Naval and Military Dinner

This evening was a dinner at the Naval and Military Club, also known as the In-and-Out Club. Nice enough place, although in the somewhat shabby way that all really old men's clubs tend to be.

We had a champagne reception before dinner, and then horns piped us up into dinner, where we had to remain seated for the entire meal.

That was the most interesting bit of the night, in that at the dinner, they had informed people that if they got up from the table during the meal, they would be fined a bottle of port. And so there was this one chap, Navy Guy (actually a member of my own club) who got up from the table and left the room, which meant that they removed his chair and wrote on his name card that he'd been fined a bottle of port. Yet he thought to be more clever than the organizers, and planned to not return to the table. Instead he wandered the club and sat downstairs in the bar having loads of G&Ts. But somebody came and found him anyway, and dragged him back to the dinner, where he went and got his bottle of port. Yet, they didn't take it from him, just insisted that he buy it, which then pretty much left him open to drink an entire bottle of port throughout the evening.

Needless to say, he was quite a wreck by the end of the evening, yet even when I left at 12:30 AM, he protested mightily to my departure and seemed to show no signs of slowing down himself. (I, at least, drank only the wine I'd been served at the table and finished in the bar later with water. I will say one thing about hanging with the Young Dutchman: It's making me ridiculously responsible when I'm not around him!)

Overall, the dinner was quite good. Very nice setting, and they had musicians playing live music (string quartet kind of stuff) throughout the entire dinner, which lent the whole evening an incredibly sophisticated vibe. I now want all dinners I attend to have live music playing throughout! I ended up sitting with some students from St. Andrew's, and was at the catty-corner with the military-host types. Not the most amazing evening, but not the worst either. Although I was fortunate that almost all of my table was there, as there were quite a few pockets where guests had failed to turn up, which I think somewhat diminished the enjoyment of the evening for those with empty places beside them. I know their flatmate, the American Guy I Once Hooked-Up With, was moaning a bit to me about the evening and left early, I think because he'd been bored sitting next to empty chairs. Oh well, I shall be seeing him on Saturday for the ball I'm going to in the evening, so I shall have to do my best to make sure he has a better time then!

March Monthly Drinks

It was time for the March end-of-month drinks at the club this evening, and so I went to join everyone at the club after work. It was a smaller crowd than usual, and we never found ourselves moving out of the bar. I was glad to see Doro and the Irishman, and the Wild Welshman was there too, always a treat for me.

Unfortunately Doro and the Irishman couldn't stay for long, so I found myself staying seated with G (our slightly kooky vice-chair of the Younger Member's Committee), the Wild Welshman, and a few others. I say that G is slightly kooky, because she flirts in a most bizarre manner, often treating boys like pets and petting them (seriously, stroking their arms).

So you can imagine my surprise when at one point when G started talking to me about things to do on the committee, and she seriously started PETTING me. Since when did I turn into one of her pets? It's such a strage little behaviour, I wasn't quite sure how to react to it.

The group continued to chat quite a bit into the evening, and G kept insisting that people should join her for dinner, although we really didn't want to. Just never took the hint no matter how many times the Wild Welshman and I said we didn't want to go to dinner. Finally, she talked two others into joining her for dinner, and so myself, the Wild Welshman, my friend Florie, the Wild Welshman's flatmate, and that guy with the goatee whose name escapes me at the moment just continued to enjoy our drinks at the bar. Then, at around 9-9:30ish, we all decided to head over to the Caledonian, where there was a small, but nice crowd gathered. Mostly people wishing the Jones twins a happy birthday, probably about 20 people in total. In truth, I spent most of my time chatting with the Wild Welshman about books we've read lately, as it's always one of my favourite things, chatting to people who read. We finally left together at around 11 PM, with promises to catch up more on Saturday. I do enjoy his company, but I think at this point we might be far too stuck in the "Piers Dilemma", of we're quite now in the "friends zone". It's funny, as I think that might actually be my advice for Piers: You've got to act quickly. Once you are friends, it's kind of too late. I've heard of people who move from being friends to being in a relationship, but I really have no idea how that happens.

We left the club together, and ended up chatting on the street corner where we had to part ways, and I reminded him that we'd first met in that very same bar so long ago. How much has changed since then? It was a sweet, poignant moment, more remarkable for the obvious fact that we both realised it was somehow significant, but we had no idea what to do about it. I really wonder some days what is going on in that boy's head...

Open Bars Are Dangerous

The Young Dutchman continues to be responsible for the destruction of my liver...

I had sworn to myself that I was going to my running club this evening, but after the Young Dutchman absolutely insisted that we go to a party at the Kensington Roof Gardens this evening, I was too easily persuaded to run off early and join him at the club.

Got there, and found that the free wine and canapés were flowing, and although the Young Dutchman was bouncing around the room, networking like a puppy chasing a ball, I had the good company of our good friend David, who made sure I was never without a drink in my hand (first bad move of the evening!)

Despite that we had come to this party with the intention of just having the free food and drink, we found ourselves talking to the VP of the company, and with several of their key designers, basically meaning that we were among the few people who did the kind of appropriate networking that we were supposed to at a party like this.

Just as I was getting tired (it was a Tuesday night, after all) and thinking that we should wrap this up and head home, the Young Dutchman pulled out invitations to yet ANOTHER private party, at a different club nearby, also with an open bar. So I got dragged along to that one, where there was no food to be found (second bad move of the evening), but funky alcoholic jello and lots and lots and lots of free wine. Spent more time chatting with David, trying to avoid being chatted up by weird guys, until finally the group seemed to move (to be honest, my memory is totally fuzzy at this point), and given that we were down the street from my house, I took advantage of the opportunity to walk home!

The next morning I was VERY grateful that I can work from home. There was no chance I was making it to the office... I couldn't believe it then when that afternoon he asked me, "So what are you doing tonight?" Yes, he wanted to take me to yet another party. I flat-out refused of course, not only because I had other plans, but because I thought I might die going to yet another open-bar party. It's fun hanging out with him, but he's like a hyper puppy-dog, and I can't keep up. Some days I think that the boy needs a girlfriend, because he's using me as a substitute to take out all of the time, and it's killing me!

Will's Birthday

The clocks had changed last night, but I still managed to get up and down to Fulham to join my friend Will for his birthday celebrations. Given the time change, I was one of the first to arrive, and so we went for a drink outside where we found ourselves somewhat dragged into conversation with some very cute and VERY drunk rowers from the Cambridge blue boat from the day before.

