Welcome to Suite Home Chicago -- The "official" exhibit site for the Chicago furniture tour. No definite date as to when I'll get down there, but most likely sometime in August.

It was a very hot night last night, as I suspected. I've been doing something different in my wee world, however. Recently, I decided to try not to use air conditioning. I figured that my little trickle in the energy savings might help *someone* *somewhere* and I'd like to "get used" to the heat so that I wouldn't find it so oppressive when going out to do outdoor activities. Well, everything was going very well. I hadn't used A/C all year (not that it's been 6 months of hot, hot days or anything...this is Minnesota!) Well, it worked well until last night. I was fine until I went to bed. I tossed and turned for a few hours in the sticky warmth. I would fall asleep and wake up about every 5 minutes and then look at the clock and then hope for a cool breeze to drift across my body. No luck. At about 2:30 in the morning, I could take no more. It was 84 and humid and my head was sweating. *pout*. I did it. I turned on the freakin' A/C. I have central air, so the cold wasn't quick to come as a window airconditioner on my head may have been. I lied in my bed and slowly felt the wafts of cold air drop on me from above. Ahhhhhh. I'm not proud of my weakness, but hell, I had a lovely sleep last night. Thanks for asking. ;-)

The In a BIG Way 2nd Annual Luau went off without incident aside from some additional flood waters that made their way onto the park grounds. A bit of mud, but by far more good company and treats than anything. :-)

It's hot outside...my WeatherBug says 99 degrees. I don't think the poor thing can read above that. In Windows machines, the WeatherBug sits in the systray and chirps if there's a warning about inclement weather also, if you're constantly connected to the internet, as many of us are at work (and play), it reports the current temperature. Kind of handy in the event you have no windows in your office like me. Yes, while at work, I live in a very cold, fluourescent cave. But, I'm happy to report that my cold cave is no where near 99 degrees right now, so I'll happily sit here for a little while longer. :-)

I've got two mediocre movies to review this week. *yawn*

• Tomb Raider -- What is up with the stryofoam boobs? The breasts were the leading ladies and offered more interest to the film than any other aspect. There were a few cool scenes that saved this one from being a complete flop. C
• Swordfish -- Lame. *yawn*. Is Travolta's career finally over? I thought that Battlefield Earth and Lucky Numbers were the nails in the coffin. Maybe Swordfish is the final nail? I heard that there may be a Battlefield Earth sequel. heheheh. Just say no. C-

charlietown -- I have a lot of Charlie's ahead of me. Wheee! They've been popping up all over town now. I think they're more adorable than the Snoopy's. Something 'bout that big Charlie Brown head, I think. :-)

I mentioned the Big Girl, Big Stuff Tour below, but I don't think I've mentioned it here in the Blog before. It's a project that my friend Kim and I dreamed up. We are going to try to get photographs of large roadside attractions such as the muffler men or the ball of twine with big girls aka fat chicks. The eventual idea is a website with tour photos of the groups of the fat chicks with the large attractions. Campy. Fun. Silly. Yes, all of those. :-) Here's a preview picture from the tour that took place June 1-3.

The first tour was a huge success and good fun. We (Michelle, Claudia, Kim and I) made the nearly 1,000 mile trek viewing and photographing over 30 roadside attractions throughout the northern half of Minnesota. We plan on hitting the rest of Northern MN later this summer and hopefully Wisconsin in the early Fall. The website will also solicit photos of other fat chicks and their roadside attractions. I know that the upper midwest as well as the rest of the country (maybe the world?!) is FULL of these hideous yet wonderous things. Here's a link to help you find attractions in your area. The list isn't inclusive of everything...we found many not even mentioned: World's Largest Roadside Attractions Also see: Roadside America. Again, you can't beat the campy nature of this stuff. All good fun!

Welcome to Cereal Adventure - Where your favorite cereals come to life! -- Is there any wonder why I love living in the Twin Cities? hehehe. Oh, and don't forget...just a few hours away from Cereal Adventure, we have "Iron World" . During the Big Girl, Big Stuff Tour, I got a chance to see the outside of Iron World. Unfortunately, it was closed. Maybe next time. I really do want to see dancing iron pellets! ;-)

Two second movie review:

• Moulin Rouge -- What a bunch of fun! This musically charged love story combines many of the things that I appreciate about movies -- decent acting, fabulous cinematography, a good script, humor, and wonderful eye candy. The movie is jam packed with dreamy visuals and music. I had high expectations for this film, but unlike Pearl Harbor, this one delivered far more than I expected. A