In Full Swing

It’s been 17 days since the first “wink” and 10 days since our first date (you know, that 4 hour date), and Swing and I are still going strong. :)  We’re at that fun, beginning stage of the relationship where we spend time with idle chit chat as we get to know each other… oh, and we make out for hours on end! 

We spent a nice time together on the Friday before Christmas, then both had family time on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  We got some time to ourselves and spent wonderful day together the Monday after Christmas.  We spent time in the Downtown area of the city – having lunch and walking along the water.  Then we headed off to the beach where we had a beautiful drive and then scouted (with no luck) to find a place to park so we could walk on the beach.  After waiting in lines of cars waiting for someone to leave a public parking spot (and doing a little making out while we waited), we gave up and started to head back. We stopped for some ice cream and listened to a guy playing a guitar… just a nice, relaxing, sunny, warm Florida day! 

We did finally get a little “beach time” in on the way back… I pulled into what I thought was a spot, but it was a no parking zone, so we just say for a while by the rocks and listened to the waves as I watched to make sure Florida’s finest didn’t try to generate a little extra revenue for the state by giving me a ticket.  LOL  Hey, at least I got to enjoy the beach even though I didn’t actually get my feet wet.

We wrapped up the evening by making a nice dinner – I must say that my cooking skills are really looking pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.  I have always thought of myself as an OK cook, but I’ve made three awesome dinners that turned out pretty good (I guess all that making out is doing some good!)  We’ve got plans for New Year’s Eve, so we’ll be ready to officially start off the new year right!  2012 is looking pretty good to me and I can’t wait to see what happens next…

In other news, a good friend of mine sent me a link to her website for jewelry – check it out and show her some love!

http://valeriesoule.chloeandisabel.com/

I’ve been on it a few times and have already seen a couple of necklaces that have caught my eye!  Now that I’m going out more, I need to make sure the accessories collection is just as complete as the shoe collection!  A girl’s gotta look good, right? 

And speaking of going out more (LOL), I did check out some local dance studios to see about lessons.  You’ll remember that Swing got his name because he did enjoy taking dance lessons in the past (enjoyed the lessons, yes; enjoyed the partner at the time, no).  So I found a place that looked cool and bought a four class pass that we can share – so two classes that we attend together.  I figured that it would be a good way to ease into it and see if we like the place.  It turns out that it was the same place that he used to go to (slightly awkward), but now with his new partner (me!), hopefully it will be a much better experience.  Now I just have to find a pair of heels that not only look good, but that I can dance in too! 

I hope all of you have a wonderful, happy and safe New Year’s… here’s to an amazing 2012! :)

Filling up my social calendar

Whew!  What a weekend!

I had not one… not two… but three dates this past weekend.  In a nutshell it was three dates, two guys and one good connection.

Everything started earlier in the week.  Crocs and I had coffee one morning and tentatively made plans for a date on Friday night.  During that time, I also started talking via email to another guy – I’ll call him Swing (this will be explained later) who seemed like a really nice guy.  Friday ended up being a busy day for me – I had a phone date scheduled for 6:00 to get to know Swing and a date at 8:00 with Crocs.  Boy, I’m big pimpin’ now, aren’t I? ROFL!

So the date with Crocs was nice.  We went to a pretty casual restaurant where I had an oyster for the first time (and surprisingly, it wasn’t as totally gross as I thought it would be).  We chatted over wings and sangria and then tried to figure out what to do next.  He asked if I would be up for going to listen to some live music somewhere and the young (most likely underage) girl in the next booth over spun around and told us to go to “The Big Buddha” since that’s where everyone goes – apparently this is where they were all going too.  So off to The Big Buddha…

We walked in, then walked out…

So, yes, they had a great band playing – that wasn’t the issue.  The issue was that they were playing so loud that Crocs and I couldn’t even hear each other when we asked “do you think it’s too loud in here?” If we just wanted to chill out and listen to the music, the place would have been great.  But we actually wanted to, oh, you know, speak to each other.  So off we went in search of another option.

We did find another place that had a band, but they also had an outside patio where we could enjoy the music and actually carry on a conversation – of course, we were out there with every chain smoker in the place, but we managed to find a table off to the side that wasn’t in the direct line for the cloud of second-hand smoke.  We had a beer and talked for about another hour.  I did find out that he actually isn’t divorced yet… they’re trying to figure out all the logistics and timing for that.  I was already a little concerned that he might have had a bit too much baggage for me, and this just added an extra piece.  I’d kept it at a fairly casual relationship all along, which I’m glad I did. 

So on to the rest of my weekend…

During my phone date with Swing, I found out that we’re both looking for someone that we can enjoy being with and do fun things together.  He’s taken dance lessons in the past, but his ex was overly critical of everything he did, so the only part of the dance lessons he liked was when he got to dance with other people.  He enjoyed the swing dancing classing (hence the name Swing) and he said that it’s something he would like to do with someone that would just enjoy the fun of it.  Admittedly, he’s not very good at it, but I probably wouldn’t be either – but I bet we’d have a blast just doing it and trying not to step on each other’s toes.

