Miss Thompson in New Orleans

Julia Reed's charming The House on First Street documents how

she and her husband rehabbed an old house in New Orleans,

just before Katrina hit. She loves to eat and drink (she writes

for Vogue and the NYTimes) and that joy and enthusiasm

permeates every page. Delightful for anyone who loves houses.

Nose in A Book

Loved this week: Two true ones

Cathy Alter's UP FOR RENEWAL--how she

straightened out her life with advice

from women's magazines.

And Nancy Peacock's BROOM OF ONE'S OWN:

reflections on writing. She cleans houses when

she's not writing, and she's right--you need something else

to do each day besides sit at your computer and write.

Keeps you alive in the world.

Today I'm wearing Sassaby's Pineapple Delight Frost Lipstick,

topped with Clinique's Color Surge Butter Shine "Pink Goddess'...

kind of like wearing a Pina Colada on your mouth.... 

....Hey.... where's that pool boy? ....

Miss Thompson Goes Political

Just finished The Bush Tragedy by Jacob Weisberg, recommended

by my brainy and beautiful friend LWT. Kept flipping back to the family tree 

to figure out all the complicated connections, as the

Walker and Bush sides of the family intertwined. A multigenerational 

"inside look" at the family whose not-favorite son

will soon be out of the White House. 

Wear sheer Mango Lip Butter from The Body Shop to read this one.

Miss Thompson Stays Up Late

I started reading Please Excuse My Daughter by Julie Klam

about 4 pm yesterday, and finished it at midnight.

Another true story. Klam's a writer (she worked as David Letterman's

personal intern for a while; she says he's a great boss)

and former spoiled brat who tells about having 

to grow up and make money instead of depending on

her husband to support her. Dog Otto (Boston

terrier) is a big character, too, as is baby Violet 

(but that comes later). (Riverhead Books/Penguin, $23),

but Miss Thompson got this book at the library. 

Put your foundation on before your concealer so it

doesn't slip away.

Miss Thompson in a Diamond Necklace

Oh, those California girls!

A bunch of women in California pooled their money

and bought a fabulous diamond necklace--the kind of splurge

no one would probably indulge in on their own, but that was do-able as a group.

Each woman got to wear the diamond necklace during their

birthday month. Daughters got married wearing it, the

necklace went on vacation--a guy even wore it at the local

coffee shop.  This is a true story about the power of women's

friendships and sharing, and the good works that

came from this single indulgent purchase. Bling bling bling!

The Necklace by Cheryl Jarvis (Ballantine, $24).

Prescriptives.com had free shipping last week, so I 

finally got a new Reflective Eye Pencil in Beaming Black--mine

was down to a nub--

and my favorite brush-on lip gloss in Neutron. $17.50 each.

If you've got a lipstick or gloss you've used up, that

means the color looks good on you. Buy another.

Miss Thompson Punches Up Her Decor

If you're a hypochondriac like me, or know someone

who is, you'll love Jennifer Traig's Well Enough Alone.

She's a hypochondriac, too. When you worry about

your health, it's fun to read about someone who shares your

affliction.

I was talking to my best friend Eve yesterday. She's an interior

designer. She was warning me about Big 

Decorating Mistakes. (Her exact words were, "If you feel yourself going towards any

of these things, STOP!")

So remove these things from your house at

once:

-Linoleum

-Fish decor in your bathroom (I have this)

-The color aqua

-Dried flowers

Then do this:

•Update your lamps. Get rid of old lamps or change 

the lampshades. Put a lamp in your laundry room, and a small lamp

on your kitchen counter. If you've got a lamp that looks dowdy, 

add a riser--a little screw-on piece--

beneath the finial at the top of the lamp. It will 'raise the hemline' of your lampshade

just a tiny bit--and that  can make all the difference. 

•Simple bedding and fewer pillows. 

•Paint your front door hot pink. Add a door knocker. "It's like

your house took a shower." 

• Replace your dog's ratty bed with a new one that matches your

decor. (Eve buys her dog beds at COSTCO; I've seen cute ones at Target and TJMaxx.)

• Buy fun colorful dishes--a few solids, a few prints.

• Always use bone china teacups--"so it feels like

tea at The Plaza."

• Split up your dining-room set: Put the formal chairs in the

kitchen; buy wicker chairs for the dining room. Or mingle fun 

chairs around the table, with two upholstered armless chairs  for the host and hostess. "No matchy-matchy," 

warns Eve. (She's so bossy.)

