Sunday, May 18, 2008

More rambling about what my house looks like, plus a fun experiment to try at your next party

In case any of you are curious what I did about my very important whisk(e)y dilemma, I took the advice of the Internets (as per usual) and bought a bottle of Maker's Mark. And I would like to say that move made all the difference and my Manhattans and Old Fashioneds were suddenly tasty enough to make me the kind of classy, refined girl who says, "Barkeep, I'll have a Manhattan, please," but in reality, between the Sidecar and the Tom Collins and the White Russian and whatever I poured myself afterwards that put me entirely and unexpectedly over the edge, I never did try a Manhattan at my basement christening event. About 1/4 of the bottle was gone, however, so someone must have sampled the Maker's Mark. When I can look at alcohol again without having flashbacks to my entire day spent horizontal on my couch, perhaps I'll give the Maker's Mark a try.

That said, I think with that little party, my basement rec room has successfully been reclaimed. The bar was fully stocked and surrounded by friends for presumably the first time since the Ford administration, and after spending so many hours getting the space into party-presentable form, I hope it's safe to say it was only the first of many gathering in the newly refurbished rumpus room. 'Twould be a damn shame to do all that work just to gaze at it on my way to do my laundry. Toga party next fall, perhaps?

Incidentally, since I've not yet posted a recent "After" picture, perhaps I should do so now. Again, this is what my basement looked like before I decided it was time to use that space for something other than storage of old lopsided Christmas trees, moving boxes, and furniture and workout equipment the previous owners left behind...





And here's what it looks like now.





Unfortunately, while the mess in my basement is gone, the duct tape in my shower is not. No, the shower is still more ghetto-tastic than it's ever been, but my concern about party guests snooping behind the curtain and being horrified by the sight turned out to be an interesting social experiment. I decided to address the dilemma with a note after all, but I thought that as long as I was doing so, I might as well have a little fun with it.







As it turns out, it was a good move, as I am $22 richer as a result.



$22! I still can't believe someone gave me a twenty. I am trying to decide if one of my friends with more expendable income than I decided to take pity on my obviously sad, slum-living self, or if one of my friends was so fuzzy-eyed from the Manhattans that he or she thought she was giving me a five and dropped in a twenty instead. My guess is that if the anonymous benefactor was focused and lucid enough to snoop behind my shower and find and read the note, he or she was with-it enough to read the number on a bill, but I'll admit I feel a bit strange about keeping that generous donation anyway.

In absolutely unrelated news, my date last week was a bit of a bust. He was perfectly nice, but it felt a bit like having drinks with a work-related acquaintance: we had polite conversation, but the wall of formality never fell down, and while we had plenty of on-the-surface things in common, I realized when we parted ways that I did not care if I ever saw the man again. I already have friends to go to concerts with and friends to swap book recommendations between. A mutual appreciation for The Current is lovely, but it's not enough to build a relationship upon.

Speaking of dating, I'm amused by a recent crop of singles-related spam to arrive in my Junk Mail folder with the subject line "Professional Singles." Not "Single Professionals," mind you, but "Professional Singles." I don't know that I actually consider myself a Professional Single just yet. I mean, sure, I'm pretty good at this being single thing. I get search engine hits every week from people looking for reasons to enjoy being single, so apparently I'm an Internet authority of sorts on the topic. But Professional? I'm not so sure I want that title. I was sort of planning on maintaining my amateur status so I can date in the Olympics.

In my car on the way to my date the other night, I momentarily forgot the name of the guy I was meeting there. For a full thirty seconds, I blanked on it. Jeff? Joe? John? I knew it was a common "J" name, but for more than a moment, I forgot just which name. Is this a rookie mistake that confirms I'm an amateur, or does the casual way I stepped out the door without even stopping to think much about where I was going just confirm I've been doing this too damn long?

16 comments:

3carnations said...

I imagine the person who left the twenty was horrified to have been "caught" snooping, and out of guilt decided they should make a hefty donation.

Would you go out with that guy again? I'm still not convinced that just because the walls of awkwardness or formality don't break down after one date that it means another try is not worthwhile...Sometimes the ones where awkwardness breaks down most easily end up being the real busts.

I found your comment on my last post hilarious...Apparently you and I have nothing in common other than good grammar and age. Heh.

