Let me Re-Introduce Myself

My name is Miss Scarlett. And I am an unsuccessful blogger. Well I used to be successful. And I mean successful in the fact that I was having fun, writing posts, going on dates, and tallying up material.

And then I got busy. Busy with other things. With friends and family. My job and running. You see I don't get paid for this and I have other interests. I'm actually a certified distance running coach. I completed three half marathons and a 5K in the span of 3 months from September to December. I also was a bridesmaid in 2 weddings during that same period.

You see, busy. I kept saying I'd get back into, but I never did. But here I am. I need to do this. I need to get back into dating. He's not going to come knocking on my doorstep.

But there is a difference this time. I'm not as concerned about if it ever happens. I mean, don't get me wrong. I want it to happen, but if I never meet the one and I never get married, I'm ok with it. It's not meant to be. And I will be ok.

So let's go. Let's start again.

What's been going on....

In my hiatus, I have been very busy. I want to give a special congratulations to my reader Carrie and her new husband, Matt. They had beautiful wedding in early October. The pictures are amazing, but that's what you get when the bride is an art director and partner in a design firm. Those lucky ducks are on their way back from 10 days in Kauai. Awful people!!! The pictures are terrible...

Anyway, I wanted to share their story to illustrate the point that love can find you anywhere. They met at a WordCamp, which is an event put on throughout the world to bring Word Press users together. Anyway, they started tweeting one another. And they tweeted and tweeted. I happened to be travelling with her in Amsterdam that June shortly after they met. And I could see how excited she was every time she got a tweet from him. I had to pry her away from the phone sometimes to go out and see the sights. I remember telling her to go for it with this guy. I could just tell something was different. She was so excited. Even if it didn't work work out, it was worth the time and effort. She was so smitten. And evidently so was he. After we came back, they had a real date and the rest was history. A year later, they were engaged. And now they are married.

So congratulations! Enjoy the ride!

Mawwriage is what brings us together today

This is going to be a quickie because I only have 15 minutes before I have to start loading up my car, change back into my PJs, and head over to the bride's parents house to meet up with everyone for hair and makeup.

I want to wish a huge best wishes to two of my readers who are marrying each other this afternoon. (I'll be bridesmaid #3 - look for me!) Jenn and Greg met several years ago and I knew from the beginning that at least this guy was going to be good for Jenn. Hey - I can't see the future - I didn't know they were going to get married back then.

He was treating her the way a girlfriend should be treated. I didn't know then, but I know now that they are right for each other. They complement each other. Jenn - If you think back to just before you met Greg, I don't think you ever thought that this would be happening, but Greg came into your life and everything changed.

So I just wanted to give a good luck, best wishes, I love you to the happy couple.

On a sidenote, I am going to the wedding solo. I'll post about it later...it's an art.

Slow Turnover

Don't you hate it when you go to start a blog post and you get called into a meeting.

Really, I don't usually blog at work (other than to read and approve comments), but I'm feeling so guilty about the slowness of my posts. I'm finally back from 3 weeks of non-stop travelling and spotty internet coverage, but I'm having the hardest time finding time to put my ideas on paper into ideas on the internet. I guess I was used to being on the road.

I wanted to bring to everyone's attention an awesome class/self-study opportunity that is starting soon. Registration just opened today. As I said in my life list post, I had the good luck of signing up for an all day workshop given by the blogger Karen Walrond (@Chookooloonks) about life transitions (starting one, exercises for thinking about your direction, and documenting it). Karen has turned our one day workshop into a 5 week online/self study course. As someone who has been transitioning in her life and still is, I found the workshop so helpful.

Here is the link:

Chookooloonks Pathfinder Course

If you have any questions, let me know.

Happy News!

Congratulations to my lovely reader, Katie, and her new fiancee, Rick!!! Big news last night as I was packing up my stuff to my trip!

I'd add a picture of the ring here, but I can't figure it out...Boo!

So very excited and happy for you guys! Now the fun beginning! Many best wishes!

(Is that English? Many best wishes?)

Let's Play a Game

I took the weekend off from dating. I had a million projects on my plate - some of which got finished. And I dread this part. You see I wasn't just talking to "I". I was sending out feelers and receiving them and I left a bunch of them hanging. So I feel guilty. And I also feel dread - dread of what's out there in the pool.

But I tried the sit at home and wait for him to knock on my door (figuratively that is), but that hasn't work so far...for the most part.

So I took a quick look at work yesterday at my Match account. And I was right to be alittle fearful....so I thought I'd play a game.

When I was a kid, there was a show called, "The Dating Game". It was the 70's/80's version of "The Bachelor"/"The Bachelorette". (I take that back - it was on from 1965 to 1996 - Wow!). Anyway, one bachelor or bachelorette got to ask questions to 3 contestants behind a screen and based on the answers, they picked one to go on a date with. Less involved than "The Bachelor".

So Match.com gives you 5 or 6 (still haven't figured all the categories of guys they sent you) guys a day to review, so I'm going to describe each one and my feelings about contacting them. Feel free to comment.

Bachelor #1 - Clean cut All-American looking preppy guy. Grew up in the suburbs, likes working out, plays in kickball/softball leagues, likes the beach (Dewey/Outer Banks) - I think I'll contact him. Guys tend not to like you if you message them, but you get more traffic if you are active (my unscientific Match.com theory).

Bachelor #2 - Middle-Eastern/white guy, Dark Hair, lives in the big city, Prefers girly girls who take care of themselves. I'm going to say no, because I hate my profile picture and he sounds alittle douche-y. You have to take care of yourself...why don't you say you only date models? I've heard that before but at least it was from a 26 year old.

