First Look at Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick’s New Twins

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick have shared the first photo of their twin daughters.

Twin baby girls, Marion Loretta Elwell Broderick and Tabitha Hodge Broderick were born Monday, June 22nd at an Ohio hospital to a surrogate mother.

The photo above was taken last Monday in New York and shows a happy, new family of five with Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick each holding a twin and their six year old son, James Wilkie Broderick gazing down at the new arrivals.

We wish the family absolutely nothing but the best. I always thought it was ironic how Sarah Jessica Parker, famously known as the fabulous Carrie Bradshaw on Sex And The City, had a son. Now she has the daughters to pass down all that love of fashion and other super girly stuff we get giddy over.

Public Viewing Scheduled for Michael Jackson at Neverland

Fans who wish to take part in saying goodbye to the King of Pop have the chance to do so this Friday at the Neverland Ranch, north of Santa Barbara, California, where Michael Jackson’s family has arranged a public viewing. The family also has a private service scheduled for Sunday.

Just this morning, more than two dozen TV satellite trucks were lined up in a narrow, two-lane road leading to Neverland Ranch in hopes of reserving space for the public viewing. Planning is currently underway for a 30-car motorcade carrying Jackson’s remains to leave Los Angeles at 10 a.m. Thursday morning to arrive in Santa Barbara County.

As for Michael Jackson’s final resting place, the family has given no indication on where that will be, but they have already ruled out Neverland Ranch. Many people have been asking about the future of Neverland Ranch, and Tom Barrack Jr. gained control of the ranch through his company, has said that the property’s future will be discussed at a later date and that the focus currently is to ensure that grieving fans who gather there are treated properly.

Free Betty Crocker Cookies, Bars & Cakes Magazine!

So within the past few months, I have become a complete and utter Betty Crocker fanatic. You may have noticed this if you’ve been checking out our Recipes section, as I have shared the Betty Crocker email newsletter love with all of you a few times! Betty Crocker has some of the most innovative, out of the box, and just plain fun (not to mention easy!) recipes ever! Which is why I was so ecstatic when I received an email a few days ago with a link to the new Betty Crocker Cookies, Bars and Cakes Nxtbook!

What’s a Nxtbook? Super awesome technological magic that allows magazines to be seen as they were intended to be seen in print, just on your computer screen! Cool, right?

Betty Crocker’s entire Cookies, Bars and Cakes issue is out in Nxtbook. It is full of the most requested recipes (over 70 in all,) and within just a few minutes of browsing this issue of Betty Crocker, your mouth will be watering for these desserts! I already have over 10 picked out that I need to pick up the ingredients for so I can (attempt to) bake.

Check out Betty Crocker’s Cookies, Bars and Cakes issue!

Michael Jackson Dead at 50 After Cardiac Arrest

The “King of Pop,” Michael Jackson, was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m. PT on Friday after having suffered cardiac arrest, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office. He was 50 years old.

An autopsy is scheduled Friday, he said. Results are expected Friday afternoon, according to Lt. Fred Corral of the Los Angeles coroner’s office, who also said Jackson was unresponsive when he arrived at the hospital.

Law enforcement officials stressed that there is no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, but they would conduct interviews with family members and friends, opening an investigation into Jackson’s death. At the medical center, every entrance to the emergency room was blocked by security guards; even staff members were not permitted to enter the area where Jackson was. People gathered in the waiting area of the medical center, some of the crying, and vigils have been conducted throughout the day in honor of Michael Jackson. Outside of Jackson’s home, police arrived on motorcycles and the road in front of the home was closed in an attempt to hold traffic; but that did not stop several people from gathering outside of the home.

Michael’s former wife, Lisa Marie Presley, said that she was “shocked and saddened” [by the news of Jackson's death] “My heart goes out to his children and his family.”

Michael Jackson has had a greatly successful career that many people around the entire world have benefited from and idolized Jackson for. Known as the “King of Pop,” Jackson has many No. 1 hits and “Thriller” is the best-selling album of all time. But while he has undoubtedly had more success in his life than imaginable, he also had legal troubles later in his life.