Anyway, so we spent about an hour and a half on the phone and then made plans for a date on Saturday night.  We met at a Mexican restaurant that he’d heard about but had never been to (plus, he gets extra points for mentioning that he saw that I liked Mexican on my online profile).  We spent four hours (yes, four hours) at the restaurant just talking.  We definitely hit it off very well! ;)  We both talked about what had been lacking in past relationships and what we want in a new relationship.  We both want to be happy, we both want someone who is down to earth, and we both want someone that we can laugh, smile and just have fun with.  The Saturday night date went so well that we ended up having another date on Sunday night. 

As for the shoes, I did dress up a bit on Saturday night with a cute top, cargo capris and the brown military inspired heels in the third picture down.  Those are pretty powerful shoes so I knew I must wield that power carefully.  I would say they worked well based on the four hour date… Date #2 on Sunday got the black suede wedge heels with the little ankle strap (formerly known as the “stand in secret weapons”).  I am happy to report that he does enjoy the sexy shoes and he’s looking forward to seeing more of my collection…

So , what’s he like?  He’s 47, he’s tall and thin with blonde-ish hair.  He manages a warehouse for a chemical company and has a side business doing home inspections.  He doesn’t have kids (he had a step son with the ex, but he’s 23).  So we’ve now officially gone from Crocs, who had a lot of baggage, to Swing who has very little baggage.  The last tie Swing has to his ex is the house that they’re in the process of selling.  Once that’s done, all ties will be cut.

Next weekend is Christmas, so both of us will be spending time with family (his parents and brothers are all local). We both have the day after Christmas off, so we've made plans to spend that day together.  We may go to the beach, where we can just relax and maybe catch a nice sunset. 

Now it’s time to enjoy the holiday season… My parents are so happy that I’m here with them, plus now, I have someone to kiss on New Year’s Eve.  What could be better???

What a Croc!

Well, it finally happened.  After several months of hopeful blogging, I finally had something I’d been waiting for… A real, normal, nice first date!  Honestly, I was beginning to wonder if those even existed anymore with the string of bad luck that I’ve been having with online dating.

I know the question that you’re all DYING to ask is “which shoes did I choose?”  Wait, what’s that?  You mean you want to know about the guy first? LOL Oh, OK, fine…

So after my run in with the scam artist, I did get back online.  After all, you can’t be afraid to get back up on the bike after you fall, right?  At least I didn’t part with any money when I fell… *eye roll*  I was still active with Match for a little longer, so I decided to check things out (of course, after I reported the scam artist).  I sent a few winks out and got a nice response back from a divorced guy who is also fairly new to the area.  We ended up chatting on the phone for a while over the weekend and made plans to have a nice lunch date on Monday.  Lunch feels safe – it’s not as “date-y” as dinner, so there’s not as much pressure.  We picked a nice restaurant on the water, which ended up being closed so we had to quickly regroup and blindly choose another restaurant.  We headed to the outdoor seating and had a nice lunch right on the water.  The food was good… the conversation was good… a perfect example of what one expects from a first date.

Let me tell you more about the guy… He’s from Rhode Island and just recently moved down to this area.  He stayed up north for a while his now ex-wife and kids were down here.  Turns out the now ex-wife decided to begin dating other people… um, while they were still married (ouch!)  He tried to work things out with her to keep the family together, but apparently, she started “dating” again (double ouch and hence, the reason for her becoming the “ex” wife).   He is a little older than me – 8 yrs to be exact, which isn’t too bad.  He’s got two younger kids at home (6 and 11) as well as grown kids from a previous marriage…  So yes, he has baggage (remember that 9-piece matching paisley luggage set from Macy’s that I mentioned when I began this blog), but he is a really nice guy, we have a good amount in common and I did have a very nice time with him at lunch.  For that, he wins the coveted prize of a second date. :)  Since we had lunch, now we’ll graduate to dinner, where I will really break out the shoes.

Speaking of shoes, I did choose a “lunch appropriate” pair (the Sam Edelman mid-heel sandals in the pictures). I checked the weather and it was supposed to be mild, but nice.  I thought I’d look all cute in jeans, a tank and a sweater… then I sat outside.  In partial sun.  For and hour and a half.  Sweating. Ugh!  So much for my cuteness, right?  I didn’t realize that (1) it was so hot because I was in my air-conditioned house all morning, and (2) that we would be eating outside until we made the final plans and I didn’t feel like changing. It’s all good… At least my shoes looked great, right?  And, in the grand scheme of things, I was having such a nice time that I really didn’t notice. ;)

Speaking of shoes (again), we did manage to turn our conversation to shoes.  LOL!  He mentioned that his ex started wearing Crocs and looked ridiculous (actually, he said she looked like a lesbian, but I’m trying to keep this blog PC). I assured him that I would NEVER (ever, ever) wear those (ever).  But then, he admitted to me that he wears them around the house too, and he even (gasp!) managed to get all the way to Home Depot before realizing that he still had them on.  So in wondering what I can call him on my blog, naturally, he will now be known as “Crocs.”

I have set the ground rules that he can’t wear the Crocs on a date because they will cancel out the sexiness of my shoes… If we make it to date #3, I may find a way to make his Crocs “mysteriously disappear” (or at least make sure they are permanently banished to the house).  LOL - I'm kidding about this... He's a nice guy, so I guess I can handle a pair (or two) of Crocs.  Besides, it may provide some good blog fodder... ;)

I do have to tell you about one other funny online dating thing that just happened to me today.  I got an email from another match.  Honestly, he was way too old for me, but he did send a clever email, so it at least warranted a response.  I gave him a nice TBNT message (“Thanks but no thanks” for all of you who have never worked in retail), and then got this response back:

Hello Debbie,

Thanks for replying to my “hello” email.

