As I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before, the Russian Jewish community is really small. (Cue Disney music.) You only ever need to know two people. Those two people will know two more people, then they will know two people, and so in any social situation where you are a complete stranger, you will be surrounded by people you've never met but have heard all about you and you will be able to fake your way through anything.
The area I live in is in the heart of a massive Russian Jewish community and there is a big Jewish center accross the street from my house. I don't really fit in in the Russian community (I have lived in America for over 18 years and am really Americanized), but when I first moved, I went there a few times just so I could meet people and make friends. Needless to say, I did not fit in, and a lot of people made that very obvious to me and made it clear that I was not welcome, so I stopped going there pretty quickly. A couple of people from there were nice to me and friended me on facebook. More of their friends that I've never met started friending me from the "people you may" know feature, and I am now friends with the congregation of an entire synagogue including the rabbi, after having met only about 4 people there.
I am one of those people that when I get involved in something, I get really involved and hands-on. My facebook profile attests to this because it says how I'm a chapter advisor, have another volunteer role within my sorority, and am also the president of the NYC alumnae chapter. This one girl who friended me, J, saw this and clearly this made me attractive to her because she is very involved in Hillel, a nation-wide Jewish organization that is on just about every single college campus in America. I say just about because there is a Hillel chapter for Brigham Young, but not for the college that I attended. This girl J is very active in Hillel and several other organizations geared specifically towards Russian Jews and is always looking to expand them. Being that I have had my share of frustrations with volunteering, I completely sympathize with her on how hard it is to get an organization off the ground and how frustrating it is when people don't care or don't show up to events of an organization that you put your heart and soul into. J started inviting me to a lot of Hillel events, but to be perfectly frank, I have zero desire to hang out with 18 year olds named Boris who drive souped up Altimas with illegally tinted windows, or to belong to a college organization that I did not participate in during college, at a school that I never even attended in the first place. Every time she invited me to events I would always rsvp no. Then she started inviting me to executive board meetings of these organizations and asked me to be involved with the eboard. I sent her a polite message saying that I would love to help out but don't have the amount of time that is necessary to devote to being an executive board member of an organization. I told her if she needed any behind-the-scenes stuff and I was free, I would help her out because I'm a pro at stuff like that. She never responded to my message but continued inviting me to executive board members-only events. It got to the point that as soon as I saw "J invited you to the event" I would automatically delete it or rsvp no without reading it.
A couple of days ago, I got a friend request from a boy that I've never heard of or met. His message was "Hey MRM =)." Being that we had a bunch of friends in common, I was like ok, I'll accept the request. It's no secret that I love to cook and bake, so I generally like to have someone over for dinner at least once a week so I have an excuse to cook for someone. I usually put up status messages asking if anyone wants to come to dinner. Well boy I've never met apparently does. Because J told him that I'm a great girl and we'd make a terrific couple so he should ask me out. Boy I've never met is several years younger than me and is still in college. J and I have never met. Why is she setting me up with guys? Seriously folks, wtf?
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
need boy/skiing/fashion advice
(I apologize in advance that this will be a long post.) I usually post boy-related matters over at The More Boys I Meet, but since this blog gets a lot more visitors and I need the advice, I'm posting it here.
So you may be wondering what the three things have to do with each other and here's what. In December I met J at a post-wedding celebration for my friend and her new husband. We hit it off right away and started facebooking daily. We ended up going to the Rascal Flatts concert together and had a blast. We've been facebook flirting like crazy. Basically, this is the summary of my facebook wall:
post from J
MRM wrote on J's wall
J posted a picture on MRM's wall
MRM wrote on J's wall
J wrote a comment that can be interpreted in a sexual nature on MRM's wall
MRM wrote an innocent comment ending in a winking face which thereby made it dirty on J's wall
you get the idea.
Let's just say that since we've met, his level of productivity in law school and mine at work have plummeted. My friends have started noticing and saying "so who is this J boy?" to me.
About two weeks ago, I was having dinner with my friend L. (I met J through her and her husband.) I casually mentioned going out with J to the concert (in the context of- "oh J and I went to dinner there before the concert and I really didn't like the food") and she said that her husband had made a comment jokingly about being flustered by the level of flirting that was going on between us on facebook. My response was "oh I'm sorry, does it bother your husband that I'm flirting with J? Because I could really up the ante." Hers was "please do." Since then, we've been flirting much more heavily, in all fairness, he upped the ante not me.