As time went on, more people arrived, including my friend Sophie who I hadn't seen in ages. Some ate lunch, we all gathered and gabbed for ages, before then many left again. At that point, there was still supposed to be a second-wave of people arriving, so Will and I went for a little walk along the riverfront, where we gossiped a bit about our social-climbing friends, and I have to admit that it's one of the things I've always liked about Will: Being an actual peer of the realm, he really can't be bothered with social climbers, and instead just focuses on surrounding himself with nice people who are good fun.

We returned to the pub and were FINALLY joined by the Young Dutchman (he'd been texting me that he was coming for hours), and quite a few others, including Sophie coming back. I finally had some dinner, and just enjoyed the company of the crowds.

In the new crowds was my friend Piers, and we ended up getting into this conversation about "when do you know if it's a date?" Because Piers was telling me, "I definitely think there have been occasions where I've been out with girls, and I think I'm on a date, and I don't think they had the same impression. I mean, you ask a girl to go for a drinks, I see that as a date, right? But I think they saw it as just two friends grabbing drinks. So how on earth do you make that clear, that 'This is a date'?" Ah, poor Piers!

I pointed out that in these situations, he already was friends with the girl in question, which added to the confusion. If a guy you don't know asks you out for drinks, you pretty readily assume it's a date. But if you've already been "just friends" with the guy for a while, you continue to assume you're friends, right?. It's a question I wasn't quite sure how to answer for him, as I don't know how one makes the leap from, "We're just friends" to "We're now going on a date". I really had no answers for him...

Of course, this was all the more funny because the birthday boy, Will, was a guy who I went to the movies and dinner with about a year or two ago. One of those interesting evenings that just comes about, where by the end of it you're not quite sure if it was just an evening out with two friends or if he thought it was something more. He was good fun but a bit eccentric, hence I was glad when he never pushed it to go any further, and we just have always stayed in each other's friendship circle, going to the same parties and whatnot.

So anyway, in the course of conversation, he was mentioning how he knew various people, some who were at the party and some who weren't, and with a wink at me he said, "And I used to date some, of course." A part of me wanted to ask, "Oh wait, so that WAS a date?" Boys are really thick that way sometimes...

It was quite the marathon afternoon, as I arrived at the lunch at 12:30, we were joined by a few others, then a couple people left, then the Young Dutchman called to say he was coming, but other people were going, so I ended up taking a long constitutional along the riverbank with the birthday boy, just the two of us. Finally the Young Dutchman showed up (because you know I don't see him nearly enough), more people joined, until finally at 8:30 PM I begged off to go home (despite the Young Dutchman's protests of "But I just got here!" I was tired and he'd showed up six hours late, so despite his throwing a tantrum like a little boy, I went home anyway). What a day!

Boat Race

Boat Race day was great, as I met up with a few Cambridge friends, and we watched the race from Hammersmith, near Furnival Gardens (where they have a big screen for watching the race). Obviously a dissapointing outcome given that I was cheering for Cambridge, but still a great vibe with the crowd.

It was absolute madness down at the riverfront, with people packed about 12 deep from the river's edge. And so when my phone buzzed about 20 minutes before the start of the race, I figured it was one of the friends I'd invited down, who was perhaps trying to find me amidst the crowds. So you can imagine my surprise when it was not any of my friends, but rather DM, a friend of my ex-flatmate's ex-boyfriend (yeah, see if you can figure out that tenuous relationship chain), texting me to say, "I can't see you." Ummm....SHOULD you be able to see me? WTF? I see this guy occasionally at parties and events, and we always chat and get along, and that's why he has my number, but I hadn't even spoken to him in about 4 months. And now he's looking for me? In this crowd? Right now? I seriously almost thought it was a mis-directed text, that he was looking for somebody else.

And so after the race, I was so surprised at this random text, I picked an easily findable spot (under the big screen), and told DM to find me, which he did. And then I said good-bye to my friends, we re-joined his friends, and then he said good-bye to his friends saying, "Yeah, I think the two of us are going to go grab dinner." Ummm, we are? Since when were we the type of friends who grabbed dinner, just the two of us?

Okay, but cool. And let's face it, I like DM, despite his randomness. So despite being a bit puzzled by it all, I was happy enough to go along with it. So we went and found a pub, got ourselves a nice quiet table in the corner, and then he insisted I hold the table while he went and bought us dinner.

And then we sat, had an interesting rambling conversation about vegetarianism and meditating (he's a veggie, and I've been trying lately to eat less meat and be all zen and that crap). He's way far ahead of me on both the vegetarianism and the meditating, but it was just funny to me to be having this conversation with a giant, strapping Australian guy who loves to drink and play sport...and eat veggie burgers. He's a puzzle, alright...

Nothing happened after that, he just suggested we go for a walk, and then after a while noted that it was cold out and that he was tired, so he was going to head home.

When I got home, I found that a FB message I had ignored earlier in the day (my phone was taking forever to load it) was from Dr T, he'd been looking for me at Furnival Gardens that afternoon. Boo, I missed him! (Although unexpectedly found DM, so I suppose on the whole I did well on the cute boy front).

Inspired by my unexpectedly nice afternoon with DM, I texted the Most Attractive Man in the Room. "Just got back from the river's edge after cheering my head off for Cambridge, but still wasn't quite enough against those Dark Blues. {sigh!} I guess there's always next year, right? xx A"

And my goodness is that boy good for my ego, as he responded in less than 30 seconds flat: "Haha yeah.. They did kinda get rinsed, but good day nonetheless! How's things? Been busy organising social events at the club?"

Okay, so I couldn't help but responding, "You know it! End-of-month drinks at the club are on Weds, and the calendar keeps filling up, so I'm never bored! Will be up in Cam in a few weeks to catch up with people, so we'll have to grab a drink then. How's things on your end? xx A"

And once again, the boy is wonderful, replying instantly again. Gosh I love these little back-and-forth chats, because he's so wonderfully eager. "Sounds cool! I can't wait to start getting involved with all of your ents at the club. Everything's good thanks, done w most of my deadlines and moved bank to morgan stanley (from this summer).."

So one last reply: "Ah, Easter term in Cambridge, when all of the work is pretty much done and all there is to do is go punting and drink Pimms! Definitely enjoy, and will have to show you the best parts of London in the summer..."

And just when I feared that the boy might leave me hanging, wishing that I'd been smart enough to leave him wanting more, he wrote: "Hehe exactly ;) Let me know when you're in cam."

Finally for once I realised the need to leave him hanging, and left it at that. One of these days I will learn how to talk to cute boys!

