Week Eight: Aaron and Ana

The darkness comes and the darkness goes. My month of sickness was coming to an end, but with it, the start of a new sickness for my wife. Despite a regime change of mucus dictators, things were looking up in the household. The boxes were finding their way out or unpacked, everything was a tad bit cleaner and we had a couple coming over who was already proven in the double date game: Aaron and Ana.



Erica and I know Aaron and Ana from the local music scene. Aaron is part of a local rap conglomerate called FATED EMPIRE, which includes my good friend Desmond who does the bulk of my artwork for shirts, stickers and albums.

Further research on their crew's material can be found at their website: http://http://fatedempire.com/

Aaron and I have gone to several of each other's shows, as performers and audience members, off and on, with the company of our wives for a few years running. Aaron and Ana got married last August, right on the back end of my tour with the Slow Dance boys (the vocalist from this group is Aaron from Week 4). That tour ended in my third tour van breakdown and was resolved by a rental U-haul escape. As a result, I landed back home at an unexpected time and Erica and I were unable to make it to their wedding. It is one of our greatest couple-friends regrets.

To make up for this mishap, Erica and I promised to take them out on a double date. We had coupled off a few times before (often with Jancsi and Bri from Week 3, or the notorious Power Couple John and Kim from Week TBA), but this might mark our first officially planned double date. In a sense, Aaron and Ana popped our DD cherry. As it was a first of sorts, we set the dinner date to be at the very restaurant I took Erica to on our first: Bizzarro in Wallingford.



Bizzarro is an adorable Italian joint tucked away behind the Blue Star. They have stellar food and the atmosphere is incredible. Our good friend Ben (from Week 1) used to work there and introduced us to it. So we took Ana and Aaron there and had a blast. The date migrated back to Greenwood and even ended at Bleacher's Pub. At the conclusion of the evening, we agreed to do it again, but they insisted NEXT TIME, THEY COOK.

We are down! We are so down. I almost never cook, and pulling off seven meals in seven weeks was enough of a balance beam for me to walk. So I was stoked when we started 52DD to have this wild card in my back pocket. When we invited Ana and Aaron over, THEY were going to cook for US. All we needed to do was have the ingredients they required and we could sit back and enjoy the night duty free.
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The dish of the day was sour-cream and cream-cheese bacon-stuffed chicken. I got to watch step by step as Ana and Aaron pieced together this cheap, easy and delicious meal. All that was required was 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, panko bread crumbs, two eggs, 6 strips of bacon, a small container of cream-cheese, a small container of sour-cream, and flour. They cooked the bacon, sliced it into small bits then mixed it in a bowl with the cheeses. Then they cut pockets in the breasts, and made a small assembly line of bowls for the panko, flour and eggs. After stuffing the chicken with the bacon and cheeses, they were dipped in the eggs, flour then panko. They pan-seared the chicken then tossed it in the oven. Quick, easy and super tastey!

To accompany the chicken, Ana and Aaron prepared some garlic, lemon and parm asparagus. It was fantastic to a) learn a new easy and awesome recipe and b) get to sit back and get food cooked for us. I was very impressed and certainly will make this dish for myself. It was excellent.



The overall theme of the night was definitely me being overbearing in conversation and trying to focus the spotlight on myself. I will admit upfront I was very annoying. It started while Aaron and Ana were cooking. We have a CD player in the kitchen which is stocked with horrible dinner party music, such as Sugar Ray (which was the initial selection of the night). However, I unfortunately took the initiative to dig out my old punk rock demo from high school and play that next. It would have been a totally acceptable 30-second listen-to-how-bad-I-sing/isn't-that-embarrassing moment. But I turned it into a let's listen to 30 seconds of every crappy song while I explain what it's about and why I wrote it moment.

Next came my shotty attempt at whiskey sours, followed by my constant interruptions at the dinner table and culminating with me screaming loudly and repetitively. Aaron and Ana had brought along a game called Whodunit. This was very thoughtful because they noticed on our blog that we were obviously sick of our Table Topics games. However, specifically with the screaming loudly, I am referring to my inability to play this game in lieu of me shouting the title stretched out in Oprah fashion.

