I've managed to avoid exercise so far...where do I start?

Contrary to popular belief, women rarely need to train differently from men. Without the addition of pharmacuetical assistance, you don't need to worry about looking like a man or getting "bulky". The only reason anyone would look "bulky" from strength training is if they have too fat fat on top of the muscle, which causes the buldge.

Low weight + high reps is one of the biggest myths in the fitness world. That will accomplish basically nothing. There is no such thing as "sculpting" muscles, and you can't spot reduce fat around certain areas, despite what you may read in popular magazines.

If you are new to strength training I would recommend getting on a good beginners program like Starting Strength. Focus on the big exericses like Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Press, and Press. Those will make you stronger, more powerful, and build a lean sexy physique. If I could only do 4 exercises, those are the ones I would do.

Heavy weight + low reps is the way to constantly make progress. The 8-10 rep range is for hypertrophy training, which at this point (since you are a beginner) is pretty much useless as you aren't strong enough yet to reap the benefits of hypertrophy training. The 5 rep range is probably a good idea.