Vince Vaughn is no longer living the single life. The comedic actor married Kyla Weber in a small private ceremony before family and friends on Saturday outside of his hometown of Chicago, his rep confirmed to People.com. No further details have been released.
It doesn’t take long for the cookie to crumble. Forty year old Deidre McIntosh has found that out the hard way. After a successful five year run as the host of Seattle’s television show Live Simple, Deidre has found herself with no job, no income after her investments go bad, no roommate and now no place to live. Her best (and gay) friend of twenty plus years has moved on and moved out with his boyfriend, leaving her alone and broke. Enter the gorgeous Kevin Johnson. After a couple of chance meetings leading to a one-night stand, Kevin offers Deidre his vacation house in the desolate country side of Jacob’s Point. Not having many other options, Deidre sells off her designer labels and packs up her few belongings to begin roughing it far from the city. After her horrendous first night in the rustic cabin, Deidre just doesn’t think Jacob’s Point is the best place for her. A visit to the local diner and making some unlikely friends and possible business opportunities changes her mind, and slowly Deidre begins to build her life back up. Good Things, the debut novel from Mia King is a must read for all chick lit fans. Each chapter left me wondering what was next from the head-strong and stubborn heroine, which way the plot was going to twist next with interesting character relationships, and the delicious recipes at the end of the book were an added bonus. A fresh and engaging take on a chick lit storyline.
Shari Diamond has two main goals for herself: finishing her dissertation on the lost language Volapuk, and fulfilling her needs of all things English- including the men. Does it matter that she is living in the East Village of New York and dating a nice Jewish boy that makes her own Jewish family extremely happy? It just isn’t enough for Shari, but on a conference to Chicago, everything changes. Shari quickly falls for (and cheats on her nice Jewish boyfriend) with the handsome, albeit not-so gorgeous, Englishman Kit Brown. Shari is shocked to discover the next day that Kit is actually a speaker at the conference- he is also studying Volapuk- and has found the last living speaker of the language that Shari has been searching for years to find. She is watching her dissertation go downhill with each convincing word Kit is speaking. What should her next move be? Why not invite Kit back to New York, meet her whole family, then travel across the Pond with him and finally see England for the first time. The Anglophile by Laurie Gwen Shapiro is not the best. It took me until Chapter 5 to figure out what exactly the book was about and where the plot was headed. It failed to keep my attention until the last few chapters, but then it went right back to confusing with strange love twists. The whole story line was not engaging and with characters just popping in and out of Shari’s life made it even more difficult to understand what exactly was happening. I hate to say a book is a waste of time, but this is nothing that I would recommend to readers.
Poonam Sharma is not only an author, but also an MBA and real estate developer. Her first two books focused on entrepreneurship and business, with the titles The Harvard Entrepreneurs’ Club Guide to Starting Your Own Business and Chasing Success. Sharma is a graduate from Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire and earned her bachelors degree in economics from Harvard college. After Harvard, she worked at a start-up, a nonprofit venture catalyst and a private equity firm, as well as in investment research and institutional sales in New York. She has also traveled extensively for Chasing Success, traveling around the world in search of entrepreneurs with inspiring stories. She has been featured in the New York Times, USA Today, Inc. magazine and NBC. Sharma wrote her first novel, Girl Most Likely To, after her influences of dealing with cultural conservatism, interracial romance and high finance in Manhattan. The main character in the novel is in investment banking and is dealing with a SEC-scandal while juggling the struggles of life and love. Her second novel, All Eyes on Her, has the main character dealing with the Hollywood lifestyle as a celebrity divorce attorney, all while trying to make her relationship work with the perfect fiancé. Poonam Sharma completed her MBA in May of 2007 at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was also chosen as the student speaker at commencement.
