I really hate it when women apply makeup on the subway during rush hour. There's just no easy way to put on eyeshadow without elbowing the person next to you.

My alarm goes off an hour before I'm scheduled leave the house. I sometimes snooze 10 minutes of that, depending on how rough the night was. I don't eat breakfast at home, but currently I have to make space for coffee brewing (and ensuing Jamaican folk song earworm indulgence). And catching up on the internets before I leave the house.

I'm so bad now -- I need, like, at least an hour to have tea and feel human before I can shower and get dressed if I'm going somewhere.

But that was after a couple of years of taking a 6:50 a.m. train (which took fifteen minutes by car to get to). I was getting up at 5:45 and making that train.

I used to wake up early enough to polish off an "hour" show every morning. WTF was I thinking?

Amy - my local library has one of your books, but I've already read it. They also have one of Barb's books and I had not read it so I checked it out.

B&N local store did not have Allyson's book yet. 11/1 the computer says.

I am so Glad that mostly nobody sees what I look like. I can write in my "Working-Class Hero" t-shirt. Billytea,bwah!

If she'd left it at that and not gone into what really is a pretty ridiculous sounding regimen and framing it as not just normal but required, the reactions would have been a lot different.

Yes. Plus, it sounds like she's been suckered into a overly-complex morning skin care routine.

My morning routine, if I'm working is:

- Stumble out of bed, wash face, apply sunblock, eye cream, and deodorant.
- Eat yogurt, brew tea, take vitamins.
- Drink tea while putting on makeup. (Primer, darkening eye brows, 3 colors of eye shadow, liquid liner, mascara, concealer under my eyes, translucent powder.)
- Brush teeth.
- Get dressed, which involves underthings, tights, blouse, petticoats, skirt(s, maybe), waistcoat or jacket, and boots.
- Pull hair into low pigtails, comb bangs into the correct pointy shape, put on top hat.

All of that takes me about 45 minutes. I take a bath at night, and I'm one of those weird people who washes their hair once a week.

my local library has one of your books, but I've already read it.

Aw, yay! I'm amazed a library has one of the romances.

I'm one of those weird people who washes their hair once a week.

I've been trying that (as well as shaving once every five or seven days) but I've decided I didn't like the way my hair looked. Still not sure about the shaving.

I brush my teeth while the conditioner soaks in during my shower.

I do nothing to my hair other than comb through some goop and blowdry my bangs (which I'm growing out) out of my face.

Used to take 10 minutes to do eyebrows but since the tatt it's 0 seconds.

make-up is mineral foundation and blush.