Chop Suey

FOREVER

2012-02-14T12:15:00.000-08:00

In honor of Valentine's Day and as a tribute to our Valentine, it's time to share our story of the Really Big Year. Honestly, it's impossible to convey all that has happened, the magic and wonder of everything clicking into place. (Yes, we've become one of those annoying google-eyed girls.) But, we'll try.

(Illustration by Ellen Van Engelen)

On the day after Valentine's, last year, we had a first date. It was a setup, we've mentioned it before. It was the best first date ever and we quickly started spending a lot of time with the guy. By the fourth date (or so) we were convinced he was one of the most beautiful people we'd ever met and in less than six weeks we were definitely in love.

So many moments: Sitting in the garden before a dinner date sipping champagne cocktails with petals floating in them (yes, he made these, we didn't!). Kissing in the car when he dropped us off. Being so scared about what we were feeling, but willing to admit it to him. Our first weekend together where we decided to do "normal," weekend things. Meeting his family and how generous and open they were with us.

For Memorial Day weekend we took him to our aunt and uncle's cabin in the woods and it was there, in our tent one night that he first asked us to marry him. If you'd told us that this was possible - three and a half months after meeting someone - we would have said no-way. But it's true.

It was about that time that we decided we wanted to have baby and pretty-darn-quick we were pregnant. It's been a whirlwind since and now we're six weeks away from our due date! Can you believe it?

We know, we're incredibly lucky. We can't forget that, for even a minute.

And the reason we're sharing is because it's important to be reminded that crazy and beautiful things happen every day. Be open to them. Be willing to push yourself and try. Even if it doesn't work out the first gazillion times. You can make your life into whatever you want.

We were closer to it happening for us then we could have ever imagined.

OF ALL THE THINGS

2012-01-30T11:36:00.000-08:00

We just love this story about how mistyping an email address lead to romance and ultimately, marriage. Just had to share.

Do you know any sweet-but-unbelievable stories about how lovers met? Please share!

Coming up (finally) - our story about how we met the man we want to spend the rest of our life with.

WE'RE BAAACK!

2011-10-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

OK, we know we've been gone too long. But our life has been upended in all the good ways and we're still spinning and madly in love.

Remember that guy we told you about awhile back - the one who kissed us for the first time and told us we were beautiful? Now he's our - ahem - fiancé.

We know we owe you a story about how we went from madly-dating-and-cynical-single-girl to the annoyingly-happy-engaged-gal who tells her single friends - "You never know, this might be your last first date ever. He could be the one." Yep, it's wonderfully true (and slightly annoying, we know).

But first, a shout out to all our favorite singletons in the form of a hilarious book of haikus.

Haiku For The Single Girl from Dan Meth on Vimeo.

TIME TO BE DIRECT

2011-04-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

Remember that guy we told you awhile ago? The one who "wanted to hear our voice for the first time in person" and then sent a stick-it-to-you email to us? Well, he got in touch again. A full 51 days after his last email, which we didn't respond to. Interesting.

FROM HIM
I am still curious as to how I missed out on a chance to take you out on a date.

P

Persistent. Since silence didn't work. Maybe it's time to be straight with him.

OUR RESPONSE
P, if you must know:

1) We asked you to call and you didn't, giving some weird line about wanting to hear our voice for the first time in person. We clearly wanted to speak on the phone prior to going on a date.
2) There were other guys we were more interested in going out with at the time so we felt no urgency with you.
3) You sent us a totally rude and immature email after we didn't respond to your advances.
4) We've met someone...the relationship has progressed in the past few weeks and we're not interested in dating other people.

We know that the online dating world can be pretty harsh and laced with vagueness. And we may approach it in a pretty cutthroat way that might not be fair.

There have been lots of guys that we've had online conversations with who've suddenly stopped interacting, who we've gone on date with and who've never followed up. To us, that's just part of the process and we try not to take it personally. We guess we just figured that most people saw it that way. We never meant to be rude or hurtful.

Good luck to you.

What do you think? A fair response? We wonder if we'll hear from him again.

ROMEO LIVES UPSTAIRS

2011-03-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

Our upstairs neighbor had been terrorizing us for months with his stomping, slamming, music playing and general loud-ass-ness.

We had take action when bumping, grinding and moaning were added to the list of offenses. We trudged up to ask him to please, try, please. Keep it down.

Can you believe it - he had the nerve to ask us out on the spot! Uh-huh. Now we were really surprised. What about the girl he was just doing?

Damn! Guess you can't get in the way of a player, especially if he lives upstairs.

BREAKING IT DOWN

2011-03-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

We've found that every time we try online dating we meet a few nice-enough guys. A few duds (or just not people we want to date again) and at least one total weirdo.

Maybe it's just us, but we're sharing an email/text conversation so you can tell us which one of the categories that P falls into.

Email #1 (from P)

I enjoyed your pitch, "If you're curious, like an adventure and are open minded and kind - we'll have something to talk about." I like adventures, and am ashamed to admit how few I have had recently. Although the best one of late was the Lynwood Skate and Bowl. For 13 bucks you can have a two sport night.  

Some things I will use to my advantage,  1) Beige is bad  2) The Columbia city theater is fun  3) The Sculpture Park is great use of "pork barrel" spending  4) I haven't read a lot, but "East of Eden" is a masterpiece  5) Canadian whisky is not whiskey.  6) The Melrose Market beats Serious Pies hands down.  *) This one is probably not to my advantage. Steve Sher should not be on the radio, he drives me nuts, and they have the nerve to give him two hours.  Open to a beer? A stroll weather permitting? Dumplings?  

The list he references above relates to our bio. We share a bunch of things we like - whiskey, books, NPR, etc. and say that they can use them to their advantage, if they want.

We're going to stay away from the political "pork barrel" spending comment, because we don't exactly know what he's talking about and if we think about it too much we might eliminate him from the possibility pool. And so, we write back.

Hi P,  

Have you been to the Columbia City Theater since it's been redone? Such a great venue! We've never been to the Lynwood Skate & Bowl. Wait, take that back. We may have been there to skate ages and ages ago. We're not so good at bowling or skating. But, what can you do?  

We are open to a beer or a stroll. Although we have to get one thing straight right now - we like Steve Sher and you can't change our mind! At least we can agree on East of Eden. A favorite. Have you read his other stuff?  

Hope you're having a good day. The sun is so dazzling!  

Email #2

I have to say I have not been to the Columbia City Theater in a while. The last time I was there Angie's across the street was still in business. I like Columbia City but it is a little far especially when drinking is involved. If only the city of Seattle could get light rail going quicker, but alas it is going to be a while.  

I will say the one thing I like on Weekday is when they bring in the guy who covers Canadian Politics. Of course never really remember any names, except for Stephen Harper. It is nice to hear about North American Politics other then the violence in Mexico, or the in fighting here. I put my foot down when it comes to Organic Gardening Tuesdays. Every time I am working on site and that comes on, the crew turns on me and I lose control of the radio for the rest of the day. My absolute favorite thing on NPR is the Writer's Almanac in the afternoon.  

I know it is late in the week, how does a beer and some pinball tomorrow night sound? Maybe Shorty's? I am open to any sort of random idea to meet outside of bungee jumping or karaoke. If tomorrow is too soon, maybe sometime next week.  

I look forward to meeting you.  

P (he includes his phone number)

What's with the political rant? We're into politics and news and such, but seems a little intense for a get-to-know-you email...Oh well, we like a guy who has opinions.

Also, we have to say that we like for a guy to ask us for our number and call us. We don't plan on calling him first. Although we're probably being unreasonable.

Hi P,

Unfortunately, we don't think a date this weekend is going to work. We've come down with the dreaded cold that everyone is suffering from and want to take it easy and not subject anyone to our bad germs!  

Maybe next week? (we give him our phone number)  

We also don't mention that we have several other dates lined up for the week and weekend, despite our cold. Our calendar is booked!

Email #3

Well I am sorry to hear that you aren't feeling well, and hope you feel better soon. Give me a call when you have recovered. I look froward to hearing from you.  

At this point, we decide we're not that into this guy. Especially not enough to pursue a date by calling him when we're over our cold. But, at some point the next week, he emails us again.

Email #4

I hope you are feeling better. It seems you and half of Seattle are trying to beat this cold. I was reading an article about some new places on The Hill that I wanted to try. Interested?  

Dear P,

It goes in phases. Right now We're feeling quite stuffy. But earlier today we were feeling much better. Thanks for asking. How are you?  

Trying a new place on Cap Hill would be fun. Did we give you our number? (we give him our number again)  

We know know that we've already given him our phone number. But are trying to make the point that we want him to call us. Is it just us or does jumping from email to a date seem to be skipping a step? Call us old fashioned, but we like to chat once or twice. At least to make a plan.

Email #5

Be patient with this cold, it seems that it takes about 4 days to get over. I have seen a couple people try to come back too soon only to get knocked down. So take care of yourself and healthy doses of chicken soup.  

So I have kind of an ambitious idea for a date. I read an article about these new speakeasies in Capitol Hill. I was thinking we could take a walking tour and check them out. All three of them are right around 12th and Pike. This week I am kinda busy during the week, and Saturday I have a Christening I have to attend since I am the Godfather. I was thinking either Friday or Saturday night if that works for you.  

You gave me your number, but I kinda want to hear your voice in person. Also I kinda like the anticipation of seeing if you wrote me back. Hope to hear from you soon.  

