Saw a really good show at UCB with Karrin. Unfortunately, one of the stars, Jeff Garlin, was super out of it (drunk? high?). Went to the beach with Jen. Went to Milk with my sister and had some really yummy desserts.

Spent a long weekend in San Diego where I baked a gazillion Passover desserts and spent time with family and friends and went to seders. Had brunch with Julie (who is pregnant with baby number three, congratulations!) at the Shack, where we would go when we’d ditch class in high school. After Passover, went to Mozza with three fabulous women. And attended a good-bye party for a friend who is moving up north.

Speaking of friends, I learned that reading a friend’s friend’s blog may lead to reading something I didn’t really care to know. And also, that if someone is a true friend, they will help, not hurt, you. And they’d eventually get around to responding to an IM.

Got my candy swap package! Speaking of candy, anyone know where you can buy Pineapple Lumps in the U.S.? Had a marshmallow recipe failure. Had much more success with flourless chocolate-walnut cookies and chocolate chip sour cream pound cake.

Got a couple of texts and phone calls from the Brit all promising “I’ll call you” and/or “we’ll get together soon” just before he got hit by The Bus. Learned I am capable of not obsessing and not driving myself crazy with thoughts of “will he call?” and more importantly, that if he doesn’t call, amazingly, the world won’t end. More recently, went on a few dates, including a second one at the Getty (where the weather was gorgeous and the date was eh). Also, had a fun first date with yet another unemployed writer.

Received a letter from XM Radio saying if I sign up for automatic debit (for an annual subscription, weird, yes I know) I would get a $12.95 credit to my account. So, my $77 a year subscription just went down to $64.05. Not bad, huh?

Got back into exercising regularly and eating well and, with a little help from Passover, lost a few pounds.

Had a really bad four days where I tried to limit my crying to while in the shower only. Entertained the idea of going to pastry school. Thought about moving to San Diego once things filter out at work; more on that later. Speaking of work, remember that crazy deadline I had a couple of months ago? Currently going through it again, this time for first quarter 2008; not fun.

Realized that some of my blog readers are fabulous people who actually care about me; learned some of my blog readers think I am selfish for not blogging. And also, there is a plugin that will automatically upgrade Wordpress and it is awesome. And as a bonus, did you know you can now post videos to Flickr?
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Yes, I know, random stuff, totally out of order, and not very detailed. And of course, it’s only some of what I’ve been up to. The last month has provided a lot of introspection as well as re-evaluation of a friendship. And blog-wise, I was surprised to find that I didn’t miss blogging as much as I thought I would. I’m not sure if that means I needed a break, or perhaps this blog has lived its life. I guess we’ll see.

Email #1
thinks you are enchanting~! heartstopping ravishing~! breathtaking~!intrigued….ps..we live 5 mins apart~!aroma cafe for coffee?

Since when is the Valley five minutes from Hollywood? Even on a good day, it takes at least 12 minutes to go through the canyon. And even weirder, he wouldn’t know I live in Hollywood because my profile says Los Angeles. Whatever.

Email #2
His email:
Hi, I’m Xxxx. You’re a gorgeous lady, and your profile really resonated with me. I’d like to get to know you.

My response:
Thanks for the email, but I don’t think we’re a good match. Good luck with your search!

His response:
That’s for damn sure.

These men are 16 and 17 years my senior, respectively.

First, some background. Jdate has this thing called Clicks. Basically, if you think someone’s profile is cool you click yes on this little heart thing. And if they think your profile is cool, they click yes. And if you both click yes to each other, then you see two little hearts next to each other (aww) and receive a click email. So, I clicked yes for this guy, he clicked yes for me, I sent him a flirt (free way to correspond), and he wrote this back:

Hi,
Your profile is sweet and your pictures are cute. I have to say though, much of my profile was written by my very generous friends. I’m really 5′ 6″* although the rest of the profile is under-embellished (or at least subjective).

Who actually believes his “friends” wrote his profile? Not I.

*His profile said he was my height, 5′9″.

My subscription ends this week, so these two will have to tide you over until I’m feeling brave again. Hold on tight, these are scary.

Email #1

Hello
How are you doing today,hope you are doing fine..I must tell you that your profile is worth a million glance….Am [Xxxxxx] by name am in Marketing….Am a man of 40 years old with a son,whose name is [Zzzzzz]…….currently am Divorced and looking forward to meet a woman that will possess at least few of my qualities….That is loyalty,Humble,Honest,GOD fearing,Caring,ETC
Finally,i would be highly honored if you can admit me as your friend….And also tell me more about yourself…This is my personal email address [Xxxxxxx]@yahoo.com please reply to my personal email address…… If you have a yahoo id please send it along so that i can add you to my friend list…….i believe through that medium it will be faster to get to know more about each other.
Hope to hear from you

Email #2

hello my name is [Wwwwww]i am new at the site and found your profile and loved what i saw in there i think we coulg get to know more about each other….i want a lady for a long term relationship ….i mean someone i can feel and touch someone that can care about me and share love together with me…….i want to fall in love again……………….
…..contact me at my email [Wwwwww]@yahoo.com if uve got im so we can have some chart and get to know each other we can start from there

Now, must you really ask why I’m not in a huge rush to renew my subscription? And what’s with the ellipsis and IM requests?

My Almost Fifteen Minutes of Fame
Thursday morning I received an email via my blog from a producer at The Early Show on CBS saying that she thought I would be the perfect voice for a piece on “non-Jews on JDate with the larger story of Jewish people intermarrying in general.” Other interviewees include two non-Jewish people who use JDate, a rabbi who will offer his opinion on non-Jewish people using JDate and talk about why he thinks it is important that Jewish people marry other Jewish people, the CEO of JDate and possibly an author.

After much consideration, I turned it down for a variety of reasons, but I am anxious to watch the segment. And I referred the producer to a few people I know so there is a chance of seeing some familiar faces when it airs February 4. Stay tuned!

Date
Thursday night was date number two with The Professor. We went for Indian food in Beverly Hills. The restaurant looked really cool, but the food was just sort of eh, kinda like the night itself. The Professor is a really nice guy, but we don’t really have much in common and there is zero chemistry. It was a pleasant night, just nothing special. Oh well.

Friday
Came home from work exhausted, made dinner, watched TV, then fell asleep before 11:00. That’s it.

Saturday
Slept in then saw Juno with Karrin at the new Landmark theater at Westside Pavilion. The theater is just like the Arclight–you get an assigned seat and there are no commercials. The only somewhat sucky thing is that you can’t print your tickets at home, you have to go to a kiosk. Aside from the that, it’s a cool theater and there is a Barnes and Noble about two feet away. Anyway, the movie was awesome! It’s one of those I know I’ll end up buying and won’t get tired of watching.

Saturday night I was supposed to have dinner with my friend Hilary. While I was in the movie, she left me a voicemail saying she got a last minute invite to the SAG awards (!) and was running around the city trying to find a dress and needed to get a manicure and pedicure and all that stuff. We’re going to reschedule for a night that isn’t the eve of the only awards ceremony that people are actually attending.

