Hello! So during my one year plus hiatus from my one entry blog, a few things happened. I was a non-single Seattlite for almost a year. Mateo and I galavanted around Seattle, Portland, LA and Colorado. While it was a blast, the military (and the fact that Mateo is more like a pansy 16-year-old) put an end to things. Fortunately, the relationship did bring some good things to my life. Best of all, my new friends S.J. and S.K.! On the superficial side of things, I gained a Nook, a sweet new tv and lots of financial advice. I made out pretty well.
While I have been missing the Mateo in my life, I know it's over for the right reasons and it's time to move on. Hence, my dating (mis)adventures began again. I decided to Join Okcupid.com as a distraction. Most of the guys were meh but one wrote me a nice message and I realized I had met him before! Slightly awkward that we had met through a mutual friend of Mateo's, but nevermind that. We went on a nice date and it started to renew my faith in men. He was very nice, polite and a carpenter (a man who works with his hands is HOT.) I began to think I might have lucked out and found a keeper right out of the gate post Mateo. Unfortunately, date #2 did not go so well. He made me a delicious 5 course meal and we had yummy drinks and good conversation. I had made plans with friends for drinks that night and I had told him this before the date. It came time for to meet up with my friends and he literally tried to keep me on his couch and said, 'oh they'll understand, just stay here.' Excuse me??! This is date #2 and no one tells me I will not go out with my girlfriends! It took 5 tries but I finally plied myself out of his arms and made my way to drinks with the girls. What a relief! I was able to vent to them and they weren't trying to hold me down like a slobbering dog! I'm sure I may sound like an ungrateful bitch, complaining about a guy who cooked me a delicious meal and wanted to spend time with me. But either way, it rubbed me the wrong way. It also made me realize how much I value my independence and my girlfriends. Two months post a year long relationship may be a little early to expect to find love again. So alas, here I am, single with more exciting adventures ahead of me.
My single time in the last few months has let me catch up on the finer things in life. Namely, wine, TV, cooking, pinterest and terrorizing my grumpy neighbor. I discovered a few new favorites during my wine tasting in Sonoma and Yakima. Matanzas Creek, Gunbun, Gilbert Cellars and Cote Bonneville. All are great pairings with my lovely tv and new favorite tv shows: The New Girl, United States of Tara and Breaking Bad.
As far as terrorizing the neighbor goes...it's really just been too fun. He's a grumpy old man who forgoes the typical welcome mat for, 'there's no place like home - GO THERE.' Yep, that's literally what it says. He's just begging for a little bit of a hard time from his young neighbor and her friends! In addition to the mat, he has a pink flamingo (a la Florida retirement home) that is stuck in a fake potted plant. One night, after S.J. and I had drank away our woes, we decided that flamingo needed to join us in my warm, friendly home. We adopted her for 2 weeks and named her Phoebe. Two Buck Chuck (the nickname of my lovely neighbor) missed her so much that he wrote me a note pleading for her return. How could he automatically assume it was me?? Anyhow, my conscience caught up to me after a few weeks and I quietly returned her to her cold home one early morning. S.J. and I had so much fun hanging out with Phoebe that she inspired our Halloween costumes. The Queen of Hearts used as a flamingo as her croquet stick so she seemed perfectly appropriate. S.J. was Alice and M. was the Mad Hatter, which completed the Wonderland trifecta. Two Buck Chuck didn't see us in costume but one can hope that he at least heard our happy party. Maybe it cheered him up!