Yikes! This totally weirds us out. We realize that not everyone is a phone person like we are. And have accepted that lots of guys text us rather than calling but...hearing our voice first in person?!? It comes off as weird, right?

We get a text from P (So he does know how to use the phone)

I hope you have made a full recovery. Are you interested in getting together tomorrow or Saturday?

We decide we don't want to go out with this guy. He seems off. Someone we for- sure don't want to date. We know that his intentions probably aren't coming across as he meant them to...Plus we've met someone else that we really like and don't feel like going on random dates with guys who've already raised red flags.

We ask our friend if we should be up-front and just email P back and tell him that we're not interested. And maybe tell him that if a girl gives him her phone number usually it means she wants him to call her. And he should, even if his preference is different. But she tells us that's not our job.

Email #6

Are you still interested in meeting for a drink sometime?  

As discussed, we don't respond.

Email #7

Well, I had no idea Steve Sher could be so divisive. Good luck out there.  

Um, maybe we were a jerk for not emailing him back and saying we're not interested. But his last email, putting us in our place, seems rather unnecessary. Although it is sorta funny...

So, what do you think? Are we being unreasonably judgmental? Please tell us! And please share your crazy-man stories, we're in the need of a few laughs.

WE'RE OBSESSED

2011-03-03T10:19:00.000-08:00

This is a story with a soundtrack.

The Doe Bay Sessions - Curtains for You from Sound on the Sound on Vimeo.

Recently, we attended a show at Richard Hugo House. It was a part of a literary series.

Each artist - two writers and three musicians - were asked to write new work based on the theme "Brief Encounters" and preform. It was really amazing.

Our favorites were the Hannah Hynes-Mumford's (a high school senior, impressive!) reading and Macklemore. Both mind-blowing in different ways. It was a special treat to see how Macklemore's rap techniques translated to the essay he wrote and vice versa.

And it reminded us of a brief encounter of our own.

Last fall we stopped by a vintage shop called Indian Summer. We scored some great stuff and admired this cool men's shawl-collar Pendelton sweater on a mannequin. As we were paying two guys walked in. One was super-cute and happened to be wearing the exact same sweater as the mannequin.

Of course, we blurted out "You're wearing the same sweater..." (it was a small store) and trotted over to him to check the labels of both sweaters and confirm. Did we mention how cute he was?

He told us that he got his sweater from his grandfather. And that was that.

A few weeks later we were lucky enough to be invited to a house show featuring The Head and The Heart (don't be jealous), Kelli Schafer and Drew Grow and the Pastor's Wives. And, in between getting totally wasted - we went alone and were nervous, don't judge - we spotted a familiar looking guy. But we couldn't figure out why. Until at the end of the night he put on the sweater - it was him again!

Who is he? He must know someone we know...this is just crazy.

And then, on New Year's day, we walked around Greenlake with a friend - it was a beautiful day. And who did we see walking the opposite direction? Yep, Cute Sweater Guy!

We couldn't help but jump. And we think he noticed us because we made brief eye contact. He gives us goosebumps.

Weird huh? It makes us wonder how many times we cross the paths of the same people but never recognize them.

Since then we've seen him around even more and actually figured out that we do have friends in common. No, we're not stalking him. But, for some reason he makes us incredibly nervous and we haven't gotten the courage to introduce ourselves yet.

A FULL MOON

2011-03-01T12:35:00.000-08:00

Pickwick at Conor Byrne open mic, photo via Picwick

Last Sunday we went to an open mic* that we like - lots of friends, great local music and it's a good way to kickoff the week.

We were hanging out, drinking a beer when we noticed this guy looking at us.

He was rocking an Axle Rose look, and not-in-a -good-way. Later, and completely unprovoked, a guy friend of ours asked us "what was up with the dude with the jock strap on his head?" Now you see our issue?

Even though we were avoiding eye contact, dude sidled up to us and...

Axle: Where you from?

Us: Here.

Axle (looking at us as if we were bullshitting him): But you're drinking PBR - isn't it from the Midwest somewhere?

Us: Uh, yeah...?

We weren't sure there was a correlation.

Axle: So, really, where are you from.

Us (confused): Here? (implying, what are you getting at here?)

And then, because suddenly we felt awkward and bad. Like he was trying to make us sorry for being rude. Even though we weren't.

Us: Well, technically we were born in Texas, but we grew up here.

Axle: Born in Texas, huh?

Us: Sí.

Axle (now really looking at us as if we're being the rudest): Sí?

Honestly, we don't know why that popped out. He stomped of.

How do guys have a way of doing that? Making a girl feel like she's being a bitch if she's nice, but not giving him what he think he deserves? The four friends who happened to witness the exchange rolled their eyes and gave us the "lucky you lost that one," look.

Axle continued to work the girls in the room. The man was persistent. It got worse - at some point he let his long, curly hair down and it hung in a tangled mess over the jock strap thingymajig.

At the end of the night, we were standing at the front of the room, along the wall with a few others, listening to the last of the music and watching Axle/Jock Strap interact with a girl at the bar.

A camera came out and suddenly his pants dropped and all five of us were treated to a peek at his bare ass. It wasn't an accident. We don't even want to think about what you could see from the camera angle! Ugh.

Not that we were questioning our earlier judgment - but it looks like we ducked a good one.

*A great story (and videos) about Picwick at the open mic. If you haven't heard of them, they're definitely worth a listen. We hope the band doesn't mind being featured in this story. They're absolute gentlemen!

TAKING A MOMENT

2011-02-27T09:14:00.000-08:00

Photo by Amber Karnes via SF Girl by the Bay

Dear Readers,

We just wanted to make sure that you know how grateful we are for you. Thanks so much for reading regularly, commenting, submitting stories - especially all the V-Day ones - and laughing and hoping along with us.

And (here comes the shameless self-promotion), if you do read regularly but don't follow, please follow us. Comment if we say something that makes you think. Even if it's just to tell us we're being crazy or way to critical of a guy (but be nice : ).

If you have stories, or have friends with adventure-in-dating stories, send 'em in.

We love hearing from you!

XOXO

2 WEEKS, 1 GIRL, 5 DATES, 4 GUYS

2011-02-24T22:16:00.000-08:00

Yep, that means we're online dating again. And it's keeping us busy. This time we decided to try a local source - thought it might provide more interesting prospects. And so far, so good.

And, we got set up!

The first online date left us feeling deflated. We mean, the guy was nice, cute, interesting, etc. But...there wasn't much there. And we believed that he agreed.

We wondered - how many first dates are we going to have go go on before we get at least a spark of intrigue and excitement? Where we feel confident that he feels the same? We don't think our expectations are that high - we know it's not likely that we're going to go on a first date and come home thinking "He's the one." But, we'd at least like to think more than "We guess it was OK and will say yes, we think, if he asks us out again." Just to see.

Second date was the setup. We've never been really setup before. Have you?

And it was so fun. Gave us hope again. Even though we were super nervous (not to mention the fact that we'd never even seen a picture of this guy - and believe us, we tried. Googling him and all. Nothing.). He was interesting, sexy, easy-to-talk-to, fun, left us wanting more.

We planned a second date right then.

And, later that week we scheduled two more online dates.

Second date with the setup - he took us to a great neighborhood restaurant. Ordered wine. We ate and talked our hearts out. And then we kissed goodbye. Asked him when we'd see him again. And he said he hoped soon. And then we kissed some more. Right on the street. In front of the restaurant. How fun!

He told us we were beautiful. And it was perfect.

Tomorrow we have another online first date. And Sunday morning coffee with another. Whew - it's making us tired thinking of it! But, really, we can't wait to see setup guy again...

This is good, right?

MOVING ON IN

2011-02-17T11:19:00.000-08:00

Two years ago on Valentine's Day, we moved in with our boyfriend S. Not really a romantic way to celebrate. But it was a sweet, exciting step to take.

The only plans we had for the day were to do a lot of heavy lifting.

We were outside loading the truck while S was putting his fridge stuff into a cooler. We walked past and saw that he was trying to quickly hide a box of chocolate covered strawberries inside.

The surprise was ruined but we were touched. Isn't he a great guy?

A SPECIAL MAN

2011-02-15T09:46:00.000-08:00

Photo by Michael Harrison

Last night our hubby came home with flowers for our 2-year old daughter. Three gerber daisies in red paper. How cute is that? She has her first Valentine!

He got us flowers, too. But this was way more exciting.

THE SWEET LIST

2011-02-15T09:37:00.000-08:00

We've been lucky to date a lot of really nice, thoughtful guys. But one stands out in particular.

1. We were long distance. A few weeks before Valentine's Day he sent us a box of fortune cookies with these instructions: Eat one a day until V-day, when we would see each other. It didn't take long to realize that each cookie had a custom fortune, ranging from favorite memories we shared, to little things he liked about us. Come on - adorable!

2) Sometimes it's the little things. Once, we stepped out of a shower to find boyfriend waiting for us with freshly heated (with a hairdryer) socks so our feet wouldn't get cold.

3) He told us we were going to his cousin Tony's wedding in Portland. We drove down, got dressed up and headed to the event - gift in hand. We sat on the groom's side. It took us awhile to realize that this was actually Tony and Tina's wedding, the production! We loved that he tricked us. And had us going for awhile. We thought his "cousin" was nuts!

HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT, HE LOVES...

2011-02-14T08:48:00.000-08:00

Things had been exclusive with this guy for about six weeks by the time Valentine's Day rolled around. But, because a) we're attachment-phobic and b) didn't totally believe that he was into us for real, we weren't about to bring it up.

