Eyes Wide Open - How to Survive A Blind Date

By Tim Blackstock

"You've got to meet her; dude, she's hot!" "He's a great guy. If I weren't already taken, I'd go out with him myself."

Ah, friends. They laugh with us, tell us when we have spinach in our teeth and if we're lucky, they'll try and set us up with someone who is just perfect for us. And if we're really lucky - they do it more than once.

The blind date. We hear about the success stories but more than often we hear about the disasters or, even worse, the non-spark, no big deal stories. Our friends, it seems, don't know us as well as they think they do.

Face it, part of the excitement (or stress) of the blind date is wondering if our friends do have enough insight to actually select someone who could potentially be a long term partner. For those rare times when you have that spontaneous combustion, we are relieved everything turned out ok. For those times when it was a complete disaster, we wonder if we should ever speak with our friends again, and for those times that are just plain uneventful, a slap across the back of their head would make us feel better. If only there was some way to make the process less stressful and more enjoyable whether the sparks fly or not...

How to Have a Successful Blind Date

Your blind date can be as successful as the date where you made the arrangements yourself. It doesn't mean the date will turn into a second date; it doesn't mean the two of you will even like each other. What it means is you won't want to rip your hair out and your friend's face off. Listen to us - we won't lead you blind.

Step One - Don't Believe What Your Friends Tell You

Your friends are blind. They are blinded by their thinking they've done something wonderful by finding the exact person you've been waiting for. They're blinded by their own good deed to really be thinking about you. So when they tell you they've found that perfect person, don't believe them. Instead, enter the situation having no expectations at all. You are going out on a first date and nothing more. Don't expect the earth to move unless you're having dinner at a construction site.

Step Two - Treat it like another Date

Call to introduce yourself or call back if they make the introductory call. Find out some likes and dislikes if you're the one making the arrangements. Offer suggestions if you're the one being asked about what you'd like to do. Keep it simple. Keep it fun. Keep it real. Be on time. Be prepared to talk. Be prepared to want to hear about the other person and engage them in conversation. This is a date created by a unique circumstance but you still need to have your A game. This isn't the time to try a new personality or do something you wouldn't normally do - you're already doing something unusual. Let the strangeness end there.

Step Three - Inexpensive is OK, Cheap Is Out and Breaking the Bank is Just Plain Foolish

There's nothing wrong with meeting for a free concert in the park if that's what the two of you agree to do. But make sure you don't buy her a hot dog from the vendor if the usual fare is everyone brings their own picnic. A nice bottle of wine. A lunch that is slightly upscale but not one that would break the bank and also tastes good is a guarantee that something goes right even if the two of you decide never to see each other again.

Also, don't try to impress him/her by suggesting or going to the most expensive place in town. Dating rules apply to blind dates as well as those with all eyes open. Unless you're used to going or be taken to upscale, five star any place, do what you normally do. You'll find out soon enough whether you're with someone who feels entitled or unimpressed. You don't need to break the budget and you shouldn't expect to on the first date.

Step Four - Don't Go To A Movie

To go to a movie, you have to know how to be quiet with a person and you won't know how to do that until you know how to speak to each other and when you go to a movie, you have to know how to do both and you don't know how to do either yet. So just don't go.

Step Five - End On A High Note

Unless the two of you were at each other's throats, the evening probably wasn't bad. You acted well, stayed true to who you were and didn't have unrealistic expectations. If you had enough of a great time that you would like to see him/her again. Say so - simply and easily. Tell them you would like to see them again and ask if you can call or ask that they call you.

If it was nice, but something you wouldn't want to repeat, don't be rude about it. Remember, you have a friend who thought you would be good together so play nice a little longer. You can tell the truth that you'll probably see them around here and there and it will be nice to see a yet another friendly face. Don't worry - it's a rare thing that one person would rate the date a ten and the other a one. We know when something clicks and when it doesn't.

Besides, if you followed step one, you didn't over invest emotionally enough to be heartbroken.

Step Six - Be Willing to do it Again

At best, you might meet some interesting people; get some new friends, and perhaps a solid relationship. At worse, you've got some stories to share at the next party.

On a recent playdate, Ruby Sweetheart Maguire passed her SIGG bottle to Kingston Rossdale to take a swig. Click here to learn more about these great aluminum bottles and to receive a sweet deal on your own SIGG!

Check out these additional feeding reviews:

• Kushies Bibs: Lightweight and So Easy to Clean
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• The Safe Sippy: BPA-Free Sippin'

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Apart from being a collaboration between two of Japan’s greatest creative minds, it’s also a limited edition, posthumous one that, until recently, was technically too difficult to actually make.

Kuramata's original drawings for the perfume bottle from 1990

Miyake recalls, ‘Kuramata suggested an oversized drop of water and a condensed version of the earth with visions of flowers and dreams, light and wind, men and women dancing a rondo inside.’ Back in 1990 industrial techniques didn’t allow for a clean circle to be cut into a cube, let alone for a party to take place inside one.

Almost twenty years on, though sadly after Kuramata’s death in 1991, 2,500 bottles have been made. Thanks to the development of laser technology, a perfect sphere has been cut into a cube of glass and polished, achieving the ‘absolute purity’ Kuramata intended with his original drawings. A nod to the designer’s Memphis involvement comes in the turquoise blue cap and the box, which features the designer’s trademark ‘Star Piece Terrazzo’ pattern.

The limited release of a design that could have been consigned to the history books without ever having been made is reason enough to raise its value. But given the technical precision of the design, Kuramata’s ‘ahead-of-his-time’ thinking and the timeless appeal of the object itself, we would recommend you keep the bottle long after the perfume’s finished.

-Via Wallpaper

She’s been a fixture of popular music for most of this decade, and Christina Aguilera is ready to showcase her career’s best at Sunday night’s American Music Awards.

The “Genie in a Bottle” songstress was spotted arriving at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles yesterday (November 20) for rehearsals, sporting a black frost free vest with black and white striped sleeves, red t-shirt, black leggings, and black boots.

The model-turned-actress-turned-perfumer smouldered for the cameras as she posed in a frill sleeved little black dress with a bottle of the new scent, which follows her first, eponymously named fragrance.

We've been lucky enough to have a sneaky sniff of Vivacious and, we have to say, we're kind of impressed. It's a fresh, sweet scent, and comes in a sophisticated black and gold box. And the good news is that you'll be able to buy it here at asos.com in the new year!

With the perfume launch done and dusted, there was just time for a quick change before Kel had to head over to Bond Street to turn the Christmas lights on. To mark the occasion, Kelly went for all-out glamour - a long lace gown, hair in an up-so and super sparkly, dangly earrings.

But a new Johnnie Walker display in the main liquor stores at Dubai Airport will be offering this new variant, along with an engraving and gift-wrapping station, to celebrate the travel retailer’s 25-year milestone. The 75cl bottle of the exclusive, limited edition blend comes in an elegant, handcrafted lacquered case. And a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label King George V Edition can be a luxury Christmas gift!
Tags: luxury food pictures, luxury goods, most expensive

Via:  bornrich

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