Then, because my day wouldn't be complete without my favourite cute boy, the Young Dutchman called me up on Skype. I was already in bed with my glasses on, but of course he insisted on it being a video chat. But then again, that's the beauty of the Young Dutchman, that I really don't care with him. That's the security of just being friends with someone, and also knowing that he'll love me no matter what I look like.

Had a nice chat, discussed the day and other nonsense items, and then turned myself in, after a wonderful day filled with great boys.

Arleen's Birthday

This evening was Arleen's birthday. It was all a bit over-the-top, as she rented out a whole room in the Carlton Club and had 50 people for dinner. Open-seating with a buffet table (I am really growing to HATE open seating), and to avoid getting stuck sitting with that chap who I went on that horribly awkward date with (in that he stuttered horribly and was deathly dull to boot), I just ended up sitting with the Young Dutchman. Kind of feels like cheating, as I should get out and meet new people and not just hang with the Young Dutchman all the time, but at least I knew dinner would be tolerable that way.

Food was okay, and we had to buy our own wine, but we did get some entertaining bagpipe playing going after dinner, so I suppose on the whole it was an okay dinner. I did say something at one point that was so funny, the Young Dutchman absolutely choked on his wine, forcing everyone around him to start slapping him on the back as he just continued to die with laughter. I wish I could remember at this point what I said that had been so wonderfully witty as to make him laugh so much!



After dinner, a mutual friend of myself and the Young Dutchman stopped by with a few friends, as they had also been out at a black-tie dinner that evening and so we'd agreed to meet up after our respsective dinners. I was so shocked when as we were standing around chatting (dinner was thoroughly over at this point, people were just circulating and standing around finishing drinks), Arleen came up and demanded, "Who are you? And what are you doing here?" I was so taken aback, as it was just so thoroughly rude. I mean, dinner was over, they were in black-tie, and just wanted to catch up with a few friends. What was the point of the third-degree? Needless to say, after explaining they were there with me and the Young Dutchman, they made about 30 seconds of polite conversation and then made their excuses to leave, having been totally scared off my Arleen. After seeing them out, she seemed totally surprised when I came back alone, apparently having no awareness of how rude she'd been to these people. It seriously bummed me out though, because it's incidents like that which make people think Clubland is snobbish and exclusive, when people are so rude and unwelcoming. Seriously put a damper on the evening.


Then, despite wanting to go home, I somehow got dragged out to the RAC, where I was mostly tired and bored, but just as I got up and made the rounds of good-byes to leave, I got stuck in conversation with David Jones. Although I shouldn't say "stuck", because the reason I stayed was that at this point he decided to start telling some really funny and interesting stories about his days at St. Andrew's. And there was a part of me that wanted to complain, "Couldn't you have been this interesting EARLIER in the evening?" So in the end, instead of being the first person to leave, I was the last to leave, at around 3 AM. Whoops.

High School Reunion

This evening, I got together with my old friend from Kindergarten (who I see all of the time), our class valedictorian (who lives in London but whom I don't see as frequently), and our friend Maren, who happened to be visiting London on a business trip (she normally lives in Boston).

I suggested we all meet at the pub where we'd had the hash the week before, which turned out to be a terrible move, as it was way too small and overcrowded. I wondered how on earth I would find Maren amidst the crowds, as I hadn't seen her practically since graduation day.

When Maren arrived, I instantly knew that I need not have worried about recognising her, as she looked almost absolutely the same as she had in high school. We only had a few moments to catch up and chat before the others arrived, but she managed to get the basics down and raise her eyebrows asking, "So you're single? And your Friend From Kindergarten is also single? Hmmm....how about that..." Yes, I know, and I'll admit the thought has crossed my mind at times...

We stayed at the over-crowded pub for one drink, before moving on to another pub that my Friend from Kindergarten knew about that was much more spacious and much quieter, where we were able to get dinner and have a few more drinks, talking and catching up, and before long hooting and laughing our heads off at stories about some of our fellow classmates and the things they've gotten up to. I will admit, often my Friend from Kindergarten and I would break off into our own conversations, as I'll admit we see each other more frequently and have more to talk about. But it was good to see the group as a whole, and realise how well we've all done over the years. Having missed our 10-year high school reunion, it was great to see them all again!

Finally the late night had to come to an end, and we all peeled off in our own directions, with me and my Friend from Kindergarten heading home together (since we live around the corner from each other). A great night catching up, and great to see everyone again...

Bring on IPV6

After the panel discussion at the Houses of Parliament two weeks ago, I was contacted by one of the organizers (why me, when I'd been the least involved? I think because I'm a girl and he had a slight crush on me), suggesting that I come to an event being held at the London Transport Museum entitled, "So long IPV4, Bring on IPV6". Nah, I didn't really know what it meant either, but free food and booze? Sure, sounds like fun!

So I told the Young Dutchman and our good friend David about it, and signed us both up. Arranged to meet them in Covent Garden, and see what this was all about.

It was funny though, as I was just about THE ONLY girl at the event. It was this event about internet IP addresses, and so it was filled with classic computer-nerd stereotypes. Tried chatting to a few guys, but I've never met people so miserable about maintaining a conversation. Seriously, they would just stand there, staring at me, waiting for me to ask another question. As I told David, "Although the odds are good here, the 'goods' are odd."

I tried striking up conversations a few times, but everyone I attempted to speak to seemed to have no idea how to carry on a conversation. Just answered my questions and then stood there staring at me, waiting for me to ask another question. So I will say that internet launch parties are a good way to meet guys, just not exactly the kind of guys you'd really like to meet! Also, the Young Dutchman is USELESS at helping me meet guys. On the upside, he constantly seems to know where events are happening that involve free food and booze, so I suppose that's a good thing! (And also, where else am I going to find a boy who calls me every single day? He's a sweetie, he really is).

We had a good time with plenty of wine (although actually some non-alcoholic fruit drinks that they had there were AMAZING), and managed to eat almost an entire dinner just out of the little canapé dishes that they had going round. Then we actually headed home by 11 PM, making it a very early night for being out with The Young Dutchman!

The Luck of the Irish

In the morning, I kind of freaked out when the first thing I saw was The Young Dutchman, standing over me, gently shaking me awake. I guess it tells you something about our relationship, that it came as quite a shock and totally freaked me out. (I guess it tells you something about my relationship with The Young Dutchman that, as close as we are, the sight of his face first thing in the morning was slighly panic-inducing? I never ever want to go there). Then the vague outlines of the previous night came back to me, and I was able to be a good hostess and see him out.