Prosecutors charged Michael Jackson with four counts of lewd conduct with a child younger than 14; one count of attempted lewd conduct; four counts of administering alcohol to facilitate child molestation; and one count of conspiracy to commit child abduction, false imprisonment or extortion. He was acquitted of these charges after a well-publicized trial in Santa Maria, California, in March 2006.

Michael Jackson will surely be missed all around the world.

First Look at Tim Burton’s Remake of Alice in Wonderland

Tim Burton’s remake of classic book and movie Alice in Wonderland is set to hit theaters in Spring 2010, but the hype for this remake has been accumulating for many years now. Some information on the Alice in Wonderland remake, which will hit theaters in 3-D, has been released and after seeing the cast (so far) along with photos of their looks, I have to say that I am not surprised. Alice in Wonderland is one of my favorite books and movies of all time and always has been and after seeing what Tim Burton did to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I’m very, very skeptical about what is to become of my beloved Alice in Wonderland.

The cast for the remake didn’t bring any big surprise either, besides perhaps the casting of Alice, who will be played by 19 year old unknown Mia Wasikowska from Australia. The Mad Hatter will be played by Johnny Depp, which I saw coming years ago, the Red Queen will be played by Helena Bonham Carter, again which I saw coming years ago. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter alike have been targeted by Tim Burton movie after movie and because of this, they have both become the standard “creepy” actors to fill any roll that calls for something of the macabre. Lastly, we officially know that Anne Hathaway will play the White Queen.

Take a first look at the new Alice in Wonderland characters:

Watch the Season Premier of Army Wives

Season 3 of Army Wives premiered on Lifetime last night and for anyone who missed it or just wants to watch it again (i can relate, I’ve already watched the episode twice!) it is available to watch online! Watch it on Lifetime or watch it below right here on Woman Tribune!

Because it’s so early in the season, if you’ve been following Army Wives, please feel free to put your predictions for the rest of this season in the comments!

Changes We Often Go Through in a Relationship

A recent study has found that on average, men gain 14 pounds when their partners are pregnant. While they’re sticking to the story that they gain weight so their partners won’t feel bad about their weight, I think their mental process goes a little like this–”Getting the woman ice cream… I love ice cream! I should also have some ice cream!” Or at least that is what goes through the head of my partner. And it does not necessarily happen strictly when a woman is pregnant, either. My partner and I have each gained a bit of weight in the past three years we have lived together and I like to think it’s because we are both very much in love with one another and just got comfortable and I don’t necessarily think that is wrong in the least.

But weight gain isn’t the only change we see in ourselves when in a relationship. It is very common for us to have changes in a variety of different preferences merely because we get to see our preferences through the eyes of someone who may not feel the same way about it as we do.

Some things you may change while in a relationship, especially a long-term relationship or a marriage, are changes in music taste, reading lists, vocabulary, style, television shows, food, and there may be more.

Personally, I know that my own personal preferences in each of these areas have changed, at least a little bit, while with my partner. While I’m more of an indie/emo music fan, my boyfriend is a professional guitarist and very into other well-known guitarists such as Steve Vai, John Petrucci, among others, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy what he had played for me or was playing while in my immediate company. My reading lists have not changed, but I have noticed a slight shift in my boyfriend’s… Who found himself reading Kinky Gazpacho, that was recently reviewed here. And throughout our relationship, I have discovered my love of cream cheese, something I would have never, ever, ever tried before my boyfriend practically shoved it down my throat while continuously assuring me that I would love it.

How about you? Have you noticed any changes in preference while in relationships or in your marriage?

Time to Get Ready for Army Wives Season 3

It’s summertime and with the beginning of summer comes a brand new season of Army Wives! The third season will premier Sunday night, June 7, at 10pm.

With the season premier just days away, now is the perfect time to catch up on the second season so you know what’s going on in the show when you watch the premier. Luckily Lifetime has the entire second season of Army Wives available to watch online. Along with the new season, Lifetime is also introducing an Army Wives blog and other great goodies for the new season. So review the second season (for the second time, or more if you’re an Army Wives fanatic) and don’t miss the season premier on June 7 at 10pm!

Book Review: Kinky Gazpacho by Lori Tharps

Lori Tharps grew up in the white suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, went to private school, attended a prestigious college, and continuously never felt a sense of belonging among her own people and a part of her own culture. While her life may not be too unlike the lives led by thousands of other American people, her accomplishments and her journey through life makes for an intriguing and captivating memoir.

