained it in the 3rd paragraph up above...

pureNRG reNRGized.  Album no. 4!  This was pretty much all remixes of older songs.  L-R:  I can't really tell...  (Source: ccdmusic.co.nz)

5. Carolyne has a HUGE family with NINE kids.  I don't know why I always get stuck on this big family thing.  I just think it's so cool to have lots of people to talk and interact and grow up with.  

pureNRG: The Real Thing.  Album no. 5!  Probably my favorite one because their songs were less juvenile and more about serious things.  And their pictures were awesome.  L-R: Carolyne, Caroline, Jordan (Source: amazon.com)

6. They saved me from extreme nerdiness (Actually, I may have gotten even more nerdy because of them).  You know, when you're with your friends and they ask, "So, what are you listening to now?"  And then you can say, "This really cool band called pureNRG" instead of "Uh...  Mozart."  Not that classical music is a bad thing.  Really, it's not.   

Graduation: The Best of pureNRG.  Album no. 6!  Ahh..  The title still brings tears to my eyes.  But the pictures and music inside were phenomenal and truly captured their whole experience as a band.  L-R: Caroline, Jordan, Carolyne  (Source: cdon.eu)

Even though pureNRG has disbanded, I still recommend this band to people in middle school or any age, actually.  They're such a positive influence, and, I think, even better that those Disney Channel artists.  Really, this band helped me so much through the beginnings of middle school and when I moved halfway across the country.  I guess that even though I'm not obsessed anymore, I still like them a lot and look up to them.  Well, hope you enjoy listening! 

*Sorry about the random album pictures between every reason on my list.  I couldn't find anywhere else to put them.  Hehe...

Libera: Song of Life

I hope you've been having a great weekend because I definitely had a very good time.  I'm in California right now for a wedding, and I'm pigging out on really good food (more to come on the next post, or maybe the one after). 

Anyways, I suddenly realized that I never showed you all my favorite Libera song, "Song of Life"!  For those of you who don't know what Libera is, check out the link right here before you go on.  But this song is the most beautiful thing I ever heard.  It was the second Libera song I listened to, because after I heard the first one on Pandora, I immediately looked them up on Google and found "Song of Life".  The main reason I like this song above all the others is because of the soloist, Ralph Skan.  His voice gives the song its own character and makes it flow.  Here it is, and make sure to like the video on Youtube if you enjoyed it immensely!

Hosanna- Daves Highway

I can't believe I'm back so soon!  But last night, Daves Highway just posted a new video of them singing "Hosanna".  "Hosanna" is one of my most favorite worship songs, and the fact that Daves Highway is singing it makes it all the better.  The star of the show in the video is Erika Daves (the girl on the left).  I really love her beautiful voice; it never wavers at all!  

I've been following them on Facebook for some time already, and it seems that they're recording another album!  Get excited, folks!  I certainly am.

Well, I'm off, but if you enjoyed the video, be sure to share it with your friends on Facebook, like the video, and subscribe to their Facebook and Youtube accounts.  Happy listening!

New Friend: The Christian Pupil

Hi everyone!  I just wanted to let you guys know that I've made a new blogger friend!  He's a really cool person and he has a blog called The Christian Pupil that you can reach right here.  I really like his blog because we have similar music tastes (Christian rock), such as TobyMac and IHOPKC, and random songs like the one here.  The Christian Pupil also very kindly put a link of my blog on his first post, and I thought that was really cool.  So go on and check out his blog!  I'll be following it regularly, and I hope you will to!  Good night everyone...  :)

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

Over the past couple of weeks, a friend of mine introduced me to a Youtube mini-series called The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.  If you're a Jane Austen fan, you would most likely find the mini-series' name familiar.  Yes, folks!  This is a Youtube mini-series based on Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen!!  

I've had an obsession for Pride and Prejudice ever since I was in elementary school.  I can thank my mom for that because she loves anything Jane Austen.  We, along with my sisters, have watched all the versions imaginable for Pride and Prejudice.  

So back to the topic.  This mini is NOT real life (most fans are very confused if they haven't read the whole video description).  In other words, it is shot like a movie with real actors and actresses.  The plot of the story is, I as I mentioned above, based on P&P.  The directors gave the story a modern twist with Lizzie (Elizabeth) Bennet giving recaps on what is happening with her life (or the book) video diary style.  She's a grad student still living at home, with her crazy mother who is obsessed with finding husbands for the Bennet girls.  The videos usually include people from her family; her sister Jane, and also Lydia have made appearances.  There are also many other friends, such as Mr. Collins, Charlotte, Bingley, and Caroline.  Though, some characters go by different names.    

