Kids like Vadim, pictured here, in bowtie and peacoat, enjoying the view from his terrace in Moscow. Says Skladmann: “Vadim asked me how many photos I was planning to shoot, and I answered ‘maximum 10.’ As the flash lit up, he slowly counted to 10 in his head. After the 10 frames of my first roll were finished, he went back inside, put on his pajamas and asked for a cup of tea so he could sit in front of his television in peace. Naturally, I had wanted to shoot 10 rolls of film, not just 10 frames.” [The New Yorker]

Photo: Getty Images //

But on our date he revealed he hadn’t passed his bar exam, but he was still technically a lawyer for having finished law school. He was actually working as a chef in a restaurant. (Which is fine … just own up to it.)

Then, during a conversation about names in which I told him I prefer to be called “Jessie,” he said he preferred to be called “Dr. So-and-So.” I asked why and he said because he had a J.D. — a juris doctorate — and it meant he was entitled to be called “Dr.” Allow me to repeat the part where I said he was actually working as a chef in a restaurant.

Needless to say, that was our first and last date.

I asked some of my female friends what were the worst lies a guy has ever told them — and there’s some big ol’ doozies. A bunch of BS we’ve eaten out of the palms of their hands, after the jump:

1 || “The first guy I slept with told me he was a marine biologist. Turns out, he was studying marine biology at community college and worked in the fish department of a pet store.”

2 || “Mine’s easy: that he was straight and the reason our sex life was so awful was because my boobs weren’t big enough. I have B-cups that I’m super proud of, so THAT was a mindf**k. He turned out to be gay—two months after our breakup, he ‘started’ dating a mutual male friend, the same male friend he spent a suspicious amount of one-on-one time with while we were together. The worst part is that I can’t even hate him, because you can’t hate on someone for being sexually confused, can you?”

3 || “When I met my boyfriend at a party, I mentioned something about how life after 30 has been so, so amazing. A few minutes later, when I asked how old he was, he said ‘27.’ He was/is brilliant, adorable and so funny and we had our first date the next night. Two months into our relationship, he said, ‘There’s something I have to tell you. I’m not actually 27.’ Turns out, he’s 23 and lied because he thought there would be no way I would have started dating him if I knew he was so young. I was pissed at first because he’d intentionally misled me and I wondered if there was anything else he wasn’t telling me. But that was it. I got over it after a few days because he was right—if he’d said ‘23’ that night I would have been all, ‘I think I left my purse over there—gotta go.’ Five months in, I’ve never been happier. Even though he’s young, most people would never know it. He’s more mature and talented at life then any of the guys in their mid-30s that I’ve dated.”

4 || “Online he said he had ‘a few pounds to lose.’ In real life he was about 100 pounds overweight.”

5 || “On my first date with an ex, he told me that he’d had a threesome with his college girlfriend. I didn’t think much of it—and, in truth, thought it was kind of weird that he was, like, bragging about that particular sexual experience on a FIRST DATE—until about six months into our relationship, when he proposed having a threesome with me and another girl. He said it was a fantasy of his that he wanted to fulfill before he died or something. When I pointed out that he had already had a threesome, he confessed that he actually had never had one and had lied about it. To impress me? Who knows. For the record, I did not reward his fib-telling by indulging his fantasy for real.”

6 || “I had a fling with a guy who had a girlfriend. When I asked if he was in love, he told me, ‘Well it’s complicated. I tell her I am, but I’m not.’ Then he got engaged soon after.”

7 || “I met a guy on an airplane and we flirted the whole time. He told me he was opening a nightclub in San Francisco with a few buddies and came from this really wealthy East Coast family back in Boston. He spent the entire flight telling me details of the club, how he was such a good promoter so it was going to be incredibly successful, and how much money they got from various investors. In the meantime, he said he was also an executive at Nordstrom and super into fashion. I went on a few dates with him back in SF and it turned out he was really a shoe salesman at Nordstrom, which I then had to avoid for like three years because he never left the rest of the time I lived there. He ended up being none of the things he said he was — just your basic freak!”

