Dating with a Dash v2.0

Well, hello there! I bet you thought this blog was defunct, but you were wrong! Like the winter season, we were in hibernation but now we’re back with a vengeance! The summer months are quickly approaching, leaving us with the desire to get out there and explore not just the city, but the dating world as well.

You will notice a few changes to the blog, however. Once a trio of ladies, we are now down by one. Ms. Kelly has entered the realm of having a Plus One and will no longer be a contributor to this illustrious blog. She has found her Significant Other by the hand of yours truly and I take all credit for making this match happen. Male or Female, I full out expect them to name their first child Emily. Secondly, we will be introducing a male contributor! Gentleman X will be blogging occasionally and I think a male perspective here will be welcome and………interesting. J

Those are the updates here at Dating with a Dash of Salt. We’ll be posting new entries soon!

Don't be a blowhole

Hello! Did you miss me? I know, it’s been a while since I enthralled you with my ever fascinating and nearly always unsatisfying dating endeavors. You’re probably asking yourself, “Mandy, where have you been?” Well friends, as a direct result of Kelly’s amazing craigslist post I actually started “dating” someone. Don’t worry though; I’m back in the game. One day I’ll regale you with stories about that “relationship” or lack thereof but we’ll save that for a later date because 1. Not enough time has elapsed 2. I actually liked him 3. Though, I hate to admit it, maybe I’m still a little sad

Phew, now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s move onto the topic at hand. Something that has been on my mind for the last few days: Rejection. The most feared and hated word in the realm of dating. Let’s face it, we’ve all been on the giving and receiving end of rejection….the verdict: it sucks. In this entry I would like to discuss rejection as it relates to the initial ask out or first date. I will do so through an experience which took place exactly one week ago.
Despite the fact that I had already given my two weeks, had slim to no company pride and ceased to be an employee on Friday when the race was on Sunday, I still signed up to be on my company’s running team for the annual Susan G. Komen “Race for the Cure” 5k. I can almost justify it because it was for a good cause… I mean, I’m apathetic, not made of stone. Anyway, after wading through the sea of pink I finally found my team. They apparently all knew each other from work and I was the odd man out. I almost immediately regretted my decision and thought how ironic it was that I was seriously contemplating running away. But I had already made the effort to meet up with them, so I held it together and put on my best “Hey there” smile. The vast majority of the people on the team seemed just as uninterested in knowing me as I was in knowing them. Except for one very funny and extremely attractive man named Peter, who shared my eagerness to make fun of our matching company hats. He was tall, about 6’1” slender body, with crystal blue eyes – totally adorable. We chatted our way to the starting line. We talked about running, where we went to college, my dorky yet functional fanny pack, my new job and the fact that Cyndi Lauper (fuck yeah) had just sang our national anthem. I felt like I was getting ‘the vibe” from him but alas, the race started and we were swallowed by the crowd of people behind us.

I couldn’t help but think my dear friend Peter had been a missed opportunity. I got over the fact that it made me feel like an internet creeper and found his email on our team list. Hell, I’m a modern woman not held down by societal restraints and so I have no problem “throwing it out there” and asking someone out. I mean, you’ll never get want you want unless you ask, right? I sent him a hilarious/witty email and straight up asked him if he wanted to get a drink sometime. After a solid 2 days he responded back with an equally funny email, asking me about my new job and where it was located. He never responded to my drink question but I thought maybe by asking where my job was he was doing “the set up”. One day went by, then two, then three….. Nothing. I had been blown off. It got me thinking. Why wouldn’t he just politely decline? Why even send me an email back?

