Lindsey Larson

I love shopping for anything, even groceries. So as soon as I found out where I would be staying and what I needed for my college life, I was practically dragging my mother to Bed, Bath and Beyond to look at things for my dorm.

Contrary to popular belief, summer isn't just a season -- summer is a state of mind.

I'll not deny that the initial reason I felt myself drawn to "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" was because of Jake Gyllenhaal. His voice in the commercials. I found the story interesting, too, of course, but it was Gyllenhaal's characterization of the title character that really drew me in to what proved to be a great story.

With all the canceled flights, I only got to spend three days in New York, rather than the whole week I'd planned.

OK, I admit it, I have never read the children's book that the new film "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" is based on. The title seemed to ring a bell, but I wasn't sure so I decided to keep my mouth shut and avoid looking like an idiot.

Even so, this movie looked pretty funny and clean, something I wouldn't mind seeing. And, since I had never read the book -- I know, I will burn in heck as a hypocrite because I always say that you should never see a movie without reading the book upon which it is based -- there was absolutely no chance of my being horribly disappointed like I was with "The Polar Express" (so innocent, so pure -- and then they threw in that mysterious train hobo and the seemingly inscrutable ticket punchings of the conductor).

As soon as I heard about "Julie & Julia," a movie about learning to cook from a pro as well as how that pro learned to cook, I knew I had to see it. As Julie's husband says in the movie: "She wasn't always Julia Child."
I remember reading a little piece on this movie and how Julia Child became the big thing she is today back in the spring in a Newsweek summer movie preview. Naturally, I was intrigued; Child is pretty much the mother of what you see on the Food Network.
However, I decided I had to see this film when I read the line that "Nora ('Bewitched') Ephron hasn't directed anything worth seeing in 10 years." I love to prove a pessimist wrong. Eat it, Newsweek.
"Julie & Julia," starring Meryl Streep as Julia Child and Amy Adams as Julie Powell, puts the struggle of two women living decades apart side by side as they struggle to accomplish their goals; Julia learning Le Cordon Bleu cooking and attempting to write and publish what will become "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" with her two new friends, and Julie writing a blog about cooking her way through Child's book to try and bring a little more meaning to her life -- maybe even get published. Also noteworthy are the men behind them, with Stanley Tucci as Paul Child and Chris Messina as Eric Powell.