With John’s family coming in town and a Spanish cake to bake this weekend in celebration of the Euro Cup, a trip to Six Flags for a pseudo-nephew’s birthday and then a two-part move that will wind up on Tuesday evening, I hope to update as frequently as I can and hope you understand! In the meantime, I’ll be here in Chicago in the throes of moving emotion and subsequently collapsing.
Love,
Caitlin
I am faced with a tough decision in the coming days. In mid-July I’ll need to drive a U-Haul from Cincinnati to Chicago stuffed with furniture. This situation of course means I cannot drive the brave little Beetle to Cincinnati and leaves me all sorts of planes, trains and automobuses to consider taking there. I’ve most recently seriously considered taking the notorious Megabus.
So, my question is this: Do I take a Megabus from Chicago to Cincinnati? I’ve heard mixed things—that the buses arrive heinously late, that it’s efficient, that it’s better to spend the money getting there some other way, and that it’s a great deal. Can anyone offer me advice?
I am,
Gratefully yours J
I don't know about you guys, but I'm duh-rama'd out. I only saw half the show this evening as I just returned from a lovely wedding in Ohio (congratulations Allyson and Josh!). Thus, I cannot justly update until I watch the full thing tomorrow evening... after a good night's sleep for clear thoughts.
In the meantime, I highly encourage you to visit Graham's website, forwarded to me from a wonderful commenter. Many mysteries are solved. For example: Graham played basketball in Germany, not in the United States! Now you know why you never saw him before now.
Wanted to give you a heads-up to a great event happening in Edgewater next week. The Historic Edgewater Dinner Crawl is on Thursday, June 26th and for $25, you’ll get a tasting from fourteen different neighborhood restaurants (listed below). You’ll also get a free subscription to Time Out Chicago included with your ticket purchase. Pretty cool. For tickets, sign up here.
Participating Restaurants:
Apart Pizza
Anna Held
Ben's Noodle & Rice
Bryn Mawr Deli
Cotes du Rhone
Flourish Bakery Cafe
Francesca's Bryn Mawr
Pepitone's
Sabai-Dee
Shinobu Japanese
Starbucks
Sweet Occasions & more
That Little Mexican Cafe
The Little India Restaurant
Participating Businesses:
Salon Echo - hand & chair massages
Holsten Real Estate - tours of historic Bryn Mawr & Belle Shore buildings
Red Bull - roving representatives distributing their product
Event Sponsors:
Francesca's Restaurants
Holsten Real Estate Development Corporation
The New Admiral at the Lake
Bridgeview Bank
BLUEWATER5440 Condominiums
While Americans might feature children playing in streets to stop speeding, or photos of cut-up unborn babies to curb abortions (I know, because a whole lot of those signs got put up outside my window on a hot, muggy July day last year. Thanks for the nightmares, church across the street!), the French use refined fashion icons like Karl Lagerfeld to get the point across about... well, I'm not sure about what actually. Safety vests?
Still, just like that Russian video, I have many questions, like:
If I drove to Wheaton this weekend to get window sashes, I can drive to Aurora to get a limeade. Mmm, limeade… [Trib]
Fresh flowers
Crumpets
Porcelain cups and/or fine glassware
...personally, I'd be chuffed to be there.
I couldn't possibly recap the DeAnna Tells All hour long extravaganza. So let's just say this much:
Just a heads up on our dear Shayne and Matt. Looks like Matt has moved out of Shayne’s Studio City condo. While some report that Shayne demanded Matt move out because of his flirtatious behavior with other blondes, Matt insists that living together was intended to be a temporary thing since her place is too small to fit him, Shayne, her shoe collection and both their stage personalities.
EDIT: Thanks to the boyfriend for pointing out how similar Shayne and the monkey's faces are in this post and the one below. Coincidence? Most likely not. There was monkey, after all.
Apparently the monkey was captured while “atop a blue and white speedboat.” I have a theory this monkey was trying to get out of the country and go home. Thoughts? [AP]
However, I’m not sure how successful it was because the connection between the viral video to the product it markets (which is, for the record, the movie Wanted, due out on June 27) is a hazy one. Essentially, the director, Timur Bekmanbetov, wanted to show what stepping outside your boundaries was like…and um, how gullible the West is. He explains all of this (in Russian—feel free to go translate) on his livejournal. (Insert only-emos-and-14-year-olds–use-livejournals joke here.)