Despite my inability to be a gracious host, Ana and Aaron were awesome company. Despite not having a deep history with them, Erica and I are super comfortable around them. We managed to have an extended conversation, filled with various personal information and stories both taboo and touching. And as the night came to an end, I was certain the four of us would break bread again. We do love seeing Ana and Aaron.

Riddle me this: what do you get when you take the most popular and pretty girl from Roosevelt High School and pair her with the studliest and most bad-ass guy from Ballard? A POWER COUPLE headed the way of the double date. Stay TUNED for Riana and John next week. I promise I won't break out my musical failures.

Week Seven: Chris and Eileen

The darkness was upon us. Our living room was filled to the brim with boxes full of large household items that would not fit anywhere in our hobbit home and were waiting idle for return. Our basement was filled with all our other belongings that had nowhere else to go. The garage was filled with empty boxes and a couch that couldn't even make it through the door frame. Our hearts were filled with massive amounts of stress and depression.

Erica and I considered taking a knee.(*) Was this it? Was the blazing hot flame that once was 52DD withering into an ember spark barely lit in the dense darkness? Would the foundation of the most epic love story in modern day society come to an abrupt halt?

NO. The show must go on! In the eye of the storm, and the storm mainly being our moving issues, Erica called upon a reliable friend who has helped us move three times before. A friend with a truck. A friend named Chris, and his girlfriend Eileen.



Chris has been one of Erica's best friends since I have known her. He is a stand-up guy and one the most supportive and trusted people in her life. I have always liked Chris, which made this an easy factor to accept when Erica and I started dating. At our Wedding, I told Chris how glad I was he was in Erica's life. His friendship is very important to her.

It is indeed true, Chris has helped Erica and I move three times. From Mountlake Terrace (though I am not formally admitting I ever lived there) to Lake City (same with this area). From Lake City to Ballard. From Ballard to Greenwood. But the only help we needed in the move to Green Lake was a good double date. And Chris delivered.

The food for the date was my favorite thus far to make. Eileen has a condition called Phenylketonuria or PKU. This is when a person is born unable to breakdown proteins. It was nice for awareness sake to learn this, especially since most Americans over-consume proteins in their daily diet. Because I had to research my options. It presented a challenge and I was excited.

To start, no meats or cheeses. Then I learned about non protein fruits and vegetables. A quick but not full list would be: apples, cranberries, pineapples, pears, cucumbers, radishes, ginger and eggplant. EGGPLANT! I loved a nice fried eggplant, so I grabbed a giant globe eggplant.

Eileen's meal of choice is pasta in light olive oil and fresh lemon, with kale and chard and a side of boiled asparagus. I grabbed some organic kale and a bag of lemons. I was hoping to add the surprise of some sliced fried eggplant on top of the pasta, but things didn't pan out so well in the pan...

It was my favorite to make, but what I made wasn't everyone's favorite. I knew eventually I would bite off more than I could chew in the cooking game. This meal was decent, but obviously would have been better if prepared by an experienced chef. I used too much olive oil when heating the kale, and thus couldn't add any to the pasta, but then I squeezed too much lemon on the pasta and it all combined for a slightly under seasoned and somewhat sour dish.

And then, there was the great Eggplant Disaster of 2012.


I severely burned the eggplant in the process, and salted the living squooshiness out of it, which rendered it completely inedible. It was not included in the dish. Then following that disaster came the great Mashed Potatoes Disaster.


By choosing a cheap brand of instant mashed potatoes, I had doomed our table to have no potatoes. As a life lesson: NEVER BUY INSTANT MASHED POTATOES. They are absolutely the worst tasting thing ever.

Despite my shortcomings as a cook, the meal was decent. Chris and Eileen were very polite and gave their nod of approval. We sat down with a bottle of pino and a six pack of Stella and got to it.

