OK, so as promised, Part II.  A year or two ago I was laid off.  In order to occupy my time, I started doing volunteer work- four days a week.  I loved it.  I haven’t had as much time to do it as I used to because of school, but the minute I graduate, I plan on getting back into this because it is absolutely one of my favorite things to do.  I volunteered with two different organizations: One Brick and Chicago Cares.  Although they are both volunter organizations, they are very different from each other so I will review them separately.  First up: One Brick.

What is One Brick?  www.onebrick.org is a volunteer organization with a twist- volunteer at an event, and when the event is over all the volunteers go out for a meal or a drink to get to know each other a little better.  It’s about doing good for the community with an emphasis on socializing too.  When you go on the website you look at the calender of events and RSVP for whatever strikes your fancy.  The events at One Brick are more “fun”.  There are a lot of galas and parties, as well as more purely altruistic ones.  Some of the events I’ve done include: dealing Texas Hold ‘Em at a fundraising gala, volunteering at Sweet Saturdays at the Biotanical Gardens and teaching the visitors about the cocoa plant, rebuilding a home in Indiana, and sending books to women in prison.  You can see what a wide variety they offer.  They also offer short trips to different states where volunteers help rebuild homes a la Habitat for Humanity.

What did you do this weekend, guinea pig? So this weekend I went to the Greater Chicago Food Depository http://www.chicagosfoodbank.org/site/PageServer?pagename=diff_volunteeer .  There were about 15 volunteers there.  This event had the greatest variety of people of all the things I’ve reviewed thus far.  It was mostly women, but there was actually a good selection of attractive, altruistic boys.  The age ranged from early 20′s- retired folk.  All races- white, black, hispanic, and Indian were present too.  It was a really good mix of people.  And you know, you meet some quality people when you volunteer.  But more impressive was the fact that there were nearly 100 people there as individuals and social and religious organizations to help feed the homeless! We were assigned to the pasta room and I spent several hours bagging and weighing pasta as quickly as possible.  No lie, it was actually really fun.  And I apparently would have made a fantastic butcher because within the first 15 minutes I could just look at a bag and see if it was 2 lbs! But more importantly, our efforts will feed well over 2000 homeless!

The volunteers at Giordano's

Where did you go afterwards? Well, there we are at Giordano’s after a hard morning of pasta shoveling.  Yes, my camera phone is the worst, I’m sorry.  But you can kind of see several fun people having lunch.  Or that’s what you should be seeing.  Not everyone went, it was only about half of us, but it was a nice lunch and I definately met some cool guys and girls.  We all enjoyed some good conversation, pizza, and afternoon cocktails.

Hello readers.  So as you may or may not recall, I was invited to speak as an “expert” at the Oak Park Library last Tuesday for their Online Dating Discussion Group! I was planning on just mentioning it in passing, but it was actually really good and I thought it deserved its very own blog.  In fact, the Oak Park Library seems to offer many interesting events- they did a speed dating event of some kind the week before.  It might be worth checking out: http://oppl.org/events

Neehao everyone! I’m not sure that’s how they spell it, but that’s hello in Chinese! For those of you who don’t know, I have spent the most glorious ten days in Taiwan! This means I could not actually be socially experimented on in Chicago this week (although it was an entirely different kind of social experiment I was experiencing over  there….).  However, it was my resolution to post about something once a week, and I always have something up my sleeve….

The minute I come back from Taiwan I will be speaking at the Oak Park Public Library! My very first public speaking engagement (from this anyway)! Hooray!  Thanks for the hook-up Saya!  So if you are not getting your fill of me here, by all means- come hear me talk! It will be this Tuesday, Feb. 21st, at 7pm, Oak Park Public Library, 834 Lake Street.  But here’s the tricky part- I’m supposed to say positive thing about online dating! That means I’m going to use this venue to unleash some horror stories right now!  Plus I’ll even let you know about the latest online website I’m trying now.