Unfortunately, I was still so spaced out that I didn't take this cue to also wake up my cousin, and as a result she TOTALLY overslept her flight back to the US. Luckily she was able to get on another one later that day, but it definitely would have been wiser to go home earlier and drink a lot less the night before! Still, it gave us a chance to go for lunch at a nice pub in town, and get some food into her before it was time for her to go.

Finally I saw her off to the airport, and then went out to join friends for the England vs. Ireland rugby match, although I was just so tired through the whole game. (No hangover really, but I was exhausted, as you never sleep well when you've had too much to drink). Ireland won the game, dashing England's hopes for a grand slam victory, so in addition to my exhaustion the game was a bit of a disappointed. Made polite chit-chat after the match until somebody noted that I looked absolutely wrecked, and so claimed that as my excuse to go home. Makes me wonder what on earth happened to that "no hangover" rule, which I've obviously been violating in a pretty bad way. Time to drink a bit less, go home and get some more sleep!

Too Much at the Lansdowne

Now that my cousin had seen my club, it was time for her to check out the other place where I spend far too much time, the Lansdowne Club. Plus, it was also a chance for her to meet The Young Dutchman, who she was desperately curious to meet in person. When I had told her that we would be joining the Young Dutchman, my cousin asked me me, "Is this the guy I always see commenting on your Facebook?" I really had no idea that The Young Dutchman was such a well-known part of my life...

Drinks were fun, although there were too many of them, and sometime around 2 AM, my cousin, the Young Dutchman, a friend of his and me all found ourselves in a hotel bar somewhere, that I'm still not entirely sure where it was. At that point, everybody was in a pretty bad state, yet I somehow had the inspired idea to take everyone home with me (my flatmate was out of town, thank goodness). Managed to make up both an air mattress and the sofa and tuck everyone into bed.

I guess I was really showing my cousin how my life really is, where "one drink at the Lansdowne" is never only one, and my nights out with the Young Dutchman always end with far too much alcohol consumed!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Erin Go Bragh!

It was time for the wearing of the green today, as it was a day to celebrate all things Irish. It was ironic, my cousin would later point out, that we celebrated an Irish holiday with a group of Americans in England, but sometimes the wonderful irony of it all is what makes it so great.

She had spent the day up in Cambridge visiting some family friends, and so I told her to meet me at the High Street Kensington Tube Station, where we then joined my Friend from Kindergarten and another American friend of ours to celebrate some wearing of the green and to drink some Guinness.

Overall, just a good time, as we had some burgers for dinner, and plenty of Guinness to drink, as we talked about America, Ireland, working as a banker, and just all the usual sorts of crap that Americans always talk about when they get together.

Even took a photo of the two of us with our pints of Guinness to e-mail to our cousins as a St. Patrick's Day greeting. Slainte!

Introducing my Cousin to the Club

This evening, I promised my cousin I would show her the world that I had often spoken of, my club.

I'd suggested a few friends might join us for drinks beforehand, yet unfortunately they all ended up having to cancel. The Irishman was off skiing in France, the lucky duck, and Doro came down with an illness that would continue to haunt her for the next week. Yet, even though it was only me and my cousin, it still made for a lovely evening.

The club was excellent that evening, with the staff all on top form. Everybody was greeting me by name, so I'm guessing I must be around more lately, and it hugely impressed my cousin. I always love that, when the staff say, "It's so lovely to see you, Miss Loehwing!" as soon as I walk in the door.

Had a great dinner, and then just lingered for ages chatting over our wine, chatting about boys (of course!) Seriously, what else do girls talk about when they get together? Although it was one of those conversations where the girl just moans about being single, and you don't know quite what to say. It's really just luck, in my opinion, why some people have already met the love of their life and others of us are still looking. Yet I don't think any girl does herself any favours by moaning about it. I think as soon as you do, you unconciously start to give off a vibe that makes boys stay away from you.

Goodness knows I'm not always happy about it (there was still no word from The Dentist at this point, gosh darn it!) but at least I generally get my fair share of male attention, which generally placates me. Still, who wouldn't like to find that special guy, the one just for you? Everybody would...

So it was a tricky thing, to try and talk her down from her ledge about turning 30 and still being single (I could not believe how depressed she was about it!), while trying not to be too insulted about the fact that I'm even older than she is and single, so apparently therefore worse off!

After dinner we took our wine and wandered through the club, writing letters with the old nibs and pots of ink, and just enjoying the beauty that is the club library. Checked out the billiards room as well, and just enjoyed a lovely late night in such a grand setting.

Running with my Cousin

In keeping with my desire to introduce my cousin to all aspects of London life, this evening was the night for my cousin to experience running with my running club. "I'm not a runner!" she protested when I told her about the plan. Yet, I assured her that she would be fine, and gave her a map and directions of where to meet me for the run that evening.

She made it to the starting pub just fine, even though I had forgotten about the "toga" theme for the evening, given that it was the Ides of March. Yet some folks had some extra strips of cloth that they wrapped around me, so I ended up with a decent toga costume, despite not having planned on it at all!

At the designated time, we set out running, and got a really nice tour all over London with lots of stops and breaks (good for my non-running cousin). Overall, it was a really good late-night run through some lovely touristy areas (Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, Horse Guards, etc.) I mean, isn't that how you're supposed to be a tourist? Running through those areas in the middle of the night?

Overall a good run, and then had some fun making my cousin go through the usual tradition of "down-downs" and being part of all of the group stories. Not a stellar evening for circulating and talking to people, which was a shame as I just got talking to Roofie's brother just as we were getting ready to leave. We also took a photo of the two of us to send out to all of our cousins, as it was so much fun just to be there together, going on our first hash run as cousins. Yet eventually it was late and I think my cousin isn't used to quite my late-night schedule in London, so it was time to take her home before she collapsed!

Wine and Opera

My cousin Katie arrived this morning from the US! She can fly stand-by on Continental flights, and after an entire afternoon of waiting, she finally got on a flight. She made it to mine at around 11 AM, and I was so excited to see her!

After putting her through my patented jet-lag routine (eat, then nap, then shower, then out again), I took her out to an "Opera and Wine Tasting" evening that my friend Siobhan had invited me to at the English National Opera.

