Pick up a phone....I beg of you!

I’m getting irritated. Yep.  Irritated. As much as I hate talking on the phone, there are certain things that should not be sent in a text message or posted on Facebook in lieu of a phone call. Although there are arguments that sometimes even that isn’t personal enough for some news. For instance, no one wants to find out about the death of a friend or family member in a Facebook status. We get it…you were one of the first ones to know and your little poem about Heaven, loss and friendship  is super moving, but can you please be kind enough to pick up your damn cell phone?  I’m sobbing over my keyboard. Thanks.

Those are the severe cases of technology enabling bad manners. But this blog is about dating, being single and figuring out the clusterfudge that are relationships. What about this….are you familiar with the “what u doin” text? If you’ve been single sometime in the past two years, I’m sure you are.  Let’s break this down. One, the sender of this text is probably in his late twenties and he doesn’t know how to compose a sentence. We have these things called grammar, punctuation and complete and correctly spelled words. If you’re not familiar, reach out to a third grade teacher, or even a third grader. Second, why are you sending this to me at midnight on a Tuesday? You’re barking up the wrong tree and if you truly want to spend time with me, somewhere other than a bed, reach out to me at a decent hour. I do have a job.

As I’ve said before, dating these days is all kinds of messed up. When was the last time you heard of a guy that actually asked a girl out to dinner…even crazier, he asked her a couple days ahead of time, on the phone or….wait for it…..maybe you should sit down for this…..he asked her IN PERSON!!!! I know, right? Crazy. I am completely aware that the nature of relationships is no more immune to evolution than any other aspect of this insane world we inhabit, but come on! Do you really want to tell your kids that you met their mother by sending her a booty text in the middle of the night? Definitely not. The days of courtship are over and I’m completely okay with that, but I don’t think it’s too much to ask that you at least make me feel like I’m more than an afterthought. And that’s what those texts do. For all I know it was a mass text, so essentially you’re throwing shit up against the wall and you’re seeing what sticks. Good luck with that.

You may be wondering what has inspired this little rant of mine. I probably have no one to blame but myself. I’m not exactly great at picking the winners, so to speak, so when I start dating or hanging out with a new guy it’s not much of a surprise that this shit starts happening. I actually thought this one could be different. I didn’t meet him at a club, a dirty bar, or at 1am. I was having dinner with a friend at 7pm and so was he. He’s 34, has a good job, great since of humor and a winning smile. That last one should have been the first red flag. There’s always reason to be wary if I’m attracted to him. It’s kind of a running joke with my friends…if one of them is seeing someone new and they want an opinion, it’s not uncommon for someone to say, “See if Kelly finds him attractive, if so, run for the hills.” I blame Cinderella and that whole Prince Charming mess. Damn charisma gets me every time. Anyway, he started busting out the “what u doin” text. It’s bad enough for a 25 year old person to do it, but 34?! That’s just ridiculous. Laziness is actually trickling up, it would seem.  The good news is that I’m learning my lesson. I’m not falling for it this time because inevitably I’ll end up wasting too much of my time on someone that really stands no chance of lasting. He can keep sending those texts but it’s not going to get him anywhere. I suppose I could do him a favor and inform him of the error of his ways, but if he’s that big of a pansy that he can’t make a phone call or even text at a decent hour, he doesn’t deserve it.

Completely switching subjects, my best friend just got engaged. While the cynicism of some of my blogs might make you think that I’m not over the moon about this, you’d be wrong. They are absolutely perfect for each other and I am so excited about this I can’t even put it into words. She’s been my sister since the 7^th grade so it wouldn’t be shocking if I was protective over her. But the bottom line is that he is her soul mate and I don’t drop that vomiting-inducing term often.   Spend ten minutes with the two of them and you truly see what love looks like. They are why I haven’t lost hope, why I look at other relationships and shake my head (sometimes that means my own). There’s no shame in waiting for, not the perfect person, but the perfect person for you, and there’s certainly no shame in not lowering your standards for the sake of being in a relationship.  So thank you Destiny, not only for being my best friend, for making me laugh, for holding my hand while I cried, but for showing me one of life’s most important lessons; love is real and it’s worth waiting for….and it doesn’t start with “what u doin”.

