Weekend Update

1. Today I’m sharing a little hair accessory I recently purchased, which has made my bad hair days much more tolerable.

I first found this hair tie after lusting after this Jennifer Behr version (which I still want). So gorgeous, but I knew I would go bonkers if the band broke the second time I used it, which happens to me often (what am I doing wrong??). So I went hunting and found this version on Nordstrom, at a much more friendly price, and purchased the gold. So far it’s been working out great! A super easy way to make a casual pony look “fancy”, without much trouble at all. In fact, sometimes I find it works too well in making your hair look good – in those cases I also purchased this tortoiseshell version. I had no idea that these sorts of ties existed – now I’m passing it along.

2. Do you return/buy lots online? Sometimes I go through little sprees and everything works out, sometimes I feel like I’m spending hours of my life just returning items. An interesting article, via The WSJ, shares what happens to a lot of our mailed retail returns.

3. A fascinating article via The NY Times about how expensive rugs are going out of fashion. Do you like expensive rugs? I have to admit I’m totally not a rug person. I have an opinion on them, but don’t care too much. My husband, however (surprisingly enough) is a total rug lover. Given unlimited funds we’d totally have a house filled with these expensive items. I groan whenever we walk buy one of the shops because he always wants to go in and the salespeople are lonely and smell interest and thus swarm all over. But I owe him for all the shops I (used) to make him go into with me.

Also – I bookmarked this accompanying article for when we finally redecorate (or if I want to be more truthful, actually decorate for the first time).

4. A disturbing, fascinating true crime piece from Town & Country about two bizarre deaths in Coronado. Must read for those who like these sorts of crime articles (all of us).

5. This week I finished Sunburn, by Laura Lippman.

Sunburn is in many ways a classic noir/thriller – there’s the femme fatale, the lover who may not be what he seems, the shocking past which only is revealed as the story unfolds. But as the story continues, you see how the book diverges from some common tropes, while maintaining that noir sensibility.

I really enjoyed this one, and if you’re looking for both excellent writing and a story that keeps propelling you along, (and particularly if you love crime/noir) I highly recommend Sunburn.