Chanel Topkapi Eyeshadow Quad

I bought 2 thinking I'd give one to my sister as a Christmas gift.  But it's so beautiful I'm afraid to use mine.  I might have to get sis something else...

Chanel Joues Contraste - Rouge

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Petal Pusher + Wet n Wild 469

I work in a fairly conservative business casual environment.  This is the most glitter I can get away with at work.  Thankfully yesterday was Friday or I wouldn't have even attempted this much.

The Problem with Pym

Pym tells the story of an African-American studies professor's obsession with Edgar Allan Poe's only short story, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.  I don't quite remember how I stumbled on Pym, but it is exactly the kind of book I love/hate. 

The problem with Pym is that to understand the it requires knowledge of the source material (Poe).  So I carefully read Narrative.  The problem with Narrative is that it just isn't very good.  I can't decide if it was intended to be campy or if that's just the way 1840s serial style writing feels in 2011.  If the intent is humor, then the awkward shifts from a detailed narrative to journal style storytelling Prior to this I was only vaguely familiar with Poe's other work.  I like The Raven (mostly because of the Simpson's Tree House of Horror), but other than that I'm not really a fan.  About 30 pages into Pym, I discovered a few more Poe works were referenced.  Rats. I like to be thorough, and thankfully these other works are short. 

This reminds me Adam Langer's The Thieves of Manhattan.  This book is jammed with popular (and some pretty obscure) literary references.  There is a glossary at the end of Thieves, but that ruins half the fun of figuring out the jokes.  Before I reread Thieves, I'll need to brush up on a couple of books.

Back to Pym. 

After suffering through Poe, read Pym.  You will have earned a treat.

Avon Nailwear Pro Powerful Pink

Avon has to have one of the most underrated lines of nail polish out there.  The colors may not be super edgy, but they try to keep up with the tamer trends.  Avon is also super affordable and wears for days!  This is day 7 of my Powerful Pink manicure.  This pink has strong orange undertones so it's almost more like a dark coral.

Full Dark, No Stars - Fail!

I am such a wimp.  I've read about how good this book is and I've checked it out from the library several times.  I just can't read it.  I'm afraid.  But at least my nails look good.  This is day 6 of It's Totally Fort Worth It from the OPI Texas collection.

A Discovery of Witches

Do you like Harry Potter?
The Chronicles of Narnia?
Twilight?
The Sookie Stackhouse books?
The Magicians (by Lev Grossman - If you haven't read it, it's Harry Potter + Narnia + sex = fantastic)

Roll everything listed above together and you get A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness.  I'm about 3/4 of the way through.  Review up soon!  I can't decide what polish this book calls for.  Something sparkly?  Problem is, today is Saturday and I have to go work on Monday, where sparkles are not appreciated.  What to do?

Just a note - I am in no way comparing the writing of C.S. Lewis to any of the other authors listed.  There's a distinct difference in...ummm...quality.  Just saying...I like them all for different reasons.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet & Houston, We Have a Purple

Just finished The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet.  The beginning and end are slow, but the middle is mesmerizing.  Probably one of the least suspenseful battle scenes I've ever read.  I've heard that David Mitchell is a fantastic writer, so I'm going to give some of his other works a chance.

Maybe the real reason I couldn't concentrate is because I was staring at my nails.  Houston, We Have a Purple is from the OPI Texas collection.  It is a sheer, jelly style polish.  I layered it over Zoya's Get Even base coat (a white ridge filler) to add a little opacity.  I think the jellies look better that way.

OPI Do You Think I'm Tex-y?

Texy is moderately sheer.  This is 3 coats on day 2 of wear.  Today is day 3 and no chips so far.  I used Zoya's system.  I received the entire OPI Texas collection for Valentine's day, so I'll swatch the whole thing soon!

Extravagantly Late

I think I found the last bottle of Estee Lauder Extravagant Night Nail Laquer on the web!  I don't know why I waited to buy it after seeing beautiful swatches everywhere.  I am trying it out this weekend.  These shots are after 5 days of wear.  I had one minor chip.  Any other imperfections you see are due to my poor polishing technique.  I also purchased Extravagant Pearl.