Since I had the night to myself, I decided to be somewhat productive and went to the hardware store and bought a wrench so I could put my new license plates on my car. When did license plates start fastening with bolts instead of screws? Silly. As am I, because after 15 minutes, I still couldn’t figure out how to put the stupid plates on. A new (and cute) neighbor offered his help, and even between the two of us, we couldn’t figure it out. Finally, after stepping away and coming back, I got it. All by myself.

It should also be noted that my new neighbor’s car, as well as two other cars in the garage, got broken into around midnight on Friday. The really bummer part is that the break-ins could possibly have been prevented as a bunch of us called our building manager numerous times during the past week to tell him the garage wouldn’t close. For whatever reason, he never got around to fixing it. Miraculously, he was able to fix it around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday; go figure. I felt really badly for my new neighbor (who by the way, is a writer from NY), as he just moved in a week ago.

The rest of my exciting night was spent spackling over nail holes in the wall (a 101 in 1001 item), browsing the new cookbook I bought earlier in the day, and watching TV and hoping the power wouldn’t get knocked out because of the crazy winds.

Sunday
Slept in yet again then went into the garage to do laundry and bumped into the new neighbor while I was in my pajamas with my hair in a ponytail and no makeup on. Figures. The majority of the day was spent on the couch (watching horrible shows such as something on a DirecTV channel about three girls who go on a road trip to meet people from online, yes seriously, as well as a show about a bridal boutique) in said pajamas, until about 4:00 when I decided it might be a good time to actually take a shower.

That night, Jami, Jenn, and Nanette ditched their husbands (and kids) for dinner and drinks at Simon LA. We all ordered (side note: it’s crazy dark in that place, good luck reading the menu) off the Dine LA menu–can you guess which dessert I chose? The service and food (appetizer, entree, dessert) were both outstanding, as was the company. It was so much fun to talk to a group of girls about fondant and baking and really horrible reality TV and it was a really lovely night. Nanette took pictures of everything we ate, so stay tuned for a link shortly. And Jenn sent us home with goodie bags of homemade mini donuts that are the cutest thing I’ve seen in quite a while!
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Also over the weekend, I found myself at three different grocery stores in search of Kraft Caramel Bits. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find them anywhere and am beginning to wonder if they’re not available on the west coast. Has anyone seen these at their market? If so, where do you live, and would you possibly want to mail me some?

At 9:33 a.m., a Jdate guy emailed me this:

Hello,

I enjoyed reading your profile this morning. You definitely possess a passion and zest towards life. You also express yourself very passionately and effectively. That is very rare and hard to find in a woman today. I would truly enjoy getting to know you.

Warmest regards,
XXXX

At 3:55 p.m., I read it, checked out his profile (out of my age range and out of town, among other things), and responded with:

Thanks for your email, but I don’t think we’re a good match. Good luck with your search!

At 4:16 p.m., he responded with:

I agree with you as well. After taking another look at your profile, I don’t think we would make a good match either. I do not think we share the same positive outlook in life. The best of luck to you.

What a difference 21 minutes makes. Don’t you just love Jdate?

Last night I went to Taste with my cousin and my aunt. Great food (mac and cheese with truffle oil, among other things) and super fun conversation, as always. And my former neighbor was our server so we had stellar service. After dinner, they headed over to The Jazz Bakery for a show, but I went home and crashed.

Tonight I am supposed to meet Kristin of Better Now. Years ago, she wrote a now-defunct blog and was one of my first readers. I can not wait to meet her!
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In dating news, the guy I went to The Arsenal with (let’s call him The Professor, because well, he is one) asked me out again and I accepted. We’re getting together next week.

Earlier this week, The Googler and I both said we’d like to hang out again and since then, we’ve exchanged a bunch of silly two sentence emails with no mention of a date. I don’t know how I’m supposed to respond to some of them, because it’s not like he asks anything, they’re just random links and thoughts. I kind of get the feeling he just wants to correspond via email rather than see me in person again, which isn’t something I’m interested in and don’t really understand the point of. Unlike chocolate and peanut butter (yep, I baked again), email and dating do not go well together.

It should also be noted that both The Professor and The Googler are musicians, and the Googler is also an aspiring writer. Big surprise, huh? At least he’s not a comic.
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In TV news, I am so behind in my Tivo, so please don’t tell me anything about Project Runway. Or anything else that is on on Wednesdays for that matter.
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Have my fellow Scrabulous fans seen this? Waah.
- - -
Radar has a post about the picket lines being the new way to meet (unemployed) men. They obviously don’t frequent Jdate, because I’ve been meeting unemployed writers that way for quite a while.
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Saturday is take two at Disneyland with my Little. I think it’s supposed to be in the 60s and sunny, so it should be a good day to visit Mickey. The last time I was at Disneyland was for The Ex’s fraternity formal (also the first time I ever had my hair straightened at a salon), and we fought the entire night following the party. It was a miserable trip and I am looking forward to making new Disneyland memories, even if they are with a 14-year-old.
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Remember how I lost my Bluetooth? Well, it turns out I lost my camera battery too. They were both in the same pocket of my purse, and now I’m wondering if someone ganked them. It’s not usual for me lose stuff like that, and I’m totally bummed.

Speaking of my camera, I discovered it has a macro setting, so now I can take pictures of the stuff I bake and it won’t be blurry (see above). Duh. I guess I didn’t read the manual thoroughly.
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This week’s question: Have you ever had/considered plastic surgery? If so, what procedure?

Friday
Came home from work and fought with my neighbors for the washing machines. Who knew Friday nights were so popular for laundry? Did a couple of loads, had dinner, and watched my new favorite horrible reality show, Miss America Reality Check. I still don’t exactly get the whole point of the show, it’s not like they’re picking Miss America, so why is it on?

Saturday
Slept in then headed out to the Valley for a mani/pedi and hair cut and color. I chopped off another two inches (!) and went darker. My natural color is close to black, and while I don’t want to go there, I was just getting tired of the light brown with blond highlights. I’m still getting used to it.

That evening, Jen and I had dinner, saw P.S. I Love You, and went for drinks. The movie was good, but of course, nowhere as good as the book. I think I cried throughout the entire book, and only found myself tearing up twice during the movie. And Jeffrey Dean Morgan with an Irish accent? Sucked.

Sunday
Slept in again then ran errands, including one that crossed something off my 101 list–I finally took my jar of coins to Coinstar at the CVS in West Hollywood. The machine has an option now that if you choose a gift card (rather than cash), you get the full amount back. So, I cashed in $19.07 in coins (mostly pennies) and now have an Amazon gift certificate for that amount. Pretty cool. It should also be noted that CVS had a display of Easter candy. In January. What the fuck? The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging around and cleaning.