Why I will never do eHarmony again:  The last time I tried eHarmony, several matches initiated contact but didn’t follow through, so I was excited to finally get to the “final step” with a guy! For privacy purposes I will address this young man as CP (complete psycho).  At first things started well.  I was skeptical since he lived in southern Illinos and was a used car salesman, but not wanting to judge a person on such things, and knowing that Dr. Neil Warren picked this man as my soulmate, I hauled my butt down to southern Illinois woth an open mind.  I knew I had made a mistake when within 15 minutes of CP letting me in, (yes, I know, it was a beginners mistake, meeting him at his house.  I know better now)  he showed me his gun collection, and said “look what my dog can do”, raised his hand in a Heil Hitler salute- SAYING those words as he did so, and his beautiful dog raised his paw right back.  I was horrified.  But I had just driven over two hours, and was beginning to see that this was about to be the most fascinatingly bad date ever, so much like a car accident you can’t seem to stop staring at, I kept staring.

We went to a comedy club.  CP ordered cheese sticks, I ordered nothing.  So when he offered me a cheese stick, I had one.  I exused myself a few minutes later  to go to the bathroom, when I returned he said “I see that anorexia thing isn’t working for you”.  WHAT?!?! I couldn’t respond! I couldn’t believe he just said that! (For those of you who never met me, I’m not fat, but I’m not a size 2).  Who says that?!? And if you’re going to insult me, at least use the right eating disorder- it would have been bulemia, moron! He then said “I should introduce you to my best friend.  He’s a grand dragon.”  Being naiive I said “Oh? He plays Dungeons and Dragons and he’s the lead guy?”.  He said “No, he’s the head of the KKK chapter down here”.  Ok.  Now I’m looking for a hidden camera because no one can possibly this ignorant and just plain HORRIBLE!  By this point, funny story be damned, I want out.  So, he took me back to his place so I can get my car.  I had the sense not to go back in, but he got all octopus-hands on me anyway.  When I made it VERY clear that I’m not at all interested, I march angrily to the car and CP yells out “I knew you were a f***ing dyke anyway! “  Very nice.  Class act.

He called me the next day to see when we could go out again.  I couldn’t belive it! Did he really think the evening went well? Obviously I never returned any of his calls.  And NONE of that story has been exaggerated.  I also went out with an online guy who said “Know what I like in a girl? Real big tits!”  I’m not kidding.  Once I went out with a guy who called me a commie and then said “that sucks” and walked away after he saw that my car had gotten a boot on it! (I GOT the boot cuz I couldn’t find parking around Clark and Belmont- and pulled in that Dunkin Donuts over there just so I could tell him I was running late due to lack of parking).  That bad date cost me around $200.  So for those friends and family who say “You’re too picky” I tell them these stories and say “Which of these guys do you think I should pick then?”

On a happier note: But Hope springs eternal, I’m trying a new dating sight some of you may have heard of and some of you may be new to and might want to try: www.howaboutwe.com  Unlike eHarmony, Match.com, OKCupid, and all those, I think this is less saturated.  But more importantly, it’s just different.  While the others are based more on profile pictures and the written profile, this is based more on the date.  You post what you would like to do on the date.  Yes, there are still pictures and basic info, but the meat and potatoes of the site is the date itself.  the more creative you are, the more attention you will get.  For example: I posted “I think it would be hilarious to go to Medieval Times” or “Let’s check out the salt caves of Chicago” (yes! We have salt caves here!) or “Let’s go to the Dr. Suess Exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry”.  And then the guys let you know if they like your date, and conversely, you can look at the dates they guys want to go on and select one.  I like it because it forces you to be creative. I also like that it’s about getting to know a person rather than judging them by their profile.  There are some people that don’t “get it” and post “let’s get a cocktail” which makes me think they should maybe go on Match or eHarmony if they can’t get down with the unique date thing, but most people are pretty creative.

How’s this working out for you Guinea Pig?: I admit I have yet to go on a date, but I haven’t been on it that long or that much. Now that I’m back in town I will hit it hard.  The oddest thing though is that I’ve gotten an “I’m intruiged” on everything I’ve posted and a lot of guys asking me out.  But when I say yes, they never write back! I’m not sure what’s up with that, but that’s the bad news.  But like I said, it’s too soon to say, and I’m gonna hit it hard now instead of just dabbling here and there.  So keep your eye out for HowAboutWe updates along with all the other stuff I’m brewing!

HowAboutWe gets: 3 out of 5 stars.  It could go up or down depending on what comes from it.