Really, Timur? Don’t you see how posting a video that has nothing to do with your movie might confuse people? Especially all of us stupid Americans? Or even your own comrades who were posting news stories about it? All you had to do to get an American to go see your movie was market your stars Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy. Especially James McAvoy. Mm… You see, we’re really that shallow and not all that complicated, but thanks for the video anyway.
Get in line ladies!
The men rise to (and shrink from) the challenge.
Fred: "Oh. My. Gad." The Chicago boy performs a southern song.
Graham: "I want to eat glass instead of doing this."
Top Chef: Thoroughly impressed with his own singing.
Jeremy: White man rapping.
Jason: Hunter S. Thompson beat poetry.
Brian: "House of my pay-yay-yannnnne!!"
Jesse wins best song and is awarded the one-on-one date because he touched DeAnna's hands.
This week, Top Chef, Jason, and Fred all move into the mansion with DeAnna.
Jesse and DeAnna's Date with Natasha Bedinfield
Jesse is NERVOUS. He has to wear a suit jacket, a tie, and his mom isn't even driving them to the prom this year.
Jesse and DeAnna pull up to an old theater where the marquee reads: "Jesse, One night only... Just for you... Love, Deanna."
Jesse thinks everything is "out of control": Deanna, the marquee, the theater, even the table in front of the stage. Somebody get that table under control!
DeAnna makes Jesse recite his poem-song, "DeAnna." Jesse gets down to business and says he thought he'd be the last guy to come on TV and fall in love (which is obvi why he signed up for The Bachelor), but that's exactly what he has experienced. DeAnna says she usually isn't attracted to his "type," but she is because he is so real with her. DeAnna gives Jesse a rose, and then Natasha Bedingfield shows up to serenade the happy couple.
Group Date at the Stock Car Races!
The men, naturally, freak out at the site of fast cars. Vroom! Vroom! The men put on their matching Top Gun outfits. For their challenge, whoever races the fastest, gets some one-on-one time! Nothing like speeding to prove love.
Brian's up first. Trouble getting that car in gear, but he tops 140 miles.
Jason hits 138.77.
Graham, true Manhattanite, hasn't driven a car in so long, but he hits more than 136.
Jeremy says he'll go to hell and back for DeAnna, but he only hits 129.
Twigs has motion sickness and doesn't like speeding, but he tops Brian with 140.59.
Sean, a natural Bluegrass boy, tops everybody and wins.
Sean and DeAnna lay back in the in-field where Sean lets DeAnna take the sunshine in her eyes while he complains that he's afraid he's losing. DeAnna reveals she lived in Campbellsville, Kentucky, and Sean is thrilled that they have that bluegrass connection, that redneck connection and that roughneck competition. DeAnna laughs and I squirm around uncomfortably, wondering if Sean's martial arts outfits feature big Confederate flags on their backs. Sean continues the racing metaphor, "In the race for DeAnna's heart, I was lagging, but I think I'm catchin' up."
DeAnna hits the track too and shows the men up, hitting 141.62 mph. Sean is REALLY excited about this. With the fumes of burning rubber and diesel in the air, the whole crew sits down for a post-race picnic. Jeremy, as usual, pulls DeAnna aside. The men are, as usual, pissed. Graham cuts in, and the men get upset again. Jason--wise father that he is--sees through the DeAnna/Graham situation, saying that Graham doesn't have to work as hard as the other men to prove that he is there for DeAnna.
Meanwhile, trouble in paradise. When DeAnna asks for a kiss, Graham says he doesn't want to be one of the bunch, looking meaningfully at the bouquet of flowers on the table between them. DeAnna tells us she doesn't think Graham is being very fair and that she feels a strong connection with Graham (or to his perfect, basketball player body and that just-right rugged stubble on his angled face), but that he's the one person not putting himself out there.
DeAnna gives Sean a rose while Twigs looks on with fire in his eyes. Jason says he feels lie he's lost his connection with DeAnna. Brian says he feels like he's on the outside of this house, looking in. (This deep metaphor is why I love Brian.) Twigs is, um, upset too.
