Top 5 Kisses

Do you know your top five kisses of all time?
Some of you may and some of you may not. I do. I remember the top five. I don’t know why I picked this number but I did and it seems perfect. Below are the top five kisses that I’ve had of all time. I don’t know if I’ll remember the other kisses once and if (and that’s a very big IF right now) I ever find my Risotto Man but for tonight….I’m going to skip down memory lane.

 

“My First Kiss”

Oh first kiss. You have no idea how much you impacted me. Until you laid your lips on mine, I had no idea how fun kissing could be. It was at summer camp…summer CHURCH camp. How saucy is that?!
Do you remember?
You asked me the one night if you could kiss me. As I look back now, your gentleman behavior was very sweet, it was the first and last time I’ve ever been asked if someone could kiss me and I really do appreciate that you let me walk away, lips untouched. I do understand the next night when young teenage hormones got the best of you and you leaned in for a smooch anyway. *sigh*
I wish that my surprise didn’t get the best of me, making me run away…I wish that as I ran over that unsteady terrain I didn’t take a final look back and think ‘Wow, so that’s what its like’…and oh how I wish that rock hadn’t been there and my foot hadn’t hit it…
Falling on your face seconds after your first lip lock is really not cool.

 

“Kiss in the rain at least once, its worth it…”

Your penny advice for the night? Kiss in the rain at least once.
I was in high school, I was visiting a friend whose name I can’t remember now and it was raining. I think it was spring, I’m pretty sure in fact. What I do remember is the boy. The handsome boy whom I sat with in his car in teh driveway of my friends house as we both got up the nerve to kiss.
At one point after he forced bravado and finally leaned across the way to kiss me, we decided to go inside the house.
Somehow, those same treacherous hormones got the best of us when we stepped outside the car to run inside. His mouth found mine and before we knew it, we were drenched and still kissing. What’s so great about kissing in the rain?
The sheer unashamed joy of losing your mind to a moment
It was raining, my hair was getting wet, his clothes were getting wet, we didn’t care. For a moment … all that mattered was his lips on mine and how delicious it felt. It didn’t matter that it was late, it didn’t matter that I would have to explain to my parents why I was sopping wet, it didn’t matter that he had to drip dry before he got back in his car, I couldn’t give a flying f*ck that the hair I spent an hour making straight as a board was curling into ringlets and I really really really didn’t care that his ex-girlfriend was a semi acquaintance/friend of mine…
I just wanted him to kiss me in the rain… as the thunder roared and the lighting struck.
It was the single hottest moment of my life, up until then.

 

“Dance under a tree”


This is a simple one. I was in college. There was a boy I was crushing on. I had thought he was so handsome for weeks. I tried so hard to be cool.
Which, let’s face it… I’m not.
Somwhow, he and I ended up at the same party one night. And then, somehow, he and I ended up across the street swinging on playground swings late at night. Somehow, he ended up pulling me into his arms and slow dancing with me under a huge elm tree. The branches far above us, he reached an arm up and picked a leaf for me as if he was presenting me with 3 dozen roses instead of a large green leaf.
I laughed off the chivalrous moment as we swayed in each others arms with a comment of “We’re dancing and there’s no music!” He leaned into my ear and whispered…
“I can hear the music. Can’t you?”
And then kissed me….

I think I still have that elm leaf someplace.

 

“Las Vegas”


No romance here folks but the kiss was nice. I grew up in a small town about an hour and a half from Vegas. One year, I went to Vegas with some friends the day before New Years as they had never there. We met two guys while there and they convinced us to come back the next night for New Years.
The girls got to Vegas before I did, met up with a different group of guys and totally ditched me while I was driving up to meet them. Meanwhile, the guys from the night before had gotten into a bit of trouble after we had left them. One had been jumped so he wasn’t feeling up to going out.
Snowboarder guy (which is what I’m calling my lip lock) and I were looking at a pretty dismal New Years at this point. So as I’m trying to find a parking spot … in Vegas…on New Years .. at 9pm … he’s convincing me to just come hang out with him on the strip. That since we’ve both lost our group of friends we should just hang out together.
So I did.
And man… I had fun.
At midnight as we stood across the street from the Bellagio next to another couple who had a full bottle of champagne and thousands of strangers who somehow felt like our friends, he wrapped an arm around me and we shouted out the countdown.
“5!!! 4!!! 3!!! 2!!! 1!!!!!!”

Fireworks went off! People were laughing and shouting! He leaned in and kissed me…a long soft kiss. When we pulled apart the couple next to us handed us the bottle of champagne and we each took a long drink…and then started kissing again.