Tharps’ memoir starts off when she is in the third grade, listening to her teacher tell the class about an International Day bazaar where the students would be participating by sharing their cultures in the form of food, games, decorations, and dress reflecting their native countries. Being the only black girl in her class and one of only a handful in her entire private school, the prospect of International Day weighed on her mind and brought her to the conclusion that on that day, her classmates would realize that she was different than they were; that she was less than them. Deciding not to attend school in costume that day because she did not want to attend school dressed as a slave, she went throughout the day in a panic, hoping that no one would ask her why she was not dressed in a costume reflecting her heritage. Throughout the following school years of Tharps’ life, similar thoughts and memories arise very much like her third grade International Day bazaar. She was raised in a privileged household and attended private school and for a fraction of one particular school year when she was nudged into the public school system, Tharps was received as a snob who was trying to “act white” by the other black girls she had wanted to fit in with, was ostracized by other black young women during her college years, and that was just the beginning of the racial dilemmas she would encounter throughout her life.

From a young age, Tharps became infatuated with Spain; knowing that Spain was her destiny and that she would someday live there. While in college, she traveled to Morocco with the American Field Service, but later studied abroad in Spain, where she came face to face with the culture she never knew Spain to have. She notices that a great deal of products, such as something as simple as a chocolate bar, has racist connotations, but when she brings them to the attention of Spanish natives, they are quick to declare that Spain is not a racist place. But after falling in love with a Spaniard, getting married, and having children, she spends a great deal of time traveling to Spain and her memoir becomes a detective story on how Spain had been involved in slavery. Throughout her life in Spain, Lori Tharps had searched for where the kinky mixed with the gazpacho.

I absolutely loved this memoir; it was a simple and lightweight read that packed a punch of reality that is undeniable. I devoured her memoir in utter anticipation of what her next move in life would be and was overjoyed over her boldness and determination to uncover a black past in a country where most of its citizen were unaware of the world that had come before and still revolved around them. The only flaw with the book is that it leaves you wanting to know and experience more of her life and general thoughts. Kinky Gazpacho will bring you on a journey that is so much more than merely a life led by a woman who dares to open her mouth and question her surroundings.

Rating:
Buy the Book!

We Heart Powell’s Books (& Think You Should Too!)

If you’ve checked out our book reviews recently, you may have noticed that our reviews look a little different. Since this site started (over a year ago!) our book reviews have always contained the Amazon.com widget, making buying the book we’re reviewing easy to do with just one click. While the widget was beneficial for our readers to make purchases, compare book prices, and buy used books from other Amazon members, I found another online book retailer that I fell in love with.

Powell’s Books is an independent bookstore that offers the largest selection of books, both bestsellers as well as the widest selection of hard to find and out of print books I have ever seen. I am all about supporting small, independent businesses not only online where small businesses have more competition than ever, but also in my every day life. I think it is so important to shop at local stores for anything you can buy through them–books, groceries, even clothes; if you can buy local and buy through independent retailers, do it, because it helps the economy in the city where you live and it’s part of being a good (and aware) human. We see “mom and pop” stores go out of business all the time due to the struggle to stay open while in the vicinity of multi-billion-dollar corporations. The local and independent stores around you need your support, most of the time, to feed their families. When you shop independently, you are helping other people instead of corporations.

In order to bring these every day sentiments into my online life, Woman Tribune is now a supporter of Powell’s Books and we urge you to support them as well! Not only has their selection impressed the pants off of me, the prices of most of their books (not just a select few, but most of their books) are cheaper than any other book retailer I have seen.

On our main page there is now a wide banner with a search embedded directly into it to make searching for books you want easy to do right from our front page! You can also search the site using the banner below. Go ahead, try it out.

We have set up a bookshelf through Powell’s Books so you can see the books we have reviewed here on Woman Tribune and buy the titles you’re interested in! You can see our bookshelf here. Books are listed in oldest-to-newest in the order we have reviewed books on the site so if you’re looking for the most recent books we’ve reviewed, go to the last page of the bookshelf.

We hope that you come to love Powell’s Books as much as we do!

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