Two BetterMost forces collide!

[Brown Eyes]

Greetings lovely BetterMost community!  I'm here to report that our gracious moderator and myself met today!  It was truly a wonderful moment in BetterMost history and a wonderful face-to-face Brokie meeting! After a fabulous sushi dinner we had whiskey and then beer later at a pub.  Jake Gyllenhaal even graced us with a few brief appearances on the t.v. screen in the pub.  I promise to disclose more details in the a.m.   For now,  I really need to catch 40 winks.  Duty - and work - call in the a.m.

Katherine!  Thank you so much for meeting with me!  What a wonderful evening!  As the lady who invited me to this wonderful BetterMost party to begin with, I can't say thank you enough!
 

Keep the faith everyone!  It's really worth it!

[Ellemeno]

Thanks for this preliminary post, Amanda.  I'm really looking forward to hearing more details, you two.  See you in the mornin'. 

Clarissa

[Mikaela]

Great that you two had such a good time! Lovely that you were able to meet. 

Looking *very* much forward to your disclosure of all the details as soon as you've got the time for it.

[Front-Ranger]

Sounds like the best kind of collision. Our illustrious moderator is certainly an ambassador for the board! Hope we get to see pics!

[Meryl]

That's great news, Amanda! 

Every time BetterMostians meet in person, the world gets a little bit better. 

[Brown Eyes]

Every time BetterMostians meet in person, the world gets a little bit better. 

Yes,  I agree wholeheartedly.  I think a Brokie brunch or night of drinking involving everyone who's posted in this thread so far (plus Katherine and a few others) would be the stuff of Brokie legend.

Well, I regret to say that there are no pictures.  But, we seemed to recognize each other immediately when Katherine walked through the door of the coffeehouse where we met to start the evening. 

We met in a very funky and pretty famous (or at least famous locally) coffeehouse relatively near her hotel and we chatted and I tried to get over the initial amazement at actually talking to the famous latjoreme!  Strangely not a Brokie-ism was uttered until later at dinner.  It seems that it's much easier to drop Brokie-isms into casual conversation online rather than in person... even with die-hard, true-blue Brokies.  So, anyway, we had a lovely and decadent sushi dinner (not very cowboy of us, I know).  But, we did finish dinner with a whiskey toast.  We then strolled around and chatted some more.  And, we ran into her husband and sons who were also out strolling.  So I had the pleasure of being able to say hello to them.  To finish the evening we went to a pub... A true pub with a pool table (the kind of pub it's possible to imagine a cowboy might enjoy if one happened to be in Pittsburgh) and we drank several beers and continued to chat.  Then a crazy sign from the Brokeback gods came to us in the form of Jake Gyllenhaal appearing on the pub's TVs.  It turned out to be the espy awards on mute... But, still it was really a pretty cool coincidence.  I mean seriously what are the odds?  It only would have been stranger if something actually about Brokeback appeared on the pub's screens.

It was a wonderful evening!  I couldn't stop smiling.  It's a truly surreal and amazing experience to meet someone for the first time and already know them so well.  I'll try to refrain from adding a lot more here until Katherine jumps in.  I think she's checking in from time to time when possible on her road trip.  I'm just so happy and excited that she came through Pittsburgh (a city which often feels a little out of the way... and even a tad isolated) and made time to visit with me!

 

[Meryl]

Thanks for the nice report, Amanda.  It sounds like a great evening. That's so cool that Jake shared it with you!   

For some reason, I assumed you two were meeting out in Colorado.  I didn't realize you live in Pittsburgh and Katherine was on a road trip.  I was born south of Pittsburgh and still have relatives there, so if I come out that way for a visit, I'll give you a shout. 

[Brown Eyes]

You bet Meryl!  Definitely let me know if you ever plan on coming through this way!
 

cheers
Amanda

[Ellemeno]

That Jake is so lucky! 

[serious crayons]

Amanda, you forgot to tell them it was ELK sushi! 

I'm on a motel lobby computer and only have a minute or two, but I want to jump in to say what a great time I had that night. I think the reason we recognized each other immediately -- literally the moment I stepped into the coffee shop -- is that we both look exactly like our avatars. Or I used to, anyway. Amanda showered me with gifts, including a huge box of chocolate-covered cherries, so I am now about 10 pounsd heavier than I was when my avatar photo was taken.

And we had a great time, drinking beer and talking as the spirit of Jake looked down upon us from the bar TV (judging from Barb's espy post, aparently we were lucky the sound was muted). We discussed pretty much every imaginable BetterMost/BBM topic. We gossiped about each and every one of you (in a good way). And Amanda was every bit as charming and thoughtful and fun as her posts here would lead you to believe. After all those wonderful online conversations, it was great to have one in the so-called "real world." She is right -- when you meet a true-blue (and tan) Brokie, it's like you've already skipped the first six or seven steps of getting to know someone and can immediately graduate to a higher level.

The other gifts she gave me, BTW, (wrapped in appropriate blue and tan paper with bluebird accents) included a big bottle of an amber-colored beverage with a two-word name that starts with "Old." We didn't get a chance to pass it back and forth that night, but when I am able pass it back and forth with myself, I will toast Amanda and all the rest of you.

Thanks for the great time, Amanda. I would love to travel around the rest of the country -- the world, in fact -- and meet everybody else. (Or, if you're in Chicago, drop me a line and say if your here.)

Katherine