What first comes to your mind when you hear the word addiction? Drugs and alcohol may top your list. But what if someone told you they had an addiction to exercise? That’s right- exercise. Running, lifting weights, even doing Pilates and Yoga routines, these are all examples of addictions that are more common than you may realize. Years ago, when I was just starting my freshman year of college, I became addicted to working out. I had been interested in workout routines for health reasons, learning I had high cholesterol, but my workouts took a dangerous turn once I started school. There was a gym on campus, just a few feet away from my dorm, and I took advantage of the track, weight room, and treadmills that were offered at no cost. I found myself spending more than the usual hour in the gym a few times a week- it increased to daily workouts with me spending as much to four hours working up a sweat. I have always been thin; my weight was around 100 pounds when I entered college. Within my first month, I was down to 92 pounds- which looked more sickly than sexy on my 5’5 frame. It wasn’t until I saw a picture of myself in a bikini that I realized I was overdoing it. Nobody can pull off the ‘ribs protruding out of your body’ look. I became so caught up in not gaining the Freshman 15 and staying skinny throughout college that I became obsessive with my workouts. Even after I thought something was wrong, it took me longer than I expected to cut back my time at the gym. I didn’t think I had a problem because I was still eating like normal (which for me means a lot of fast food and candy) and wasn’t making myself throw up after eating. I finally did some research and saw that exercise addiction is very real and can be very serious. Just because someone works out a lot, doesn’t mean they are necessarily addicted to it. Take for example a teacher of an aerobics class. Just because she spends so much time coming up with routines and doing them along side her class doesn’t mean she is addicted. Or athletes that work out for hours a day to prepare themselves physically for a game- they probably are not addicted. It’s when someone is working out for the wrong reasons, or makes exercise their number one priority. Working out becomes more important than friends, work, school, etc. People that continually blow off plans to go to they gym, or start lying to people about how much they are working out can be signs of a serious addiction. Another common factor in exercise addiction is working out while injured, such as continuing to run with a sprained ankle, or going to the gym even when you are ill. Exercise addiction can become especially serious when someone works out in lieu of eating- this can combine the dangerous eating disorder anorexia- which can lead to serious health effects and even death. If you think you may know someone suffering from exercise addiction, try talking to thema bout it. Make sure you aren’t placing blame or making them feel even worse about themselves- this will only cause them to pull further away from you. Explain that you are worried, and try focusing on the health concerns instead of just saying they look super skinny. (That’s probably what they are wanting to hear.) If you don’t think that talking is helping them, seek professional help such as a therapist, counselor, or doctor. The addiction to working out could come from deeper problems such as depression or an eating disorder. The important thing is getting help and being able to overcome the addiction.
Becky Brandon, loveable shopaholic, is back for her biggest adventure yet- motherhood! Readers may be wondering if being pregnant calms her urges for all things fashion, but of course it doesn’t! Becky quickly goes overboard with her purchases, buying all the things a new baby doesn’t need- fashionable cribs, non-practicable prams, a closetful of designer clothes, and too much more. And what would a pregnancy be without the most sought after obstetrician that all the celebrities go to- Becky wisely name drops her own husbands PR firm to get a slot with the stunning Venetia Carter. Becky’s pregnancy gets complicated when she figures out Venetia is actually Luke’s ex-girlfriend from college, and starts to suspect an affair brewing between her OB and husband. (The late night dinners and text messages in Latin really makes wonder.)She hires an off-key private detective to snoop around, and the results are not what Becky was hoping to hear. Meanwhile, she is trying to snag the perfect house for her growing family, trading the owner a pair of the “most coveted” boots for the keys and the lease. Shopaholic and Baby, the fifth installment from Sophie Kinsella’s popular series brings the usual laughs and wild antics from the heroine, but I felt this one gave even more. With the pregnancy and the possible affair, I felt that I couldn’t put the book down. I had to keep reading to find out the sex of the baby, if Luke truly was unfaithful, and where the Brandon’s would eventually settle down after losing their perfect house. The ending may come as a surprise to some, but I think it is perfect to pick up for a sixth novel- which Kinsella has recently announced she is working on. All chick lit lovers will love this novel and leave you asking for more.
Lindsay Lohan, who was recently criticized as the artistic advisor to the clothing line Ungaro, isn’t letting the harsh words bring her down. People.com has reported that Lohan will be expanding her fashion line, which now consists of signature 6126 leggings. Lohan posted this to her Twitter page: “i need MORE followers i am so sad about this, how can i tell everyone about my 6126 full collection COMING OUT! all clothing.” The line is set to launch in the fall of 2010 and will feature 100 items- including $18 leggings and a $300 leather jacket. The line is supposed to continue to expand, the following spring it should include handbags, shoes, jewelry, and cosmetics.