I think we can all agree that next time, before you go on a date with a new dude, get a resume and list of references first.

What’s the worst lie a guy has ever told you, ladies? Tell us in the comments!

Derry Church //

The inspired Easter creation is a crispy pan grilled crepe filled with French raspberry jam and dipped in bittersweet chocolate. The Mother’s Day treat is a simple, elegant milk chocolate dipped French Sable butter cookie. Spring is delicious!

http://derrychurchartisanchocolates.com/index.php

Photo: Getty Images //

Dear Wendy,

My fiancé and I have been together for three years and we’re getting married this June. His first marriage, which was a disaster and only lasted six months, ended six years ago. They were together on-and-off for a total of seven years, and I have heard absolute horror stories (from his family, close friends, even the girl’s best friend) about her — drugs, cheating, etc.

Afterward, I reminded him again that the pictures were still in the closet, and he told me that those are his memories and one day when he’s older he would want to look back on that time in his life. I don’t get it; he admitted it was a terrible choice to get married, the chick was horrible to him, and the wedding was bad, so why remind yourself of that? I even told him to keep all the pictures with his friends and family, and just get rid of the ones with her because I feel disrespected. This is our house together and it’s not right that he doesn’t respect my feelings to get rid of these things. Am I missing something? Is it out of line to make this request? Does he still have feelings for her, god forbid?! — Bride Number Two

Yes, you are missing something — like a few cards from of a full deck, maybe — and you are absolutely out of line for not just requesting that your fiancé get rid of his wedding photos, but for ripping them up while your drunk girlfriends egged you on! Seriously?! If you don’t change your ways — and fast! — you are going to be the woman about whom “horror stories” will be told one day by your fiancé’s friends and family.

I can understand feeling uncomfortable about having your fiancé’s old wedding photos in your home, but if it’s really that big of a big deal, a simple request to move them elsewhere — his parents’ home, for example, or a storage unit — would have sufficed. To deface them behind his back because you simply can’t handle their harmless presence in your closet says a lot about your character and maturity, and I wonder if you’re prepared for the challenges you’ll inevitably face as a married woman — challenges that far surpass dealing with a few photos of an ex.

But let’s talk about those photos and why your fiancé may be hanging on to them. It may help to use an analogy here, so let’s imagine there’s a woman who has gained fifty pounds over the last several years and feels awful about herself. She takes a “before” picture of herself at her heaviest, before starting a challenging diet and rigorous exercise regimen in an attempt to lose weight. Many, many months of hard work later, she has lost 70 pounds! She feels wonderful — better than she has felt in years and years. Do you think she gets rid of the”before” picture now that she’s thin and in shape? No! She keeps it. Even though she was miserable in that before photo, she hangs on to it as a reminder of how far she’s come, as well as a warning of where she could go again if she doesn’t work to maintain her new lifestyle.

Your fiancé’s wedding pictures are that woman’s before photo. They represent how far he’s come (or, how far he thinks he’s come). They represent a warning to him to be careful in the future and maybe not jump into a commitment without being certain it’s right. Now, let’s just hope that you can get yourself together and quit the bunny-boiler behavior before he heeds his own warning.

Facebook //

That lovely girl who was amazing single, but when love struck them, it seemed to knock out their brains. In the past, crazy episodes would be experienced only by close friends, who wouldn’t bring them up again and we could move on happy no one would ever know. These days, Facebook is involved. Here are then dating mistakes you really shouldn’t make, but everyone does…

1. The Joint Account

AdamAndSarah has just added you as a friend, tagged you in lots of pictures, commented on all of your statuses and sent you a message about a very private subject. But which one?! Adam, or Sarah?! This is so annoying. You are separate people. Have separate accounts!!!

2. Angry Updates

You think you are being sly, posting something bitchy about your latest argument, or suddenly messaging all the men you know. You aren’t. Everyone can see through it, and just about everyone is mentally unfriending you right now.