 

“The best kiss”


Oh.this.kiss.
I quite honestly don’t know if this is in the top five because it’s been recent or because he somehow knew exactly how to kiss me. The first time he kissed me, we had met for drinks.
We were sitting outside on this patio at a trendy bar that I normally don’t frequent. I’m so not trendy. We were off to the side and it was dusk so the bar had a fire lit. We were enjoying a beer, lightly teasing each other because we’re really good at that.
I was semi thinking that although I was having so much fun and he was so cute and he really made me laugh, I did have to get up for work the next morning. I was talking about something and suddenly, he stood up, leaned over and kissed me.
I wasn’t expecting it.
I had wanted him to so badly but since I was used to the semi awkward lean in and the moment where you both try to figure out how to kiss each other and somehow 99.9% of the time are not able to do so… this moment of unexpected lip lock self assurance completely took my breath away.
He had placed his hand on the back of my head, wrapping his fingers lightly in my hair. And placed his lips on mine. Kissing me in a rhythm that matched my own perfectly. His lips were the right amount of firmness and they had a confidence that is rarely in a first kiss. **sigh**
….and I was speechless….
If you know me, you know this is a rarity. So I said something very smooth like….
“You just kissed me… I forget what I was saying.”

Dear Cute Gym Guy….

Dear Cute Gym Guy,

I’ve been playing the “I don’t see you game” for a while now. I think you have seen me glancing in your direction as I run myself into a vicious sweat on the evil elliptical machine. I know our eyes have met at least once as I pretend to watch sports center. Admittedly, I was actually watching sports center…once. It was when they where talking about some Kardashian dating some sports guy. But all the other times, I was sneakily trying to catch you as you worked out on the thingamabob.

You know the one I mean ,CGG, the one that stands off the floor, you pull yourself up into, with your back to it and you pull your legs into it. I pretend not to watch as you flex your rather muscled arms and pull your legs to your chest. I must admit that once or twice I might have wondered how you smell. Bad? Good? Like a real man? I also have wondered, as you walk past me, whose name is it that is tattooed across your bicep. Is it your daughter’s? Your girlfriend’s? I’m hoping it’s an obscure reference to an indie band that I have yet to discover. I might work up the nerve to chat with you, I hope that you’re single.

I haven’t seen you at the gym in awhile. This has actually worked in my favor. I wasn’t working on the weight machines because I was afraid of people looking at me. Since you’ve changed your schedule, I’ve gotten over this fear and enjoy them! To coin Rachel Ray, it’s like monkey bars for adults. I can see why ,CGG, you enjoy it so much. I throw a little Lizzo on my i-pod and get to rocking out. You’ve been gone for awhile and I’ve almost found some other eye candy. But today…today CGG, I saw you outside the gym.

Whew! It was like someone threw cold water on me. We passed right by each other, so close I could smell you. And I didn’t smell anything. I much preferred the scent that I gave you in my mind. Your arms were covered up too, I much preferred the exposed flesh in which I could analyze and try to decipher your multiple tattoos. The saddest though CGG? I could see your teeth. Instead of the straight, gleaming row of pearly whites, they were small and not very straight. Your eyes didn’t seem as blue either and didn’t hold as much knowledge and cool self assurance as I had hoped.

The only fantasy that I have left ,CGG, is that of your voice. In my mind, its deep and husky. I’m glad we didn’t talk CGG.

I guess what I’m saying is, while we could take this little flirtation into the real world for dinner, I would prefer you stayed in my head. Its much better for me if we catch a glance of eyes while I pretend to watch Sports Center.

And by keeping you at bay… I can keep myself on the weight machines. Which frankly, seem much more interesting than you.

Chopped Salad

photoFuuuucckkkk, you guys. I LOVE THIS SALAD! I love it more than dating. Because dating is an adventure unlike anything.  Dating is supposed to be fun. And trust me, its super amusing to myself, my friends, my family, the man who bags my groceries… was that sexist? Eh, I don’t care.

My brain especially likes to make me think of all sorts of crazy stuff. Usually at 2:30 in the morning. All sorts of random stuff too!

You know what I’m talking about.

“How much money is in my checking account?”

“When do I need to change my oil?”

“Have I DVR’d that (insert favorite show)?”

“Did I set my alarm so I can get up in 2 hours and go to the gym before work? Like a fucking crazy person? I’m going to hit snooze. No. I’m going to go. No. I’m going to hit snooze.”

“Do I have to go to the gym before work?”

“OMG! What was that noise? Is that a murderer? Holy fuck! Am I going to die?”

“Should I just pack it in and buy 18 cats?”

That last one is the WORST! Its a creepy little shit that sneaks in when I’m wondering if I actually did lock the house. It’s like the herpes of thought. Especially at 2am. You know what I’m talking about. Don’t pretend like you don’t. I love my life, I love my job and I don’t mind being single. But at 2am when I think some monster is about to get me, it would nice to roll over and spoon someone.