Stay tuned next week! Next week I will go to search for guys and new girlfriends while helping others by doing volunteer work with an organization called OneBrick!  I’ll also tell you how my first appearance in the public spotlight as Chicago’s Social Guinea Pig goes.  And yes, I will start posting pictures again to give my blog some much need flare! See you then!

Hi followers! So this week I went to a “Dating Film and Discussion Event” and here’s the dirt:

How did you hear about this one?   Well, if you are following me religiously, you are well aware that several of the events I do and ideas that I get come from the afore mentioned Hostess (Saya Hillman) of www.macncheeseproductions.com  And if you are not following me, you better get on it.  I got some good stuff here.  Yes, I covered a Mac n’ Cheese event before, and it is my goal to not review an event more than once, but because she has an endless supply of various events, and “Dating Film Night” is different than a Mingler, I can cover it.  Besides, in the end, it’s my blog and I can do what I want!  And her stuff is always good.  (And I’m not just saying that because I know she reads this…)

It’s a small world after all!  I walked into Hostesses house, and was greeted by Saya, and what do you know, I was greeted by two other women as well! What a pleasant surprise- standing in Hostesses kitchen was my former teammate from Singles Bowling League (no, I did not blog about that yet, perhaps next week….) and next to her, was the nice teacher I had so enjoyed having dinner with at the Eight at Eight event two weeks ago! (Which I DID blog about two weeks ago).  Chicago really is kind of a small town.  If you hang out in the singles social scene long enough, you start seeing the same faces at different events, through different groups, and you start to make some real connections and real friends.  I was genuinely pleased to see both of them.

Then what happened? Well, we (and by we I mean mostly the usual suspects: white, urban, cool, smart, professional, gorgeous women in our 20′s and 30′s. But yes, there were a couple guys too) had some tasty snacks and drinks, and got to know each other a little better.  Then it was time for the movie.

The Movie: I did not realize this movie was made by….Saya! Apparently, she does everything.  It was well done too.  Tweleve people, ranging in age, gender, and relationship status talk very openly about dating and what it’s REALLY like out there.  The interviewees are hilarious, candid, and interesting.  They talk about being single, bad dates, first kisses, one night stands, meeting the parents, ending it, and everything else in between.  And since I believe 80% of us in that room were single, we definately could relate- there was a lot of laughter and cringing from the crowd in that hour.

But wait, there’s more:  I thought after the movie we would say “Good-night, great movie, See you around”  I don’t think I realized there was more to come (although I should have, had I read the descrption of the event better….)  After the movie, a woman named Keri from  http://www.spirecoaches.com/ spoke.  She is a life coach, and she handed out journals and a worksheet with suggestions, goals, and questions that would help us reflect and get a better grip on what it was we were looking for.  I felt like I learned a lot from her just in that short span of time.  Not only was she good, but everyone else in the group shared their experiences, concerns, and asked questions and offered advice.  It managed to be an informative AND entertaining evening! You know, I think one of the hard things about being single is sometimes feeling alone, or that there’s something wrong with you, but to be able to get in a group with others that understand what you’re going through is a really positive and helpful experience.  But most importantly, you realize that you’re NOT alone, and there’s nothing wrong with you at all.  (Well, most of us!)

Still not done: Saya is not one to drop the ball.  The next day,  all party goers got an email with detailed information of some of the events and ideas that we shared with each other that included: Beer ‘n’ Bikes, Mingle Around, Dateless in Chicago, and MeSoFar….all things that I hope to check out and blog about in the near future.  And you should too! And if you are shy and you want to go with me to something, let me know!  I mean, guinea pigs are social animals that travel in groups to wacky experiments after all!

So I give this event: 4.5 stars! But overall, I think her events are the best thing goin’ right now. I have never had a bad time at anything I’ve gone to.   

What about Wisconsin boy? Believe it or not, he’s still emailing me.  We have yet to go on a date as he was out of town on business last week, and I am leaving in a few hours for Taiwan.  So if we can sustain the emailing for another week, I just might get a date out of this!

