As you may remember, a few months ago I was supposed to meet Separated Guy #1, but he flaked out the night before our date and sent me a stupid ass email. Well, we got back in touch a couple of weeks ago when I emailed him to wish him a happy birthday (he shares the same birthday as my friend so I remembered it), and an email exchange ensued.

So may I present, You Know It’s A Jdate That Didn’t Suck When:

1. You learn he a) has a car and b) doesn’t live with his parents.
2. He insists on driving out from the Valley, and likes your suggestion of (say it with me now) The Cat & Fiddle.
3. You show up wearing the same exact color jacket as him. Yours is from the Gap, his from Banana.
4. He looks like his picture. Exactly.
5. He remembers everything you talked about a few months ago.
6. He apologizes for being lame a few months ago, and tells you you were right. Ah ha!
7. He doesn’t laugh at you when you stand up from the table and realize your leg is asleep and walk like a moron to the restroom.
8. After dinner and drinks, you decide to stop at Amoeba and peruse CDs. You each buy one.
9. He’s funny, makes you laugh, and has good taste in music.
10. You invite him up to your apartment and he checks out your balcony and photos and baseball stuff then you sit and talk for a bit. Then you both realize it’s late and he has to drive back to the Valley so he gives you a hug goodnight.

I’m not sure if there will be a second date, although I am hoping for one. Think good thoughts and stay tuned…

Tired of clicking Check Mail.
Tired of bad dates that ask for a second; and good dates that don’t.
Tired of being disappointed.
Tired of meeting men who seem interested but don’t act it.
Tired of being asked for my number but never receiving a call.
Tired of stressing over a call or email, or lack thereof.
Tired of being told by married people that they miss the excitement of dating. No you don’t.
Tired of first dates.

And in other news, I got the “friend vibe/see where things go” email from Wednesday night’s Jdate. Ugh.

I haven’t been avoiding this topic, I just, well, haven’t really known what to say. It’s horrible. Sad. Disgusting. And makes my dating woes seem so trivial and puts life into perspective. For the past few days, the only TV I have watched has been TiVo’d, because I can’t bear to look at the images anymore.

So…how to help. I made a donation to the Red Cross through my company who is matching double all employee donations, a very kind and surprising gesture. I also donated through the Los Angeles Jewish Federation.

If you’re in San Diego and want to donate goods that will go to some of the 30,000 people relocated to the Astrodome, the San Diego Jewish Academy is collecting:

• New and gently used clothing (sorted by gender)
• Blankets
• Diapers, Baby Formula & Wipes
• Over-the-counter Medications
• Personal hygiene products
• School supplies
• Paper Goods
• Cleaning Supplies
• Single-serve food items that do not require refrigeration (non-perishable)
• Gift Cards to Super Stores (Wal-Mart, Target, Sears, Costco, etc.)

Here’s more information. (It’s a PDF.)

This weekend, I:

• Drove down to Del Mar Friday night in less than two hours.
• Went to the gym in Solana Beach. Interestingly, the average age at that club appears to be mid 50s. Waaaay different than the Hollywood local.



• Spent an exciting Saturday night at Soup Plantation (yum chocolate chip bars!) with my parents then came home and read half of a friend’s manuscript.
• Slept in then met up with my parents for brunch at Pacifica Breeze in Del Mar and chatted with Theo of Road Rules fame while in line.
• Filled my car up with $3.15/gallon 87 octane gas after listening to my dad speak of a potential gas shortage all weekend.
• Finished reading said manuscript.
• Went for sushi with the parents, and ran into a friend from high school.
• Tried this disappointing chocolate cupcake recipe. They look cute but are a little too bitter for my taste.
• Drove back to LA this afternoon in under two hours.

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How did you get here?

Back in July I asked for some good book recommendations and well, it’s been a while so let’s do it again. I just recently finished Good Grief by Lolly Winston and I absolutely LOVED it. What have you read lately?