Following Your Bliss

My roommate and I rented a movie last week called Hall Pass. I’m sure you’ve all either seen it or know pretty much what it’s about from the trailer. But let me run it down for you really quick. Basically, two married guys, played by Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis, are given a break from marriage by their wives for a week. What proceeds is their epic conquests to cheat on their wives. It had it's funny moments, but by the end of it, all I could think was how sad it made me. One, the two characters could not have been more excited about cheating on their wives. Two, cheating actually did occur. And three, marriage was portrayed as some sort of prison sentence. Not exactly a feel-good cinematic experience. 

It’s not just this movie though; relationships these days really and truly bring me down.  Between the media, divorce rates and what I see going on with couples anymore, I’m simply not interested and furthermore, I see no reason to feel the society-imposed pressure on my mid-to-late twenties by “settling down”. But let me issue this disclaimer, I go through cynical phases and I think you happen to be catching me in one now, thus the negative tone, but it’s only because I’ve seen so much of this lately. 

So, I’ve been thinking about why relationships are what they are anymore…or why they aren’t what they aren’t. Let’s face it, we’re living in a different world. A world of “friends with benefits”, prolific one-night-stands, and settling. Yup….settling. And I am in no way casting judgment because I have definitely been a settler, but I’m just not going to do it anymore. It’s a waste of time and there is no legitimate validation for it. The thing about a relationship that comes of settling is that they rarely ever get any better. The bar’s been set so low, it nearly touches the ground. 

There are as many “reasons” for settling as there are people who do it…they’re lonely, it’s easier to deal with hard times when you’re not alone, it’s a distraction from other things in your life that you may not want to face, and sometimes you just want someone in bed next to you at night. A relationship settled is like a band aid…a temporary fix. It covers the scratch for a little while, but it’s going to eventually fall off and sometimes you’re left with a pretty nasty scar. 

Why do I say this? Because of me…because I’ve settled and because I’ve felt the pressure of needing to be with someone. I wouldn’t say I was unhappy in those relationships, but I certainly wasn’t myself and I knew that I wanted and deserved more that what I had allowed myself to take.  For someone who loves the fantastically romantic stories of Jane Austen, I’ve acted much more like a Bronte character; and I can tell you, no one will ever find their Mr. Darcy living life like that. For me personally, I’m scared to give my heart away…that’s why I’ve settled. Those guys stood no chance of breaking my heart because I didn’t give them that power. I can only hope that when someone worth it comes along, I’ll know it and will throw myself into it wholeheartedly. And I know it's out there. I look at my best friend in the whole world and she has truly found the person for her. I see it every time they're together. They're as in love now as they were in the beginning...maybe more. Not only am I thankful that they're both so happy, nearly eight years later, but I'm thankful that finding love isn't a fairy tale. It's just a matter of waiting for it and embracing it when you find it...and of course working at it, because true love or not....relationships are not easy. Until then, I am going to continue loving the single life. So far, that’s exactly what I’ve done. I’ve met some amazing people who love a good time just as much as I do, I’m back to being myself sans boy, and most importantly, I’m starting to realize the importance of enjoying every moment. I heard an amazing phrase not too long ago…follow your bliss. I wish that for everyone, I really do. Life is fleeting; wasting even just one moment, is one moment too many.  

Outings, Exes and Being

I’ve definitely been slacking on the blog lately, but truth be told I haven’t exactly had much to write about. I’m also a firm believer in quality over quantity. Lucky for us, the last two weeks of my going-out activities have been somewhat inspiring.

I’ve been keeping it pretty low-key lately; staying in on weeknights and going to my local go-to bars on the weekends. There’s one bar that is my absolute favorite, it has been since I moved here. We affectionately call it the Snug. It’s your run-of-the-mill bar, but we love it. The bartenders are awesome, they know us by name, and the drinks are cheap. It’s just a good place to go, and it certainly helps that it’s five minutes away from my apartment. It’s my bar. My exes…they know this. Not to get bitchy, but seriously, I got the bar in the “divorce” if you will. Maybe that’s a little severe, but I would tell them not to go on a Friday night around eleven because you can expect to see me. And that’s just what one of them did. I don’t handle awkward situations well; in fact, I run away from them like an Olympic track athlete. In this case, I did run and I did it fast, but it was just to the other side of the bar. I’m making progress, I guess.