The Bennet Sisters: Jane, Lizzie, and Lydia  (Source: lizziebennetdiaries.tumblr.com reblogged from liafromlaiefandoms)

I particularly love this Youtube mini because they follow the real story of P&P very well.  Even though this mini takes place a few hundred years later than the original, a lot of the story is very accurate.  While most book-movies movies are quite different from what was written by the author, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries respects Jane Austen's ideas.  I also really like the actresses and actors, because they are so natural in front of the camera.  They make the story come alive and make it seem so real, and that's why lots of people confuse this mini-series for real life.   

The Bennet sisters and Charlotte buttons!  They're actually sold for real!  (Source: dftba.com)

There are new episodes every Monday and Thursday, if you are following The Lizzie Bennet Diaries on Youtube.  The Youtube channel can be accessed right here.  The Lizzie Bennet Diaries team also has a website filled with Q&A, bios of the characters, and more of the story that you can follow with Twitter or Tumblr.  It's a great place to go if you're in search of more info from this great Youtube mini-series.  

Here is the first episode that can get you started on the mini.  They usually last only about 3-5 minutes, so you could probably watch what has been put up on Youtube so far (56 episodes) in a couple of sittings.  Hope you enjoy The Lizzie Bennet Diaries!   

Two New Pages

Hi everybody!  A short message for you all: I've created two new pages for my favorite books and songs, so be sure to check them out.  The link for the music page is right here, and the books page is here.  I'll be adding more to them so be sure to check often.  Thanks for reading and have a great night!

CIMORELLI!

Hey everyone!  I know its been a very long time since I've blogged, but school has been keeping me swamped!  So I'm finally back to fulfill my promise from two weeks ago.  

If you remember, I posted a video on a blog entry two weeks ago with six phenomenal girls singing "Some Nights" by Fun.  And if you watched it, you might have been like, "Wow!"  Well, I am very proud to introduce you to another great vocal group...  Cimorelli!

Cimorelli (back row, left to right) Lisa, Katherine, Christina  (front row, left to right) Amy, Lauren, Dani  (Source:  tumblr.com)

Cimorelli is made up of six sisters, Christina, Katherine, Lisa, Amy, Lauren, and Dani Cimorelli.  I'm not completely sure (very, truly sorry if I'm wrong), but their ages are (in the order above) 22, 21, 19 or 20, 17, 14, and 13.  Wow..  that's a lot of girls in one house!  I can hardly stand mine, and I only have 2 sisters!  Back to the topic.  All six are such amazing singers, and they're all so pretty (I'm not being weird, just stating a fact).  Every few weeks, they post videos of new covers they have done.  Some of them are made the Gardiner Sisters style (all girls sing acapella with maybe a piano), and others are music videos of them going around California.  I really love how all of their arrangements incorporate all the sisters singing a solo.  It brings a lot of diverse voices into the songs.  Some songs include "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction, a few Justin Bieber songs, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" by Taylor Swift, and much, much more.  There are usually bloopers at the end of the videos that Cimorelli includes for fun.  Cimorelli came out with a short EP that is available on Spotify.  My favorite song from that list is probably "Million Bucks".  Be sure to check it out! 

Cimorelli EP from a few years back...  (L to R) Katherine, Lisa, Dani, Lauren, Christina, and Amy  (Source: villagelife.com)

Since I've already pretty much written all of my real reasons of why I like this sister group so much in the paragraph above, I'll make another list. 

Less legit reasons of why I like Cimorelli!
1) Not only do they have six girls in the family....  they have FIVE OTHER BROTHERS!  Talk about big family much?
2) They led me to the Gardiner Sisters from their Youtube page.  :)
3) They homeschool!  I was a homeschooler for one year back in elementary school.  My parents decided that they wanted to travel some more for work and take my sisters and me along.  Guess that didn't really work out cause I'm back in a public high school!
4) Cimorelli sings, or rather raps, "Gangnam Style" by PSY with MattyB.  Woohoo "Gangnam Style"!

If you've decided that this is the group for you, you can go follow them on Facebook, Twitter (they all have their own, including their brothers), follow their Youtube channel, and they also have a Formspring.  Happy listening!

Come to the Water by Daves Highway

The absolutely amazing sibling band of Daves Highway uploaded a new video today!  It's their version of the song "Come to the Water" by Brett Younker.  

I love the video so much because it shows off their great harmonies and also the fact that they love worshiping God so much.  It inspires me a lot.  

Make sure to "like" their video if you enjoyed it immensely.  Happy rest of Tuesday!

The Cutest Toofs Are Back!...