At least my dating life provides entertainment to all my friends. Its a series of hilarious dates in which I end the night just sipping the last of my wine and hoping that he will stop talking and just pay for dinner already! I mean nothing against those guys. I’ve been on a quite a few interesting dates in the last few weeks. They typically end with me thanking my foresight for getting wine before the date to drink once the date is over. This date is no exception.

I’ve been eating this salad non-stop and I have to share the love with you. My BFF made this salad for her parents then again for herself….and then again for herself. I understand this addiction, its a really good salad!

This salad comes courtesy of a rather interesting date….. which honestly I’m still a little pissed at.

I’m pretty careful when I meet a new person. I don’t need you to know my last name or where I live. That’s like 4th date stuff. You cant be too careful you know! Obviously, I’ve been watching a lot of ‘Dates From Hell’ on True Crime Tv. That shit will scare you. Whatever you do, don’t watch it before a date. Now chopped salad guy I had actually already been on one date with. It could have been the wine or the fact that he fell all over himself to tell me how pretty I was (hey, I’m simple!) but I had an ok time. Not good enough to want to stay out past my bedtime but still good enough to agree to a second date at his favorite restaurant. I walk into the restaurant and Mr Not Wonderful is sitting at the bar drinking an ice tea. We navigated to a table where I had a full view of the stone pizza oven.

Hot, gooey, cheesy gourmet pizza by hot, gooey, cheesy gourmet pizza floated by us.

My mouth watered.

Regardless of my ambiguity towards my date, I was excited by the thought of pizza.

I looked at my menu and pondered my choices.

Only to be stopped by words that chilled me to my bones,

Do you trust me?”

He looked at me like a little bird, eyes blinking, waiting for my response.

Do I trust him?

I barely know him! I haven’t told him my last name yet for god’s sake and he’s asking if I trust him?

My mind raced. My manners versus my taste buds.

This was a gourmet pizza place after all, surely he has a good order. And while he was far from being over weight, he wasn’t going out on the beach in a speedo anytime soon. The man had to know how to eat well.

I nodded and smiled, closed my menu and said

“Sure!”

The waitress came by. I waited with baited breath on what tempting pizza he was going to order for us. He had, after all, said that the BLT pizza was his favorite.

“We’ll have the chopped salad.”

pause, me thinking there was more to come, this was dinner after all.

“Split”

HE CLOSED HIS MENU AND SAID

“That’s all, thank you.”

That’s it? A SPLIT chopped salad?

I mean, I’m happy splitting something but a SALAD? While I had to sit and watch pizza pie after tempting pizza pie float past me on a cloud of garlic infused oil air? After I drove all the was to Scottsdale to meet you after a full day of work?

This was dating purgatory.

I don’t really remember much after that. He talked, I pretended to listen. He talked more. I looked in vain at the door.

Finally, the salad arrived. It was small, I had little hope of being satisfied. But let’s be honest, that’s pretty much the female motto.

I’m not going to lie to you…..this was hands down the best salad I have ever had. It was so good, I almost licked the plate. In my defense, I was also really hungry. But this salad was GOOD! It’s so addicting that you will give up chocolate for it. Ok, maybe not chocolate but it’s still really good. It was almost worth being stuck on one of the most boring dates I have ever been on in my life. Seriously, like B-O-R-I-N-G.

No chemistry at all.

When the check came, I didn’t even make a courtesy offer. And no, when you try to kiss me, you will get a hug.

And yes, I will stop at Del Taco on the way home for chicken soft tacos.

Luckily for you, I’m giving you this recipe! You don’t have to go on a bad date to eat this nosh!

And you can eat the whole thing if you want!

Seriously, this salad is the easiest thing you will ever make! The restaurant version had turkey but I took it out of my version because well….sometimes you just have to get rid of the turkey to make something truly worthwhile….

(ohhh, see that? Its a pun! The guy’s a turkey! Get it? Get it?)

I know this doesn’t look like much but have a lil’ faith? M’kay??

photo cs

Chopped Salad 

What you need:

1 package any salami (I like peppered)
1 package grape tomatoes
1 package mozzarella cheese
3 heads romaine lettuce
4 lemons
2 TBL Olive Oil (more to taste)
Greek seasoning

What you do:
Juice the lemons
Add the Olive Oil
Add Greek seasonings
Put all of that in an empty water bottle (trust me)
Shake that thing like you are doing a Richard Simmons video
*Yes, I know I didn’t give a measurement. I do the Olive Oil and the seasoning to taste. Usually I use 1 TBL seasoning.

Chop the hell out of the lettuce and the salami.
When you cut the salami, stack all the rounds up on each other and cut into strips.
Cut the tomatoes into halves or fourths depending on your preference
Toss the lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and salami
Dress the salad with as much dressing as you would like.

Have wine on the side. Wine makes everything better.

Eat. Become addicted. You’re welcome.