A Plunge Pool, a View and a Butler: My Weekend in a Bungalow Suite at Cosmopolitan

Lounge area on the first floor of the suite

TL;DR

Pros: The Bungalow Suite is an extraordinary space for a luxurious, relaxing vacation in, and would also make for a great space to have a small party in, although there is only one bed so guests would have to stay elsewhere. The outdoor spaces would be better utilized in warmer weather. 

 

Cons: The butler service was a letdown and not worth the expense. The views were not as advertised, nor were they as brilliant as less expensive rooms.

Package options

Pre-game Experience

After booking the room, I received an email asking me which of three packages I would like. I discussed it with my new beau as we made plans for the weekend, and we agreed on the Wine & Champagne package. The email also directed us to check in at the Autograph Lounge which, when entering the lobby from the Chelsea Tower parking, is just to the right of the main front desk. We were able to bypass a really extensive line by doing, although there was still small line in the lounge. There was a Starbucks coffee machine in there and we were given complimentary bottles of water.

The Space

The first floor of the Bungalow consists of a bar area, full bathroom, a lounge area with TV and a small outdoor patio. The bathroom has a shower with a large overhead rainfall shower head, a sink and a separate toilet room, as well as a small coat closet. While I realize I more than paid for them, the frugal part of me really appreciated the large and plentiful toiletries.The lounge area was spacious and had plenty of seating on the curvy built-in couches which conveniently had some flat surfaces behind them which I utilized to put drinks on. I was also able to find a power outlet on the floor right next to the chaise-like end of the couch so I could charge my phones while still using them on couch. I will say, though, it wasn't super comfortable and my beau and I struggled to cuddle comfortably while watching TV. The bar area includes a sink, a microwave and a small fridge which was partially stocked, but our butler reassured us that it was not weight sensored so we could move things to make room for leftovers, etc. The first floor patio used to overlook the pool but had since been walled in, so it was a convenient little space for my beau to smoke but that's about all it was good for. Especially given the better outdoor spaces on the third floor… 

 

Second floor (vanity)

The second floor could be considered almost a walk-through master suite. In the area with the stair cases leading to the first and third floors, there was a funky little sofa and a large vanity.

Bedroom with partially obstructed view of Dayclub

On one side of that center room was the bedroom which overlooked the pool area and still retained visibility to the party going on during the day there - and our butler told us they can see in so if we want privacy, best to close the curtains with the iPad that runs the whole place. There was a spacious closet and two luggage racks, and the closet light turns on when the door is opened. A bit hilariously, the TV was mounted on a partial wall which could swing out to provide better visibility or put back to have more space in the room. Behind that swinging TV wall was a small nook with drawers and the safe.

 

Third floor patio with view of Bellagio fountains

Going up one more floor, there wasn't much of an indoor space - although given the cool temperatures around the time of our visit, that became a very important little indoor space for me. It was merely a small tiled area with no furniture, and two doors leading to the outdoor spaces. One space was the rooftop heated plunge pool with whirlpool jets. Again, it used to overlook the main pool but given the time of year and cool temperatures, the main pool had been covered with a tent to keep the warmth in, and that cover largely blocked our view, although a small part of the pool area could be observed at just the right angles between the building and the cover. The other outdoor space was a generous balcony featuring many seating options, a TV, and what I believe to be the most spectacular view in Las Vegas - overlooking the fountains of Bellagio, with many of the Las Vegas icons and lights visible beyond that. The seating included one sizable sofa, two armchairs and a dining set. There was also a counter with a sink, and a large ottoman that could double for a coffee table. Had the weather been warmer, I would have spent much more time up there watching TV and/or reading.

The Butler Experience

Wine & Champagne presentation

As mentioned a few times already, the room came with 24 hour butler service, which was not clearly explained so I got the deets for you here. When checking in, we were asked if we wanted the butler to meet us there in the Autograph Lounge, presumably to escort us through the hotel to our rooms, or if we wanted him to meet us in the room. I felt confident I could navigate the hotel, having stayed there many times before, and didn't really want to wait anymore, so I opted to have him meet us in the room. We were given great directions and were on our way.

First floor bar area

Entering the room, our butler, Joey, was there preparing the bottles from our wine & champagne package, but stopped what he was doing as we entered to give us a rundown of a few things. He said that we'd have to have housekeeping and to do the spa service (I didn't quite grasp what he said the first time, so I clarified later and it was related to the plunge pool upstairs being a commercially operated pool so it had to be checked/serviced daily), and asked if there was a particular time we wanted to do that. I wasn't in a mental place to make decisions, so he said just to call and schedule it when we knew.

He then took us on a tour of the place, giving us instructions and tips along the way so we knew how everything worked (for example, the lights and shades are controlled on the iPad, and to go out to the plunge pool, you had to hold a button on the wall and push the door open at the same time, and there's a privacy setting if you don't want housekeeping or butlers to enter).

After the tour was complete, I lingered upstairs to take some pictures while Joey busied himself with finishing setting up the bottles for us. Before leaving us upstairs, though, he offered to make dinner reservations for us, which we weren't ready to decide upon yet, and let us know that any time we needed anything, just hit the bowtie on the phone to get a butler.

I didn't make it back downstairs before Joey departed, so we got ourselves settled in a little bit, popped open the bottle of champagne and checked out the restaurant options shown on the TV. We decided we wanted to go to the tapas place, and I realized I still wasn't quite sure what to do with the butler so figured I'd bring him back in to investigate further. It was about 5 pm at this point. So I hit the bowite button and was connected with an operator and requested a butler come to the room. Joey was there in no time, and rang the doorbell before letting himself in and politely checking that he was good to enter. I told him we had decided on the tapas place and wanted him to make a reservation for us, although he wasn't familiar so we had to look it up to get him the actual restaurant name. Once we confirmed the restaurant, he asked what time and I said 6:30 or 7 would be great. He said that we can wait for a phone call to confirm once he gets the reservation.

I then sheepishly admitted I didn't know what butlers could do for us so asked what kinds of things we could ask for, and he explained a bit more that we could have him get things for us or schedule things for us. My beau asked if he could bring us a six pack of Stella Artois, and schedule to have coffee brought in at 8 am, and Joey confirmed yes to both. My beau asked about pricing - especially if it was marked up. Joey said there was a $7 charge per request, so if we want multiple requests, its more cost effective to do them all at once, but that the items we requested would be at cost. He had me sold! We also talked about the spa for massages, and I inquired if we could do a couples' massage which he wasn't sure about, so he said he would check on the pricing and if they could do that. He alluded to some other butler probably being the one who would bring the six pack and that he'd be back bringing coffee in the morning, so I presumed that meant it was the end of his shift and time for the nighttime butler to start.

What followed were a few successive letdowns. First, we got no call confirming the dinner reservation, and the beer took quite a while to get there. Meanwhile, I happened to look at my email and noticed that a massage with couples' massage fee had been booked for us - and at a time that would not work for our plans. But nothing on dinner. I started getting anxious and considered calling to get a status update, but I didn't want to be "that lady". So I refrained, but it started to feel like we were trapped in the room, and I wanted to eat.

Finally, a little after 6:15, the doorbell rang and another butler asked if he could come in. He came bearing both the beer we ordered and good news on dinner when I inquired - indeed we had a reservation at 6:30! I mean, that was good news, but not a lot of notice! He had me sign for the beer - which was much more than the cost of a 6 pack and a $7 fee, it was like a $7 fee plus a few on top of that fee and then other fees and somehow equaled $80 or something ridiculous. He then asked if we wanted him to escort us to the restaurant and I said yes, partially because I wanted to make sure we got there on time and didn't get lost, and partially because, hey, we have a butler, and maybe he can even get us something special if he's escorting us. So he said he'd come back at 6:27 to bring us there, and I went upstairs to change into something a little nicer. When he came back, and he was perfectly on time, as we were walking to the restaurant, I also asked if the massage appointment could be moved to a later time as the time booked conflicted with literally the one plan we had for the weekend - a lunch reservation at Hell's Kitchen.