When we arrived, luckily I spotted Siobhan right away, and we were also soon joined by another mutual friend, the Ultimate Tory Boy. Then it turned out that somebody in our group knew somebody else in another group seated near us, and so we found ourselves with two groups combining. And in the other group was this really cute, blond-haired, blue-eyed gorgeous guy. He was sitting about the furthest away from me in the combined group circle, when he said to his mate (who was sitting next to me), "Hey, can I switch with you?" Jeez, can you be any more obvious? And so, I found myself sitting next to the super-cute guy, who also turned out to be really smart (went to Oxford, was now in grad school to be a dentist) and funny (I was cracking up all evening long). I mean, I love those evenings, where you meet somebody and it's so obvious that you like them and they like you.

At the end of the evening, he absolutely demanded my card from me (very impressed that he asked for my info instead of me just foisting it on him) and I VERY much hoped I would be hearing from him. Because I want to get him involved in Younger Member's events at the club (oh yes, he was apparently a newly joined member) and be a good committee member....and also because he's got amazing blue eyes and a wickedly funny sense of humour. {Sigh!} Must remember not to obsess, and just appreciate that I had a lovely evening with good company, and I should just appreciate it for what it was...

We had talked about going to dinner together, but The Dentist was catching up with an old friend of his, so instead my cousin and I joined Siobhan and the Ultimate Tory Boy for dinner at an Italian restaurant nearby. Had a great time cracking up and telling stories, and I think it was a good introduction to London life for my cousin!

Follow-up to the story:

And then nothing. Zip, zilch, nada. Even without prompting, my cousin asked a few days later, "So did you hear from that guy who was totally into you all evening at the opera?" No, dammit! So what gives? Boys make no sense to me...

The Perfect Day

Made it home around 3 AM (I think), and even more impressively dragged myself up and back over to the club in time for my 11 AM squash game with David (guy in a relationship I met through the Young Dutchman who always looks out for me). I'll admit, I was feeling less than my best, and sort of wondered if I was going to pass out or vomit in the middle of the game. Yet, after a shaky start, I actually found the running around felt really good. Maybe squash games are the ultimate hangover cure? I was wiped at the end of an hour, and so David and I passed another half-hour just sitting in those chairs down there, chatting about nothing in particular. Finally we realised we should go get some food, so we both showered and changed, and then walked towards Picadilly in search of food. (Note to self: Really useful if you remember a hairbrush when you're going to wash your hair at the club. As it was, went for some natural finger-styling).

Then, as we were walking to Picadilly, we ran into a St. Patrick's Day parade! It was the coolest thing, and we just had a blast watching and taking pictures of all the bagpipers, Irish step dancers, fiddle-players, and even Carnival-esque dancers and drummers. It was so much fun, I just couldn't stop smiling as we kept laughing and pointing out other cool things. I think we could have stayed there for ages, except our stomachs were rumbling from a lack of food!

David led me to a pub he knew of, that turned out to just be one of the best pubs I've ever been to. The staff there were super-nice, opened the upstairs dining room for us (which was really lovely), brought us drinks and amazingly delicious food, were super-attentive and let us run a huge tab even though we never even gave them a credit card or any money. We had the most amazing lunch, and then they showed the England vs. Scotland rugby match on this absolutely massive screen. Since we'd picked our seats before anybody else, we had a perfect spot for viewing on this great corner couch where we holed up with loads of Guinness (we'd been inspired by the St. Paddy's Day parade).

The game was incredibly exciting, tied score nearly the whole way through, until Johnny Wilkinson came out on the field and won the day for England. Also there was a fox running around on the field at the start of the game (nobody could catch it), and the ref actually got injured halfway through the game, and they had to bring on a replacement ref! I'd never seen the ref get injured before in any sport!

In the end, it was just a perfect day. Squash, parade, great food, fabulous rugby. At the end of it all, David and I were asking each other, "Can we just sack out here and take a nap?" Totally unplanned, but aren't the best days always that way? We were constantly remarking to each other, "This has been such a great day!" I sort of had to wonder how David's girlfriend must feel about him spending the whole day hanging out with another girl, but he seems like such an up-and-up guy, that perhaps she just knows she can trust him and doesn't worry about it.

It was my dad's birthday, so I'd been meaning to call him in the evening. Except that there was no response at my brother's place. Kept calling for hours, until my brother showed up online and told me that they'd been down at my uncle's place for dinner. Tried calling my folks' cell phone, except that wasn't working either! I actually had some work to get done, so I stayed up until 2 AM, when it was 9 PM in the US, and managed to get my dad on the phone just as they had walked in the door. Success! So even though it was no longer his birthday in the UK, I'd gotten to sing to my dad on his birthday in the US. What a lucky daughter I am!

Chinese New Year Dinner

Unfortunately, due to my consumption of far too much alcohol on this particular evening, my memories are quite spotty. Hence I have to simply give you snippets of what I recall throughout the evening:

- On my right at dinner was a chap from Magdalene, graduated in 2000, I believe. Not a member of the club, but nice guy, we had some good banter. Told him he needs to come along to "Magdalene in the City" stuff. It's just one of those things, where you generally like every Magdalene person you meet. Very funny though, as my friend Nichole later told me she'd orchestrated it for the two of us to sit together, hoping we might hit it off. I didn't have the heart to tell her that after I came back from the buffet, he said to me, "Who was that girl you were just talking to? Can you introduce me?" (It was Orla, who is lovely). I think I forgot to make the introduction, but just as well, as at least it reassured me his interests lay elsewhere and I was just able to enjoy his company. (Because truth be told, while I thought him nice enough, wasn't that attracted to him either).

- At some point in my drunken madness, I had the idea to snatch Super Social Scottish Guy's camera and running around taking photos of people like the mad paparazzi in the bar. I just hope I wasn't too annoying... Was fun though!

- I chatted to the Young Tall Scotsman for ages, the poor guy feels absolutely hounded by his ex. And she really was constantly clinging to him all evening, like a bad rash. Was chatting online with my friend Melissa, and she was telling me how they went up on the terrace at one point, and the ex was actually calling him on the phone, demanding to know, "Where are you?" The poor guy, Super-Social Scottish Guy really needs to stop inviting her to things, as it's just unfair to the Young Tall Scotsman, he feels like he can't come to club events anymore because she's always stalking him.

- Being in the bar in the RAC, and the staff bringing over what I thought were olives, but turned out to be grapes soaked in some sort of hard alcohol. And he said it was something special they were doing for the Olympics? No wait, that can't be right... Memory is VERY fuzzy after this point...what the heck was in those things?