In case you can't tell from this, J is superflirty. One day when we were back and forth flirting, he made a comment about me going upstate with him for a night to go skiing. Thinking he was kidding and just being funny, I replied in the affirmative. About a week later, one day when he called me (we talked for about 2 hours!) he made a comment along the lines of "oh bring the ZO2 cd with you for the drive when we go skiing" and I was like "oh hmm, he wasn't kidding" (that part didn't get said out loud). I told him that I am basically Charlie Brown epitomized- I can do anything as long as it involves no skill or talent whatsoever, and of course, this only made him want to go more so he can mock me. We will be going skiing next weekend, Lord help me.
I asked him where we would be staying and he said that his family has a condo up there and his dad lives there and we can stay there. No mention of how many bedrooms the condo has. We have plans to hang out a couple of times after the skiing weekend, but I don't know. Usually guys are so paranoid about introducing girls to the family, and J is doing it so freely after we've only gone out once, that I'm tempted to think that it's more of a "hey dad, this is MRM, she's basically one of the guys" kind of thing.
So my questions for you ladies are:
1) Does he like me? (keep in mind that I am the poster child for "He's Just Not That Into You")
2) The last (and only) time that I was ever on a pair of skis, I was five years old and still living in the Soviet Union. Is there anything that I should know about skiing?
3) What do I pack/wear on this trip? My idea of bonding with nature is having a picnic in Central Park, so I don't exactly have a lot of outdoorsy sporty clothes. Being that I am someone who gets cold in anything less than 73 degrees, I also don't have a plethora of winter activity garb. I know I need chapstick, SPF for my face and sunglasses, all of which I have, the rest I don't even know where to begin. What are some things that I absolutely have to have and should bring with me? Being that I'm not exactly Picabo Street, I have no plans to make skiing with boys a regular part of my life, so please don't suggest that I buy a grand worth of ski garb that I will only wear once.
Any other comments/suggestions?
So you may be wondering what the three things have to do with each other and here's what. In December I met J at a post-wedding celebration for my friend and her new husband. We hit it off right away and started facebooking daily. We ended up going to the Rascal Flatts concert together and had a blast. We've been facebook flirting like crazy. Basically, this is the summary of my facebook wall:
post from J
MRM wrote on J's wall
J posted a picture on MRM's wall
MRM wrote on J's wall
J wrote a comment that can be interpreted in a sexual nature on MRM's wall
MRM wrote an innocent comment ending in a winking face which thereby made it dirty on J's wall
you get the idea.
Let's just say that since we've met, his level of productivity in law school and mine at work have plummeted. My friends have started noticing and saying "so who is this J boy?" to me.
About two weeks ago, I was having dinner with my friend L. (I met J through her and her husband.) I casually mentioned going out with J to the concert (in the context of- "oh J and I went to dinner there before the concert and I really didn't like the food") and she said that her husband had made a comment jokingly about being flustered by the level of flirting that was going on between us on facebook. My response was "oh I'm sorry, does it bother your husband that I'm flirting with J? Because I could really up the ante." Hers was "please do." Since then, we've been flirting much more heavily, in all fairness, he upped the ante not me.
In case you can't tell from this, J is superflirty. One day when we were back and forth flirting, he made a comment about me going upstate with him for a night to go skiing. Thinking he was kidding and just being funny, I replied in the affirmative. About a week later, one day when he called me (we talked for about 2 hours!) he made a comment along the lines of "oh bring the ZO2 cd with you for the drive when we go skiing" and I was like "oh hmm, he wasn't kidding" (that part didn't get said out loud). I told him that I am basically Charlie Brown epitomized- I can do anything as long as it involves no skill or talent whatsoever, and of course, this only made him want to go more so he can mock me. We will be going skiing next weekend, Lord help me.
I asked him where we would be staying and he said that his family has a condo up there and his dad lives there and we can stay there. No mention of how many bedrooms the condo has. We have plans to hang out a couple of times after the skiing weekend, but I don't know. Usually guys are so paranoid about introducing girls to the family, and J is doing it so freely after we've only gone out once, that I'm tempted to think that it's more of a "hey dad, this is MRM, she's basically one of the guys" kind of thing.
So my questions for you ladies are:
1) Does he like me? (keep in mind that I am the poster child for "He's Just Not That Into You")
2) The last (and only) time that I was ever on a pair of skis, I was five years old and still living in the Soviet Union. Is there anything that I should know about skiing?
