Tuesday 6/26, Peggy let me leave early so I headed straight down to RED for my appointment with Megan for my facial. I had no idea what to expect as I've never had a facial, but let me just say, it was amazing. We talked about all the crap the derm had put me on and she was surprised some of it hadn't worked but we decided on a course of action going forward with a new regimen. She steamed me, extracted, applied 3 facial masks, 2 prescription strength products and gave me an upper body massage. She gave me some samples then showed me what to get and how to use all of it and I've made another appointment in 4 weeks to follow up. She is so wonderful, and even though I left looking like a pin cushion, my face was already looking better. Yay! I called LPC bf on my way home and he was home already and not really wanting to drive back to the Eastside and I said that was good because I looked really red and blotchy and didn't really want to be making out in that state so we agreed that next week we'd get together. It seems he was feeling a little chatty because I was kind of ducking out a few times and he kept the conversation going so that was good. Then I called Dad back and he told me Mom's surgery went just fine but she's all blue from like being bruised and that he's going to take the camera and take pictures of her, which I thought was terrible, but he seemed quite amused by the idea. Shame on him! Plus he also wanted the dirt on my prior evening’s plans and said in his voicemail “I know, I’m prying…and I need not to be” oh Dad, you can pry away! When I got home I pan fried some zucchini and onion then constructed a tomato and mozzarella salad again to use up my last tomato then I started on my batch of chocolate and butterscotch chip cookies. Kelly texted me wanting to know when we are going to get together again so I told him this week was busy but how about Mon - Tue of next week so we're going to plan for that...I just hope he doesn't want to like be my bf or something. At least he's good about following up. I should see if he wants to go on a hike. Yes! Ok, anyway so I was baking away and eating a ton of cookie dough and left LPC bf a comment about it and he returned it, then I talked to Susan for quite a while and cleaned J's litter box while chatting away. I cleaned the kitchen and vacuumed and took a bunch of stuff down to the garage and just tried to tidy up. That's my goal this week; to get my house picked up and cleaned and start the process of throwing shit out I don't use or don't want to move. We'll see how far I get. I went upstairs and got ready for bed and basically fell asleep at 11. At 11:30, however, I got a text from LPC bf that said: "Sleep tight, Charisma Butterscotch Fondlestein." Awww, except I was way too tired and out of it to respond. So about 10 minutes later I'm gently reentering sweet slumber and my f-ing phone rings and it's Zeph. I hit the silence button but mentally noted that I need to call him back since he called me this weekend as well and I still haven't returned his call. Whoops. Makes me think something's up. Finally got back to sleep and stayed that way.

Monday 6/25, I talked with Kelly on my lunch break and we made plans to meet up at Cheesecake Factory at 7:45. “What am I getting myself into?”, I thought over and over throughout the day, but what's the worst that can happen? I make a new friend? He's a dick and I never see him again? So I decided to stop stressing. I went for a 3-miler when I got home then made a tomato and mozzarella salad and checked myspace to find flirty messages from LPC bf about possibly meeting up later, so I responded and was ready to hop in the shower when Dad called. Talked to him about the property and cars then told him about my little meet up later in the evening and he was all "Good for you KB!" and tickled that he's from Everett. I hopped in the shower and only had about 25 minutes until I needed to leave so I busted ass and made it out the door right on schedule. I talked to K on the way down and told her I would stop by her place after our meet up then I called Susan but got voice mail so I tried Eliso and she told me about the places they found and I told her some enormous package from Crate and Barrel arrived at the house for her and Jake. I parked by Kay-See’s since it’s so close and walked down and put my name in at the front but when he was about 10 minutes late I thought I should try calling and ended up seeing him walking down the street as I went outside dialing. We went inside and started gabbing while waiting for our table and I found out he graduated from EHS, just like, 6 years later than I did. Hahahahahaaaaaaa! Oh boy, that's hilarious. We were seated and we kept talking, talking, talking and he told me all of these fascinating stories about living in Moab and Kenya for 13 months, so I am totally impressed, plus he's into woodwork so I'm thinking of asking him to do some work in my place, which would be awesome. I got a piece of Oreo cheesecake and when the bill came he nabbed it and insisted on paying, what a little sweetheart. He's totally adorable and I'm glad we got a chance to hang out and get to know each other. Afterward we walked around downtown for a little bit and talked more about the Seahawks Academy, hilarious, then it came time to part. He went for a handshake and I was like "Let's hug it out!" so we hugged and I said how glad I was to have met him and that we have to do it again soon and I'd treat next time, then he went in for another hug so I happily obliged. Then there was the part about the 31 year old. Hmm. Anyway, so I called K and she still had Bethany, Florin and Jenny over so I huffed it up the hill to her place and told tales of 21 year olds and started texting LPC bf to see about meeting up for some harmless fondle tarting. We played a few rounds of Apples to Apples and though I didn't have as many funny ones, I got a few zingers in. At 10:30 I took off for LPC bf’s place and called him as I was parking and he met me downstairs in a very orange outfit. We went upstairs and we talked on the couch for about 20 minutes before he asked "Can we kiss now?" so I was like "Ok!" so we made out on the couch for a very long time. But then I got a bloody nose. And proceeded to be mortified. Especially since there was blood on his face. Mortified x 12 = me. He was very sweet about it and acted like it was no big deal and was trying to make me laugh and asking if he needed to take me to the hospital. I usually get them on a daily basis in winter, but I haven't had one in months, and here I get one while we're MAKING OUT. When I came out of the bathroom having tamed the beast he was all about continuing making out. I was fine with that but kept stopping and asking, "Am I ok?" and he'd tell me yes and we'd continue. It was a pretty good make out and he confirmed those same feelings about it then said he's never had a make out session like the one we were engaging in...which is seriously the third time I've been told this. How do other people make out? I'm confused. Not to toot my own horn, but why am I so good? Or do these guys have amnesia and just don’t remember that they’ve had similarly good make outs with other girls? Must investigate. Anyway, I was wearing a low cut shirt and he started running his fingers along my collarbone and chest and it was such a turn on I couldn't believe it. I didn’t even have my shirt or bra off! Totally clothed, totally hot! I'm getting light headed just thinking about it. Finally at 12:30 I told him I needed to go so he sang me one song accompanied by his uke and it was very cute then walked me downstairs where we made out a little more and I said something funny to him about being very aroused and needing to take care of it which he laughed and agreed with then I jogged to my car and drove home.

Sunday 6/24, We woke up around 9:30 after both sleeping very well. I got the blueberries, bananas and apples for us to eat for breakfast. Then I had the remainder of my rocky road chocolate on one of K's graham crackers and she had a buttered popcorn taffy. We got up and started getting ready for our day, packed everything up and set out for Leavenworth. We went to Pavz for crepes and noticed right away that the crepe boy was totally hot. A JT type, complete with tattoos. Mmmmmmm. Anyway, so we get seated and K orders the roasted peppers one with pesto and all sorts of yummy things and I got the fresh pear with ice cream and chocolate and whip cream and orange zest. We both devoured our plates, and some of each other's. On the way out I gave our crepe boy a couple of looks and he returned them right back, even when I looked back as we kept walking down the street. Rawr. It was kind of raining so we ducked into the hat shop, unfortunately, and I put one hat on so K could take a picture to prove that I went inside, pretty much for Jake. We decided to hit the road because the weather kind of sucked and it was already after 1. We laughed all the way home about all of the weekend’s events, only got stuck in traffic for about 20 minutes through Sultan and made it to my place before 4. I had been texting LPC but didn't know if we were getting together or not so I showered anyway and got ready to go over to Mom's for dinner. Kelly (the red head from Gustav's) had called the prior night but since I didn't have reception he left a message, so I called him back and left HIM a message, then he returned my call and wanted to know what I was doing that night but I had plans so we planned to hang out the next night (Monday) and then he was like "How old is your friend?" so I told him, then I asked "How old are YOU?" and he's like "21, how old are you?" and I managed to get out "26" while quietly snickering. Oh boy, 21. Can I pick em or can I pick em? Whatever, so anyway, we made tentative plans for the following night and I wondered aloud what I was getting myself into as I drove to MI. I picked Grandma up and the dinner wasn't my favorite but I had some broccoli and potatoes and we talked about the weekend and my 21 year old (Mom: "You realize he's going to have the emotional maturity of a 15 year old don't you?" Me: "Oh yeah!" Mom: Rolls eyes). I took Grandma home after talking real estate with the parents for a while and picked Jake up at QFC and took him and his little friend to the movie theater and went home. LPC bailed on me and tried to make plans for Monday but I told him I was already booked, so I took a fondle tarting picture when I got home just to be a tease and posted it on my profile which elicited the exact response I was hoping for. Mwahaha! Anyway, I watched some tv, talked to K about the 21 year old plans, filled Susan in and eventually went to bed.

