"make no little plans..."

So, I've been thinking (yes, that IS what that sound was!) - my recent trip to Vegas has left me a little light in the wallet, but fortunately, daydreaming is free! Anyway, I had this idea, and it came to me after a day of wandering the Strip. Aside from the Second City comedy revue, there is nothing Chicago-themed in Vegas. There's Paris, there's Venice, there's Rome. There's a big, freaky circus, and a jungle, and pirate-hookers (whoops, I mean, Sirens). When I was walking around, I was like, well, you know, Chicagoans are hearty and hard-working, and other stuff like that. Not at all Vegasy. But then I got to thinking - Why the hell not? We could be Vegasy if we wanted to - what do all of those other places got that we ain't got (except, perhaps, a better grasp of grammar)? We have a lake! We have Oprah! We have sports teams! We have gangsters and good pizza and lots of great landmarks. When I was taking my gondola ride at the Venetian, my gondolier asked where I was from. When I told her, she, and about 5 of her fellow gondoliers burst into an impromptu rendition of "Chicago (that toddlin' town)" especially for me (it was kind of a slow afternoon.) As I am rather fond of saying - when you say "Chicago" everyone knows what you're talking about. You don't have to name it twice.

So - ladies and gentlemen (and Steve Wynn, if you're listening!) may I proudly present my as-yet-unnamed (but taking suggestions) Chicago-themed Vegas resort! Think of it! A giant ferris wheel out front, a White City themed lobby, and a casino area called "the Midway" - a pool shaped like Lake Michigan, with lovely non-polluted sand beaches, an inside "El train" roller coaster that people could ride, a luxe shopping area called the "Magnificent Mile" and mini-versions of the Sears Tower that people could go up in, the Hancock building, and the Adventures in Babysitting building (you know what I mean!) and the Picasso statue. Our hotel towers would be named after our sports teams (the Cubs wing! the Sox wing!) or our former mayors. We could have a theater with a marquee that look like the iconic Chicago Theater's. We'd have a permanently running Broadway musical in the house (Chicago naturally) And best of all, we'd have restaurants serving the best food in Vegas - Chicago deep dish pizza, hot dogs, an outpost of the Kielbasa King, etc. We could have a Western branch of the Art Institute with glitzed up lions sitting at the entrance, and exhibitions making their way through (who says only the Bellagio can have art?). We'd have to Vegas up the Buckingham Fountain, too - make it bigger, put some flashing colored lights in there, add some music and voila! Instant Vegas attraction. I am loving this!

Oh, it would be great. So who's with me? Oprah? Steve? Anybody?

get yer disco (back) on!

ABBA Tuesdays are BACK! I would miss them too much otherwise, so I've decided to make this The Summer of ABBA Tuesday and will be posting videos, tidbits, pictures, etc. from now until the end of the summer, or until I get tired of it, whichever comes first. Woohoo! Today's selection is "Summer Night City" which, incidentally, was the original working title of the musical - even though this song does not appear to be in the musical. Maybe that's why they decided to go with the much snappier "Mamma Mia!" This song is so weirdly hypnotic, just listen to it for two seconds and you will have the refrain of "Summer Night Citaaayyyy" in your head the rest of the day. You're welcome.

the proposal

Saw "The Proposal" on Friday night, after a delicious, delicious meal at Mykonos. Oh, how I love Greek food. But anyway. I really really liked the movie. It was not rocket science, you know, but it was light and funny and happy and sometimes that is all I really look for in a movie. Sandra Bullock has to be one of the most adorable, likeable actresses around today. Her character, Margaret Tate is not a nice person - I mean, come on, she bribes her assistant to marry her so she doesn't get deported! After a wild eagle snatches her phone, on their trip to Palin-land she offers it a fluffy white puppy instead! Not nice! But Sandra made her seem - well, not so bad. Human. Relatable.

And can we talk about Ryan Reynolds for just a moment? Lovely! {sighhhhh}

Sorry, she said, wiping drool from her keyboard, what were we talking about? Oh, right. The movie. Focus. Deep breaths. Anyway, the plot was a little predictable, but the movie made me laugh. I had a great time. There were some great supporting players too, including Betty White's "Gammy" and Oscar Nunez's exotic dancing "Ramon."