The Dutchess of Kickball said...

Maybe dating will be one of those "sports" they allow professionals to compete in in the Olympics, like basketball.

shelleycoughlin said...

I am duly impressed both with your amazing refinished basement and your ability to raise money for shower funds. Maybe you have a career in non-profit work ahead of you.

Also, I love the idea of dating Olympics. It could be like speed dating, but with challenges. Like an obstacle course! Oh, I would pay to see that.

Anonymous said...

I am impressed with the renovations - huzzah!

But you didn't even have a Manhattan at your own basement christening event? All I say is, Whisk(e)y Tango Foxtrot!

Anonymous said...

Professional daters don't need to remember the names of their dates, they just need to fake it convincingly.

lizgwiz said...

I would drink to intoxication in that rumpus room any time. Nicely done!

I think the fact that you blanked on his name is probably not the GREATEST omen, but really...who can keep straight all the Jims, Jeffs and Johns?

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love that someone "donated" $20 to your shower repair situation! That cracks me up!!!

Aaron said...

Now that is a rec room.

I still can't believe that people actually peek behind the shower curtain. I thought you were just being paranoid. That someone actually left you a twenty is even more astounding.

Jess said...

The basement is gorgeous! And so is that 20-dollar bill.

Anonymous said...

I think it is HILARIOUS that your friends donated money to the shower fund. (And that you addressed the situation with notes and donation bucket). You rock, my friend.

L Sass said...

I LOVE that you got donations! Your friends sound like they have excellent senses of humor!!

The rec room sure does clean up nice. Love the green walls!!

Courtney said...

That is one good-looking basement! I am impressed with your renovation skillz, and I also love those bar stools.

I never thought of holding a fund-raiser for a bathroom project. You are a genius.

Stefanie said...

3Cs--I know, I know; I keep saying I'm trying to keep an open mind, but... really, I haven't thought about the guy for more than two minutes total since then. I was not even remotely attracted to him, and there was no spark (physical, conversational, friend-like, or otherwise) at all. Plus, he kept wiping sweat off his face, and he outright admitted that he's dodging work because he hopes he gets laid off. Is that enough reasons that you'll let me not go out with him again? ;-)

Dutchess--Now there's a thought...

NPW--Oh, trust me. There are already enough obstacles in dating.

Pam--I love that phrase. And no worries, I drank plenty of other retro-tastic drinks in the Manhattan's place!

Noelle--That's what I thought. I mean, really, when was the last time you actually had to address a guy by his name on a date??

Liz--Exactly. Totally not my fault, right? ;-)

Abbers--It still cracks me up, too. I sort of don't even want to find out who left it. (I have a couple unconfirmed guesses, and I think I should just keep it that way.)

Aaron--I wondered if I was just being paranoid, too. And then I pulled back the shower curtain mid-party and saw that I was not. It was hilarious.

Jess--Thanks. And I agree. :-)

Lara--I am totally glad I did it. It proved my point AND made me $22 richer!

L Sass--If you looked at my Flickr stream, you saw that half my guests wore green as well. Everybody came matching the walls and I didn't even tell them to!

Courtney--In reality, the $22 isn't going to get me very far with the renovations, but it did at least put a tiny dent in the amount I spent for the party! Yay!

Maddie said...

shower donation is hilarious!

3carnations said...

Dodging work because he hopes to get laid off?!? Does he know there are a heck of a lot of people who WISHED they had work to dodge? Ugh. Why didn't you just say so? Please don't go out with him again. ;)

Anonymous said...

Wow, quite the donation! I was an advocate of the shower note, as I tend to be a snooper to find out what shower products people use. I would have gotten a good laugh out of the note and definitely left some guilt-stricken cash!
Wanted to let you know that you are not alone with the embarrassing injuries. My best friend graduated law school this weekend and had a carnival party. We had spiked snow cones and an adult bouncy castle. This was all fun until the generator that kept the castle bouncy ran out of gas and we were too inebriated to notice until the castle came down on us. Wow that ground is hard!
Okay this is a rather long comment that probably should have gone in email instead, but apparently I am on a role with my boozie-commenting!
No need to waste any more time with that guy. Another guy will just give you the practice you need to be an Olympic contender.