Good afternoon everyone!  I was just looking at my blogger notifications, and guess what popped up?  An update from Inhae Lee, the creator of My Milk Toof!  Yayyy!  

You can read her very exciting post here about the latest from our favorite little milk teef.  There is one piece of info that I just have to share...  She's creating book number two!  I'm so excited to see it!  But I definitely need to get in the game and buy book #1 first.  :)

I hope you all have a great day!

Hint, Hint :D

Hi everyone!  I'm just going to post a video of what I'll be blogging on next time.  Sort of a hint to what the next post will be about.   

Perpetua

Hi guys!  I'm back sooner than I expected (my latest post was from last night) but that's okay!  I remembered a great book that I just had to share with you all.  

A number of months ago, or maybe even last year, I was introduced to what is now my favorite book, Perpetua by Amy Rachel Peterson.  A leader of the youthgroup I attend shoved this book at my friends and me, and told us to read it.  (*Fun fact: My youthgroup leader's friend is the author!!*)  I didn't really want to read Perpetua since I had so many other activities going on.  Even so, I read it in three days, and I loved it. 

Perpetua book cover.  I had to make it a little larger so you could see the details.  (Source: store.ihopkc.org)

Perpetua by Amy Rachel Peterson is based on the true story of a Christian martyr from the Roman Empire during the 3rd century.  The book follows Perpetua's life, from when she was a rich and spoiled Roman noblewoman, to the day she died by standing up for her faith in Jesus.  As a teenager, she becomes a follower of Jesus, or a Christian, and proceeds to change her life completely.  Her ideas change about how Christianity is outlawed Rome, and she becomes sort of an undercover Christian.  Now before you lose interest in this book because the main character dies (well, obviously she does since she's a martyr), you have to know that there is also a romantic story tied into it too.  I won't tell you what it is, cause it's your job to find out.  

I recommend this great book to anyone really, though I'd mostly say that young adultish aged girls are more likely to find the story interesting.  Enjoy the book! 

Favorite My Milk Toof Story

I hope you've all been having a great week, and if not, just think that it's almost Friday!  I've been pretty busy with school and homework and homework and more homework, but it's been a good week anyways.  

Here's a link to my favorite My Milk Toof story.  I love it because... well, if you read it, then maybe you'd know!  :)  For those of you who don't know what My Milk Toof is, please check out my older post here.   

I'll be back, hopefully very soon, with more stuff to share.  Thanks for reading!

Nail Art With TAPE

Tape nail art!  (Source: makeup.com)

Another cool manicure to add to the list!  I was looking through a magazine, and it was so easy and cool that I just had to try it.  I did this nail design a while ago, and it took me about half an hour because the nail polish wouldn't dry.  But overall, it was quite easy and very attractive.  

More tape nail art!  (Source: polishyoupretty.com)

All you need is a few colors of nail polish (ones that compliment each other of course), masking or scotch tape (NO DUCT TAPE, it will peel your polish off), and a whole lot of patience.  

Step 1)  Choose a base color for your nails.  You might want the lighter color to be the base, in case the darker color won't let the light one show.

Visual of step three  (Source: shine.yahoo.com)

Step 2)  Wait patiently for the base to dry.  Seriously!  I beg you!  The whole design will be ruined if you don't let it dry ALL THE WAY. 

Step 3)  Take pieces of tape (thick and thin triangles, circles, simple strips) and stick them randomly over the dried base coat.  Make sure that they're easy to peel off, though!  The great thing about this is that you can experiment with shapes and make your own signature design!

Step 4)  Take your other polish color and paint over your nails, tape and all.  Make sure to get all those little nooks and crannies!

Step 5)  Another long wait for the polish to dry...

Step 6)  Peel off the tape and admire your amazing design before you seal it up with some clear nail polish.  Then admire it some more!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy making your own taped nails!  

Princess Academy!

Hello!  I just want to get in a quick blog entry before I go to sleep.  

Shannon Hale!  (Source: squeetus.com)

For those of you who know who Shannon Hale is, good for you!  For those who don't, Shannon Hale is one of the greatest young adult authors ever.  In my opinion at least.  She's written the Books of Bayern (The Goose Girl, River Secrets, Enna Burning, Forest Born), Princess Academy and Princess Academy: Palace of Stone (which this entry will mostly be about), Book of A Thousand Days, and even co-wrote two graphic novels about Rapunzel with her husband.  Pretty much all of Shannon Hale's books are set in the past, in worlds of fantasy.  Fantasy meaning fairytale-like with lots of heroines.  