3) What do I pack/wear on this trip? My idea of bonding with nature is having a picnic in Central Park, so I don't exactly have a lot of outdoorsy sporty clothes. Being that I am someone who gets cold in anything less than 73 degrees, I also don't have a plethora of winter activity garb. I know I need chapstick, SPF for my face and sunglasses, all of which I have, the rest I don't even know where to begin. What are some things that I absolutely have to have and should bring with me? Being that I'm not exactly Picabo Street, I have no plans to make skiing with boys a regular part of my life, so please don't suggest that I buy a grand worth of ski garb that I will only wear once.
Any other comments/suggestions?
for all my Lilly Lovers
Bloomingdale's finally started carrying the Lilly perfume in store so I got a bottle of Wink this weekend. In case anyone wants to buy the Lilly perfume, I wanted to let you know that Bloomingdale's is doing a Lilly Gift With Purchase. I'm not sure if there is a minimum purchase, but I bought a small bottle ($48) and I got it. You get a small pink plastic see-through tote. Inside it are samples of all three perfumes, and an adorable Lilly notepad with pencil. If you are like me and are always buying notepads, I highly recommend this.
Also, I received an email from Beth Dunn, author of Social Climbers. On Monday, March 16th, from 5-8pm she will be at the Lilly Pulitzer in the King of Prussia Plaza for the unveiling of the Lilly Jubilee Travelling Retrospective. The first 10 people who make a purchase will get a signed copy of her book. Sadly, I can't make it since I live too far away, but if anyone is in the area, it sounds like a lot of fun, considering there will be cocktails and prizes and I am not one to ever turn down a cocktail.
Also, I received an email from Beth Dunn, author of Social Climbers. On Monday, March 16th, from 5-8pm she will be at the Lilly Pulitzer in the King of Prussia Plaza for the unveiling of the Lilly Jubilee Travelling Retrospective. The first 10 people who make a purchase will get a signed copy of her book. Sadly, I can't make it since I live too far away, but if anyone is in the area, it sounds like a lot of fun, considering there will be cocktails and prizes and I am not one to ever turn down a cocktail.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
My First Award!
Thanks to The Coastal Belle for giving me my first award. Thank you girl!
"These blog are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight more bloggers who must choose eight more bloggers and include this cleverly written text in the body of their award."
I will give it to my favorite blogs to read:
1. Say Shenanigans (BFFs for 8 years and still going strong)
2. The Southern Starlet
3. I Don't Want to Wait
4. Newbie New Yorker
5. Lisa
6. Jane
"These blog are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight more bloggers who must choose eight more bloggers and include this cleverly written text in the body of their award."
I will give it to my favorite blogs to read:
1. Say Shenanigans (BFFs for 8 years and still going strong)
2. The Southern Starlet
3. I Don't Want to Wait
4. Newbie New Yorker
5. Lisa
6. Jane
fabulous new giveaway
One of my favorite bloggers and close friend, The Southern Starlet, is hosting a kickbutt giveaway on her blog all about cocktails. I would love, love, love, love, love to win this, but she's my friend and new to the blogosphere, so I would love for her to get more readers as well. Go here to enter.
I *heart* being an advisor
As some of you know, I'm an advisor to one of my sorority's chapters in the area. As much as I love my sorority, I frequently tell people that these girls are my reason for drinking. The girls have a big problem with attendance and showing up on time to things, so I have started to be stricter with them when it comes to excuses. Last night, one girl showed up 30 minutes late to chapter. When she walked in the room, she announced that she was late because she was giving her bunny a bath and couldn't leave until after she had finished blowdrying its fur. In case I didn't believe her, she brought the bunny with her to chapter. Dead serious. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
and the winner is
Thank you ladies for being so patient with me. I am happy to announce the winner of my first ever giveaway. And the winner is...
Drumroll please...
Miss Indiana!
Send me an email to whaleflipflops at gmail dot com with your address and I will put it in the mail!
Thank you to all who entered, followed, and posted about my giveaway. If you haven't done yet, be sure to enter my Pay it Forward L.L. Bean giveaway.
Drumroll please...
Miss Indiana!
Send me an email to whaleflipflops at gmail dot com with your address and I will put it in the mail!
Thank you to all who entered, followed, and posted about my giveaway. If you haven't done yet, be sure to enter my Pay it Forward L.L. Bean giveaway.
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