Only in very late weekend nights, when I come home from yet another night of hanging out with my friends  in the city, do I realize that I still have so much to do at home... This tri state living arrangement has gotten to me lately, in more than one ways. Besides waking up in the middle of the night and not knowing where I am and which side of the room  the phone is located, I also find myself irritated easily when I spend too much time in one place with the same set of people. So I decided to take off on short notices, to places where I've not spent much time before.

This has been a very strange summer. Quite a few of my friends have recently broken up with their significant others and joined the largely (still) single crowd. Meanwhile, I have taken a different / extreme approaching by stop dating all together and simply chill. It's really the first time I've felt this happy and totally in control. After all, I had a good excuse - too busy with my work. It started like a very vague, almost not practical way of living my life, but pretty soon I start to feel quite comfortable with the concept, and the next thing I knew, I've not been with anyone for quite a while time now and I am simply quite happy with my choice. But I still needed something else to feel complete, and that notion drove me to seek short vacation / long weekend spots in the States. I picked Key West for various reasons - aside from the obvious facts that  it's definitely tropical, situated on the Caribbean sea, on the East Coast, there are also other unexplainable feelings attached to Key West.

Key West amazed me with it's sunset - though it was two years ago since I last visited Key West, I remembered it well.  Like a true tourist, I spent much of my films on sunset pictures. The rest of time I spent on the beach, eating oysters, chowing down Cuban food, listen to the Cubana music and chatting with the locals. Of course I didn't forget about SCUBA diving, and indeed, the water was as warm as I remembered. What more can I say, life on the beach was a dream coming true. One of those days I'll retire to a tropical island, open a shop and live the dream life I've always wanted.

Though Key West was a good break, I realized that I missed home, more than I'd like to admit, and I missed having close friends to talk to. On Sunday when a friend called, I spent good two hours on the phone, chatting up a storm.  We then went for a nice branch  by the water and took a little shopping trip to the Peter Pan BMW dealer.

One of his questions for me was - "how come a woman like you is single?" It took a great while for me to realize what life is all about and how to live a happy life, one thing I had not thought through was the whole relationship issue. It was simply too stressful most of the time and the other times when I did invest feelings and energy, I ended up hurting myself. So to his question I answered - "I've not met the match yet." I sometimes wonder why people constantly ask me the same question. Could it be that I'm approaching 26 years old this year and I should be - somehow in their mind committed to a relationship?

I've not been this happy in my life. Key West trip was a great example and also a test to my own sense of ability of staying single and be happy alone. I did indeed spent very pleasant three nights in Florida, all by myself, and all for myself.  The entire weekend I spent time examining my needs and listening to my heart. There isn't one single moment did I feel lonely. In fact, as I wondered around the town, I met quite a few interesting people from various East Coast states and they were quite surprised that I flew out of Portland Oregon the night before. One thing about vacationing in the East Coast, especially in Key West is the sense of remoteness. I was so far away from home - San Francisco bay and I had all the freedom and all the carefreeness that I need to feel rested. After all, this year has been an tremendous year - career wise and personal enlightenment wise.

The weather was rather humid and hot and the water was rather warm. The sun beamed down during the day which made any place with air conditioning a desirable spot. Places like Sloppy Joe' and Hog's Breath Saloon were ever popular but it's places like Billie's and Half Shell Raw Bar brought familiar memories back to me.

On the way back from Key West to Miami I phoned R, who was spending a weekend at the Southern Jersey shore, where his parents beach house resides. It was nice finally talking to him when we were at the same time zone. Of all men that I know, he had a way to relax me and ignite me. Yet at this stage of my life, as well as his, it's the best that we remain good friends. I think what boils down at the end of the day, is not how physically we once connected, which was beyond amazing, but how good friends we were to each other.  

Moving away from the myth of why I was always, and still am attracted to men from the East Coast, especially from the Garden state, I sense that what is ahead is still largely unknown, and there is no point of predicting future. What's important is to enjoy today and take each day as it comes and make the best of it. As far as why I like certain type of men or why I still (after all those times) remain single, is a matter of preference, a choice and  ultimately a life style which can be alternated at any given moment, for the right person, at the right place in life and for a proper reason. But before that happens, I still live a rather eventful, and certainly adventurous life.

Isn't life simply magical?