So, we were shocked when he not only mentioned it, he wanted to take us out. Imagine that - a date with a guy we liked on Valentine's!

He proposed dinner and then catching his brother's show at the oldest bar in the city. When we arrived at his house (he didn't have a car, so we usually drove) he surprised us with roses. He hadn't struck us as the romantic type.

The sweetest thing wasn't even the flowers, although they were lovely. It was the fact that he'd ridden the bus to the florist and then BACK with flowers. On Valentine's Day. (He told us that several women-and-fellow-bus-riders even commented!) He really liked us.

The evening was perfect. A spicy dinner, great music and the best company. (We even convinced the door guy to draw a heart on our wrist with Sharpie instead of his regular X!)

And, even though things didn't work out with the guy, we dried-and-saved one of the roses for a long time to remind us to believe in surprises and that we are lucky and loved.

THE ONE

2011-02-10T10:54:00.000-08:00

Photo by Leah Reich via sfgirlbybay

We had been dating T for about four months. We were a single mom and our son's sixth birthday was coming up. We love parties but they can be overwhelming, especially when you're like us and obsess over the most ridiculous details. This particular birthday was putting us over the edge.

T offered to make the party favors. We were touched by the offer.

Being a control-freak, we normally wouldn't have accepted. But, we were completely overwhelmed and knew it. So we took him up on it. And told ourselves we weren't going to tell him what to do. We were so grateful.

We expected standard favors - little bags full of candy, leggos, plastic toys, puzzles, etc. Or something.

T arrived with CD’s illustrated with an image of a train. Each one was filled with great kid’s music including “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by Iz, and were protected in individual colorful CD holders. He passed them out when all of the guests were leaving.

This is when we knew - this man was a serious keeper.

CHOCOLATE-FILLED HEARTS

2011-02-09T16:04:00.000-08:00

A few years ago we were single for the first time in seven years on Valentines day. We were dating a lot but nothing serious. We decided to have a non-romantic but not-lonely night with a guy we had been hooking up with off and on. He came over and brought us a flower. We got to it and he left. We admit it, it felt just right.

The next year, we were in a relationship that looked like it could go all the way. We had been dating for about 10 months and it was our first V-day together. He made a big fuss about not liking Hallmark holidays so we expected zilch.

On Valentines day, a Saturday, we woke up to the most amazing custom-ordered chocolates from our man. We spent the day in bed together, enjoying the chocolate and whatnot. From then on we've called Valentine's the Chocolate Holiday. Not bad, huh?

Two years later, we're marrying him. And we know what we have to look forward to for the rest of our lives!

SKIPPING A BEAT

2011-02-03T09:12:00.000-08:00

This is the story of the Valentine's Day that never was.

One year, we were dating a couple of guys. Sort of. Not really. Our love life was actually quite a sad mess.

And we had been working way too much. We worked our ass off all summer long, never went camping, or to an outdoor concert, or even a picnic. It was all work, allthetime.

We get it. The truth about men who are afraid of commitment is that they disappear a few weeks before Valentine’s Day...and reappear a few days afterward. This was the case that year.

So, we decided to treat ourself to summer-in-the-middle-of-winter in February with a trip to Australia.

On February 13th, we flew to Sydney, Australia. And in the middle of the night, we crossed the international dateline and instantly it was February 15th.

The plane landed on a bright, happy autumn morning and we recall the bells of St. Mary’s Cathedral ringing to greet us as our taxi took us to the hotel.

We had completely skipped February 14^th, and it was perfect.

IT'S THE THOUGHT

2011-02-01T11:35:00.000-08:00

Photo via Design*Sponge

Sometimes it's something small that's just the thing. We're loving these downloadable stickers from Twig & Thistle for a DIY Valentine's touch.

A VALENTINE'S RETREAT

2011-02-01T10:44:00.000-08:00

Last year a bunch of us - singles, couples, all good friends - decided to go away for Valentine's weekend. We retreated to Orcas Island, just a quick drive and ferry ride away from Seattle. The house in the woods was the perfect spot for cooking great meals (including the above butternut squash galette via Design*Sponge), vino, Apples-to-Apples games and a puzzle or two.

We also went on a crazy-and-amazing tour/adventure of the Lambiel Museum - a private collection of Orcas Island artists (from fine art to folk), Oriental rugs, antique grandfather clocks and more. The experience is pretty indescribable, but we say it's a must-see if you ever find yourself on Orcas island.

For a festive brunch we made special heart-shaped pancakes and then rushed-off to the ferry line. If you ask us, it was the perfect way to spend a holiday. Truly lovely.

And that's what Valentine's is all about, right?

We die over these pancakes and are sure that anyone you ever make them for will know that they're truly loved.

LEMON RICOTTA PANCAKES WITH RASPBERRIES AND LEMON CURD*

Ingredients

3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 T. baking powder

1/2 t. ground nutmeg

1/4 t. salt

2 T. sugar

1 c. ricotta cheese

2 eggs

2/3 cup milk

1 lemon, zested and juiced

Butter, for griddle

1 jar prepared lemon curd

Fresh raspberries, for topping

Confectioners' sugar, for garnish

Directions

Preheat a nonstick griddle or skillet.

Combine flour, baking powder, nutmeg, salt and sugar in a small bowl. Whisk together the cheese, eggs, milk, lemon juice and zest in a large bowl. Whisk the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until combined (don’t over mix).

Brush the hot griddle with butter. For each pancake, pour approximately 1/4 cup measure of the batter on the griddle and cook on both sides until light golden brown. Repeat. We kept batches warm in the oven until ready to serve.

Empty the contents of the lemon curd into a small saucepan and warm over low heat (we just used the “double boiler method” and put the whole jar in a sauce pan with a few inches of water – cleaner!).

Drizzle a few tablespoons of the curd over the pancakes and top with fresh raspberries. And, if you want to go all-out, sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

*Adapted from Bobby Flay (if you can believe it!)

SWEETNESS

2011-01-13T10:23:00.000-08:00

Valentine's photo via Urban Weeds.

We have a distinct memory of our 8th grade art teacher reminding us, on a day we were doing some sort of Valentine's-related project, that the word was spelled S-W-E-E-T, not S-W-E-A-T. We blame him for us always second-guessing our spelling.

Anyway.

We're going to do something fun in February and we need your help. Valentine's posts. At least two a week. That means we need eight stories. Or more.

So submit 'em. Please.

They can be romantic, funny, tragic. They don't even have to be from Valentine's Day. Just a good story where your Valentine (or your mom or a friend) did something really sweet. Or at least notable. Birthdays, anniversaries, etc. work, too.

Email us your stories to hellochopsuey (at) gmail (dot) com.

P.S. Isn't this photo HOT? We love the hipster-take on the pinup girl by one of our fave blogs, Urban Weeds. At the Ace Hotel in Portland no less. Cool. Someday, when we have a really special Valentine, we're going to do this.

IT'S GETTING SERIOUS

2011-01-10T19:06:00.000-08:00

The best way to make an intention real is to declare it. So here we stand. We need more writing practice, discipline. Blogging is good and all, but we need to mix it up.

Yesterday we had coffee with our dear friend - the talented, fabulous M of Styled Northwest and mentioned our desire to find a writing group. Or something. She was encouraging, of course. And curious herself.

When we got home we did some searching and came up with Richard Hugo House - an organization we knew but hadn't explored much other than knowing they put on awesome events (hope we can make it to the one with Macklemore, dang!).

But, guess what? They're launching a writing happy hour! Drinks, writing prompts, other writers, space to post up with our laptop or notebook...here we go.

Thanks for pushing us, M!

SOUPAPALOOZA

2010-12-23T20:25:00.000-08:00

Last week we were oh-so-not-tactfully reminded that "no one wants to be alone during the holidays."

Right.

Our dating life has been a bit sparse lately. So, in an effort to stave-off being alone - and mostly because a bunch of friends were in town and we've been wanting to host a soup party for years - we made a big pot of soup and invited the masses.

We also made amazing savory cookies (cheddar and jalapeno, yes please) from Design*Sponge, man we love those recipes!

The kiddo-guests were hilarious. Lots of hugs, kisses and catching up. People brought bread (and even homemade onion focaccia, yum), wine and a special dessert. It was a blast.

We love our friends and family. Happy (almost) New Year!

What do you have planned for 2011?

RED LENTIL SOUP WITH COCONUT MILK & SPICED BUTTER*

Serves 4

3/4 t ground cumin

3/4 t curry powder

1/2 t fennel seeds, lightly crushed

1/4 t dried thyme, crushed

1/4 t ground nutmeg

1 T vegetable oil

1 1/2 c finely chopped yellow onion

3/4 c finely chopped carrot

1 medium clove garlic, peeled and minced

2 jalapenos (we've also used 1 Anaheim chili), seeded and minced

2 t finely grated fresh ginger

1 1/2 c red lentils, rinsed

1 can (14.5 oz) vegetable broth

3 1/2 c water

1 c unsweetened coconut milk (we used light)

1 t kosher salt

1/4 t black pepper

3 T fresh lime juice

2 T cilantro, chopped

2 T butter (or butter substitute if you want to do vegan)

1. In a small bowl combine cumin, curry, fennel, thyme and nutmeg. Set aside.

2. In a soup pot, heat oil over medium-low heat. Saute the onion about 4 minutes. Stir in carrot and saute about 3 minutes. Add garlic, jalapeno and ginger, saute 2 minutes.

