April Book Club

Written by Guest Blogger, Lisa

For April's Book Club, we gathered at Katy K and Emily's place on Southport. Katy did a wonderful job hosting! Delicious snacks were served including some gems from our beloved Ina Garten. As I write this, food from last night would be awesome right about now!

Our April book was the classic The Great Gatsby. Let's just get this out of the way: lots of us read it but somehow it didn't make its way into our discussion. We all agreed that we are definitely going to see it in the theater and make it a Book Club outing. Leo is quite a draw and looking hot as ever.

This book club was particularly special because our mini-member Corinne was able to make an appearance.  We were so thrilled she was able to fit us into her calendar even though we are all a bit jealous of her long and naturally curled lashes. She clearly enjoyed the girl talk and Sofie did as well.

Topics of discussion included crazy moms - one in particular, Botox, the joys of dating, La Baby (do NOT try to get rid of La Baby), Lincoln Square, painting, the difficulty of finding a good rug and American Girl. We also discussed some summer BC outings, including May Fest and Turtle Racing! Katy K, you're going to have to send out the details on that!

The only person who had a book suggestion was Corinne. She cannot get enough of this book and has read it countless times. She also thinks it would be a quick and easy read for all of us. The book is Baby Beluga and it is available on Amazon. Whoever hosts next should consider this one!

All in all it was a great night as usual. Thanks again Katy for hosting!

Hope I wasn't too much like this by the end of the night:

http://whatshouldwecallme.tumblr.com/post/47119209985/when-ive-had-too-many-drinks-start-to-say-really

February Book Club

We had a really fun night up in Roscoe Village, thank you first time hostess, Katy! You did a great job! Most of us read the book, good job RBTW!! We read The Round House by Louise Erdrich, this book was a story of a boy on the cusp of manhood who is seeking justice and understanding in the wake of a terrible crime that will forever transforms his family. There were some mixed reviews and overall confused ladies...a lot of "ohhhh yeah ok now that makes sense". We had a nice discussion about our book and nicely transitioned into the good stuff, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

Topics included: Academy Awards, lots of movie talk!, sororities, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, sock buns, pinerest, apartment hunting, South Africa, cats with six toes, Costco, dodge ball, ombre hair, Downton Abbey, Homeland, Mindy Project, Modern Family, New Girl and on......

And with a pending snow storm, some of us made it home just in time or maybe a little late. That was one LONG cab ride!

September Book Club

Last night was a record for the RBTW ladies...we all read the book (well minus one) and almost everyone made it last night. It was a full house! Thanks for hosting Tiffany! Those slutty brownies were amazing!

This month we read Gone Girl, this is the new "it book". Gone Girl is a thriller, the author strings you along revealing just a little at a time to keep you turning the page. This was defiantly a "can't put it down type of a book". We had some great discussion questions given to us from another Book Club. We talked about Nick & Amy's marriage, Amy's weird parents,  And of course we had to cast the movie....Reese Witherspoon will play Amy and everyone else is sort of hard to cast. For Nick a few names were thrown out like Jeremy Renner, Josh Duhamel (if only he could act), Bradly Cooper, or Jeremy Sisto. 'Go should be Jennifer Carpenter from Dexter, Boney should be Frances McDormand, and Andie should be ScarJo. 

It's hard to list other topics of conversation, since there were so many of us last night there were a lot of different conversations going on at once. Usual stuff: dogs, Pinterest, handwriting, television shows, clothes, and vacations.

Best Quote of the Night..... "They better not be Lovely Boning it up." -Katie Halpin

June Book Club

Summer is here! And this makes Book Club happy....how could you not be happy with this view!

(sorry iPhone pic)

In fact, we were all so happy that we completely forgot to discuss the book. Oops- darn Wine Book Club! We had some exciting news last night.....we are down one member but adding a teeny tiny member. Congrats to Kathy and we will miss you Liz!

