Life is all about choices....

Good morning ladies and gentlemen seriously!  Seems that fall is starting around Chicago and boy has it been beautiful outside the last few weeks.  It kind of makes up for the fact that I was supposed to be in Africa right now on vacation.  BUT never fear, the trip has been re-scheduled for next year.  And I am now in the process of planning my trip to Fiji for April.

So in the last few weeks I have been thinking about choices in life.  And more specifically, life choices that we all make...having kids, being single, getting married, getting a divorce, living in the city, living the burbs, our job, etc.  And there seems to be some judgey judgey going on with people in regards to life choices.  Let's be clear, we do live in America and women and men are generally free to make their own choices and decisions.  I think it is fair to assume that each person's or family's decisions are made on what it is believed to be best for the person or the family.  If you are a person that chooses to get married, live in the suburbs, have a child and be a stay at home parent, I don't judge.  It would not be my choice, but that doesn't matter, we all need to respect each other.

And I guess the place were I start to get upset and things turn NOT classy is when people assume that their life is more fulfilled or better than someone else's based on their choices.  For example, please don't assume that your life is more fulfilled than mine because you have a husband and a child.  I am quite fulfilled and happy with my single dog parent life in the city.  Would I like to have a date...sure!  but that doesn't mean I am not fulfilled.

So ladies and gentlemen seriously, can we all just be classy and respect one another's choices?  Don't try to change me, don't try to tell me, I will meet someone soon and then I will want to have children.  And on the other side of things, if a couple is married and chooses not to have children, that is their choice, you don't need to try to convince them that they will want children.  OR if a family chooses to live in the city and have their kids go to school in the city, don't try to convince them their life would be better in the suburbs.  These are all choices, respect them and move on.

On a side note, apparently the dating gods read my last blog post and I am happy to say that a very lovely, normal adult man did ask me on a date.  I met him online on Thursday and we went out yesterday.  We had a great time.  So hopefully more to come on that.

Keep your heels, chin and standards high
BONSOIR, CHEERS AND CIAO BELLAS!

Gentlemen Seriously....Time to step up

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.  Happy Labor Day, hope you are enjoying your holiday.  It is HOT in Chi this weekend, so I have mostly been indoors.  I have been having fun with friends and family.  And on Saturday, I had an opportunity to see the Australia Wallabies play the USA Eagles in a rugby match at Solider Field.  My awesome boss invited me to a suite to watch the game.  Lots of fun.

So this classy, fun lady is in a major dry spell on the dating front.  Yep, it's been about a year since I have had a date or even someone of interest, honestly.  And yes, I play on tinder, but let's face it, that isn't dating in the real world, it is just like spinning the wheel for fun.  And yes, lots of my friends tell me to get on match, eHarmony....blah, blah....Feels so forced and unnatural, I hate it.

In this day and age of social media and online EVERYTHING, dating has basically become non-existent.  Gentlemen seriously, texting and messaging is not dating.  I understand how chatting online to get to know someone is all FINE, but eventually you do have to have in person conversation.  I mean, am I supposed to swoon because you sent me a smiley face emoticon?  How about asking for a meeting for a coffee, drink or food?  I can't tell you how many times, I have to wait for the guy to actually suggest that we get together.  Gentlemen, what is it?  How are hard is it?

And yes, I know, the ladies can ask the guy out and there is no shame in that.  However, here is what has happened, gentlemen, you are generally lazy and will take the path of least resistance...sorry to say.  And ladies, we feel empowered and so we get tired of waiting for the guys to ask us, so we just ask them and pursue them.  And unfortunately, for a traditional, nice Nebraska girl like me, I end up waiting forever for my prince charming to ask me out because he is too busy dating the ladies that are willing to do all the work.

And many times, you don't even end up dating.....you end up getting drinks and going back to his house, because let's face it, if they guy doesn't have to take you out.  I mean I went out with this guy who literally took me out twice and then every other time only wanted to get take out and watch a movie.  I mean that's all well and good after you have been seeing each other for a while.  But we live in CHICAGO, one of the best cities in the world....let's have some fun going out for a while.  And it's not about the money and who buys what (I am fine sharing that), it's about the experience.

So gentlemen seriously, this one is on you.  Can you just step up and ask us classy ladies out every once in a while?  If we have been chatting with you or texting you, we are going to say yes, at least once.  It is classy to have some manners and treat us like the ladies were are.

So the time being, this classy lady is going to keep waiting...

BONSOIR, CHEERS AND CIAO BELLAS!