3. Add lentils, broth and water. Stir in 3/4 t of the spice mixture. Bring to boil, cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes (be careful that stuff doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and burn). The lentils should be soft and falling apart.

4. Remove from heat. Cool about 10 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk, salt, pepper, lime juice and cilantro.

5. Melt the butter in a small pan and stir in the remaining spice mixture. Cook 1 minute. Stir into soup and serve.

*Recipe via our mom but originally from the Seattle Times, we think.

NOW THAT'S HOT

2010-12-15T11:07:00.000-08:00

It's the holidays and tonight we're going to a cookie exchange. Because we're obstinate (ahem, like to try new things) we're making something different. Cheddar jalepeno cookies.* It's an experiment, we've never baked anything like this before.

We have to admit, we're a little nervous. Is it too weird? We like the idea of a cookie you eat with salad. (Who wouldn't like that?) And with so much sweetness these days, we were sold.

What do you think of savory cookies? Would you exchange with us if you could?

Reviews (and maybe photos) to come.

*Thanks to Leah Verwey for the recipe, via Design Sponge.

A GREAT STORY WITH A NOT-SO-HAPPY ENDING

2010-12-01T09:19:00.000-08:00

Speakeasies are all the rage in Seattle. Last weekend we decided to check one out with a friend. After ringing the doorbell we were greeted by a hostess who led us to our reserved seats. It’s small and oh so cool. You should go.

Scoping out the room, we notice a cute guy. But, he was talking to a couple of other girls. They must be together and we dismissed the idea of meeting an interesting fellow.

Not long after, Cutie came over and started a conversation. Really cute. We swooned.

Turns out he came alone. Lively conversation followed. He mentioned how he and his friends liked to live life to the fullest. We were intrigued. After a night out, they choose:

Option A - Go home and sleep

Option B - Don't end the night, but also don't do anything noteworthy (like head somewhere for an after-hours drink)

Option C - Do something a little crazy and fun, like sneaking up to the penthouse suite of a ritzy hotel and hot tubing until the sun comes up

When our friend went to powder her nose, Cutie asked if we were up for Option C. He suggested a drive to the mountains to throw snowballs and enjoy the first snowfall of the year. We told him we were up for anything. (Really, we thought he was all talk.)

We closed the bar. Guy offered us a ride home. In his 1983 gold Porsche – hello!

We figured that in that car, a bit of kissing would be a possibility. Our friend said goodnight and Cutie asked if we were up for that drive to the mountains.

While the risks did pop into our head (potential murderer, driving into the mountains at 2 am, etc.), adventure trumped doubts.

There was a blanket in the back, and we had a hat and gloves in our bag so we cozied up for the ride ahead. There was no radio but plenty of "getting to know you" conversation. And for some reason Cutie allowed us to go through his wallet (yes, we’re nosy). He actually encouraged, probably due to the fact that we noted he could be a murderer. Out loud.

At the pass it was snowing. Snowballs were thrown. Which led to kissing.

Heading back to the city, Cutie asked what we wanted next. We replied, “What do you want to do?”

“Take you back to my place and have my way with you," he replied. Sigh.

We considered, but it was really, really late. We were tired and while we were interested, we weren't interested enough. So we told Cutie we’d had enough adventure for the night. "Good for you," he said as he patted our leg.

We thanked him for not murdering us.

Back at home but still sitting in the gold Porsche, we waited for him to ask for our number, but he didn't. And we weren’t going to ask for his. With a kiss and a "see you around" we said good night and were confident that not going home with him was the right decision.

We kind of felt alive from the experience. And that was enough.

Curiosity got the best of us and the next day we Googled him. (Knew his first and last name from the wallet browsing, remember?)

Top of the list: Engagement announcement from August.

Could've been a different guy with the same name? Wrong. There was a photo. And, to make it worse, Cutie was getting married in a week.

Ugh. A little guilt for kissing him followed, but how were we supposed to know?

Which makes us now wonder, do we have to ask every guy we meet if he has a girlfriend? Or, if he's engaged? Is this another thing we need to worry about?

We squashed the urge to send a message via Facebook to his bride. But, now you know – don’t fall for the Cutie with the 1983 Gold Porsche and his adventure story.

OK, STYLE (& MANNERS) DO MATTER

2010-11-29T10:51:00.000-08:00

We met Patchwork Jacket on a popular dating website. He was our second "experience." He suggested dinner with some of his friends. Which we thought was a little odd, but said yes anyway.

We arrived on time but seemed to be the last there. It was a group of eight, seated around couches. (Not the most conducive set-up for group chatting, let alone a date.) And Patchwork, a little distracted and hyper, was focused on making sure every last person was entertained. First date-type interaction seemed like a low priority.

Still going with it, we chatted with the nice, calm guy seated next to us.

After dinner, Patchwork and one friend announced they were heading to a nearby bar. We got invited. Since we didn't have anything else planned on this Saturday evening (we’re not in the habit of making back-up plans when we have a date, perhaps we’ll rethink), we went along.

And here’s how he earned his name.

As we were leaving, Patchwork puts on a blazer made up of various sizes of leather squares, in every level of brown you can imagine, sewn together in an incredible patchwork pattern. Apparently it had been hiding in his man bag. We were alarmed and commented, saying it was colorful. He responded with “it’s my favorite.”

Had the jacket been his first offense of the evening, we might have been more tolerant. But, it wasn’t. And so we decided right then and there – there wasn’t going to be a second date.

At the second bar after a disastrous attempt at dancing with Patchwork Jacket where he also leaned in for a kiss (not good!), we began an illicit flirtation with a hottie who was a great dancer. Patchwork didn’t notice. (Not our proudest moment, but we didn’t get all dressed up for nothing.)

And success! Hot Dancer Guy called the next day.

MATCHMAKER, MATCHMAKER

2010-11-22T12:01:00.000-08:00

Last week we went over to our dear friend's house for a play date with her and her daughter. Our friend sheepishly tells us her mother met a man for us at shiva. And she got us his email address.

At shiva? "It's like we're in a Curb Your Enthusiasm episode, she says."

But we decided what the heck. Meeting someone is always random. The man seems to have "good bones" (never married, college, law school, etc.) and we tell her to send us his info. We look up his photo on Facebook (isn't technology great!) and he doesn't look like a troll. So, we email him, knowing that there is zero chance he'll ever write back.

But guess what? He did. And he asked us out.

When we called our friend's mother to give her the news she told us she might have caught the matchmaking bug. Baking just isn't doing it for her anymore.

A FAB FIND

2010-11-10T11:12:00.000-08:00

A friend sent us this hilarious take on dating from Apocalypstick and we just had to share. And she has funny, funny insights on other topics like the pros/cons of TV boyfriends. Plus she's a damn fine writer.

Check it out.

REFRESHING

2010-11-03T11:22:00.000-07:00

We admit that we're obsessed with design - lately it's been focused on fashion styling and home decor. Sneak Peeks on Design*Sponge are a particular fave.

We spent months and months going over the archive peeks and now check every Monday religiously for new ones. It's so hard to pick one, but we love love love the two homes of Michelle Michael and her husband. Simple and functional, fun color, a mix of thrifted and high-end, ooh la la! And really, it's no surprise because we own a very dog-eared copy of Michael's "The New Apartment Book."

After recently repainting our apartment we tackled long-talked about updates including:

Hanging new curtain rods
Hanging poster display system to show off our collection
Making curtains with cool fabric we found at Ikea

And the next day we made banana crunch muffins (via Barefoot Contessa) and changed our headlight. We were feeling so handy until we electrocuted ourselves when replacing a light switch cover (the easiest-seeming thing on our To-Do list). Whoops!

Our fantasy is that one day we might be cool enough to be featured in a Sneak Peek (hey, a girl can dream). But in the meantime we'll be satisfied with sharing with you.

And, this spring we refurbished an old, ugly Ikea TV cabinet into a small bar. Before:

Adding the clear casters was the final touch. After:

Most of the posters, but not all, are by Beautiful Angle. Some bought, some found on telephone poles.

BOO!

2010-10-30T17:22:00.000-07:00

Sometimes a party sneaks up on us, sometimes we spend weeks planning. Tonight, it's a little bit of both.

First things first, it's Halloween Eve (is there such a thing?) and our dilemma is always - what to be? We considered Frida Kahlo and Miss Piggy before settling on the seemingly easy, inexpensive and not-that-exciting black cat. And then we went over to our dear friend Spuntina's house this week - she and L were doing crafts, we were doing a test run of our makeup. And it was a disaster. We hated everything about our costume. Plus, the girls made these totally amazing masks that really made us feel lame.

And then we decided to copy (ahem, get inspired) and make a mask of our own. Delicious black glitter, long black ribbon...we're cat-tastic!

We're having people over tonight for a funk-fest before going out. Or, maybe it'll be so much fun we'll just stay in. Of course, that means Halloween-decor, good food and drink. We scored a cheap table runner at Pier 1 and decided to make paper bag jack-o-lanterns. And we wanted to buy a bunch of black helium balloons with black ribbon and let them float up to cover the ceiling but we ran out of time. Next year.

A FALL MENU
Rosemary Almonds*
Butternut Squash & Gorgonzola Pizza (we blogged about this in April)
Steve's Mom's Brownies (recipe here)

*Rosemary Almonds (adapted from the Barefoot Contessa Paris)
This is seriously the best-ever cocktail party snack. It's made us the most popular girl on several occasions!

