Elle and Doing {Dishes} at {The Boyfriend's} House

{The Boyfriend} and I have been dating for a little over a month and a half now. He hasn't really discovered my crazy side yet {there's plenty of time for that} and I haven't discovered his. I'd like to keep him from discovering my {crazy} side until he's really locked in for the long haul. Keeping the {crazy} hidden is easy when you're never in the same city as each other...

Anyway, we've both been out of town so much that when we are actually both in the city of Seattle, we spend our time together. Doing fun things - like {not} cleaning our houses. Because of this, the dishes started piling up a little at {The Boyfriends} house {and mine}. I'm no stranger to getting behind on housework, so I'm not bothered by this too much.

On the first {and last} sunny Seattle day we decided to BBQ and make a yummy grilled chicken Caesar salad. Because my honey did all the hard work on the grill, I thought it would be nice of me to do the dishes. {All} of the dishes.

So after dinner I get right to work in the kitchen. I'm pretty familiar with things in a kitchen. Like plates. Silverware. Cups. The usual. I feel confident in my ability to load a dishwasher. I do a little pre-washing action and then load the dishes in the dishwasher where it make sense. I know plates usually go on the bottom and cups usually go on the top. You know. That kind of stuff. I've always been pretty good at Tetris. I may not be perfect, but I get the job done.

Piece of cake!

So, I'm working away in the kitchen. Not my favorite thing to do in the world, but I'll do it for {The Boyfriend}. You know, show him I appreciate him cooking and all that.

He comes into the kitchen.  And this is what I'm imagining happening in my head. --->The two of us. Throwing soap bubbles at each other and giggling. Making out. Snapping towels. You know. All happy and sappy and flirty and stuff.

Doing the dishes is so much fun!

Instead he tells me I loaded the dishwasher wrong.

Wait. What?

He says that 'these' plates go here and 'those' plates go there. The romantic comedy soundtrack playing in my head comes to a screeching halt. So he's saying that even those 'these' plates fit here, and 'those' plates fit there, they actually should be switched around? No 'hey Elle, thank you for doing the dishes!!? Kiss kiss.' No tossing soap bubbles? No giggling? No making out on the kitchen counter?

Lame. Sauce.

This boy...

It reminds me of when my dad told me {10} years ago that I was cutting tomatoes the wrong way whilst I was making dinner for my family. I didn't realize there was a right way...And yes. I still remember that. And no, I'll never forget it.

xoxo,
Elle

Elle and {Baby Girl}

Back in 2008, {The X} and I adopted the sweetest little puppy in the entire world. We'll call her {The Baby Girl}. You know how unhappily married couples sometimes try to fix their marriage by having a child? Just sayin.

As you all know {The X} and I broke up {that was so much fun}. {But} I know we both are thankful that we got {The Baby Girl} out of our relationship. Spoken like true parents who love their child - despite not being in love with each other any more. What can I say?

{The X} and I both love {The Baby Girl} so much that neither of us could stand to part with her full time. We worked out a little shared custody deal that allowed us both to continue to be a part of her life and went along our merry way.

{The Baby Girl} is Ah-dorable. She has a fantastic personality and really is the sweetest thing. But she is also judgmental. And doesn't like socializing in large groups. And she generally hates most people.

Because of this, I've never introduced {The Baby Girl} to any new 'dudes.' I realized both she and I didn't need that emotional distress, unless the 'dude' was going to be around for the long run.

After dating and then locking down {The Boyfriend}, I decided it was time for the {The Baby Girl} and him to meet. One of the first things I said to {The Boyfriend} on our very first date was that if my dog doesn't like you, then I don't like you. {Seriously, you can ask him.} I can't really have the two of them at odds. That just wouldn't work - know what I mean?

Puppies are a girls best friend.

I decided the introduction should happen on {The Baby Girls} turf. That way she was comfortable and had one less thing to think about.

{The Boyfriend} came over {looking all cute by the way} after work. I had given {The Baby Girl} a pep talk about the importance of giving people fair chances and being non-judgmental. She just glared at me and ate her dinner. When he walked in the door, she did her little barking thing {she hates when people knock}, gave him a good sniff test...and fell in love.

WTF?

I thought she would at least play hard to get. But she always has been a sucker for a man with facial hair.

To add insult to injury when we climbed into bed later that evening, she chose to curl up in his nook not mine. And then he chose to spoon her, not me. It's like they didn't even know I was there.

Is there room for a third in there?

At least it went well, right? Hopefully they let me hang out with the two of them in the future...

xoxo,
Elle

Elle and {The Boyfriends} First Birthday

So {The Boyfriend} and I had our first date at the beginning of April. I decided I didn't want to share his goodies with other girls towards the end of April. Next big date? My birthday...

What's more awkward then introducing your new BF to your friends? Introducing you new BF to your friends on your birthday week{end}. {The Boyfriend} and I are still just getting to know each other. He doesn't know yet that my birthday is a national week long holiday. I don't know how to tell him without sounding like a psycho crazy birthday celebrating bitch. How is he going to succeed if I'm not setting him up for success? How is this relationship going to succeed if he doesn't recognize the importance of my {birth}day/week?

