Sunday, September 27, 2009

Mixin' things up


Is the month of SeptMENber really almost over already? Holy crap. Guess there goes another dateless month for the record books.

However, I am bound and determined to turn this luck around. So, over drinks on Friday, my friend and I concocted a plan.

We're going to have a singles mixer.

The details are a bit sketchy at this point. (That's what happens when one of you is basically drinking straight vodka and the other is fresh off a red eye from Vegas.)

But, here's what we do know:

  • Who? Every invitee would be hand-picked by my friend and/or me. Each of them, in turn, must bring one guest of the opposite sex. The guest must be totally date-able, just not a good match for the invitee (e.g., good friend, sibling, ex who remains friendly, etc.). This means we'll have an even number of boys and girls. And, hopefully, none of them will be complete psychos.

  • Where? We're thinking we want to rent out the private room in the back of the Velvet Tango Room. For one, the drinks there are amazeballs. (And I'm gonna need a LOT of alcohol to pull this shizz off.) And for another, the atmosphere at VTR is such that we think everyone will be on their best behavior. (Well, at least until they have a couple of those strong-ass drinks.)

  • When? Probably around Thanksgiving. If we wait much longer than that, we probably won't be able to do something until 2010 (knowing that December is usually crazy for everyone). And God help us all if I don't have a date before the end of this year.

  • Why? Ummm, you read this blog, right? 'nuff said.

Thoughts?

23 comments:

alexa @clevelandsaplum said...

you know i'm in - im very much looking forward to this.

it'll be hard because a lot of my guy friends are taken already....

i'll great creative.

Piper said...

This is brilliant! Just like in Sex and The City. I always wanted to go to one of those. Damn, I'm not in town November or December though (I'll be in Chicago)... not that I would be invited since I don't actually know you... but still. I hope it goes well!

Always a Bridesmaid said...

Alexa -- get creative! It doesn't have to be one of your BFFs. Just a guy who you know is single and is a good catch.

Piper -- actually, I think it would be fun to have some people I don't know other than thru the blog. Too bad you're gonna be out of town! You're gone the whole month?!?

Piper said...

Yeah I'm gone a whole two months actually, all of November and December. It's a long and kind of unfortunate story. The upside is I get to be in Chicago for two months and get a break from Cleveland. You can email me if you want more details... if this party happens in the new year, though, I'm game!

MG said...

Sounds like a good plan.

two thoughts though:

1. I'd suggest somehow incentivising this party or "marketing" it differently for the men-folk...perhaps call it less a "singles mixer" so much as just a place where there will be single ladies and end it at that. For whatever reason many men are uncomfortable admitting publicly they're interested in seeking out a relationship but are somehow always game to go where singles ladies are...stupid semantics, yes but whatever, gotta get people there to meet em...


2. I'd wonder how much value there is in your circle of friends (this was not an attempt at insulting them though) if you already haven't met someone through them/many it seems are settling down. Perhaps you should expand the circle in general beyond your familiar borders (and no this isn't a plug for me as I'd be uncomfortable with this sort of thing- I'm not as self-promoting as some of y'all think). I think in general they say when you get to the point where you WANT to meet someone you gotta mix up your lifestyle and start doing all new things with different social demographics...

cheers,

MG

p.s. I ran into a mutual friend of ours on friday who had a party themed after a certain color recently and i didn't go and he called me a loser for missing it. It was funny.

Susie said...

I don't live anywhere near you but I think it's a great idea! Hope it's successful!

Chuck said...

AAB - this is a ridiculously cool idea.

MG - your first comment is dumb. If you tell me there is going to be a place w/ an abundance of single ladies I'll be there...regardless of what the hell kinda name you put on it.

Anyway, AAB, quality reading as per usual

Always a Bridesmaid said...

MG -- I used the word "invitee" for a reason. They'll be peeps who I know (obvi some better than others), trust and commisserate in singledom with, but are probably not in my closest circle of friends. (Especially since that circle is all married.)

Susie -- where do you live? Maybe you should try this there?!?

Chuck -- glad to have another XY perspective to weigh in on this. Thankie! :)

MG said...

Oh whatever.

I didn't say "all" I said "many"

Anonymous said...

