ABANDONED. Woman gets a job in a think tank, trained with magic powers then spy? Lots of desert scenes. Frye boots

[Ciel]

Adult fiction. I remember she spends hours chipping paint off her fireplace, then stops to think-- goes to a hardware store and asks for help. The guy gives her a solvent that finishes the job in minutes. She needs a job and sees an interesting ad -- for some reason (late at night? tipsy?) she just writes out a list of all the things she can do. She gets hired at a think tank.
Lots of adventure, some mystical desert magic stuff. One other thing that really stuck in my mind was that she coveted a pair of Frye boots and after she gets them... well, if you've read this book, what is the name?? I read it at least twenty years ago.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Ciel, are you still looking for this book?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

No response; moved to Abandoned.