Saturday 6/23, I woke up at 6, got ready, got all my bags down by the door then took off to QFC where I picked up blueberries. K was running a little late but we took off around 7:30 with a quick trip to Starbucks where we got drinks and treats (LPC for me!) then headed over the mountains. I filled her in on the whole kid story which had us laughing and howling for a while. We arrived at the property around 9:30 and it was already beautiful out. We unpacked the car then put our suits on and went out to the deck to set up shop. We weren't laying there long before it started to get hot, so soon we were stripping down to our suits and admiring the hot dad next door. And it was only like 10:15. We got the carrots and dip out. Then the blueberries. Then the pico de gallo and various array of tortilla chips. We talked, talked, talked then walked down to the river which is SO high it's crazy. I could feel myself starting to fry so I moved under the trellis but wasn't camped out very long before we decided to go get ice cream. We drove to the bridge then walked from there, which we estimated was probably about a 2 miler round trip. Not 12 miles, but not terrible either. We stopped in the Just Plain Hardware but didn’t buy anything then on to ice cream. We went in to find no Hopscotch, but I got the Cookies and Cream which was delicious and K the Strawberry Cheesecake. I paid for mine and went and sat outside the Just Plain Grocery and right on my heels were the three Harley-riding guys who I'd told K were her bfs and the first one asks, no joke, "Floatin'?" to which I'm not sure how I answered without laughing. I told him No, because it was too cold, and couldn't believe that K wasn't there to hear it. Arg! I could hardly contain myself as she came out then she dared me to ask one of them for a ride on his motorcycle but I chickened out. As they left I said bye and waved then told K and she didn't believe me. I kept having to say "I swear! I swear!" Two years in a row and counting. We headed back to camp and laid out some more and I totally fell asleep and when I woke up the wind was picking up and it was the most wonderful feeling. It was hot, yet there was a cool breeze that gently woke me up. K fell asleep too and since we were both starting to feel hungry again we decided to start the process of getting ready to go into Leavenworth. I showered and got ready and K was ready in like 5 minutes and we set out...it was about 6 I think. We parked and walked over to Gustav's and were seated right away, and fortunately at a table with a great view...of a table of guys, oh yeah! One of which was a tall red head. Mama like. So we made eye contact a few times throughout our respective meals and he was soo cute. K was like "He looks young Karrah" and I was all "He's got to be at least 21, he's drinking a beer!" (cue eye roll). So then there were all these other hilarious / hot characters there. The cowboy was really funny and his older friend with the weird stuff on his lips, then hot red shirt who looked like a dick, and the hot bar tender with tattoos for K, and my new Latin bf (swarthy looks) who actually looked Asian and multiple other guys passing through. It was crazy, we were doing overtime trying to keep up with the abundance of men. Leavenworth, who knew? So I'm looking at guys, K's looking at guys, and finally it hits me, I should give this ginger kid my number, as he's now walked by the table twice and has thrown numerous looks in my direction. So K goes to the bathroom and it hits me so I scribble down on one of Schuyler's business cards "I like red heads & you're cute" then my phone number and name. I showed K when she got back and she's like "Oh, hell yeah" so we decide on a plan and begin to execute. I started to get up and was like "No, I can't do it!" and K's like (through gritted teeth) "Karrah, do it!" so she goes first, smiling ridiculously right past their table and as I follow suit I put the business card down right in front of him on the table and attempt to high tail it out of there. There were all these people in the way and I'm pushing K who's pushing all these families out of the way in an attempt to get the f out of there. When we got outside she was like "You have the biggest balls of anyone I know!" which I took as an enormous compliment. So we're walking down the road to try and find me a bathroom and I'm swinging my sweater and K's talking and laughing and we hear this "Beep!" so we turn and it's a car full of boys, the ones from Gustav’s that I’d just given my number to, all waving at us, so we start laughing so hard and K's like waving and smiling...it was SOOOO funny. Beep! Ha, hilarious. So then we're on a mission for taffy and candy and stop into Das Sweet Shop where we spot one of the HOT guys from earlier at the back ice cream counter and so the woman's telling him it's a $5 minimum to use his card and he's like, “Fine I guess I'm buying one of these girls ice cream because they're way hotter than him” (his friend) so I'm all "Yeah!" then I thought, No, I've already had ice cream today so we thanked him and walked up to the chocolate counter where K bought me a whole bunch of chocolaty treats. So then hot guy's friends all come in from off the strip and one of them is so drunk and desperately wants to know why we didn't let Jeff buy us ice cream, then introduces himself as Jason, perfect, two Js. Then I look down at his shirt and say enthusiastically "Take me for a ride!" because that's what it said and he's all "OH YEAH! Let's go!" and both K and I were like Oh shit, and she's like "Way to go Karrah" so we try to leave and we're walking down the street and he's got his arm around both of us and his friends were walking the other way but apparently he didn't care. I asked him how old he was and he said he just turned 23 and I go "Of course you did! Of course!" while throwing my hands up in the air, then he asked where we were going and we said Idaho because that's where we're from, in unison in fact, and that we were vacationing in Leavenworth because we heard it was like the best place to go and he was like "WHAT?! This place sucks, you should come to Seattle. I'm a milk man, I work in Renton" so we're dying of laughter, this guy was sooo drunk. Finally we shook him after complying with his group hug condition. We walked around a little more then back to the car where we saw a totally hot red head (the third that night, the other one had a mole on his face and a wife and kids, but whatever, still hot) and we both just stopped and admired him for a minute as he walked away with his gf. The power of the red head. We've both converted. We walked back to the car, stopped at Safeway for water and hit the road back to Plain where we saw the Hardware Party shutting down and felt bad because it looked like no one showed up. Back at the ranch we settled onto the air mattresses and put on "How to Make an American Quilt" and somehow both made it through without falling asleep. Went to bed around 11:45.

Friday 6/22, I went home and waited around for traffic to die down in order to go to Mom's for dinner. I finally left a little before 7 and traffic still sucked but I made decent time considering. I texted with Charismo all the way there and they were starting to get a bit graphic...which I like. I went to Grandma's to pick her up and helped her open her pill bottles then we hit the road. Kassie was there with her new dog which is ENORMOUS. Seriously, I thought she was kidding when she said she was 3x bigger than Tigre. Ida Lou is her name and she is very sweet and a very messy eater. The four of us girls talked over dinner and I told them my LPC story but no one really cared so it was on to chatter about Kassie's vegetable garden. Grandma and I left after 9 and I helped her up and took Toto out before leaving. On the way home I remembered that I was supposed to have gone to Costco earlier in the evening to pick up blueberries for Kay-See's and my trip to Leavenworth the following morning. I was very upset with myself. I decided I would get up extra early and go to QFC as I was sure they'd have some. I think when I got home I packed, updated the blog, umm, maybe talked on the phone and watched tv? I talked with Kassie for a few minutes before bed and locked Jacques in my room so he wouldn't try to ride Ida like the moose that she is.

Thursday 6/21, I went home and expected to find Susan there but she wasn't so I opened the windows and back door and let Jacques out then unloaded the dishwasher. When she arrived we sat and talked and I told her all about my night out with the baby-daddy. She had written me a message earlier in the day that started "hi step-mommy karrah!" and I just about lost it, I was laughing so hard. Ahhhh, so funny. We talked and talked and talked and she watched me make Kassie's bed and helped me craft a message to Trevor then eventually rolled out around 7:30 to have a gigantic salad and get ready for Neighbours. Chrystol called right as Susan was leaving so we made plans for me to come by their house to see her around 9:30 before Neighbs in order to visit and fill her in on the hilarious story that I had told Schuyler earlier in the day ("Next you'll be moving on to MARRIED men with children" Oh Schuyler, how did I not think of that first?). So I made a large tomato and mozzarella salad then some zucchini and squash, hit the showers, got all prettied up, wrote back to LPC bf on myspace then hit the road at 9:00. When I got to Chrystol's we sat on the porch because it was so pleasant outside and we gabbed, gabbed, gabbed. I told her all about the boys and we talked about relationships then Schuyler came home and the three of us continued talking on the porch until almost 11 and suggested we take a little walk up to Eric's new place of employment, but decided another night might be better. We planned to get together soon and she still wants me to see Andy so hopefully we'll work that out soon. I talked to Susan and we decided to meet at the usual parking spot but I got my Egyptian spot so she met me there and we went in. We saw Kyle while waiting in line and got a hug, but didn’t really see him for the rest of the night. The place was decked out for Pride so that was fun and we were only upstairs for a minute before Hungry Like the Wolf came on so we ran down, saw Richie and dragged him onto the dance floor to get down. We were having fun and I told him about LPC bf and he got all excited and said that him and R are now “official” which makes me happy for him. We spotted Moppet then a trannie asked Susan if she was syphilis’ sister because they looked alike, though Susan is cuter. We migrated closer to Teal and Darren’s preferred dancing spot and soon we were all getting down together then Richie came back so we had a big group going and Moppet came over to say and tell me to move my feet when I dance, whatever. There wasn’t much else that happened, um, Jeff showed up and looked adorable with his hoodie, Richie’s R showed up and he said hi to me and I got a hug, surprisingly, before I left. Mick Jagger was there for the first time in forever and my favorite go-go boy did a show to Robert Palmer’s Simply Irresistible complete with look-alike back up dancers in mini-dresses and guitars. It was very entertaining though I wish he would have taken more than just his trench coat off. Around 1 I decided it was time to go home because I was tired and not in love with the song selections. We walked to my car and I dropped Susan off and took off for home.