Bachelor #3 - Alabama bred, Auburn educated, blue eyed cutie. Athletic, Looking to expand social circle, talks about having good manners and accent. He's my number 1 pick out of the three. He seems like he might actually respond back to me. But who knows what lies beneath? He doesn't give me a ton of details about himself, but that's not always a bad thing.

So Bachelor #3 wins, but I'm hedging my bets. So Bachelor #1 gets a shout out as well.

What do you think? Want to play again?

Bridesmaids (and other wedding duties) - been there done that...

So as many of you know I'm in two weddings this year. In fact, the weddings are two weeks apart from each other and I'm a bridesmaid in both. This is the sixth and seventh weddings I've been in.

I know I'll be a third of the way to "21 Dresses" (yes they are all different and I still have all of them.) I also have a fancy, long white dress (from my college's Ring Dance - a deb ball. Another story for another day).

This morning, a friend's sister posted a link on her Facebook page to a Boston Globe article from this morning's paper about being a bridesmaid and this woman hit it on the head of what's it is like to stand up there with one of your friends - it's not all about the dress and the flowers.

So I knew I had just had to share it. So here's the link:

A bridesmaid's lament - The Boston Globe

And a quick about things to come:

• Final post on Memorial Day weekend - dating advice to a divorced Dad
• First Date yesterday with I
• Post on my thoughts on personal branding aka Bethenny and Kelly Cutrone

Ok - that's what's up. Some of these I've been meaning to write for weeks. But now I have to make cupcakes...in preparation of a bridal shower in 2 weeks.

Peace!

When to raise the white flag

The cold that was getting better yesterday has now gotten worse...so what was going to be a nice and sweet meandering post yesterday has turned into a blunt tell-it-like it is post today.
(Don't worry - different topics. So maybe tomorrow's post will be sweet and meandering.)

I've kind of used a rule of thumb based on talking to guys around me, reading articles, and talking to friends that a guy gets a three day grace period to contact you after a date to show interest. It's not a hard and fast rule, but as the days tick by, women do either one of two things. They either make up excuses for why he hasn't called (ie. what you see in romantic comedies - his dog died, he's been away on business, he had emergency surgery, etc. - you get it). Or they just write him off (no drunk dials, no crying fits, maybe a few choice words (usually the more dates there are). I fall into category 2. For whatever reason (you found a new shiny ball, your sense of time is totally whacked, you don't know the rules of the game), I'm OUT or FIRED (depending on what reality show you watch).

Women aren't as insecure anymore as Hollywood portrays them to be. We all read the book, "He's Just Not That Into You" (Caveat: I started to, but never finished. I got it in the first few chapters and then they kept repeating the idea). If you're not paying attention to us, you have got something else on the brain. Ok - we're not that dumb. We know that you aren't going to call us immediately, but by day 3, I should have somehow been repeated in your line of thinking. It seems reasonable that you should at least make contact...or at least that's what we tell ourselves.

So back to reality, H hasn't contacted me since our date. I did text him on day 3 to give him a little nudge. And the conversation fell flat. Like he barely responded. So it's been a week since our date, and I've asked a few guys about this timeline and they all say it's time to raise the white flag and move on. But here's the catch. I talked to my friend a few days ago, who is knows him and she says he's still interested. OK? I recapped everything for her and said well when is he going to ask me out then? But of course, she had no response (I didn't expect her to).

So lessons have been learned...1) if you like a girl, don't wait more than 3 or 4 days to contact her even just to talk to her. And 2) being set-up or asked out by a friend of a friend is not as nerve-wracking as I thought it was going to be. Granted, both times it's happened they barely got of the ground (so maybe I dodged a bullet), but the great friends that I have seem to let the interaction play out on its own and that helps take the pressure off everyone involved.

It's bad enough that I totally put my dating life out there for everyone to read but there is something unnerving about having your friends get feedback from the guys. But the way I look at it, the feedback (good or bad) on me will just get me closer to my goal and better at this crazy thing called dating.

Funny thoughts

I just had to share two funny things that I think you would like.

I've discovered a new blog. It's naughty and dirty and I love it.

It's called Blogging Dangerously. www.bloggingdangerously.com

Lately, she's been talking about her kids, but usually she's blogging about her sexy thoughts and escapades. Check it out!

And then funny thing number 2 - I so wish I had a video of this from last night, but I was too busy trying not to pee my pants while laughing.

If you ever want a really good laugh, play Cranium or charades (with 2 people acting out) and give the 2 drunkest people in the room the word "Rodeo". And just watch what happens. If you get Shawn and Christina, you'll end up with something that looks like combination of a corpse, doing it doggy-style, a white guy dancing to hip hop, and bull riding. Now try and guess rodeo from that. I couldn't get it...we lost that one.

Poor Christina, it was all Shawn's fault. He was really the one doing all the actions - at once.

And now a naughty commercial break

I was emailed this photo last night by my dear friend, Amy. It seems that I have a new enjoyer of my blog.



That's right. My blog keeps the pussies warm at night. Ba dum dum! (Yes I thought of that within 2 minutes of seeing this picture.)

Or here's another one I thought of this morning - My blog will keep your pussy entertained. (Ugh! Ok that one was bad. I usually have to edit myself - but I don't feel like it today so it's staying.)

Photo credit: Amy - mother of Luna, the kitten.

A quick message to a special reader

credit: Jason Shelfer

I just want to give a quick Happy Anniversary shout out to one of my readers and friends, Jana and Jason Shelfer. Today is their 5th wedding anniversary.

They are one of the most in-love couples that I know. I love spending time with both of you and seeing the way that you love and respect one another. (And how much you love Sassy and now Tater). I only wish that one day I have a relationship just like the one that you have.

Love, Miss S