You can never go wrong watching a sunset; well, unless it’s cold out and you don’t have a blanket or a warm set of arms wrapped around you.

When SA asked me if I wanted to stop by the Sunset Marquis Hotel for a quick drink in between dinner at XIV and dancing at Bardot, I immediately agreed. How could a place with “Sunset” in the name be terrible? We arrived and I immediately felt like it was kismet. The Sunset Marquis has a low-key, unpretentious atmosphere, combined with an elegant class that I had yet to find in LA. We did a quick tour of the hotel and decided unanimously that we would have to come back and spend some extensive time by the pool once the weather has warmed up.

We entered Bar 1200 and although the bar wasn’t super busy, I had the very unusual desire to be patient. Spying two beautiful bar stools across the room, we sat down and I felt a sense of déjà vu. We ordered a round of bevy’s and discussed the plan of action for our night, and not even two minutes later, we found ourselves being charmed by three dashing gentlemen.

They stood next to the bar and politely introduced themselves as Jared, Grant and Sam.  With our glasses still full, Jared asked us if we would like a round of shots, we politely declined as we were already quite far along in our consumption and it was only 9pm. The men continued to pull us into light conversation and within minutes we felt like we had just made some great new friends.

We came clean and told the men that we were writing a piece on being single and fantastic in LA. The men were very quick to share their opinions on the Los Angeles dating scene, and were so animated and talkative on the subject, I couldn’t help but smile and wish I had a camera to capture the moment. I always find it amazing how much people open up to us. This is actually my favorite part of what we do, getting to know new people and sometimes learning from different life experiences and refreshing perspectives.

We found ourselves leaving the comfort of our perches to join the guys in the smoking room. Cozied up on the couches, I was quickly enthralled by Sam. He had longish dark hair and big, dark brown eyes; as if that wasn’t enough, he had a very soft British accent. It was his gentle, warm and modest nature that really set him apart. We discussed the difference between American and European men, women, and relationships. Being that Sam was born in England, raised in the South of France and further educated and living in the United States, I felt he was quite qualified in his opinions and I took his advice and insight to heart.

SA was deep in conversation with Jared who looked a bit like Zach Morris (from the college years). I later found out that Jared had just reconciled with this girlfriend of many off and on’s and was hopeful that this was it for the long-term.

Jared was also adamant that the typical LA female, and sadly the majority of women in LA, were gold diggers and always looking for the next best thing to come along. He went on to tell us that within the first five minutes of a conversation, a woman will ask you what you do and where you live. At one point he leaned over to me and whispered to listen in to the conversation that was about to occur between two blond women that had arrived next to Grant on the bench. As though on cue, they asked Grant what he does for a living. Jared raised his eyes knowingly at me with a little smile and relaxed back in his seat. We quickly turned our attention back to more interesting matters such as where else to go in LA, where to shop and why Marilyn Manson looked so rough in the next room without his makeup on.

The night zoomed past us, and all of a sudden SA and I realized it was 1am and we hadn’t made it to Bardot.  The boys had managed to distract and divert us completely from our well planned out evening. Although we didn’t get to dance away our first night in LA, we did make two lovely new friends who left us feeling refreshed and smiling. These men had left no bruises, broken no hearts, and had provided us with an evening full of fun conversation.

My Lessons From a Bar Stool:

Lessons for the Ladies:

1. Never interrupt or try and bond with your guy during his favorite game. You are better served to spend the time doing what you love and connecting when he’s not distracted.

2. Men in LA are forward and able to spend an evening with a woman out of pure platonic interest.

3. Never ask someone what he or she does during an initial conversation. There plenty of other great topics, qualities and interests that you can discuss.

Lessons for the Men:

1. Do ask your company if they would like a shot instead of assuming and ordering.

2. Don’t starve yourself and do harmful drugs to lose weight or maintain a lifestyle, it’s just not going to work out well for you in the end.

3. Do befriend other woman when you are in relationships. It’s healthy to have platonic friendships with both sexes.

~Wt