Speaking of Taiwan, I better call it a night! Obviously it will be impossible to attend any cool Chicago events this week, being in another country and all…but I would never deprive you readers- I’ll still write next Sunday, but it’ll have to be something I did in the recent past.  Maybe singles bowling league. We’ll see…

Oh yeah: to my friends from this Dating Film event- and my readers as well I guess- yes, I meant to post photos from the event, but unfortunately my phone is apparently only a phone and not a camera! The pictures were too dark and blurred to put up, which is really too bad as I was so hoping to give you all your 15 minutes of fame!

 Talk to you soon!

So did all my friends and followers read about Eight at Eight last week?  In case you didn’t,  here’s a brief recap: it’s a pretty expensive, but very cool dinner club for singles.  Four guys and four girls who never met before dine together and see what happens.  Well, if you like to eat, but you don’t feel like paying an arm and a leg to get “set up” on a group date, I’ve got something for you! www.grubwithus.com 

What’s Grub With Us?  So did you ever watch Check Please on PBS?  You know, the show where someone picks a restaurant and a bunch of people go check it out?  That’s the basic premise of Grub With Us.  Grub is great! I’m a big fan.  Grub just celebrated its one year anniversary a few months ago.  It started right here in Chicago and it’s branched out to several other big cities since because it’s so awesome. 

How does it work? It’s FREE to join! Just create an account for yourself and get ready to get your food on.  The website shows what dinners are coming up- and there’s a dinner almost every night.  Most of them are on the north side, but not all.  And most are on week nights as well.  Some dinners have themes (like vegetarians or techies), but anyone is welcome to go.  Each dinner shows the menu for the evening (which are served family style) and who you’ll be dining with- so you can skip it if there aren’t any hotties going!  It usually ends up being about eight guests.  You pay for your dinner in advance on Paypal- they’re usually about $30.  

So how is it?  I’ve been to about 14 of these in the past year! It’s kind of cool because the  type of people who go are very friendly and outgoing.  Yes, as usual, it’s frequently single, urban dwelling, white women in their 20′s and 30′s- and I’ve made some nice new girlfriends through it.  But I’ve seen gay, straight, married, single, all ages, races, and even some suburbanites.  It’s kind of cool because once you start going frequentl,y about half your dining friends are new and the other half you’ve dined with before.  I have a handsome, wonderful man who is intelligent, friendly, and does volunteer work that I’ve dined with about 9 times now! We get along famously- he’s my best Grub friend.  I thought he might ask me out at some point, but I’m still waiting.  I might wait for a long time since I’m not sure I’m his type…. (you feel me? Read between the lines ladies.) Either way, he’s good company just like everyone else I’ve met though Grub.  And we dine at some great places: Ethiopian, Peruvian,  Chinese, French, American, and everything in between.  There are restaurants I’ve always wanted to try and some I’ve never heard of, but love.  You can even suggest your favorite restaurant!

Tell me more! So I went to a brunch earlier this week at Hashbrowns.  I even brought one of my friends from work!  Inevitably, after a string of awesome Grubs this one was only ok.  Hashbrowns is a cute, tasty brunch place by UIC.  We ate soooo many different kinds of hashbrowns, eggs, fries, toast, fruit, waffles and French toast! To be honest, I really love the brunch meals, I think it’s often the best food, and it’s a nice low key thing to do on a Sunday, but I find that the people I enjoy the most tend to eat on the weeknights or the occasional Friday/Saturday Grubs.  The cool kids go out at night.  The nice (but less cool) and older crowd do brunch. But I’ve never had a bad meal or completely bad company!

Grub with us gets: 4.5/5 stars! It’s a cheap, tasty, low-pressure fun way to meet new people! Do this.

So Guinea Pig, what happened to those boys that asked for your number last weekend?  This can’t very well be a good dating sight if I talk about what happens at an event and never let you know what happened AFTERWARD! Well, Greek boy didn’t call.  And Wisconsin guy sent me an email saying how happy he was to meet me and how he hopes to see me again! oooooh.  Promising! Right? Well, I emailed him back and have yet to receive a response.  Oh well! No great loss.  I still felt like a rock star last week when both boys asked for my number- it didn’t really matter what happened after that as far as I was concerned- I was a true playa’ for one hot minute!

Well, stay tuned next week- Hostess (Saya Hillman of www.macncheeseproductions.com ) will be having another fun event! No, it’s not a Mingler, I already reviewed that, it’s something else fun!  Tell you all about it next Sunday!