I wanted to share a thought that if you come across an interesting and attractive single female who is bright, charming, smart and more than a little bit interesting, I hope you might consider passing along my contact information.  I can be a wonderful extra male guest at a dinner party – I scrub up reasonably well, my verb tenses match up and I am comfortably secure.

Regards,

Chuck

Well, there you have it… he would like my help in hooking him up.  Um, you know, I’m kinda busy trying to find someone for myself let along trying to find someone for a perfect stranger.  

But thankfully, his verb tenses match up…

Nuts and bolts…

So, I’m sure you’re all wondering how I fell for this guy!  Being sweet and romantic does go a long way… here were some of the things that he said to me:

Sensuality is important to me some of my favorite things are the salty taste of lobster simmering in a beurre blanc sauce, the smell of the ocean mixed with suntan lotion on a summer day, the cool, velvety softness of well-worn cotton sheets on a hot summer night, the gentle touch of a lover, the beauty of a home which has been designed to be inviting and welcoming, the sound of leaves rustling beneath your feet in the Fall.

When in a relationship, I am quite content to be at home working on a project or help with cooking dinner or relaxing with my partner. My lifestyle is usually relaxed and pretty quiet. I'm more of an introvert than an extrovert,  however, I can hold my own at any social function.

If you ever feel lost.... just follow the path of your heart, and at the end of the path you will find me waiting for you with open arms.

You are a blessing that my entire being is very thankful for.

Romantic, yes… load of crap, yes…

The whole lie was fairly complex… his “mom” came to the states to visit and then stayed to watch his son when he got a contract that he had to leave for on short notice last week.  For as complex as his story was, the story that he created when he asked for money was pretty pathetic… here’s the abbreviated version:

He got an invitation to interview for a contract in England – he went there and won the contract that would be for two weeks.  He was given part of the money for the contract work up front from the company (Morrison’s Petrol Station) so he was able to hire laborers and get supplies to replace old pipes on an oil rig.  He got all the supplies he needed… there were long 40’ sections of pipe and special nuts and bolts to put everything together.  He got everything he needed, but was short one nut and bolt. These were special nuts and bolts that cost $1000 and that’s where he needed my help, since he was short one nut and bolt and was now out of money. Blah, blah, blah.

$1000 for a nut and bolt?  Really?? Even though I had fallen for this guy, that story just sounded utterly ridiculous!

So there you have it… this fake romance went from the smell of the ocean mixed with suntan lotion to a $1000 nut and bolt.  And I’m back to square one… again!  OK, seriously, all I want is to go on some first dates so I can wear my awesome shoes – is that really asking for too much?

Things aren’t always what they seem (again!)

Oh boy… So I was enjoying getting to know Mr. Cheers and honestly, I was really falling for the guy.  He was sweet, lovable, romantic… and oh yeah, he was also a complete scammer who asked me to wire him money this evening.

Um, no.

I started to research dating scams online and low and behold, I found a whole section of romancescam.com devoted to this guy (or at least to the pictures he was using).  Most women heard a very similar story to what I heard… widower… had a young son… did contract work for an oil company… Unfortunately, most ended up sending this guy money – I, fortunately, did not.  I sent him a reply to his last email that said this:

I found a very interesting website…

http://www.romancescam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=30905

Seems that you really get around. 

(and yes, I have several of those same pictures that he sent to me)

Ugh!  I’m 0 for 2 in this dating thing… I got a guy who flaked out on the first date and a guy who professed his undying love for me, but needed me to help him purchase some supplies to complete the oil contract that he was working on (to the tune of $1000…)  Yes, I fell for this guy but no, I’m not a complete idiot.

At least I have a new website to check with for the next guy I date… LOL 

This whole dating thing isn’t working out exactly how I planned… 

A leap of faith…

I know I haven’t updated in a while, so I figured I would let you all know why.

First, everything is still going well with the guy I mentioned in the last post (Mr. Cheers).  He will go down as the most polite, romantic and sweet guy I’ve ever known.  We’re enjoying getting to know one another, but for the first time since starting this blog, I kind of want to be a little more private about this one.  I think it’s because he is so polite and sweet – it doesn’t feel right to broadcast all the nitty gritty details all over cyberspace (LOL).

I will tell you a little about him because I’m sure you’re dying to know… He is 45 (just a few years older than I am, which is perfect) and he has a 4-yr old son.  He’s a widower who was married for 6 years and has been on his own for about 4 years now.  He was raised by his mom in South Africa and has traveled around quite a bit – partly for his job… partly because he loves to travel.  From what he tells me, he’s had some pretty awesome experiences in his life.

He’s completely unlike anyone I’ve ever dated before – which, come to think about it, is a good thing.  I’ve had my share of non-committal, non-working, non-affectionate and non-truthful guys (some of which, pretty recently), so the idea of having someone who’s a little old fashioned when it comes to relationships sounds kind of nice.  Hence, why I’m feeling a little old fashioned about this relationship too (aka no broadcasting).

