part 2
My weekend was somewhat male-dominated. None of my female friends came out to play at all, so I took it upon myself to head to the Cypress Lounge Friday to give Sasa (the head honcho events planner) a bottle of Syrah and he almost shit a brick, he was so happy--so I got stamped and let into Cypress fo free.

I saw my homeboy Süp there, which was a pleasure, and my buddy Nick ended up hanging out and I gave him a ride home since he lives in my hood in the mountains. It was great seeing his pitbull, Sunny, whom we took for a moonlit walk (sounds romantic but wasn't--Nick and I are definitely strictly platonic, and he even told me about this chick he started hooking up with from work). On Saturday I went back there straight after work and gave Mike Marquez of the Midtones (local Reggae band) a bottle of wine for his birthday, to which he happily received, and when I sat down at the bar and asked if there was a corkage fee, the bartender told me that normally it was ten dollars, but for ME, it was five. NICE!
Nick showed up
again cause he loves Reggae and we had dinner at the bar, and as I was drinking this fine Pinot Noir, a cute boy next to me said, "So
that's how you roll?" and I laughed and explained I was in the business, it was free, and I got a deal on the fee. Turns out the guy, also names Nick, is a Santa Cruz local (EAST SIDE) professional skate boarder (and at 28, that's pretty amazing!). And also super cool and fun to talk to, I hope I run into him again! As a side note, this is the first guy I've met who is actually cute (not much taller than me, curly brown hair, blue eyes, Polish descent, skater body mmh-hmm), who I hit it off with immediately, with a good personality, who's not too young, and is not a douchebag or a drunk or stupid or overly aggressive. He seemed VERY interested in what I had to say about myself, especially the belly dancing part

but he DID mention his EX-girlfriend used to make him do Yoga with her, and he admitted it really helped his skating as far as balance and poise. He lit up a

during the Midtones set right there inside the place and passed it to Mike while he was singing, which was pretty brave! After it went to about 4 people the bouncer politely told ME to take it outside (um, it wasn't mine! guilty by association

). The Cypress RULES! I felt really good, flirting and actually diggin' it--skater Nick seems pretty bright, spiritual, comprehensive, and just an all-around cool guy to know. Uh huh huh, also I was so physically attracted to him that celibacy seemed like Old News on a primal level. Haha. Yeah, I must admit it was kind of amazing to feel instantly smitten after so long of nuthin'--don't remember that feeling much! We talked a lot but didn't get around to saying "you have a girlfriend?" "what's your number?" "want to hang out sometime?" etc. It was like, played cool without either of us
trying to play it cool. When I went to leave with Buddy Nick, however, I went to hug New Nick and he hugged me warm-heartedly and impulsively kissed my cheek

I kissed his cheek back. We DID mention that we both started hanging out there on a regular basis, so at this point I say I'm not going to get high hopes or trip out, I'm just gonna relax and keep hanging out at Cypress, and if some cool-boy action falls into my lap, then there it is. Afterward, I made a stop at Giza to talk to DJ LB and co., but by that time I was pretty tired and ready for bed. The Dubstep was
off the hook though!

They made me puff hookah. Ugh! My lungs weren't happy Sunday

Sunday I worked at that wine festival on Santana Row, pouring, and hung out a bit with one of my favorite male sales reps, ALSO named Nick

Afterward I met up with Chris at the Cypress AGAIN for the....4th time in a row (wow--we had had dinner there Thursday) to watch my teacher and other belly dancers dance. I was so excited I had a great time, and we all got up and danced after the performances. A belly dancing COUPLE came up to me and asked if I was a dancer myself--nope I'm just learning! Nice to be mistaken for one, though. My teacher told me that in a couple months she wants ME to dance there with her!

Hell yes!
Weekend was loads of fun but calorie surpluses ensued. Back to business.....