Wednesday 6/20, I headed straight home to start getting ready for my night out with LPC bf. I washed Kassie's sheets then hopped in the shower, got all dolled up and took off before 6:30. I got down to Eastlake fairly quickly considering the time of day and found parking a few blocks from his apartment. I called him to tell him I was outside, so he came down, looking cute, then we went back up to his place and he showed me around. We decided to hit the road to Delfino's in the U-Village for some Chicago style deep dish ("You're a deep dish") pizza. We decided on the Delfino special and filled our 25 minute wait with lots and lots of chatter and flirting. He did the lip bite thing and it made my stomach flip. We started talking about family as we left, you know, parents, siblings and occupations of said family. We decided to go walk around Green Lake so we got in the car and on the way out of the parking lot he was like "Well on that same note, I'm a father" and I wish I could see what must have been a horrified look on my face...well, I think I masked it, but still, I would love to see that replayed. Me: "Uhhhh. You have a child? Uhhhh. Wow. Uhhh. Fascinating..." while inside I was like "HOLY SHIT!" Now I think it's hilarious and can't stop laughing. Of COURSE you have a kid. Anyway, I was like "Wow, that's quite a bomb to drop. I wasn't expecting that N---!" so we talked about that a TON, for most of the way around the lake too and actually I totally respect what he's doing and think he's doing the best job he can from up here. We continued to flirt and talk about sex and stuff then headed back to his place where we decided I would come up for a little while so we sat on the couch and he put on Ladies Man but didn't get very far because we started talking about marriage and our joint views on that topic then he got his uke out and started playing all these songs and singing and I joined in quietly on a few of them so that was fun. It was about 11:20 and I needed to go so he walked me down and there was this other couple out there so I was like "Damn, now how are we going to make out?" and then some lady with a dog and we were both like "Wow, it sure is busy down here!" but then they all filed out after about 10 minutes and we were still chatting so then it was the perfect opportunity for a little kissing. He's sooo tall that I found myself standing on my tiptoes for a lot of it in order to nip at his bottom lip or whatever. It was good, better than some of the make-outs I've had, though I still think the ferocity and chemistry that Eric and I have takes the cake. I guess I can't expect that kind of style on the first make-out session. He did bite my lip and twist at one point and it made my stomach flip, totally hot. We kissed for about 15 minutes while the wind picked up and blew all around us and it was kind of romantic. Ha. Yeah. Since it was almost midnight I took off for home and wrote to both Susan and Kay-See immediately that he has a kid. Read a few pages and went to bed.

Tuesday 6/19, I hurried home after work and did some more laundry, jumped in the shower, ate a salad and got ready to hit the road to meet up with Kay-See for her first hair appointment with Sean. I was delighted to see more flirty messages etc. from LPC bf when I arrived home, including a text which I decided would have to be returned once I got to the salon. I made it into Seattle with a little traffic, parked, went up to Kay-See's and soon we were on our way down to RED. We were a little early and sat and waited then he appeared at the top of the stairs and we just looked at each other and smiled, oh Sean, then he came down and I did introductions and he said he would take care of her because she's my friend. I mostly read magazines while they chatted away and when she was done she had a cute, sassy, summertime haircut. He also said I've now set a friend precedent and can't bring anyone ugly in. Done! I got another hug goodbye and we headed back to Kay-See's. She fired up the oven for the lumpia and I diced the squash and zucchini while we talked and giggled. We got the computer out to look at Jake's profile and I had a message from LPC bf which I read aloud to K and she made vomiting noises when I told her that our nicknames are Charisma (me) and Charismo (him) and together we're known as "The Charismatics" because we're just so damn, well, charismatic. We finished off all the food, and let me just say that lumpia is delicious. I had, oh, about 6. Yum! We then laid on the floor and looked at profiles and left comments for boys and just had a girly night. I took off around 10:45 and wrote back to LPC bf when I got home, then read for a few minutes and went to bed.

Monday 6/18, I had two dreams about Grandpa Smittey which were so vivid and in the one it really scared me when he walked into the room. It makes me sad. Anyway, I had a doctor's appt on CH so I had to leave work and ended up making up the time by taking a short lunch and working until 6. Which I dislike doing unless I'm getting paid overtime for it. I fixed a delicious salad when I got home and wrote back to LPC bf then ate some leftover Chinese and went through some old magazines to try and clean stuff out in preparation of "The Big Move". I decided I wasn't too full to go on my short walk so I set out around 8:45 and got back around 9:20. I couldn't find Jacques before I left so I kept the back door open so he could get back in and when I walked up to the house I thought I saw him but it was the imposter-Jacques, but then out of the bushes runs my Jacques and he goes and runs off the other cat. Then I hear this bellowing and Jacques was totally bullying this other cat and I had to run up behind Sue's house to fetch him. I scooped him up and gave him a good scolding for being so mean. He was shut in the house for the rest of the night. I watched a little tv, did some laundry and turned in a little after 11.

Sunday 6/17, We all got up and moving then out the door by 9 to check out various neighborhoods and surrounding areas to try and help them narrow down where they want to live. They hated Bellevue (which I predicted), thought Factoria and Eastgate were ok, loved Issaquah (Front St.) and didn’t really care for North Bend, Fall City, Carnation or Sammamish. We found her school and I showed them how close I work to where she’ll be working then we headed back into Issaquah for lunch. We hit the Chinese place and they were so sweet to buy me lunch. I had been exchanging texts with LPC bf about meeting up plans and time was starting to creep up on me so we headed home and they hung out while I hurried and got ready (including application of my sick dragon tattoo (complete with clouds and crystal ball) on the underside of my forearm). They gave me the seal of approval as I got ready to walk out the door, exchanged hugs, gave them a key for next weekend and hit the road for downtown. I called Dad on the way to wish him a happy Father’s Day and found out Kassie had driven down to surprise him then I told him about my trip to meet-up with a guy from the net and he wasn’t too keen on it but trusts that I can handle myself…even if he is 6’5” and as Sean said “He could throw you over his shoulder and walk off with you, and whether you protest or not, there’s not a lot you’re going to be able to do”. I found parking very easily and had about 15 minutes to spare so I called Court and left a message which she quickly responded back to and told me her and Pat are contemplating moving back up here for a year or so just for a change of pace so we got all excited about that and I knew Eliso would be as well so that was fun, then I told her about my internet dating and she wasn’t surprised at all and rather amused…as most people seem to be. It was 2:00 and time to head up so I hung up with her and made my way up, didn’t see him, so walked circles around the flower bed trying to keep warm, and finally I saw him coming, smiled, pointed at him and we had introductions. He was a tall drink of water for sure, as cute as the good pictures of him on his profile, and good voice to boot. We headed into the library and went straight to the top then meandered and got lost on the way back down talking and laughing the whole way. He confirmed that his intention was to get me in one of the bathrooms to have sex with me and that he thought he’d made it perfectly clear in his messages. I was in stitches. So we did a ton of talking and eventually found ourselves walking down 4th toward Pike and he suggested a warm beverage (since the “fairer sex” always seems to be cold) then we made our way to Westlake to people watch. It was a good spot and gave us more time to talk talk talk. I suggested going to B&N so I could get Q and use the bathroom then on our way again just walking around downtown talking about all sorts of hilarious things. We ended up at my car and I offered him a ride to his car so we climbed in and headed up Madison. As we were saying bye I had the feeling he wanted to kiss me but I was willing him not to; not the right moment. So he got out and I took off for home, stopped at the store for some groceries, and talked to Eliso as I was arriving home and gave her all the details of the day and told her again that I can’t wait until she’s up here so we can hang out all the time again. LPC bf and I started trading suggestive text messages back and forth and he offered to keep me warm (only in the coat lending way though…) and that I sparkle even more in person and that he was all “swoon” which made me laugh, of course. He’s so hilarious, and it seems to come so easy, plus he’s very complimentary and who doesn’t love that? I ate a little of my leftover Chinese and watched EHM. Talked to Susan for a while on the phone and heard about her PDX trip and filled her in on the weekend’s boy-events. I then talked to Kay-See for a long time and filled her in on everything and strategized about Jake. I updated this, made more plans with LPC bf, read, went to bed.

