Liz Crokin writes the EyeContact column every Monday in RedEye. Liz has been hanging with celebrities and attending hot parties her whole life, but now, with RedEye, she's found an opportunity to write about it.

While attending the University of Iowa, Liz found herself chilling backstage at rock concerts with the likes of Bob Dylan and Dave Matthews. She also worked as an intern for Bill O'Reilly, CBS and pseudo.com, which took her to the Republican and Democratic national conventions in 2000.

After graduation, Liz moved to Washington, D.C., where she reported in the White House for the State Department's news service and wrote for an entertainment magazine. But the lack of a rockin' party scene in the nation's capital, and a little homesickness, brought Liz back home to her beloved Chicago. Liz also works as a freelance writer for various celebrity magazines and has a blog at www.thesebootsaremadeforstalking.com.

E-mail her with your Chicago celebrity sightings. She'll confirm and write about the best ones in her Page 4 column!

Liz can be reached at eyecontact@tribune.com

Recent Columns:

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January 5, 2009
No proposal (yet)
Vince Vaughn made a return home to the Windy City for the holidays with his girlfriend, Kyla Weber, and, despite reports and rumors he planned to propose around New Year's, it didn't happen.

December 29, 2008
Chicago a playground for the stars in 2008
2008 was an exciting year for celebrity news in Chicago. Here are some of the highlights you read about in Eye Contact this year.

December 22, 2008
Loose Cannon
Nick Cannon spun at Underground on Thursday night for "The Grinch Who Gave Back Christmas" Make-A-Wish benefit, and chatted with me before getting behind the turntables. Cannon wouldn't take any personal questions--including rumors that wife Mariah Carey is pregnant--but he did talk about his love for children, among other things.

December 15, 2008
Sweating it out with Kournikova
Anna Kournikova is a woman of few words. The tennis star hosted a charity event benefiting the Union League Boys and Girls Club on Saturday night at Enclave. Before the event, she would agree to answer only three questions that Eye Contact asked her over e-mail. The future of her tennis career, her relationship with Enrique Iglesias, the possibility of having children, even her plans for the holidays--all were off-limits. Here's what she would talk about:

December 8, 2008
Back home for the 'Holidays'
Stars of the highly anticipated Christmas flick "Nothing Like the Holidays" walked the red carpet last Monday night for the movie's Windy City premiere.

December 1, 2008
SamRo spins solo with LiLo a no-show
Black Wednesday was a cloudy one for Samantha Ronson, who came to Chicago for her regular gig spinning at Crimson Lounge without her gal pal, Lindsay Lohan.

November 24, 2008
State of the Union
Gabrielle Union made an appearance at the McDonald's at 10 E. Chicago Ave. last Wednesday morning to promote World Children's Day, an event to benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities. In her conversation with my intern Julie Corirossi, Union talked about her obsession with America Ferrera (and Ferrera's rumored feud with Lindsay Lohan) and Union's new movie, "Cadillac Records." She even gave her two cents on former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's affair with an escort.

November 17, 2008
Happy Holly days
Holly Madison hosted RiNo's third anniversary party Thursday night, and she took time to chat with my intern Kristen Lepore about her new beau, illusionist Criss Angel, her breakup with Hugh Hefner and her fellow "Girls Next Door" co-star Kendra Wilkinson's impending wedding to Hank Baskett.

November 10, 2008
Pitt-O-rama
Brad Pitt came to Chicago last week and taped his first interview with Oprah Winfrey in four years to promote his new movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

November 3, 2008
Michael Phelps dips into Chicago
Michael Phelps made an appearance at the Hoffman Estates Sports Authority on Saturday to promote PureSport, a performance beverage the athlete used to prepare for the Beijing Olympics.