Anyways, I'm so excited because Shannon Hale has finally come out with a new book, Palace of Stone!  It's the sequel to the original Princess Academy book, which is also amazing.  It might have come out a couple of weeks ago in August.  I recommend the two Princess Academy books to everyone out there...  even guys!  Shannon herself said that guys actually enjoyed her book about princesses, so never fear.  Happy reading everyone!
 

Princess Academy, book #1!  (Source: turn-the-page.net)

Princess academy, book #2!  (source: goodreads.com)

Liberaaa....

Happy Labor Day Weekend everyone!  To celebrate, my family is having friends over for a barbeque.  I didn't know about this little party until our friends were arriving.  Oh well, at least there's good food to eat!  :D

I know I said in my off-season Christmas music post that I'd talk about one of my favorite vocal groups.  Get ready for a huge amount of gushing.

Libera is a boys choir from South London.  I may be wrong, but I believe there are about forty or so boys in it, even though they don't all go on tour.  They usually start out at about age seven to nine (called the mini-boys), and can range up to about age eighteen.  Some of the boys leave the choir after their voices have broken.  But the die-hard members stay on because it has been such an amazing part of their life.  The unique thing about Libera is that with every generation of singers, more young ones come in when the older ones leave.  In that way, Libera has gone on for 15+ years.  Cool, huh?  

As it says, Libera 2011 members that were on tour.  (choirfan.wordpress.com, Courtesy of French fan Fan_de_LoK)

Another piece of important info is that the choir is run by a man named Robert Prizeman.  He is truly a genius and deserves more credit than he is given because he has written many songs that Libera sings, directs them AND plays instruments during their concerts, and he arranges the boys' voices into astonishing harmonies.  Not to mention he deals with a bunch of pre-adolescent boys during tours. 

Reasons I love this choir...

1)  Their voices are freakingly angelic and high.  The first time I heard a Libera song (props to Pandora!), I thought the people that were singing were girls.  Imagine the surprise on my face when I found out that they were BOYS.  

2)  It is so different from a lot of the music that I usually listen to.  They sing mostly classical sounding music, and a large number of their songs are in Latin.  I like pop music and "pure music", which is what I categorize songs with acoustic guitars and actual pianos, instruments like that.  I'm very surprised with myself that I kept listening to Libera.

3)  The soloists are above stellar.  Only a choice handful of boys are continuous soloists, and I do say that the director of Libera, Robert Prizeman, has picked them well.  If you think about it, during concerts, soloists have to sing by themselves LIVE.  That's a bit scary...  but whaddya know?  All reports from concerts say that they sound great every time! 

      This should probably go with number three, but I'll give it it's own number.

Ralph Skan!  (dearmadine.blogspot.com)

Tom Cully!  (inridi.blogspot.com)

4)  Ralph Skan and Tom Cully.  My favorite soloists ever in Libera.  You can hear Ralph here in one of my favorite songs, Song of Life.  Hint, he's the one that sings first.  Ralph is currently in Libera, but sadly, his voice is getting lower so he won't be singing solos soon.  Tom Cully is probably the best soloist Libera ever had, in my opinion.  He had an amazing range, and while he was in the choir and you heard someone sing super high, you immediately knew it was him.  He left some years ago, but still comes back to help with the choir sometimes.  You can hear him here in You Were There (he also sings first).  If you really want to hear him sing super high, you can listen to Ave Maria here.  Hint, he sings alone and so high that your throat hurts when you hear it.      

Less legit reasons of why I love this choir...

1)  I think it's awesome how people younger than me can become so famous.  Especially young boys singing.  Super obsessed fans in Japan (yes, they tour largely in Japan.  Actually, the people in Japan are probably their biggest fans!) fight to get autographs from boys that are the same age as my sometimes-annoying younger cousins.  

2)  The mini-boys are so cute and adorable.  I know they're not much more different than other boys in elementary or grade school, but they look so innocent in their white robes! 

Lookin' spiffy in the white robes...  (thenobleartofmusic.blogspot.com)

3)  They rock their signature white robes pretty well.  Libera wears white robes to most of their concerts (their formal concert attire, haha).  The boys say that it originated from monks long ago.  Oh, and their hoods on their robes are gigantic!  It looks like the mini-boys could get lost in them!  :)

4)  Libera's name is Libera!  For those of you who don't know, it's Latin for "free".  Their name came from this song, here.   

Libera takes Moose on tour!  (libera.org.uk)

5)  Their group mascot is a small stuffed moose called Moose.  

That's all that I could think of for now.  Whew...  It was quite a lot to type.