I have come to the realization that I am an anomaly when dealing with rejection. At this point in my life, I neither fear or care about rejection…I mean, within reason. Let me clarify. I know what I want: to be in a relationship. I know what I don’t want : a new friend (I already have plenty of friends, thank you) When you are initially asking someone out, its because you think they’re interesting, attractive and/or someone you could see yourself spending time with. You aren’t really invested in that person yet because you know there are plenty of other potential suitors that fit the qualities listed above. Therefore, I in no way, feel hurt or slighted if someone declines my invitation. I chalk it up to that’s the way dating is and move onto someone else who would like to spend their time with me. The only thing that really “grinds my gears” is when that person does not let you know that they are not interested. People either over estimate what they’re rejection with do or they don’t want to look like the bad guy. By responding – Peter probably thought that he was being nice… perhaps he genuinely cared how my new job was going. As a result for the next 3 days I thought that I would be seeing him again. The moral of the story – if you’re not interested… say so. I will gladly move on to the next. The saying “There are plenty of other fish in the sea,” got it right. So, don’t be a blowhole.



Recipe: PECAN TILAPIA FOR TWO



• Handful of roasted pecan halves or pieces

• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

• 2 tilapia fillets, skinned and boned

• Juice from 1 Persian lime

• Salt to sprinkle

• Touch of white pepper

• 1/4 cup plain fine bread crumbs

• 1 small shallot, minced

• 3 tablespoons butter

• 1/4 teaspoon Madras curry powder

• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander seed

• 1 seedless Florida navel orange, membranes removed and sectioned

• Optional: chopped curly parsley or cilantro leaves



1. In a small pan, warm the pecans in the butter until coated. Keep warm in the pan.

2. Saturate the tilapia fillets in the lime juice and sprinkle salt over.

3. Add a touch of white pepper to the bread crumbs and coat the fillets. Set aside.

4. In a shallow, non-stick skillet, cook the shallot in the butter over low heat until soft. Stir in the curry powder and coriander. Add the fillets, turning the heat to medium. Cook less than 1 minute, or until browned on one side. Turn fillets over and cook until browned on the other.

5. Remove fillets to two plates. Cover with the nuts and set orange segments across the top or around the plate with chopped parsley or cilantro leaves for color.



Note: Crushed pecans may be substituted for the bread crumbs to coat the fillets.

Fresh Pressed Apple Juice & VHS

Any self-respecting woman would scoff at the idea of listing her best attributes and posting them on a public website for all to judge. Well, I’ve learned that when it comes to dating in NY, self respect along with pride and dignity are just a few of the things women are willing to sacrifice in order to snag the “perfect catch.” In this case, I am no exception. Sure, I could have been mad when Kelly posted that explicit, yet exceptionally well written, craigslist post without my permission but a part of me was relieved. I can’t count the number of times I complained that my life would be easier if I could say, "hey lets just cut through this whole process and I’ll give you a 3 point presentation why I'm awesome and you should date me."

After that, it’s completely out of your hands. You’re done selling yourself and your potential suitor either likes you or they don’t. If not, then move along because there is no point in wasting your or their time. And in a city like New York, it’s all about efficiency. Kelly had done all the work and put my plan into action without the stigma of actually posting the ad myself. Needless to say, I was totally gung-ho with the entire scenario. The entry below is a direct result of this dating endeavor….

The quick background:
Name: Mark
Age: 29
Location: Brooklyn
Attractive attributes: good witty banter, adorable ironic hipster glasses, a like for music and movies, a complete lack of knowledge of politics and an affinity for baked goods.

After many missed gchat messages, Mark (whose name has been changed to save his identity) and I finally decided to meet up at a bar downtown after I got off work. Despite the dreary and dismal weather I was upbeat about my new potential suitor. On my way to the bar, umbrella in hand, I literally ran right into him. Serendipitous I thought, truly this date was off on the right foot.

We started walking to the bar a 2 blocks away from our chance meeting on the corner. Off handedly he mentioned that he “didn’t really drink” but then instantly reassured me that he didn’t mind when others did. This immediately sparked my curiosity. Could it be that he was a recovering alcoholic? Did he have some major moral or religious objection to drinking? Was it something completely ridiculous, like it gives him terrible gas? Who knew… I mean, I did meet this guy on craigslist…. Anyway, we settled in to a table in the corner and after a brush off the first time, I asked again why he did not drink. The answer: “I don’t drink many liquids.” Wow, that came out of left field. What does that even mean?!