The night started off great. The group got together for dinner for the first time in a while at Cheesecake Factory and we had an amazing time catching up, eating, drinking and laughing. After a couple hours we all went our own way. I, being my single self, was not ready to call it a night yet. I was just about to text one of my girlfriends when my old roommate called to see if I was up for a Snug night. Sold. As I was walking up to the bar, a guy was walking out, and ran back to the door to get it for me. I said, “Thanks,” but then he didn’t open it, he just held the handle and looked at me. “Are you here by yourself?” Really, dude? You couldn’t work your “charm” on anyone in the bar so you’re hitting on the stragglers walking in. “Nope, I’m meeting someone,” I told him. “Your boyfriend?” At this point, I’m getting irritated. Don’t keep me from my beverages or my friends. “No, actually, my friends.” I started to grab the handle anyways and then he said the absolute dumbest thing, “Are you sure you want to go in?” I’m not sure what my other options were, but apparently he thought one of them was leaving with him…a guy I met 25 seconds previous…outside of the freaking bar. I would really like to meet the girl that would have actually done that, because I bet she is a very special person who makes her mother proud on a daily basis. A real gem. I walked in and started looking for my friends. I looked in booths, up and down the bar, and then at the pool tables. Bad idea. I saw the ex’s best friend who looked like he’d seen a ghost. In a way I guess he kind of did, I haven’t seen either one of them in months. I didn’t even look to his right to see who he was with; I knew. I made a hard right and went to the other side of the bar where my friends were thankfully seated.

It’s funny. Those situations are awkward but they’re also really enlightening as far as how you react to them. And I don’t mean your conscious decisions following the dreaded run-in, I mean the thoughts that race through your mind and whether or not your heart jumps into your throat; the real truth-tellers. It didn’t and my thoughts were basically that that was not what I wanted to deal with on a Friday night. That’s pretty good as far as how you want these reactions to go. Five minutes later, I was chatting it up with my friends and I pretty much forgot he was there. I guess we can officially move that one into the “ancient history” file, and he can go to the Snug whenever he wants; apparently I just don’t care that much. Shared custody of the bar is hereby granted.

This past weekend, wasn’t about ex-boyfriends or new boyfriends, it was about fake boyfriends. As many people know, not all single girls are out on the prowl 24 hours a day looking for a boyfriend…shocking, I know. Sorry to burst the deluded bubble of anyone who thinks differently. Sometimes I just want to go out and have fun without being hit on. It would be great if there was some sort of indicator I could turn on or off, much like the sign on the roof of a Taxi Cab that says “On Duty” or “Off Duty.” There’s not, so sometimes we just have to deal with. And actually, that’s not just for the singles. There are those crazies out there who get a kick out of hitting on the taken ones too, even those who are married. They get all Gollum-like when they see that ring. I guess they like a challenge?

Friday night I just wanted to enjoy the company of my friends. It was my friend’s birthday so we all went out to celebrate. She and I stepped away from the group for two seconds when I noticed the guy who was slowly making his way over. I’m not a snob, he seemed normal enough and he was very nice (ie, not my type; I like them broody and with a lot of baggage as history would indicate). But I really just wasn’t interested. I’m not in a place right now where I’m sure I even want to be with anyone else. And that night just wasn’t a good night for it.

My roommate has been trying to train me for a while now to lie…to say I have a boyfriend when these situations arise. I’m not a good liar, so it’s taking a little bit of work to be convincing. After he told me I looked like Thora Birch (not the best line I’ve ever heard) he asked me if I had a boyfriend. “Yes, I do. He’s working tonight.” It was awesome; he believed me and I didn’t have to hurt his ego or feelings by saying that I just wasn’t interested. While I don’t love lying, I don’t think there’s necessarily anything wrong with it in this situation. The night continued on and we all had a great time with just the group.

The thing is, being single is just that…being single. I think a lot of people confuse it with “looking to be in a relationship”. Sometimes that true, but a lot of times it’s not. Truthfully, the most important part of it all is just “being”. Way too much focus is placed on and deduced from one’s relationship status. Thanks a lot, Facebook.

On another note, I’ve really been enjoying this whole blog thing. I don’t post as much as I’d like, but if there were many more incidences occurring that warranted an entry, it could be seen as cause for concern. Every few weeks is often enough, but not enough to evaluate why these things keep happening to me (remember the date from Hell?). I would love to make it a little more interactive though. So if you can ever relate to anything I write about or agree or disagree with my take on things, I’d love to hear it. I am in no way claiming to be an expert on anything. The way I see it, I’m writing about what occurs as a result of being a single girl in her mid-twenties, and then offering my perspective and opinions on them. I hope to write again soon, God knows something is bound to happen that is worth sharing…I just hope not too soon. 