So go and see it with your girlfriends and have a good time. Stay for the end credits. Maybe if you are lucky, some idiot will be setting off fireworks in the Chasers parking lot. Fun for the whole family!

Palin's speech sends bizarre meter atwitter :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Richard Roeper

As much as I would like her to go away, I can't help but wonder if she'd be a better governor than Blagojevich... then again, this pair of scissors would probably be a better governor than Blagojevich... Huh. Better for her to just go away, then.

Palin's speech sends bizarre meter atwitter :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Richard Roeper

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there's STILL gonna be bbq, dammit!

Just got back from the MG's (rather soggy!) parade. Mom and I huddled in the shelter of an overhang (thank goodness there are still a few surviving businesses on dempster st.!) and so we were dry, but had to stand for the entire affair. As the parade went on, it rained harder and harder - the Shriners on their mini-motorcycles had plastic bags on over their stupid fez hats, which kinda made it look like they had lampshades on their heads...

Otherwise it was a pretty standard parade, it opened with local cops, firemen, and tow trucks from LinMar. Some people were throwing candy. One year, the LinMar truck was distributing hot dogs to the crowd. There were a variety of marching bands (only one of them was actually from Illinois, and that one was from some place called "New Lenox") which might have been good, but since we were standing pretty close to the start of the parade route, we didn't hear them do a lot of playing. They just walked by, twiddling their flags, so to speak, and looking wet. The Jesse White tumblers were on hand, but since it was raining, they just drove by us in a minivan, their mats and trampoline secured to the roof. Blerg. There were some folks from the Action Party (who I did not vote for - their shirts said "Leading the Way" - "to what?" I asked, but none of them answered me.) The (6) marching Girl Scouts did not have any cookies on them. They must have extras, so why not hurl a box or two of thin mints our way, ladies? There were some assorted Republicans floating around too, as well as a tribe of Bolivian folk dancers, a whole bunch of Shriners, clowns (doing the same jokes every year. I mean, really? No new material?) and a group identifying themselves as "Freinds of the Morton Grove Forest Preserve" - yes, they misspelled "Friends" on the sign they were carrying - whoops! Guess they weren't "freinds" of the spell checker, eh?

All this might sound as though I did not enjoy myself - I did! For nearly every year that I can remember, I've celebrated the 4th of July the exact same way - the parade, bbq with my family, including our legendary ice cream pudding cake, the carnival, and then the fireworks. When I was young, my parents and I would drive the el camino (my first car) to the parking lot of my elementary school where they had the fireworks, and watch from the back of the car (cozy!). As I've gotten older, I started going to the fireworks with my friends (my extended family) . And every year, we'd wish for a firework to go astray and tragically set our school alight so that we would have an extended summer vacation!

I also used to love the carnival as a kid, although I've since become wary of rides that can be assembled and taken down in one day, and the carnies are always invariably the creepiest, skeeziest, most leacherous guys on the planet. Gross, gross, gross. When I was younger I had an unlimited capacity to go on the Tilt-a-whirl (Heidi told me that in the UK they call it the "waltzer" - can this be true? Anyone?) and that crazy roller coaster that went in reallyreally fast circles, but now my old lady stomach won't let me do that, or eat funnel cakes, either, which is just more proof that getting older really sucks. But, on the bright side, we are now (more than) old enough to enter the mythical beer garden, so it's all good.

But anyway, it wouldn't be the 4th without doing these things. It is, as I mentioned earlier, my favorite holiday. Maybe it's because my birthday is in November, and I've always wished that I could have a big party outside without needing a winter jacket. I am SO jealous of people with summer birthdays. I mean, seriously. Pool parties! BBQs! My birthday is in November so we could stay inside or... yeah. Stay inside. The 4th has all the things I love the most - the weather is pretty (usually), we can eat my favorite food, people are outside, there are fireworks, it's patriotic and I'm a big sucker for that stuff. Rah, rah, go us and all that. I love singing "Proud to be an American" in Harrer Park and waving a glowstick and going "Oooooh" "Ahhhhhh" and "It's a shoe!" while watching the fireworks.

So the fact that it is raining is a big huge drag. Sigh. Ah well.

Happy Fourth!

Have fun, be safe and don't do anything I wouldn't do!

hey chicago - who told you you're allowed to rain on my parade?