1 lb roasted, unsalted almonds
2 t minced fresh rosemary leaves (OK, we admit we pick this from the neighboring condo's landscaping)
1/2 t cayenne pepper
2 t light brown sugar
1 T kosher salt (we generally use less)
1 T unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread almonds on cookie sheet and toast in oven until warm (about 5 minutes). In large bowl combine rosemary, cayenne pepper, sugar and salt with melted butter. Toss toasted almonds in spiced butter until coated. Serve warm or later. Yum!

IT'S A DATE

2010-10-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

Photo via Green Door Studio

OK, we need your help. We've been compiling a mental list (to be doled out when asked - what do you feel like doing?) of our favorite date ideas. But, we live in Seattle and have only really dated here (except for some college-era dates in LA, which barely count) and, we've realized most of our fave dates are centered around food. We need some diversity and inspiration.

So, what's your favorite date activity and/or meeting spot?

OUR TOP SEVEN

Latona Pub: For a first date drink, or dinner anytime. With a rotating list of craft brews and wines and inspired-pub food we love, love, love this neighborhood spot. (We've been on so many dates here, we're waiting for the management to embarrass us and say something.)
Volunteer Park Cafe: Brunch or lunch and then bocce ball in the park (bonus, a walk up the water tower for stunning views and a kiss!).
Ocho: Perfect for a first date, tapas are good for conversation, get the Pimientos de Padron. Hot!
Henry Art Gallery: Watch the clouds and enjoy the company at James Turrell's Skyspace, Light Reign.
Kangaroo and Kiwi: Quiz night every Wednesday, it's the craziest one in the city!
Discovery Park: For a spontaneous, close-to-the-city hike, picnic (if the weather's fine) and beautiful views of the Sound and Olympic Mountains.
Century Ballroom: If you're feeling brave, learn salsa, tango and lindy hop at one of their classes.
Barolo: The sexiest bar in Seattle. And a great happy hour. Warning - we try and stick to a one-bottle-of-wine maximum (shared, of course!)
A mini road trip to Tacoma: Tacoma Art Museum, Graffiti Garages, dinner at Pacific Grill or Indochine. Yum!

We also like Lenny's for the jukebox, brews and maybe a game of pool. The Hazelwood because it's a great place to sit at the bar. And a walk to look at the houseboats on Lake Union.

A COSMO DON'T

2010-09-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

Ever see a pair of undies on the street and wonder how they got there? We'll tell you how.

Ages ago, when we were young and reckless, we read an article in a magazine about how to maintain a spicy sex life. We decided to try.

One night at a party when we were wearing a dress, we went into the bathroom, took off our panties and slipped them into our boyfriend's pocket. Hot, right?

Until somehow between the party, the cab and our friend's house, our undies ended up on the street. Only to be discovered the next morning when a big group of us headed to brunch. Whoops!

At the time we were too mortified to swoop them up so they stayed there, in the gutter in front of our friend's apartment. And stayed. And stayed. Until weeks later, when were were back visiting and finally got a moment alone to snag them.

A footnote: We were reminded of this story when one of our faves told us she'd been tossing a pair of undies into her purse (aka "Shag Bag") lately. This seems a recipe for disaster.

Girl: I'll have a tall nonfat latte, please.
Coffee Guy: That'll be $2.86"
(girl reaches into her bag, undies catch on wallet and go flying, hitting coffee guy in the chest)

GIDDYUP

2010-08-30T22:28:00.000-07:00

We fell a little bit in love with a wrangler in Montana. We did.

The road trip was epic. Lovely country, lots of good tests (we know how to build a mean fire and cook fab one-pot meals on a camp stove, hooray), one black bear (from a safe distance), new friends to inspire us and many laughs.

Then there was our cute-and-super-cool wrangler (which is like a cowboy, but with horses only) who took us on the beautiful and miserable 8-hour trek to Cracker Lake (east Glacier). The icy wind blew, the rain poured, we were soaking wet and we saw a moose! It was the highlight of the trip.

And then we had our crush to talk about the rest of the week. Aren't boys fun?

OFF YOU GO

2010-08-18T17:36:00.000-07:00

It's about to begin: Ten days, two girls and a map of Montana. We're taking a road trip with one of our favorite people and can't wait for the adventures we're going to have.

We're borrowing a Holga. Our iPods are full of e-books, This American Life and great music (we plan on listening to The Head & The Heart over and over again after last weekend's epic performances). We have champagne in cans, lots of sunscreen, warm clothes and freshly washed sleeping bags (no bears for us!). And, in true Chop Suey-fashion, the menu's planned.

First up, Glacier (west then east) complete with a day-long horseback riding trek. Then Bozeman, Yellowstone, Missoula and home. We plan on going swimming, breathing lots of fresh air and taking in as much scenery as we can. Maybe we'll meet a cowboy (or two) or a super-hot camper-boy along the way....

A PICNIC

2010-08-07T14:45:00.000-07:00

Nice weather and a friend's birthday inspired a simple picnic to celebrate. We tried to do-it-up-in-style for the occasion.

A mix of homemade and choice store-bought elements plus monogrammed takeout containers* and a festive oilcloth made this easy to pull together, but still special.

THE MENU
Green salad with Girard's Light Champagne Vinaigrette
Pesto with pasta, potatoes and peas
Steve's Mom's Brownies (adapted from an ex boyfriend's mom's amazing recipe, see below)
Dry Soda (our favorite local, delicious and low-cal non-alcoholic beverage)

STEVE'S MOMS' BROWNIES
Melt together, stirring a few times:

4 squares unsweetened chocolate

2 sticks unsalted butter

In a large, separate bowl, beat together:

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla

After the chocolate mixture has cooled a bit, add it to the eggs and sugar mixture. Then, stir in:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

Optional: Stir in 1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts or chocolate chips (our fave).

Heat oven to 325. Pour the batter into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake for about 25 minutes or until knife/toothpick comes out clean. Cool and eat.

Yum.

*We just asked our neighborhood restaurant for a few takeout containers and they were gracious enough to give them to us, but we think you can buy at Cash & Carry.

CONDITIONS

2010-08-04T12:59:00.000-07:00

We've come to terms with a dating reality - though some things aren't preferred, we'll cut our dates some slack and we hope they'll cut us some too.

Things we're cool with:

Less than ideal height/age/marital status (aka divorced or separated)
Lack of style (as long as it's not really bad and they're clean!)
Awkward conversations via email, phone or in-person (let's face it, dating is awkward, fun but weird)

Things that aren't OK:

Asking us out (when we've never spoken or met) on a first date via text, call us pleeeease
Extreme lateness (A guy we had coffee with last weekend, at a place supposedly two blocks from his house, was 35 minutes late!)
Weird texts from guys we barely know. For example: I have a heart-on for Mondays. Yes, we actually got this text from the the above late guy post-date. Was that supposed break the ice? How do you even respond?

Questions of the day:

What is it with people and texting? Is it just us or should texting early in a "relationship" be limited to "How r u?" And "Thnx 4 last night." types of texts?
What types of dating behavior and date characteristics will you put up with and what are deal breakers?

MISS DECISIVE

2010-07-29T17:39:00.000-07:00

OK, we've decided to Match it up again. So far, it's been pretty fun. No dates yet, but lots of good conversation with seemingly normal, interesting guys. Except this one.

Email a few days ago from Match Guy:
Have you met your Jewish prince yet?

Uh, no! Why else would we be on an online dating site? We check out his stats.

Age: 37 (check)
Location: Beaverton, OR (wait a minute, just mapped this and it's over three hours from our house!)

We decide that the distance and question-that-doesn't-really-prompt-good-conversation puts this guy in the no category. We don't respond.

A few days later we get another email from Match Guy.

Subject: Hmmmmm
Email: Guess so :-)

Wait a minute. What is the point of that? Is he trying to call us out for not responding? Is there etiquette for dating websites that is above and beyond real life? (We can't even begin to count how many guys who have asked for our number and never called. But we're not sweating it. We don't call them and say "Why haven't you called?" It's part of the deal, right?)

Should we have been more open-minded and written back to him in the first place? Or were our instincts right and this guy is a weirdo?

DRESSED TO IMPRESS

2010-07-27T09:25:00.000-07:00

We have a date tonight and are pretty excited. It's at our fave neighborhood pub (inspired food, delicious local beers and the perfect first date environment) and today's going to be super-sunny and hot. So we're having major outfit dilemmas. We want to wear a dress, but not be to dressy, booby, etc.

Staring at our closet and not feeling very inspired. Wish we could have one of these...

We'd wear it with gold gladiators (flats) and simple jewelry. Maybe throw on our very favorite jeans-jacket.

Especially love the sweet one on the top-right. Styled with navy wedge espadrilles (TOMS if we were splurging) and our Kimberly Baker peacock earrings.

And this one just screams sexy summer.

We're on a budget so won't be buying anything and will probably settle on a black maxi dress, denim jacket with silver Birkenstocks and rocking-silver-chain bracelet. Maybe add a summer-weight scarf for "modesty."

What is your perfect summer date outfit?

PHOTOS:
1 and 3 Clothesure
2 Zachary's Smile via i am a greedy girl

ALL FIGURED OUT

2010-07-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

The other night we were at a bar with a friend and saw someone familiar. First we thought it might be the lead singer of Maroon 5, but it turned out it was a guy we'd actually met before. Check it:

On Wednesday nights, we have a favorite place for trivia. A local Aussie and Kiwi bar. It's the best. We go to hang out with friends, but sometimes we meet guys...