Anyway, I’m going to leave it at that.  I will keep you posted if I have, in fact, found my “sole mate.” If not, I’ll be back in full swing… If yes, then I’ll probably start a new blog because this is fun!  Oh, and by the way, I did just get a delivery of some shoes today that I ordered online… 1 pair of ballet flats and 1 pair of mid-heel sandals.  I guess all this talk about being a bit old fashioned has tamed me down a bit – that, or I just figured I’ve got enough great heels to keep me (and Mr. Cheers) busy for a while. ;)

Good news!

A few of the guys I mentioned in my last post have apparently dropped off the face of the earth *eye roll*.  The others got a nice polite turn down email from me.  Why? Because (wait for it…) I am starting to move forward with a new guy!

Yes, I did learn a thing or two from the last relationship that I moved forward with – mainly, not to trust someone who starts to get wishy-washy on his feelings as soon as he meets me.  So I go into this new potential relationship with open eyes, a hopeful heart and some great first-date shoes to choose from.

I met this new guy on Meatmarket.com, I mean Match.com. Somehow, he found me in that sea of crazy screen names.  He liked my smile so he wrote me a nice email.  We’ve chatted back and forth and shared the basics of what we’re all about and what we’re looking for.  He seems sweet and romantic – it’s refreshing.  He said some things in his emails to me that just made my little heart melt! ;)  And he says Cheers at the end of his emails, which I think is cute.

So there you have it… a quick update with good news.  Cheers! ;)

So. Many. Choices.

My eHarmony subscription will be ending pretty soon, so I wondered what to do?  Should I renew? Should I try another website? Should I get a new pair of shoes to make me feel better?

The answers are (in order) Maybe… Yes… Not yet, but that’s always an option…

eHarmony has apparently ran out of the selection of eligible men in my local area so I continue to get matches from all over the state.  This isn’t a bad thing, but I was wondering if Match.com would at least give me more of a shot with someone not several hours away.  I logged on, created a profile, and because they offered a 1-month membership for $31, I figured that it was worth it to at least see what it’s all about.

The two sites couldn’t be any more different.  Here are some words that I would use to describe them:

eHarmony: Polite, Reserved, Slow and Steady, Exclusive

Match: Free for all, Meat market, Overwhelming

Now, Match does have a few features that I with eHarmony had.  They have a “No Thanks” option for winks and emails which gives you a polite way to turn someone down.  There isn’t that option in eHarmony, so you have to either send an email saying no or just ignore them. Match also has an IM system so you can instantly talk to someone if you’re both online (this is good, but can easily get very overwhelming).

eHarmony also uses first names – it makes it a bit more personal because you know who you’re talking to.  Match makes you create a user name.  Since all the variations of my first name were taken (really?), I was forced to come up with something creative.  Anyone who knows me knows that I am an animation art fan and my favorite character is Pepe le Pew.  The cat he chases is Penelope, so my screen name became Penelope4433 (I tried just regular 43, but that was taken too – geez, how many people are on Match.com anyway???)

So let’s talk about some of the guys’ screen names now…  I got an email and a wink from Nicedaddy4you who described me as a “pack of beauty.” Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever been described as a pack of anything before, so that’s a first.  I politely declined…   Then I saw TrainedMonkey25 – wasn’t sure what to even think about this one, but he was kinda cute and had a nice profile – I winked at him, he winked back and I sent a quick email.  Other funny names were Happycar, Divenaked, Prince Shrek, etc. etc. etc.

Match also gives you the opportunity to describe what your date should look like – height, body type, hair color, etc. These are all multiple choice questions, but when a guy says that his date should be between 3’0” and 8’11”, I’m pretty sure there wasn’t a lot of thought put into it.  Here’s a tip for those guys – get off Match.com and try the circus.

In all this craziness, I have to report that I have some conversations going with a few guys.  Here is the selection I have going right now (in no particular order).  Feel free to weigh in and let me know your favorite!

·         UPS driver, 45:  We exchanged our pre-selected questions and then had a few days lapse before he sent me a message saying it was his last day on eHarmony and gave me his email and phone number.  I sent him an email but haven’t heard back yet.  It doesn’t look like he has kids, but he has a dog.  It also sounds like he had someone cheat on him based on some of the wording in his profile and how he answered some of his questions.

·         Educator, 47:  We went through all of our pre-selected questions and the next step is if he wants to send me a regular message through the system.  He seems like a very nice guy but I can’t tell how his sense of humor is – I do like a guy who can make me laugh and smile and he strikes me as a bit more reserved.  He has a son.

·         Small business owner, 42:  We’ve made it all the way through the pre-selected stuff and have been messaging back and forth several times.  He’s looking for a strong loving relationship (in fact, he admires that his sister has the type of relationship that he never had).  I can’t tell if he’s a little shy or if he’s a bit insecure based on bad experiences in the past.  He has children (not sure how many – I only see one in the pictures), but he sounds like a good dad.

·         Radio guy, 50: This was my first “hit” on Match.  He reached out to me and we had a nice IM chat session back and forth for the better part of an hour.  He seems like a nice guy and we do share some similarities.  We’re emailing back and forth through Match to get to know each other better.  He’s never been married and I can see a bit of insecurity coming through, although he is asking good questions like “what’s the main thing that men don’t get about women?” My answer, BTW, was that men underestimate the power of being a gentlemen (opening doors and flowers for no reason). J

·         Chef, 47: This one just started this morning… he sent me the first round of pre-selected questions and I sent mine back to him.  This one gets bonus points for having an Australian accent (OMG!)