Sunday night, I met a new Jdate guy for drinks at The Well. As luck would have it, they were closed for a private party, so I suggested The Woods instead. As we were talking about the bar, a guy in the parking garage overheard our conversation and said he worked at The Woods, and after a few minutes of chatting with him, we discovered they were opening late. Apparently the private party at The Well was for all of their employees at all four of their bars, including The Woods. Of course. So instead, we ended up at (where else?) the Cat and Fiddle down the street.

Over a few hours, we had two rounds of drinks, shared some food, and had fun and interesting conversation. At one point, I was telling him about my Little and he referred to the award I was honored with last year. I asked him how he knew about that, because I didn’t remember sharing that information with him (and my immediate thought was that he had found my blog, which I’m still not 100% sure he hasn’t, so if you’re reading, then um, hi!), and he said he Googled me (he knew my first and last name). I was more than a little surprised, and thought it was really funny that right when I give up Googling, my Jdate Googles me. The date ended with The Googler giving me a hug, and honestly, I have no idea if he is interested in going out again. I thought he was nice and funny and cute, and if he asks me out again, I would go. If he doesn’t, then at least I had a fun Jdate.

And now I need to go to bed because it’s almost midnight and I have to wake up in about six hours.

If you live in San Francisco and are interested in architecture, food, fashion, art, or local stuff (schtuff I suppose), then check out San Francisco Shtuff. My sister’s friend Jillian is writing for it so go visit and say hello!
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My baking blog is more popular than this blog now. Am I really that boring? Or are my baked goods just that good?
- - -
Tuesday’s date was…nice, but not riveting or anything. We met at The Arsenal and had a drink, decent conversation, and then took off, all within an hour. If only all Jdates could be so easy. (As an aside, they had lights on! It wasn’t pitch black inside! I asked the bartender what was up, and he said they decided to make it a little brighter in there. Yay!) Anyway, until I received an email (what’s up with the second date emails?) from him yesterday in which he invited me out again, I thought it was obvious that neither of us was terribly interested in the other. Whoops.

In other Jdate news, I spoke to a new Jdate boy on the phone last night and we made plans to have drinks on Sunday. He mentioned he went to the same college as Julie and about half of my high school, so we played a quick game of Jewish geography. Turns out one of his best friends is a guy I went to Hebrew school with. Small world! Dare I say I’m excited to meet him? Think good thoughts please!
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In TV new, yay for new TV! My Tivo is so happy and content now that it has Law & Order, Big Medicine, and Project Runway to record. And how about The Amazing Race? I was so glad TK and Rachel didn’t get eliminated. Last night was apparently the season finale of The Real World, which my Tivo did not record. Fortunately (unfortunately?) MTV seems to replay that show constantly so I can catch it another day. What are you currently watching?
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In other news, January is National Mentoring Month, who knew? Now is as good a time as any to check out your local mentoring program. Trust me, it’s an amazing feeling! If you have any questions about being a Big Sister, feel free to email me.
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This week’s question: Do you volunteer? If so, what do you do? If not, what would you like to do?

This weekend, the plan was to go to happy hour with Randi on Friday, take my Little to Disneyland on Saturday, and do laundry and other exciting stuff on Sunday. Thanks to the rain, that’s not how the weekend went down.

Friday afternoon at work, we received [a very unusual] email from our CEO stating that the office would close early due to the expected rain/floods/mudslides/end of the world. Apparently, he wanted us to get home before southern California turned into one big traffic jam. Yay! But boo, because that meant I would have to sit around an empty office for more than an hour before I could meet up with Randi, so we rescheduled our drinks for another night. So instead, I decided to go to Target. I figured the place would be a zoo, considering Trader Joe’s was crazy the night before. I had not seen TJ’s that crowded since the grocery strike of 2003–it was insane. Anyway, Target was empty and I did my shopping, came home, immediately changed into PJs, and spent most of the night on the couch watching really warbled TV (anyone else watch Miss America Reality Check?) thanks to the wind and my DirecTV satellite.

Saturday, I stayed in my PJs until about 5:00 and got so much done–I cleaned, did laundry, watched more TV, paid bills, stalked exes on MySpace and Facebook (MySpace is much better for stalking, if you must know), shredded and recycled bills, and caught up on the phone with my friend up in Seattle. Then I got dressed and picked up my sister before heading out to eat (California Chicken Cafe in case you care) and then to see Atonement (great film, no I didn’t read the book) at the Arclight with the half of Hollywood that actually went out in the rain. I have never seen the parking garage that crowded before, there was a line to get in! On our way back home after the movie, Sunset was nearly empty; it’s like LA shut down the minute it started drizzling.

Sunday I had very long overdue outing with my Little. We bought stuff to make memory albums, had some photos printed at Target, then went to lunch at Daphne’s where she inquired about my new boyfriend. Apparently her friend that I bumped into on Christmas Day told her how she saw me with the Dancing Hairstylist and assumed he was my boyfriend. I told her we were no longer dating and she asked why. I just told her he wasn’t for me; I figure she’s still too young to tell her what she has to look forward to. After lunch, we went to the Beverly Connection to check out Old Navy and Steve & Barry’s (junk) then my Little requested ice cream from Coldstones. Fortunately, I was too cold to even consider eating it. Side note, we looked in the windows of this random looking place (see photo to the left). Anyone know what it is?

After dropping my Little off at home, I stopped at the market then came home and baked chocolate caramel brownies and talked to a Jdate guy on the phone. Now I am going to make dinner then plant myself in front of the TV yet again. I love weekends.
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In boy news, the new year’s day dud emailed me the other day asking me out again. I sent him a very nice email in return, thanking him for a nice evening, but that I wasn’t really feeling it. His response? “Yep. I love chicks that yawn on dates.” Nice response for a 37-year-old man. Nevermind the fact that a) he is the one who emailed me to ask me out; and b) it was new year’s day when we met.

In other news, Tuesday night I’m meeting a Jdate boy for drinks and I’m not all that excited. Let’s hope he doesn’t yell at me or call me on a yawn.

I’m so confused as to what day of the week it is because not having to work Tuesday totally threw me off. Let’s play catch up, shall we?

New Year’s Eve was a lot of fun! Nicole had a bunch of us over for dinner and drinks (and champagne Jell-o shots with raspberries that were just soooo good) then we headed over to The Village Idiot to ring in 2008. They had a private one year anniversary/new year’s eve party for their friends and family, and since Nicole is friends with the chef (yes, The Chef), we were on the guest list. It was a fun night, kinda mellow, and celebrated with good friends. What more could I ask for? And no, it was not awkward when I saw The Chef; he wished me a happy new year and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek and it was all good.
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Speaking of boys, on New Year’s Day, I met another eharmony guy. This one didn’t yell at me and actually offered to pay for my dinner and margarita (seriously, like I needed more alcohol at that point), but he was very weird and definitely not for me. It should also be noted that both eharmony guys used the word hot, and not to describe temperature of any kind. The dancing hairstylist said, “Axl Rose used to be hot.” (hello, red flag number one) and the new year’s day dud said, “You live in Hollywood? That is hot!” Seriously. It’s like eharmony is filled with 14-year-old girls.
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In random news, did you know Flickr now offers stats? I had no idea, but I activated mine!
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In TV news, there are new episodes on this week! I’m getting my Law & Order fix (finally!) and am so hoping that TK and Rachel win The Amazing Race. Who are you rooting for? I’m also trying to get into The Biggest Loser, but I think the lack of two solid teams is making it less exciting. Or maybe I’m just over the show.
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In totally random food news, my new favorite store-bought treats are the fleur de sel caramels from Trader Joe’s–both the chocolate and plain caramel varieties. Oh so good! Speaking of sweets, don’t forget about your chance to win cookies, baked by me! And also, click on the picture to the right to check out all the yummy treats I baked in 2007.
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This week’s question: Did you make any new year’s resolutions? If so, what are they?