Once we ended up sitting next to a guy at the bar and we talked a bit. He asked for our number which surprised us because he didn’t seem that interested (or nice), but we figured why not?

We’ll tell you why not. (Why don't we ever learn this lesson?)

On Friday afternoon he called. He asked what we were up to and if we wanted to hang out that night. We had plans to go to a small classical concert downtown and invited him. We were going solo - why not turn it into a date? He said he needed to figure out what he was up to and he’d call back.

Wait, wasn't "figuring it out" what we were doing? We said, “OK. Give us a call later.” What else do you say?

He called back when we were headed to the concert. He was contemplating joining, but was hedging. We suggested a drink afterward. He said, “Why don’t you give me a call after and we can figure things out then?”

Um… OK? Why not just make plans now? The concert would be shortf! We really don’t care anymore. He’s annoying and immature. Was he honestly still trying to line up the perfect Friday night? Hitting the clubs. Partying ‘til dawn. Really? And was in his late 30s.

For some reason, after the show we call him back. Don’t want to be rude. Silly girl.

The conversation goes something like this:

Us: “Hi. Are you still up for getting a drink?”

Indecision Boy: “I don’t know…”

Us: “OK… Leaving the show now and heading home so…”

Indecision Boy: “It’s just that I sort of have this thing going on…with this other girl.”

Us: “Uh…” (What?!!!? Why are you cruzin' bars?)

Indecision Boy: “She’s in school and she’s away right now. We're OK to see other people, but I don’t know if I want to do that. I mean I am really into her and she might come back to Seattle eventually. But on the other hand I’m really not into long distance relationships. I mean, have you ever heard of them working out? What do you think?"

Us: (OMG – are we really having this conversation? When did we become Dr. Phil?) “ Sure. Sometimes. If it’s meant to be and there is something real there, then yes, it can work out.”

Indecision Boy: “Hmmm… yeah. I don’t know.”

Us: “Well. It sounds like you have some stuff to figure out. Call us if you make up your mind....” (Not really. Don't call us. Ever. Ya freakshow.)

Wonder if his long distance relationship worked out...he was alone at the bar on Saturday.

WE WON!

2010-07-21T15:26:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to say that we've had the best day ever. And it's not over yet. The sun is shining, we got to see Ian McFeron Band - one of our faves - outside at lunch. And we just found out that we won the Elizabeth and James/Shopbop shopping spree via Apt #34! Hooray.

If you haven't gotten a chance to check out Apt #34, you should. It's a must style read, for sure. Plus, she's a fellow Seattleite.

And tonight we're catching up with some home-town girls. Can't wait!

Hope you're all as fab as we are.

TOO MUCH?

2010-07-20T09:57:00.000-07:00

Recently, a guy we'd gone on four or five dates with, arrived at our apartment to pick us up and - bonus - he gave us a present.

It was a mix CD filled with love songs. Which could have gone either way at this point in our relationship. But, we decided to think it was romantic.

Until we realized that he had put on pink lipstick and kissed the envelope it came in. The front. The back was sealed with a kiss. And there was a final lipstick mark inside on the actual case!

This raised all sorts of uncomfortable questions:

Where did he get the lipstick and was it solely for this purpose?
Why pink and not red or this season's "HOT" shade - coral?
Does he have no friends? Ones with the sense to say "Don't, dude."
Does he like other girly things like wearing panties?

These questions rattled around in our head all date long and, combined with him getting crazy-drunk and hanging all over us at a girlfriend's birthday party, sealed the deal. No more dates with this one.

WE JAMMIN

2010-07-14T09:37:00.000-07:00

Is it just us, or have the men (or ladies) in your lives had a major influence on your musical tastes? From when our dad bought us Thriller (our first tape), to our 7th grade crush who introduced us to grunge, to our first concert - our loves have provided a great soundtrack.

If our boyfriends were a playlist, this would be it.

Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns, Mother Love Bone
Cavern, Phish
Add it Up, Violent Femmes
Can I Kick it? A Tribe Called Quest
Come Together, The Beatles
Sunshine of Your Love, Cream
Redemption Song, Bob Marley
Polly, Nirvana
Caress Me Down, Sublime
Kimberly Austin, Porno for Pyros
Doin' the Cockroach, Modest Mouse
Gold to Me, Ben Harper
Angel from Montgomery, Bonnie Raitt
Helen, Cave Singers
It Was a Good Day, Ice Cube
The General Specific, Band of Horses
Pressure Drop, Toots and The Maytals
Mykonos, Fleet Foxes
Come and Get Me, Timbaland
Tighten Up, The Black Keyes

So, tell us. What's a song + love memory that you hold dear?

TO DELETE? OR NOT TO DELETE?

2010-07-12T08:31:00.000-07:00

Question: Do you delete phone numbers of ex boyfriends, hookups, weirdos and random boys you meet at the bar who ask for your number?

We're torn. Sometimes we do. Because who needs the number of Snake (that's his given nickname, not ours) who drunkenly tried to get us to go home with him one night and then asked for our number when that didn't work?

But, what about a guy you've gone on a few dates with? If you do, inevitably he'll text and you'll either have to ignore (and wonder if it was actually someone you wanted to talk to) or send the obligatory "Who is this?" response. Which is always awkward. And you didn't want to talk to him anyway.

This just happened to us. Random text from unknown number: "Can I assume you're watching the soccer game?" Who is this and why would they assume we're watching the soccer game? Oh, Man-Who-Prayed-Before-Meals. Where did you come from and why now? Ignore.

But the alternative is you have a ton of unnecessary numbers in the way of the people you actually want to talk to.

Our brilliant friend once told us she reprograms all numbers with something along the lines of "Do not answer."

What do you do?

FOR THE BIRDS

2010-07-06T09:36:00.000-07:00

Last week our second date started off with guy telling us in full detail about a "crazy" girl he went on a date with three days prior. He was really trying to impress us with his open-minded nature.

We realize we want this date to be over as soon as possible and groan (inwardly, of course) when he suggests a walk around Greenlake. We agree to a short one. Which was filled with awkward conversation and making sure hands are occupied in case he tries to grab one.

As we are walking back to his car, a crow swoops in and attacks the back of his head. A big, black crow!

He yelled. Who could blame him? He wasn't bleeding. It took a lot of effort for us to not laugh as hard as the situation warranted.

Seriously, getting swooped by a crow? That'll probably never happen again.

DULY NOTED

2010-07-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

Our friend's mom warned her to never knit anything for a man unless you're married.* Too much heart and effort invested on someone who might not pan out.

But, we discovered what you should really never do until you're married: RSVP to gala with your plus one's name. Unless you want to forever get mail (at work!) addressed to you and Mr. Ex. Ugh.

*By the way, she ignored mom, knit him socks for their first Christmas and that's when he knew he wanted to marry her. At least that's one happy ending.

HEY SOUL SISTA

2010-06-29T09:26:00.000-07:00

To all the ladies out there who've had their hearts broken, been treated badly and who wish it were different. And to those who've been lucky to find true love. Life wouldn't be the same without girlfriends.

XO

SINGLE, SENSITIVE MAN, LOVES ANIMALS...

2010-06-24T11:31:00.000-07:00

Our friend went on a date once with a guy who told her he loved penguins. He even had a tattoo of a penguin. And, he was in a band. Which could be hot, right? But then he told her he wrote a song about having sex with a penguin.

What is wrong with people? Why do they let their freak flag fly onafirstdate?

SENDING THE WRONG SIGNALS

2010-06-22T09:11:00.000-07:00

We had another strange interaction with a guy recently. No date. Just emails. It seemed to start with a miss-communication, but then spiraled into something angry...

You decide.

Subject: Wondering why most of you look but don't write.

My name is Matt. You look willing to answer.

I usually write to introduce myself. Dating is not a priority right now but I figured I might as well ask somebody this question and see what happens. Are most women so invested in being found by the right guy that spending a few minutes on a hello seems out of the ordinary?

Have a good weekend,

Matt

Our Response:

Hi Matt,

You pose an interesting question. Our thought is that girls may look but not write for the same reason that many guys look at our profiles but don't contact us -- once viewing a person's profile we may not find that "something" that interests us. For the most part, if someone does contact us, we try to respond in some way. What are your thoughts? Do you make contact with each person whose profile you look at? If not, why?

We also have another question for you -- if dating is not a priority, why are you on Match? A girlfriend of ours was on this site a couple of years ago, and this came up with one guy she was emailing.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Cheers,
Chop Suey
His Response:

If I'm interested at all then I write. I can't help you there. I'm on a dating site because I can't turn off my biology regardless of my priorities and would overcome my current circumstances for the right person. 2009 was the toughest year of my adult life and my "type" would not need explanation, I hope. If you're just wanting input and don't see what value there might be in getting to know me, happy hunting and take care.
Our Response:
Well, we apologize if we misunderstood the intent of your first email. Typically if someone is interested in getting to know us and emails us here, "dating is not a priority" is usually not part of the email. After reading your email, we truly thought that you were looking for input.

Best of luck to you in your search.

THE WORST

2010-06-15T16:51:00.000-07:00

We've been subject to a most unwanted trend lately: married men. We know there's nothing wrong with a little harmless flirting but, as the ratio of marrieds to singles in our world has increased, we've become a target.

Why does this happen to us? Is there something specific that we're doing? Or, because there's less of us - are all single, 30+ ladies at risk? Note to men: not every girl who talks to you wants to have sex. Seriously.