He walked fast and realized he had to slow down from his normal crazy pace to escort us at a more comfortable pace, and then talked to the hostesses at the restaurant once we arrived. That didn't seem to do much because we still had to then check-in with them, and he left us there. The hostess confirmed we were checked in and indicated to wait for our name to be called. As we returned from dinner, the butler stopped us and advised that there were no other available times for the massage, so I asked him then to just cancel.

I felt quite burned by the cost of the 6 pack and the time it took to get, and the fact that the massage had been booked without my consent, so I decided I was probably pretty close to done using this butler service. I mean, I guess the assumption is people booking this room have money to burn so it would be fine, but to me, the room was one thing but the service was just not worth it. I knew the coffee was still scheduled for the morning and decided to let that be, but dreading seeing how much that was going to set me back.

Indeed, very timely, Joey came just before 8 am, and let himself in while we were still in bed. He set up the coffee pot with the requested creamer and sugars and the works, along with that lovely bill. I think it was about $40. We mulled about and I checked my email and saw one massage appointment was cancelled but nothing on the second or the couples' massage fee.

So, later that morning, since we had our lunch reservation at 11:45 at Hell's Kitchen, I used the bowtie to call and first ask about canceling the other massage - to which the operator thankfully said she had noticed that and had already confirmed both were cancelled - and then to confirm that they could come do the housekeeping and spa maintenance around that time since we'd be leaving for lunch.

As we walked down the hall leaving for lunch, the housekeeper asked if she could go in now and I confirmed yes we were out for a while.

We didn't realize the butler would bring coffee the second morning, but he did, and just in time because my beau was about to call for it anyways.

So on the butler thing, I would say, things were not very clear, I was not happy with the speed or communication and feel quite burned by what I was told and what actually happened. If you don't care about wasting hundreds of dollars, it was convenient to have someone to go get things - I imagined sending them off to get my frozen Baja Blast with tequila at the Taco Bell Cantina across the street and getting a pie from Secret Pizza so we don't have to stand around and wait for it - but to me it just wasn't worth it.

Experiencing the Amenities

I've already put some commentary into my description of the space, so here I'll just do some highlights and lowlights. 

Bathtub filing from ceiling

Detail of bathtub

On the plus side, I fell in love with the bathtub in the master bathroom - and I am a self-proclaimed connoisseur of bathtubs. It was the perfect shape, and very easy to move around and get comfortable in, even for someone of my (larger) size. While my beau didn't join me, it seemed like there was plenty of room for two to sit on opposing sides and intermingling legs, and that would be very comfortable, even with the water running since the water filled from the ceiling in the center of the tub. The only drawback was that I never got the jets to work, I ended up turning on the steamer by accident trying to get the jets going - steamer was cool but was unequivocally not the jets I was hoping for.

Massive shower

I also thoroughly enjoyed the shower in the master bathroom. Again, with room enough for two (or more, my goodness), it had not one but two massive rainfall shower heads, and then a handheld sprayer in the middle, along with a spacious bench, and a steamer/sauna feature. I turned it all on and had a glorious shower, even using the bench to shave my legs not because I really needed to shave but because I wanted to see how comfortable it was to do so, and it was absolutely perfection. The water was plenty hot and I had to turn it down from scorching, and eventually made the water cool as the steamer warmed up my body. I think it is probably the closest thing to a perfect dream bathroom that I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing or even seeing.

Plunge pool with obstructed view

On the downside, I guess the plunge pool is really just a heated pool and not really a hot tub per se. The timer only went up to 30 minutes and anyone who knows me well knows I can spend hours and hours in a hot tub or bath, so a 30 minute timer meant I had the leave the relative warmth to brave the cold and wind to turn it back on again. And when my beau joined me, he pointed out that it really wasn't that hot - it was warm enough to be comfortable but it was so cold outside that the relative warmth wasn't enough to keep all of our bodies warm when parts were sticking out. The view was very boring, I wish we could have been more a part of the party at the Marquee Dayclub like the website advertised. Not a single person seemed to have spotted us, given the large tent that blocked 95% of the view, and more importantly, we couldn't watch unless we were at just the right angle, but we were subjected to the music in the tub and in the room.

View of TV and fountains from couch

The other upstairs outdoor space was quite nice, as I mentioned earlier, I would have spent more time there had it not been so cold. But given that the bungalows are all on the 17th floor, we couldn't see the new Sphere like I could from my favorite (much more affordable) rooms with the fountain view. Additionally, the furniture wasn't oriented to view the fountains so I had to move things around to get the right view. It was cool that there was a TV out there.

Watching TV in bed was very comfortable, and I liked the ability to turn everything off with one button so I didn't feel bad leaving stuff on all night or running up and down the stairs to turn things off.

We were also warned that music from Marquee Nightclub & Dayclub can be heard from inside of the Bungalow, which was absolutely true during the Dayclub - the TV couldn't drown out the sound, but thankfully we really couldn't hear the Nightclub when we wanted to sleep. See the "IMPORTANT NOTE" at the bottom of this post for all the warnings that came with this room.

Another warning was that outside food and beverage is strictly not permitted on the property, which the butler almost immediately refuted and proved to be inaccurate from my experience also, so don't worry about that one.

Conclusion

I love the Cosmopolitan and despite some setbacks, it will still remain my favorite hotel in Las Vegas. I will likely not book this room again in the foreseeable future, but I am glad I did it this one time. The only caveat to that statement is that I will be forever reminiscing and pining for that freaking bathtub and shower - they truly were the stars of the show and made my weekend, as weird as that may sound - at least until I can build my dream house to include a bathroom with those dimensions and amenities almost to a tee. I often joke that I don't care to travel as much these days because my home amenities are so luxurious, and this is one example where that proves to be false, at least when it comes to the master bathroom. If you are going to Vegas to go out and do things, I don't think the room is worth it - this is a really a room you want to be spending your time in, not out.

The butler service was a fun but very expensive bit of an experience, and I guess on the whole I liked it, but in all the ways that I am spendy, I am also frugal when it comes to excessive fees and I felt like they went too far with this one for me to fully enjoy and appreciate it.

Appendix

Is that a thing one does for blog posts? I'm going with it; here are details of the package options and the warnings.

Package A:

LIQUOR PACKAGE
Your choice of two (2) of the following bottles:
- 1 Bottle of Vodka
- 1 Bottle of Bourbon
- 1 Bottle of Whiskey
- 1 Bottle of Tequila

Package B:
WINE & CHAMPAGNE PACKAGE
The Wine & Champagne Package includes all three of the below:
- 1 bottle of Champagne
- 1 bottle of White Wine
- 1 bottle of Cabernet

Package C:
SOFT BEVERAGE PACKAGE
Includes the below, non-alcoholic beverages
- 8 Sodas
- Freshly tapped coconuts
- 10 Fiji Waters
- 2 Fresh Juices


IMPORTANT NOTE:
-Bungalow Suites are located next to the Marquee Nightclub & Dayclub, and please note that everyone must be 21 or older to be in the room

-Bungalow Suites do not offer direct access to Marquee Nightclub or Dayclub

-Music from Marquee Nightclub & Dayclub can be heard from inside of the Bungalow during Marquee’s business hours. Please visit their website for current hours of operation

-Incidental deposit of $1,000 per night will be collected at check-in. Any unused portion is refunded at check out

-Outside food and beverage is prohibited in all rooms and suites

-Limit of 10 people inside the Bungalow at a time; Maximum 3 guests for sleeping

-The suite will be provided with Butler Service, and outside food and beverage is strictly not permitted on the property - we would be most happy to provide you with a menu to order appetizers and beverages upon request.

-Please understand there are no exceptions to these guidelines

It's Deric!

