Shopping, Music: Jenny Craig, Jazz, and Sex

My shopping habit is on hold while I attempt to lose some extra pounds before the summer. After one week of avoiding temptation I have lost 4 pounds! Yay me. I've got the healthy food part under control, but getting myself to exercise is another story...

Lately I've been in the mood for jazz. My favorite Yahoo LAUNCHcast playlist is called Martini Lounge. It's so fabulous! I prefer the jazz vocals to pure instrumentals, which I'm sure would offend hardcore jazz fans-- but if I said I enjoyed John Coltrane I'd be a total poseur. Here are some of my favorite artists (complete with links to their myspace pages so you can sample the sounds):

Billie Holiday
Blossom Dearie
Astrud Gilberto
Diana Krall
Dean Martin
Rosemary Clooney

I'm about to start reading Jessica Cutler's The Washingtonienne, a blog-turned-novel recommended to me by a friend. It sounds like a juicy read, and I'm hoping it will spice up my Easter weekend.