"Lover, You Should've Come Over" by Jeff Buckley will always feel like an emotional punch to the gut. I'm a sucker for doomed romance and the ones who got away.

Nico Lang is a Chicago treasure.

This reminds me of a that long ago time when I was dating my first boyfriend. We shared a lot of the same college courses, and when the semester ended I had all A's while his GPA was hovering somewhere between "did the bare minimum" and "I don't understand the assignment." Oh, what could lead to such disparity?…

Did you meet So-Damaged-He's-Irresistible-Peter Russo's doppleganger? If so, pray tell, how did you keep your panties from immediately dropping?

I laughed so hard the first time they aired this, I woke up my husband...who found me bent over, holding my crotch because I was THIS close to peeing in my pants

I'm almost afraid to read more news about him on the off chance that he isn't Perfection Embodied. I couldn't bear the dissapointment.

So many Chicagoans! Does anyone want to be my friend? I'm having a hard time adjusting to the social scene here...:(

This Peruvian married into an Italian-American Teamster family. Yet somehow, I haven't had to encounter one racist comment from any of them. Oh, and I'm pretty sure if someone were to throw such comments my way, my husband, father-in-law, and brother-in-law would deal with it in the most polite way possible. Haha, who…

I ran into Danny at a New York party. I was super hammered, so I actually went up to him and his then-boyfriend and began blabbering about watching The Real World New Orleans while in high school. He, amazingly, did not tell me to fuck off. Though he looked slightly embarrassed about his claim to fame, he was super…

I just followed him on Twitter, based on this tweet alone.

Damn, that dude is hot. It seems like I underestimated Fast & Furious a little too quickly.

As someone who left a PhD Lit program at an Ivy League university to write YA, I'm oh so amused by this commenter's thoughts on it. If I have to read one more onanistic rambling about the human condition (and by "human," they usually mean male, white, upper class), I'll fling myself out the window. And then put on One…

And yet, I still can't feign interest in football. I have some love for soccer but it took several family members trying to become pros, and one cousin actually playing for the Italian league in order for that to happen.
More power to those who do, though. I'm glad you're no longer forced into the pink tyranny of yore.

From now on, this is the only "We Can't Stop" version I'll care about:

Ha! To be fair, I did end up having a ton of fun. It's hard not to when you're surrounded by friends and family and a shitload of booze. But, I definitely felt it was my parents' shindig as opposed to mine. I'm so glad it's over, though.

Finally, someone I can identify with! I wanted a very small, simple affair and ended up with a 350-person-Catholic-wedding-fancy-reception-extravaganza because anything less would have caused a nervous breakdown in both our families. Any personal touch I asked for-having it at the beach, having both my mom and dad…

I talked on the phone for an hour with someone I've been friends with since 6th grade. I'm newish to Chicago, and feel like I don't have a core group of friends here so it was nice to have an hour of girl talk.

Good luck on your new path! Other than feeling like a "kept woman" (cringe), I do have to say I'm much happier now than I ever was during my PhD program. I finally feel like I'm steering my life in the right direction.

Thanks for the kind words! It's hard to go from overachiever to underdog, so my self-esteem has taken a bit of a hit. I'm working on it...

I can't believe I have a spiritual? Professional? Anywho, some sort of doppleganger out there. Sweet!