Chris is a contractor and Erica just happened to have our plumbing estimates at the table. We discussed the issue, and the experience with each plumbing company in Erica's search, then Chris looked over the paperwork. He is a very knowledgeable guy and could explain the contracts to us in simple terms, and warn us about red flags.

This conversation dominated the first half of the date, but I felt very engaged. I was interested (obviously, it is MY plumbing problem), but it was an informative exchange and held everyone's attention. We naturally moved into other topics, and I started seeing what a great couple Eileen and Chris are together. They are both completely different yet have extremely similar interests. Eileen has a book club and works as a chemist, which is a passion of her's. Chris is very handy with physical labor and logistics and was a bar-goer of sorts. But they both love camping and nature, and cooking and travel. Their bond is a perfect balance.

We talked about a few camping excursions they had been on together. They mentioned the possibility of going "car camping" in Winthrop, WA. In my ignorance, I learned yet another new thing. Car camping is when you drive up to the campsite, bringing with you the luxuries of home. Backpacking (or the more commonly thought-of style of camping, in my mind) is when you walk deep into the woods, find a spot and pitch a tent. I don't think I have done either, but I certainly look up to outdoorsy folk.

As I sat there admiring this established union, I reflected upon how different each double date has been. This one was so calm, and pleasant, almost more what we had pictured from the beginning. Had our living room not been overtaken by massive boxes, and my cooking overtaken by my lack of ability, it would have been elegant. And I appreciated this date for taking a life of its own, separate to the rest.

It makes me look forward to them all. Because this is no set "thing," it's an adventure with several different turns. Next week's turn is my friend from the local music scene Aaron and his wife Ana. And the unique twist it is adding to the mix is THEY are cooking for US. Getting me out of that kitchen couldn't come soon enough!


(*)"Taking a knee" is a direct reference to the play in football, when the quarterback downs the ball. I use it very loosely and quite often as an expression of making an effort (they hike the ball) then quitting effortlessly (they end the play with no progress or positive result). It becomes butchered if you think of the context in which a football team would take a knee. So don't. Cause it's an awesome expression.

Week Six: Matthew and Devon

It has been a tumultuous month, furniture in and out of the house, cleaning, sickness, work all the time, etc. I have predicted "the darkness"(*) coming for several months. The emotions of life come in waves, and while Erica and I were riding a high peak, I knew a valley was destined to appear.

With a cold that has lasted over three weeks, I gathered my strength to prepare our home for invasion by the scariest type of party animal: a Gomez. A Gomez is not something to mess with. A Gomez is the Wu-Tang Clan of party animals. Be it rain or shine, a Gomez is there to have a good time.

Little did I know, my foul mood was about to be lifted by a visit from my longtime close friend Matthew Gomez and his gorgeous lady Devon.



Gomez and I met way back in 2002, while he was attending auto-mechanic school in Phoenix Arizona with Jancsi (Week Two) and Aaron Greene (Week Four). We clicked immediately and he came up with Aaron to live in Colorado with me for a summer, in what may have been the original "shithole." My mom found a condom in our toaster at that shithole. Wow, that was a sentence.

Anyways, we've been in touch since, and we both ended up back in Seattle in 2004, in a house (shithole) with Jancsi and Aaron. Blah blah blah, we know each other. We're tight. Fast forward to present day. The current hell I was in stemmed from several factors, one of the major ones being that I wasn't fully moved out of my old rental house in Greenwood. The landlords were harassing us about getting all our stuff out and cleaning the place, despite the fact we are paid up to the end of February. Being sick, I had procrastinated any hard labor and of course ignored the landlord's phone calls. So they had been stopping by the old house unannounced to continually check if we were gone and it was clean. This is not under contract as a legal thing to do in WA State, by the way. (A landlord coming to a rental property without formal notice, keep that in mind!)