Saturday 6/16, I dreamt about spending time with Eric and missing my appointment with Sean and being really mad at myself for it. Much to my relief, my alarm woke me up at 7:30 as planned and I got up and out the door to get gas. Back at home I prepped for my walk and was out the door again with a tight schedule to adhere to. I made great time on my walk and made it back with plenty of time to get ready to go see my favorite heterosexual male. Sean. Kay-See called me with good news about her marathon and I filled her in on Jake and told her I would give her an update later in the day after I firmed up my plans. I got downtown, parked, and headed into the salon. I was his first appointment so he was bright eyed and bushytailed. I filled him on all the boy stuff, including my two myspace meet-ups, the previous-weekend-Eric-situation, the hot Scot, and various Beltown excursions. He teased me that my meet-up with LPC bf wouldn’t actually be the guy in the pictures but instead would be the guy’s Dad who would be an old man on a scooter from the Scooter Store. He had me in stitches. But also made me glad I’m in his good graces. He’s a funny one that Sean. I had a great time as always and have vowed not to go that long between haircuts again. Before hitting the road I gave him and Tiffany my address for invitational purposes. On the way to my car I called Jake to see if he still wanted to do lunch, he did though sounded a bit reluctant, and we decided to meet in Kirkland at Purple in an hour. I headed to the Eastside and went to Costco Home where I set up an appointment to have them come out to do blinds on my windows then headed over into Kirkland. I was a little early so I decided to read a little as I didn’t want to be there RIGHT ON THE NOSE, but instead a few minutes late. Like 2 or 3. Sure enough when I walked up he was already sitting in the little waiting area and stood up when I walked in and we shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. He looked at me rather intensely, clearly studying my face, and I was very impressed with what I saw as well. For the record, he’s probably the best looking guy I’ve had a “date” with. Hot. With a capital H. Blonde hair, beautiful blue eyes, tan, great arms…you know the drill. He’s a little frat boy-ish for me, but I’m not going to let that ruin my day. So we sit down and started chatting away about all sorts of things. Lunch was great and we totally geeked out about RH together and I never thought I would find someone with the same affinity, but here we are! I got some other music recommendations and I invited him to go camping next weekend but I doubt he’ll take me up on it. He has a few views that are very opposite of mine so I don’t see it ever really going anywhere, besides the fact that I get more of a friend vibe from him anyway, but he’s a hot guy who’s great to talk to so I’ll take it! Plus he insisted on picking up the tab and when I suggested I leave tip he said “Absolutely not” so I told him then I could pick up the next one and his reply was “Well, you can say that, but it’s not going to happen” and commented that I looked very conflicted to which I replied that I’m used to paying my way and he said, it doesn’t work like that with him. Ok, fair enough. Alan later said he didn’t like that, but I have no strong objections. He made an interesting comment about being in the shower and contemplated, uh, our date / meet up thing, which I found VERY interesting. We packed it up and headed out, had a non-descript farewell and parted ways. I headed to Hofman’s Bakery to pick up a cinnamon crisp and sugar cookie then got a text from Jake confirming the name of a RH song we had been talking about and saying that lunch was fun and that we should do it again soon. I texted back that I agreed and thanked him again for lunch. Headed to MI to meet Dad then him, Alix, Sarah the German foreign exchange student and I and we were on our way to Ernie and Erika’s via the U-District for an errand, where I filled Kay-See in on EVERYTHING and how perfect J would be for her, what with the salt affinity, shared fondness for Tool, religion and political views and almost everything else about him. Let’s see what Karrah can work out for her good friend Kay-See. Drove to Edmonds and Father’s Day was fun and the food was good. We were there until about 6 or so then took off and Mom dropped me at my car and I headed home. I called Kay-See and told her I was too sleepy to hang out and was probably going to nap. I put on Arrested Development and promptly fell asleep for an hour or so. I made myself get up and finish cleaning and stuff in preparation of my PDX guests’ arrival. They showed up at 10:20 and it instantly brightened my night and got me really excited for them to move up here in the next month and a half. I showed them all the things that have been done / changed since they were up here almost three years ago, then we sat down with the computer to check out house listings. We were up for quite a while laughing and talking and perusing online. I gave Jake a hard time because he couldn’t stop ogling my vacuum so I asked him if he wanted to take it for a spin around the room which made him laugh. We finally turned in and made plans to get up at 8 the next morning.

Friday 6/15, I continued on my cleaning quest after work in preparation for Eliso and Jake coming the next day. I showered and hit the road over to Beth and Jason’s to visit with them and Harper for the evening. I talked to Eliso right as I was parking about plans for the next day and that her and Jake were going to be coming in around 10pm instead of noon, which was fine because it would give me more time to get things prepped. Beth and Jason loved the little United Colors of Benetton hoodie I brought back from London for Harper. We sat and talked for hours and Harper wouldn’t stop smiling at me so that thrilled me. He is so cute I can’t stand it and I love playing on the floor with him. He’s such a good baby, it’s incredible. I told Beth if she ever needs someone to watch him to let me know because it truly is wonderful to spend time with him and feel like Auntie Karrah. Even when he throws up ALL OVER MY CLEAN JEANS. And I mean allllll over. Somehow as we were chatting the subject of boys came up, as per usual, so I filled them in on my Sunday plans to meet up with LPC bf at the library and Beth was like, “You know that’s where people meet up to like have sex in the bathrooms right?” and I was like “WHAT?! I’m not sure what he’s thinking, but he’s got another one coming if that’s where he thinks this thing is going” so we laughed about that and how they were going to see me on Dateline NBC being led out in handcuffs because police have been performing sting operations to thin out that kind of activity and that my name would be splashed across all the papers and that news like that travels and you can’t really get away from it. I emphasized that I would not be having sex in the bathroom with him. Make out, maybe…and I’m pretty sure you can’t get arrested for that. We talked about all sorts of bizarre and hilarious sexual things but soon it was getting late-ish so I decided to head home. I called Chrystol on the way home and talked to her forever about their new place and all the goings-on in my world which she identified as fascinating and made me glad that this is entertaining for someone else besides just myself. It was about 11 and I was tired so I crawled into bed and turned on Scrubs to fall asleep to. At midnight my phone obnoxiously alerted me to a text but I was so out of it I thought it was my alarm clock going off and that it was time to get up. I was very disoriented and sad it was time to get up because I was still so tired. I finally figured out what was going on so I looked to see what had come in and it was from Jake.

Him: Is that a no? You don’t want to hang out ever? (Apparently referencing a text he had sent the prior weekend after a series of them we had going back and forth that I hadn’t responded to, basically just stating that we should hang out. I didn’t think this text necessarily merited a response. He, however, did. Hence the fragmented opening text.)
Me: Dude, you name the time and the place and I’ll be there. Word.
Him: Ha! Is my place now too strong? I’m bored. What are you up to tonight? Did you find a new place yet?
Me: In bed. We can talk real estate if we ever get together…
Him: So I guess I called your bluff then…What about lunch or something tomorrow? You name the place.
Me: Shit man, I didn’t know you meant right now. I’m not that kind of girl. I’ll call you tomorrow about lunch. G’night.
Him: I didn’t really. But I suppose you know how guys work by now. Of course call me tomorrow. G’night.

Uh huh, so then I was a little excited about having two myspace meet-ups in the same weekend. My expectations for Jake were a little low as I don’t think he’s really my type but we’ve been corresponding forever so I knew it would at least be nice to shake hands in person and make a new friend. Fell back asleep.

Thursday 6/14, I cleaned and stuff before getting ready to go out to Neighbours. Susan and I decided to meet up early because it’s been so long since we’ve done that. We went in and checked out the crowd, noticed Moppet was there with a friend and headed upstairs to see who was making an appearance. The irritating busser came over and asked if I went to Juanita HS because I looked like a hot girl he went to school with. Uh huh, right. Every week a new pickup line! We went and checked our coats then hit the dance floor. We were giggling and trying to keep the attention of M and friend and Susan said she would take one for the team in the form of the friend, yes! We danced, danced, danced then took a break when a bad song came on and watched my favorite go-go boy in the cage and he pointed at me a few times so that always makes my heart skip a beat. Especially with those pink underwear that he fills out so nicely. We took our places back on the floor closer to the boys’ spot and soon they were over dancing in very close proximity and throwing flirty glances in our direction. Eventually the friend comes over and comments on my Vans and we start chatting away (Aaron) and he’s a nice guy but Susan is wary and asks if I need saving then told M that his friend stole her friend. We were then introduced to M (Jason, surprise surprise, another Jason, like I don’t have enough to keep track of) and Aaron urged him to do some ass shaking dance that was more odd than impressive. We saw Teal and Susan left me with the boys to go say hi and ended up getting a hug from Kitty Cat. Meee-OW. We continued dancing by the boys but eventually I got thirsty so I went to my favorite new bartender to get a water but it was taking FOREVER because all these people kept cutting but I finally got it and stood under the black light surveying the crowd. Jason came over and we started chatting which made me question whether or not he’s straight because he has a kind of effeminate voice, speech-pattern and mannerisms…hmmm. I didn’t find him all that interesting but I’m all about making new friends right now so for those purposes it was good to find out a little bit about him and what he does. I went back out to dance and got a little sassy with Teal and looked irritated-ly at these two drunk girls flailing around and commiserated with Jason. Max made his way over and at first glance it appeared he was wearing a very thickly woven set of fishnet tights with like a goth loin cloth over his ass and junk…but on closer inspection, it was discovered that what appeared to be the tights were actually black stretch pants with little white skulls, which I had mistaken for his skin under the tights. Still odd, but not as entertaining as the fishnet / loin cloth combo would have been. I talked with him for a minute about London and he asked if I had gone to an 80’s club while I was there and I told him, well, kind of. He’s a nice guy and it made me laugh when he really busted it out to Hazy Shade of Winter. It was late so I decided to go home and on my way out some gay guy was like “Great earrings!” so that was fun. Ran to my car and beat it home.