- Even worse, I think I got the idea into my head that these alcohol-soaked grapes would clean your mouth out like toothpaste, and I always love kissing boys who have just brushed their teeth. So since the Old Boyfriend (who I have no interest in whatsoever) was sitting right there, I kissed him. I of course will blame it on drunkenness later, but still probably gave REALLY the wrong impression.

- G asking me what we should do about S, the Wild Welshman. Wait, what? We need to do something? Something about he'd broken up with someone recently? Realised then and in my conversation with Melissa this evening (she was asking who he was), that although we talk all of the time, I don't really know a lot about what's going on in his life. Maybe G actually has more in-depth conversations with him, I really just have banter.

- Repeatedly trying to tie both The Twins's bow-ties. I must have practically strangled them both. I remember asking Gordon what was up with him and Melissa, he swore she's like a sister to him, and I have to admit I get the same story from her. Sounds like a me-and-the Young Dutchman type situation. But I love how you can only ask those questions when everybody is as high as a kite, it would be inappropriate to ask at any other time (and is probably even slightly inappropriate then).

In the end, quite a fun evening, but I definitely need to drink less next time!!

The Houses of Parliament

Monday night, I wasn't doing much, just taking some late calls and recovering after the weekend. When the Young Dutchman popped up on Skype, and dragged me into an hour-and-a-half video chat, because of course we need to have video chats on days when I haven't put on any make-up or done my hair. But it's the Young Dutchman, so whatever.

Anyway, in the course of conversation, he suddenly came up with this great idea that we should go to a panel discussion on internet copyright law being held at the Houses of Parliament the next night. So after work, I met up with the Young Dutchman and his friend David (who I also know and like very much) at a pub nearly Westminster for a drink, and then we went on to this talk in Parliament. Fun being in this amazing, beautiful setting, totally boring talk. (The Young Dutchman was getting really into it, but it was a panel discussion where everybody was too focused on making their own point, rather than listening to anybody else). So I played with my iPad and discovered Twitter.

Then afterwards, there was a drinks reception held in one of the dining rooms downstairs, so we went for drinks, chatted to some random people, and had a bunch of free drinks. I found it very funny that when I was standing in a group with the Young Dutchman and David and one of the organizers, the organizing guy kept talking to me and directing all comments to me, even though the Young Dutchman and David were obviously a lot more into the topic. I guess I was just better-looking than they were!

We were having such a great time, that when they kicked us out of the drinks reception, we dragged the organizer and one of the panelists off to the O&C for even more drinks. Enjoyed that until our random guests left somewhere around midnight, and then the Young Dutchman, David and I ended up in the silent library, chatting our heads off and writing silly letters with the quills. (Yeah, great use of the silent library, right?) But the Young Dutchman and I always do that, we just end up chatting by the fire there for hours, it's sort of our special spot. I even made David a "Get Out of Jail Free" card to give to his girlfriend later to hopefully buy him some leniency for what was turning into quite a great night.

I was surprised as none of the staff ever came looking for us, so finally at around 3 AM we were starving and figured we should go out looking for food. So we caught a cab to Old Compton Street, and actually found a place that seated us and served us burgers at 3 AM. I couldn't believe it, when we left around 4 AM even more people had come in, and the place was hopping! And given that this was the day of Mardi Gras, even though it was after midnight, I had one last Diet Coke to send off as I went into the 40 days of Lent.

Finally caught a cab home with David and collapsed into bed sometime after 4 AM, but had to start work on time the morning after. No hangover (thank goodness for that burger!) but just not enough sleep.

I couldn't believe it when the Young Dutchman caught me online later that afternoon to ask what I was up to that night, I nearly cowered under my chair, I don't think I could handle another night like that! (Luckily, I think he got the hint, and let me be without asking me to come out). I love him dearly, but keeping up with him can be exhausting...

Drinks with Lavan

On Sunday afternoon, I met up with a friend of mine from kindergarten (kind of weird that a guy I've known since I was 5 years old now lives in London), as he's recovering from hip surgery. Just sat around having drinks and catching up, talking about people we've known since we were young, which is always fun. He moaned a bit about being single, although I swear he does it to himself. The guy is good-looking, athletic, incredibly smart, funny, well-educated, and does quite well for himself (he's a banker). What's the problem? He's about 5'5". Which yes, is kind of short for a guy, but it's not the end of the world, right? Yet he can't seem to get past the issue of his height, and brings it up far to often (he was joking that he asked the surgeon to stretch him out while repairing his hip). I know so many short guys who just allow their self-confidence to carry them through and don't seem to have any problems, yet this guy lets it define him. I really don't know what to tell him much of the time...

Still, I always enjoy his company, and it was such a lovely afternoon, just sitting and talking and doing nothing much at all. What a great way to spend time.

Megan's Birthday

On Saturday I went to the birthday party of a girl I met at the Caledonian (but I never see her there). Very funny, as I actually became better friends with her boyfriend (the guy works around the corner from me and we meet up for lunch every so often), but she's so cool and chill, and loves seeing me too. Still, I get the feeling her boyfriend freaks out whenever he sees the two of us whispering in a corner, it's really kind of funny (he actually texted me from across the room at one point during the evening to ask, "What are you two talking about?")

I actually met up with the two of them before the party for drinks at some place that was doing a 2-for-1 cocktail happy hour, and the boyfriend got the brilliant idea that we should all have four cocktails each. Then went on to the actual nightclub for the birthday party where I also kept finding myself with a drink in hand, and I'm afraid it was one occasion where Super-Social Scottish Guy's eagerness to photograph everyone wasn't the best. I untagged myself from most of the photos when he finally posted them on FB! (Although didn't actually ask him to take any down as I'm not quite that vain).

Chatted to some Scottish guy who reminded me of Franke Boyle, his accent was so thick, and he seemed kind of funny. Gave him my card, although have not been at all surprised that I haven't heard from him. Seemed very typically British in that regard, unlikely to ask a girl out!

Finally at around 1:30 AM, I just got tired, so decided to head home. Couldn't find any taxis free, so started walking in the direction of home. Passed by a kebab shop with some bored looking guys behind the counter, they beckoned me in, and when I was dithering about whether to get a kebab, they gave me free chips and a drink. Actually bought a kebab because I felt so bad that they'd already fed me (and you know how kebabs just start to smell good after you stand in the shop for a bit), and they gave me ANOTHER free order of chips and a drink to head home with! Yum dinner.

At least I can feel good about eating so much, as in the end I ended up walking all of the way home (about a 25 minute walk). So I burned some calories off, at least. Nice night out, but I realise the loud, thumping-music nightclub scene is not quite my thing!