We spent the night on the rooftop, it went some like this:

Kris: "Let's go to the rooftop."
Elizabeth: "Great. I love rooftops!"

There was a side conversation for those that read the book much later in the night, I don't know what they said but it sounds like those who read A Visit from the Goon Squad really enjoyed it.

Topics of conversation included: pregnancy, Street Festivals, white wine vs. red wine, flash mobs, Florida, student loans, NATO, protesting, summer hours, real estate, Las Vegas, cats, Protein Bar, crime, new jobs, weird whiskers, Nashville, college prices, and mortgages. We sound so serious, could Book Club be growing up...um...probably not. We didn't talk about hair removal or celebrities, weird!

Cheers to Kris on her first hosting, great job! Everyone enjoyed sitting outside on the rooftop, maybe too much! Thanks for having us, we will be back!

April Book Club

Last night we enjoyed a fun night at Katie's apartment, thanks for hosting! Wherever there is Popper Dip that is where you will find the ladies from RBTW, just sayin'.

Our book choice this month was 50 Shades of Grey, we had to see what all this hype was about. Basically we couldn't not read this book. But did it live up to the hype? Sorry to say most of us were somewhat disappointed but then on the other hand most of us read the book, which is very rare (two did not). The writing is isn't great and the story line could use some work as well. It was hard to get past the similarities to Twilight, naive girl with the mysteriousness dangerous man, just too cliché. We'd still tell fellow Wine Book Clubs to read it for a fun night of hilarious conversation over lots and lots of wine (weeknight wine runs aren't really ok and coming back with champers is really NOT ok). I prefer not to go into details of the X rated conversation (Hi Mom!) from last night but I will say that somethings should always remain tight. It's a quick easy read that sucks you in from page one, just go upload (do not buy the hard copy please, that's just wrong) there are typos, weird terms, and lots of sex. One last thing on the book...what year is it suppose to be anyways? What college senior in Seattle wouldn't have a laptop? Dumb.

We did talk about the book more then usual but other topics included: Angelina, Middletons, tattoos, scars, gypsies, Chelsea Handler, nervous breakdowns over Kayne & Kim, broken feet, every hot celebrity male under the sun including but not limited to James Franco, Johnny Depp, Ryan Gosling, Michael Fassbender, Ed Burns, and Ed Norton to name a few, also Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall, vanity sizing, Block 37, Target, "stars are just like us", waiting tables, man voices, and CTA mishaps.

Fun fact of the night is our new member Katy is voice twins with Zoe Deschanel.

We would have taken picture but someone spilled an entire full glass of red wine on the carpet while standing up to get her camera and of course everyone went into a chaotic state of cleaning. So in place I will give you this:

After the massive spill something really weird happened, a product appeared on the counter that our hostess claims to have never seen before in her apartment. And guess what?...it works like a charm. Book Club Wine Fairy? Weird. Seriously though where did it come from?

March Book Club

Written by our guest blogger Lisa from Lipgloss Lush.....

March Book Club was hosted by Emily in Lakeview on the trendy Southport Corridor. Emily's fare was delicious! Everyone especially loved her retro-inspired bleu cheese/bacon creation. We were pleased to induct our new member Katy to the group! She was a hit; hopefully we didn't scare her off by our non-book related discussions.

Speaking of the book, we read The Marriage Plot for March. Many of our members didn't finish it; but for those who did finish or at least read some of it, there were mixed reviews. We were all a little freaked out by Leonard's ups and downs, but most of us could relate with some crazy boyfriend story. Rachel's may have taken the cake as she regaled us with tales of hers: lest we forget, Chris G is thought to now be a coal miner in the UP. I guess we will never know if he is using that stolen bike to get to work every day ("The worst is that he stole my bike! It was a diamondback")...