Try, try, again…

Disappointed with the bitter chocolate cupcake, I decided to give this white cake recipe a whirl.

They’re good, but still not exactly what I’m looking for. At least they’re an improvement, right? And they look cute. I’ll let you know what my guinea pigs coworkers think.

Mazel Tov: To Pauly D., on his upcoming book, The Lost Blogs .

Jdate Question: What exactly happens if someone IMs you and you say no, you do not want to accept their IM? Do they get a rejection? Or do they just assume you’re ignoring them? Hmm?

Dating: Speeddating Guy asked me if I wanted to do something next week. I said yes. Details to follow.

Also, spoke on the phone with a guy who IMd me on Jdate (I’m not a member so I can’t read my six emails, damn you Jdate). He seems really nice but…he lives in SLO. Kinda far. He thinks he may be in LA in a couple of weeks so a drink (or two) may be had. And don’t you worry–I’ll keep everyone posted.

Books: Read a good book lately? Share it with my readers.

Site of the Week: 52 Cupcakes

In case you haven’t heard, we lost power today. At first we thought it was just our office building, then all of Century City, then finally we were informed (via building emergency loudspeaker system) that the power outage affected most of the City and Valley.

Good: We didn’t have to work for about 45 minutes because the only computers that were up were in the server room.

Bad: The panel (whatever that means) affecting our floor blew, so we didn’t have any air conditioning again until 4:30. By then it was about 85 degrees in our office.

Cause: “Workers connected the wrong wires, causing a surge of power that led to shutdowns at three power generating stations…”

Uh, yeah.

Well look no further.

Email #1
29, OC
Tease: I’d like to start-up a conversation, can I write you sometime?

Email #2
28, the Valley
Tease: I’m intrigued, feel free to email me. [ed. note: This is the fifth tease from the same guy.]

Email #3
33, Hawthorne, not Jewish
Tease: A position just opened up in the sweetheart department - please send resume.

Email #4
33, Hawthorne, still not Jewish (yeah, same guy as #3)
Email subject line: Grandma looked out the window when Grandpa passed. [ed. note: Huh? And if you think that's odd, you wouldn't believe the body of the email.]

Email #5
27, Los Angeles
Tease sent: I’d like to start-up a conversation, can I write you sometime?

Email #6
32, Los Angeles
Missed IM message: Hi

Email #7
27, the Valley
Missed IM message: ?

Email #8
34, Los Angeles
Email: do you have an alternate place to IM ?? yahoo ? aol ?? jdate IM sucks !

And that my friends, concludes the lesson on how to quickly waste $34.95. I’m such a sucker.

Waaah:

• Your hairdryer dies while your hair is still soaking wet, thus forcing you to use your travel dryer sans diffuser and go to work with a frizzy Jewfro. However, this will not even matter in about thirty minutes as your hair will be in a ponytail all day long, thus pissing you off even more.
• You get to work at 8:00 a.m. and learn you will be working in a 90 degree office for the third day in a row. [ed. note: According to yesterday morning's memo from building management, "...due to an emergency repair, no chilled water (cool air), will be supplied to any building in Century City... "]
• Since you work at the company with a Forms Requisition Form, you’re not surprised the words “go home, it’s too hot to work ” are never uttered.
• Your coworker says, look at your rosy cheeks, you look hot. Not hot as in hott. Hot as in sweaty.
• You go to Rock and Roll Ralphs to pick up some ingredients for cookies you are now too tired to bake and the man reeking of booze in line behind you steps on your heel.
• You and your injured foot begin pushing your cart to your car when suddenly, in the middle of the parking lot, your cart locks. And that happens just because you’re Hilary and stupid stuff like that happens to you. People get pissed and yell for you to move your fucking cart while you try to explain that you’re not stopping in the middle of the parking lot on purpose you fucking moron just as your savior in the bright yellow vest comes over with the “key” to unlock your cart.

The end.