So that’s what has been keeping me busy over the last week or so.  Five solid options to choose from – now I’m just waiting for some first dates so I can see if they live up to their profiles. I’m ready to dust off those heels so these guys can see what they’re in for… Let’s see if the secret weapons can help me find someone who appreciates (and loves) me for the “pack of beauty” that I truly am. ;)

“New and Exciting”

Besides working this week, I have been surfing eHarmony to see what new and exciting potentials are on there (and by “new and exciting,” I also mean the matches that have been on there all along). 

I extended my options a bit with the site which just means that eHarmony will take the liberty a bit more with who it sends me. You can choose things like the distance that you would like your matches in, and then you pick how important this is to you.  I moved my choice down the scale a bit, more towards “moderately important,” which means I’m getting matches that are a little further away from me.  I’m keeping an open mind and looking at everything, including the distance.  Like I’ve said before, if the match is good and there’s potential in the relationship, then a little distance is OK. 

I have received “new and exciting” matches over the past few days and I’ve send a few icebreakers out.  I’ve even looked at some of the existing matches (which are “new and exciting” when you haven’t looked at them for a while), and I sent some icebreakers to them as well.  I’m sure they’re thinking one of two things about me:

1.        Wow, she’s a nice match and I’m glad she’s finally interested in me.

2.       Wow, she must have gone through all of her first, second and third choices already and she’s trolling the matches that are left in a desperate attempt to find a date.

Yeah, I’m sure I would be thinking #2 also if the situation was reversed.

Anyway, all of those “new and exciting” potentials turned up a whole lot of nothing (zip, zero, nada).  Only two of them “archived” me right away (which is a nice way of saying deleted).  Whatever!  But, I’m happy to report that a new match that popped up this afternoon sent me an icebreaker!  He’s 45, cute and has a nice profile… he appears to have a convertible (as per one of his pictures) and he has a dog (dog people are good people in my book).  I responded by giving him some the standard questions to answer, so we’ll see what happens next.  I can honestly say that this is the first guy that’s sent an icebreaker to me that isn’t too old, too hairy (ewww), or just too blah. 

It’s a good thing because I’ve got some great shoes that are just dying to be worn! ;)

Closing the book

The e-Harmony match with M-Daddy has been officially archived and now officially closed.

Ok, allow me to back up… So, we had a very nice (and somewhat involved) date, but apparently he didn’t like the fact that we were an hour away from each other.  Sure, he made a comment about the drive when he got here, but based on what transpired during the date, I was pretty sure he didn’t mind.  After all, we managed to make it work just fine when we were 3000 miles away from each other, surely we could make being one hour away from each other work.

My feelings on the matter:

·         I like him and saw good potential in the relationship.  An hour isn’t that bad and you find ways to make it work.

His feelings on the matter:

·         He liked me, we had fun together and he saw the same potential that I did, but an hour is just too long of a drive.

So that’s it.  After trying to make it work, I’m now officially done with M-Daddy.

Since it’s over, which he made very apparent after he uploaded a new picture on e-Harmony a matter of hours after our date (I noticed that this morning), I got busy reviewing my other potential matches.  I’m back to starting from square one, so I sent out some “smile” icebreakers to see what happens. 

I’ve been in the dating pool for almost three months (which come to think of it, my e-Harmony renewal will be coming up soon, ugh!), and so far the only thing I have to show for it was a very long text thread which has now been deleted.   Here’s to the next three months!

What’s Cookin’?

Deciding what to do on date #3 wasn’t an easy chore.  M-Daddy and I had talked about a “spicy challenge” for a while, so we started to stake out where this throw down could take place.  He didn’t want me to have to drive too far, so I started to scope out restaurants about halfway between our towns.  I turned to Yelp and Urban Spoon, which have always worked out well in the past, but not this time.  The issue wasn’t the number of restaurants or the ratings they received – it was the number of actual reviews that the restaurants had. Sure, a restaurant that has 4 ½ stars looks promising… until you see that there are a whopping 4 reviews.  Let’s see... #1 is probably the owner, #2 is probably the owner’s husband/wife and #3 and #4 are probably friends/relatives of the owner. 

So, after discussing the not-so-hopeful choices on Yelp and Urban Spoon, M-Daddy brought up the fact that I did have a selection of spices at my disposal – maybe he could cook for me.  So we made plans for a nice, casual Saturday date at my house. 

Of course, that first meant that I needed to (somewhat) finish unpacking so there were dishes/pot/pans/table/chairs available for this anticipated meal.  My furniture finally came on Tuesday evening, so I spent most of Wednesday and Thursday unpacking what seemed like an endless pile of boxes. 