Other topics discussed were babies, kids, how we all babysat at like 12 and were left with the kids until all hours of the night. Would parents do that now? Probably not. We discussed the careers or lack thereof of those American Reunion kids, Pinterest recipes (hit or miss but fun regardless!), Milwaukee Summer Fest, and Lincoln Park Zoo. If you haven't, you really need to go! While we are on the topic of animals, we talked about amazing boyfriends who love pets - specifically cats and fish...but what to do about those aquariums?

We debated the perfect hangover food: Taco Bell or something else?? Also discussed were the benefits of flash mob weddings - as long as you don't get caught! In my notes I have a quote of my own, "Boobs are just silly fun" but I can't recall the context - I am sure it made sense after all that wine. An important discussion revolved around Botox and how NOW is the time to do it! It's all about prevention, ladies! Noticeably missing from our discussion was the topic of hair removal - I guess we'll have to pick it up next month.

Per usual, we took our picture too late into the evening. For next month, 50 Shades of Gray was suggested. I ran into the sisters Halpin, and they educated me that this is basically straight up porn...but really, who doesn't like some sexy times? The real question is whether it will make you too "hot under the collar" (thanks Katie H.) as you are reading it in public on your Kindle.

All in all, it was a really fun night! Thanks again to our lovely host Emily and our sponsor whatshouldwecallme.tumblr.com

November Book Club

Cheers to us! It's been awhile since almost everyone has read the book and we had a good discussion. Everyone really enjoyed Sarah's Key, even a few people loved it. The book is told from two different point of views (a favorite style of our book club), Julia & Sarah. Based on rarely mentioned French historical facts involving the Holocaust, the story flips between 1942 and present day. It's a great combination of history and a little chic lit. It's a quick read that will keep you turning the page. RBTW gives s stamp of approval with two thumbs up!


Topics of conversation included really stinky cheese, babysitting, golden showers, rescue pets, "your" homeless, fall boots, Skinnygirl Margs, Thanksgiving plans, Christmas, grandma's, Northwestern degrees, paying your Mom to clean your apartment, match.com, and BCCP. Per the usual too much wine was drank and many purple teeth headed home far too late for a school night!


Thanks to Lisa, Minks, and Christopher Joseph for hosting!

September Book Club

I didn't get a chance to blog about our September Book Club or a take a picture. Bad blogger!!

But I do remeber a fun night and lots of talk about weddings, The Rules, doctors, boyfriends, and barely anyone read the book yet again. Oops!



Next up...Lisa and Sarah's Key.

August Recap

August Book Club was a great night with a great view! Thanks for hosting Tiffany!


Unfortunately this month only one member read the book and she was ready to celebrate.

Like I mentioned in my previous post, everyone seems to think they'll get lots of reading done in the summer but there are always work events, parties, family vacations, and other things. This makes it difficult to find the time to read. Hopefully in the coming months we'll all get back on track.

Topics of conversation included weddings, Amazon Prime, work, D lifting weights, upcoming moves, baby names, braWs and West Side Story.

We also talked a lot about books, there were many good suggestions for upcoming months. The September book will be Rebecca. But keep in mind some of the others that were mentioned...The Joy Luck Club, Maine, Rooms, and One Day. Click any of the titles to read more about the book on Amazon.

We also tried really hard to get a great pic but it didn't really happen.

Here you can see our beautiful faces but not our beautiful city.


Here you can kind of see our city but not our faces. Ok you actually can't see anything.


And this one kind of worked from an iPhone.


Best Quote: "I almost starting crying I haven't seen you in so long."

May Book Club

First off, thanks for hosting Liz! It was so nice to sit around your table chit chatting and eating!! And of course always good to see Lexi and Jasper.

We have been talking about Signs of Life for awhile now, so it was nice to discuss the book. Natalie is such an inspiration and everyone should read this book! If you know Natalie or not you will have a way to relate to this book in one way or another. Thanks Natalie for writing a book like this, that is so honest!