Wednesday 6/13, We went downtown to see our new office space and it's really beautiful and totally within walking distance of Kay-See's! I got off work a little early and waited for Kay-See to come over and when she did we set off for a walk, did a little exploring of a street I've never visited then walked down to Timberlake Park. There were a couple of cute guys on our path but nothing manifested. We sat down by the water for a few minutes then decided to head back, took a short cut and set out for Target. I had some gifts and cereal to pick up then we headed home. We both fixed ourselves a big bowl of cereal and sat down to review messages from my LPC bf and Kay-See approves and said we'd have curly haired, hilarious little babies together. We talked a bit more and made plans for Plain next weekend then she took off around 8. I talked to Julien about changing plans to Friday and boys (“Dude, do you have a boyfriend? No, wait, do you have a boyfriend IN SEATTLE?”) then I talked to Susan and discussed proposing an early meet up with my bf before Neighbours so I attempted to compose a witty message to him, sent it and went to bed.

Tuesday 6/12, I found myself participating in a heavily flirtatious myspace messaging back and forth while at work and for most the evening. We'll see how it pans out, but the fact that I'm going to get some lemon pound cake out of the deal already makes it worth it. I stayed a little late at work then went on my short walk to try and ease myself back into my workouts because I can feel that my ass is getting bigger and bigger as each day passes and it depresses me. I need to start working it again because it makes me feel so much better, about myself and in general. I made some dinner and talked to Mom, Susan and Kay-See. I let K and S in on the myspace correspondence and have both of their approval to get moving on this thing. I showered and climbed into bed, read, responded to a few more messages from LPC bf and Schuyler.

Monday 6/11, I stayed a little late at work to make some extra $ then did my grocery shopping and headed home where I foolishly didn't go on my walk. I made a fantastic balsamic soaked tomato salad with pesto and four pepper goat cheese. It was delicious! I talked to Susan for a while then did a bunch of cleaning in the kitchen and downstairs bath then hand washed some things. It helped me feel better for not going on my walk. I wrote Guy back on facebook then read a little and went to sleep.

Sunday 6/10, I woke up at 8:30 and couldn’t go back to sleep so at 9:30 I ate a little breakfast, picked up my book and ended up falling back asleep until 11:30. I called Susan immediately to tell her sorry and that I would get out of bed, ready and out the door to her place. I think I got there around 12:30 and we headed right for downtown. We stopped at the library first then walked over to Pike Place and had delicious focaccia sandwiches while commenting and laughing at all the foot traffic. Especially the big hair ladies and my grungy bf. After downing our sandwiches we headed to the donut place where we schemed how we were going to get the donut guy to give us 3 sprinkle and 3 powdered ones and I decided our best strategy was for me to flirt. Heavily. So I did and he was like “Usually I would tell the person to fuck off but for you I’ll do it” so I was like “Tee hee, thank you!” then when I tried to hand him $3 he was like “Let’s call it $2.” So I flashed him another big smile then told Susan that maybe he would be my hippie bf who I would follow around to Pink Floyd and Phish concerts as she had suggested earlier. We walked down to the fortune teller and Susan got her fortune then it was back toward the SAM where I almost made her choke on her sprinkle donut by saying something, but I don’t remember what. We hit the museum and drooled over the Rothkos, Franz Kline and some of the Japanese works. We headed to Nordstrom, NOT NORDSTROM RACK, so I could pick up my YSL mascara and new Shiseido lippy. The woman put some concealer on my eyes but I didn’t buy. We walked back to the car then drove to 15th so I could get a molasses cookie and Susan could get a non-chocolaty mocha. Back at her house we talked about Dean and Eric and the gay boys and I finally headed home at 6:30. I made a little dinner and updated this then talked to Dad and Aubs, who’s coming up in a month to stay with her big sis! Talked to Kay-See on the phone for a long time about the previous night’s events and new pictures posted to flickr. Which are hilarious.

Saturday 6/9, I got to work at 8:15 to make some overtime and stayed until 12:45. Peggy asked me if I wanted to go downtown to see some condos for our new office space, which I did, so I went home and changed, did a little cleaning and when she came to pick me up I showed her around then we took off for Monique’s office. We saw four units in Cosmopolitan but none of them were our cup of tea so it was off to 2200 where we fell in love with the one bedroom. Great location, amenities, etc. Peggy was ready to sign on the dotted line but Monique suggested seeing a few more, which we did, but none of them held a candle. I got a random text from Jake B. and ended up exchanging messages all night…I don’t know what his deal is, but he invited me to a lake front house party and said he just bought a house in Kirkland and suggested we get together soon. We’ll see. Kay-See is all for it, Susan is vehemently against. We drove back to Bellevue to drop Monique off, then Peggy dropped me off at home. I called Kay-See for a timeline and ate some dinner and took my time getting ready for the fundraiser thing at Qube. I put on my super low cut shirt and did my smoky eyes which I knew would make K happy and set out. At her place we looked at boys on the net then she helped me formulate a message to Guy on facebook then Jenny called to say she was downstairs waiting for us. We took off for Beltown and found parking pretty easily and went in. The party was being held in the bar until the rest of the evening’s diners cleared out to free up the rest of the restaurant. It was a little more upper class than what I’m used to, but I’m always up for a change of scenery so it was fun. There was a cute bartender that K and I ogled all night, while Jenny and I were about to rumble over the hot waiter. There was much gossip about guys and I was introduced to Ben and PJ. Some other guy introduced himself but I forgot his name and it cracked me up when he said his buddy’s girl kept looking at him so I told him to make a face at her. Kay-See and I were ready to dance and kept trying to get Jenny’s rear in gear and finally headed out at midnight. We walked over to Beltown Billiards, I flirted with the bouncer (no surprise there) and we went in to get the party started. It didn’t take us long on the dance floor to find some hot guys to dance with. Frankly, they were everywhere. This one group of guys stuck pretty close to us all night and I had my eyes on the guy with the nice arms (Shawn) and the guy with the white jacket and shoes. I rubbed asses with a couple of the guys then turned around and saw this super cute guy making his way onto the dance floor and said to K, “Hel-lo! Look at him!” and she was like, “Go get him” so when he was standing a few feet away I turned to find him and had to do a double take because it looked JUST LIKE Eric but with longer hair, which momentarily freaked my shit out. I concluded it wasn’t, then made eye contact with him for a few seconds then turned back to dancing with the other boys. I could feel him and his friend were behind me talking and strategizing so I turned around, looked right at him, smiled and said “Hey” and turned back around. A few seconds later I felt a flurry of ass rubbing on mine, so I whipped around and he continued giving it to me to which I was very impressed with. I think he was somewhat drunk but I started dancing with him and was thinking, I would so make out with you right now! More than any of the other guys we were with…but it wasn’t meant to be. We had both turned around to rub our asses on each other’s then he turned back around, slapped me on the ass and walked off. Hmm. Ohhhhhh-kay. He was sitting on the sidelines and I didn’t know if that meant I was supposed to follow him or he would be back or what, but that’s the last I saw of him. DAMN! We kept dancing with the other guys but I wanted to do a lap to look for my cute Eric look-alike but instead was hit on by Joseph, from Texas, who asked if he could call me. I told him thanks, but no and that I had to go back and find my friends. Kay-See had been pretty hot and heavy dancing with Nice Arms and Jenny was off somewhere so I was left with the other friend, who incidentally had red hair and tattoos, but wasn’t exactly my ideal (Corey). However, when they announced it was the last song and played Bump and Grind he took my hand and danced with me and we talked and laughed and I decided he was a good guy and really funny and polite after asking permission to dance with me. The three of us girls were going to get street meat afterward so we headed to the door where I was stopped by a Jamaican gentleman who would not take no for an answer but I kept cheerfully telling him “Noooo, I’m not giving you my number, silly! I don’t have a boyfriend but that doesn’t mean I’m giving you my number. No, I’m not going to go out with you!” He was very persistent then I shot a look at White Coat and he nudged Corey to come to my rescue but I’d managed to get rid of him before Corey needed to intercede. We headed out and I was leading the way to the hot dog stand and Corey was refusing to believe that the cream cheese was good but we eventually wore him down and he tried one and said that it was interesting, but he didn’t hate it! Yay! I got a dog for K and me then we stood there eating them and two of the guys from 3 weeks earlier wouldn’t stop laughing at me and I told them it wasn’t very nice, then Corey started randomly laughing and pointing at me. Hmph. We all walked back toward Jenny’s car, the six of us, and saw a fight in a parking lot then all piled into her car with me straddling one of Corey’s legs and him stroking my neck and stuff. Not gonna happen Corey, sorry! We drove around for what felt like forever and I wish I could remember what Corey said to the guy in the front seat when it was time to get out, but I can’t and it was hilarious. So they finally piled out, Kay-See got some action and we took off for her house. As she was going into her place I told her I wanted to do an Eric drive by after getting all riled up by the Sweater-Wearing-Eric look-alike and she told me to go for it so with her blessing I set off. I decided to text him as I was getting off at his exit and asked if he was up and got a reply a minute later that he was, so I called and asked if I could stop by and say hi. He said yes, which surprised me, and I realized I hadn’t seen him for almost 6 months and started getting really nervous. He said some weird things like if I remembered him or something so I assumed he was drunk and he told me to come around the back. I got there, trudged through the grass and let myself into the basement. I called his name a few times but didn’t hear a response so I walked around to his room and apparently scared the shit out of him, which I still don’t know how. He stood up and gave me a hug and we started talking. I told him how great I think he is, even still, and asked him about the night of his birthday then he tried to kiss me a few times but I kept pulling away because that’s not why I’d gone over. He wouldn’t stop giving me compliments (those smoky eyes I swear!) and eventually I let him kiss me. We both simultaneously sighed as we kissed, like it was some sort of relief or something. He held my face with both his hands and did that thing with my lip where he looks at it before attempting to devour it. We talked and kissed off and on for a long time and eventually ended up on his bed making out more but I refused to let him remove any of my clothing, though the low cut shirt didn’t really prevent that entirely. He said he missed me told me repeatedly I’m beautiful and that I’m kind and that he had liked me too much. It broke my heart a little. I would just sit there and look at him and shake my head, like, what the hell happened? What was your problem? Even if you didn’t want to see me in a bf / sexual capacity why couldn’t we be friends? What was so hard about this? It’s hard to get a straight answer out of him on some things. I tried to leave many times and he asked me to stay then asked if he could come back to Bellevue with me to set my alarm and sleep next to me and leave in the morning, but I told him no to both. I’m not playing it like that this time…or playing at all. I don’t know what I want and I know it’s premature to think like that anyway, it’ll be a miracle if he even calls to hang out, but I’m just not about to turn into the “November Karrah” who jumps at any chance to spend time with him. That’s why I figured he thought I was crazy. Michelle turned the light out in the stairway which set us into another frenzy of making out but I eventually got my shoes on and managed to make it out of his clutches. When I opened the basement door the sun was coming up which made me smile because it reminded me of being in London with Jess and getting home from dancing and hanging out with Guy as the sun was coming up. Sigh. I drove home and sent Susan a message saying that it was 5am and I was just getting home and that I would call her when I woke up but that it was going to be later than I had originally intended.