The one whom I almost ditched…

I met Deric through the dating app Hinge. As it just so happened, he was the third first date (from Hinge) in a single weekend - something I didn't mean to do but just kind of fell into place. The first date was Friday night with Yusuke, a very Japanese guy trying to make a go of some sort of fashion reselling business. The second first date was Saturday night at my usual swing dance venue in Pasadena - Mike was going to meet me at Lindy Groove the following Thursday for our first date, but I think he got eager and moved it up to Saturday.

Both dates went - well - for the most part. Yusuke was much as I expected - I could see a potential relationship with him but it would take a loooooong time to get there. Mike was ready to dive right in, it was all about me. I didn't like that he didn't want to dance with anyone else, even my friend; we're at a social dance, we should be social, not all intertwined in one another. I let it go on the basis that it was our first date, but made certain to clarify it is absolutely my intention to not just dance with him in the future, and I hope he would do the same.

I was least excited about Deric, because of two factors. For one, his messages were strange and confusing, obviously he was bad at English but there was something more. And on the other hand, his profile pictures weren't too flattering so I wasn't sure I'd be attracted to him. I nearly called the whole thing off, but I decided that I always tout the importance of meeting in person to know for sure, so why would this be any different?

Deric definitely got "the rose" for the weekend (to answer what my friend Laura asked), because he surprised me with his good looks and great conversation. Far from what the pictures showed, he was hot! And I understood his English much better with the context of intonation, etc. He was great. When we ended the night with a small kiss, I think he had doubts that I wanted to see him again. But I did!

Since then, I'd gone out with Mike once more and then invited him over for a cuddle session. The second date didn't go much better, in fact, I started to get annoyed with his physical affection, so my thought was that in the privacy and comfort of my home, maybe I'd feel better with him all over me. I did not. I was so annoyed by him, and I think he knew it. We texted once or twice more and I think he got the hint when I wasn't initiating texts anymore.

I’d also invited Yusuke to my house for Halloween, unintentionally, but he got excited about the prospect of learning a new-to-him American tradition. So, he was going to come over and hand out candy to the kids with me and then join me in the hot tub afterwards. But, he was so late that the candy handouts were over by the time he arrived and we merely spent some time in the hot tub before he invited himself to spend the night. I thought that was odd - much more assertive than I expected. We cuddled, made out a little bit, and that was about it. Halfway through the night, neither of us could sleep so he left.

I'd also gone out with Deric twice more, and went to his house a couple times. The last time (prior to this weekend) I had gone to his house was after getting rid of Mike. I was so ick by the whole thing that all I wanted was to curl up with Deric, so I told him I was making hot chocolate and coming over and he was good with that like that's totally normal. Later that week, I treated him to Broken Bit and he came over to my house for the first time. I don't think he was very impressed.

The next day I was gone on a personal trip that segued into a business trip without coming home, so I was gone for a good two and a half weeks. I texted Deric almost daily, and he was sweet and supportive, not needy at all but letting me know he cared and missed me. All I wanted was to be back with him - the last week in Fort Worth was awful.

I got off the plane on Friday and let him know when I was home. He was working but when he was off he invited me over so he could cook for me. I brought my overnight bag anticipating he'd invite me to stay over, which he did. Not only that, but he cut a rose off his tree for me. And, he asked the first/small big question - were we together now? Yes, I wanted him and nobody else. Wasn't that all I had wanted the last two weeks? Yes, absolutely yes.

We clarified some other things about our relationship - not having kids, for one. It was good. We were having a good, adult conversation and readying ourselves for our happy ever after.

Then almost immediately, we had our first fight. He said things that implied he wasn't attracted to me, like I used to be sexy and what happened and why didn't anyone tell me? And then he tried to tell me how to lose weight, like it's so simple, just cut out soda and drink more black coffee. What?!? I got upset, I tried telling him not to push those buttons but he pushed, and I packed up to leave when he stopped me and apologized and said he wouldn't talk about it anymore.

We got tipsy and eventually went to bed. The next morning, we slept in until after 9, and I got up to get some water and heard my phone ding with a text. I figured I'd just check it for a few and go back to bed. It was a family text, and I chimed in. Deric came out and asked if I was up, and started busying himself in the kitchen. I told him I don't drink coffee, so he made me hot chocolate for my hangover headache. We sat and talked for a little bit, both of us quite drowsy still, and I told him we could go back to bed, and he jumped at the chance. We stayed in bed until after 11, or at least I did. At one point I was waiting for him to come back to bed and realized he was probably waiting for me to get up. So I did and he just seemed like a dog happy to its owner kind of happy to see me. He asked if he could take me out to breakfast when I was ready. I got ready quickly and we were off in his cute little BMW.

After breakfast, he agreed to come to my place and hang out - he wanted a lazy day and I wanted to do some laundry so I put on some binge TV and did some laundry and light chores while he hung out on the couch, eventually falling asleep. I put on the ASU football game since he was asleep, but we were losing so terribly, I didn't care to finish it when he woke up.

I absolutely love cuddling with him. He lets me run my hands up and down his chest under his shirt and I am addicted to it. There are definitely things I'm concerned about. I don't know how long it will last, but he is definitely my for now someone. And I almost didn't even meet him.
 

Communing with Nature

When you think of the ultra rich and lavish lifestyles a lot of wealth can afford, you probably don't conjure up images of hiking through rolling hills of flowers or camping in the stark desert. Yet I am going to argue here that living your best life and buying your way to happiness must include elements of nature. 

An obvious feature of getting outdoors is that it is physically good for you in different ways. Most often, you'll have some kind of workout if you're spending any significant time outdoors - whether that be walking, running, hiking, swimming, climbing, biking, etc. Then there is the fresh air - the further away from society you are, the better. I especially love ocean air; I feel like I can breathe best on the beach. Being in the sun means you're getting a dose of Vitamin D - just balance that with sun block so you don't get burned and increase risk of skin cancer. 

Getting out into beautiful landscapes and appreciating the common and uncommon animals and plants around me is one way I feel I can stay grounded in the bigger picture of things. Work can be stressful, relationships with family and friends can be dramatic, personal decisions can wear us down, technology can burn us out. When I'm in nature, the natural beauty and the imperfections make all those things seem small. Being a little outdoorsy from time to time provides balance. 

How do I buy my way into nature? There are several ways. For one, I have a bunch of camping gear that borders into glamping, but is mobile, which I'll talk about shortly. One of my favorite ways of communing with nature is in my (or any) outdoor hot tub (or hot spring) with a nice view of nature. Soaking in a hot tub or hot spring is one of the few exceptions to the premise that most outdoor activities involve exercise, but it has its own benefits in soothing sore muscles. Additionally, travel allows exposure to different regions, different landscapes and more dynamic nature-oriented activities, and of course, travel is rarely cheap - especially if going long distances. Finally, I saved up several thousands of dollars and purchased land, and that is a great way to invest in seeking out nature. One other thought, which I have not yet executed myself, is to sponsor or donate to charitable organizations which support nature preservation - which may get you invites into exclusive hikes, etc. I suppose you could say I've donated my time to such a cause, which did get my exclusive invites - I volunteered as a docent for the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve. I enjoyed that because the job duties encouraged me to learn about the flowers and the various plants and animals, and I would typically hike 4.5 to 5.5 miles once or twice a week on my trail watch shift. 

My camping setup is a recent set of purchases with which I'm quite happy. It started when I bought my first SUV. Through the magic of Amazon, I was able to find an air mattress that fits snuggly in the back of the SUV when the seats are folded down flat, a two-person sleeping bag rated down to 32 degrees, and a one-sided tent that goes over the hatch door and around the back of the vehicle to basically turn the SUV into a tent, with bug guard and a shade and everything. That's the basic setup, but of course I didn't stop there. I found magnetic bug screens so I can open my moon roof and/or windows, and have more moving air while minimizing exposure to bugs (because - uck! I hate bugs, and I am a little bit of a princess even while camping). I found that the tent enclosure didn't perfect seal around all the edges so I bought some pretty strong magnets (with hooks in case we want to tie things to them) and use those to secure it to the vehicle better. I found a portable toilet which can be collapsed and tucked under the floorboards of my SUV when not in use, but fully expanded it has a toilet paper holder and everything. Cooling towels proved to be useful when camping in the desert heat, and a small electric lantern / power bank combo with a hook is a great accessory to hang from the handles in the SUV. Camping chairs and coolers are a must if you're hanging around for an extended stay. I don't have the cooking gear (yet) but the people I camp with often bring a portable camping stove of some sort - I'm perfectly happy eating protein bars and cold leftovers and whatnot unless someone else is cooking. 