Last nights topics included: dogs & cats (lots of pet talk), in-laws, weekend plans, crossfit, when the pizza man knows you, purple shampoo, women in the working world and actually the book a lot. We discussed the characters and other general topics from our own lives that relate back to Signs of Life.

And the best quote, it could be an all-time best quote:

"I secretly hope that someday when I am pregnant that it will be Cassie inside me." (hand motion included)


Up next...The Hunger Games at Rachel's new pad!

A Royal Book Club

Sorry the RBTW readers...this post is very late but I promise it will be worth the long wait!! I can't remember what we talked about at April BC, and I didn't really remember the next day either. Note to self: sisters should not start gossiping after their friends leave, it makes for a very late night, especially on a school night!


Thanks for hosting April Book Club Katie, it was such a fun night!

We should have planned better and taken Friday off from work because everyone wanted to stay up and watch The Royal Wedding of William & Catherine.

Only two people who attended read the book, not our best month. Oh well...we still had LOTS to catch up on like the Royal Family, Kate, Wills, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Harry, Diana, Pippa, Charles, Camilla, and everyone in-between. If you didn't know much about the Royal Family you got most of your answers questioned at this Book Club, we pretty much talked about the Royals the entire time. And some of us only slept a few hours so we could wake up at 3am to watch the wedding live. We learned some interesting facts about the Royals!! There weren't a ton of other topics...maybe some boyfriend talk and hair removal, ya know the usual but other then that it was all Royal Wedding!

It truly was a Royal Affair..........


A big thanks to Alexis for this pic!!

March Review

Cheers to us! Everyone read the book this month! Even all the girls that missed BC read the book. Ok ok, all but one person but we just like to see her frown smile monthly, so we let her attend anyways. Emily attended her first 'real' Book Club in February then hosted in March, a big cheers to her, thanks Emily!!

Little Bee by Chris Cleave was our March book, it was a good read. Overall everyone liked this book, I mean let's be honest it had to be pretty good if the whole Book Club finished, we don't exactly have a prefect record. Little Bee is about a young Nigerian refugee who changes the entire course of a young English couple's life. The story is told from two different characters, Sarah and Little Bee. This is a trend in a lot of books these days, we like it, it's a nice way to keep the book moving along. It's a sad tragic story but you'll want to keep reading to see how the story will unfold. We had a great discussion about this book, and any Book Club would have lots to talk about....really Sarah is 32? where did the book take a turn for you? what the heck were those men drinking on the beach? did you like Sarah, Little Bee, Lawrence and Andrew?

Other topics included The Little Couple, Cabrini-Green, cupcakes, TLC shows, frown smiles, how cute Emily & Katy's apartment is, cats, urban (Chicago) legends (that really are true), hair removal (I know this a topic every month but this time we really learned in detail about laser hair removal), Real Housewives of OC, Miami and NYC (how will we find the time to watch all three), NBC Thursday night line up, magic s----h, baby names, Facebook privacy settings, Spain, being over-served on an airplane and Erin Brockovich.

Also congrats to Rachel! We discussed wedding details, Catholic churches, venues, and all the good stuff! I'm sure there will be a lot more wedding talk to come!

One more thing...congrats to Katie on the new job! It's funny, the first blog ever written we were celebrating her new job at the time, so on to bigger and better things!

February Book Club in Lincoln Square

It's been awhile since we had a nice big turn out and almost everyone finished the book, it was great because we had both! We were only missing our two Katies. We also had a new "member" that was a surprise to everyone, although not totally new to the group, Emily has attended numerous BCCPs and other get togethers. We are so happy she has finally "joined" BC. It was so nice to catch up with everyone, but first the book review....

This month we read An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin (yes, the actor). Overall everyone enjoyed the book (we had one "hated it"). This book didn't blow anyone away with numerous themes or drama. The book had a thin plot and heavily goes in the art scene in New York from 1993 through 2009. Steve Martin has an extensive art collection, and after finding this fun fact out (thanks Hill), you could maybe understand his idea for writing this book. Everyone enjoyed the pictures in the book and learning more about the art and artist, but it lacked real depth. So, An Object of Beauty is a nice quick read that will keep you interested but it's not a "must-read".