Apparently, our dear friend Mark has a liquid drinking regime. In the morning he likes to drink something green such as spinach, followed by something orange, then he moves on to a fresh fruit juice – perhaps a pressed apple… He continued to speak, but it was at this point that my brain stopped functioning for a half second.

Oh yes, I had in fact, agreed to go out on a date with “a crazy.” Now, after weighing my options and the severity/dangerousness of the crazy, I thought it was in the best interest of future storytelling and this blog to carry on with the rest of the date. It had only been 20 minutes…what other gems could come from this?

After deep contemplation, which to the normal person was only a fraction of a second, I fell back into step. Acting as though what he’d just said was not bat shit crazy. We continued to talk about various subjects such as music, school and the ever popular angst ridden teenage years. I can’t lie, there were several points in our conversation that I did enjoy. Namely our discussion of being a sound engineer, which, if you know me, is a topic I can talk about forever. Though, after about an hour of talking I had reached another solid conclusion: not only was he crazy, he was pretentious about it. No alcohol was good enough to drink, no teacher good enough to teach, no band good enough to listen to, no job good enough to do…… Did I mention that he was unemployed?

If nothing else, I was also determined to get a free meal out of this. So when he suggested a change in location I was all for it. I even threw out a plethora of suggestions, all of which did not seem to interest him in the least. I let him choose and we ended up at a local pizza place. Seriously! All I would get from dealing with this guy was a slice of Sicilian?! Oh no. I ended up getting much, much more.

If you thought his drinking regime was crazy… well stand back for his restrictions on eating.
The reason why he dismissed all of my suggestions is because when it comes to food, less is more. He did not like “ethnic food” because he had:

1. consistency issues; and
2. only liked foods with minimal ingredients.

Again, just like with the drinking, he reassured me that he did not look down on people who did eat those foods. He even went on to say that he was a great cook even though he, “wouldn’t touch the food that he made with a 10 foot pole.” Which begs the question, how does he know that he’s a good cook if he never eats it? I digress… in our extensive conversation about his food options the only thing I could get out of him that he ate on a regular basis was pizza and hamburgers. He also had in recent years developed an intolerance to dairy. Although, I question the validity to that statement since cheese on pizza has dairy. Don’t fret because after 4 years sans milk, this week, he discovered soy milk. The jury is still out as to whether or not it will make the cut. The one major exception to all of his rules… baked goods. I guess even a crazy can’t turn down a good chocolate croissant.

After much scintillating conversation about his VHS collection – primarily comedies between 1972 and 1986 - we started walking. I’m not sure where he was walking to but I knew I was heading straight to the subway. We ended up in Union square, said a quick and awkward goodbye, hugged, pretended that we would perhaps meet up again and went our own separate ways.

I will state for the record that I in no way regret this date. In fact, it may be one of the best – worst dates of all time. If nothing else I got quite the story out of it.

Lesson Learned: When life gives you apples… make some fresh pressed apple juice.

Recipe

Apple Shake (2 servings)

1 cup vanilla ice cream (Feel free to substitute a soy ice cream if you have some sort of dairy intolerance)
2 cups freshly pressed apple juice
2 ripe bananas
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Combine all ingredients in blender until smooth.

It’s easy and has minimal ingredients. Enjoy!

Something Naughty I did to Mandy: A Craigslist Call for Proposals

Being the wonderful friend I am, and because Mandy kept talking about creating a 3-point presentation to give to potential suitors, I wrote the following and posted it on craigslist missed connections. I received many, many glorious responses, vetted them for Mandy and sent her out on dates, which you will hear about as they happen. <3 Kelly

This is what started it all:

A three point presentation on why Amanda would make the best gf ever.

In the fine spirit of camaraderie, I want to introduce everyone to your dream girl: Amanda. She is bangin, basically in every way. I would totally rail her myself, but I’m also a girl and we’re not into that. Well, maybe, but there would have to be a dude involved. A very hot dude. But, I digress…

So Amanda. She is gorgeous, tall, and brunette, in crazy amazing shape—runs every day. She is fun and funny and totally adorable, but for some reason she isn’t getting it on the regular. I have no idea why; she should be rolling five deep.