Friday 6/8, Hung out at home all night as I was tired from dancing and planning to work in the morning. I talked to Susan and Kay-See and made plans with both for the following days. I went to bed fairly early. Big news at work re: office move.

Thursday 6/7, I went home after work just for a little bit before I needed to leave for Grandma's birthday dinner. I talked to Susan for a few minutes then took off to Outback. We had a nice dinner and I behaved myself, kind of, with dinner only ordering the potato soup and steamed veggies...but then picking off everyone else's plates and eating more bread than I should of. Oh well. Mom made German Chocolate cake which was decent considering I don't really care for it as a dessert. I called Kay-See on my way home to give her my status then called Chrystol and made her and Schuyler get on my profile and figure out which international lad I made out with...they guessed wrong. Which for some reason made me happy, like, I have to keep them guessing or something. I finally got off the phone and showered then got ready for my night out at Neighbours. I headed to Kay-See's so we could chat and trade stories before Neighbs. She suggested going to Dilettante for a little pre-dancing dessert, and when I exhibited a bit of apprehension she quickly declared we would be sharing so the caloric intake wouldn't be so great. Yay! I could totally handle that. So we loaded up and set out and got seated at like the coldest table in the universe, but the Chocolate Rendezvous def. made up for it. I finished telling her about Guy then she severely showed me up in the story department with her tales of adventures in my absence. All I could say was "Are you kidding me? My story sucks compared to yours!" We headed to Neighbours and had some trouble finding parking then Susan found us like a good little stalker and we walked over together. There were quite a few people there already so we checked our coats, checked out Ass Crack dancing in one of the cages as a new go-go boy and hit the dance floor. This one guy was all over the place and kept dancing with himself in the mirror, weeeeird. Teal and Darren were there and Teal came over and said it was his birthday in 15 minutes and said he liked my hair. I quickly spotted a hot blonde guy and kind of made eye contact with him all night but couldn't figure out his deal. We danced, danced, danced and had a string of songs Kay-See even liked. Chris, Derek's friend, kept coming over and talking to me and putting his hand on my back but it's ok I guess, because the bottom line is he's a big guy and I know if I needed him to cock block he would, and I'm all about having acquaintances who fill roles like that. A WWJD (What Would Jessica Do) situation. Kay-See and I went upstairs and lo and behold my blonde bf was up there and though Kay-See gave him an easy opportunity to come talk to me, he didn't take the bait. Then the one busser who's always making inappropriate comments to us came up to me and was like "Have you talked to the police in the last two weeks?" and I'm like "No..." and he goes "Because my heart was stolen and I filed a police report" Har har har, ok, leave me alone now. K and I decided it was time to go and to go back down to find Susan but right at the bottom of the stairs were Neil and Richie! Augh, so I screamed and Richie lifted me off the ground in a massive hug then Neil was super lovey-dovey and I met Reece, Richie's new bf. I told him he looked like Neil and that was a compliment. Neil took a picture of us and was like "We're so hot, we would do bad things to each other!" and I was like "WHAT?!" and he repeated it, just to make sure I understood. Richie took a ton of pictures of us and was like "If I would have been there I would have punched that fag!" all mad like, referring to my verbally abusive gay British bf. We finally went out to dance with Neil dragging me by the hand out to the dance floor. I told him there was a cute guy there and I pointed him out and Neil's like "Come on, let's go!" and started pulling me in the direction of where he was dancing and I'm like "NOOOOO!" but was powerless, so we crash over there and it's totally obvious what's happening and Neil's like all over me dancing so it was all very odd...but needless to say, the hot blonde guy left. Oh well. We scared him off. We eventually moved back over toward the rest of the group and Neil kept talking to me but I couldn't hear him but his gropey and suggestive dancing kept me laughing non-stop. And when he grabbed my butt. Ah, good times. They decided to leave so we did too, but had to go talk to Richie at the bar, who proceeds to say something about guys and then "If I were straight I would fuck you so quickly" which, again, I was like "WHAT?!" but took it as a compliment. We did goodbyes again then I spotted Teal and said bye to him and he invited me to his birthday party then we took off for real. Walked back to the cars, drove Kay-See home and headed home to bed.

Wednesday 6/6, I went to a blind place after work to see what my options are but I'll probably end up going with Costco assuming they don't have a minimum requirement. I talked to Alishia to wish her a belated happy birthday then Eliso who told me that her school is actually IN SAMMAMISH. Crazy, so her and Jake are going to come up next weekend and we're going to go house hunting. Yay! I didn't do much at home except eat dinner and try to figure out facebook a little better. Talked to Susan for a little bit about this new show Hidden Palms or something that has both Oliver and Zak from OC on it. Plus it has the creepy bf of Miranda in Stealing Beauty. I read a little and went to bed a bit after 10.

Tuesday 6/5, I woke up even earlier than Monday, 5:30, so I finally got out of bed at 6, took my time getting ready and decided to go into work an hour early. After work I hit the bank to exchange the 50P I had left over from London back into dollars then went home and did some cleaning and such before Susan came over to hang out. When she got there I threw a veggie pizza into the oven and made a salad for myself then we put on episode 6 of season 4 of The OC and laughed our asses off as we ate the most delicious pizza you can find for $3. Or probably $5 for that matter. After we finished we took off for Costco where Susan thoroughly behaved herself and I did not. I got the first two seasons of Arrested Development because they were cheap, the new Wilco, some apples and the new Martha Stewart. I saw two teenage boys who were so hot, one looked like Neil, and I'm wondering if they were twins...I was all "Mama like!" and Susan said I was probably old enough to actually be their mother. Seriously hot. When we were in the checkout line Tobias, our checker, was being flirty and making some jokes that were over our heads. I need to hit Costco more often because there are some seriously hot guys working there...which then prompted Susan to declare that her goal is to get me laid. I appreciate her enthusiasm in helping me out, but it's not like I haven't been trying to "git er done" for several months now. Maybe she's got a few tricks up her sleeve that I don't know about. Back at home we had some strawberries and watched another OC which I hadn't seen before because it aired when we had the blackout and the tivo went out. It was a good one too. When it was over Susan left with her apples and I did a little investigating online and registered for facebook but can't quite grasp the concept yet. I read a little bit then went to bed by 10:30.