I’m happy to report that almost all of my furniture safely made the trip.  The two pieces that sadly didn’t survive were the two armchairs to my dining room set (which, ironically, were the two chairs that I never really liked in the first place - DBE picked those out, not me). My headboard survived, but has a nice chunk taken out of the top, left corner.  My claim has already been filed…  Luckily, the pieces that I was worried about, like a large, glass front china cabinet and a 5’ tall resin Pepe Le Pew (yes, I am a animation art fan) arrived perfectly.  My mom came over to help me unpack and I’m happy to report that pretty much everything except the second bedroom and a little bit of the office was all that was left to do.  It was nice to be able to bring my “hot date” over to a somewhat finished house. ;)

On Saturday morning, I checked out the selection in the fridge – I had some basic veggies and beef on hand and I took a trip to a farmer’s market in the morning for whatever else looked good.  BTW, I must be really spoiled by the SF farmer’s markets because this one was not that impressive.  I found a few things, but nothing to supplement the potential meal.

The city I live in is a network of canals, so I’m glad that M-Daddy had GPS to find the place.  Turns out we’re an hour from each other, but that’s better than being 3000 miles away like we were before. We ended up spending a nice afternoon together, and the answer to the question is yes, he is as good of a cook as he said he was. :)  He perused through the available spices like a pro as he figured out what to make.  We ended up with beef stir fry with veggies and potatoes over rice noodles. He used three different spices in his concoction and it was very yummy.  I opened a nice shiraz and we had some great conversation over a great (and spicy) meal.

Date #3 has come and gone, and now we move forward.  This is already turning out to be a relationship with a little spice, which is always a good thing (*wink*).  Apparently, both of us can handle the heat…

Or maybe they are what they seem...

Ups, downs… and ups again.

After a few conversations early in the week, M-Daddy and I both agreed that we wanted to give it one more shot.  We had such great conversation over the past six weeks and neither one of us wanted to dismiss that.  So we agreed on a second date over drinks… no buildup… no hype… just a normal date.

I guess that, and a pair of stand in “secret weapons,” was the magic formula that we needed.

So, yes, I bought a new pair of shoes.  Not for him – they were for me.  I really wanted to feel good on this date and I knew that heels were the way to go.  Not just any heels… I needed something that made me feel cool, sexy and hot, all at the same time.  I had flats for date #1 – you feel cute in flats.  I needed heels for date #2 – I didn’t need to feel cute, I needed to feel hot (purely to give me a little “home field” advantage).  A quick trip to DSW took care of that with the addition of the “stand in secret weapons” to my shoe collection.  The rest of the outfit was simple – skinny jeans, black tank top and a khaki cardigan (which matched the black and khaki colors of the shoes LOL). Even though I had rockin’ shoes, the whole outfit felt casual, yet sexy. I must say that I felt much more comfortable than I did in the outfit from date #1 (which was never my first choice for date attire – it was just the best of the limited choices I had at the time thanks to my stuff not being here).

We met at the same center as before, but we went to Outback instead to have a nice glass of wine.  He had a meeting after work, so we knew it would be a later date, so drinks just felt better (plus it was a “school night” since we both had to work early the next day).  He got there and we found a nice spot on the side of the bar where it was a bit quieter.  We enjoyed some wine and just had good conversation for about two hours – it was nice, and exactly what we needed. 

Honestly, keeping all that buildup out of the date let us just get to know each other.  Our “virtual” selves had six weeks to get to know each other (and boy, did they ever get to know each other!), but our real selves were just starting out.  I knew that I liked him and I wanted to see where this would go since we had shared so much already.  A nice, low-key date where we could start to get to know each other was perfect.

After our drinks, we had another make out session in the parking lot that was more involved then date #1.  This time, we were both much more into it and since we already knew what to expect.  This was no “end-of-first-date” kiss… this was an “I-really-like-making-out-with-you” kiss and neither of us wanted to stop…

When we did finally stop (which we kind of had to since we were in a public parking lot and all), we bid each other good night.  He reached out to me the next morning to let me know that he felt much better about the date and that he wanted to let this progress naturally (and also that he really liked the shoes). ;)  We’ve got another date planned for next Saturday (he’s got his son starting tonight, so this will be a nice “cooling off” week to let him think about how much he wants to make out with me again LOL).  I think we’re going to try our “spicy challenge” over something wings or curry… that should be fun.

Anyway, this gives me time to get my stuff (which should be here in the middle of next week), unpack a bit and then have date #3.  They say third time is a charm, not that the second time was bad at all…  We’ll see what next Saturday brings, and hopefully, I’ll have my entire shoe collection to choose from when picking out what to wear.  Hmmm… what shoes go good with spicy food? ;)

Things aren’t always what they seem…

One word sums up everything for me right now:  Really??

Apparently, what I thought was a nice first date where M-Daddy was being a perfect gentleman wasn’t the same for all parties involved.  Our conversations had gotten pretty hot over the last six weeks (um, up to just shy of 2,000 texts and countless long phone calls) and we both agreed that we would hold off to make sure that didn’t overshadow our first date (since it was a first date and all…)  I thought that’s why he was a bit reserved and “gentlemanly.”

I guess I was wrong.

He said we had a great connection over the last six weeks, but he just didn’t feel the connection when we met.  Even though we had nice conversations and laughs over dinner, held hands as we walked around and made out at the end of the night… he just didn’t feel the “connection.”  He doesn’t know why he didn’t feel it, but he wants to think things through a bit now.

Really??

Wow, he was pretty quick to throw six weeks worth of great conversation and “connection” right out the window. 

Looks like I’m back to square one… Maybe this blog will be about the ups and downs of dating after all.

