Avoidance Therapy

"Reading is sometimes an ingenious device for avoiding thought"

--Arthur Phelps

Currently on my nightstand (along with the requisite Vogue, Vogue Best Dressed, and W)

I just finished When Corruption Was King by Robert Cooley. An incredibly fast read (I devoured it in a weekend) and a great story. Cooley's ghostwriter (or perhaps Cooley himself, as he is almost certainly bored out of his mind in some undisclosed location) takes you right inside the messy world of Chicago politics and the notorious Outfit, often populated by the same cast of gnarly characters. The story follows Cooley's career, which took off after rigging the murder trial of hit man Harry "The Hook" Aleman and quickly spun into a thrilling, but often dangerous, life as the Outfit's go to fix-it guy. For reasons even he can't completely fathom, he then turned FBI informant as part of Operation Gambat (which stands for Gambling Attorney, a little bureaucratic dig at Cooley that I found hilarious) and testified against some of the most dangerous mobsters in the history of a city teeming with illustrious mobsters.

As a temporary resident of the Windy City and an aspiring lawyer, this book didn't inspire a whole lot of confidence in either my adoptive city or future career, but a definite must-read for Chicagoans (still can't get used to that word) or anyone interested in the history of the Mafia (and let's be honest, who isn't a little fascinated with by the world of gun-wielding guidos that inspired Tony Soprano?)

Up next-- Re-reading The Great Gatsby for the first time since high school in anticipation of the movie version starring the lovely Miss Carey Mulligan.

Master Cleanse

So this weekend I undertook my first organizational project of 2011. Yes, I'm a bit late, I've been busy lazy. But there is no time like the present, so I set out to tackle a project-- the elusive cosmetic purge. I generally enjoy a good winnowing, yet when it comes to makeup, I want to keep everything. I mean, you really never know when you're going to want to paint your nails yellow. I do know, however, that makeup has a shelf life (three months for mascara and anything applied directly to the eye and about a year for everything else) and some of my products had definitely seen better days.

BEFORE

Out went the old (dried out nail polish, crumbly eyeshadows), the duplicates (I can't remember why I thought I needed 4 bottles of topcoat), the samples of products I'll never use (a flowery fragrance from Givenchy, for example, though I always relish in racking up my 100 Beauty Insider points to earn them), and the hideous (green eyeliner anyone). Up went a new shelf that was not nearly as simple to install as the salesperson assured me. Though in her defense, the directions called for a power drill and I elected to use manpower, more specifically, my own power. But once it was up, I arranged my newly streamlined makeup by usage-- everyday stuff separate from special occasion looks. I also left out my favorite red nail polishes and Deborah Lippman topcoat as a reminder to reapply daily to extend my manicure (this will never happen, but its a nice thought). Brushes were cleaned and given a temporary homestay in a coffee mug, though I plan to invest in something less breakable very soon. After photo coming soon.

je voudrais...

Chanel mannequin in Amsterdam. I want one for my living room.

Photo: Profoundly Superficial