This weekend was quite productive for a change!

Friday night, I came home from work sneezing and blowing my nose like mad. I figured I was getting sick, so I just took it easy, spoke to the Dancing Hairstylist, and went to bed really early.

Saturday morning I felt a million times better (apparently it was just allergies), so I left a message for the Dancing Hairstylist telling him we’re for sure on, then ran a ton of errands, finally returned the jeans I thought I was in love with, bought a pair of jeans I really am in love with, and bought two tops for $15 each (!) at Express. I also made the dough for World Peace Cookies for New Years Eve, and managed to squeeze in some laundry. Then I showered and got dressed and waited for the stupid football game to end so that the Dancing Hairstylist and I could go to a movie.

And I waited and waited. I played a game of Scrabulous with a girl whose husband was glued to his Wii, then I tried on tops to wear on New Year’s Eve. Then I began getting into my pajamas and the phone finally rang, an hour after the game had ended. The Dancing Hairstylist said he was on his way and would be there shortly.

Everything from that point on went downhill, and the night turned to crap in about five seconds. Highlights included him: making fun of my new car; getting pissy because he spent $2 to park in the Arclight garage without seeing a movie because we got there 10 minutes before it started and only the first row was left; yelling at me for pointing at a stop light/lane/street, because “it’s rude and someone may think you’re pointing at them”; getting mad at me for saying that the passenger seatbelt wouldn’t retract when I unbuckled it; scolding me for eating a late lunch and skipping dinner (while planning on getting a pretzel at the movie we did not see) and insisting I will have a diabetic episode because of it (seriously…huh?); suggesting “you get the first round, and I’ll get the second round” at the bar, after inviting me out on a date; refusing to put the heater on in the car, because “the inside temperature is 65 degrees already, what do you want me to do, sweat?”. And there’s more, but I’ll spare you the details because my head hurts just thinking about the night.

Sunday morning, I slept in then got to baking for New Year’s Eve. I made chocolate cupcakes with pink buttercream frosting and silver dragees, and baked the World Peace cookies. The cupcakes taste good, but the frosting is a huge mess–I apparently over-beat it, causing it to get too much air, thus making it nearly impossible to pipe and then sort of deflate. I’m kind of embarrassed to bring them, but I’m hoping to redeem myself with the World Peace cookies.
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In other boy news, I didn’t mention this when it happened, but I was kissed by a boy with a girlfriend (who knows I know he has a girlfriend), and who split from his ex-wife because she cheated on him. I’ll never understand guys.

DG met a girl he really likes. And even though I don’t want to be with him, hearing him tell me he met someone made my heart hurt a little.
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And finally, I hope everyone has a very fun and safe New Year’s Eve. See ya in 2008!

I went down to San Diego last Friday night to celebrate my dad’s birthday and a belated Hanukkah with the family. The drive down was awesome–very little traffic, and I got to spend time in my new car! The weekend was a lot of fun and I ate more in those couple days than I think I ate in the entire week prior. Stuffed. Myself. Silly. I also got to see Julie’s beautiful new house and ate about a dozen of the delicious cookies she had just made.

On the drive back to LA, the outdoor temperature display on my car went wonky and kept saying it was 75 degrees outside at 8:00 at night. It was actually somewhere around 55 or 60. Then my ipod went black and kept scrolling “connect to power” and when I connected it to my car charger, nothing happened. Same thing when I connected it to the computer via the USB. Finally, I tried the wall charger (that did not come with the iPod) and that worked. All three ways of charging used the same USB cord, so I don’t know why only the wall outlet charge took. Any ideas?
- - -
A while back, I found a three months for the price of one coupon for eharmony and decided to give it a go. For the past two and a half months, I had no matches that were even remotely interesting (they kept trying to set me up with people in Colorado–what the hell?). Then I matched with a local guy and we went through Dr. Warren’s stupid process and finally exchanged emails and decided to meet up on Christmas Eve.

We met on the westside for Chinese food and a late night drink and made plans to hang out again on Christmas Day. So, while you were opening presents and celebrating Christmas, we went bowling (he won the first game, I won the second game) in the Valley then for deli at Canter’s (where I bumped into my Little’s best friend and her mom). Both dates were a lot of fun and I am looking forward to hanging out with him again on Saturday night. As for a nickname, my friend and I already started calling him the Dancing Hairstylist because yes, he does hair, and yes, he teaches dance. And yes, he is straight. And while it was kinda cool to be able to talk about flat irons on a date, it was definitely a little odd.

Also, we somehow ended up on the subject of batting cages and he didn’t believe that I could hit a fast pitch (but I can!) so we ended up betting dinner on it. One of these days he’s going to owe me. Stay tuned.
- - -
That’s it for now. I’m back at work tomorrow (waaah) and already looking forward to the weekend. I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas/wonderful day off.

This weekend, I was originally planning on going to Randi and Michael’s Hanukkah party on Saturday night and take my Little to the annual bowling party on Sunday afternoon. Then plans changed, and I was going to go down to San Diego to celebrate Hanukkah with my family and leave my car with my dad to sell. Of course, I did none of the above. Instead, my weekend went like this.

Friday
Went to Off Broadway and bought a pair of tall black boots that I’m going to return. I didn’t like them when I got home.

Later that night, I received an email from a Jdate guy I had been corresponding with inviting me to the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas concert (which is nothing close to acoustic, FYI) on Saturday night. It should be noted that said Jdate is friends with Nicole, and I met him very briefly almost a year ago when a bunch of us had dinner at the restaurant he works at as a chef. Anyway, I originally told him I was going down to SD but then I spoke to my mom who said, No! Go to the concert with the nice Jewish boy. So, I asked if the invitation was still open, and it was. Yay!

Saturday
Slept in then received a phone call from a man super interested in buying my car. Made plans for him to come look at it Sunday afternoon.

Cleaned my apartment and ran errands then tried to figure out what to wear to the show, taking into consideration that a) it was a first date and b) we were going to be standing for hours while seven bands performed. I opted for the layered look because I thought it would be freezing outside and hot inside the amphitheater, so I decided on a long sleeve t-shirt, a short sleeve t-shirt, a sweater, and jeans and Converse. Of course, the amphitheater was ice cold and even with my three layers, I was still shivering. (Do you guys even care about this? I thought not.)

