Earlier today, as I sat upstairs in my office staring out the window, I realized that I spend a lot of time staring out the window.

I’m pretty sure the neighbors think it’s creepy… I’ve caught them staring back a few times, but whatev. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do, right? Letting my mind wander helps me work stuff out.

I have noticed that I think about different things depending on the weather. When it’s raining and overcast like it’s been this week, I keep getting distracted. Instead of contemplating lip plumpers, verbs and things I can photograph on top of Tabs, I’ve been daydreaming about summer, beaches and hanging out by the pool.

Thank goodness for the new Too Faced Summer Eye Summertime Sexy Shadow Collection ($36), which is really just a palette… It’s part of the new limited edition Too Faced Summer 2012 collection, and it’s been the only thing keeping the weather from getting me down.

The palette contains nine shimmery, summery shadows in beachy bronzes and browns, accented with warm coral, pink and teal (here are the swatches). It also has a few how-to cards that show how to create three different eye looks.

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Not yet past the vernal equinox, and the beauty world is already buzzing about summer?

It’s enough to drive a girl to…the closest Sephora.

And this year, the calendar-crushing makeup lovers at Too Faced are leading the charge with a six-piece summer collection of products for eyes, face and body. A few of the pieces, like the Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzing Powder, are available now online, but the bulk of the release is still en route to Sephora stores and counters. ETA: very soon.

Here are pics and swatches of five of the six pieces from the release. Have a look-see, and let me know what you think.

Summer Eye Summertime Sexy Shadow Collection, $36

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One of my favorite things about makeup is how we’re not just allowed to let our moods, whims and temporary obsessions influence our color choices and techniques; we’re actually encouraged to. Heck, that’s a big part of the whole shebang, and along those lines, I’ve been feeling blue…

Not blue in a bad way. Just blue.

I don’t really know why or what triggered it, but for some reason I’ve been liking blue even more than usual, especially blue eyeshadows, which is why I had sky high hopes for $18 Exotic Color Intense Eye Shadow in Cop a Teal, one of 12 shades from Too Faced Cosmetics.

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I’ve been on a culinary kick lately, ya know, cooking more than usual, because as much as I love the frozen food aisle at Trader Joe’s, I think I’ve hit my upper limit for microwaveable bean burritos this year. And all of the time I’ve been racking up at the stove has also led to a startling discovery: lemon zest — the scrapings you get from running a lemon against a grater — that stuff is the muthu truckin’ shiz!

It contains all of these aromatic, flavorful oils that make it a great seasoning for dishes like fish, pasta, salad, and pretty much anything and everything else I’ve been adding it to lately.

I bet if I’m not careful, what is still just a zesty infatuation could explode into a full-blown lemon zest addiction.

And then what? Where would I be?

Oh, I know — probably thinking about lemon zest while I play with the new Too Faced Shadow Insurance Lemon Drop Color Correcting Eye Shadow Primer ($18).

It’s basically a pale lemon yellow version of the original Too Faced Shadow Insurance, a creamy eyeshadow primer designed to offset discolorations on the lids and extend the wear time of eyeshadows applied atop it.

I’ve long liked the regular version, even though the idea of it isn’t that revolutionary anymore. As far as similar lemony/yellow primers, Benefit makes one called Lemon Aid ($20) that didn’t really work for me, so I wanted Lemon Drop to rock. Plus, I kinda the name. The yellow tints are designed to neutralize redness in the skin.

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