When I go, I usually set up my air mattress before I leave (although the inflator plugs into the car so it can be done even in the middle of nowhere with ease), and then pile things on top of it or leave them under the floor boards until I need them. I think it's also worth mentioning, unrelated to actual camping trips, that sometimes I have my air mattress set up for late nights - I like to go swing dancing about an hour away from where I live, and I am prone to falling asleep behind the wheel. So now, if I'm driving home and start to get drowsy, I'll find a nice spot to pull in for a bit, and take a nap for a couple hours in the back until I'm ready to drive again. Someday, I'll be happy to invest in a fully self-driving car and this won't be an issue, but until that day…

The first (and currently, only) piece of land that I bought is in the Mojave desert, about 30 minutes north of where I live. I had scoped out inexpensive multi-acre properties online and then spent one Saturday visiting my top 5 or so. I fell in love with the Mojave property, because it backed up to a gorgeous little mountain range, had a view looking down at the city, but was far enough removed from the city that it was just the first level of light pollution up from being a completely dark-sky site. This meant that I could do some stargazing from the property. And stargazing I did! Once I purchased the property outright with cash, I camped up there one night in search of the green meteor that was in the news. I was so excited when I finally found it! I've camped up there a couple other times for meteor showers. 

I've also gone camping a couple times so far with my setup elsewhere. My friend and I went to Isabelle Lake over the Fourth of July weekend, and while we had camp site with a creek which we spent most of the time in, it proved to just be too hot for an extended stay, and we left early the first morning. 

We drove out to Amboy Crater to see some meteor showers and do some light hiking, and we were thrilled to have a fantastic view of dozens of meteors and a few pretty good fireballs streaking across the sky. There were only a couple other parties camping there that weekend, and so when I went for a hike that morning, I came to a slightly disturbing realization. Since none of the other parties in the parking lot where we had set up camp had gone hiking, and no new comers had pulled into the parking lot prior to my departing for my hike, I realized I was the first, and possibly only, person on the trail that morning. Often, when we hike, there is likely someone ahead of us and we'll pass people on their way back as we head into the hike. But there I was, sure that there was nobody ahead of me, nobody who would be passing me as they headed back, and I was completely out of eyeshot from the observation deck. Should something happen to me, I mean obviously my friend would come looking for me after a long while, but I literally had nobody to help me immediately. I did have my phones on me, but realized my personal cell phone had died (it had been plugged in but the chord was busted), and my friend didn't know that and may try to reach me there instead of my work cell phone. I wasn't scared, really. It was more just novel to feel so completely alone and so completely out of touch. I was never in danger and I wasn't really THAT far from people. It was just a fun, slightly spooky, feeling that I found refreshing and exciting. These types of experiences, I think, are really good reminders of why it is important to get out of the air conditioning, get away from modern society, and be out in the wild. 

I'm reminded of time when someone with me had a similar realization. My friend and colleague had suffered some chest pains and dizziness and was prescribed healthy eating and exercise as the main remedies. He had previously spent almost all of his time outside of work at his home, playing video games, and really not much else. With the medical issue giving him a little wake up call, I was able to convince him to do some light hiking with me a couple times. As we walked through the winding trails and small hills, he stopped at various places and was clearly awestruck at the beauty around us and the feeling of being outside and being away from society (even if the trails were partially paved and certainly well marked when not paved). It helped me to really appreciate what I had started to somewhat take for granted, and I recall that awe I saw and heard in him whenever I visit those specific hikes again, and many other times as well. 

A Dating Update

Let's see, Kevin 1 and I continued to struggle reconciling so that seems over. Kevin 2 ghosted me right before our Las Vegas trip, so I ended up canceling. Tall, boring Brandon actually has made repeat appearances. He's a total bore but we both seem to have mutually agreed to use each other without saying it. Francisco also reappeared briefly, and then slithered back into the shadows. Marathon runner Andrew and I took some distance and sort of faded. I ended things more formally the last time he reached out. Hollywood Justin tried gaslighting me - he's so shady and ghosty - I told him I don't trust him and he never responded, so I guess that's over.

And now, for AJ of NASA JPL.

It was a rocky start to AJ's and my first date. I met him through the Hinge app after changing my location to Pasadena, reasoning that I'm in Pasadena once or twice a week typically for swing dancing. Some percentage of the reason he connected with me was because of my job. I told him fairly quickly that I wasn't actually in Pasadena and he understood. He comes up to Edwards Air Force Base on a fairly regular basis so my locale isn't actually too out of the way for him on those days. In fact, we agreed it was rather convenient that I could potentially crash after swing dance with him in Pasadena and he could stay with me when he has back-to-back days in the desert. Anyways, due to miscommunication or really lack of clarification, he ended up at the Lucky Luke's in Lancaster while I was awaiting him at the one in Palmdale. He quickly joined me though. From there, it was a lot of shop talk and I wasn't sure I would be interested if that was all there was. But we eventually got off the topic of airplanes and it went better from there.

Because there was no food at Lucky Luke's, he asked if we could go to Yard House to grab a bite before he headed home. It was a Monday night and I wasn't too keen on staying out late, but I was enjoying him and had at least a little attraction to him. So I acquiesced, and we ate at Yard House. We wrapped up the first date with a simple peck kiss which was both absolutely perfect for a first date, and leaving me wanting a little more.

His next visit to the area was Thursday, but I also had a goodbye happy hour for an employee I wanted to attend and my last lindy hop class in Pasadena that night. I sort of talked myself out of going to class, and he agreed to meet me at the happy hour. We had a good time there and headed back to my place. We immediately assumed a cuddle position while I queued up some Ted Lasso, and, well, he spent the night and it was pretty great.

In Pursuit of Happiness

Is happiness a goal? A state which is necessarily temporary? A way of living?

I can't remember a time I wasn't yearning for something that would make me happy. That's not to say I've lived an unhappy life. Rather, I think I've been generally grateful and upbeat and joyful about life. But it's always felt like it was part of a journey to an ultimate goal, rather than an enduring contentedness.

Growing up, I had an obsession with boys and being in a relationship. While in college, it was, just get the degree and get a job and a house and a dog and be an adult. While early in my career, and perhaps the strangest way my yearning showed through, I would hear a voice talking about me in the future, that, "She makes over $100,000 a year." That was the goal, to make 6 figures. Even despite having read that once people reach about $70k in annual income, their happiness decreases the more they make beyond that.

I definitely lived beyond my means a bit early in my adulthood, in order to continue re-upping on that desire to be happy. There was a point I hit where I knew something had to give. I owned a house, I had the dog, I had a steady boyfriend, a good job, was making $85k a year. I remember being so stressed about money because I knew I was living beyond my means but it was like I couldn't stop. We'd go on these elaborate vacations and I justified it by saying that you never regret investing in travel and experiences. But at one point, the shit hit the fan when my
credit cards were maxed out and I couldn't pay for the hotel mid-trip. Did we go to a cheaper hotel? No, we enjoyed our luxe room with a view, and I just borrowed from him until I could move money around sufficiently. I got smarter after that, but also, my career took off and I didn't have to be too accountable for long term financial responsibility because I started making so much more.