Gomez had asked if he could use our empty rooms for a stop animation photography music video he wanted to make for Valentine's Day. Which is today, and here is that video:


As you can see, it is a very heartwarming video and clearly looks like it contains no intent of harm or evildoing. However, the landlords, who stopped by unannounced to checkup on their property, were very angry to find out we were allowing video taping to occur in the space we have paid for. This was so annoying to me, that I still have not cleaned the old house. Lucky for Gomez and his crew, I stopped by unannounced on my way home from work shortly after the landlord arrived, and assured him I had authorized use of the house and that I was helping. So you will see my name in the credits, because I helped as he awkwardly stuck around to supervise. I'm pretty sure he thought we might be filming pornography.

That Meet The Parents situation was on the Tuesday before our double date. And the rest of the week was going about the same: I had just learned my favorite co-worker might be getting transferred to another store, I was unable to track vocals at my Undercaste Studio session because of my sinus condition, my wife and I just learned we have a $3,000 plumbing issue, and more. It was a rough week. The small clash with the former landlord was just an uncomfortable blip on the radar.

Nonetheless, I was excited for some relaxation time and to get to know Devon better. If Devon can put up with a Gomez and his crew of scoundrels, she must be quite a lady. And I could tell I was right about that because she told us her favorite food was Mac and Cheese! As a rule, for future double daters, the visiting lady will get to choose both the main course and beverage. Her beverage choice was a clear liquor drink that involves use of a cucumber. Strange, but an interesting challenge. For the macaroni and cheese I spent hours and hours laboring away, shredding various exotic cheeses, boiling penne pasta, baking the cheese and the soft pasta together, utterly slaving away in the kitchen.



Or I just purchased some Beecher's "World's Best" Macaroni and Cheese and popped it in the oven. Yeah, I did that. Sorry, sometimes we won't be doing things from scratch here at 52DD. And quite frankly, half of y'all will just be getting a delivered pizza and a twelve pack of PBR, okay?



To accompany the pasta, I boiled up some broccoli and heated some bread to dip in olive oil. The drink was what I had to do my homework on. I stumbled upon a recipe by convicted felon Martha Stewart, which was vodka, cointreau, muddled mint, fresh lime juice, ice and a sliced English cucumber as a garnish. Nothing fancy, but if it's good enough for a prisoner, it's good enough for a Gomez.

Conversation was upbeat and lively. Devon had just finished her work week and was ready to let loose. Gomez had taken a night off from his post at Lock and Keel in Ballard, and was equally as stoked and ready to go. I have known Gomez was a lot of fun for awhile, but Devon turned out to be as well. She is very well put together and often has insightful things to say.

We chatted away and did some Table Topics questions, and as the hours passed, we realized we could catch our good friend Griff J's show down in Fremont. Griff is the mastermind behind the camera on the Man Crush video Gomez and I starred in (see Week Five) as well as many other cult-classics in the indie rap scene, including My Girlfriend Beats Me (co-starring Ben from Week One):


We got to the White Rabbit in time for Griff's set, during which I apparently decided to stand on stage for part of. I also had to purchase a few shots for gentlemen that Gomez and I had bumped into while "freak dancing" with each other, both actions of which they found offensive. I was also escorted out after falling over too often. That Martha Stewart really knows how to make 'em!



Gomez and Devon win the award for being First Couple to Spend the Night, a prestigious award for sure. As another note to future double daters, we do have a private guestroom with a queen sized bed and clean sheets. It is your's for the night and we would rather have you stay than anybody get a DUI! So kudos to them for breaking that barrier. Gomez, of course, lived up to the hype and brought the party.

Still fighting this evil illness, Erica and I are cleaning up the house and preparing for a Thursday night dinner with her longtime friend Chris and his girlfriend Eileen. My band Worst Animal will be playing the Nectar Lounge this Friday the 17th, so we could no do our usual Friday spot. But if you're looking to lock down your slot at 52DD, this Friday at Nectar would be a great time for us to chat about it, would it not?

Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day! If you don't have someone special in your life, don't worry, I'm sure you'll find someone before the year is over. If not for any other reason, to get a free dinner at my house.

(*)"The darkness" is a period of time where I become depressed, grumpy, and as a result, grow a beard and get fat.