Since The Chef had VIP tickets given to him by a customer, we went early for the free food and drinks in the VIP area. It was nice, and we chatted for a bit with the customer who graciously gave him the tickets. We missed most of Paramour’s set because we were enjoying the free drinks, so I can’t really comment on them. Angels and Airwaves was well, Angels and Airwaves. They just sound exactly like Blink to me; maybe I’m missing something. Avenged Sevenfold was my least favorite, and also seemed to be a popular time for a bathroom break. Serj Tankian was a trip and a half, but sounded just like System of a Down. Rise Against was good too, but kinda loud (maybe I’m getting old?). Anyway, my favorite band of the night was Bad Religion, as expected. They are great live and never disappoint. The headlining band, Linkin Park, was good, but I’ve never seen them live and I’m not a huge fan so I don’t really have much to compare them to. The Chef really liked them though.

After the show, The Chef drove me home and came upstairs to chat. After a couple of hours, we hugged goodnight and I got one of those half cheek, half lip kisses, and I’m not sure which one he intended to kiss. I think he’s very cool and nice and if he is interested, I wouldn’t mind getting to know him some more. And if he’s not interested, at least it was a fun night.

Sunday
Slept in until 11:00 (!) then ran errands and did laundry, all while waiting for the interested car guy to call me back. I finally called him and he’s no longer interested. Grrr. Frustrated, I then decided to bake cookies and of course, they turned out to be a disappointment (another Dorie recipe!). Now, I’m going to clean up and try to enjoy the rest of my evening!
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In other news, I am now halfway through my goal of wearing my hair naturally curly for two weeks in a row. Yes, that means I wore it curly on my date, which is something I haven’t done in years.

Last night my new friend Hilary and I were supposed to go to a fashion show at LA Fashion Week. Unfortunately (or fortunately), we are both employed and neither of us would have been able to check in to the show early enough, so we opted for dinner at Birds instead. So much fun! And thanks to Martini Guy, I am a huge fan of their chicken meatloaf and dirty martinis. Mmm.
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In job news, the company I work for has been purchased by our largest competitor (pending shareholder approval which should be interesting because it’s already being contested). The good news is that the purchase won’t become official for at least another 4-6 months, by which time I should be able to find a new job.
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I’m going up north to visit my friend Sara in a couple of weeks. I am so looking forward to this trip because I need to get out of town big time. Ghirardelli here I come! Other than that, we don’t plan to do any other touristy stuff.
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Does anyone know where to get powdered soy milk in LA? I tried Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and another similar market but they all say they used to carry it but that it’s been discontinued. I want to make a vegan version of the candy corn.
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In TV news, Heidi ate at Cheebo. The restaurant is walking distance from my apartment (have I walked there? um no); how dare she not say hello?
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I had a Jdate Tuesday night at The Village Idiot. Now, as much as I enjoy that place (especially their Pinot Noir), it’s just not conducive to having an actual conversation. It’s entirely too loud. Anyway, he was okay, but talked the entire time and didn’t ask me anything about myself. And, he bragged about producing a certain reality show until I asked if he knew our family friend’s son who was the executive producer on it. Hah. I don’t work in the industry but I can play that stupid game when I need to.
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I think I’m addicted to Scrabulous on Facebook. And I almost lost to a fifteen-year-old. I need to expand my vocabulary.
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Mazel tov to Randi and Michael on their engagement! Have I mentioned before that they met for the first time at a shindig I organized? I feel a tiny bit responsible.
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This week’s question: What is your favorite piece of useless trivia? Mine is “Did you know it’s anatomically impossible to lick your own elbow?”

More like random stuff, but whatever.

I had two moles on my back removed–one itched when clothing tags hit it and the other was really dark which is apparently a bad thing so he said off they come! You guys were right, they didn’t hurt much. Of course, I completely forgot I had one removed about a year and a half ago and it was obviously so not traumatic that I managed to forget about it. I also had a bunch of white bumps (yes, that’s the official name) around my eyes and on my eyelids that he removed. And those actually hurt more than the mole removal. When I asked him what caused them and how I can prevent getting more bumps, he explained that they come with age and there is nothing I can do. Nice. Anyway, everything is being biopsied but there’s nothing to worry about. And he told me, “You have wonderful skin. You don’t go out in the sun much, do you?” Was it my pasty white back that gave that away?

Speaking of the moles, after showering on Saturday, I found myself shedding tears of frustration. I had taken off the bandages that the doctor put on, and the larger of the two scabs started bleeding. I could barely reach the damn thing because it was of course in the middle of my back, and there was no way I would be able to replace the band-aid myself. Sometimes I hate that I’m single and live alone. I messaged my sister in a panic, and she came over and put band-aids on for me so I could get dressed and actually have a productive day and you know, wear a shirt.
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As you know, I am a writer. It’s my day job, it’s what I’m good at, and it’s what I enjoy. As you also know, I like food, hence my baking blog. So, imagine my excitement when I saw a job posting for a food writer! I applied, interviewed (turns out it was for a food blogger! and the office is casual!), was offered the position, and declined it due to the low salary. I was then offered the job at a slightly higher salary, but unfortunately, it is part-time and won’t work out financially. I had to decline it. Again. My heart sort of broke. Fortunately, it was only the first job I interviewed for, and hopefully, there will be many more interviews to come.
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In other news, I did five million loads of laundry, ran errands including Target with my sister, updated Wordpress on my baking blog, slept a lot, caught up on TV, made candy corn and oatmeal sandwich cookies, and had a very relaxing weekend. And oh yeah, I had a date with a boy I met last week while Hurrydating. Oh, did I neglect to mention went to Hurrydate? Well I did. And while this weekend’s date was nice and obviously interested, unfortunately, I’m not. Please save the “go out with him again” and “give him one more chance” things. Thank you in advance.
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This coming week should be fun! I’m having dinner with Melanie one night, and volunteering at the Big Brothers Big Sisters Poker Tournament another night; should be lots of cute boys there.
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Finally, something is wrong with my blog and there is a very noticeable lag when leaving a comment (and also when doing stuff behind the scenes). My hosting company seems to think it’s something I did, not something they did. Since I haven’t made any changes to anything and it started out of nowhere and they are unwilling to research the issue further, I am looking into switching to a new hosting company that comes highly recommended. However, I need a Wordpress guru to assist me in moving everything over. Let me know if you can help, thanks!