3. Your Albums

Okay, so photos of you at a tourist attraction, or a family event, or a holiday can be sweet, and at weddings, we love to take a peek. But the same photo of you nine thousand times with fifty different Photoshop effects and cutesy comments isn’t fun to look at, and gets quite queasy. Keep them saved on your computer, for your eyes only!

4. The Relationship Status

Okay, so you’ve been on a few days, and maybe one of you has spent the night. You text each other alot, and he is the only person you ever talk about…your friends feel like they know everything about him. Then you add him as your partner in Facebook…and he declines. Your heart sinks, and you cry for hours. Wait…establish an offline relationship, and go online afterwards.

5. Wall Messages

So you’ve had your first date, and it went fine. And you get home and discuss it with your friends, and then look at his facebook…and add a few of his friends, leave a cutesy thanks for the date and comment on some facebook statuses. One of my friends even added her dates entire family…keep it low key, until you’ve established yourselves as a couple. You’ll save awkwardness and embarrassment!

6. Bitterness

Inevitably, you’ll break up at some point, or he might move on. Some things don’t work out, and the majority won’t…most people have four relationships before finding the one, so you’ll experience some heartache. Resist the urge for bitter facebook messages, and tagging him in bad pictures online, though. And leave his new girlfriend alone. Move on with dignity, and if you can’t trust yourself, distance yourself from Facebook for a while!

7. Funny Group Syndrome

Looking at my Facebook right now, some of my friends have recently joined “I would love to sleep with stripper”, “I love to flirt when I am drunk”, and “I hate men and love my vibrator”. Imagine what your date, or god forbid your parents, would think. They might seem funny or ironic for five minutes, but just read the wall and then leave. It’s the dignified thing to do!

8. Too Much Information

We don’t need to know that you’ve just slept together, or that make up sex is amazing, or that he loves your new underwear. We just don’t need to know. Think about what you’d be happy to tell the next person who comes to your door, and if you wouldn’t tell them, don’t tell Facebook, either. Your boss could be looking!

9. Don’t Be Passive Aggressive

At the same time that we don’t need to know exactly how in love you are, we don’t need to hear about every fight, either. And having a drink and posting on his friends walls is never a good idea…a friend of mine once found every member of a stag party on Facebook, and covered their walls in messages asking them if they’d enjoyed ruining their night by stealing their boyfriend. Wow.

10. Don’t Litter

When a random third party comments on something, and he comments, don’t feel the need to comment back. And if you do, and he does too, don’t respond again. They didn’t want their status to turn into a discussion about what to do at the weekend, a fake argument or a schedule check, and it’s distracting. Don’t litter facebook!

When you are hit by young love, it can really hit you for six, and things you think are enthusiastic and cute are a bit scary and weird. Seriously, though, make these mistakes and you’ll be left with only one friend…yourself! Have you spotted an annoying dating habit on Facebook? Please let me know!

Spring 2010 //

Here they are:

ruffles, layers, lace … try them, love the and wear them. You’ll look incredible and very feminine.

transparency and soft, light dresses … You will look very stylish and touching, even a bit naive and so fragile …

shorts. Shorts are back again – all kinds of them.

patterns. All kinds of patterns: graphic, geometrical, techno and all kinds of prints: navy, abstract, floral are in this spring.

white colour is a must-have.

Photo: Jakob Polacsek |

Maybe it wasn’t included in my Eurail pass, or maybe I just knew so little about the greatness of the Austro-Hungarian empire that I didn’t realize what I was missing. So when a good friend took a job as a professor at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, I was only too thrilled to visit her. Besides taking full advantage of the extremely plentiful and amazing art (from Klimt and Schiele to Gelatin), classical music (Mozart any day of the week) and cuisine (schnitzel and strudel), we spent a lot of time in the neighborhood around Schleifmuhlgasse in the fourth district, an area made up of a variety of old, new and just plain cool places.

