I KISSED A GIRL!

Whenever I hear Katy Perry’s song “I Kissed A Girl”, it brings back my own memories of the first time I tasted another girl’s ‘cherry chapstick’.  Now, don’t get too excited here, I am not outing myself as a lesbian, this is NOT my official ‘coming out of the closet’ blog and podcast.  Let me guess, you are now wondering if I am bisexual. I mean if the lesbian thing is off the table, then Janell must be bi, right?

Well… let me tell you my story, and then… you decide.

Flashback to a decade ago, the first time I kissed a girl!

It was the best day of the year, November 29th, that auspicious day when the —okay, maybe not the world, but my friends who love me enough to indulge me at least one day a year—my birthday.  That year I decided to celebrate ME on the roof deck of the Skybar at the Mondrian hotel on Sunset Boulevard. Sexy, right? Well, I thought so at the time.

My friends and I got to the Skybar early enough so that we were able to snag a great table in the VIP section. At this time, the Skybar was one of the hottest clubs in town. The DJs played fun music, and the patrons used their table as a home base for their drinks, dancing around the tables to the music, or on top of them. I was pretty excited that we had the best table in the house, and as the rest of my birthday posse strolled in—bearing gifts—I knew that this year’s birthday party was going to be great.

At one point in the night, one of my girlfriends and I went downstairs to use the restroom, and then we stopped to check out the bar action at the pool located on the lower level to scope out the boys down there.  The view of Los Angeles from the deck of the pool was and still is, one of the best views of the city in all of Los Angeles. I remember my girlfriend and I stood there admiring the view, taking in the beauty of the city, and I felt truly lucky to be living in this magnificent city and celebrating my special day at such a magical place.

When we headed back upstairs to my party, I saw that my friend Rick had arrived. Rick, who happens to be a trust fund baby on top of being an entrepreneur, had already ordered a bottle of Cristal Champagne and was pouring it for us all to enjoy as we walked up.  He handed me a glass, gave me a birthday kiss on the cheek, and said, “Happy Birthday Janell, let me introduce you to my date.” I saw him tapping on the shoulder of a tall thin woman, with short blonde hair, and when she turned around, he grabbed her hand and brought her over to me.  “Lisa”, he said, “This is Janell, the birthday girl, Janell this is my girlfriend Lisa.” At this point, Lisa blurted out “Happy Birthday Janell” and came over to give me a big birthday hug, which took me a bit by surprise as I had just met her.

Hey… maybe she’s just a gregarious girl?

Okay, so Lisa hugged me, and then grabbed my head, pulled me in and kissed me on the lips. I remember feeling stunned. When I stood there, motionless, she went in for kiss number two, this time she stuck her tongue into my mouth, giving me first ever girl-on-girl French Kiss!  I guess, for a second, I did actually kiss her back, but truthfully the shock factor was still in full-on-force, and I was not only caught off guard but caught off balance, as I stumbled almost falling back when she pulled her tongue out of my mouth.

Holy Shit, I Kissed a Girl!

One of my friends grabbed me from behind as I started to stumble, and Lisa smiled at me and then proceeded to French Kiss Rick. I was baffled and taken aback. I stood there motionless for several seconds trying to understand what had just happened.  After Lisa and Rick finished their passionate kiss, he handed her his credit card and she went up to the bar to order more champagne. Rick came over to me and told me that Lisa was his ‘girlfriend of the moment’ and that she was actually married—to a man I will add—but that she was also bisexual and he was having fun dating her, as in his words, ‘she was crazy’