Lansdowne with M

I still had my friend Margaret staying with me on Friday, so I dragged her along to drinks at the Lansdowne (as I always do). Piers was there, along with a few Lansdowne types I always love to see, as well as a few other familiar faces from elsewhere in Clubland.

My friend Margaret was running late leaving work, and so I was worried that we would arrive too late at the Lansdowne for me to catch up with S (the Wild Welshman) before he had to go home and pack for his flight to Morocco in the morning. (He'd texted me to warn me that he would be leaving early, so I had to get there soon if I wanted to see him). Yet luck was on my side, as I caught him just as he was leaving, and persuaded him to stay a bit longer. Just good to chat to him before he went. Then when the Young Tall Scotsman arrived, between the two of us we nearly had him convinced to stay (he was definitely wavering at that point), but finally the Young Tall Scotsman and I stopped our guilt trip and allowed him to go home. He did have an early flight, after all!

Oh right, some background:

The Young Tall Scotsman - A guy within our social crowd who is very tall and Scottish. (Did the name give that away?) I'd never taken much notice of him, until my bestest friend within our social crowd confessed to me that she had a huge crush on him. She's never even SPOKEN to him to the best of my knowledge, but admiring from afar thinks he's very cute. (In my view he's not ugly, but also didn't quite see him as the male model she apparently does). In order to facilitate her actually speaking with him at some point, I struck up a friendship, invited him to events where I knew she would be (which she then cancelled on, grrr!) and just actually spent some time hanging out with him, upon where I discovered that he's wickedly funny. A week ago Wednesday the two of us ended up at a nightclub until 3 AM, just laughing and goofing around and having a great time.

The Young Dutchman left early as well, as he apparently had some hot date, so I spent most of my time talking with Liza and Chris, and a friend of Liza's who I hadn't met before. This girl, Kandi, is apparently a member of the RAC, but about 2 years ago was a member of the O&C. And I was so pleased when she said, "But I've been hearing so much about all that is going on at the O&C lately, it sounds like things are positively hopping! Apparently there's a really active YM community now, and it's really the place to be!" Liza chimed in that she thought we could take a lot of credit for that, as we'd really made it what it is. I was quite chuffed.

So then I got to chatting with the Young Tall Scotsman, among others, just having champagne and joking about this and that. And after quite a bit of champagne was consumed, he suddenly whispered in my ear, "After that Wednesday, I find I suddenly can't stop thinking about you."

Wait, what?

Yet before I could really ask him about it, I guess he felt like he'd made his confession and then turned to talk to someone else, where I couldn't really interrupt. But this had me thinking, "Oh, this is going to be such a mess." I'd originally befriended him on behalf of my friend. And now I was stuck in a situation equivalent to the one of Don Pedro wooing Hero on behalf of Claudio in "Much Ado About Nothing". Except, I have to admit, although I didn't originally see the incredible attraction my friend had for the Tall Scotsman, I have to admit since I actually TALK to him that he's quite funny and I've been growing quite fond of him.

Okay, but we were off chatting to other people, so I didn't think much of it, until I was moving from one room to another, quite on my own and away from the crowds, when I can't even remember how it happened (it happened so quickly), the Young Tall Scotsman suddenly wrapped an arm around my waist, pulled me in close, and kissed me. Hard and fast on the mouth, powerfully and passionately, leaving me just stunned for a moment. Wow.

And then I was so surprised, I said (and I can't believe I actually said this), "Wait, I wasn't ready for that! Again!!"

At which he just laughed and said, "I grab my opportunities where I can. Patience, my dear!"

So now a guy which I swear I had not thought anything of other than as a funny guy for my friend is now tumbling through my thoughts constantly, all due to one kiss. And I'm still not sure of how much I like him, but all I know is that I DEFINITELY want to kiss him again. (Although hopefully without my friend who had a crush on him first ever finding out. Although I wonder if she ever plans on actually speaking to him? She has actually been seeing another guy recently, so the Tall Scotsman should be off the agenda for her, but you know how girls can be funny about things like that).

Had quite a late night and a fun time (Margaret did brilliantly talking to the tons of random people everywhere, as I knew she would), and we piled ourselves into a cab for another late-night trip home. Clubbing with me means lots of late nights!!

Italian Wine Tasting Dinner

The Young Dutchman either loves me or hates me, I can't decide which, because my head hurt this morning (Mr Attractive was insisting on buying me multiple drinks in the bar last night, after we had been standing right in the path of the champagne top-ups all evening) and The Young Dutchman insisted that we play squash this morning. Called me at 8:30 AM to settle a time. I'm not sure how he does it, because according to texts, he was out even later than me and drinking more than me, but yet he called me on his way in to some breakfast event. Waking up to The Young Dutchman is definitely a good way to start the day, but I wish he didn't insist on physical exercise while my head is still pounding!

Because I can never say no to the Young Dutchman, I went and did actually win a game, but overall lost 2 games out of 3. And I only won the one I did because the Young Dutchman was very kind and let me re-do all of my faulty serves. It was embarrassing because when I greeted him, I could still practically smell alcohol fumes coming off of him, and he hadn't had breakfast yet. And then there I was, fully breakfasted, and there was one part where I seriously thought I was going to collapse right there on the court, I was panting so hard. Of course when I asked him how on earth he did it, he just gave me a wink and said, "Impressive physique".

He spent most of the match moaning and stressing about how crushed he was going to be if he didn't get into Oxford, as the waiting game, waiting to see if they take him, is really killing him.

So you can imagine my delight later that same afternoon when he called with the good news. He got in!! And I was so charmed, he called me first before he called anyone else or even put it on FB. Just had a great call with the two of us mutually shrieking about how great it was.

And then lest you think I'm too biased towards Oxford, dashed off a breezy note to Mr Attractive to just say how nice it had been to see him last night, and got a response within 30 seconds. Yeah, am definitely going to have to find an excuse to head back to Cambridge before too long...

My friend Margaret was still staying with me, so in the evening I'd made plans to take her to an Italian Wine Tasting dinner. It was one of the more "regular" club events, where the crowd was older, but it meant that there was quite delicious food, and some really excellent wines paired with each course. We had the good fortune to be seated with a group that provided some lively conversation, and Margaret really got into talking linguistics with one of the guys. Overall, excellent dinner and excellent evening, and I think Margaret enjoyed the formal evening at the club.

