Saturday, October 25, 2014

Update: I’m Back!

Hi, everyone! I’m sorry it has been too long since my last post. 
I promise to make up for it in the upcoming weeks. I’ve been working on adding new pieces to my portfolio (in addition to my blog) and I’ve had quite a few colds to deal with. I’ve acquired some great new tips and mantras to improve my health, which I’ll be sharing on my other blog Beauty,Fitness and Style for the Fun-Loving Girl, which is also due for a serious update.

I’ve also entered several screenwriting competitions, including The Bluecat Screenplay Competition and Emerging Screenwriters. In the following months, I also plan to enter Stage32 Happy Writers TV writing competition and Capital Funds Screenplay Competition.

I just wanted to let you know I wasn’t procrastinating (much)! :)

The next post is coming soon, and until then here’re some of my dating posts published on the website GoWeLoveIt:



And a post featuring 3 great date movies:



Friday, February 21, 2014

When Your Friends Are Dating/Married: Do You Feel Like You’re Dating All Together?

Image via digitalspy.co.uk

I have a group of friends from high school who I see kind of regularly. There is an organized meeting usually once a month where we hang out at several locations in one day, spend a couple of hours and talk our butts off. But the friends from Friends TV show, we ain’t.

We kind of used to be like Friends, to be honest. In the beginning. We were 7 people (that’s almost 6, give me a break!), and we even had a brother-sister and a couple in our group for crying out loud!

We hung out a lot in the town (it’s actually a neighborhood bigger than the town I stayed in when I lived in Norway- which I totally adored, but that’s another post) where we went to high school, frequented several bars and coffee shops, and had a blast. We talked about anything and everything. We were there for each other, and we knew what was going on in each other’s lives without having to check Facebook. Heck, there were even regular phone calls and house parties.

Then we grew up a little, and dynamics changed severely.

The couple of in the group had a more tumultuous relationship than Ross and Rachel, but they did manage to tie to knot.

One guy dated some girls that didn’t quite suit the group (or suit him, for that matter), but then found the love of his love – and the two serious couples couples started spending more time together than ever, especially after they also got married.

Another guy also managed to hook up with a girl who for some reason didn’t like the group all that much. They moved in together, and we started to see less of him. Or let’s say I saw less of him. We used to be a lot closer.

This is not to say our group got smaller. It kind of doubled in numbers in the most cliché fashion, you decide: another high school friend started hanging out with us more, bringing along two more high school friends who were tighter with some of the people in our group. Then this guy started dating the sister of the girl in group number 2 (separating groups is not to be excluding, but to make sure you don’t get confused) and the group merged into one. Confused yet? I’d totally draw a chart or comic strip if I could draw anything.

The other guy in that second group was also seeing a girl who we got to meet and like, and (I’m guessing she liked us too) so she occasionally tagged along, which is cool.

But the brother in the original group went to study abroad, the sister started taking (and than giving) intense dance lessons (hence missing a lot of gatherings) and well, I didn’t feel like I belonged to the chatter of marriage and in-laws and serious relationships.

Oh, the marriage of our Chandler and Monica unfortunately ended up in divorce, so there is this subtle awkwardness in our meetings now.

The guy dating the sister in the other group married the sister, by the way, and they seem happy. Fingers crossed for their relationship.

I was at the birthday dinner of the second married couple, and the attendance of the original 7 Friends was initially 2, then came up to 4. Surprise, surprise, we weren’t all together.

Nowadays our headcount reaches twenty or so, many of them being siblings/friends/dates/spouses of the parties we know.  Many of them are nice, so it is not a problem.

In theory, we are meeting new and nice people and which is great. But when you take a closer look, you’ll see that I know a lot less about my friends’ lives now.
I know the official stories - who they are with, where they are working and their general happiness level. But that’s about it. They know about the same about me. Any other extra info, we get from social media. Oh, the joy...

A couple of months ago, in a form of sweet rebellion, I organized a girls-only night – and invited all the girls in my currently huge group. Only the original sister (refer to the first “Friends” mentioned) couldn’t make it. Well working/dancing and dating far away from everyone else does take its toll.

When you looked at it, I only knew one of the girls from the original group from way, way back. But it was a lot of fun, and we got to talk. I plan to organize more.

