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

Elle and a {New} Name

{The Bus Rider} and I 'defined our relationship.' Whether he wanted to or not. {I win}. So I've decided to give him a new name!

Everybody, meet...{The Boyfriend}! Yay. Here are some fun facts about him. 

1. He smells real nice.
2. He makes delicious guacamole.
3. He does not like soda very much.
4. He does like beer and 'good' tequila.
5. Sometimes he interrupts me when I am talking. And he says or asks something completely off topic.
6. I like his body {and his brain}.
7. Sometimes he has to wear a pager.
8. He does not have a peg leg.
9. He likes to water ski.
10. He does not like to lose.
11. He is {very} handsome.

You wish he was your boyfriend too. But he's not. He's mine. So there.

xoxo,
Elle

Elle and {Defining the Relationship}

Things are going well with {The Bus Rider}. So well in fact, that I decide I don't want him seeing anyone else. Which means that I can't see anyone else. Holy shit. I wasn't expecting that to happen so fast.

I wouldn't feel the need to talk about it with him, but I don't want him skanking all over town giving away the good stuff to just anyone. I want it all to myself. I keep checking OkCupid so I can see the last time that he logged in. It's not every day, but it's enough where it's keeping me guessing. I'm hoping that he's just logging in to see if I have been logging in. What a mess. 

I can't seem to get a read on this guy. And my job is reading people all day. So that's awesome.

Anyway, I feel like I need to say something. After I returned from Portland, he left for 'Bama. And the day he returned from 'Bama, I was leaving for Bellingham. Seriously. Can we somehow manage to be in the same city for more then a few days at a time? Guess not.

I decided that something needed to be said. And I've found that guys are {pansies} when it comes to 'talks' like this. So I knew if something was going to be said, it was going to have to be said by me. And I didn't want him going on dates with some other OkCupid floozies while I was out of town, so I knew it had to be said tonight. {Ugh.}

Have I mentioned that I'm awkward? I bet y'all can tell that this is going to go well...

I decide I just need to get it over with. The second I see him. {After I hear about his trip of course.}

So we go to dinner. I chicken out.

We go on a walk. I chicken out.

We go back to his place. We watch some TV. And when I say we, I mean he watches TV...all I'm thinking about is how do I start this conversation? Isn't this what scares dudes away?

I chicken out...again. {Chicks are cute though, right?}

In my defense, I've been out of the game for six years. Yes. Six. Sure I went on some dates. I met some {weird} guys. But not one {weirdo} that I was interested in seeing...exclusively.

And what the fuck do you call it these days? There's dating and dating {I see dating and dating as two separate things. Am I right?}. There's hooking up, hanging out, seeing each other, seeing each other exclusively, boyfriend, man-friend, in a relationship, in an exclusive relationship, friends {my mom introduces all my siblings and my significant others as friends - 'This is Elle's friend, {The Ex}'...thanks Mom}. There's friends with benefits, seeing where it goes, kicking it. The list goes on. And on. And on.

In the end, I decide I want to see him. Exclusively. {In other words, you're my boyfriend. But I won't use that word so as not to scare you away. Sucker!}. I hope he's on board with it. And unfortunately there is only one way for me to find out. Time to man-up!

The TV show comes to an end. And I realize it's now or never {and by never I mean next week. But I want to lock this down.} And I'm {not} having this conversation in the bedroom. I want him to pay attention to what I'm saying. Know what I mean?

Sooooo. I tell him I have something I want to talk to him about. He looks terrified. Shit. This isn't going the way I planned. {Good work, Elle!}. I slip him this piece of paper.

Please don't check no.

Okay, I wish I had slipped him that note. That would have been rad.

I can only imagine how awkward I was. It makes me cringe to think about it. Like watching Kate Gosselin on Dancing with the Stars. Seriously. No. Seriously. 

Train Wreck.

What do I say to him you ask? I ask him if he is seeing anyone else. He turns the question back on me. And I answer???? {WTF - Is he some sort of word ninja? If I'm the one doing the asking, then shouldn't he have to be the one who answers first?!}

Anyway, the {Word Ninja} finally responds after I lay my heart on the line. Hooray! He's not seeing anyone else! It turns out he was logging into his OkCupid account to see if I was logging in. Oh the joys of online dating! {Meant. To. Be. Right?!} So now when someone asks me about my dating life...I can say I'm seeing someone...exclusively. Right?

Wait, does this mean I need a new tag line on my blog? Well, shit.

xoxo,
Elle

Elle and {Facts}

Couple of things:

1. My eHarmony subscription ends today. What a ride. Fact: After {The Dreaded Friend Match}, I'm definitely going to let it lapse.

2. My OkCupid account is still active. I'm still talking to a few guys, but I think my interest lies elsewhere. Is it too soon to be thinking that? Fact: I'm new to this game.

3. {The Engineer} is still texting me. I haven't responded in a few weeks. When I stopped responding we'd been communicating for over a month and he still hasn't asked me on a date? Fact: I'm not looking for a pen pal buddy. 

But I'm not paying eHarmony to find me one...

4. In the same week {but different days}, {The Bus Rider} headed to California for a work thing and I headed to Portland with my girlies. I had a great time with the girls, {I always do}, but my heart went pitter-patter at the thought of spending time with him again. Fact: Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

5. I forgot how much effort it takes to pack a shack pack. Fact: Shacking up in college was easier when you could do the walk of shame instead of the bus ride of shame.

xoxo,
Elle

Elle and {Wine}

After I passed {The Bus Rider's} 'normally off-limit questions test' on our second date, he invited me to attend a wine party that his high school buddy was hosting on Saturday night.

As Saturday approached, I started freaking out a little. Last time I saw this guy, I was a little tipsy. And my mouth was all over his. Like all over. {Oh God, were they sloppy kisses?} I've always had a boyfriend. I've never been 'dating' someone, much less multiple people at once. If I'm kissing {The Bus Rider}, am I allowed to be kissing other guys? Talking to other guys? Seriously? How does this work?

Welp, I figure I'll find out.

He swings by right on time and opens the car door for me {Swoon. Seriously gentlemen, take note. Open a door for us, we're clay in your hands.}

I've never been one who particularly enjoys meeting new people, but needless to say the evening was fun.

When the party ended we headed across the street to Gasworks Park to lay under the stars {and suck face for a while. What? It's true.}

Want to?

As we headed back to the car he asked if I wanted him to drop me off at my place or head over to his. And I'm sorry, but you'll never know how I replied. ;-)

xoxo,
Elle

Elle and {Drunk Texting}

Alright. By the time Friday rolled around, I was exhausted. After getting a mere minutes of sleep on Wednesday night, Thursday was a wash and by the time Friday arrived, I was ready for the weekend.

I started throwin back brewskies at 3 at the monthly party at my place of business. By 4 I was ready for happy hour. I grabbed some of the girls from work and we headed across the street to Blush {I don't recommend...} for a liquid dinner.

Awwwhhh. {Liquid Courage}. Such a beautiful thing. After tossing back some more of the good stuff and some encouragement from my happy hour buddies, I send {The Bus Rider} a text message. 

Without liquid courage, I'm not sure I'd have any courage at all...

He ends up meeting up with us and soon after my friends take off {rude, but at the same time, I'm kinda glad they did.} The evening ends up somewhat similarly to our last night. Only this time we ride the bus home...together? You'll never know.

 This counts as our third date, right?

xoxo,
Elle