Busy busy busy! I’m gonna break it down:

Thursday
I worked all day in an air conditioned office. Since Esther was in town and wanted to meet up with her LA peeps, a bunch of us–Annabel Lee, Pauly D., Tamara, Keith, Evan, David and his wife Jamie, Mark and his wife Mindy, CK and Laya, and Amandarin–met up at (where else?) The Cat & Fiddle for dinner and drinks. It was a super fun night and I do believe a good time was had by all.

Friday
I took the day off so Esther and I checked out Venice Beach and enjoyed the absolutely beautiful weather and walked around the (LA version of) a boardwalk. (See pics below.) [Ed. note: Apparently, on the east coast, their boardwalks are made of boards. Whatever. Picky picky.] That night, I dropped Esther off at Annabel Lee’s, where they headed to shul and I went home to work on a project for a client. After working for a bit, I made my way back to Annabel Lee’s for a delicious Shabbat dinner with Esther, Tamara, Joel, and Charlie. Lots of wine and fun conversation. Good times.

Saturday
Woke up entirely too early to go to the middle of Topanga Canyon to see a client at 9:30. Got home, ran some errands, then headed back out to hang with Esther while Annabel Lee was at the emergency room having her fractured toe looked at. Ouch! Read all about how her rocking chair attacked her.

On the way back to my apartment, a man old enough to be my father motioned for me to open my window and the following exchange took place:

Man: You know what it means when a woman plays with her hair?
Me: What? I can’t hear you.
Man: Do you know what it means when a woman plays with her hair?
Me: No, what?
Man: It means she’s looking for looooooove.

Note to self: Stop playing with hair while in car.

Saturday night found us intending to go for sushi, but due to time constraints and lack of parking, we ended up having dinner at the IMPROV prior to the show. [Ed. note: Should you find yourself dining at the IMPROV, the three of us highly recommend the nachos.] The line-up was great, and included Tammy Pescatelli from Last Comic Standing and headliner Joe Rogan, who is way shorter than I imagined him and has majorly buff arms. Who knew?

Sunday
Woke up at noon then attempted to do laundry but one of our washing machines decided to quit accepting quarters. Not willing to go to work naked tomorrow, my adventurous self decided to try out the laundromat around the corner. And what do you know?! There was a) easy parking; b)not a homeless person to be found; c) four TVs; d) a bunch of video games, including Ms. Pac-Man; e) Internet access; f) soda and coffee machines; g) cute men. And check this out–the wash cycle only takes 20 minutes.

Now it’s time to be a lazy bum.

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Who wants to write a story? And to all the new people, how did you get here?

And on a totally unrelated, updated note, I see lightning and hear thunder. What gives?

Tonight I decided to put my Magnolia Bakery cookbook to the test and make the black bottom cupcakes I keep hearing about.

Basically, they’re a chocolate cupcake with a cream cheese “filling” on the top. From my research, it appears they do not have frosting because of the rich and creamy top part. Think cheesecake-like. Fortunately for me, I don’t like cheesecake.

Because I haven’t actually seen a black bottom cupcake in years, I have no idea if mine look the way they’re supposed to. In fact, they’re kinda ugly. But here they are. I’ll let ya know what my guinea pigs say tomorrow.

Cool: Esther pointed out the new Google blog search. And apparently lots of you have been using it to get here. So, welcome!

Blog: As you may have noticed, I added a new pull-down menu–now you can view posts by category. Kinda nifty save for the fact I can’t seem to get the list to alphabetize. Can you help me fix that? I’ll be your best friend. Or bake you cookies. Or at least post of a photo of cookies I baked.

Photos: If you put a photo on Flickr with a person in it, it gets twice as many views as the photos without. Who knew?

TV: I have 15 hours of shows to watch (and no time to watch them) on my TiVo. Do you have a new fave this season?

Question: Does anyone know of a good yet inexpensive place to buy talit in Los Angeles (or online)? My Little’s bat mitzvah is in November and her mom doesn’t have much money, so I was thinking of surprising them with one. Any suggestions are much appreciated.