The point is, when most of your friends get engaged or married, they tend to hang with other couples and/or people in large numbers. I suppose it’s a time-saving tactic. With all the work, responsibilities of a marriage (such as in-law visits) and managing your own household, they can’t afford too many small groups. And they do want to talk about couples’ stuff, and couples relate better (to have a laugh, try Friends season 8, episode 4 – where Monica and Chandler piss Phoebe and Joey off with their obsession to make friends with a couple). And Joey hilariously comments, pointing to him and Phoebe: “You mean one, two people? A couple?”

I’m not on a best-friend or closer friend status as I used to be for the original group. And I’m more like a close acquaintance to the extended group. And it is fine, because it goes both ways. The problem with it, though, it really makes me question the quality of the time we spend together. How much we know, how close we are.

I guess many (still) consider me the Phoebe of the group. Well, I’m the only freelancer among them. And being more persistently single, confirmity-rejecting and having “quirky” ideas (like not wanting kids, wanting to own a beach house in Malibu and all that), I can see where they come from.

Maybe this is why Friends lasted only 10 years. They didn’t want us to see that they stopped hanging out with each other that regularly, knew less about each other (or just knew what’s on the surface) and well, there were at least ten more people at all their gatherings.

Come of to think of it, it has been 10 (will be 11 in June) years since I graduated from high school. Ouch.


How are your “friends” relationships? How did things change when your friends started dating?

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

7 Fun & Invaluable Relationship Lessons from the Film Your Sister’s Sister


Image via movieposter.com.

Your sister’s sister is a fun, heartfelt romantic comedy/drama about friendship, love, sisterhood and loss. If you want a non-spoiled plot summary and review for the movie, head out to my movie blog. I strongly recommend seeing the movie, so if you want to come back after watching, I won’t mind. Just don’t forget to bookmark this post J

So the plot:

Jack (Mark Duplass) is a nice guy, still trying to recover from the death of his brother a year later. He’s not doing well, so his best friend/brother’s ex Iris (Emily Blunt) sends him to her father’s cabin in the woods to sort himself out. But he finds Iris’s sister Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt) there, trying to get over a break-up. They talk, drink and have fun, and despite being a lesbian, she decides to sleep with Jack. What the hell, right?

Unfortunately, Iris decides to show up the next day, sending Jack into a frenzy to hide their one-night stand Hannah is amused, deciding that Jack has feelings for Iris, though he denies it. Irish later confesses to her sister that she might be in love with Jack.  Upon hearing this, Hannah decides to keep the night to herself too.

There’s just one problem: Hannah wants to get pregnant, so she might have “rigged” the condom.

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It’s a toughie: to have a potentially pregnant sister, fathered by the guy you love, who happens to be your dead ex’s brother. So you have problems regardless of Jack’s feelings for you. Of course Jack is in love with you too, but with a dead brother, he will make sure you make up with your sister first. Still, a lot of the drama can be avoided (for real life. For the movie, the amount/intensity of conflicts were just right.) if you just share your feelings with your sibling and the object of your affection.

So below are 7 fun, but essential, pearls of wisdom inspired by this lovely film:

1) Keep your sibling up to date about your relationship status. Your sister deserves to know if your boyfriend/girlfriend is suffocating you. It’ll relieve you too.

2) Keep your sibling up to date about your feelings for your best friend. Hannah wouldn’t have slept with Jack, had she known Iris’ feelings.

3) Don’t try to get pregnant by your sister’s best friend without telling the guy. Obviously it’s always unfair to get pregnant under false circumstances and without letting the guy know. It’s especially atrocious if he’s in love with your sister and she’s in love with him.

4) Don’t try to get pregnant by your sister’s best friend without telling your sister about this idea first.

5) Don’t get hammered and sleep with your best friend’s sibling if you have feelings for the best friend.

6) Get suspicious if your bestie’s lesbian sister suddenly wants to sleep with you. Emphasize on the word lesbian.

7) Assuming that you somehow found yourself in this dilemma, let your best friend know before he/she learns it from somebody else.

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Have you ever been in a tricky situation regarding your sibling and/or best friend? Please let us know in the comments.

And do share this article if you’ve enjoyed it J