Non-Fiction Friday: Finding True Love in a Bar

Soon after Princess Diana passed away, my friends and I volunteered as hostesses at an event for Princess Diana's charities where the necklace from the Titanic was being auctioned. I can't remember if it was the authentic necklace or the paste one used for the movie but I do remember that the celebrity guests were real as could be.

Because it was a black tie affair we were dressed up in ball gowns and adorned with diamonds. Well, prom dresses and costume jewelry is more specific. Not exactly fitting for the Regent Beverly Wilshire but when you look like you're 17 you can get away with a lot.

After the evening ended one of my friends suggested we go have a drink. I hadn't touched alcohol since that night I drank all the beer under my mom and dad's kitchen sink, but I was up for making a visit to a bar and excited at the prospect of having a cocktail.

We sat down in a big booth like three Cinderellas at a Mexican restaurant with a piano player named Monte pumping out Sinatra hits in the background. Looking back, the Midori Sour I ordered reflected the inexperience of the night. Despite being glared at and surrounded by hipsters and transplants (thanks Joce for giving me the right vocab) the three of us were at ease and having fun, drinking bright green cocktails that tasted like snow cones.

What I never imagined at the time is that my life would forever change that night. Three young men walked into that busy bar in tuxedos after attending a black tie wedding at the Bel Air Hotel. And when men in tuxedos and women in ball gowns are both in a crowded bar on a Saturday night, destiny takes over.

And so it goes that I met my husband that night, and have lived happily ever after ever since.

Yes my friends, true love can be found in a bar.