I dropped some {subtle} hints that he should take charge of plans for my actual birthday. My instructions were simple - I just wanted to spend time with him.

Take charge, he did.

{The Boyfriend} planned a romantic evening for two at Teatro Zinzani. Complete with preferred seating, wine pairing, a kick ass show and even a slow dance for the birthday girl {me}.  We dressed all fancy and he even got into the spirit of things and sported bowler hat for the evening. A-dor-a-ble.

I gotta admit, it was one of my favorite birthdays of all time. I'm not sure how he's planning on topping it next year, but don't worry, I do have a couple of ideas.

Tropical Getaway?

And if that's expecting too much:

You can't go wrong with a gift
that comes in a little blue box.
Am I right?

What? My birthday a national holiday. And should be celebrated accordingly.

xoxo,
Elle

Elle and {Friends}

There comes a time in every relationship when the {new} boyfriend meets your friends. Why? Why oh why does this make me so nervous? I'm more nervous about {The Boyfriend} meeting my friends than my family.

I've met a handful of {The Boyfriends} friends already and knew it was time for him to meet mine. With my Birthday Week {yes, I said Birthday Week} right around the corner, I thought it would be the perfect time for introductions. Get 'em all done at one time.

Long ago, I decided that 28 was going to be 'my' year. Why? I love even numbers. 8 is my favorite number. 2 is my second favorite number. And I don't want 82 to be 'my' year. That's just too long to wait.

I decided I needed to start my 28th year off with a bang, so I reserved the top floor at Belltown Pub in Seattle. Shuffleboard, pool, foosball, friends, food, presents and good company. What more could a {girl} ask for?

After announcing to my friends that {The Boyfriend} was going to make an appearance at my party, it should come as no surprise to anyone when I tell you that this birthday was my most well attended birthday since my 21 run. {THAT was a good birthday...odd number and all.} Thanks friends...

It's really important to me that {The Boyfriend} like my friends and vice versa. My friends really liked {The X} a lot and he liked them back. We share a long history of making stupid decisions and sharing a lot laughs together. As much as they liked each other, we spent most of our time with {The X's} friends. Which made me miss my friends. And I'm not doing that this time around. My hope is that they'll like {The Boyfriend} just as much as they liked {The X}...{If not more}. And that he will like them back too.

{The Boyfriend} arrived fashionably late. Not because he's hip...but because he was celebrating his father's 70th birthday. The problem with him being late was that I only got more nervous {I didn't know when he was going to show} and it allowed me plenty of time to get my drink on.

I don't date hip dudes.

I don't always make smart decisions when I'm drinking. I'm human after all. And while my memory is hazy of the evenings events, it seems as though the introduction went off without a hitch. Hooray!

Shit. That means next up is meeting the parents. Maybe I am more nervous about that then I thought...

xoxo,
Elle

Elle and {his} Ex

I returned to Seattle after spending the week with my family in Bellingham. {The Boyfriend} and I spent the day in the sunshine at Golden Gardens.

Aren't our feet cute?

He packed the cutest little picnic of oranges, goldfish and sandwiches. He doesn't know that I don't like sandwich meat. I ate the sandwich. Meat and all. Now he thinks I like sandwich meat. {Shit.} This could mean a lifetime of gagging silently while eating sandwiches. Somehow, some way, I'll have to steer him away from making meat sandwiches in the future. This doesn't look promising for me. {Side Note: The sandwich was bearable. Maybe I need to give sandwich meat another try?}

The next day was his neighbor’s birthday party. They were celebrating with cupcakes and wine. Did I want to go? Hell yeah. I love me some cupcakes. Oh. And I like {The Boyfriend} and wine too.

So we head on over to the neighbor’s house. And I'm reminded how much I hate love meeting new people. Luckily his neighbors seem like a great group of people. And I like that he is friends with them. It's like a cute little {secret} community.

{The Boyfriend} made sure to introduce me to people. And more importantly he made sure my wine glass was always full {he's so sweet}. Then {this} girl stomps in. Other than the fact that she had way too much mousse in her hair {it's not 1990 anymore my friends}, I thought nothing of her. And since {The Boyfriend} had a blank look on his face, I figured he didn't know her. So I continued on my merry way, socializing up a storm. {And by socializing, I mean clinging to {The Boyfriends} side. Love, love meeting new people.}

Do people still use this?

A few minutes later {The Boyfriend} pulls me aside and says, 'oh, hey. that's my x. you know. the one that lived with me for the greater part of her adult life. that's why i didn't introduce you to her.' Say what?! I slap him.

No, no. Don't worry, I only mentally slapped him.

Seriously. Gentlemen. Take note. They're called "details." And they're important. If you're taking me to a party where your {x} might show up. It might be a good idea to give me a heads up. Why you ask? It just is. And really, that's all you need to know.

Write that down. That was your {free} lesson for today.

What did I learn you ask? If {The Boyfriend} has a blank look on his face, he's actually thinking 'oh, shit.'

xoxo,
Elle