It was a quick turn to gossip when Norah said "Wait look at J. Lo's shorts real fast.".....and there is was on to the celeb gossip. We learned someone has a real crush on Russel Brand. And another has a real crush on Jon Lovitz, there you have it ladies, are you Team Brand or Team Lovitz? We also discussed Rahm Emanuel, Christina Aguilera, Joan Rivers, Arcade Fire, Giuliana Rancic and a few other celebs but this time since we hadn't seen each other in a while we discuss who else, OURSELVES.

We had lots to catch up on from our own lives. Birthdays, Weddings, Trips to Mexico, Attending the Superbowl, Honeymoons, Buying a house....whew we've been busy ladies. We had to rehash Tiffany's wonderful wedding and talk about how gorgeous she was looking on her special day. We also received tour of Kathy's new home which is super cute and looking great! We also all got to meet her nice dog, Jake, oh and her husband, Brian too, they hide out in the basement away from the girl talk, until we needed them for our group shot.

Some favorite quotes:

"Let me break this down for you...her jewelry is from Clair's"
"When I haven't cut my toe nails in awhile my shoes don't fit." (what?)
"I want to clarify I don't like books about poor people."

Thanks so much for hosting Kathy! The food was delish, she even had a chocolate cupcake for the recent Birthday girl and white cupcake for the recent bride. Recipes will be posted later.


Seems there were a few BCAD (Book Club After Dark) parties going on.....

-Two members carried the party on and a certain hostess may or may not have spilled wine on her brand new couch. Luckily another member was still there to show the 'ole white wine gets red wine out trick'. Good thing we don't discriminate wine, since both were still avaiable.

-Four members may have been spotting having some late night beers at Butch McGuire's. One member may or may not have basically chopped off the tip of her finger on a bar stool, it could be the reason behind this blog is being written on Monday instead of Friday.

Book Club Christmas Party 2010

Thanks so much for hosting Tiffany, it was a fun night!

Great food, great wine, great friends and great gifts. All the usuals.


There were lots of good gifts this year!






But nothing really compared to this gift. I think everyone gave it a try!





We were so happy to have surprise guest in from NYC.

Lots of pictures!

A first snow fall.

And a Champagne Toast!

October Book Club

It's recap time!

Thanks to Elizabeth for hosting a fun night! For those of you that didn't make it, Elizabeth's new place is great! It's on the 52nd floor, it's way up in the sky, it's super cute! And the spread was excellent, I will post some recipes later.

Unfortunately, only one member read the book and it's really unfortunate because it sounded like a book we could all relate to (maybe not the saving money for a year but the career girls in the city part). Kathy also contacted the authors of the book and they sent her discussion questions. Oh well, we will try again next month, wait did we even pick a book for next month? Oops.


Well first off we have a few things for Book Club to celebrate this month, congrats to Rachel on the new job, congrats to Elizabeth for taking part in a boot camp, congrats to Kathy on the new home in Lincoln Square, and yeah to Lisa for booking a big trip to Europe in December. And of course a big woot woot to the two new members for attending last night, I hope you liked your first Book Club!!

Since we didn't talk about the book, here is what we did talk about...nuns, the history of Book Club, Halloween costumes, this blog, hair removal (it wouldn't be book club without this topic), dating, clubbin' in the D, winning contests, breast feeding in public, broken thumbs, juicy stories about the "down low" (too juicy to share on the blog- sorry ladies that missed last night), Bridezillas, roadies, Kim Kardashian, plastic surgery, eharmony, wine consumption on weeknights, Carmen Harlen, and best man speeches.

