Crazy chalk drawings by Julian Beever

I wouldn't mind living in a place like this...
John Lautner's Celebrated Homes

20 Most Bizarre Celebrity Baby Names
(Personally I like Sage Moonblood and Moxie Crimefighter)


7 Reasons the 21st Century is Making You Miserable

15 Reasons Mr Rogers was best neighbor ever

Take a Trip

"We imagine that waking-life is real and that dream-life is unreal, but there does not seem to be any evidence for this belief. Chuang Tzu, in the third century B.C., put it in an amusing way; having dreamed that he was a butterfly flitting from flower to flower, he stated that he was now wondering whether he was then a man dreaming he was a butterfly or whether he was now a butterfly dreaming he was a man."

Wanderlust

Everyone's traveling this summer. Friends in Greece, Germany, Poland, Argentina, etc etc. Looks like the farthest I'll get before med school starts is Venice (...Florida, not Italy). The jetsetting will have to wait until next summer.

Places I Want to Visit:
1.)Lisbon
2.) Napa Valley
3.) Turks & Caicos
4.) Bangkok/Phuket
5.) Dubai

Favorite Places Visited:
1.) Istanbul
2.) Capri
3.) Cairo
4.) Tokyo
5.) Honolulu

Most Random Places Visited:
1.) Lake Nicaragua
2.) Trinidad-Tobago
3.) Sardinia
4.) Abu Simbel
5.) Yuma, AZ

Ultimate Chicago Weekend

Angela came to visit this weekend! We crammed as much of Chicago as possible into a 36-hour period. I really love when friends visit from out of town - seeing as I've only lived here for about two months, I still feel like a tourist myself. And being touristy is one of the most necessary elements of life. You enjoy every detail of your surroundings and revel in things that you would assume to be ordinary otherwise. And when you start thinking things are ordinary... life gets boring. Like Carol said :-)

Rundown:ArtInstitute*MillenniumParkMagnificentMileBerryChill
WickerParkArchitectureTourDeepDishPizza!
(*I can cross off #9 on my list)

The Architecture Tour talked about Santiago Calatrava's Chicago Spire, which I'm growing increasingly curious about. Mostly because it looks as if it would be better suited in the Dubai or Shanghai skyline instead of Chicago's. Chicago architecture seems to focus more on pragmatics and function (such as LEED certification in many of the newly constructed office buildings) than aesthetics and design but the Spire is breaking the mold. Each succeeding floor of the building will impose a two degree difference in angle (hence the spiral shape) and upon completion, will house 1200 private residences on Lake Shore. A little ostentatious? I can't help but wonder who is in the market for a $42 million penthouse in our blundering economy. On the tour I also learned that my apartment building is one block away from the site of the Republican Convention where Lincoln was inaugurated as the party's presidential nominee. History everywhere.

The Feist concert at Ravinia Park on Friday was probably one of my favorite nights in this city so far. (Well, it wasn't really IN the city - 40 min train ride from Ogilvie to Ravinia) Eating a picnic in an amazing setting on a beautiful night with good friends, good music, and wine made for the perfect summer setting.

Two words: CHRISTIAN BALE

This is why producers of Batman are smart - they can attract an otherwise uninterested female demographic to an action superhero movie through the likes of a beautiful man who is dressed in rubber for most of the screen time.

Did I mention I saw Christian Bale? While I was visiting Mike in Madison, Christian Bale & Johnny Depp were filming a new movie called 'Public Enemy.' I spotted Christian from afar - he was only two inches tall from where I stood, but he still oozed gorgeousness. And those cheekbones... *drool*
Needless to say, I will definitely be seeing this movie.

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1821365,00.html?cnn=yes

Things To Do In Chicago:

Before summer is over...

1.) Sailing lessons on Lake Michigan
2.) Cubs game at Wrigleyfield
3.) Segway tour (!!!)
4.) Jazz at the Green Mill
5.) Biking
6.) Drinks at NoMi Lounge
7.) Dinner at Blackbird
8.) Beer garden at Navy Pier
9.) Wander around the Art Institute
10.) Go to top of Sears Tower
11.) See Itzhak Perlman and the Chicago Symphony play at Ravinia Park
12.) More brunch, brunch, brunch
13.) Sushi at Toro
14.) Hot dog at Fast Track
15.) Yoga at Oak St Beach
16.) See the Jeff Koons exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art
17.) Shedd Aquarium

Guess I better get busy.

Mmmm Beets...

Eat up!

To Pitch A Tent?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25192697/

Last night some friends and I were discussing the merits of camping. The closest I've been to camping is sitting in a North Face tent amidst realistic-like pine trees and testing out the thermal sleeping bags (....in the North Face store on Michigan Avenue). In my opinion, here are the pro's and con's of pitching a tent for the night:

Pro: getting close to nature.
Con: getting close to nature.

Something about sleeping outside on the ground with nothing but a thin tent separating me from a meandering bear just doesn't appeal to me. It's not that I don't enjoy being outside - hand me a fishing rod or put me in a raft on whitewater rapids and I'm game. Just take me to a hotel when the sun goes down. But as I listened to the adventures of one friend's month-long cross country camping trip with her boyfriend I was charmed. Hmm.. maybe it's worth forgoing the Heavenly Bed at the Westin to fall asleep underneath the stars with the one you love. Something to think about doing before summer's over.

In the meantime, the wilds of downtown Chicago will have to suffice...