Impromptu Coach House Party/Drama Fest
The boys decide to throw a non-rose related party and invite the mansion gentlemen and DeAnna down to celebrate. As a joke, the coach house men set up a kiddie table for the mansion men, labeling Top Chef's place marker with "Robbie." Top Chef freaks out, throws an innocent kiddie (chair) over his head, stamps on the chef's hat provided for him and then retreats to the house to sulk.
DeAnna is angered by what she sees with the men here. Brian's comfortable with being just one of the guys. Sean is back to his old ways. Top Chef is sulking and drinking out a bottle of wine. Twilley is being Twilley.
DeAnna confronts the moping Top Chef, who reveals that other guys told him not to be optimistic about tonight. DeAnna finally cracks, making Bachelorette history:
"Right now I should be the happiest person in the world, and you're all breaking my heart!" she begins. "Do you all feel good about that? I came down here today wanting to hang out with all y'all. If you don't wanna be here, go home. I know how hard this is, and I've been here in your position, but now I'm the one making the decisions and that's not easy too. This is not fair. I can't make promises to you that I can't keep." She stamps her foot. "I'm going to my house now, you guys can all stay here and hang out."
The men awkwardly half-follow her, but let her go. Jeremy astutely explains to everyone what just happened, while Graham, Twigs and Brian blame themselves.
2-on-1 Date at a Some ABC Producer's Mansion in the Hills of Hollywood
"I have a bunch of recipes for love," Top Chef sleazes at the camera. "Smooth, rich, succulent. Grrrrrrowwwllllll!"
I take a quick break to clean up whatever allergic reaction I just had to Top Chef's recipe.
DeAnna begins the evening with a simple question: What was your most romantic date? Robert lunges into an epic story of how he chartered a helicopter tour of Vegas for his ex-fiancee, ordered a bazillion roses to be thrown about their hotel room and spell "I Love You," and how he bought a small island with his life's savings just to prove his love. Fred tells DeAnna about a jaunt up to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin that he took with his girlfriend.
Top Chef Alone Time
"I'm a big believer in the passionate side of the relationship," Top Chef slobbers. "Can I kiss you?"
"Um, how about right here?" DeAnna diverts the kiss to her cheek.
Top Chef knows she's into him. "I can feel that. I can read people."
DeAnna: What do you do if there's a problem in a relationship?
Robert: I dump the broad and turn on my super-tongue radar to find another girl to tongue. I am, uh, puh-retty awesome.
DeAnna: Um, okay.
Robert, off camera: There's a connection. We can both feel it.
Fred's Alone Time
Fred thinks the more time he gets with DeAnna, the more he could actually fall for this girl. (Um, shouldn't you have already fallen for her?) Fred wants DeAnna to know that he's just here for her. Like everyone else. Fred says he knows DeAnna has a lot going on in her heart, but he asks her to leave a little part of it for him.
Back at the house, the men are happy they're not on this date. Jeremy describes some complicated math about how Dude A could be half the man that Dude B is, but DeAnna might have two times the amount of attraction to Dude A than she does to Dude B. And if you take the square root of that amount, and then find its derivative and graph it, you'll find that the curve on the graph looks a lot like Jeremy's profile.
Back at some ABC exec's house, DeAnna quickly and painlessly tells Robert that he is not getting the rose. Robert raises his eyebrows, tells us he's not used to rejection and cannot believe he misread their connection.
DeAnna returns to tell Fred how amazing he is, what a big heart he has, and what a good head he has on his shoulders, but that she does not see forever with them. She drops the B-word again (psst! It's "Brad!") and that she cannot lead him on. She doesn't want to hurt him because she thinks he's one of the best men there. Fred, very sweetly, says it's okay and that he wants her to have the very best and, when she apologizes again, that she can't feel anything different than what she's supposed to.
Back at the house, the boys watch as ABC homeboy comes in and grabs both sets of bags. Everyone freaks out.
Jason is the only men left at the mansion, so he greets DeAnna with open arms when she comes home. Even I want to melt into his arms and tell him how hard my day was. Jason says he really felt great being able to comfort to her.
Cocktail Party
The men are shakin' in their boots about yesterday's dramas. Sean is wearing a zoot suit for confidence.