Maybe the Greener Grass is Right Here

We’re all familiar with the phrase “the grass is always greener on the other side” and we all know exactly what it means because it’s human nature to feel that way sometimes. We want it all. But that’s just not possible. As far as relationships go, you can’t be single and have the benefits of being in a relationship too; and in a couple, you can’t reap the benefits of single life. You’re never going to have it all, so the best you can do is enjoy where you’re at in life in this very moment, whichever yard you happen to be in. A lot of times, I’m not so great at this. But these last few weeks, something’s changed. I don’t know if it was the date from Hell that made me come to this realization, or something else. Quite honestly, I don’t really care but I am extremely grateful for it; I’ve been branching out, meeting new people, going to new places, reconnecting with old friends and just having fun. It’s so easy to live in a bubble, because change is never easy, but I think that’s because there’s never a guarantee that the change will be good. But sometimes you just have to take that leap of faith, because the change could be something really amazing, and who wants to miss out on that?

Part of this is separating myself a little bit from my normal group. I love my couples. For the most part, I never feel like the third or fifth or even seventh wheel, but every once in a while I do. And it’s made me realize, that I need to expand my horizons. It’s hard at twenty-five to change things up and start hanging out with other people besides your core group. But I have been and I’ve made some really great connections because of it.

This past week, I met up with two friends from high school. I don’t think I’ve seen them since the day we walked across the stage in 2004, so we had plenty to catch up on. I live in West Palm, he lives in Boca, and she lives in Miami. We met in the middle at his bar, The Whistle Stop (a great place if you’re ever in Boca, by the way). We caught each other up on our lives, but eventually starting talking about relationships. It was pretty awesome being around two other people who are in the exact same place in their lives as I am in mine. Being single at twenty-five is not a death sentence. I’ve always known this, but when you hang out with so many people who are married or seriously committed to someone (and somewhat older), there is this weird feeling (albeit small) of pressure and urgency to find someone…I guess to fit in. It shouldn’t be that way though. And after talking to them about all the amazing things we’ve been doing, it hit me: I am having so much fun right now. It wasn’t too long ago I was moping about one boy or another. Why should I want to jump right back into that? I shouldn’t, and I don’t. Of course, this will all change. I’ll meet someone, whether right or wrong for me, and I’ll abandon the single life. But while I’m here, I’m gonna soak it up a bit. The three of us are planning to meet up in Miami one weekend, I’ll continue to go out every Friday night, sometimes with new friends, sometimes with old, and I’ll take every moment as it comes.

The saying about the grass is really all about perception, because the grass I’m standing on right now is plenty green, and for now, I have no desire to jump the fence.

Foreign Cars and Bad Advice

The worst dating advice I’ve ever gotten, I’ve gotten numerous times and from some of my closest friends. Apparently, I’m too picky and therefore need to lower my standards. Ummm, huh? I can just see it now...I’m getting married, birds are singing, our closest friends and family are there and I begin my vows by saying, “I’m so glad I lowered my standards, because otherwise I never would have dated you, much less married you.” I don’t think so. And I refuse to believe that anyone will ever find that one person that they than can stand to be around for the rest of their life, let alone their soul mate by deleting “must haves” off the significant other list. I see where they’re coming from though. I don’t go out on a lot of dates and I don’t give a lot of guys chances beyond that first encounter. But honestly, the chemistry is there or it’s not. And there's a lot to be said for gut instincts. Why waste their time, or mine for that matter by trying to force something that just isn’t there. What he must have is what I call the “I wanna bite his face” factor. I’m not talking about just sexual attraction here. What I’m talking about is when you meet that guy that just has something about him that you’re drawn to, you end up talking for hours and hardly notice that you’re in a restaurant or bar or what-have-you with a hundred other people. That’s the type of person you want to see again, not that guy that was nice enough but left you saying, “Ehh.”

That being said, the “advice” got to me two weeks ago. My roommate and I attended the Palm Beach County Seminole Pub Crawl in downtown West Palm. I’ll take this opportunity to say that I am a HUGE Seminole, so any sort of event that would involve barhopping, drinks, a group of FSU fans, and one of my favorite girlfriends is my sort of party. We showed up at the first bar, grabbed our free t-shirt, shot tickets and made a b-line for the bar. The crowd was a little different than we expected, i.e. old, and it was all of ten minutes before the first vulture started to circle. We did the same song and dance about 13 times. You know the one, “I’m from blabbity blah, I went to FSU in yaddah yadda, and studied so and so.” But eventually, the drinks started to set in, UF lost their basketball game and we started to meet some really great people. Wasn’t long though before douche bag of the year ruined the fun. He was obnoxious, drunk, and come to find out, was crashing the FSU party. His friend came over to apologize and we started talking. He was nice enough. Had a good job. Went to the FSU film school. And my roommate had to remind me of his name. Like I said….eh. By the end of the night he had to take his friend home before alcohol poisoning set in, so he asked for my number. I had that critical moment where your mind turns into a courtroom. Firing off argument and counter argument. The latter prevailed so I gave him my number, a big deal since you can’t exactly take that shit back.

