The Witches of Eastwick

A good naughty read by a respected author -- this is my kind of book! I felt like I should read something by Updike since he passed away this year, but wasn't sure I was up for one of the Rabbit books. I'm glad I went for this. It's wickedly entertaining, but also well written. The perfect combo!

Wedding fun

This past weekend, my friend Laura from Northwestern got married at the Newberry Library in Chicago. A bunch of the NU kids were in attendance and the whole weekend was just so much fun. I snapped this pic of the table (and Courtney and Sarah) b/c I really liked the center arrangement. Some tables had big centerpieces, but ours had a low grouping of bright flowers and vases with floating flowers and candles. Much better for talking across the table! And also very pretty.

This summer is a particularly good one for weddings--Courtney is getting married in July in Toronto, and Jon and Sarah are getting married in Toledo in September. My Northwestern friends love to sing and dance to cheesy music (especially Bon Jovi), so nothing is more fun for us than a wedding :)

Anyway, Laura looked absolutely gorgeous, but unfortunately, I only took this one picture on my phone. Hopefully someone will email their stash to me and I can add some more photos to the posting.

Happy Earthday Lindsay!

Last night we had a little girls night out in honor of Lindsay's 29th bday. Unfortunately, the bakery didn't get Carrie's order for a birthday cake, so we had to present her with a "Happy Earth Day" cake instead. Heh heh.

Anyway, happy birthday to Linds!

The Rose that rose from concrete

First of all, a big thanks to ESPN for launching ESPNChicago.com. Yes, we are the first city to get our very own ESPN site. Woo hoo!

Second, thanks to Scoop Jackson for being just as obsessed with Derrick Rose as I am. I thought this was a pretty good interview. He's not your typical rookie...

http://espn.go.com/chicago/story?columnist=jackson_scoop&id=4070218

Good luck to the Bulls this year in the playoffs. If we can manage to upset the Celtics in round 1, we'll know who we can thank for that!

A quilt is a handmade hug

We finally finished the Knit Wit charity quilt. Isn't it lovely? That's my square, front and center! The raffle is today at 4:30...I hope I win :)

LOST Lunch Thursday: Some Like It Hoth

Pretty awesome episode! Miles is finally getting the character development he so desperately needs and the banter between Miles and Hurley keeps getting better and better. My favorite moment was probably when Hurley suggested he, Miles, and Dr. Chang all get together after work to grab a beer.

And we learned a few things too...

- You CAN co-exist on the island with another version of yourself.

- Others on the Agira flight were planning to land on the island all along (eg, Bram with his 'what's in the shadow of the statue?' talk). Are Bram and Elena working for Ben??

- And now Farraday is back! We missed you Dan Farraday.

There were also some touching moments in this episode. Like Hurley talking about his own daddy issues. Or when Hurley saw the evil lottery numbers at the Hatch construction site. Can you imagine what must have been going through his head? And when Miles saw his father reading bedtime stories to him. Awww.

Some questions still remain though. As always! How did all the kids (or at least Charlotte and baby Miles) manage to escape the island before the purge?

Next week looks like it will probably be some kind of lame recap show. Though I will still watch! But what we're all really waiting for is the 100th episode, where something dramatic is sure to happen! Our group is betting that Juliet dies!

LOST Lunch Thursday: Dead is Dead

We were all pretty confused by this episode. Not much new was learned, except that it seems Locke is now a Christian Shepard-like character with some kind of connection to the smoke monster. And that Ben has an Achilles' heel when it comes to children, or else mothers and children.

The flashbacks were interesting, especially to see the power struggle between little Ben and a younger Charles Widmore.

And the highlight of the episode was definitely Ben's beat-down by Desmond. When is he going to come back to the island? We all miss him and his lovely accent.

I think next week's episode looks like it will be a bit more exciting/informative. Hopefully we'll find out why Miles was sent to the island!

Check out LOST Untangled for a funny recap of the show: http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=lostuntangled

Playing for Pizza

Looking for an easy read? In a departure from his typical courtroom thriller, John Grisham tells a pleasantly entertaining tale about a washed-up NFL quarterback's stint playing football in Parma, Italy. Hey, who knows, maybe this will be the Rex Grossman story in a few years.

Don't rush out to buy this one, but check it out from the library or borrow a copy from a friend if you need a good plane or beach read!

Another Commodore is Coming to Chicago

Big news for Bears fans -- we're finally getting ourselves a real quarterback! Yes, Jay Cutler will be the starting QB for the 2009-2010 season. I can't even believe it. Our team could be awesome! We've got Matt Forte, who I am just positive is going to be a top running back next year, I think we're also signing Orlando Pace to give our offensive line a little more oomph and star power, AND there are talks that we might sign a marquee receiver like Torry Holt or Anquan Boldin. Superbowl, here we come!

By the way, this brings our tally of ex-Vandy players up to 4. We've got Hunter Hillenmeyer (LB), Earl Bennett (WR), Chris Williams (T), and now Jay Cutler. B, it's a sign. This is your team!

They just need to bring in a couple more Northwestern grads to even up the score :)

Go Bearsssssss!!!

LOST Lunch Thursday: Whatever Happened, Happened

Could it be that I'm actually starting to like Kate again? She kinda redeemed herself in this episode, I thought. There were a few very 'real' moments for her, like when she plopped down on Cassidy's couch, exhausted and overwhelmed after almost losing Aaron in the supermarket...

Anyway, I think we're starting to figure a few more things out here. My LOST group thinks that everyone has their own unique reason for coming back. Kate's is to find Claire. But we still don't know why Hurley or Jack came back yet.

Also, Juliet must know something interesting about the Others. Why else would she trust the medical care of little Ben to a bunch of ragtag forest dwellers? It makes sense, considering she lived in Dharmaville with the Others for years in the 90s before the original Oceanic crash.

I personally thought Richard Alpert's "He will lose his innocence" comment was kind of lame...but there are a few in my group who are convinced it's all Biblical. Maybe because of the whole "Judgment Day" theme of next week's episode. Who knows!

That's about all we talked about for this week. I'll end with a little LOST fun.

If the Dharma Initiative took out magazine ads in the 70s:
http://i.gizmodo.com/5191356/if-the-dharma-initiative-took-out-magazine-ads

Also, an 80s-style theme song:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/briancassidy/lost-80s-style-theme-song-2hr

Enjoy!