Memorable Quotes of the Night:
"You feel like a gazelle amongst a bunch of lions."
"You don't have a beard around your nipples."
"I don't want a pen pal."
"The club was all white, the decor, me and the decor were white."
"Are you missing my black teeth?" -via text from Katie


Weirdest pic ever! Ha!

Elizabeth didn't make it to her "Other BC" this morning.

Well (mom voice), sounds like that was a fun time.

Saying Goodbye

Goodbyes are no fun.

Last night we had to wish farewell to one of every one's favorite Book Club members she is off to big things in the Big Apple. Jamie is a founding father of our Book Club and brought a lot of friendships together. We will miss her so much!!


So last night we didn't have a book to discuss, we just wanted to get together to wish Jamie good luck on her new adventure in NYC.

Topics of discussion included wedding dresses, wedding rings, New York City (duh), Billy Mulivill (Jamie's furture BFF), accents, face vs. furs, curly hair, work, getting fired, firing coworkers, Halloween, real estate, Disneyworld, red underwear, skinny jeans, dogs/cats, Panko bread crumbs, 30th Birthday parties, Helen & Jack moving to Chicago and maybe for the first time ever there were a few tears shed at BC and a sing along. Yes, a sing along, I guess don't mention Orphan and Annie in the same sentence around this group.

I really don't know what to write about Jamie leaving Chicago and Book Club, other then she will be truely missed. And a BCNYC weekend could be in the works. :)


(This image has been edited for a number of reasons)

We love you Jamie and wish you all the best in New York! xoxo

Also, thank you to Katie for hosting! It was a last minute get together, so THANK YOU! It always seems to be a fun night when Katie's hosts, remember this?

August Book Club

Let's see, since I didn't make it to work the day following Book Club I don't even know what we talked about. Does anyone remember? Other then no one read the book, and some of us were stuck in the lobby of Lisa's building half the night due to elevator issues.

Food was great as always!! And the company was fantastic as usual. Thanks for a great night Lisa!!

Let's see...topics of conversation included... Lollaplooza, dogs, Affleck/Lively rumors, company vacation policy, break-up shoes, Kardashians, engagements, Chelsea Cilton's wedding, The Bachelorette, pretty much pick up last week's copy of US Weekly and there you have it our August Book Club.


We were sad to be missing a few members but it was still a fun night. Picking a book for September was kind of an ordeal (i.e. a few fights) but we ended up with The Lost Girls. Pick up a copy today!

June Book Club...Loft Style

We gossiped

We ate

We drank

And of course we stayed stylish even when the odds are against us



It was a good night! Everyone who fully finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao LOVED it. Kris Kolky even put it on her "My All Time Favorite Book List". Kathy said it "wasn't like anything she had ever read before" (in a good way) and Katie said she "laughed and cried".

Topics of conversation included Real Housewives of New York (seriously that Kelly is a wack-a-doo), bathing suits, Sex and the City 2 (i.e. the worst movie ever), dogs (puppy vs. shelter), Serbia, short sales, hair removal, socks, stress fractures, scoliosis, wetsuits, Moroccan oil, wedge sandals, and more Real Housewives of New York (Team Bethenny all the way!).

Stats
10 members attended
1 no show
4 ladies that actually read the book
5 types of cheese were served
1 foot was booted
9 bottles of wine were consumed
5 dips were served
250,000 calories were consumed
37 compliments were given
1 spill
2 outfit changes
4 July book suggestions
1 hung over tired boyfriend kicked out of his apartment
30 left over cookies brought to work

After a very emotional book suggestion round, our July Book is The Schopenhauer Cure. Lisa really pulled on everyone's heart strings and it worked! Look at your calendars, maybe July 29th?

So apparently the real action took place post BC on what is now referred to as "The Epic Red Line Home". The rumor is that four members took the red line home which included getting asked for money by a homeless woman with kids up "way past their bed time", a very interesting "miracle whip" vs "hellman's" conversation as well as Elizabeth almost getting beat up by a weird man for stepping on his baby toe.