Week Five: Sarah and Jesse

Week five brings us the first couple to get invited to our house who was not present at our Wedding.

Erica and I were stoked to branch out, and equally nervous. I was also making both tacos and margaritas for the first time ever. Spoiler alert: both the double date and the food and drinks went very well. As it turns out, Sarah and Jesse are very social people and we felt extremely comfortable around these two even though we don't know them extremely well.



Sarah and I know each other via our mutual friend Annie Bell, who is a fantastic human being. I distinctly remember meeting Sarah at a house party when I lived in the Northgate area in yet another shithole with Aaron Greene. I had a room, Aaron lived in a tent in the living room. The house was always full of various people and drinks. It was actually the birth place of 52 Parties, which failed after three months, but became in inspiration for 52 Double Dates. Now Erica and I just have to make it through March to beat my previous record, which should be easy since we are already booked up to April 27th.

Anyways, Aaron had invited Annie Bell over, who brought Sarah with her. Sarah was hysterically funny. Loud. Crass. In your face. She has the large kind of personality that takes over rooms. And I loved her whole deal right off the bat. She is so awesome.

As our friendship continued to blossom over the years, mainly fueled by group meetings at bars and shows, I encouraged Sarah to explore her performer side at one of my events. I used to host comedy nights to showcase both standup comics as well as musicians who make funny music called The Joke's On You. Sarah had the balls to perform a 5 minute set at one of these, and she killed it. That's how she rolls, which is why she has been on stage with Andy Dick, partied with Suge Knight and had a round of shots purchased for her entire crew by Seattle legend Shawn Kemp.



We both have such over-the-top personas that I was concerned we would takeover the conversation and Jesse and Erica wouldn't get much time in. I was only half right. As they came into our home, I explained I was brand new to the preparation aspect of our food and drink offerings. Jesse jumped in and lent a hand with the drinks. To my horror as a novice, Jesse is a professional bartender. I would have been humiliated if I tried to make the google recipes, half-winged with zero guidance. But Jesse was super helpful and encouraging and even let me follow his instructions rather than take over. And so the drinks got done properly, and the night just followed suit.



As it turns out, the key to great cocktails is fresh squeezed juice. The margarita recipe we followed was the most traditional: 1 1/2 ounces of clear tequila, 1/2 ounce of triple sec, 1/2 ounce of fresh squeezed lime juice and ice in a shaker, poured into a glass with a salted rim. Thanks Jesse for the lessons!

I never had the chance to get to know Jesse extensively, so it was very cool to sit down in a private environment and get to speak with him. When I said I was half right, it was because Jesse and I did quite a bit of the talking. We have a lot in common, and it turns out he is just as entertaining as Sarah. Time flew by quickly, and the conversation moved around extremely naturally. Before we knew it, three hours had passed and we hadn't even taken out the table topics games. Erica and I had just hosted four dinners in a row that all ultimately lead to question prompt cards to keep things moving... and that was with the best friends we have! It was a crowning accomplishment for my wife, who is adorably shy, and myself, an incredibly awkward man, to have a normal dinner and have it go so well.



Jesse and Sarah had plans to go to a benefit concert later that night. Erica and I were headed out to Black Lodge to watch Aaron and Rudy play a show. We were having so much fun, we decided to catch the bus together downtown and then they would reconvene with us at Black Lodge later. The bus route by our house is the legendary 358. Everytime I ride that bus, there is some loud mouth saying something interesting. If you can't spot the loud mouth within three minutes... you are the loud mouth. And for the first time on the 358, I think I was the loud mouth! Another major victory for an unconfident public transportation passenger.

As promised, we met up at Black Lodge and cabbed back home for a night cap. We did a second round of tacos and cheers'd some Fireball shots to the successful night. Then Sarah attempted what I must describe as the worst worm ever.



I had a blast and I can't imagine how it could've gone better. Next week brings my "man crush" (at least according to video footage) Matt Gomez and his lovely girlfriend Devon. Stay tuned for a wild one!