On Tuesday, thanks to all the pomp and circumstance (not the good kind, mind you) that comes along with intense wildfires, I decided it might not be a bad idea to go invest in an air purifier. I was a mere four miles or so from the fire, a safe enough distance away that I was fortunate enough not to have to evacuate. But it was close enough that my entire house and the entire backyard was blanketed in thick clouds of smoke Monday morning. And by 'thick', I mean I could pretty much reach out, grab some smoke, and hold it in my hand like a weightless basketball. When I went to Target on Tuesday, I was half-expecting to arrive at the air purifier section and discover that they were completely sold out in a stampede of fury the night before. Turns out that I was the extent of the stampede, however, because I was the only one on the aisle, with the exception of two people, over the course of the thirty or so minutes I was standing there trying to make an educated decision about which purifier I wanted to buy (it takes at least that long to go from knowing next to nothing about a product to suddenly attaining guru status). Plus all the other folks out there just starting wearing those face mask things that I can't stand because I always end up breathing out of my mouth and then my nose promptly turns around and threatens to kill me. I ended up settling on this beauty.

I've been running the thing constantly ever since I plugged it into the wall. Yesterday, I had five hours of classes and six hours of work, and the whole time I was like, "Hurry UP, day, I want to go home and hang out with my new air purifier." I love it that much.

On the one hand, the buildings on campus are not in the greatest shape to stay inside. Sure, the university says they're safe, but I think they're thinking they're safe for a couple hours, at most, not THIRTEEN hours, which is how long I was there. Which means that, upon my arrival home, I turned on my air purifier full tilt and just sat there hugging the thing and crying. On the other hand, it turns out that, smoke or not, an air purifier is an amazingly good investment when your house is old and moldy. My last two nights of sleep have seriously been the best nights' sleep I've gotten since coming back to LA. I'm so all about it.

*And hey, you know what else I'm all about? Fun contests where my readers have the chance to win stuff! Think up your Merch Girl slogan and submit it today! Time's running out... only one more day left to get your Merch Girl on!*