I missed the JCUA Chocolate for a Change event last year and heard it was fantastic. So when a good friend was able to get me in on a discounted ticket, I put on my party dress (Yes, the one from my party.) and headed to the West Loop.
We got there a little early–at the tail end of the pre-party and stayed until they pushed us out the door. Seriously, flashing lights and not-so-gentle encouragement. One of the more prominent couples from my shul were there and that made me feel oh-so-connected. Turns out they are pillars of Jewish life all over the city.
There was a silent auction and some yummy desserts. For the record, cantaloupe dipped in chocolate is not good. Especially when it is disguised as pineapple. And especially not when chocolate falls onto me and I don’t see it until I put my hand in it and then later go to shake hands and it appears that my hand is covered in… well… not chocolate.
And these young, Jewish events are strange because you recognize people from JDate. My friend Adam and I got into a discussion about our JDate profiles vs. who we really are. I complimented him on the honesty of his profile–I feel that a woman will have a good idea of who she is going to meet. And I explained to the people we were standing with why I’ve snapped so many BBerry self-protraits over the last month. Part of the goal was to find photos that actually say who I am.
Adam thought that my “JDate Mona Lisa” was perfect because it said I don’t take myself too seriously, but the Hebrew behind shows that Judaism is important. Hmmm. Oh, I just thought my smile was cute in that one.
I was chatting with three guys and we were talking about dating. (This was because there was a Dating 101 package in the silent auction. Apparently the matchmaker included in the prize is pretty brutal. I was told by friends that she would point-blank tell me I’m fat. Awesome. More about Dating 101 later.) The guys were all saying they didn’t have rules and only one fessed up that he wouldn’t date a woman taller than him. I’m pretty sure that between the three of them, they have each dated a friend of mine.
Ah. Dating 101. So it was one of the things on the silent auction. It included a nice dinner, a bouquet of flowers and meeting with a matchmaker. A matchmaker who has told my skinnier friends that they need to lose weight, so would definitely tell me I’m fat. I don’t need to hear that from a matchmaker. And nobody bid, nobody bid, nobody bid. Then they dropped the starting bid from $75 down to $20.
Here’s the deal, in a room of Jewish Singles, a room of Professional JDaters, who wants to win something called Dating 101. You are right–Leah Jones! I looked at the dinner and the flowers and said, “I’ve always wanted to go there and I don’t have to call the matchmaker. Sold!”
So I’m going to get to have a nice dinner at the Blue Line at Damen and Milwaukee and send myself flowers. $20 well spent, no?
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