Interactions that are NOT OK:

Dirty texting
Repeated advances, even when we tell you to "stop it, you're married!"
Invitations to one-on-one beers (unless you're an good, long-time friend in which case we'll consider).
Even a recent outing with a married friend where we discussed his and his wife's hopes to get pregnant moved outside of the safety zone with one too-long-back-touch.

We hate not being able to be friends with whomever we want, but we're reconsidering our perspective. We try to have good boundaries, we do. Listen up men - you should too! Ask your wife out. Sext her. Pretend you're strangers and hit on her in a bar (maybe she'll even deny you the first few times to keep the fantasy realistic). Something! And stop making us feel bad.

ASSIGNMENT #1

2010-06-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

Try new things. Get out there. That's what everyone tells us. So, here we go. Tomorrow is the start of World Cup 2010. We'll be there to watch South Africa vs. Mexico (well, not THERE, but at a bar, watching live). Should we root for Mexico? We think so. North America, represent!

Did we mention that the game is at 7am and that we have to get there early to find a seat? This is serious commitment ladies. But, we figure it'll be an adventure.

We don't know anything about soccer except for the corner kick and that the goalies wear different outfits (ahem, uniforms). And we barely know anything about early mornings these days. But we always like a good party and it's guaranteed to be festive. We hope cute boys are in our future...

Now, the big dilemma is what to wear? Our closet is sans jerseys and we refuse to try too hard by going out and purchasing one (plus, that could initiate uncomfortable conversations: "You like Manchester? Remember in 1998 when they played...." Ugh.). We figure we'll slap on something comfy but cute, since it'll be 5:30am (did we say this already!?!). Maybe leggings, boots, a T and fun earrings?

Will keep you posted.

THE LIST

2010-06-03T09:26:00.000-07:00

You help us decide - should we go out with this guy again?

1) He asked us out for coffee, but suggested a restaurant at 6pm.

2) He picked a restaurant quite near our house, so we put on our flatest flats and took a stroll. Too bad he said he was 5' 10 but he was actually shorter than us - and we aren't even 5' 5 barefoot!

3) He reserved a table for us (really sweet, we know) and specifically requested side-by-side seating (just us, or is this awkward?).

4) Apparently he goes to this restaurant a lot because he knew what he wanted before we even had a chance to open the menu and seemed impatient for us to decide.

5) He ordered two eggs sunny side up and hash browns (Weren't we just meeting for coffee? Isn't it dinner time?) and then inhaled everything before we had two bites of our sandwich.

6) He's not interested in travel (which might be OK for some people, but we SO love to travel). However...

7) He likes to read about other places and believes that reading is essentially the same as the real travel experience.

8) When the check came not only did he take us up on our offer to split it, he made sure the waiter knew that the sandwich was ours (it was two dollars more than his, after all).

F*ING DATING

2010-05-24T08:29:00.000-07:00

We went on a first date with a guy who showed up in sweats and was already drunk (we think). During the hour we spent together he proceeded to slam three more drinks and said fuck at least fifty times. So loudly that other people in the bar noticed. We were mortified.

LOVE LETTER

2010-05-13T11:27:00.000-07:00

Dear El,

Remember when we agreed that when our affair was over, we'd be upfront and talk about it? It's not that it's over (that is a survivable loss). It's the unreturned phone calls, your silence.

You've let us down.

So, this is goodbye.

PILLOW TALK

2010-05-10T08:31:00.000-07:00

Photo via dress, design, decor

We decide to try online dating again. It had been a few years and we need to take control of our dating life. Let's have an adventure and see what's out there. After a few days and a few winks we get an actual email.

Email #1

Hope you're having a good thur! I just noticed your ad and thought I should say hi and introduce myself. I guess I'm not sure what to say, but I live in downtown Bellevue, just turned 30 last month also and am still getting used to it...lol You seem straight to the point and am wondering if you might be interested in getting together? My name is brian and if you'd like to meet up, let me know!

(What’s with the random non-capitalization and punctuation?)

We check out his profile and notice that 1) He’s super-cute. But, 2) His profile has a lot of loaded language like: I'm looking for a girl who doesn't want to change me, who is comfortable with me being me and her being her…And we think – hmmmm.

But, being open-minded and believing that it's important to cast the net wide on this Internet-dating-thing (mind you, the wide net did not include "Bed-shaker-69"). Besides, we need practice composing casual-but-interesting emails because it’s awkward and we never know what to say. We write him back a short, slightly dorky email. Notice we don't address his offer of getting together. Seems premature.

Response, Email #2

Hi Brian,

How are you? Having a good weekend? Yesterday was so beautiful – definitely made us excited for summer (or spring at least!). Happy belated birthday! Did you have a big party or do something else special?

Well, tell us a little more about yourself. Downtown Bellevue? Have you been to Boom Noodle?

And this is what we get back:

Email #3

I think I'm not interested in dating people right now. I'm just so busy and don't really have much time for a real relationship. You are awfully cute though! Definitely someone to wake up next to everyday...I'm sure you'll find your man in no time =)

Wow. We just got rejected by a guy who hit on us. This is a first. Upon consultation from several wise friends we get these possible explanations:

1) brian just wanted booty and our response showed that we weren't down.

2) He got dumped, signed up for online dating and then regretted it.

3) Between thurs and Sunday the man met the girl of his dreams =) and just wasn’t into us.

What did we learn? You should never tell someone you don’t know that they "look like someone nice to wake up next to." It’s uncomfortable.

Note: One-week later when we check up on brian’s profile, it’s been removed.

BOOK CLUB

2010-05-06T09:33:00.000-07:00

We tend not to read self-help books. Or dating books. But, the other day we had a bit of a Bridget Jones moment and ordered He's Just Not Your Type (And That's a Good Thing), from Amazon. A friend of a friend wrote it and we've got to support our peeps!

But what really got us was that it seems to be along the line of a few things we've been thinking about lately: dating ruts, attraction and how it works, relationship patterns (For example, we realized that we've never dated a guy with a sister. Ever. What does that mean?), etc. Plus, our friend said that Andrea is wicked funny. And we love funny girls!

We just started it, so don't have an official review. But, we're excited about this assignment and will keep you posted.

Mark your calendars! Andrea will be speaking at Third Place Books in Ravenna on May 25. We're going for sure. Who's with us?

A CRUSH

2010-05-04T09:27:00.000-07:00

Our friend has a lovely, shy 3.5 year-old daughter. Apparently she has an admirer. An older guy (he's 6).

Here's the Story
Boy wants to have Girl over for lunch, but she's playing hard to get. Really, her shyness is getting the best of her.

Everyday lately, as they're leaving "school," Boy makes a point of saying goodbye to Girl. And his mom told our friend that one day after Boy said goodbye and Girl actually smiled and said goodbye back, (And here's the sweetest part.) Boy said to his mom "Isn't she beautiful when she smiles?"

WORD

2010-05-01T10:55:00.000-07:00

We spent last weekend in our favorite grit city: Tacoma, WA. We didn't meet any new cute boys, but house and dog sitting gave us the opportunity to spend some time alone, reflecting. Also got to see great friends and catch up with an incredible community. Some highlights.

Wandered the graffiti garages on Broadway and (as usual) were blown away by the amazing variety and talent. This is such a cool space and the graffiti practically changes before your eyes, a constant rotation of art. We love it. Love it!

Baked a vodka pie (really, it was rhubarb but we got the recipe for the crust that includes vodka via Smitten Kitchen).

Went to an amazing David Bazan show at Urban Grace Church. He entertained us with beautiful music and a lively, honest Q&A. One of his songs made us cry.

And the highlight - went to Wayzgoose at King's Books. For those of you who haven't heard of it, Wayzgoose is a printing festival and the coolest thing is that they make HUGE lino prints with a steam roller. Didn't take any photos, but we did get to print our very own Beautiful Angle poster. Like many Tacomans, we're huge fans of Beautiful Angle - a local letterpress poster project. Thought-provoking, witty and lovely copy, amazing design, wheat pasted around the city once a month. Free for the taking if you're lucky.

We think the copy of this poster is the perfect mantra for our spring.

THREE FOR THREE

2010-04-29T14:14:00.000-07:00

In the past seven months we've been broken up with via:

Voice Mail

Text Message

Ahhh, the beauty of technology. Zero accountability. At least we haven't gotten dumped by a Post-It!

(And, we admit it, we've played this game as well.)

PIZZA PIE

2010-04-27T09:35:00.000-07:00

Another kind of pie we're obsessed with is the pizza kind. We especially love putting "weird" things on pizza and calling it fabulous. Awhile back we were inspired by InStyle and Aida Mollenkamp ("Food Network's rising star," apparently) to have our very own pizza party with one of our favorite people and fellow blogger, Saltina.

(Saltina takes the most lovely, thoughtful photos. Check out: myphoneograpy. Really, you'll love them.)

And today, we're thrilled to do a co-post. Here for the recipes. There for more photos. Join us.

Note: We used one package of Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza dough, divided and made one of each of the pizzas below. Recipes are for two small pizzas each, so you might want to halve the ingredients. Although we believe that pizza is very forgiving and don't worry about measuring (maybe that's why we love it).