This past week has been rough. There are rumors going around my office that are stressing me out big time (sorry, won’t expand on that quite yet), but suffice it to say my lunch on Friday consisted of very not WW friendly chicken strips and french fries from Trimana while my dinner was a highly delicious yet not very nutritious Caramello bar. And in between those two calorie packed binges, I emptied out six years worth of personal crap from my desk at work, you know, just in case we get word we need to vacate our desks any time soon.
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I’ve never been good at saving money. Sure, I contribute regularly to my retirement accounts (hell, I’ll be able to retire in style!), but my savings account is rarely, if ever, where it should be for a working 33-year-old with a more than decent salary. I’d much rather spend my money on dinner with friends, or new shoes or clothes. Fun? Yes. Smart? Not so much. And so, I’m turning into a stress case. Here’s where I ask you to cross your fingers and hope that everything falls into place for me. I know, could I be more vague? Probably not.
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On a lighter note, Wednesday begins Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. I’m going down to San Diego after lunch that day, and will spend time alternating between being at synagogue and eating delicious food. Thursday night is my parents’ night to host dinner, and we will have about 50 guests in our backyard. Needless to say, my mom has been rolling cabbage like a mad woman, and I made dessert to bring with us for Wednesday night dinner at our friends’ house.
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Speaking of dessert, I made World Peace Cookies that I froze and will bring down to SD and Chipster-Topped Brownies that I’ll bring into the office tomorrow. And in case you were wondering, yes, they are delicious.
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Sunday was date number four with FG. We went for dinner then rented a movie and hung out. He called me Hil for the first time, which made my heart skip a beat. I know, I’m such a sap.
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I’m not sure if I’ll be posting again before I head down to SD. So if I don’t, then Shana Tova to everyone–may you have a happy and healthy new year!

Just a brief post.

I had another just eh Jdate.

I also had a third date with FG last week; it was a lot of fun. Date number four will be sometime after I return from Seattle.
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In baking news, I made mini milk chocolate Bundt cakes that are beyond delicious. Dorie Greenspan’s recipes are amazing.
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September is going to be a crazy busy month. I’ll be in Seattle, then back and forth to SD for the Jewish holidays. Lots of traveling and baking. And hopefully some relaxing thrown in as well!
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I went to WW last week and lost one more pound (-11 total), woohoo!
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Last weekend I had dinner at Ugo in Culver City and it took me until halfway through our meal that I realized I was sitting directly next to a girl I grew up with in SD.

Speaking of Ugo, has anyone been to the wine bar, Vinum Populi, next door? You buy a debit card, insert it in the machine, choose which wine you want a pour(s) of, and you’re good to go. My friend wasn’t feeling well so we didn’t stay, but I definitely want to go back and have some tastes!
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And that’s it. Tomorrow I leave for Seattle and couldn’t be more excited. I’m staying with my cousin, but I’m planning on also visiting one or two friends, and my aunt and uncle will be in town as well. And of course, there’s Bumbershoot! I hope everyone has a wonderful long weekend.

Fifteen minutes before your agreed upon meeting time, your cell phone rings and you have this conversation:

Jdate: Are you there yet?
Me: Um, no, I just left. It’s only 6:45, I thought we weren’t meeting until 7:00.
Jdate: We are, but I’m going to be late, I went the wrong way.

Side note: Tonight’s Jdate is new to LA, so when we spoke last weekend on the phone, I told him the cross streets and to be on the lookout for the House of Blues corporate office sign, as well as the Coffee Bean sign, because the bar is hard to find. I also offered to email him the Citysearch link, but he declined it, saying that he would look it up on his own. It should also be noted he was coming from 15-20 minutes away, just on the other side of the hill.

Me: Where are you?
Jdate: Sunset and La Cienega.
Me: What? Why are you all the way over there?
Jdate: You said it was near the House of Blues.
Me: No, I said it was near the House of Blues corporate office.
Jdate: No, you said the House of Blues.
Me: Trust me, I said look for the House of Blues corporate office sign and the tall office building that says House of Blues at the top. I also said it was next to a Coffee Bean. I thought you were going to look it up?
Jdate: I just wrote down House of Blues because that’s what you said.
Me: I didn’t say that. The House of Blues is in West Hollywood. The Well is in Hollywood. They’re not close to each other.
Jdate: You said look for the House of Blues. So how do I get there?

By this point, I was already annoyed and didn’t want to meet him. I gave him directions to the bar, found a parking spot, then at 7:00, went inside and got myself a drink and sat down. Fifteen minutes later he walks right past me. I briefly debated letting him do a lap around the place but decided to be nice (karma) and tapped him on the shoulder. We said hello and then:

Jdate: You already got a drink?
Me: Well yeah, I’ve been here for 15 minutes.

And it didn’t get any better from there.

Let’s start with TV news: What a good week for Reality TV! The Hills was awesome as usual, and this time, we got to see Heidi’s co-worker say OMG which I just find absolutely hysterical. And does Justin Bobby not remind you of every guy you should not be dating? Ugh, I don’t like him, he’s bad.

Speaking of icky, does anyone else watch Dr. 90210? Um, why would Mike Boogie go on national TV to have a genital wart removed? And why didn’t Dr. Will tell him it might be a good idea to tell all the women he’s slept with, because maybe they now have HPV, and HPV is a leading cause of cervical cancer? I know reality TV’s purpose is not to educate their viewers, but I still think they could have thrown that out there.

In not icky reality TV, I was so surprised by the judge’s decision on Top Chef. I was definitely not expecting that one!

In related to TV news, my DirecTV Tivo seems to be wonky again. It’s recording every single episode, not just first runs, of The Hills and The Real World again. So annoying!
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In crazy news, did you see the articles about how “one in four adults read no books at all in the past year?” Talk about frightening.
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I have a Jdate tonight, think good thoughts!

In other dating news, FG called me last night for the sole purpose of apologizing for not calling like he said he would after our last date, and that he had some not-so-good health stuff going on with family which he dealt with when he went back home. We talked about possibly getting together before I leave for Seattle, but I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.
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Yesterday I talked to my Little’s mom and it appears she finally enrolled her in [hopefully the magnet program at the] high school, nothing like waiting till the last minute. Anyway, during our last outing, my Little told me she was going to Israel for a year in October. When I asked her mom about that, she said that they can’t move there now, because Israel won’t give her money (read: welfare) the way the U.S. does. God forbid she, you know, get a job. As much as I care about my Little, her mother kills me.
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Over the past few months, I have become obsessed with sunomono salads (Japanese cucumber salad, usually with crab). Does anyone have a recipe for the dressing? I looked it up on the internet, but they all vary a bit and I’d like a tried and true one.
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This week’s question: If you could implement any rule, about anything, what would it be?

Recent Jdate correspondences, in their entirety:

Email
[Hilary], I’m like you inside and opposite of you outside. I enjoy being funny and sarcastic, not caustic, sensual and romantic, travel, shopping a fair amount more than most guy’s, working out and all the stuff you listed in your profile.

Are you open to starting a conversation about life, chemistry, lots of love, fizzy lotte milkis, kids and everything?
0:

IM
Hello Boodles. Do you open boxes from out of town?

How To End An Email Exchange
Recently, I exchanged a series of fun, witty emails with a guy on Jdate. While re-reading his profile, I noticed he didn’t answer the questions about religion so I included this in my response:

This might be a stupid question, what with it being Jdate and all, but…are you Jewish? I noticed you put “Will tell you later” in the religion and synagogue boxes. Just a little curious.

