Inventing Anna

I just finished binge watching Inventing Anna on Netflix. Our CEO had mentioned it months ago about how social media is playing a role with stealing identities etc. I was intrigued. 

Without giving away anything, the story is about Anna Delvey who claimed to be a German heiress and stole millions from NY social elites. Bottom line, she's a con artist. 

This story is based off a real person who did most of the things in the Netflix show. I mean, it is for TV so there are some "liberties" to make it more compelling. The story includes a journalist doing research for a much needed career enhancing article. 

I thought I'd watch episode one and see if it was worthy of my TV time. I was hooked. I was up way too late the first night and finished it the next night. 

Here's what I don't understand...how the HELL does someone get away with this? I mean she's a 20 something woman, mildly attractive, SUPER smart, VERY confident, etc. But she duped really smart people. 

I've been thinking about this for a couple of days. Like many I think I wouldn't fall for a con, but I'm not so sure anymore. I'd like to think I'd see the red flags, but really, I could just as easily excuse the red flags away. I mean I did it with an X boyfriend so I'm pretty sure I'd do it for something else. 

I want to believe I'm older and wiser and am very aware of phishing and scammers on Social Media, but, again, I'm really not so sure any more. My confidence has been shaken. 

How about you? Do you think you'd see a con artist a mile away? Do you think you'd see the red flags? 

If you haven't watched Inventing Anna I highly recommend it. 

What's for dinner?

No you didn't accidentally click on the cooking blog. This story isn't going to be about food. Actually, that's not completely true. It is about food, but not about FOOD. Got that? 

Two years ago, a friend of mine on FB was looking for something to look forward to during the pandemic. She started asking daily, what's for dinner? 

Not too surprisingly we all responded with our dinner plans. She's in Chicago as are most her friends, so by the time I post, I'm usually one of the last ones. 

There's a couple of things I love about this. And lucky you are going to get a list. 

1. The number of people who respond with what they're having for dinner. Some with photos. Some with links to recipes. Some with a simple, "cereal". 
2. The variety of food people eat. Some days there aren't any duplicates of food being eaten. Most days there's at least one pizza and one leftovers. The "leftovers" happen more towards the end of the week.
3. Some post a photo of their perfectly set table. 
4. Many will share a recipe if you ask. 
5. I've gained a friend or two just by conversations in the thread about what we're having for dinner.
6. SEVERAL times I haven't a clue what people are talking about. Especially if they say something like "Gino's for dinner. OMG so good." Who's Gino? What's Gino? And how to do I enjoy Gino's?
7. The fact that two years and we're still responding. I actually look forward to her post to share what I had for dinner. I share regardless of whether I'm making something new (I usually share the link to the recipe) or whether I ordered out. Or whether I ate a handful of nuts and a piece of bread for dinner. 
8. There's no judgement! None. No one ever says, "You ate that?"
9. She plans to do this for as long as people post. There are some days where there are just a few (like 20) and some days where there are like 40+.
10. It's an odd club to be a part of, but I love it and wish I would have thought of it. 

I've been really thinking about why this makes me so happy, but it does. Maybe it's because early in the pandemic things were scary and this was something easy to not have to worry about. Or because I love food and love to see what people do with it. 

My most favorite post "a can of spaghettios out of the can". 

So yesterday was the two year anniversary. That's a lot of posting if you think about it. She's only missed one or two and even then "miss" means she posted like around 10 her time, not around dinner. Still we all posted our dinners. 

I'm glad she came up with something so simple. And something I look forward to every night. I'll keep posting for as long as she does. I've gained some great recipes to try and some fun food chatter.