Kissing frogs and other delights

Yes, I did make it out this weekend, but I'm really looking forward to next weekend. That's when one of my best friends comes into town. It's been over a year since I've seen her. In the time since then, she has gotten engaged. I can't wait to see the ring. Maybe she'll let me take a photo of it.


I was a little bummed to hear that Laurie's first attempt at dating post-divorce did not go well. There must be something in the air. I ran into my neighbor in the hall Friday evening before I headed out. It seems her boyfriend, who we were all thinking was wonderful, dumped her Friday morning. Now the day before he was saying, "I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you." By Friday morning it was, "I can't see you anymore." That was it. No other explanation. He was ignoring her phone calls.

I remember being in my early 30s and wanting to give up completely on dating. (I know it's hard to believe given the quantity of cocktails I was consuming at the time -- five days a week if I remember correctly. But hey, I still made it to work everyday.) My stepmother, who spent her 30s as a single mom, told me, "You have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince." (Her first husband dumped her after she put him through med school. Now there's a winner.) There's a part of me that wants to believe that because she has now been married to my dad for 20 years now. Of course she had to date my dad off and on for almost 10 years before he finally got around to the proposal but still...

So I headed out on Friday night and met a new guy. Well, he wasn't really new. I've talked to him plenty of times before, just not for as long as on Friday. He called Saturday evening to ask about dinner on Sunday. Of course I said yes because I like food. Not saying that I'm going to keep him but so far he is a vast improvement over that last one.

And I may never find the right guy and that's OK by me. What I do know is that I've had a lot of fun along the way -- heartaches and all.

On a final note -- back to the friend. I spent most of Sunday morning cleaning my apartment to get ready for my friend's visit. (Yes, I was actually out of bed at 8:00 a.m. and did not have to go to work.) Whenever I clean, the inevitable happens. I suddenly become inspired to cook and I still had all those Meyers lemons around. So there were more madeleines and then I got a bit more adventurous. Pies have not always been my thing -- I usually stick to cakes and cookies -- but I thought I'd give a tart a try. (No comments from the peanut gallery.)


It's blackberries on lemon custard. I think I may grow to like this tart thing.