At the very end of the evening, as we were sitting in the bar enjoying a post-dinner drink, the Young Dutchman drunk-dialled me and begged us to come to the Carlton where he was having drinks. I promised Margaret that it would be brief (as it was quite late and she desperately wanted to go home and go to bed), but when we got to the Carlton they said they were closed and refused to let us in! So I texted the Young Dutchman that fact while Margaret grabbed the opportunity to pile us into a cab.

Apparently as soon as he got my text, the Young Dutchman raced down the stairs, but we were already in a cab on our way home. Too bad, I would have enjoyed to see him all drunk and happy on his Oxford acceptance, but I was sure we would see each other the next day. So for now, it was off to bed with us!

The Most Handsome Man in the Room

My friend Margaret arrived to stay with me for a few days this afternoon, and ended up working for the afternoon at my place. I did wonder how on earth I would escape if the Most Attractive Man I've Ever Met In Real Life did call to encourage me to ditch work early to hang out with him, so it was almost a relief when he said he was going to be stuck a bit longer at his existing event, and he would see me at the club.

I arrived early, just in case he managed to make it there early, but ran into S (the Wild Welshman) in the squash bar. Doro joined shortly afterwards too, so I felt an obligation to stay and chat with them both (as they are two of my favourite people), but let's face it, I was distracted. Finally, when I couldn't take the waiting anymore to see if the Most Attractive Man I've Ever Met In Real Life had arrived, I went up to the drinks reception to get some champagne and talk to people.

He wasn't there yet, although I did panic for a moment, wondering if I would even remember what he looked like. And when I felt my phone buzz, I immediately looked around, and within moments saw him: The Most Handsome Man in the Room. Once again my heart skipped a beat, and I couldn't believe that here was this guy wanting to talk to me.

Officially I was supposed to be circulating the room, talking to lots of people, but once the Most Handsome Man in the Room had arrived, I had eyes for nobody else. Admittedly, he did have some friends with him, so I had to take the entire group for tours of the club, but I did manage to take them on quite an extensive tour (and better than the "official" tour some were getting, I hope!) to see the whole club.

In the end, I pretty much talked only to Mr Attractive all evening. Even more amazingly, he seemed quite content to talk to me as well. I showed him how to get a bit more air and more champagne by standing out in the hallway where the waiters had to walk past with the fresh champagne bottles constantly, and we had quite a fun time topping up our glasses constantly as they walked past.

Finally, when the drinks reception was over, I suggested we retire to the bar downstairs, where Mr Attractive bought all of the drinks. Even when I moved to get the next round (he's a student, after all!) he refused to let me and bought those too. Just seemed to want to stay and talk to me forever, so I felt absolutely rubbish to have to point out to him that the whole crowd needed to leave at 11:30 if they were going to catch the last train back to Cambridge. Someone asked me later if they thought he might have been angling to stay, and I absolutely would have happily had him stay, except there were quite a few others in the crowd who needed to get back to Cambridge. So alas, they had to go...

Still, he texted me at 1:30 AM to say how nice it had been to see me and to let him know when I was next up in Cambridge. The whole thing seems quite surreal, because I literally picked him out as being the most good-looking guy in the room, but I never imagined he would in any way return the sentiment. Can't believe that a guy like that would be into me, but it does amazing things for my ego! Trying not to put too much on it (he lives in Cambridge, after all), but just enjoy it for what it is. God, it does make me want to get right on the next train back to Cambridge though...

The Brick Lane Dinner

I went into the office today, because I was due to upgrade my work computer to Windows 7. I went in late, and so I finally had to grab some time at 2 PM to try and make the upgrade, at which point my computer suddenly froze in the middle of the upgrade. When I finally realised it was frozen and called the tech support people about it, they said, "Hmmmm....looks like we might have to rebuild your computer. You DID back-up everything before you started the upgrade, right?"

Oh crap. Who ever backs anything up? So I lied and told them to do what they could, and they told me to leave my computer with them overnight, and if I was lucky, they might have managed to recover everything by the morning.

So I tried to work for the rest of the day on my iPhone (not exactly the same as my laptop!), blagging my way through conference calls.

And then, the most amazing e-mail popped up on my phone. Do you remember that super-cute guy from the drinks reception at Cambridge on Friday? The most handsome man in the room? The one I gave my card to, sure that he would never call? Well, he e-mailed me. To say he was going to be in London tomorrow, and wanted to know if I remembered him, and if he could see me. I re-read the message in wonderment, thinking that there was no way it could be the same boy. That evening I'd just been wearing a dress from Primark, I'd been all flustered from running for the train and with my hair undone, and yet he wanted to see me again?

Well duh, of course I remembered him, and yes, would love to see him!! So I e-mailed him back (after calming down from my heart palpitations), and was thoroughly delighted when he responded within seconds. We had a bit of a back-and-forth going on as I left the office, making my way to join my friends Zhan and Blackie for dinner in Brick Lane. The whole bus/Tube/walking journey, he kept firing mildly flirtatious e-mails back at me, each one leaving me more stunned than the last that this guy would be paying any attention to me at all.

Needless to say, I was in quite a good mood when I arrived at the restaurant, despite having gotten lost on the way and gone for a bit of a walk around East London (a rather dodgy area of town, particularly in the dark). Yet I finally made it to the restaurant, got my order in, and enjoyed a fantastic dinner (for only £9!) as we all caught up. It was only once I was seated that I realised Zhan, Blackie and I had been trying to organize a Brick Lane dinner for the past 6 months, and now suddenly on a whim (we'd only planned it that afternoon), here we all were!

I got to listen to Zhan's tales of flat-hunting and job-searching, and was quite pleased to realise that both were heavily influenced by his girlfriend, who is a lovely girl who seems to recognize what a great guy Zhan is. Later in the evening, we were joined by Blackie's boyfriend, and we got to hear the hysterical tale of how they had gotten trapped in Russia for 52 hours due to the Heathrow airport closures over Christmas, and since they didn't have visas to enter Russia, got stuck in a hotel room for the entire time under armed guard. (And can you imagine being stuck in a hotel room with someone you were dating, just after you'd had your first getaway trip, for 52 hours with nothing to do but talk to each other? I was impressed they were still dating after that experience?)

Overall, fantastic evening with old friends, and one little e-mail that had my face hurting, because I couldn't stop smiling. I hope that whatever happens, I can always remember that feeling, where my heart skipped a beat. May I always remember what it felt like at that moment. I still can’t believe it will go anywhere (he’s too perfect, too good-looking, there must be some fault with him like he’s too young or too Italian), but I just want to enjoy that moment, knowing that a cute boy liked me.