Daily obsession TotalBeauty.com is holding a conference in Manhattan Beach this weekend, flying in beauty bloggers from all over the country.  Lucky me, it’s in my backyard!  I’m particularly excited because I’ve been asked to speak; I’m appearing on a panel with Tia Williams (my former co-worker at Lucky!), Anne Fritz of The Jet Set Girls, and Annie Tomlin of Bella Sugar, discussing turning blogging into a career.  Should be fun, and will keep you posted on any weekend shenanigans.

ConstantChatter.com just posted a recent interview, asking me all sorts of beauty questions from “What three things do you think every woman should do to make the most of what she’s been given?” to “What’s in your makeup bag right now?” to “For those of us not willing to splurge on beauty products, what are some of your favorite drugstore products?”  My answers, here!  (Oh, yes, they’re also giving away five free copies of Beauty Confidential, so be sure to enter if you haven’t already bought yours!)

For snippets of me at my book party last week—waving my hands in front of my face like a deranged person (hi, champagne, much?) and just generally shrieking about why I love makeup—check out this clip that Jossip posted here. It cuts off at the end, unfortunately, but you still get a glimpse of my “fresh” hair and the more-expensive-than-anything-I’ve-ever-worn-in-my-life Christian Lacroix dress that I rented from Wardrobe NYC.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that today was one of the most exciting, nervewracking days of my life. My Today Show segment was finally shot (live!) this morning, where I discussed secrets for whipping stunning makeup together in five minutes. Since I have rosacea, I have a habit of turning beet red when hot, stressed or exercising (and this morning counted as all three, since my hotel elevator broke and I had to hoof it down fifteen flights of stairs in three inch heels immediately before leaving for my segment — thanks, Essex House!) I was worried that, on live TV, I’d stutter, trip, have my outfit rip in an unfortunate place….you know, the usual embarrassments…but luckily everything kept together and I had such a fun, thrilling time. And two hours after my segment, in another area of town, a stranger approached me and say, “Hey, I saw you on the Today Show this morning! You were great!” which, of course, made me grin to myself like a complete idiot for the next six blocks. For a clip of the segment, look here. (Were I more tech savvy, I might discover a way to embed it into my blog, but…alas. I do makeup, people. One thing at a time!) Thank you, thank you, thank you, by the way, to all my readers and friends for your support — Beauty Confidential shot to the top of the list on Amazon this morning and is now number 7 in Health and Beauty (directly after Victoria Beckham, Nina Garcia and Carmindy’s books)! Love you all!

Okay, my lovelies, I have some exciting news and some not-so-exciting news.  The exciting news is twofold: not only is Beauty Confidential now available at Target (whoo!), but you can preorder my first novel, Confessions of a Beauty Addict, on both target.com and amazon.com now.  Mark November 18 on your calendars, because that’s when the book comes out, and I promise you’ll love it.

The not-so-exciting news: somebody at my publishing house wants the cover of Confessions to look like this.  I just don’t know what to say.

Here’s the other cover option, which I think is much better, even though, as the lovely ladies at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books pointed out, the girl looks like she’s about to start making out with the dog, and that’s just bizarre.  Plus…um…there are no dogs in my book.  And, er, the cover has nothing to do with makeup products.  Whatever, I get what they’re going for, and I do find the cover adorable on the whole. 

Here’s a little peek:

“When Bella Hunter, beauty expert and magazine editor wunderkind, loses her job at chic style-bible Enchante for spilling top industry secrets to The Post she thinks her life is over.  And, to top it all off, she’s managed to dye her hair bright orange.  At her wits’ end and desperate not to return home with her tail between her legs, Bella accepts a job at Womanly World, a magazine her mom reads.  (The shame!)  But how can she face her glamorous ex-coworkers now that she works in an office where khaki (not Cavalli) is the way of life?  Armed with her Marc Jacobs, three meddling best friends, and her flighty supermodel boyfriend, Bella is out to wage war on the beauty world one bad makeover at a time.  At odds with her stuffy (and undeniably gorgeous) publisher, Bella begins to realize that she may be fighting the wrong battle.”

Let me know what you think, and don’t forget to pre-order!

I’m at Louisiana State University for a charity beauty event tonight called Delta Glamour (for those of you who don’t know, I was a Delta Gamma at Columbia University) that should be really fun.  I’m reading from Beauty Confidential, answering beauty questions and talking about how blogging has impacted my career, then it’s on to an evening of massages, manicures, blowouts and beauty tips from Arbonne and Mary-Kay.  Right now, I’m staying in a guest room at the sorority house, and I’m feel like I’m 20 again (in more ways than one).  Of course, I forgot my camera—what do you want from me??  We all know I’m going senile—but I’ll try to get photos from the girls to post.  My poor body is jetlagged as hell from traveling so much recently, and daylight savings definitely didn’t help (yeah, I totally slept through a meeting Monday morning).  It’ll be nice to return to LA—in time for Fashion Week!—and just breathe.