The next day the texts started. The overly exclamatory, emoticon-ed, irritating texts. Seriously, no one should use as many smiley faces and exclamation points as this kid. But again…he was nice, and I had the voices of so many in my mind singing, “You’re too hard on him!” So after a couple of days when he asked me to dinner I said yes. I will say that it’s nice when a guy actually asks you out to dinner. Far too many of us have started settling for the 11pm text, “What u doin?” He gained a few points in my mind. But boy was he was gonna need them.

As bad as it sounds, I knew I didn’t want to sacrifice a Friday or Saturday night on the guy, so I said I might be going out of town so it needed to be a week night. Not to mention the gem of an excuse I’d have if things were to go bad, “Gee, I really should be getting home. I’ve got work in the morning.” Flawless plan. So we agreed on the next night, a Thursday.

Things started to go bad the next day at work when he called me. I was stressed, doing about a million things when he called. Well, okay, I was doing two things. Both of which I’d rather be doing than talking to him. I let it go to voicemail. He then texted me. (Side note: If you leave me a voicemail, you don’t need to write me a text! It’s overkill.) Both messages said to call him back when I could. So I did. Apparently, his car was in the shop and as he put it, it was a “foreign car” so it was probably going to be in the shop overnight, and he had to cancel. It was one of those lines that I could tell was meant to impress me, but it actually just made him look pompous and stupid. I have a foreign car too, they call it a Nissan.

I did cartwheels around the office. I quickly planned my night: pjs, NBC Thursday night line-up, and wine. But my plans came to a screeching halt an hour later when he called back to tell me that he got his car back sooner than he thought, so we were back on. Great. He asked me what I was in the mood for, and since it was 2pm I said I didn’t know. But I warned him that I was a vegetarian so no-go on the steakhouses. There was a pause, and then Mr. Charming said, “Ohhhhh...you’re a vegetarian? I don’t think it’s gonna work out.” Followed by nervous laughter. He got cold silence in response. He tried to recover by ignoring the dump he just took on something I feel strongly about, and suggested hibachi. Fine. Whatever, dude. He said he had softball after work but would run home and shower after and come pick me up. Normally, I would have said hells no to that but I was so ready to get off the phone with him I just let it go. BIG MISTAKE.

I got home and begrudgingly got ready for the date. When he came to pick me up he opened the car door for me, which I hate by the way, and said, “This is the foreign car I was telling you about.” If there’s one thing I can’t do, it’s hide my feelings from my face so it’s probably a good thing he had shut the door by the time my eyes started rolling. And it was a BMW, people. One, not that impressive; and two, money just does not do much for me. He was preaching to the wrong choir, an atheist in fact. He then asked me what vegetarians eat. Okay, so smarts aren’t his thing. It was then that I wanted to jump out of the car and run in the other direction. All before we even got out of the parking lot.

The car ride was just plain awkward. We might has well have discussed the weather for 15 minutes. I couldn’t wait to get to hibachi where I’d have the company of what was sure to be at least four other people, all certain to be more interesting than him, to entertain me. We sat down, filled out the table and ordered our drinks. I chose wine because as I always say, “Wine drunk is the best drunk,” and I was going to need it to get through the night. I ordered my vegetarian dish, and homeboy ordered surf and turf. Again, I wasn’t impressed. It was then that he said he forgot his wallet in the car and would be right back. Okayyyy. I took the opportunity to text my friend that I was miserable and wanted to run. She called me immediately and told me to make up some disaster and leave. I told her I couldn’t do that because it would be wrong and obvious…plus I didn’t have my car. He wasn’t back yet, so I started venting, and I wasn’t exactly being quiet about it. “Sarah, he sucks. He is so boring, he’s stupid, he keeps trying to impress me and I can’t wait to go home. I borderline hate this kid.” We said goodbye and when I hung up, I noticed that everyone around the table was staring at me. At that point, I didn’t care and quite honestly was probably hoping one of them would take pity and let me join their conversation since his and mine was sure to be nonexistent.