There are art galleries, one of the best of which is Georg Kargl Fine Arts, which shows interesting, established international artists. We found a great vintage shop (always a favorite destination for me) called Flo Vintage Nostalgische Mode, where they had old Dior mixed in with turn-of-the-century lace at decent prices, and an amazing video store (yes, they still exist in some places!) called Alphaville where one totally trusts the choices of the employees. Next to that was a great design store called Rauminhalt. We had lunch at an old establishment around the corner favored by the locals called Gasthaust Ubl.

Then there were the alternative spaces like Ve.sch and Kiosk. I was most impressed with Kiosk, a sausage stand serving beer and wine with the best currywurst in the city. It’s open 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. and hosts a killer DJ program headed by dj3volt. It was also having an art show, “Nähe” (Nearness), curated by Stefan Strobl with the students from the University of Applied Arts, Vienna. All in a space about 500 square feet.

Photo: Shy Magazine |

Say hello to Nathalie, Gillian and Malika. They were spotted at Shadow Room the other week. It’s nice to know that SEXY has a face! Well, more than one face, but you get the point! You go girls! Anyway, they’re DC’s hottest chicks of the week! What do you think?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Photo: Getty Images |

Bar Etiquette 101

The amount of people that have no bar etiquette amazes me…People come to the bar holding up traffic because they don’t know what they want, asking to taste things, being rude, etc. With 50 other people trying to give me money, that really pissed me off. But I won’t judge, we all weren’t taught how to properly order from the bar, so here is Bar Etiquette 101

First, understand the situation.

The bar area is a tricky dynamic…it’s the place where the guys come to stunt, the ladies come to seduce, loners come to post up, the chicken heads come to hawk, the pimps come to pimp…there is just a lot going on.

Second, know your role.

Who are you and what is your goal? Did you come to the bar just to get a drink? To mack on the ladies? To flirt with the fellas? Are you tryin’ to ball out or just make a new friend? Knowing this will help you decide if the bar is where you need to be. A table, the dance floor or near the women’s bathroom might be better spots for you to accomplish your goal for the night.

Third, Get in and get out.

The bartender is at work to make money. What ever you came to the bar for, get in and get out. Do not make a habit of standing at the bar for hours. You are taking up space, blocking people who want to buy drinks, i.e. tips for the bartender. If you are standing in the way of them making money, you are not going to be on their good side.

Always, be cordial.

Everyone is in the club to have a good time. Even more so, we are all in the same club. So, don’t act like you are better than everyone else. More importantly don’t talk to the bartender and other people who work their as if they are stupid. Chances are, they are college and graduate school students.

So, keep these things in mind when going out and you will have a greater chance at having a great time.

Photo: Getty Images |

If I’m down on M Street or on Connecticut at Current, I’ll head over to Julia’s Empanadas (1221 Connecticut Ave. NW). An empanada is basically a Spanish baked sandwich served hot. And a damn good one. I usually order the Spinach, which is filled with spinach, ricotta cheese, mozzarella and spices. The dough is crispy and slightly sweet and the blend of flavors hit my spot. On my taste buds, not that other one. Also, Julia’s is fresh, so I don’t feel as guilty about eating late.

Now, if nutrition is the last thing on your mind (as it usually is if you’ve had a little too much Nuvo), then Pizza Mart (2445 18th St. NW) is where you want to be. Yes, the Adams Morgan area is a hazard zone if you are a) sober, b) driving or c) alive. But this pizza is so good. Its very similar to a big, greasy slice you’d get in NYC. I even have to admit to heading over there on a Sunday afternoon. The slices are big for a small price, so its also a good buy in these recession days.

If you were workin’ it out Kanye or Beyonce-style in the club and really need to throw down, head to the famous Ben’s Chili Bowl (1213 U St. NW). You can always, get a filling chili dog, chili half-smoke, or bowl of beef or veggie chili. Add on a side of cheese fries and a thick creamy vanilla milkshake, and you’re good to go.

The lines are normally coming out of the door and down the street at these places, but it’s worth it to end the night off right.

So, where do you go to get your late-night, after-party eats?