Hello everyone! I hope none of you were waiting all week to find out how speed-dating went! (Actually, I hope someone was- that would be awesome to think a person was just waiting around to hear about my week!)  Well, if anyone WAS waiting, you will be sorely disappointed! I am starting to think that publically broadcasting my plans must somehow jinx them.  Speed dating was cancelled due to a lack of participation.  This was the second one that was cancelled in two months!  Don’t worry, I keep accumulating free passes, so I will be giving it another shot in the future. So stay tuned….But don’t be sad followers- I embarked on something that was equally ridiculous and hilarious on Saturday, and today I saw the silver lining behind the cloud when I tried a brand new adventure!  So this evenings blog will start with a bummer story and end on a hopeful one!

So, after trying to find something to do last minute in order to have something to write about, I defaulted to www.meetup.com.  I didn’t want to blog about the same source two weeks in a row, but the experience was SO bad that I thought you all might like to hear yet another “true” story about what it’s REALLY like out there.  It’s not pretty folks!

Not heeding my own advice, I signed up for “Chinese New Year Musical Chairs Dinner!” with the Chicago Fun Single group.  Remember followers when I told you to stay away from any meetup’s with the word single in it?  Well, I remember now why I said it- but the idea was too novel to resist- a 3 course dinner with 50 singles, in Chinatown, for Chinese New Year, and you change seats with every course in order to meet everyone.  I got all dressed up and walked into the restaurant, excited for what promised to be a wonderful evening.  My hopes were quickly dashed when I looked around at the other 49 people.  Every guy in that room was fat, bald, older than my dad, and clothed in bi-focals, a hairpiece, and a Cosby sweater!!!!!!  Now I’m not THAT superficial, those men need romance too, and I was keeping an open mind until it became clear that not only was I dining with my grandparents, but they were the most socially inept, uninteresting, and poorly mannered men in the world!!!!  To be fair there were 3 attractive men my age, but two of them were clearly together (as in “together”) and I never got assigned a seat with the only viable option. 

Not wanting my Saturday night to be completely ruined, I turned to the ladies.  I have never been disappointed in the company of the women- until now.  They too were old and uninteresting, and some were really terribly obnoxious! Towards the end of the evening (three excruciating hours later), I finally met some cool girls.  They too, were completely and utterly traumatized by the lack of potential suitors.  We agreed that this truly was, scraping the bottom of the barrel.  And worst of all- what on earth were WE doing in the barrel too?!?! Uh oh….But Guinea Pig, at least it was a good dinner, right? NO! Bad food and bad service on top of bad company! I rushed out of there as soon as I could, went home, dug out the emergency B&J (Ben and Jerry’s, fools) hiding in the freezer in case of emergencies, and proceeded to watch some cheesy romantic comedy with Matthew Macconaughey, alternating between being angry at Hollywood’s lies and sad that I wasn’t living the Hollywood lie cuz it sure looked nice!

Never fear- I still had one card up my sleeve.  I’m about to play the ace.  So there’s this thing I’ve always wanted to do but never had the money todo it.  Plus I always saw it as a LAST RESORT for the truly desperate.  And that thing is…. a Matchmaker! Yes, an actual person that you pay, to find a match for you.  I found one that was actually crazy affordable.  I made an appoinment with her for today. I went in feeling cynical and bummed out and hopeless after Saturday’s dinner.  I thought “Haha! Won’t this be hilarious for the blog! Another exercise in ridiculousness.  I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

But surprise, the minute I sat down with this woman I was filled with excitement and hope! I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone with a more optimistic view on love and relationships.  She was the real deal- a woman in a wonderful relationship herself with a sincere desire to see other people happy too.  She was the definition of a hopeless romantic.  She said she’s not a “business”, she really cares about finding people love.  Normally I might roll my eyes and supress the urge to vomit- but not with her.  Her passion and hopefulness and excitement were contagious and sincere! I liked her instantly!  She asked me good, relevant questions about me and what I wanted for about an hour.  I found the whole process very interesting. 

I’m not going to talk much more about this as I don’t want my blog to turn into a novel, and because she is a work in progress and you will be hearing all about my experiences with her over the course of the year, but I WILL give you some basics if you’re interested in checking her out.  Her website is www.findingtheone4u.com  She is very quick with responding.  She has a deal going on til the end of Feb- $75 for at least 3 dates or your money back!!! So cheap! And if you miss the special, regular price is $150.  Also not bad.  The reason it’s only(at least) 3 dates is because she takes this seriously- only setting you up with someone she thinks you may be compatible with.  I left feeling more hopeful and excited than I had in ages! So stay tuned for more stories about my matchmaking experiment!

I’d tell you what I have lined up for next week but I don’t want to have to say it’s been cancelled again! So we’ll just see what happens.  And a final note- if anyone was interested in going to a Mingler (see either www.macncheeseproductions.com or my blog “what’s a mingler) Hostess is having one on Feb. 18th! I encourage you all to go to that one because a.) they’re the best thing going and b.) I will be out of town for that one, much to my dismay, but that way my friends could go without competing with me for a spot at the “no one knows anyone” party!