I'm really sincerely sorry if you read through this whole post and had no interest whatsoever in Libera.  I just had to share it with potential fans!  If you'd like to know more about them, you could go explore their website, Facebook, and Twitter.  Numerous fans have blogs completely devoted to "all things Libera" that you can google.  My favorites are called *BEAUTIFUL STRANGERS* and Mini Angels.  I'll keep updating with little random facts I've learned about Libera, and also with Daves Highway and the Gardiner Sisters.  

Thank you all so much for reading, and have fun rest of the weekend!  Happy listening!

My Milk Toof

This past weekend, a good friend and mentor of mine introduced to me the cutest small obsession so far for my blog!  

It's a blog called "My Milk Toof" by Inhae Lee.  From an artist's background, she was inspired by the phrase, milk tooth, to create two small milk teeth (or teef, as Inhae prefers to call them) out of clay and paint.  Naming them ickle and Lardee, she photographs them in different adventures, all with miniature props she has made herself!  From what I've read already on the blog, Lardee is the milk toof that loves to eat.  I have yet to figure out what ickle's talents and personality are like, but here is an example of Inhae's phenomenal work.  

Photography and Artwork by Inhae Lee    Source: mymilktoof.blogspot.com

The photo above is called "Flavor-Fall" with ickle and Lardee saying, "Hurry up and fall, please!"  I don't know about you, but I think this is one of the cutest things I have ever seen in my life.

For hardcore ickle and Lardee fans, Inhae has published a book containing a selection of their adventures!  If you're very interested in getting the book (like me), you can visit the official "My Milk Toof" website.  And like I mentioned earlier, Inhae has a blog where I believe most of the ickle and Lardee activity is posted.  She updates it now and then with new, cute adventures, so keep your eyes peeled!  Lastly, she also has a Facebook and Twitter page that you can get to from the blog.

Before I go off to finish my homework, I really thank you all so much for reading my blog!  It's fun to know that people are actually reading the stuff I write about.  Good night everybody! 

The Best Christmas Albums (in my opinion)

I know it's the middle of August, but this post will be about Christmas music anyways.  I know it's hopelessly weird, but I listen to Christmas music year round.  It has this way of cheering me up because no one can go wrong singing about the happiest time of year.  ;) 

Now that I have a Spotify account, it's so much easier to sort through artists that have amazing Christmas albums.  Something I really enjoy doing is to listen to different versions of Christmas songs.  It's so amazing to know how many versions of "Jingle Bells" there are.  I'll share a few artists whose Christmas albums are worth checking out.  

1.  Michael Bublé's Christmas album called Michael Bublé Christmas.  I was just listening to it a while ago.  It has many traditional songs, like "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas", "White Christmas", and "Silent Night", but all with their own Michael Bublé style.  For those of you who don't know, Michael Bublé's songs are mostly swing and jazz.  I don't really have a favorite song from this album, but I love his voice.  

Michael Bublé's cover from his album made in 2011  (source: amazon.com)

2.  Justin Bieber: Under the Mistletoe.  I'm not a Belieber, but I like his voice a lot.  It's smooth and fits his soft R&B style of singing.  My favorite songs are probably "Mistletoe" and "Only Thing I Ever Get For Christmas" which will be put on the Playlists page.  I'm not sure if they are both originals, but they amaze me all the same.

Justin Bieber's Christmas Album from 2011   (source: justinbieberzone.com)

3.  SHeDAISY's Christmas album called Brand New Year.  My goodness, their harmonies are so amazing.  The most amazing song of their album is their rendition of "Jingle Bells".  I discovered it by watching one of the Gardiner Sisters videos.  You can watch their cover here.  Before I listened to SHeDAISY's "Jingle Bells" song, I had no idea that it could even be sung that way.  Check it out on the Playlists page.  

SHeDAISY Christmas album cover from 2000  (source: grahamsdownunderthoughts.blogspot.com)

4.  Last but most definitely NOT least, is my favorite vocal group, better known as a boy's choir called Libera.  They have an astounding sound that I have never heard before in any choir, which is why I adore them.  I won't talk too much about them now, because I'll be blogging about them more later.  Anyways, their Christmas album called Libera: The Christmas Album (of course), is a favorite of mine.  It has many, many traditional Christmas songs, but my favorite would probably be "Still, Still, Still" with Ralph Skan as the soloist.  You can see him in the picture below; he's the boy on the far right.  Keep an eye out for "Still, Still, Still" on the playlists page.  :) 

The Libera Christmas Album cover from 2011  (source: libera.org.uk/music)

I'm pretty sure there are many more amazing Christmas albums out there, just waiting to be discovered.  If you have any to recommend, you know how to contact me!  Also, don't forget to check the playlists page for more music.  Thanks for reading and happy listening!