I never heard back from him. So much for the J in Jdate.

And Finally
Someone from Jdate’s marketing department emailed me saying that they receive direct hits from my blog (how, I don’t know, considering I never link to them, and when I emailed him back for clarification, his response made no sense), and asked if I would like to participate in their Jdate Affiliate program. (If I were to put their banner ad on my page, I’d get a percentage every time someone subscribed, using the link.) Kinda funny.

Yes, I felt the earthquake last night. And thanks to it, I couldn’t get back to sleep until 3:00 because I kept waiting for a bigger one, so now I’m exhausted. Fortunately, today when I woke up I had an actual voice (for the first time in almost a week). Now if my sore throat will finally go away I’ll be all set.
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Earlier this week, a 26-year-old guy IMd me on Jdate and mentioned that he really likes older women. Ouch.
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For all intents and purposes, FG has been hit by The Bus. I hadn’t heard a peep from him until yesterday, when I received a really lame email saying he meant to call the other night but got busy with work, and that he’s swamped with work this week, and is going out of town next week. (Basically, I received the kind of email I’ve sent to guys I don’t want to go on another date with. Payback? Perhaps.) I was really bummed and a little surprised, I thought the second date had gone really well. I wrote him back, and part of my response included So I get the feeling you’re not interested in hanging out again. Care to confirm or deny? Not surprisingly, I haven’t heard back from him.

In related news, I made Boys Suck Brownies.

And in unrelated to brownies, but related to boys news, this brings me back to the whole mindset thing: If I go into meeting someone unenthusiastic and expecting the worst, people tell me I need to have a better attitude. If I go into meeting someone enthusiastic and expecting good things, I end up disappointed. Which is worse?
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If you’re looking for something to read, or have read something good lately that you’d like to share, check out the latest What Have You Read Lately? post.
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For those of you wondering, I never made it to Meltdown for lunch (instead we went to Nook). I was eating like crap that entire week and didn’t want to mess it up even further by eating grilled cheese. Of course, now I sort of regret not going, considering their Monday through Friday, breakfast/lunch only schedule.
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This weekend, I’m heading down to SD with my sister for some R&R (pool! Del Mar! parents! Julie!) and have plans to meet NJM on Sunday on our way back up to LA, in the late afternoon. My sister is going to visit her friend, and I am going to meet NJM. Interesting side note: When I suggested we meet at a coffee shop, his response was, “I don’t drink coffee.” So I offered up meeting for ice cream instead. Apparently he’s not a fan of that either, as he suggested we just meet at a shopping center with a Gelson’s in it and “go from there.” I’m so not looking forward to meeting him.
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Next weekend, I’m participating in a fundraising decathlon event that a friend’s friend is putting together. We’re doing a scavenger hunt then a little olympic style event (think egg toss and three-legged race). I’m hoping I don’t embarrass myself too much.
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This week’s question: What is your middle name? Does it have special meaning?

I knew the going out too much and not sleeping enough was going to catch up with me eventually. And it did, specifically at 2 a.m. Saturday morning.

Thursday
Straight from the office, I made my way to Ann-Marie and Jeremy’s to visit with them and see their baby. Oh my god, he is so cute and so sweet. He kept tugging on my finger, and when he was hungry, he tried to suck on my neck. It was quite funny.

Friday
When I got home from work, I felt a tickle in my throat and was beginning to lose my voice. Determined to not be sick for the weekend, I took some aspirin and convinced myself I felt fine.

FG picked me up and we went to The Woods. Since it was only 8:30, we were the only ones in the place for about 30 minutes, and we chatted with the bartender about the jukebox for a bit before settling into one of the round booths. The drinks there are huge and strong [side note: Instead of mixed nuts, they give you a glass of rice crackers, peanuts, and corn nuts; only in LA], and three plus hours and a few rounds later, we went back to my apartment and hung out. Around 2:00, I realized I couldn’t breath through my nose whatsoever and finally admitted that I was in fact sick. Before FG left, I apologized for possibly getting him sick; fortunately he didn’t seem too concerned about it.

It was a very lovely night, I had a lot of fun, he doesn’t have twelve toes, and there was non-specific talk of another date. Hopefully I didn’t jinx it by writing this and he will in fact call.

Saturday
I slept in until noon, took a shower, then ran one errand. I came home and felt horrible, so I got back into bed and slept pretty much the rest of the day, waking up to eat soup and watch Tivod stuff. Of course, this meant I did not make it to my friend’s birthday dinner, which sucked big time because I really wanted to be there. But I just couldn’t get my sneezing and coughing self out of bed long enough to brush my hair, let alone have a coherent conversation at a party.

Sunday
Woke up around 8:30 (which gave me about 12 hours of sleep) and threw some clothes on so I could go to WW. Expecting a huge gain from all the alcohol I consumed last week, I was pleasantly surprised to see I somehow managed to lose .8, which brings my total loss down to 10 pounds! Talk about ecstatic!

I then called NJM back and talked to him for about five minutes before my voice started cracking and disappearing. We talked about possibly getting together next weekend. I’m just not feeling it at all. The rest of the day was spent mostly in bed, save for a trip to the grocery store. I really want to kick this cold in the butt quickly and am doing everything I can to get rid of it!

Now I’m off to read and chill, (and will the phone to ring).

Sorry, no top ten list this time, but I do think this paragraph will suffice: I had my date with Friendster Guy (FG) last night, and it was very good. He is super nice, cute, funny, smart, and witty and has the most fabulous arms. While the night didn’t go as planned–we had intended to check out The Woods, but they were closed because their security guard had not yet shown up, so we ended up at The Well instead–it was still a lot of fun. We had a couple of rounds over good conversation at the bar, then went back to my apartment (for all of you concerned, we have a mutual friend and she deemed him a very good guy) and talked and kissed until he went home. It was a very nice night and I look forward to seeing him again. Now I need to find a caffeine drip, because four hours of sleep is not enough for this 33-year-old body.

After a short game of phone tag, NJM and I spoke on the phone; as expected, he was very nice. Unfortunately, much of the conversation was filled with ummms, uhhhs, and awkward pauses, and aside from baseball (thank god for the Kirk Gibson story) and neither of us having met the other person involved in this set up (that’s right, he never met Uncle Sid), it didn’t appear we have much in common. Nor much to talk about. However, he does have a writer/producer brother who lives in LA. Maybe I should meet him.

Anyway, NJM said he’ll call me next week to make plans to get together. Stay tuned.

I think I have developed an unhealthy obsession with the song Hey There Delilah. I just find it so romantic (I know, cheeseball) and would absolutely melt if someone were to write (or hell, even play) a song like that for me. Seriously. When the Rock Star offered to play his guitar for me, I was ready to offer him a lifetime supply of cookies. Of course, he then got hit by The Bus and I never heard from him again. Not quite the happy ending I was going for.
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In TV news, is anyone else watching The Next Food Network Star? I had read about the JAG discrepancy online, but I didn’t realize they were going to get into it on the show. Interesting! And Top Chef–I want Hung to leave already; he’s such a bugger.
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Guster released the dates for their fall tour and I’m so sad–they’re doing shows in SD and SF, but not LA. I am still holding out hope however, because there is an unscheduled day between those two shows, and LA would be a perfect fit. Cross those fingers!