One Hell of a week…

Boy, a lot has happened this week…

First, my furniture didn’t arrive.  Turns out there was a “miscommunication” on the date that I requested the delivery.  The date you put is supposed to be the beginning of a 14-day window for delivery.  They guy who supervised my pick up said “oh, it never takes 14 days, so just put the date you want delivery.” When I started to call the company the day before my delivery to confirm it, they said it wasn’t coming because it was only the start of the 14 day delivery window.  Needless to say, I just want my stuff at this point, and it looks like it will get here in another week or so.  And yes, they’re already talking about giving me a discount because of the mix-up.  Ugh… the worst part is that all my sexy heels were packed up!

Since I don’t have any furniture, I’m “camping” in the empty house.  At least I have the basics (air mattress, small table for a desk, etc.) so I can function, but I’m working with a limited selection of wardrobe choices here since I really only packed for the road.  And as you know, I had a date to go on…

The date…  I know you’re all dying to hear about that, but let’s start before the date… M-Daddy and I had fun with the final countdown until the day.  First it was counting down days, then it switched to hours as it got closer.  It was fun and built a lot of anticipation.  We had our restaurant picked out and we knew we wanted to see a movie, but hadn’t decided which one in advance (but we both scoped out the choices in advance).

Wardrobe choices… Since I didn’t have much with me, I was really glad that I did make a stop at a large SF Banana Republic store and picked up a few things, including a cute (aka casual, yet sexy) knit dress.  I only had two choices of shoes – grey flat sandals or tan flat sandals (both Sam Edelman, so very cute).  The idea of wearing the “secret weapons” went right out the door since they were still in a box in California.  I picked up a tan cardigan at a local Banana Republic store here to complete the outfit with the tan sandals, and I was officially ready for the first date.  Not my first choice for a date outfit, but it will do in a pinch. :)

First meeting… So, after flirting quite a bit over the last six weeks or so, I was wondering what that first encounter would be like.  Would it be a mad passionate kiss?  Would there be groping involved?  Turns out, no – he was a perfect gentleman with a nice casual kiss and a big hug.  Boy, it really felt good to hug him!  And he’s tall, which was even more apparent since I was wearing flats.

Back to the date… We had a nice dinner (which he paid for), saw Real Steel, which is a surprisingly good movie (which I paid for) and got some ice cream afterwards (which he paid for) and walked around the center for a while and just talked.  It was your typical first date, except that we already kind of knew each other.  At the end, he walked me to my car and we had a nice “end-of-first-date-kiss” that reminded me of a couple of teenagers making out in the parking lot before going home.  That was totally fun! ;)

Now that the first date is behind us, we’ll see what happens next.  Both of us had to work a bit today, so maybe there’s a second date in the cards for tomorrow…  I can’t wait for my shoes to get her so he can really see what he’s in for with me! I don’t call them the “secret weapons” for nothing… ;)

Welcome to the Sunshine State!

I’m happy to report that I’ve made it to Florida!  I got in on Thursday night, so I was able to cover over 3o00 miles in 5 days.  M-Daddy kept me company along the way between texts and phone calls, and he got more and more excited as I got closer to Florida (I don’t know who was more excited – me or him!)

The trip itself was fairly uneventful.  But I did see some funny stuff along the way…

·         “Watch for Elk” – apparently there are a lot of elk between Arizona and New Mexico.  There were several signs including one that said I was entering Elk Country… I guess I’ll keep my eyes peeled.

·         “Watch for Snakes” – these were mostly in Texas.  I especially liked it when these signs were posted in the children’s play areas at the rest stops… “Here kids, play in this area and try not to pick up anything that hisses at you…”

·         “The Original Fried Pies” – two things come to mind about this one… (1) I didn’t realize that there were a lot of knockoff fried pies, and (2) how exactly do you fry a pie?

·         “Visit the Knife Outlet” – apparently the regular knife store had so much overstock, they were able to open an outlet… But that could be handy if the ol’ road rage gets out of control.

·         “Are You Going to Heaven or Hell” – I guess this depends on the road rage and if I stop at the knife outlet…

But the most interesting sign was one by the highway in Albuquerque, NM.  It has a simple message:

“Don’t Fry Bacon Naked”

Not exactly what I expected to see on the side of a highway, but a good tip nonetheless.

Anyway, now that M-Daddy and I are in the same time zone, we’re able to talk and text a bit more. He’s able to text me in the morning to say good morning without waking me up at like 3 am and I can text him to say good night when I go to bed.  (pause, smile, *sigh*)

Most importantly, we’re now only 5 days from our first date!  The official first date plans are the traditional “dinner and a movie” at a center about half way between our places.  I scoped out some of the restaurants, and found a good option.  Best of all, I can wear the “secret weapons” with a pair of jeans and a cute top and it will be the perfect outfit.  He’s coming from work, so he’ll be a little more dressed up (I certainly don’t mind that!)

Anyway, this will be a busy week!  My furniture gets delivered so I can start setting up the house and begin settling in.  Also, the days will be ticking down until Friday night when I finally get to meet M-Daddy!  It's the official start of my brand new life! :)

Let the countdown begin…

1 day left in the office…

2 days left until my movers come…

2 days left until I start my cross-country drive…

7 days until I land in Florida…

And, most importantly of all, 15 days until the most amazing first date in all-time dating history!