AAB,

I need to meet MG and slap him around, figuratively. I think that it is a great idea because you may have some friends that know someone, but they might not feel their friend is right for you, however they might be right for another "invitee". It all makes perfect sense to me. The only one who may not meet someone at this party, theoretically, would be you. You could welcome the "invitees" to spread the word so that each person would bring another persone of the opposite sex.

For example, you invite the core of attendees and invite Mike. He is turn, brings Mary, who invites Kevin, who invites Samantha. You would also invite Helen who would bring Mark and he brings Kate who brings Steve who brings Amanda.

You, AAB, may or may not know, Steve or Mark and magic may happen. MG just needs to go with the flow and he should go, unless he doesn't have any single female friends!

Love,
Blogdad

Always a Bridesmaid said...

Blogdad -- that last comment from you was almost as hard to follow as some of MG's. Maybe you're a match made in (blog) heaven? Jaaaaaaaaay kaaaaaaay. I know you mean well. :)

Anonymous said...

I thought I might be giving MG a run for his money....although he probably has more money than me...cause he certainly has more words than I do.

Blogdad

Always a Bridesmaid said...

Blogdad -- LOL.

Blows the Big One -- how do you really feel? ;)

Chuck said...

I've mentioned this before, but I always feel better when blogdad agrees with me...even if it was in a comment I had trouble following.

MG said...

hahaha. Geeze...talk about over-reacting. I said it's a good idea, just that some guys may be antsy about the name "singles mixer" ( they will feel less natural or be put on the spot, which all you ladies should already know doesn't work in their or your favour) but if they hear "party" and "single women" they will be there, end of story. K.I.S.S.

I'm just trying to be helpful.

@MG Blows the Big One, cute name.

Anonymous said...

Love the idea! You thinking of putting an age limit on it? You know why I'm asking .... all my husband's friends would show up! And, they have more in common with blogdad (the great man that he is) than they do with you or your friends. If you are cool with that, then no worries.

Christina K said...

This is a fabs idea! If I know anything about your party-planning acumen, then everyone will have a blast!

P.S. Do not invite MG. Save some poor girl the trouble.

MG said...

In an attempt to mitigate some of the half-wit criticisms that have come my way*, I'd like to re-explore what I thought would have seemed reasonable and not so awful before. AAB, I know you've got a serious career/work-load plus the charities, but have you considered taking a class or two in something that would interest both you and the kind of guy you like? OR, getting more active and joining one of the many Sunday-playing flag footballs teams in the city and not just watching, but actually playing? You seem into the manly type of guy and these would be your team-mates (and a great environment to flirt). That's all I was saying before in that as your friends are all "set" if you venture out of your typical day to day (you had a blog post about new locales, but not activties) this is quite possibly where the "one" is hanging out waiting for you...and you may be able to bypass the awkwardness of meeting, first dates, etc. if you're all having a beer after the game, class, whatever...

God, I'm such a douche-bag for even like trying to help.

Cheers,

MG

*except Blogdad- you make good points. I DO have single female friends and single guys friends but all my single female friends are like 23 and seem to be frequently inundated with suitors and are usually trying to figure which is the best one (or two depending, ha) and may scoff at such an event at this point in their lives when there's other ways to go have fun. They're pretty indifferent to their future with regards to serious relationships and are refreshingly cool. The guys could probably go either way, they want to meet girls always of course, but no set path to marriage in mind. Most of us are planning our departure of the Cleveland area in some form or another, or at least focusing ourselves elsewhere.

Anonymous said...

Could MG be getting a bad rap (besides the one I want to give him)? Maybe he is need of some Blogdad counseling. He sounds that he is becoming very defensive and maybe he is just misunderstood

Blogdad

Anonymous said...

The fact that someone deemed their blog name "MG Blows the big one" is hilarious! Cudos to you, my friend. I couldn't agree more!

xo,
chill

Always a Bridesmaid said...

Blogdad -- I think you're right. Based on his latest comment, maybe MG just IS misunderstood.

MG -- as I've said before, I think it's more the length of your comments that the content itself that gets people riled up.

Anonymous said...

Enough said. Make an appt for a counseling session with MG

Love,
Blogdad

sara said...

i think this is an excellent idea. my friends and i have been talking about trying to do something like this for a long time. would you ever be open to inviting blog readers into the mix? just wondering.