Monday 6/4, I managed to make it through a whole day of work despite barely 4 hours of sleep. I grocery shopped on my way home then did laundry, cleaned, and updated this thing before making my dinner. For my first course I had a good size salad with tomato, carrots and strawberries. Second course went a little something like this: 2 egg omelet with fresh pan fried squash and onion with cheddar and swiss cheese with a slice of wheat toast. Lastly I had my favorite balsamic and brown sugar soaked strawberries with vanilla yogurt. On the way to my summer body! I talked to Susan on the phone for a long time catching up and telling stories all while uploading pictures to flickr. I finished a little after 11 and was shocked I hadn't fallen asleep at like 8, but whatever. Read a bit of Blind Assassin and went to bed.

Sunday 6/3, We woke up at 7:30 and were on the road to the airport by 8:00. We got there without incident, parked, and walked up to ticketing. I had some time so we both got a bagel and sat and had a last chat and felt sad. I gave Jess all my change which was about 7P and she gave me two quarters. I owed her anyway, so, yeah. She waited in the security line with me until the end then we said our goodbyes and she watched me until I went behind the partition. The line was longer than I thought and I started to stress out, shocking I know, so I finally made it through and busted ass to my gate, boarded and was seated next to this British Indian guy with a knee problem. I read for most of the flight and fell asleep once or twice, then helped him read and fill out his customs card because the print was too small. We landed and I booked it to US customs (despite being in Canada…), picked up my luggage, made it through the questions, dropped off my luggage, went through security again and finally down to my gate. I had 4 hours to kill so I got a little snack then walked around for a long time going in shops and stuff, just to stay on my feet and to try and not sit like a blob. We finally boarded with like the hottest flight crew ever, one totally hot pilot and a guy I initially thought must be gay, then he spoke with a French accent, so that explained it, but I still think he was gay too. Either way he was French and hot. And kind of a dick. Oh well. So we’re on the plane then there’s an announcement that the door won’t close so we have to get off and wait for another plane which wouldn’t be for four more hours. I almost cried. I was supposed to arrive in Seattle at 8pm but instead it looked like it was going to be more like midnight. So we got off, they gave us food vouchers, I got a chicken burger then went to the new gate and waited for what felt like forever. After finally getting underway on our flight I watched some Canadian movie, then Arrested Development and fell asleep multiple times but kept waking up. We landed, I called Mom who came and got me and I was home by about 1. Couldn’t fall asleep for a long time but finally did, though I couldn’t sleep past 6. Boo.

Saturday 6/2, Jess had set the alarm for 10 but we didn't get up then, instead opting to sleep until noon. Well, I got up at noon and ran upstairs and jumped on the bed to wake up Jess. We got ready and it was so beautiful outside that we put our bathing suits on and I wore a tank top for our trip to Brighton. Guy had texted back that he wanted to hang out later in the evening especially to say a proper good bye to me and Jess was like "What about me?!" so funny. We walked toward London Bridge but stopped at Borough Market to look at all the delicious food and goods and to get Serbian hamburgers. We made our way to the train station and after some trouble with tickets found ourselves on the platform and boarding a half empty express train to the beach. We could see the water from the train station so we opted to walk and made our way down in about 10 minutes. The beach was totally packed and we wandered for a few minutes before settling on a spot close to the water by the lifeguard station complete with hot lifeguards. I have pictures to prove it. We were both so worried about our bathing suit bodies from our joint bloat, but laying down made both our stomachs look flat so we were in the clear! We talked and laughed and snoozed in the sun and it felt so wonderful. Jess said she didn't want me to leave which made me happy because you never know staying with someone for that long, whether or not it's really a burden and she made it seem like it wasn't at all so that made me feel good but sad too because I didn't want to leave. We're planning to go to Ireland the next time I go. At one point she out of the blue said "If I had diarrhea I would just go in the water" and I laughed for a good 5 minutes, like, What?! But then we discussed the rationale behind it and it does make sense, but only if it's diarrhea. We spent about 2 hours laying out then decided to pack up and head to find ice cream because we didn't want to be getting back too late for our tentative meet up with Guy (texts had been sent back and forth since we had gotten up). We walked out to the carnival rides on the pier but only came upon the same shitty soft serve as at the beach so we walked back and saw an ice cream sign on the other side of the pier. We were in luck as they had both waffle cones as well as mint ice cream so we each got double scoops. We walked and consumed our ice cream as we headed back in the direction of the train station. We vowed on our way up the hill to both be in fantastic shape by the time Jess comes in August. That's two months and plenty of time to have our bathing suit bodies back like we did last summer. We boarded our train back to London and it was totally empty which was nice and we just gabbed, of course. We walked back to her house and had made plans with Zlatko as well so Jess wouldn't be the third wheel when we met up with Guy later in the night, though Jess stipulated that there would be no sex, for me or for Zlatko. I had no problem with this, and I think it's totally hilarious that Jess laid down the law that I was not to go back to his place. From a girl who took off with two Brazilian basketball players while we vacationed in Puerto Vallarta at the age of 18 and also made out with my fiancee in Pisa, right in front of me. Since we had to be ready and leaving by 9:30 I hopped in the shower and got all done up and cute and we were out the door to go pick up Zlatko. A work colleague of Jess' had emailed wanting to hang out so we headed over to Mayfair to get her, which again made Jess the best wing man because she’s like, “Now you can go and make out with the Hot Scot and I’ll be entertained”. We went over toward Oxford and walked around then hit this one club because some guy said he could get us in for free so we went down to the club part but it was really dark and a little...strange. It was all guys, like 2 girls and 25 guys. Hmm. We danced for a little while and got drinks and Zlatko's dancing was cracking me up but he was like the man with 3 hot girls there so no one was going to front. Plus he was the most dressed down guy there in jeans and trainers, I thought it was hilarious. We got a text from Guy and his work thing was taking longer than expected but we told him no problem and to let us know when he was done. We took off for another bar / club but couldn't decide or find a decent one so Zlatko said he was going to go home. He gave me a very long hug and was like "I'm so glad you came! Come back soon! Mwah!" which I thought was a bit strange until I asked Jess about it later and she had told him I would have made out with him because I find his accent sexy, so that explained it. Ha! The texting continued with Guy and the three of us girls joked that when we picked him up him and I would sit in the backseat and make out and Shauna was like, “Go girl!” and Jess didn’t care because she’d have Shauna to talk to. Yes! Unfortunately though, after waiting an hour when he told us 20 minutes we wrote that we were going home so we dropped Shauna (who thought I looked like Charlize Theron, nice) at her hotel then headed home. He replied back right as we were getting home that he was really sorry that his work thing had gone long and to keep in touch. I finished packing and we set the alarm for 7:30 and were in bed by 2.

