Episode 9 of each Game of Thrones season is the most powerful one, and this week was no exception. As book readers, Becca and I knew what was coming, so we coordinated our manicures to match.

My first attempt for this was to do a drip mani, which didn’t turn out as well as I’d like, probably because I was a little rushed. It looks pretty gruesome, so this could be a good Halloween look.

Gory, as befitting the end of the episode. This is the same reds as below over OPI’s Don’t Pretzel My Buttons.

My second attempt was a gradient color-block with the help of some striping tape. I used Julep’s Coco as the deepest shade, butter LONDON’s Saucy Jack as the medium red, and OPI The Thrill of Brazil as the lightest. It’s a little difficult to see the distinction between those last two, but I think they’re a shade or two different.

Not bad for my first striping tape adventure.

All of it is over Julep Bunny, which was just released for the June maven box. Bunny is a thick stark white with barely discernible gold shimmer. It was a one-coat formula, which is rare for whites, I think, but a little difficult to work with because the formula was a bit gloopy.

Striping tape was another complication, although since I was just doing straight lines, it wasn’t too fiddly. It just took a long time to place everything, and when I was done, my dog needed to go out, and his leash running over my fingers messed up the manicure. Oh, well.

I totally photoshopped over the giant hole in my polish caused by the dog’s leash. 😦

Becca and I were each inspired to cook Game of Thrones suppers as well. She made a delicious looking honeyed chicken with roasted root veggies and homemade oatbread, and I made a honey-glazed duck with onions in gravy, homemade flatbread, and an apple and blue cheese salad with homemade honey-balsamic dressing. All the recipes were from The Inn at the Crossroads and their cookbook, A Feast of Ice and Fire.

Arugula, granny smith apples, blue cheese crumbles, pine nuts, and dressing (three parts honey to two parts balsamic). This was wonderfully sweet and crunchy.

The sauce for my duck cooked down too much, so I actually couldn’t eat it. 😦

Onions and gravy, deliciously hearty. I felt like a denizen of the North, eating this.

This flatbread was really easy to make. It’s a bit dense, though; I’m not sure I’ll make it again. But I’ve been eating rounds of it with hummus for lunch all week.

The whole meal, complete with white sangria to stand in for sweetwine. Yum!

Becca swears she’ll update soon. Go tell her she should at Fishay Fishay!

Next week: inspired by a video game! Omg, I have no idea what to do; too many games to choose from! 😀