The men quiz Jason about what happened when she got home from her dates. Jesse downs Scotch when he hears how well things went for Jason. The other men glare.
Brian pulls DeAnna aside to try to tell her how much he cares about her. Jesse, channeling his inner-eighth grader, watches at the window and whispers to the guys that Brian is holding DeAnna's hand.
Twigs makes a last ditch effort to show DeAnna that he cares for her.
Graham tries to make amends. "I don't verbalize things very well," says Graham. Understatement of the series! DeAnna says she doesn't want to be confused about why he's here. Graham, prompted by the producers who are holding up cue cards to help him, says: "I'm... uh.... here for... uh, wait, hold it up higher...I'm here for.... you. Oh, right! I'm here for you!" He smiles. DeAnna melts at these words, grabs Graham's face and starts chowing down on it.
Meanwhile, my roommate and I shout at the TV that Graham is that guy that is going to hurt her and she's only trying to make things work between them! But that we know he's so hot, so it's okay, we understand what she's going through. We can sense it through the TV.
DeAnna decides to take the edge off the party with a pool party. They all have a great time until Chris "Not Even Floaties Can Save You" Harrison comes to break up the party.
Rose Ceremony
Chris "I Pity the Foo' Who Goes Home" Harrison tells the guys he understands what the men are going through and how rough it's been, so that's why all the good boys were rewarded with a pool party. Next time, they may get cookies and an extra recess. But no promises.
Roses:
Poor Silver Fox Brian gets sent home. Did she forget his song!?!! The House of My Pay-yay-yayannnne!!! I l personally loved it. Brian says he was disappointed because he had so much to look forward to with DeAnna, that she is beautiful, thoughtful and self-assured. Brian says he is a better person because of the time he spent here, but that he recognizes that he got too chummy with other guys.
Next week, more pool parties! Overnight adventures in Palm Springs! Sean and Graham make out with DeAnna in hammocks! Not at the same time! DeAnna tells all! Already???
The hypothetical view from the top floor of the Chicago Spire. Why, God? Why?
Also, if I still can't see the Michigan shoreline from this high up, then I'm not interested.
Taken from TVGuide’s description of tonight’s episode: “DeAnna accuses the nine remaining bachelors of refusing to take the competition seriously, but first she invites them to compete in a singing contest.”
Whoooaaaa kay, Adrian Grenier. Just cause you're green doesn't mean you can't take care of your physical hygiene, right? Time for a shave and a shower, mountain man.
See my awesome boyfriend DJ with his awesome DJ friends at Par Lounge in Wicker Park. (Spoken like a true girlfriend.) For further reference, please see fliers that J and I made together:
Much like their homeland Australia, the “power circle” of Hugh Jackman/Nicole Kidman/Naomi Watts is an island in a lonely world, only slightly connected to the rest of Hollywood, drinking better wine and trying to get rid of Keith Urban. [via]
Lisa: This isn't a popularity contest.
America: Lucky for you, it isn't.
So this video of a (most likely Rusisan) office worker totally losing it has been circling the Internetz in the last few days. Rumors abound about it—is it more viral marketing? (Maybe it’s Careerbuilder getting all Sarah Marshall on us: I’m so over you, Corporate Job!)
If it’s real, we’re left with some questions:
If it is viral marketing, it leaves us with a couple questions:
I experienced two minutes of typing fame today. Typeracer is the best thing Gawker has tipped me off to in a while.
Despite the fact that Federer (who I love for reasons I cannot explain here, but let’s just say that I got more than teary-eyed when he and Nadal played their final point at Wimbledon last year) lost his match against Djokovic in the finals at Monte Carlo, I love this video from that game where Federer loses his normally unshakeable cool at the Djokovic family. I hope he doesn’t have to do so again—as long as Nadal gives Djoko and his family the spanking they deserve tomorrow.
I've been a busy bee, but I promise that my update is coming soon. Is there a logic to DeAnna's decisions? I'm still not so sure, but I do know one thing. Actually three things--and Ron taught me them:
1. The cream always rises to the top.
2. Where there's smoke, there's fire.
3. Sometimes, the tree gets knocked down before it bears its fruit.