Friday 6/1, Jess and I walked to London Bridge so that we could both get new tube passes so we got a fantastic walk in first thing in the morning. She dropped me on the Jubilee line which is so nice, I loved it! I went to the Natural History Museum, but after spending over an hour there on what I can only assume was "Field Trip Day for Every School in London" I decided to go back to V&A because I barely made a dent the last time. I got some lunch first and sat on a bench in front of the museum and as I was finishing up I saw the Dutch lady I had seen the day before on the R&R tour so I caught up with her and we laughed about how random it is to run into someone in London and that if we had planned it it wouldn't have worked. I got her email and will send her pictures from the tour then set off on my own. I walked around for a long time and admired the silver collection and some of the photography. I decided to go back to H&M by Harrods because I was in the area so I did that and bought a bunch of underwear and socks and stuff then headed over to Harrods to use the bathroom and look around. I ended up in the bakery and thank goodness Jess called me to meet up so I jumped back on the tube to London Bridge. We met up on the bridge and walked down to this little pub for drinks with Raul and his Brazilian friend that Jess thought was hot. I agree that he had beautiful green eyes but he wasn't really my type. But that's to be expected. We were there for a couple of hours which was a lot of fun then we took off for home and Jess ordered a pizza so it would be there soon after our long walk home. We got a veggie one with cheesy fingers and I loved it! I ate a ton then we got dressed and ready for our evening out. We went to the comedy club in Covent Garden and there were four comics not including the host guy who was absolutely hilarious. The sound guy kept coming over to us and asking us if we were ok and talked to us about the states and smoking indoors and the Comedy Store in La Jolla which was so cool. He kept checking in on us to make sure we could understand the accents and to tell us about the night club afterward. He was really nice. So afterward we walked over to the free night club and there were guys EVERYWHERE. We went down to dance and this one guy starts eyeing Jess right away and I was like "That guy with the beauty mark likes you!" and she goes "I know!" but he got distracted and went away. As we were going to the bathroom some other guy was like "Where are you going, where are you going?!" and I pointed to the bathroom door and laughed. He was ok with that. Jess thought there were too many girls there and that we should go to Walkabout where all the Australians and New Zealanders hang out and they play great music. We walked over to one of them but the cover was ridiculous so we kept walking and walking and walking and eventually ended up at the other Walkabout, paid the cover and went in. The music was great and the guys were hot so I was very pleased. We went upstairs for something to drink and hung out on the balcony watching the crowd, checking out guys and dancing. There was a thuggish white boy who caught my eye but when I pointed him out to Jess she said she didn't like his pants. Fair enough. She spotted some hot guy in the crowd and wanted to show me but didn't know where he went. Later she saw this mystery man again but I wasn't there to see him plus she said he had been scowling. So we're just standing there enjoying our beverages when these two guys sidle up next to Jess and start talking to her. I wasn't attracted to either one so I kept dancing and watching the crowd while she chatted. Eventually Jason started talking to me (they were Aussies) and he was nice enough but I wasn't interested at all. We joked about cigarettes and dancing and had a good time, and eventually the friend, Ben, moved onto another girl so Jess and Jason were talking. I had been scoping out guys at the bar and made eye contact with one guy a few times but was just enjoying dancing by myself at the railing watching the crowd below. The guy I had looked at a few times at the bar made his way over and was like "I see you've been ditched by your friend as well" and I was like, "Well, not really, she's got a boyfriend...though I'm not sure he's aware of that" so he asked if it was ok that he wanted to chat and I was like, "Come on, a cute, straight, funny guy wants to talk to me, of course it's ok. You are straight aren't you?" so we talked and laughed for what felt like forever. Jessica whispers in my ear a few minutes after we started talking "That's the hot guy I wanted to show you but he kept disappearing! Alright Karrah!" so I laughed and we kept talking. His name is Guy, Scottish, lives in London but lived in NY and traveled the US for two years, ditched by his two friends because he got there late from work. We talked about movies, especially 80's movies, he made fun of me for knowing the words to bad 80's songs, he sang along with Mama Mia and offered to buy me a water, even after I told him I don't drink. Yay! I had to use the bathroom so I left and when I got back I let him buy me my water and he took the initiative to buy Jess a Corona (later she told him he didn't have to and he said if meant that he didn't have to stand by himself it was more than worth it) but then Jason cornered me. He started jabbering on how he asked for Jess' number but she has a bf and he was barking up the wrong tree but then trying to woo me or something by saying all these things to me about how beautiful I am and stuff and all I kept thinking was, I want to get back to the hot Scot. The bouncer started kicking people out because it was 3:00 and Jessica snapped at him so we headed downstairs and continued talking. We took some pictures then Jason asked me if I wanted to go on a walk. No dude, I don't, I'm not sloppy seconds, I was never interested in you in the first place, and I am interested in Guy, plus I didn't want to get separated from Jess. Then he asks about catching up the next day, I told him I couldn't because we were going to Brighton. Finally we got kicked out of the club and Guy followed me out as Jess distracted Jason. We continued talking outside until Jess found us then he said he would walk us to our bus stop. We kept talking and maneuvering and having a lot of fun. At the bus stop Jess was like "So did you guys exchange emails?" and we were both like "Um, no..." so he gives each of us one of his business cards. Ha, so then the bus comes and we're exchanging goodbyes and Jess gets the two kisses first then it was my turn and his first kiss came dangerously close to my mouth, so then we're onto the second kiss and that one was smack dab on the lips so I'm like, "Ok" and we start kissing. Jess turns around from the bus and she's like "Oh! Ok!" so we're standing there kissing and it is very, very good, nice soft lips, totally hot. I mumble "I have to go" and he's like "Catch the next one" but I told him I couldn't then whipped around and hopped on the bus as Jessica is like blocking the door from closing. We both started giggling like crazy as soon as we were situated and then I look outside and he's still standing there waiting for the bus to depart before leaving. So we're just sitting there and I keep looking at him and I'm sure I was all red. Finally the bus pulled away and I gave a final wave and we were off talking about how hot he was and how weird Jason was. We decided to text him to see if he wanted to go to Brighton or hang out for my final night. On our way home all these guys in cars next to our bus kept looking over and making kissy faces at me so I did it back and when one guy stuck his tongue out suggestively I did that back as well. I'm Karrah I'm sassy! And I made out with a hot Scotsman! As we walked to Jess' from the stop some guy in a window above us was like "Hey, where are you guys going? Come up here" and I was all "Aughhh!" because it's like 4:00am and this voice comes out of nowhere when we weren't expecting such. We told him we couldn't and turned into Jessica's. The sun was coming up as we were climbing into bed and we ended up talking and giggling about details of the night until 4:30, especially that Jessica’s like the best wingman ever.

Thursday 5/31, Jess and I woke and parted separately because she had an appointment and I was going to be running around until late afternoon. First up I went to Covent Garden to pick up this special tea for Chrystol and I got some for Kassie too since she loves English Breakfast. I didn't really stick around in CG but headed straight to the National Gallery and was so excited to see the Impressionism collection but when I got there I sadly learned that it was temporarily closed until after I would be gone. I seriously wanted to cry. Oh well, so I looked around at all the other works and couldn't believe it when I turned into one room and staring at me was a Corregio which instantly brought a huge smile to my face. I sat and looked at it for like 10 minutes. It was love at first sight. I stayed for about an hour and a half then decided to head over toward Hard Rock to make sure I knew where it was when the time came. I stopped at Starbucks first for some lunch and got directions from a gay Norwegian and Italian, and made my way down and easily found it. I kept walking and took a little underground passage to a park where I ate and saw this procession with horses and guys with swords, something to do with the Queen apparently. I walked to another Starbucks for a lemon muffin and went back to the park to eat it and continue to wait for my tour to start. I walked over to Hard Rock for my scheduled Rock and Roll tour and talked to this Dutch lady about how to get over to the park across the busy street then boarded our mini-bus. The guide was hilarious but weirded me out a little in the beginning, especially since he kept saluting me. He was a 59 year old Brit and was so f-ing cool, I was like, I want him to be my uncle or something! He was totally down. It turned out the Dutch lady was actually on the tour and had to run to make it before we left. We saw lots of sites and among my favorites were Paul's house, some studio where Muse, Blur, RH, Hendrix and all these other artists have recorded and the hotel where Johnny Depp gave Kate Moss a champagne bath and Damon Albarn used to be head barman. Awesome! Abbey Road was cool but I wasn't about to try to walk across, I wrote on the wall in front of the studio because apparently they take pictures then repaint it every 6 weeks so my name will forever be immortalized! We headed back and I met up with Jess at the station and we walked around until her meeting with a client. I sat in a park across the street and fell asleep with my hood up. Jess was like "What the hell are you doing?!" I was tired, what can I say? We walked toward China Town and stopped in some shoe stores so Jess could get some new Mary Janes and eventually found the Chinese place Jess loves but only after calling Seb for directions. I loved that bread but, I just don't know if vegan Chinese can compare to non-vegan. We walked a ton more after dinner and eventually walked most of the way home, past the comedy club, listened to this guy play guitar (he was a little strange and would just start playing as he was saying something to us mid-sentence) and Jess bought one of his cds, then over one of the bridges then past Elephant and Castle but decided to catch a bus for the final leg of our trip because my feet hurt. A bus pulls up and this totally drunk gay guy gets off and was like "This is Regent Park right?" and Jess is like, "Um, NO, this is (wherever we were)" and he's like "Shittttt" so then he's like "I'm so gorgeous" and "I want to get laid" and was bumping into people on the sidewalk asking for a light. He then gets the idea that he wants to go into the bar behind us to see if there are cute guys as Jessica had suggested after seeing a guy in a red feathered headdress so he's like "Come on!" but I didn't want to because I wanted to go home and didn't want to miss the next bus so I was like "No, my feet hurt" and he goes "You're ugly" and I'm like, did he just call me ugly? That's not nice. Then Jessica is laughing and like "Let me take your picture with this guy" so she takes one but wants another one for good measure and he says to me "She's such a bitch" and I'm like "I know, Jess you're such a bitch!" and then to me he's like "You're so ugly and boring" which made me sad and laugh at the same time. Whatever nut job. So finally our bus came and he was still draped all over me but I managed to break free and we hopped on our bus and made it home. At home we each had a ton of ice cream while watching SatC. I was exhausted and crashed earlyish around 12:30.