I'm going through a phase...

...of reading and rereading. In the past month or so, I've reread Little Children, The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets, Cold Comfort Farm, and three or four other favorites. I'm not sure why. But, now that I'm done, in addition to keeping a promise to myself and beginning to read Atonement (see below), I am also keeping several other promises to myself: Love in the Time of Cholera and One Hundred Years of Solitude. If you don't hear an update soon, assume I've flung myself over a bridge and into whatever body of water is nearest. Clearly, I'm also going to be needing some comic relief, which hopefully will come in the form of a few as-yet-undetermined, but hilarious novels.

Along with keeping these promises, I'm also allowing myself to admit defeat: The Emperor's Children has gotten the better of me. I don't know why. I can't figure out her emdashes, and even if I could, I think she's just smarter than I am. Maybe I'll give it a whirl later on.

And, I seem to have lost The Constant Gardener. I know that I was enjoying it, so I can't imagine what became of it, but it's been gone for quite a while now. So until I either find it or buy another copy, I'm in limbo.

Now, you may be asking yourself how I'm going to get through my summer reading list. Well, it's roughly 11,000 degrees outside here in Phoenix. As such, it's nearly impossible for my office friends and me to have our daily lunch dates without melting and wanting to shower. So, my answer is this: I shall be a good girl and bring my lunch every single day, and during lunch, I shall also read. We'll see how this goes, and how long it lasts.

Atonement

by Ian McEwan

I bought this book a while back, when I learned that a movie was being made of it. I purposefully didn't see the film, thinking I'd see it soon enough because I'd finish the book fairly quickly. Well, months later, here I am, and here is the book...still unread. I heard that it was sad, so I kept avoiding it. But I'm jumping in! I'll let you know how it goes...

The Tattoo!

Well, here she is! I know, I know...I promised a photo ages ago. So, I'm sorry. I still can't believe I have her; sometimes I even forget about her. But during the day, when my job gets to be depressing or aggravating, I have only to look down, and she makes me smile. HCW, please ask your hubby for the return of my contingent guardianship of a certain little girl. Surely one little flower tattoo does not render one completely useless as a good influence, right? A brief note about the quality of the photo: it was taken with my phone camera, so it's a little blurry if you enlarge it. I can't find the charger for my digital camera batteries, and for some reason, I keep forgetting to just buy some regular batteries. So, 'til then, this is the best I can do. But I promise, promise to post better photos soon.

Vincent Longo Lip Stain

Yuck. I've never put something so foul near my mouth, and hopefully, if I live right, I'll never have to again. Blech. But hey, since I have to return it, that's a great excuse for a trip to Sephora, yes?

Dior

Specifically, Dior Lip Maximizer and Dior Creme de Gloss in Rouge Nectar. Oh, my goodness. The lip maximizer does something really impressively scientific-sounding that the Sephora sales-guy tried really hard to explain to me, whilst I stared at him and smiled...and thought not at all about collagen boosting, but instead daydreamed about how wonderful my lips were beginning to feel within 15 seconds of applying this wonderful stuff.

About the Creme de Gloss: Although I've tried to fight it, I am a lip gloss kind of girl. I buy, and try, tons of lipstick. I love all of it, but the Dior products are my favorites. The color is lovely and opaque, which is nearly impossible to find in a gloss, but it's still silky and not sticky, which is nearly impossible to find in a lipstick. Perfect combo. Highly recommended.