Having lived in several states and cities over the past decade, and being again in a position where I can decide my own fate, I can confidently say that I'm happy with my current location. My house is big, maybe a little too big, but I'd much rather than that the opposite - living in that cramped condo in San Diego helped me realize that. I just had my niece and her seven friends come stay, and there was room enough for all without being too cramped - hell we could have accommodated at least two or three more people. I am so grateful I have a pool and a hot tub of my own - that makes a world of difference compared to an apartment pool with its uncertain cleaning schedule and having to contend with neighbor kids for serious pool time. Making this home be my haven has brought me lots of joy. I am financially stable, for sure, with over $200k in annual income, a small passive income, and a very comfortable savings buffer. But now I'm missing one very seemingly important part of my happiness formula - a romantic partner. After nearly 10 years together, Jaiman and I called it quits in January, and my attempts at finding love via the Hinge app and other organic means have been all but fruitful. I've helped to fill the gap (or distract myself from it) by doubling down on my other relationships - friendships with colleagues or former coworkers, my family, reconnecting with old friends - and putting myself in situations to forge new relationships with common interests, namely going out swing dancing and taking lindy hop lessons.

I realized about a month ago that I was also trying to fill the void with retail therapy (usually online retail - which means I wasn't even getting the benefit of the walking). Over spending and living beyond my means became a concern for me, even at this elevated income (partially because of the big mortgage payment and the new car payment). So, I went cold turkey in June and am continuing in July, refraining from buying extraneous "things" that I don't need. Truly, I have a giant house full of stuff, I'm not needing much of anything in the way of more stuff.

Long before Jaiman and I called it quits, though, I was investing a lot of my reading time on the pursuit of happiness, or the formula for happiness. And was left, well, wanting, and still pursuing. Most of the literature I devoured told of gratitude being the key to success, or being present and practicing mindfulness, or giving to or helping others, as the secrets of life and happiness. Those ideas have never scratched the itch for me. I've always had this nagging feeling that happiness can be achieved by a set of things plus relationships. And that belief has driven me both to have fulfilling relationships and to purchase things that will make my life easier and happier. Like the big house with the double kitchen island to allow me to cook more (ha!) and the private pool and 3-car garage. And truly, I know now that my outdoor pool isn't optimal - it needs to be heated with excessive energy to be of use many months of the year, and is always getting bugs and leaves in it. Wouldn't an indoor pool be even better? Then I'd truly be happy. This pursuit seems to keep going, but I still somehow believe that the optimal life is somehow around the corner. Once I get these 35 things, then I can really enjoy life and be happy.

And while I can't say I have all the things I've ever wanted, I have a lot, and I am grateful, and I am happy most of the time. But now without that romantic partner in my life, I feel a major loss. It makes me resent Jaiman to an extent - why did he have to be so awful in the end? Why couldn't he have shaped up to be the man I wanted him to be? Or even that he claimed he wanted to be? Why did I spend (waste?) 10 years of my life with someone who wasn't going to work out in the end? I am appreciative of the fun times we had and memories we made, I wouldn't have done most of those things without a romantic partner. And yet, now that he's gone, I'm a little mad about it. I thought it would be easier to fill that hole in my life, or that I'd find joy in being by myself and doing my own thing and that I'd be okay. I knew it wouldn't be wholly easy, but I just thought it would be easier.

The dozen or so half-started relationships that have flopped since the breakup have made me start to wonder if it's me. And specifically, I wonder how much my weight plays into it. I can take some great selfies that I feel good about, but sometimes I see a picture of me and it's not flattering and I realize just how awfully big I am and that makes me very unhappy. Is that what is keeping me from finding a great guy? It probably doesn't help, of that I am sure. Swing dancing, too, I can feel people not wanting to dance with me because of my size and appearance. I also sweat like crazy which may not necessarily have to do with my weight, but again, doesn't help.

So losing weight, like almost every other fucking time of my life, seems like it should be a priority. If I can't be happy without a man, and if I can't land a man without losing weight, than obviously losing weight will help me get a man and ultimately make me happy, right? But of course, easier said than done. I've struggled with my weight for all of eternity it seems. And yes, it probably played a big part in my happiness equation even before the breakup - being able to find clothes that feel good and sitting comfortably in airplane seats are aspirations that have been bringing me down in recent years.

But beyond my physical appearance, I wonder if my approach to life and relationships is wrong or if I'm just in a weird dating population (age and geographic location) or what. Like I said, I thought it'd be easier, so why haven't I landed at least a short-term relationship yet? I keep trying to tell myself that the universe is just clearing things out of the way for me to meet the right person. But my impatience grows and it is especially painful that I have one thing I really want to do with a romantic partner - go to Vegas - and planned it with two different partners who both fell through. If I can't count on a romantic partner any time soon, do I need to change my desire? Will that scratch the itch?

So the latest book I've been reading (listening to) is called "The Gap and the Gain" and it is a pretty simple concept in theory - focus on the progress and the good things instead of focusing on what you don't have (the gap). It's a new take on the same old mindfulness and gratitude concept, I suppose. But the reframing has at least piqued my interest and attention. However, I've struggled to work through it because the gap I most focus on now is the lack of a romantic partner and there's no progress to be had against that. Sure, I can focus on my big glorious house and the friendships I have and blah blah blah. But none of that is "gain" against my goal of having a happy romantic relationship.

I do like the section that says you can define your own success criteria. These were the examples given (and gawd are they so much what I aspire to…)
 

I know I'm being successful when:

1. I can wake up every day and ask, "What would I like to do today?"
2. My passive revenue exceeds my lifestyle needs.
3. I can live anywhere in the world I choose.
4. I'm working on projects that excite me and allow me to do my best work.
5. I can disappear for several months with no effect on my income.
6. There are no whiny people in my life.
7. I wear my watch for curiosity only.
8. I have no time obligations or deadlines.
9. I wear whatever I want all the time.
10. I can quit any time.

The other major thing I've struggled with, although its subtle, is that I'm not sure what I like anymore, versus what "we" liked as a couple. In other words, untangling myself from Jaiman, what do I like that wasn't me adapting to his likes? Like I said, it's a subtle thing, it may even seem moot, like dummy, just go do what makes you happy and if something isn't making you happy anymore than stop doing it. But in some cases, I actually don't even know if it makes me happy. That's weird, right? So I don't even know where to start. I don't know what I would like to do today. I don't know where to disappear to or within. I don't know what to wear. I'm not really curious enough to do anything thoroughly. Is that depression? I hope not… I don't think so.

The most glaring examples are roller coasters, Lego and Disney. Those are three areas that Jaiman was obsessed with, and I know I had a liking of them before. But are they my passions? Did Jaiman bring that passion out of me? Or did I pursue them because "we" liked them? If there was something I didn't like before Jaiman and liked while we were together, that would seem pretty clear cut. But Disney and roller coasters were likes before, just not obsessions or passions - or were they?

Disney - I loved the classic Disney animations like Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin - I had lots of toys with them and even wrote to Mattel once suggesting they make Polly Pockets with Disney themes once (they claimed they couldn't give me credit but later did something very similar). But I also hadn't been to Disneyland since I was a kid until Jaiman took me. So am I a real Disney fan? Or did I get aboard the train?

Lego - Jaiman claims I enabled him, so this may be on me. I've continued building Lego and even hosting a build party, so I guess Lego is a passion of mine. I started playing with Lego as an adult while dating Rick, and went to Legoland at least once before meeting Jaiman.

Roller coasters - I remember being obsessed with the Loch Ness Monster ride at Busch Gardens when I was a kid. What a disappointment it was when Jaiman and I went on our big roller coaster road trip and road it again - it was dilapidated and rough and not nearly as thrilling as other rides I've come to enjoy. My weight has largely deterred me recently from going to Six Flags and the like, but if my size wasn't an issue, would I spend a day at a theme park riding coasters again? I think so, but I do feel like it was such a part of Jaiman's personality that it will always be twinged with remorse.