Stupid Commercial: I am soooo sick of hearing the radio commercials that are supposed to sound like three people are sitting around chatting about a tv show when actually it’s a horrible commercial for what’s probably going to be a stupid show. Has anyone else heard these?

Coming Up: Adventures with fried olives and unisex restrooms in the Valley. Like, ohmigod. Stay tuned.

Site of the Week: All Cupcakes, All The Time

I was originally invited by JAB and her dad to join them for dinner while they were in town for business. Then, JAB and her dad were invited by some business acquaintances from a studio to join them for dinner. So, in the end, I was taken out, with JAB and her dad, by some very nice studio peeps. Okay, now that that’s out of the way, here are the details.

JAB mentioned we were going to dinner at a place called Firefly in (gasp) The Valley. [Ed. note: Meg, I think it's in your 'hood. Have you been? Delish!] I looked it up on Citysearch and informed JAB that a) They have fried olives; and b) The restrooms are unisex. Should be fun.

We arrived at the restaurant, sans visible sign (oh so LA) and there were about 30 (okay, 7) valets all dressed in grey waiting to take our ride. For some reason, they looked kinda funny standing there and that made us laugh, but whatever, sometimes when we’re together we revert back to being kids. Anyway, the inside of the bar area is super cool–the walls are lined with books (yes they’re real–JAB checked) and there are super comfy sofas and ottomans to relax on. As JAB’s dad pointed out, the decor looks a bit like the Magic Castle (where by the way, if you’ve never been, you must visit). We had drinks as we waited for the rest of our party (stuck in traffic), then when they joined us, we went into the dining area which is a bit trippy. It’s super dark, and sorta indoors but not really. I think there is one (?) wall that is open, and the ceiling has slats in it so air comes in (they let people smoke in the dining room, which was annoying). One of the walls had dozens of candles on it, and each table has a huge candle, which is much needed in order to read the menu.

On to the food–JAB and I started off with the fried olives (don’t knock it till you try it) and they were superb. They came with a garlic aioli dipping sauce, which was okay, but then again, I’m not a mayonnaise fan. For our main courses, I had the free range chicken–marinated in something delicious–with white corn. JAB had the filet mignon which she also thoroughly enjoyed. (I can’t remember what everyone else got, but I do know that all of five of us liked our meals.) We also had some fries that were floating around the table. Totally stuffed but still wanting dessert (Weight Watchers? Points? What’s that?), we ordered not one, but two desserts to share between the um, two of us–chocolate cake with chocolate gelato and vanilla gelato with a warm caramel sauce and espresso poured over it. Oh. My. God. JAB and I got creative and ate the rich chocolate cake with the vanilla gelato and just about died.

As a side note, the bathrooms are unisex (think Ally McBeal) and it was a bit annoying having to put the toilet seat down before I could pee. Other than that, the place rocked and I would love to go on a date there (um, any takers?). The only thing is, I think it would be kinda strange to be in the bathroom at the same time as my date, so timing is of the essence. And please don’t ask me why I’m concerned about the whole bathroom thing. I just am.

Major thanks to JAB and her dad, as well as the kind guys at WB, for dinner. I had a lovely time.

And in totally unrelated to delicious food news, no, I did not feel the earthquake. I did however, hear the window rattling and guessed it was an earthquake. My senses are totally working overtime.

Friday after work, I hit Off Broadway and got a pair of really cute Nine West shoes–black, pointy toe, low heel. I love them. That night I read some of my homework then caught up a bit on my TiVo’d shows.

Saturday I spent the entire day in the Valley. I started off by shedding my security blanket and had five inches cut from my hair. This was a very difficult thing for me to do, and I am still completely surprised that I didn’t cry. I love the cut, and am trying to get used to the length–I’m sure when I wash it tomorrow morning it will feel even stranger.

