Naughty Office Holiday Party is TONIGHT [Another Success Story]

If you’re anything like me, you probably wait until the last minute to get your shit together. So I’m going to go out on a limb and say you probs haven’t bought tix yet to the BK Hookup’s Single Holiday Office Party tonight (The Bell House, 7pm).

It’s okay – there’s still plenty of time to get your tix here (plus, they’re for sale at the door, peeps). But in case you're on the fence about whether or not it’s worth it, let me go ahead and introduce you to David and Jenna.

David and Jenna met at least year’s Naughty Office Party.

David and Jenna are still together.

David and Jenna could be your future.

Sure, they haven’t gone as far as to get married like these two saps. But damn – making it a year together? That’s at least 10 months longer than I’ve made it with someone in years. That’s something to celebrate!

We sat down with David and Jenna to see how it all went down. I invite all you hatas out there who think you can’t meet anyone special at a singles event to read it and weep. Then, go get your tix for tonight.

Because you too could find love. Or at least get laid.

Who are you guys?
David and Jenna

What do you do?
Jenna: I am a metalsmith, currently working at a lighting company restoring antiques.
David: I am a highly successful unemployed loafer. In my spare time, I am interviewing for software development positions that want to overpay me... so if you're hiring... I'm your guy.

Do you live in BK? If so, which nabe?
Yes! We're both conveniently located in Park Slope.

Ok, set the stage: how did you guys meet at the Naughty Office Party?
David: Okay, so first some back story: At last year's Meetup,everyone had to wear a "Hello My Name Is:" sticker with a silly name. During the party, names were collected and given at random to the opposite sex. If you were able to find your match, you both would get a ticket for a free tasty beverage.

So, I was hanging out with a friend, inhaling as much liquid courage as one could muster, when a girl approached our group, looking for Mr. Dusty McCulloch, which just happened to be the alias that my friend assumed for the night. Being left alone and somewhat jealous of his free beverage, I decided to try and find my match. After few minutes of asking various girls if I could stare at their chest and check out their name tags, I became concerned that my name was never given out. So I found one of the girls working the event and asked her to swear on her life that she had handed out my name. Jenna happened to be talking to the girl working the event at the same time I walked over... After a couple of minutes of talking to both of them, the girl was like "hey, wait a second, do you two know each other?" We said "nope, we're meeting right now" so she apologized for cramping our style and disappeared.

Jenna: Yeah, I was talking to the woman organizing the event because the person's name I was looking for ended up belonging to a girl. The woman told us to go claim our free drinks and get a new name, but I started talking to David and never cashed in on that, so someone owes me a free beer!

For the record: It wasn't a sticker with a "silly" name, it was supposed to be your porn star name and that is NOT what he wrote on his tag, which, to be honest, I thought was pretty lame (and still do!) Just sayin'.

I also think it's funny that after just a few minutes of chatting we were already enough at ease to convince a stranger we'd known each other a while. I definitely remember a few moments early on where he would say something that I was thinking and I'd think "get out of my head!" After our second date, I was out to dinnerwith a friend who asked me what we were going to do for date number three. I said we hadn't planned anything yet, but that I thought it might be nice to do something cheesy like go ice skating at Rockefeller Center - literally two minutes later he sent me a text asking "What do you think about going ice skating?" I showed her my phone and we both freaked out. It's kind of been like that since.

Had either of you ever been to a singles event before? How'd you hear about BK Meatup?
Jenna: This was my first official singles event. I heard about it from a friend who saw it on Brooklyn Based and thought the name Meatup was clever. We'd heard there was a wet t-shirt contest (for guys!) at the first one, but were still a little hesitant about what kind of dudes would go to such a thing. A third friend of ours expressed interest in going and that sealed the deal. Power in numbers!
David: I came across the BK Meaup on FIPS and after reading about a prior Meatup held a few months earlier, I figured it might be worth going... at least for the cheap booze during the first hour :)

Did you have any expectations of meeting anyone that night, or did you get dragged?
Jenna: Definitely did not expect to meet anyone, but I wore stilettos to the event just in case.
David: Can't say I really expected to meet anyone, however the girl to guy ratio was pretty good, so I felt at least somewhat hopeful.

Did you go alone? With someone else? If so, how'd you ditch your friend?
David: I went with my roommate and one of his friends. He ditched me first, so... I didn't feel so bad ditching him for the rest of the night.
Jenna: I never fully ditched my friends - I did eventually leave with them!

So Jenna - be honest now - how long did it take for David to get in touch with you after that night?
Jenna: FIVE days!
David: What? That is so not my MO! I called you like two days later and you were buying that Go, Dog, Go! book – I remember ‘cause I thought you were nuts!
Jenna: Go, Dog, Go! is an awesome book and that was our second conversation! You thought I was nuts, huh? And yet you still made plans to meet up with me…
David: No way I would’ve waited five days! Okay - the event was Wednesday, I went to a concert Thursday, I knew you had your holiday party on Friday, I was at my mom’s house on Saturday, then I called you on Sunday.
Jenna: Okay, I guess it was only FOUR days…
David: So that explains the delay. See, I’m not negligent!

Where'd you go on your first date?
David: We started the night at Song... figuring that we talked enough at the Meatup, so why not go to the noisiest restaurant in all of Park Slope? Afterwards, we headed over to High Dive for a drink. That one drink, turned into five or six... We ended the night by having a snowball fight in the middle of 5th Avenue at four in the morning.
Jenna: I told him that I hang out at Sidecar a lot, so I think he thought I lived further south than I do and that he had just picked Song because it was a good "halfway" meeting place. I pointed out that it might not be the best place because of the noise... he said that it would be fine and did not offer up an alternate spot, so I decided to compensate by wearing a low-cut shirt. Ha!

When people ask how you met, what do you tell 'em?
David: At a bar... short and to the point.
Jenna: Yeah, I say we met at the Bell House.

What's your best advice for all the people at this year's party?
David: Keep an open mind and if that doesn't work, keep drinking... eventually someone will look good enough to approach.
Jenna: HEY! What are you trying to say? My advice to people is to stop being boring. Talk about things that make you unique and try to ask questions that aren't too generic! (One of my favorites is "What's your
favorite breakfast cereal?") If you find this to be a difficult task, then get out of your apartment and find some hobbies so that you have new and exciting things to talk about! No one is going to date you unless
you can hold an interesting conversation. New York has so many great opportunities for doing cool things and you should be doing them. Maybe the girl of your dreams is lost in a museum on the Upper East Side
- you can't show her where to find the dinosaurs and chat her up if you aren't there! Though, it could also be that she's right in your neighborhood, hanging out at the Bell House...

Good luck out there!

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