POTATO, ARGULA, PECORINO AND MOZZARELLA

2 cloves garlic, sliced thin

2 T grated pecorino cheese (we think Parmesan would work, too)

1/4 lb. mozzarella, sliced

1 small (about 1/4 lb.) cooked potato thinly sliced (we sliced, then cooked)

4 T olive oil

2 cups baby arugula

Preheat oven to 450. Drizzle 1 T olive oil over cookie sheet (or, you could use a pizza pan or pizza stone if you're feeling fancy). Prepare dough (to us that means rolling out as thin as possible, we don't worry about the shape, as long as it fits on the pan). Sprinkle garlic, pecorino, mozzarella and potato slices onto rolled out dough. Drizzle 1 T olive oil over pizza. Pierce dough with a fork several times. Bake 10 - 12 minutes or until crust is crispy. Remove and top with fresh arugula.

BLUE CHEESE AND ROASTED SQUASH

1/2 cup diced butternut squash*

1/4 cup diced onion

5 T olive oil

1 t salt

1/4 t ground pepper

2 T grated pecorino cheese

4 T crumbled blue cheese

In large bowl, toss squash and onion with 1 T olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread vegetables in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast at 400 until tender (about 20 minutes, but depends on how small you dice 'em), set aside. Preheat oven and prep pan/dough as above. Sprinkle pecorino onto dough. Spoon the veggies evenly over dough. Sprinkle pizza with blue cheese and 1 T olive oil. Pierce dough with fork several times. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until crust is crispy.

*We diced up all the butternut squash and threw small batches into individual ziplock bags and froze them for future pizza parties. Easy!

If you're feeling extra fancy make the Orange & Lillet Cocktail that Aida recommended.

Thanks to InStyle, October 2009 for recipes and inspiration.

COOCHIE COO

2010-04-22T08:49:00.000-07:00

Once, we went on a date with a guy who, in an attempt to take it to the next level (we’re guessing), said “Hey, my dart matches your shoe.” (We were in a pub. Playing darts, naturally.) And then actually reached down with his dart and tickled our blue-sandal-clad foot.

We wish he'd just touched our leg or something.

FLAT

2010-04-20T08:52:00.000-07:00

Moving to a new city is hard, especially if you’re single and know no one. We decided to join Match when we got to D.C. – the best way to shock us into a social life we thought. Our second date was with a guy who was a giant, goofy and floppy and strange.

Does he suffer from ADD, we wondered? Is he crazy? Unfortunately we downed three martinis as a coping mechanism, so when he went for the back rub, we didn't resist. Worse, we didn’t protest when he gave us a big, slobbery, goofy, floppy kiss.

Forgive us – extreme loneliness, tiredness and martini-ness made us weak.

And don’t you agree? Once we kiss someone, we feel almost obligated to go out with them again.

In the time it took to get from date #1 to #2, we chatted on the phone a bit and learned the following:

- He was unemployed

- Living with his parents

- Usually stoned out of his mind on painkillers because of chronic back pain

- He was stoned out of his mind on our date

- Whenever he is constipated, his back pain acts up "real bad"

- He has urinary hesitancy (this means he can't pee in public. neat, huh?)

Clearly, when date #2 rolls around, we are not excited. We organize a squadron of new friends to come meet us at 8 (date starts at 7). We arrive on time – he’s not there. We order a mojito and nurse it. Get a text from him at 7:15: "HAVE YOU LEFT YET?" We call him back: "At the place. Been here for 15 minutes...you know, at the time we agreed to meet?" He is apologetic and says he'll get in the car right away.

45 minutes later we are wilting into our mojito. Nothing is more humiliating than being stood up by someone you're going on a pity date with. Areweright?? Friends show up and we bail. A half hour goes by and we have a voicemail from date:

"I was coming down Rock Creek Park when I hit a pothole and got a flat tire (cue sounds of cars whooshing by). Triple-A came and changed it and I'm on my way..."

We text: SRRY ABOUT UR CAR. WE’RE KINDA BENT OUTTA SHAPE FROM WAITING SO LONG FOR U, SO LETS CALL IT OFF. HOPE UR NITE GETS BETTER.

We turn our phone off. About an hour goes by, and when we turn it back on we are hit with a barrage of angry text messages from him, along the lines of:

I CAN'T BELIEVE UR DOING THIS TO ME

I WAITED 2 WEEKS TO SEE YOU AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME

I THOUGHT YOU WERE COOL

etc.

We're shocked alright. We turn the phone off...and continue to have fun with the new friends.

THE END

2010-04-16T08:12:00.000-07:00

A recent second date with a someone who wasn't doing it for us, got us thinking. How to exit gracefully?

If you've been on one or two dates, can you just let the interaction fizzle out? What is the time frame that requires a conversation?

And, other than the direct, "Dude, I'm just not into you," how do to you tell someone, "thanks but no thanks."

Our best line for (nicely) letting someone know we don't want to date:

Oh, honey, we're just not your girl. We would drive you out of your mind in short order because……(fill in the blank with whatever fault you think will drive them away) We wish you the best.

And leave it at that.

IT'S VAJAZZLING

2010-04-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

(Warning: You might not want to read this one at work. Or, open in front of your mom. Just saying)

We're down with "maintenance" of our lady bits. And, we love trends. But, we're unsure of what to think about the latest venture into our bikini-business - vajazzling - which basically turns your crotch into hairless, shiny all-by-yourself party.

Jennifer Love Hewitt has proclaimed her love for it, salons in New York and DC are doing it. Is our hood next? The jury is still out for us on this one. What about you?

PS Thanks to Twig, for always making sure we're in the know. XO

CUTIE PIE

2010-04-12T10:31:00.000-07:00

Our mom makes the most amazing pies. Our grandmother made the most amazing pies. So do our aunts. Even our sister is making pretty damn good pies. So, obviously we're both spoiled and intimidated by the lady-pie-bakers in our family. Why would we ever even try? But we want to. We're drawn to pies (not just the eating of them, the process!).

We stumble upon this recipe (and lovely photography) via Sunday Suppers. We had a crush. So, on a blustery, dark winter evening on Orcas Island we decided to make a butternut squash gallet for our friends, figuring we would ease into this pie-making business. (A gallet is free-form and "rustic." Perfect for our first attempt at pie making.) Unfortunately, we found out it wasn't pomegranate season. So we modified with pears. We even did it like our grandmother would have, without an electric mixer. Just mucho elbow grease. It was delicious. We may be pie-bakers after all.

Next time we will try cranberries instead of pears. Unless we can find pomegranates at the market.

THE PERILS OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION

2010-04-08T10:19:00.000-07:00

We decide to try online dating. Just to get our feet wet, expand our circle. You know.

Email from guy: You seem interesting and cute. Here’s my number, we should get together sometime.

We read his profile. He seems OK. Not that great to warrant an immediate response - their are cooler people we're pursuing. Plus, we’re a little old-fashioned and would have preferred that he ask us for our phone number.

Email from same guy two days later: Why haven’t I heard from you?

What is wrong with people? We haven’t even met Guy (who's apparently crazy) yet and are already having drama. No thanks.

SWEATER VEST

2010-04-05T10:00:00.000-07:00

Long-term relationship in your 20s = zero dating experience. Imagine our surprise when one day a guy we’d been introduced to in a semi-professional setting flirted with us. Over email. Several back-and-forths ensued before he asked us out for coffee. We accepted.

Met at a coffee shop one afternoon, just a quick break from work. He arrived wearing pleated Dockers, a navy blue sweater vest with a regular blue button up underneath and a royal blue T-shirt poking through. Now, lest you think we’re shallow – some guys can rock the sweater vest. Dads. J. Crew models and those arty-hipster guys. Our Sweater Vest was too dad-ish. And all those different blues...not sexy.

But, the date progressed. Conversation was fine but not memorable. After about a half hour we needed to get back to work and said so. Parting in front of the coffee shop Sweater Vest said “This was fun, we should do it again soon.” And we, not being very good at rejection in general, but certainly not on our first-date said “Talk soon.”

Ten minutes later and just back at work, our phone rings. Should we answer?

“Hi, it’s Sweater Vest.”

“Oh, hi.”

“I just wanted to say that I had a great time and we should do it again soon.”

(Didn’t we just have this conversation?)

“Uh, yeah. Sure. Talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

Ten minutes later – a new email. From Sweater Vest. “Hi, I’m sorry if I freaked you out when I called earlier. Didn’t mean to. Had a good time though and we should do it again sometime.”

Wow. Don’t respond for awhile but, being the nice people we are, we decide that everyone makes an ass of themselves when dating and we don't want him to be sitting at his desk agonizing.

Email back – “No big deal. It was nice meeting you. Have a good night.”

A few days later, email from Sweater Vest: “Hi, how are you? Interested in getting together for a drink?”

No Sweater Vest, we are not. “Actually, we aren’t really interested in dating right now. Nice to meet you though. See you around.” (OK, we admit it, we need to work on our directness but…we don’t like to hurt people’s feelings.)

The response: “I just want to be friends. So, how about that drink?”

Friends? Yeah right. We don’t respond.

Two weeks later – another email from our favorite Sweater Vest. “Hi, haven’t heard from you in awhile. Did I do something wrong? Are you mad at me?”

This is too much. Sometimes it takes us more than two weeks to respond to people we like, people we have relationships with, people who aren’t complete disasters. We let him sweat this one out.

MAKING OUR OWN LIVES

2010-04-02T20:10:00.000-07:00

Being big believers in creating our own reality and tired of the ugly, gray winter weather, Supper Club went with a sunny island theme. We signed up for dessert and made this recipe for carmel corn with salted peanuts with macadamia nuts instead of peanuts (to be more island-y). The result, delicious!

And, it just occurred to us that we could have added coconut to push the tropics even more. Mmmmm...