Being the children of corporate America that we are, I thought the best way to appeal to our target demographic is through a 3-point presentation on why she would make the best girlfriend ever. In the interest of time and efficiency, there is a conclusion statement at the bottom of each point that summarizes the key themes of the post.

If you are smart, funny and successful, between the ages of 24 and 32, I strongly encourage you to seriously consider the following:

1) Low Maintenance.
You want to go out with your dudes? She is cool with that. You want to split the check? She is cool with that. You want to wear gross old sweat pants and not shower for days? She is probably not ok with that, but we all have standards. Personal hygiene is one of them.

She loves drinking beer, singing karaoke, watching movies like the hangover, playing wii and tequila shots. Super chill doesn’t even begin to describe her temperament. She will bake you cookies all the time.

Conclusion: As long as you shower, you can hang out with your friends and drink beer whenever you want. Also, she is not crazy.

2) Sexual Relations.
She is down always. All the time. In the garden or in the dirt. You can do it in the pouring rain, runnin the train when it's hot or cold out How 'bout in the library on top of books? But you can’t be too loud.

I thought there was no better way to get the point across then with some Luda.

Conclusion: You will get to bone. A lot.

3) Smart & Hot & Funny: Whole Package
There are few ladies who are so accomplished, and do it with such polish (including slant rhymes). Mandy is the type of girl that your friends would tell you is way too good for you, and then hit on her behind your back. But never fear, she will politely decline their bold offers because she only has eyes for you. <- Precious.

She can quote dirty movies, talk like a sailor (when appropriate, of course) and wrestle a crocodile with one hand, all while looking fabulous. Intimidating as it may seem to be with someone who is basically perfect, she still has a few flaws to keep you interested, as in: she cannot speak French and she sometimes falls down. Other than that, I can think of nothing.

Conclusion: She is bangin.

If this sounds like the lady for you, please shoot me an email and I will put you through the vetting process.

Xoxo.

The Basics: Mandy

Name: Mandy

Age: 24 and on the brink of hitting my quarter life crisis

Fun Facts:

Sign: Virgo (barely)

Favorite Sport: Dodgeball – ( Yes, it’s a sport, don’t judge)

Favorite Food: Tropical Dots

Hobbies: Baking, crafting, people watching, sparkles, MTV’s the State, writing letters, making mixed CD’s, eating frozen yogurt, alternative big kid sports, running, post scripts

I’m usually thinking about: if I were making the soundtrack to my life what song would be playing right now.

Physical:

Height: 5’10 – Hence my complete and utter inability to wear heals

Hair color: after finally ditching my goth-ish black hair… I am now a completely normal shade of golden brown

Eye color: brown with a twinkle of hope in them

Things I find attractive on the opposite sex/first things I notice:

• Hygiene – are you slightly unkempt or dirty, yet still socially acceptable?
• Facial hair – I’ve grown to love a good beard or an ironic (well kept) mustache – though not a requirement, on the right person, I love it.
• Eyes – Yes, this is very cliché but it’s on everyone’s list for a reason. You can’t deny that beautiful eyes can make your heart melt.
• Someone that can make me laugh. Not just a polite chuckle but a belly laugh that makes your sides ache.

Dating history:
Well, my average number of dates per person tends to hover around 3 or 4. Is this by choice? Sometimes yes but mostly no. I think I might have “why aren’t they calling me back?” syndrome that many women suffer from. I’ve also discovered that people I have no interest in, love me. While those who make my heart go a flutter, stand clear.

Why I’m doing this:
My life often plays out like a sitcom, so why not share it with the world. Now, if only my life had a laugh track….

Perhaps this blog will:

1. Help me observe my dating habits
2. Make me reexamine the type of person that I would like to be dating
3. Finally validate that yes, it is in fact them and not me
4. Confirm my biggest fear that it is me and not them.

Dating plan:
I have decided to explore ALL methods of dating. I am going to try my hand at:

• Online dating
• Speed dating
• Self-help dating books
• Blind dates
• Bars/social events