"Don't talk to strangers!"... but why not?

Last weekend, I (Rebekah) was enjoying my lunch break at Panera's (thanks guys!). Across from me was a girl, reading. We kept accidentally looking at each other, which started to get awkward. My childhood French supressed memories kept me wondering if she'd slam down her book and yell "TU VEUX MA PHOTO?!?" which translates into a "you want my picture?! threat". Instead, when I pulled out my knitting project, she put down her book and started asking me all these questions about my hobby, how I got started, whether or not it was complicated, etc... We transitioned to our jobs, our homes, our husbands, our thoughts about the town, etc... The next thing I know, we're exchanging contact information and she's inviting me to their apartment for a house party to celebrate and watch the opening ceremony to the winter Olympic games. Her hubby's a proud Canadian from Vancouver and together they love hosting get togethers. In fact, she says he's got FOMO = Fear Of Missing Out. (side note: I think my Dad has FOMO too then) I thought, "OK, we'll see what Matt thinks". He said: "Either we go and it'll be a great story or an awkward one, or we don't go and we'll always say: 'you remember that one time we were invited to that party and never went?'..." Good point.

So we went. There were 3 other couples besides us and our hosts, and we had a BLAST. In fact, I hadn't laughed that hard and for so many consecutive hours for a very long time. The party was such a hit: a perfect blend of people and even they didn't all know each other. One couple became friends with our hosts while they were both on vacation in Puerto Rico (I guess they do this often). The food was great and the company even better. I brought Valentine's cavity-causing fudge balls. We stayed until past midnight, and of course, I had to wake up 6 hours later... Worth it!

What wasn't worth it was the ceremony. Pretty lame (SOrry you Canadians OUUT there!). The best line during the ceremony: "Canada is the 'what' in "What's new?" Don't ask us what that means. We don't speak Canadian.