Following the chop, I met up with a friend and we hit the mall (I got a purse) then we had dinner. Nice and mellow night, just like I needed. Except for the part where, around 12:30 a.m., I went to sleep to the sounds of my apparently-not-gay-neighbor’s lady friend screaming OhmygodOhmygodOhmygod, OhmygodOhmygodOhmygod, OhmygodOhmygodOhmygod. Ugh.

Sunday I woke up an hour before my alarm, thanks to OhmygodOhmygodOhmygod lady whom I would later see doing the walk of shame in her club outfit, carrying her heels. After that, I picked my Little up from Sunday School and we headed over to Dodger Stadium. Our seats rocked–free infield boxes and preferred parking. [Ed. note: See the blond woman with the kid in her lap in the picture? The guy sitting next to her caught a pop-up. Bare handed.]

The next four hours were spent watching the game responding to questions and statements such as, How many outfits does each player have? Do they throw them away? How much does it cost to wash them? How old is Dodger Stadium? How much could someone buy it for? How much does each player make? What is a contract? What is a free agent? Does he get a raise if he gets a lot of points? Why is it called a run instead of a point? What is that yellow pole? If we caught a ball, how much would it be worth? How many days do the players spend together? Why aren’t there any women? Can I have ice cream? I don’t think it’s fair the Dodgers don’t get to hit again. Yeah, I’ve got four hours worth of those. Right now, I am dying for an adult conversation.

It’s been a while, and this one isn’t majorly exciting, but it’s another good example of a terrible email:

wow, i was so impressed by your profile. its so nice to read a womans profile that has some substance. not your boring looking for mr right.

(his name)
coffee?

Lovely exhibit, eh?

And speaking of Jdate, what’s up with the stupid question on the main page: Who would you most like to sit next to on a plane? Someone please explain to me how this question is relevent to my dating life. Or anyone’s dating life for that matter.

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Top search term of the week: lauren sanchez

Who wants to write a story? And to all the new people, how did you get here?

TV: Did anyone else catch the season premiere of Curb? I loved it, especially the high holiday ticket scalping part. And, The Amazing Race wasn’t as bad as I had expected it to be for a family version. What’d you all think?

Music: Okay, this is way cool. Adam Gardner of Guster and Dave Schneider of The Zambonis started a band called The LeeVees and made a whole rock album of Hanukkah songs called Hanukkah Rocks. I kid you not. Songs include: Latke Clan, Applesauce vs. Sour Cream, Goyim Friends, and more. Definitely check it out.

(Other People’s) Dating: Blaire is “kind of” living with her boyfriend of um, a few weeks. I, on the other hand, am not. Nor do I have a boyfriend of a few weeks to live with, but whatever. Details, details.

And in other news, my sister’s friend and her now-husband are this week’s Jdate success story. (The couple on the main page–Randi and Josh.)

Cupcakes: I tried Sprinkles, and well, not only did the cupcake not have sprinkles (it had a funky design made of fondant), it tasted quite similar to my cupcakes with buttercream frosting. Definitely not worth the $3.25 I paid for it.

More cupcakes: Saturday night I am attending a dinner party to help celebrate a friend’s one year anniversary of being sober. Sobersary, perhaps? I was thinking of making the vanilla cupcakes in mini muffin tins. I’ll post pics, I promise.

Drinks: Due to popular demand–Drinks With Bloggers, Part 2. I will be sending out an evite before the holidays, so if you live in the area and want to go but weren’t on the previous evite, email me and I’ll add you. Right now, I’m thinking either the last or second to last Wednesday of October, so keep your calendars open.

Random: I bought this cotton candy scented body spray because at the store it smelled good. Right now, not so much. Any minute now I should be attacked by a swarm of bees.

Blog: Tomorrow marks the two year anniversary of this here blog. Pretty cool, eh?

Site of the Week: Shofar Idol. An early Shana Tova to all my fellow Jews out there. And to the non-Jews, expect traffic to be light on Tuesday.

The day after a fire, the sunrises are always amazing.