Not. But for a second this anti-social girl was getting into the swing of things. Like, having face-to-face conversations with multiple people within a short span of time. It was weird, like I had friends or something.

Like S. Who was one half of the duo during our Emily Post, “Can I offer you a cigarette after the salad course”, test. She passed. She would’ve passed even if she’d declined too, but got extra points for being a good sport. You can read about it here. 

Ruth and I met up for lunch at the darn near cutest little restaurant. Heirloom is its name, great food is its game. They try to use as much local organic food as possible. That, along with bread baked in a flowerpot, water in the cutest carafe, and the nicest owners around, it made for a memorable lunch.

Wanna know what else was memorable? Trying to nurse Ruthie in front of a guy at the picture window while holding down the jacket/nursing cover in 300 mph wind. Yeah, that was awesome. I’m sure he got a show.

But, being handed a travel guide by the owner that dear S created made up for it. I told her she should autograph it and give it back to the owner.  That will be worth money one day!

My other favorite part was admiring their vintage mid-50s home with pretty much everything still in tact.

The little stove stole my heart. But then Ruthie threw up on their kitchen floor and it was time to go. We know how to make an exit.

We also had some family over where we watched about 3 million youtube videos trying to find the scandal on The Wizard of Oz set, along with finding compilations of other scandalous images in various Disney movies. I was already biased against Beauty and the Beast to begin with, but these other clips just helped me spread that gag reflex to the other ones.

No, instead I’ll have her watch something more wholesome. Like, The Real Housewives.

I have a love affair with Fridays. They’re my go-to day for inviting people over. You can stay up late, sleep in the next day and still have the rest of your weekend. It’s amazing.

We’ve been lucky with most of our dates, in that we end the night eager to set up a second one to hang out. Other couples, well one in particular, decide that in order to avoid going out with us again, they need to move. Like, to Florida. Like, in two weeks after said dinner. Hopefully it wasn’t because I served our food on old-school cafeteria plates, because I consider these my china. It doesn’t matter the reason, because whether they want us to or not, we’re going to be popping up in sunny FL for a beach date.

One couple, however, I was extremely nervous about meeting. “Meeting” because we never actually met in person. Long story short, J is a blogger at Hotchabyrd, and we have a mutual friend. The friend suggested she read my blog. So she read it, left a few comments that made me laugh hard gut laughs, and then we slowly worked up the courage to set a date.  As we live in the same town, it shouldn’t have been a big deal, right?

Wrong. I was terrified. This girl is funny. Real funny. And funny people make me nervous.

So we agreed on a sushi night with my native american sushi dishes (wrap that one around your brain) and vintage sake cups.

They were my only source of solitude throughout the process, those cups. Well, if I act like a dork, and she is appalled, at least I have my sake cups was my mantra throughout the day leading up.

When they arrived, her husband gave me a big hug. This gave me the courage to attack his wife as she walked through the door. I poured us some sake, we cried as it burned down our throats, and then began talking.

And talking.

And talking.

In fact, the conversation lasted for 6 hours straight. Not bad for a first double date.

We hit on some of her “Things to talk about in case it gets awkward” list (even though it didn’t get awkward). My personal favorite, “Enjoying being AWAY from other people.” I don’t think we discussed that one. But now I wonder how it would’ve been brought up if that was her last ditch effort for a topic.

[In the middle of complete silence] So, don’t you just hate being AWAY from other people?

[pause] Yes. Please go.

I mean, how do you respond to that?

Anyway, we did some of our talking on the deck.

Her husband riffed gently on the guitar as we warmed our feet by the fire. It’s why I want R to learn the guitar, if only for that background music.

I even felt comfortable enough to do my “Take a photo of me while I act like I don’t know what you’re doing so I can prove that I indeed exist” stance.

That one is crucial to me. If I can act my unnatural natural self around you, you’re in.

And they were. Totally in.

All I know is that by the end of the night, J broke out house shoes she brought in case she felt comfortable, we’d planned a weekend trip, I shared the most random of random personal stories usually reserved for date #250, R fell backwards in a chair and got stuck in the corner, D serenaded us with his musical talents, and we all agreed that a good time was had.

[raising a glass] Here’s to blogs and their aid in making new friends.

Just don’t drink sake with that toast. It’ll burn.