Today is the 4th of July (my favorite holiday!), although you would not know it by our gray, gloomy, rainy and COLD (60!) weather. It might as well be Easter around here, gee whiz. One bright spot in my morning was my trip to Dunkin Donuts - I was getting a cup of water when I heard a voice behind me say "Hello!" So I turned around and there was a guy there, with balloons. "Can I make a balloon for you?" he asked me. I said okay and he gave me one already made and ohmygosh, it's so cute and totally made my morning. So thanks, Balloon Man!

Our parade is at 2:30 today and the fireworks are later. There WILL be barbecuing, dammit. I better see some sun and some 70s, Chicago.

LXTV - Can't Live WIthout: Harold Ramis

Yeah! I can't live without this stuff, either! Ballet, flowers, and Italian food...

LXTV - Can't Live WIthout: Harold Ramis

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glammed out miss granger

Emma Watson in August's Teen Vogue

let the countdown begin to the new Harry Potter movie!

"a little bit wicked"

I was boredly scanning the shelves at Morton Grove Public Library last week while I was off. I've been doing that thing where I've run out of stuff to read and so I start reading stuff I've already read. I do this a lot, and thus have a collection of stuff that I will grab when I am looking for something to (re) read - for instance, I re-read all of Bill Bryson's books that I own (and one that I didn't) and I've even been meandering through my Vegas guidebooks again (in case I missed something, maybe?) which let me know that I had to get to the library and fast - only a matter of time before I start on my favorite re-read books - the tales of Ms. Georgia Nicholson in Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging and all of its many sequels. So I could save myself and my loved ones from me gabbing in teenage English girl "Cor! It's nippy noodles outside today!" "I'm away laughing on a fast camel, toodle pip!" for the next week, I hit the biblioteca.

I picked up Kristin Chenoweth's A Little Bit Wicked. I started it Saturday night and finished it Sunday morning. A very quick and fun read, and she is so gosh darned cute (plus we have the same initials!) . I liked her very much, even forgiving her for saying that You're A Good Man Charlie Brown was in "Skokee" Illinois (Right down the darned street from me, too, and I MISSED IT.) It made me want to crack out my Wicked cd and become a Glitter Girl - now I have the perfect accessory for it - my glitter lamp from Ravinia...

having the time of your life...

So - last night was by far the most fun I've ever had at Ravinia. Ever. The place was PACKED, there was dancing in the aisles and the music of ABBA as played by the fantastic Arrival from Sweden. They were adorable - decked out in authentic ABBA costumes, happy to be there singing for us, happy to be alive and apparently happy to be Swedish. The Ravinia gift shop has outdone themselves this year with fantastic tchotchkes (well, how do YOU spell it?) and I got myself this awesome little glittery trinket that lights up and changes color. No joke, I am obsessed with this thing. The best 8 bucks I've spent this summer, I think.

The only thing that was not entirely agreeable - two things actually - the weather and the annoying people in our aisle. The weather had turned cold - by the time the concert rolled around it was in the 60s! I had to swap my adorable ABBAriffic dress and sandals for a pair of jeans, a long sleeved t-shirt, a sweater AND a jacket. Fortunately I warmed up by dancing! Ah and the people in our aisle. Apparently these people bought 4 pavilion tickets and were trading them around with the rest of their party on the lawn. So. One group would come in, sit for maybe 10 minutes, leave and shortly another group would come in, totally different people, getting up and sitting down, traipsing right IN FRONT OF ME for the entire first half of the show. It annoyed me and it annoyed my mom who I am proud to say "went Sicilian" on them and so did the guy next to us who complained to the usher. Who couldn't very well do anything, since they had tickets after all. Grrr. The second half, four people (that we'd never seen before - how big was this group, anyway?) sat down and stayed there, which was good.

The show was rocking, starting from their first song "Ring Ring" in Swedish and ending with "Dancing Queen." I loved it. LOVED IT and I can't wait to get back to Ravinia for another show and some warmer weather.

one for the road

This had me, literally, rolling in the aisles...

it's today!

Our final ABBA Tuesday is upon us. I know you are all SO SAD. What better song than "Thank you for the Music"? The concert is tonight and I.Can't.Wait. See y'all on the dance floor. I am wearing my ABBA-riffic and totally psychedelic H&M dress, just for YOU, Arrival from Sweden.