In other Guster news, I won Guster at the Orange County fair tickets on MySpace of all places. The only problem is that the show is in OC, on a weekday, after work. Which means I’ll be sitting on the freeway while praying we get there on time. That’s why I told my other friend to count me out when she bought tickets for it last month. Nicole mentioned that she had wanted to go when she heard Toad was playing, but she didn’t buy tickets for the same reason. So, I’m going to decide in the next couple of days if we should brave the 405 or just do dinner in our ‘hood.
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July is officially birthday month, and not just for me. I have four birthday celebrations to attend in the next two weeks. Fun, fun! Now if I could just find a plus one to take with me, I’d be all set.
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Last weekend I bought that Body Glide stuff and some synthetic socks. Tonight I’ll actually be home before it starts to get dark, so I can finally try everything out.
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In satiating a reader’s curiosity news, no, the hanging out with Mr. Chips nights were not dates, but I do have a new friend now.
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And in Nice Jewish Man (NJM) news, he called last night. Of course, he called as soon as I got home from a meeting and had just sat down with my dinner and Top Chef on Tivo. I let it go to voicemail and will call him back tonight. From the tone of his very formal message, I feel like we’re setting up an important business deal or something.
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Remember how a few weeks ago I had to get a new Bluetooth since mine was defective? Well, the new one has also died. I should be receiving Jabra headset number three in the mail this week.
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In random news, it looks like my apartment building will finally be recycling. Yay!
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Monday at work, my Little called me three times to ask about when I was taking her for ice cream (I didn’t have any, go me!) later that night. I don’t mind getting personal calls at work, but three of them in a two hour span asking about our ice cream outing was a little too much. I was really tired from not getting enough sleep the night before, and by the time I picked her up, my patience was pretty much shot. I then sat there for 45 minutes listening to her talk about wilderness camp, and was quickly fading. I felt really badly, because she has stuff going on at home and I know she needed someone to listen to her, but I just didn’t want to deal with it then. I feel like such a bad Big for not giving her one hundred percent.
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In more cheerful news, Marissa and I are going to the Dodger game this Sunday. It’s my first game of the season and I am so excited. Also, there will be some matches there (my Little is out of town, hence my taking Marissa), so I’m hoping Cute Big will be there with his Little. Doubtful, but ya never know.
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And finally, MySpace is prematurely aging me. When I searched for myself by first and last name (um, doesn’t everyone search for themselves?), it said I was 33. I still have five days left of being 32. What’s the deal MySpace?
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There is no question of the week. Sorry. But for a change of pace, feel free to ask me something.

Follows is the email exchange between my mom and the initiator of the email that started it all. My commentary is in italics. I should also point out that I was under the impression Uncle Sid was going to check this guy out for me prior to the phone number swap. As it turns out, Uncle Sid is meeting the guy tomorrow, but the phone numbers have already been given. Not cool.

I rec’d info about [Nice Jewish Man] from [Uncle Sid]….I have a 32, almost 33, year old darling daughter. How tall is [Nice Jewish Man], Hilary is 5′9″. Hope he is taller than that. She goes out with guys who are 5′8″ and taller. (Thanks for looking out for me mom!) I am also anxious to be a GRANDMA (notice the caps there?) and my hubby is dying to be a grandparent also (I thought that’s why you guys got the dog?). We can empathize with [Nice Jewish Man's Dad] (Hello, what about Bethany? Why is it solely my responsibility to reproduce tomorrow?). Let me know.

Barbara
- - -
Barbara,

I’m back from [out of town]. I had an opportunity to speak with Sid this afternoon and he speaks very highly of your lovely daughter (Of course he does, this is a set up, people don’t talk smack. Not that there’s smack to talk of course.). If you agree, I think the best approach is for me to speak with [Nice Jewish Man] and either he and Hilary can arrange a meeting, or, if you’re inclined, we can arrange a “blind date”. (Arrange a blind date? Hahahaha! Soooooooo not gonna happen.) In all events, I think that we should strike while the iron’s hot! (I think it’s down to cool.)

Let me speak with [Nice Jewish Man] and I will get back with you later today.
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I spoke with [Nice Jewish Man]. He is a willing “victim”. (Uh huh, sure he is.) He would be happy to call Hilary and they can take it from there. Can you send me Hilary’s phone number? Alternatively, she can call [Nice Jewish Man] here, if she would like (949) XXX-XXXX. (Yes, he’s in OC. And he’s an attorney. Blah. Maybe he moonlights as something else, like the optometrist I dated who moonlighted as an actor. It could happen.)

I hope this turns into something really fun for these kids. (Fun? Setups are not fun.)

Best to you ~

[Initiator]

I suddenly feel like a business transaction. Someone save me. Please. There are cupcakes in it for you. Lots and lots of cupcakes.

Yesterday I got this email from my mom, which was forwarded to her from a family friend, who received it from his attorney friend:

[Nice Jewish Man], an attorney in my office (good looking and successful – works in real estate/transactional dept.), is looking for a wife. Actually, his father, also an attorney in my office, has agreed to pay me to find a nice girl (Jew or Gentile) that will wed his son and reproduce so that he doesn’t have to come into my office to see the faces of adorable grandchildren every day (mine). He wants some of his own!

In any event, if you know of any qualified ladies (he’s a big sports fan – played college baseball) in the age range of 28-35, let’s get them a date.

PS – If the girl wants to see his picture (which doesn’t really do him justice) ahead of time, he’s on the [lawfirm] wedsite …oops, I mean website.

(I was just kidding about the payment, I just like the kid and I think he’s adorable!)

I told my mom no way, and reminded her that she is not allowed to set me up with people she herself has not met. Yes, we all know I have a thing for baseball players, but I’ve already done the Orange County attorney thing and it didn’t work out so well. Either time. Plus, just because we’re both single and Jewish means we’re a good match? Not necessarily.

Anyway, your thoughts?

For your reading pleasure:

Let’s begin with a guy who put me on his hotlist then sent me a “flirt.” And oh yeah, his username is based on the first line of his essay which reads, I’m great in bed and looking for someone to spend some “quality” time with.

Isn’t there a section of Craigslist devoted to that? It probably would have been easier than the Jdate registration process.
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Next, we have the 46-year-old man in Texas who writes, I like your profile.

Gee, thanks.
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Finally, I emailed a local guy whose profile was witty, articulate, and humorous. He responded with a lovely email which included this post script: p.s. Many thanks for the note, but it’s just been decided that I’m going to be moving to South America…on MONDAY…so it seems my L.A. bachelorhood is coming to an end. Good luck in your search, m’Lady.

Elaborate blow off or the truth?

Well, today is Tuesday and according to his profile, he now lives in New York. Which last time I checked, isn’