More Shopping...and Lots of Reading... and Such

I think my plunge into online shopping and reading have been my rather drastic reaction to work as of late.  I am feeling wretchedly out of balance in the "work life balance" pendulum. 



Once I start...it is hard to stop.



So after I purchased my Kate Spade and Alice and Olivia work dresses... I went ahead and purchased a cute little thing made out of lace and modal from intimissimi which is quite fitted and gorgeous, if I say so myself.



And then, upon recollecting a store credit card from J. Crew from last Xmas (!!) that I completely forgot about until today (!!) I bought the following items:

• a bright hot pink bikini (because you can never have enough of these and I am not-so-secretly hoping to go to Australia or Fiji or Bali or anywhere warm and tropical for Christmas)

•  a beautiful leather red tote, which I didn't really need but I have been hankering for a soft leather tote lately...

• And I splurged on a few stacking rings for my collection (no pictures readily available but will upload once I get them!)

But lest you think I was selfish and only bought things for myself, I also bought two shirts for Michael.  He really likes blue, in case you can't tell.  I thought these were fun patterns. 

Aside from shopping, I have been working a ton.  I calculated that I spent half of my weekend (yes, that would be literally 24 hours) in the office between Saturday morning and Sunday night.  Just a travesty.  It put me in a horrific mood and I felt very sapped going into work on Monday. 


To help me bury my feelings of angst and frustration, I have been eating candy.  A candy shop opened up right near my apartment, which is just a disaster (of the best kind).  Will post more about it later.


And finally, to help me combat the shopping, the working and the sugar highs and lows, I have read four books in the past two weeks, and they were all amazing, beautifully written, and thought provoking.



First up, Ann Patchett's "Truth and Beauty" -- This was just wonderful.  I could not stop thinking about huge, sweeping life themes as I raced through this book: beauty, strength, pain, endurance, friendship, love and the utter and impenetrable loneliness of the human condition.  It is thought provoking, painful, sweet, funny and sad.  I fully intend to read Lucy Grealy's "Autobiography of a Face" after reading "Truth and Beauty" but I might need a bit of a break first.


Then, Ty Tashiro's "The Science of Happily Ever After" -- I rarely read non fiction but I enjoyed Tashiro's approach to finding love and happiness through a practical and scientific lens.  The book does a good job providing some eye opening figures about your chances of finding a Mr. or Mrs. Right. 


Then, Jojo Moyes' "The Last Letter From Your Lover" -- I found this one slow and steady at first, until I hit a point about a third of the way through the book and then could not put it down until 3 am.  I had previously heard very good things about Jojo Moyes.  This is the first book of hers I've read and I am pretty certain I will try more. I wouldn't say that this is a great piece of literature,  however, it is a very satisfying love story.


Finally, and just two nights ago, Susan Elizabeth Phillips' "Heroes Are My Weakness" -- I picked this book up after a long day and promised myself I would stop at halfway.  I ended up reading the book all in one sitting... This is also not highbrow literature, however, I have a very soft spot for Phillips, in particular her Heavenly, Texas series.  I think of her novels (well, with some disappointing exceptions) as the literary embodiment of the screwball comedies of yore.  She writes fast paced dialogue with strong female heroines who are never at a loss for sarcastic retorts and sassy quips.  Her books brim with humorous, witty and romantic banter.  This is what Hollywood should be doing with romantic comedies but can't.



All of this good reading really means that I ended up staying up until 2 or 3 am each night cursing myself but unable to stop flipping frantically through the pages.  My "habit" has gotten out of control.



I have Liane Moriarty's book "The Last Anniversary" (got hooked on her after "Three Wishes" and "What Alice Forgot") and Christina Baker Kline's "Orphan Train" on my kindle next, but I am not allowing myself to start these for at least a few days. 


Finally, Michael and I started watching the Americans, an FX original, detailing Russian sleeper cells living seemingly-normal lives heavily undercover in the US.  We have only watched the first episode.  Does anyone else find the scenes a bit heavy on sex (for example, in one hour long episode we have drunken sex, rape, attempted statutory rape and make-up sex)?  I am not sure how many episodes it will be before I give up (as I am wont to do with TV shows).