I've long been fascinated and intrigued by the different ways people live, especially those at the extremes of wealth, modernism and technological advances (and the lack thereof in all cases). I think this goes hand-in-hand with my pursuit of happiness - what is the formula other people have found? What of those can I apply to make my little utopia? This is why I am equally intrigued by the fictional characters in the Hunger Games living in the Capital and in the Districts. I simultaneously desire a life of The Great Gatsby and the life of the artisans at Arcosanti, and just as much want to live in a world where Jurassic World is a real (but much safer) possibility. I invest efforts in learning about technological advances to understand how they will improve our lives in the future, such as 3D printing, wearable technologies, autonomous vehicles and smart home devices. How people lived in the Blue Zones is instructive for people wanting to understand how to live long lives, but I question how fulfilling those lives are versus, say, those in the happiest countries. The true story of Biosphere 2 is one of both hard work and an isolated version of an ideal utopia, at least until peoples' personalities got involved. In the introductory scenes of the Sonic the Hedgehog Movie, Sonic shows how he's carved out a life in his little cave in a small rural town and pretending to make friends with the people there, but that his life was merely existence until he actually befriended one of the townspeople.

And so, a lot of times I like to think about what my perfect life / utopia / home would look like. I think now it would look something like:
 

1. Money and my physicality does not prevent me from doing whatever I want to do.
2. I have a life partner who shares my interests and enjoys adventures with me. 
3. I have minimal chores that are made easier by technology and my home setup.
4. I have rich relationships with friends and family.

How It's Going: Almost June 2023

The breakup at the beginning of the year was inevitable and I knew that going into the new year. When it happened, it wasn't how or when I had foreseen it. The timing was close to right, but how it went down was a huge shock - I was trying to make it amicable and calm, knowing it was the right thing to do and I had left nothing on the table as far as ways to repair the decade-long relationship, but he wouldn't have it. No, he went off like a crazy person, bringing up ancient history that I'm not even convinced wasn't entirely made up in his attempt to prove he was a victim, blaming me for everything, of course, and projecting his guilt onto me via ill-founded and inaccurate accusations of cheating. Nevertheless trying to find the silver lining in all things, I end that story always with the conclusion that it makes it very easy not to second guess the breakup or try to get back together. I do think it's a little bananas that after spending nearly every day with him for 10 years, he and I have no exchanged a word, a text, a comment, nothing. It's done-zo and that's obviously a good thing.

Except it means I'm alone. I have this great big house which I love, and a pool and a hot tub I frequent, and all these big plans to go here and do that. But I'm so alone. I've never been good at being a friend or keeping friends so I don't have many, and I haven't done much in the way of making new friends locally. All of the people I could even call my friend here are colleagues, employees of mine or former colleagues. In fact, even people I consider friends "back home" in Arizona are mostly former colleagues. And, I mean, I guess that's ok, right? We spend so much time at work it's good to have friends there and it makes sense when strong relationships are forged there. But even my closest of friends aren't, like, best friends or besties. I almost never talk to my childhood friends, when we do it's usually just exchanged comments on facebook.

My sister loves being single, or at least that's what she'd have everyone believe, but her being single and me being single are so different - she was married, she had someone to whom she said, "I do," and she got a son of it and she's the best at keeping old friends and making new ones. On top of that, she is at least somewhat introverted in that she loves her "me time" whereas I could have zero of that and be the happiest person alive. She is a good person for me to talk to about these things, and she encourages me to go to the movies or dinner by myself, but I don't think she appreciates how much more lonely I am without a committed relationship. I love being around people, well at least people I enjoy and whom I can stand, and I can be judgey which is why I'm not a big life long friender. That is also why I vowed to connect more and connect more deeply this year - I knew I'd need friends and I know I need to be a better one.

Oh and a new job. Boy, people really show you their true colors when they have nothing to lose, right? My old boss held nothing back once I told him I was leaving. Just like my breakup, he has made it very clear I made the right choice. My new boss seems great, my local team is great, I might have some work to do on some of my other new employees but that's ok. Getting away from a diminishing manager was an important thing to do for myself, and while my old team was pretty heartbroken over me leaving, as was I, they understood, perhaps more than me at times, why I had to make the change.

I always like to do one or two life list things per year, and the last few years have been really hard with the COVID pandemic, so I feel like I should be trying to make up for that lost time this year. But alas, many of the items remaining on my life list are either quite difficult or require travel, and I'm just not up for doing a ton of travel alone.

Post-breakup I dove in pretty quickly to the dating scene, had a few homeruns but lost each game. I am just about over dating, and yet I still am unhappy with being alone, so I'm definitely in a funk in a big, bad way. Not dangerous or anything, just out of it. The dark thoughts do creep in, even knowing what I know now about my ex- and how he viewed our relationship, I still sometimes voyage into the land of, "What if I just pretended that none of that happened and had him come back and just idlily stayed around to make plans with and stuff?" It's stupid, and I know logically that nothing good could come from that line of thinking. And yet, there it is. These jerks on the dating app all claim not to be like the rest and they all end up ghosting me, gaslighting me or, most kindly, deciding to go separate ways. Yet I feel like I'm lowering my standards to date them, and they are the ones largely doing to leaving/ghosting. I don't get it. I don't get how guys can be so cruel, and I don't get what the fucking point is in dating someone, saying you want to meet up, and then not showing. Like, isn't the point of dating to meet people and go on dates and see what happens? It's just so… I don't know, depressing? Disparaging? Disappointing. Consistently and thoroughly disappointing.

So I started going swing dancing again. It's a weird "again" because when I used to go swing dancing, it was in Arizona. After years of dancing there, I had a number of friendly faces and regular dance partners. But also, my main dance partner was, alas, my now ex-. So going dancing "again" isn't like I'm returning to something I know well. I know how to dance, at least the basics, I've gotten a bit rusty on my Lindy Hop and have no idea if I could follow Balboa right now. But I don't know the people, I don't have a consistent partner, and the structure of the dance is a bit weird, too.

Like, at Kat's Korner in Arizona, we always did a celebration dance for people with birthdays or celebrating something else special, or visiting from out of town. Then we'd do the snowball, in which a few couples start and every few moments or so the announcer would call for them to find a new partner who isn't dancing yet, until everyone is dancing ideally. We'd also do the Shim Sham, a semi-choreographed mostly solo dance that everyone could join in and do, a little like the Electric Slide but, you know, not that. Sometimes we'd do other similarly somewhat familiar choreographed dances, such as Tranky Doo or the Big Apple. I really want to do one of those again. But alas, at this place in Pasadena, they don't do the celebration dance and they don't do any of the choreographed dances. Instead, they do what they call a "disco" in which they play a (non-disco) pop song and just follow along as someone semi-makes up dance moves, kinda like doing a jazzercise workout video or something. They do the snowball after that, so there's that at least, although even that they do a little weird and I don't like it. It's fine. It's fine.

The bigger thing, I think, is just the not knowing people. The second time I went, some of the leads recognized me and the familiarity started to blossom into me getting asked to dance more, which was great. I went this past weekend, though, and there were less familiar faces as such I got asked to dance less, and didn't even have the courage for whatever reason to ask some of the dancers I wanted to dance with. It certainly didn't help, this past weekend, that a guy I had been talking to for a week or so was planning on meeting me there for our first date - and despite saying he was almost home and lived 5 minutes away around 8 pm, he never showed, and I never heard from him after that. So, yeah, even going back to swing dancing has been, not a complete disappointment, but definitely sort of rough. It's also over an hour away which means it's a big commitment for me to go. There's another venue in Pasadena on Thursday nights and that just seems almost impossible after working a 10+ hour day on Thursday, but I hear that's a better venue and I want to go, in theory.