• Paint your hutch or breakfront white and use it as a guest room wall 

unit. Or wallpaper the inside and use it in your bedroom.

• Buy a funky chair for your living room, to shake things up.

• Add something black to every room as an exclamation point. 

Eve has bare wooden stairs, and painted the banisters, 

balusters, and railings black. "Make it bold and make it a focal point."

• Toss dead plants that drop their leaves; they're a downer. Buy a quality silk tree 6-feet high from NSI or some other good company.

• Eve says red living rooms and jewel-tone rooms are OUT! 

Instead, "use soft soothing pale colors." 

(Eve decorated her bedroom in black patent leather when she was a teenager.)

Eve's lipstick: Anything from NARS.

I just bought Edgar Sawtelle for my mom for her birthday;

I hope it's as good as everyone says.  

My lipstick today is "Glaze"

by Club Monaco--not even made anymore. Could be the Monica

Lewinsky lipstick, I'm not sure. Vote Obama and let's head

for a new future! Miss Thompson signing off.  

Miss Thompson's Reading Room & Lipgloss Hut

My fabulous friend LWT reports she's loving What Happened to Anna K, "a sort of modern-day Anna Karenina set in modern day Russian Jewish Brooklyn...really interesting and good--and a first book by the author."  I'm getting it! Of course, LWT is wearing her signature red lipstick: her latest, the new Lipstick Queen Saint Red lipstick by Poppy King from vivre.com. As Benny Goodman would say, "Pow! Pow! Pow!"

I just finished Phillip Lopate's Two Marriages. Two novellas about two different marriages. Well done. How do people think of these things?

Miss Thompson Recommends a Board Book !

My great-niece is turning one. 

I bought her Charley Harper ABCs.

It caught my eye on Amazon and I really like

the artwork.

I'm hoping it will be a hit.

Miss Thompson Recommends

MISS THOMPSON IS PRESCIENT:

January 09 OLIVE KITTERIDGE IS A FINALIST FOR THE 

2008 NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD

Finished Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout last night.

The last essay, called River, is about Olive falling in love again,

in her seventies, with a man she initially didn't care for.

Her courtship behavior is typically Olive: straightforward, blunt.

She's always using expressions I love. 

In the final sentences, Olive ponders "what young people 

don't know... that love was not to be tossed away carelessly, 

as if it were a tart on a platter with others that got passed 

around again." Read this one. Don't miss it.

Yesterday was one of those

crystal-blue days that appear end-of-August, early

September. At the shore, I asked my friend, who

is a Mary Kay lady, what the new colors were for fall.

 She said something wise:

"Take care of your skin." That's more important

than the latest look.

Miss Thompson's Reading Room & Lipgloss Hut

Miss Thompson recommends:

Not sure if this one is even in print anymore, but I can't

stop recommending Susan Parker's hilarious and true story

of how she continued her life after her husband's devastating bike

accident and subsequent paralysis.  It's called 

Tumbling After: Pedaling Like Crazy After Life

Goes Downhill (Crown, April 2002 

ISBN 0609608568) There is love, sex, 

and neighborhood support. I guarantee you'll laugh and cry. 

This is a wonderful book--one of my all-time favorites.

Be open minded. Last I knew, 

Parker was a columnist at the Berkeley Daily Planet

and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Get your hands on this book at the library or a used

book store. It's the best. (Must be open minded.)

Miss Thompson heads down the shore tomorrow,

wearing sunscreen and CoverGirl's new WetSlicks

AmazeMint lip gloss (tastes/smells Crest minty),

shade 640 Freedom of Peach. Similar to Nars'

Chelsea Girls lip lacquer pot gloss, but a little sparkly. 

In sponge-wand form, so it's easy to put on in the car. 

Miss Thompson paid for her lip gloss using her

debit card. $4.69 at Harmon Face Values.

Miss Thompson's Reading Room

Today Miss Thompson recommends:

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout.

Thirteen stories, each including the character of Olive Kitteridge, 

a large outspoken wife.

Dialogue wonderful.

Clearly, Elizabeth Strout is a close observer of human

nature and interaction.

I read the first story before falling asleep. Laughed out loud

several times.  So far, I give this book 5 bookmarks--my highest 

rating.

Miss Thompson