Time continued to pass to the point that I thought he left me. He had to know how bad it was going and decided to just call it quits. I was halfway through planning my casual exit from the restaurant when he walked back in. He asked me if I could call my roommate. At that point I was done with the kid and said, “No...why?” “Well, I think my wallet is in your parking lot.” The date went from bad to the-cops-are-going-to-be-called-because-I’m-going-to-murder-this-individual bad. When I asked if him he wanted to leave to go find it, he said no because he didn’t want to “ruin the night.” Cue ridiculous laughter, because that ship had sailed. As a matter of fact, I’m not sure it was ever docked. By that point, our soup and salad had come to the table and I was one glass of wine down. I suppose I could have walked out leaving him to figure out the payment issue, but I was hungry and a little bit of a buzz had kicked in. I ordered another glass of wine, starting eating and struck up a conversation with the hibachi cook. If I was paying for it, I was going to enjoy it, dammit.

After I decided to take the “glass half full” perspective on the evening, things were going okay; the food was delicious, the wine was even better and I pretended like my “date” wasn’t there. But then of course, something had to happen to ruin the night even more. Apparently the hibachi chef wasn’t as observant as I would have given him credit for; when he was done with the fried rice he made it into a shape of a heart and placed it in front of us. “He told me to do that for you,” he said. I took a gulp of wine and replied, “Yeah, I don’t think so, dude.” I almost puked up the meal I was paying for all over Mr. Personality and the chef. Would have served them both right.

Finally, the bill came and he grabbed it. All I could think was what exactly was he was going to do? And really, it was none of his business what the bill was, he obviously wasn't paying. And then he said about the worst thing he could, “Oh, it’s not bad. But I’m still embarrassed, so I’ll get it next time.” I won’t even go into what makes that statement ridiculous. But I will tell you, the bill ended up being ninety bucks with tip…very bad, in fact.

The car ride home was silent, he pulled into my apartment complex and I jumped out before the car had come to a stop. I ran up the stairs, but did take a moment to look back to see if he checked the parking lot for his wallet. He didn’t. But I don’t think any of us are surprised about that.

Later that night he tried to call me, and I of course didn’t answer. I was drinking more wine and calling my girlfriends to tell them about the worst date ever. A few days later, he tried to text me. I didn’t respond to that either. Did he really think it went well? He couldn’t possibly. But I guess he did get one free meal, maybe he was shooting for two.

After that incident, I’m done listening to crap advice. I wasted an entire night on a complete ass-hole, not to mention my own money. I might be single, but a big reason for that is I refuse to waste my time dating guys that I’m just not into. As I said before, if I don’t want to bite your face, then there’s no point in trying to force an attraction. Relationships are hard enough when you’re absolutely crazy about the other person; take away something as vital as physical attraction and chemistry and you end up in a pretty sad situation...stuck at a hibachi restaurant, out ninety bucks.

Unexpected Inspiration

I’ve never really considered writing a blog. There was nothing I had to share that warranted more than the occasional Facebook or Twitter update. But within a year’s time, I moved to South Florida (in a relationship), had my heart broken, proceeded to “date” a complete waste of time on and off for nearly seven months, finally saw the light and have since gone from one-time encounter to one-time encounter with members of the opposite sex. I say encounter because the word date is becoming more endangered by the day, and in no way describes what I’m talking about. Please don’t misunderstand, because I am not talking about one-night stands. Any one that knows me will tell you that that is definitely not my style. I’m talking meeting a “friend of a friend” at the bar and then proceeding to go hang out and make out til 5am, adding them on Facebook, and never talking to them again. Making out with randoms is definitely not one-night stand material, but it’s not exactly classy. The stories that I’ve accrued from the last year, I’m beginning to realize, are definitely worth sharing. And they all stem from me being single…which appears to be the new four-letter word. Just ask my married, engaged, and coupled up friends. After all, you’ll probably see them before I will. The thing is, despite some of the horror stories that have come from my single-hood, I’m kind of loving it. It’s a shame being single has such a bad rap, because if you make the most of it, it can really be a blast….and you can also get some really good stories to share with anyone who wants to listen…or in this case, read.

I’m not going to go back in time to a year ago and try and catch you up on how I got from there to here. One, you probably don’t care and two, I really don’t want to rehash it. The past is the past, right? So my next entry will only go back to Thursday, also known as the worst date ever. While I’m still in recovery from the disaster that it was, rest assured, it can only be seen as what-movies-are-made-of material for you. Until then, if you’re single, enjoy it…and if you’re not, enjoy that too.