A month or two ago, I visited Arizona primarily to support a charity walk which I've done for years with my friend and former colleague, Allison. During my visit, I also made a point to go swing dancing on my home turf, albeit a different venue (tear) than what I had known for the prior 12 years. The familiar faces and welcoming recognition more than made up for the unfamiliar new-to-me venue, and I had a blast, truly. A few of the leads I danced with also strongly encouraged me to go to Camp Hollywood this year, an event I have never attended except for participating in the virtual event a few years ago during the worst of COVID. I was super hesitant and nervous about it, still am, but the encouragement from them and the reminder for myself that this is the kind of thing I want to do more of left me little choice but to register and make plans to attend. I'm also now considering if I should go back to Arizona for some of the events like Swingdependance and a new event in Tucson right around my Dad's birthday weekend.

I'm definitely in a funk, but in reviewing what I set out to do in 2023 at the start of the year, I am finding a little bit of encouragement and comfort knowing that I have completed many of those things already. Let's take a quick inventory.

Life: Be an active participant
•  Buy my land - Done!
•  Increase discipline in health routines - eh, kinda?
•  Have a mindfulness weekend retreat - planned and then skipped, wah wah
    •  Do that regularly
•  Have a blog-a-thon to write about topics already started
•  Book/plan vacation - Done, at least mostly - Hawaii for Christmas, plus some other smaller trips are in the works too! Planning trips is therapy for me.
•  Complete >1 from room renovation  - Done, at least mostly. Did some finishing touches on the downstairs full bath, and mostly finished wallpapering and putting new fixtures in the downstairs half bath. Really it just needs some pictures on the walls or something, otherwise it's done. Master water closet's next!

Nature: Go deeper into outer space
•  Listen to Planetary Radio podcast when available - Listened at least once, not sure where I lost track of this one, will have to check.
•  Watch All Space Considered monthly - I do watch this regularly now, and want to go in person sometime soon.
•  Visit the Griffith Observatory - Done! Went to a weird show called Above with a date, it was interesting, not sure I'd do that again necessarily, but maybe for some other event or show.
As a bonus, not related to space but related to nature, I volunteered at the local Poppy Reserve and did several trail watch hikes out there, and learned a lot about local wild flowers. Getting out into nature was great for me, and I should probably keep that up.

Celebration: Re-build the lost connections
•  Start daily journal even if 3-sentence recap - I tried, but I tend to not write for a while and then play catch up and try to write something. I'll keep trying.
•  Plan for and stay on top of sending birthday, anniversary, holiday cards
•  Seek advice and ask curious questions of people in my life

Empowerment: Create (and use) the tools to get out of my own way
•  Auto-add/update calendar with activities of interest - Partially done, got it add ISS passes to my calendar.
•  Utilize AI and scripting to hone trends and market gaps
•  3D print some useful items - I tried, 3d printers hate me, I swear! My filament got jammed and I gave up.
•  Invest in architecture software and education, and design home of the future
•  Influence recruiting at work via communications team
•  Develop better graphics and display for my Show Mode

Well, one of my trips I'm planning is intended to help me reconnect with some old friends, and based on what I've done a lot of and not done enough of, it seems like the connecting thing is one of the areas I need to focus in on more.

As far as accomplishing some things from my Life List, here are some ideas I think are doable still this year:
10    Ride a penny-farthing bicycle
12    Ride a recumbent bicycle
20    Watch a fire-dancing show at Burning Man
30    Catch a fish
52    Press grapes into wine with my bare feet
81    Be an extra in a movie
98    Send in a postsecret
103    Drive a race car around a real track
114    Eat at a Shenanigans
119    Learn to use a slide rule
147    Time Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park


I feel like, rather than blessings, I need to count my activities or achievements to remind myself that this year has not been a total bust. Here it goes:

    • I hiked around Vasquez Rocks with my colleague Josh - getting him out of the house was a freaking achievement in and of itself! We did about 1.86 miles.

    • I volunteered for 5 shifts of trail watch duty and the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserves, totaling over 24 miles of hiking, plus took my friend Andrew and a love interest also named Andrew for one hike there, as well as some of my employees another time.

    • I volunteered for the second year in a row to be a mentor for the Aerospace Robotics Competition sponsored by my company, working with high school students to build, fly and program a drone. My team failed for the second year in a row, but I still helped quite a bit at the competition, and recruited some of my employees to help out, and that always feels good.

    • I've gone swing dancing four times (thrice in Pasadena and once in Arizona) and did a charity walk in Arizona.

    • I went to see Six the Musical with my friend Andrew (although it was supposed to be with a guy I was seeing - Justin - but he started getting flakey so I guess I told him off(?)).

    • I got a new job and subsequent pay raise.

    • I did some wallpapering and home reno stuff to improve my home.

    • I upgraded my pool system so I can heat my pool, and have loved swimming in 86 degree water - especially when walking/running has been hard on my body lately so swimming is a great exercise alternative.

    • I bought land in Mojave, CA and camped out there to pursue the green meteor earlier this year.

Considering everything, that's a pretty healthy list of achievements. I guess I'm not as much in a rut as I thought I was. But, now I'm even more enthuse'd about the upcoming things.

It's May!

Once upon a time, I started this blog after a relationship break-up, and in part, to catalog the quirky adventures of dating. I had given up on love at that time, to be honest, which was both sort of sad and a little liberating. No longer did I have to go on dates and wonder if he could be the one, nor did I see weird yellow flags as setting a precedent that I should address. I went with whatever, so long as it didn't cross a hard line for me, and let the ridiculousness unfold. It was funny the bizarre things my dates would subject me to, and I considered it my duty to share it with the world, or at least document it for my future amusement, on this blog.

Then, the unexpected happened. I found a guy who wasn't ridiculous or bizarre. We had an instant mutual attraction and neither of us wasted a second dancing around our feelings towards one another. He seemed to be nearly perfect by my definition - tall, liked musicals, football, basketball and swing dancing - a rare combination. He often seemed to read my mind - mentioning his desire to go to massage school, for example - I had told my roommate I would love to find a guy who wanted to study massage, I'd pay for his schooling if it meant massages for life. I had some hesitations about him - I mean, I just recently given up on love - and I was worried he might fall harder for me than I for him, and I'd break his heart. But I rationalized that I had hesitated too often before, and the window of opportunity seemed to have passed, and I didn’t want to repeat that mistake. So we dove headfirst into a nearly 10 year relationship.

We had a very long, happy "honeymoon" phase - we rarely fought and we loved doing everything together all the time. We had amazing adventures and were the envy of our friends on facebook. As I met his family, they would always comment that they felt they knew me already from facebook. And the rest is history…

Fast forward to around 2021 - 2022. The relationship had soured. He said some things I could not get passed. I was frustrated with him. We still did fun things, but we were fighting a lot. It felt to me that he had become spoiled by my supporting him financially as he supported me in other ways through a number of geographic moves for my job. While I stand by my decision to do so, I think it changed our dynamic in his mind, and he became a different person. We tried addressing things, and he claimed to be committed to fixing what was broken, but now I see he was already too gone. A few specific incidents made it very apparent that we were not working, and I knew we had to end things.

With such a long time put into our relationship, I felt I owed it to him to end things amicably. That was I tried to do. To my surprise, 10 years of hate and bizarre accusations spewed out of him until I didn't ever want to see his face again. Cheating, really? He thought this was about me seeing someone else. But like Ingrid Andress' song, "I Think You're Seeing Someone Else", actually I was seeing someone else. I was holding onto the instant love and perfect chemistry of years ago. He had become someone different without my realizing it. Not better, like in the song. No, I had become more financially stable and more grounded, he seemed to have diverted and gone backwards. He was blaming me for him not finishing college or having a career, villainizing me with this made up affair he thought I had been having for 10 years, even bringing up my last boyfriend and accusing me of cheating on him, acting like I didn't make every geographic move with his concurrence, and on and on. I didn't know what to make of it at the time. Later, when I found his OnlyFans subscriptions, things started to click that he was projecting his guilt onto me and hoping I was cheating. Then I did what should have been a bad idea - looked through old videos and photos of us when we were happy early on - and it ended up being quite therapeutic because he was unrecognizable in those photos and videos. It made me realize I had not been dating the same guy for the last 9+ years. I was dating a great love, and more recently, I was dating a self-righteous fixed mindset monster. The man I fell in love with had died years ago, I'm not sure when, but he was no longer there.

