Howdy, Lem

I'm not the only one who bought the album! They sold 118,000 copies...IN ONE WEEK!

Interestingly, 30 percent of their sales were digital. I actually went into a store and bought my copy, along with Jane mag and some chips.

Funny coincidence? Jane's cover girl is Mandy Moore*, who dated Zach Braff, who featured The Shins* prominently in Garden State, which I think had a lot to do with Wincing The Night Away success.

For the record, I was one of the 15,600 who picked up Chutes Too Narrow in its first week (first day, actually).




*Things I like in spite of their association with the Braff. See also: Natalie Portman, Rachel Bilson and Scrubs.

Lady of the evening

So for the last two days I've been sporting black nail polish. Sally Hansen was buy one, get one free at Ulta and I got Black Orchid when my mom got a red color. The black has great shimmer and depth too it -- it's dynamic, not just plain, flat black. It looks fabulous, I think.

Except no one's noticed. It makes me sad. But I'll see my dad, brother and boyfriend this weekend, so we'll see. Chances are, my dad will say it's "funky" in that way that says "I don't know what to think about it," my brother will think it's cool and my boyfriend will just like it because it's on my fingers. Update to follow soon.

Welcome to the 07, bitch

Good evening, 2007. Lovely to see you. Hopefully you'll be as good to me as your friend 2006 was.

So, going forward, here's a look at the best and worst of 2006, at least as far as I can think right now.

WOOT!
Things that made me happy

• Estee Lauder High Gloss lip gloss and Prescriptives custom color lip glosses.
  
• Two seasons of Project Runway
  
• PODCASTS!
  
• The Chia Pet on the dashboard of my Mac
  
• Finally buying, returning, buying a different pair, wearing and loving skinny jeans
  
• The Office
  
• Finally seeing Ted Leo live.

BooHiss
Things that disappointed or underwhelmed

• Stila illuminating foundation -- too sparkly!
  
• Two seasons of Project Runway and two annoying winners
  
• Gilmore Girls and Grey's Anatomy
  
• That mojitos got trendyish (maybe I just think that because I live in south Florida now).

WTF?
Things that surprised me

• I only bought two pairs of shoes (and sundry flip-flops, but those don't count) all year.
  
• I can actually live without cable, as long as I get E!, VH1, Comedy Central and the Food Network. And I have someone TiVo Project Runway for me.
  
• Skinny jeans!
  
• Meredith Viera on the Today Show? Not a bad way to ease into the morning.