The hot tub. Round two coming.
Sad, we no longer can caually do this anymore. no more money for my nails.
Happy with that small plate? obsessed with my make-up.
Am I always this hot?
tap a photo
Faranak & Nick
The plan
Highs around 71–72°, nights around 52°, mostly clear. The cabin has a private hot tub, a gas fireplace, a real oven, a rain shower, and a forest trail a block and a half from the door. The city closes the hot tub at 10pm, so that's the one hard edge in all of this.
Sept 7
Sept 8
Sept 9
Evidence
Tap a photo. There's a message on the back.
Wanna buy me another round of koobideh?
You bought me pizza once. Wanna make me one now?
Not letting you win by cheating like last time.
Wanna relax by your baddie's side?
Food & wine
Monday night pizza
- Dough made in SB the night before, cold-fermented, finishes rising at the cabin
- Margherita with torn basil
- One wildcard pie: your toppings, my veto
In the glass
- Pinot Noir from Santa Barbara, that one's mine
- Whatever you like, grab it before we leave
- Cheese and bread platter for the hot tub, in the host's insulated mugs and boards, no glass by the water
- Tuesday late: pasta if we're hungry after Sandy's
Games
Your people gave the world chess. Legend says the Sasanian court answered with nard and sent it back as a riddle nobody could solve. Fifteen hundred years later, one Indian-American with a fresh PhD thinks he can beat a Persian at backgammon. Persia is not for beginners. Ready to lose? No cheating this time.
Nard: doubles & dares
Regular backgammon, bottle open, four extra rules. Best of three, the winner picks the movie.
- Roll doubles: other player drinks, or answers one honest question. Their pick.
- Get hit: one sip and one specific compliment, out loud.
- Gammon: loser owes a ten-minute massage tonight.
- Caught cheating: forfeit the game and any right to complain.
Card games for two
- We're Not Really Strangers: three levels of questions that get real fast. The one for the fireplace.
- Let's Get Deep: same idea, funnier, drinks well.
- Talk, Flirt, Dare: three decks, escalating. For after the tub.
- The Hot Tub deck (ours): a normal deck of cards. Red card: you answer. Black: I do. Face card: the question is about tonight. Ace: a dare.
How well do you know me?
Fill the questionnaire and earn a hot reward, my kinky nerd. Four options, one right answer (one question has a half-credit trap, you'll see). The dots are difficulty: one is easy, three means you should've been paying attention. Answer shows the second you pick. Your score decides what you get in the cabin, and yes, I get a copy.
The full ladder, so you know what you missed
Before you send it
Any movie suggestions for the two nights? And anything else you want to say. Your position pick from below comes along too.
Which one are you dying to try?
Pick one. It goes in the results you send me, so choose honestly.
Spooning, with a twist. Both of us lying down, my back to your front, and I turn my hips toward you. Tuesday night.
Movies
Netflix, Hulu and Disney+ are on the cabin TV. Two nights, so two picks. Add yours in the quiz box above. Titles link to where each one is streaming.
- Fifty Shades of GreyNight two. You know why.
- Past LivesTwo people, two countries, a lifetime of what-if.
- Before SunriseOne night, one city, two people who won't stop talking.
- ChallengersTennis, tension, a soundtrack that belongs in a hot tub.
- Palm SpringsA time-loop rom-com smarter than it looks. Wine required.
Songs to dance to on the rug
- Siah o Sefid, Shadmehr AghiliEvery Persian wedding. Now ours. I'll lead.
- Fire on Fire, Sam SmithSlow. Fireplace on.
- Perfect, Ed SheeranPredictable. Still works.
- Gole Yakh, Kourosh YaghmaeiThe Persian slow dance. I'll teach you the sway.
- Thinking Out Loud, Ed SheeranFor the last night.
Join the Big Bear road-trip playlist
Bring a speaker. After 10pm the dancing moves inside.
Tuesday morning: thirty minutes on the rug
No weights in the cabin, so breath and bodyweight. Couples yoga, six shapes, no experience needed.
- Back-to-back breathing, 3 min: sit cross-legged, spines touching, match breaths.
- Partner forward fold, 3 min each: sit facing, feet touching, hold wrists; one leans back, the other folds. Swap.
- Double downward dog, 2 min: one in down dog, the other walks their feet onto the first person's lower back. Laughing is part of the pose.
- Partner boat, 2 min: sit facing, hold hands, soles together, lift to a V. Engineers may discuss the moment balance.
- Seated twist, 2 min each side: back-to-back, twist toward each other, reach for the other's knee.
- Savasana, heads touching, 5 min: then you make breakfast.