That was in January, and as you can imagine, it's taken a minute to process all of this. I didn't process it all well, either. Shortly before Valentine's I read about a zoo that would, for a charitable donation, name a cockroach or a rat after your ex- and then feed it to the animals. I splurged for the video package and wrote a script that cut to the core of the idiocy that was the end of our relationship. Hey, it was for charity, right?

That's not to say I've been wallowing in sorrow since January. I've just not sat myself down and done a lot of self-reflecting. Instead, I've kept myself crazy busy. I volunteered at the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve as a docent and did regular trail watch to keep people off the poppies and educate them on the different types of flowers and wildlife (which I had to learn about myself). It was a great way to get my butt out of the house and hike many miles. I also volunteered for the Aerospace
Robotics Competition as a mentor to a high school team again. I started swing dancing again, practicing at home and going to Pasadena for the dances. I've been doing some home renovation stuff. And traveling - I went to Arizona for the Purple Stride and swing danced out there on my home turf. I cut and donated my hair. And seeking, interviewing for, and securing a new job (still at the same company). Yep, I've kept myself busy, but that’s not all I've been up to…

Dating - so many dates. I wasn't going to do the dating app thing, I was going to find comfort in doing my own thing and allow for the potential for something spontaneous to happen. But one weak moment one lonely evening and I had a full profile, and then the guys started pouring in.

And so, my blog is nearly ready to return to its original glory, talking about all the craziness of dating life. But it's already May!! I have so much to catch up on.

I was first excited about Nick - an Aussie who loved D&D. I wasn't so sure I'd be attracted to him based on his profile pictures, but when I met him, instant attraction. Not to mention we had had great conversation for weeks leading up to the first date. He broke it off a few days after, to my great disappointment. I know it was short and I shouldn’t have been upset, but I really liked him.

Then there was Cole, we talked a ton on the phone and texted a lot and then he ghosted me for a while. We never met but still message from time to time. Weird, right?

Jimmy - the jerk - stood me up. We chatted and then made arrangements for a date and he texted me about it that day, and that he was on his way, and all the way to the point of, "I'm in the parking lot," and then never showed. Why are people so cruel? I ate a disappointing dinner by myself that night.

Francisco works at Virgin Galactic (one of the common themes dating in this area is lots of engineers in my field, gotta be careful, I've found coworkers and stuff already)… He claimed he didn't want a hook up but he ghosted me after our first date so I'm going to go ahead and call him a big fat liar.

Then there was Dani, who used the sweetest words in his texts to me, calling me Queen and the like. The texting made more sense when I met him and realized he was not an native English speaker. We went on a few dates and I learned he was Iranian but trying to make it as an engineer in my field - and struggling because he is unable to give up his Iranian citizenship but that is preventing him from getting certain accesses. One night we had a discussion that felt too much like I was dating one of my (bad) employees and I decided it wasn't for me so I called it off. 

Dreamy Jay as I called him seemed very hook-up oriented but he was so good looking in his pictures I was willing to risk it. We talked for weeks and made tentative plans several times that never worked out, and it just sort of drifted off until he created a new profile and came up in my recommendations, but he had changed his name and used different pics so I wasn't sure - I liked him and then he confirmed he was the same guy. Goof. 

There was a doctor named Nick who I met once, and without either of us saying anything, we mutually stopped talking after that. The chemistry was just not there. 

I met KoiGoi against my better judgment, and was instantly happily surprised by how attracted I was when he walked in, but the conversation was terrible and I ended things after. But because I was attracted to his height, I temporarily started filtering on height to find other tall guys.

My tall filter caught 6'4" Aaron. He was so weirdly bad at communicating, I tried so hard with him and I don’t know why. I guess I was attracted to him and he wasn't in my industry so there's that. We went on a few dates and then he disappeared for several weeks and acted like it wasn't a big deal when he did start responding again. I may have acted out to cause a little drama and he freaked out and ended things, which was a huge overreaction in my opinion but probably good to fail fast in that case.

Then there was 6'5" Brandon, super sweet via text but horribly awkward in person. It was not going to work with him, but I went on a couple dates to try and he disappeared, probably for the better also. 

My filter also got me 6'8" Jesse, with whom I've tried to connect in person several times and it keeps not working out. He's a fitness trainer but works like four other jobs and is just too busy probably to date someone like me. But I'd still like to meet him in person, because, I mean, 6'8"! 

While seeing those rando's throughout and talking to several others that never really went anywhere, there have been four guys - yes, four - who I've seen more consistently and hopefully. Two of them are named Kevin, just to make things confusing, so I call them Kevin 1 and Kevin 2, and then there's Andrew who also can be confusing as he shares the name of my best local friend, and then there's Justin from Hollywood.

My first date with Kevin 1 was fun and cute - we went to a taco food truck - his idea, and he ordered for us in Spanish which I found weirdly attractive. As we were eating, the spice was obviously getting to him and he looked over to me and asked, "You're pretty good with spice, huh?" And I had to think for a moment to even register that the tacos had a kick to them. Meanwhile he was drenched in sweat and his nose was running. I thought that was funny. My  friend Andrew and I were supposed to go to a show at the Griffith Observatory, and at the last minute he realized he had made plans with a woman he was seeing. I told him I'd see if I could get Kevin 1 to go with me and he agreed. I liked that he was willing to be a little spontaneous and do something completely out of the norm for him. He was the perfect date, we took selfies and fun pictures and he was just sweet and all about me the whole time. I loved how he touched me in public, not too sensual but enough for me to feel like I was his. There was a lot of promise early on, but then he had a lot of drama in his personal life and I didn't get to see him for 6+ weeks, and we got angry with each other. We reconciled a couple weeks later, and have gone out a few times since. Of all the guys I'm seeing right now, he's the one I have the most feelings for and most hope for, but there's that lingering drama that threatens it. We're planning a weekend getaway to Las Vegas in June. I may or may not have bought a $1000 bottle of tequila he wanted. What is wrong with me?

Dating Kevin 2 is wild. I thought he was pretty innocent and over-achiever, goody-two-shoes type, but once he let down his guard I found a very emo, anti-establishment, anti-everything, party animal. It first came out on St Patrick's Day with Andrew and his woman friend, and got really ugly the next day at the zoo when he said all these animals should kill themselves rather than be locked up for people to look at them. I told him that day that I was never going to take him out anywhere again, and he apologized, but I've held true to that. I still spend time with him in private, but I don't really see it going anywhere. He's great to cuddle up for a movie though.

Andrew just completed his third marathon, has a cute dog and a busted truck. He works for his grandma as an accountant. He's usually down for anything I suggest, but his personal life drama prevents him sometimes. I think early on he was intimidated by my profession and was trying to impress me, and since then he's calmed down and our conversations flow really well.

If anyone accused me of having a type, Justin would break that mold. He's the epitome of Hollywood, but we have a great time when we're together even though we have almost nothing in common. He calls me "boo" and we just really click. The distance makes it hard to see each other regularly, but we make it work from time to time.

So I think that kind of catches us up. I still can't believe it's May already. I start my new job in a couple weeks, although truth be told my new manager is sucking me in as fast as he can. I'm so completely sad to be leaving my team. I wasn't going to accept the job because of them. It was a surprise to me, when I tried to write my decline letter, I talked myself into accepting because the new manager has done so much to make me feel valued, and my current manager and director were so luke warm about losing me. I didn't think being valued mattered that much to me, until it was clear.

Besides my very busy dating life, I've mostly been trying to live up to my four principles for 2023, which I've summed up on my letterboard as: live intentionally, (re-)connect deeply, get outdoors and 'into' space, and create ease. It's been an adjustment to be single again, but I know its for the best - he made it very easy to not have second thoughts - and I'm just figuring out how to find myself again.