I’ve got my AAA Triptik all mapped out so I know where the Hell I’m going.  My first leg of the journey will get me to Vegas so I can crash with my brother.  I may stay an extra day there just to relax a bit before I start the long drive. 

Anyway, I don’t know how much I’ll be able to post in my last (hectic) day in the office and as I drive.  I’ll keep you all in the loop if anything crazy or funny happens on the drive (and you know it will!)

Wish me luck with the trip and I’ll see you all again when I’m on East Coast time.  Once I'm there, I'll bring you all up to speed as I prepare for that anticipated first date... ;)

Lucky Charms

A friend and I were discussing how you have the power to change your destiny.  How positive thinking can help make your life go in the direction you want it to go in.  Then, she commented that I “wanted to make changes in my life, so that’s why things are going so well with M-Daddy.” Although that’s a really good point, I don’t think it has anything to do with that.

No, I know exactly what has caused my streak of luck with M-Daddy, and it comes down to one simple thing – a chicken foot.

Now that I’ve captured your attention, let me explain further…

Back in June, my upstairs neighbor brought me a small vat of spicy curry (as she has done several times in the past).  Yum!  So I made some rice and enjoyed some of that curry for dinner.  I had some left over, so I got a container to put it in so I could take it for lunch the next day.  As I was spooning it into the container, I noticed something. “That’s a funny looking piece of chicken… oh wait, that’s a foot.”

Racing thought #1: WTF????

Racing thought #2: Ewwwwwwwwww!

Racing though #3: Please, God, don’t let me throw up.

I quickly proceeded to throw away the rest of the curry and made a mad dash to my computer to post the incident on Facebook for the world to see.  A few friends echoed my sentiment by also posting “Ewwww” and one friend let me know that the chicken foot is an essential ingredient in Asian cooking and you don’t have to eat it (um… wasn’t going to).  Then my mom posted “that’s good luck.”  Now, my mom isn’t an expert in good luck charms, but she knows this from a very reliable source – a friend of hers that also got a chicken foot.  Over the next year, she won everything from cash to a TV, so the chicken foot brought her some serious luck! 

I was anxious to try my hand at some of that luck, so I marched down to the 7-11 and bought a few lottery tickets… yeah, nothing.  The following week, I tried two more lottery tickets… still, nothing.  I figured that my luck was probably wasn’t going to be monetary. My mom assured me that I would have some other type of luck.  Then I forgot about my beloved chicken foot…

Fast forward to today and the conversation about changing my own destiny… I finally put two and two together… (work with me here)

Chicken foot = luck

Spicy curry = spice/heat

Chicken foot in spicy curry = luck with a “spicy” guy

Therefore, I owe my spicy little romance with M-Daddy to that very special chicken foot (LOL).  He is a self-proclaimed “hot head” (aka someone who loves spicy food, which makes me a hot head too).  Plus, we’ve had some pretty spicy texts back and forth. See, it makes perfect sense... ;)

Speaking of spices, I’m going on a special shopping trip this weekend.  M-Daddy, with his love of all things spicy, mentioned that he would love to visit Chinatown in SF someday to taste the food. So I’m taking the opportunity to bring a little “Chinatown” to him.  I am meeting a friend (she’s from China) and she is going to take me to authentic Asian market. I’m going to have her show me what good spices to buy so I can make a nice goodie basket for M-Daddy since he loves to cook.  I’ll fill it with spices that turn up the heat as well as spices that just have great flavor.  This way, we can cook together (and by together, I really mean that he’ll cook and I’ll “assist” while I open a bottle of wine).  I just have to remember to mark the spices because I don’t read Chinese!

So, what have we learned here today?  We’ve learned that chicken feet, as gross as they are, can help you find true love and happiness.  We’ve learned that the 7-11 probably wasn’t the best place for me to go to see if I was lucky.  And, most importantly, we’ve learned that a sweet, caring, hot (*sigh*) guy who can’t wait to cook for his woman (that’s me), really does exist!  And you thought stuff like that only happens in fairy tales and sitcoms…

In all fairness, I do bake.  ;)

Pack Rat

As you know, this blog isn’t turning out the way I thought it would.  So, instead of the ups and downs of dating, allow me to shift gears and talk about something really funny – packing and moving!

Before we dive into a mountain of bubble wrap and packing peanuts, let me just say that everything is still absolutely wonderful (pause, smile,*sigh*) with M-Daddy.  There – I got that out of the way for everyone who wants to know, but didn’t get all mushy for anyone who is sick of hearing how wonderful my luck has been playing the ol’ e-Harmony game.  I guess I was due for a little good luck in the love department after all the crap I’ve been through with the likes of weasels and sloths… Plus, it’s putting a pretty permanent smile on my face as I count down the days until I get to meet him face to face. ;)

OK, so back to the large pile of packing materials and boxes that has taken over my kitchen. 

So, I was feeling quite proud of myself getting packing materials at Home Depot.  It was cheaper than U-Haul, and I was able to knock through about half of my packing.  Um, then I realized you can get a ton of FREE packing materials on Craigslist… Why the heck didn’t I think of this before???  I made a few trips yesterday and picked up a ton of materials – and then grumbled all the way home for spending about $250 on materials in the first place.  The only saving grace I have is that I didn’t put my three wardrobe boxes together, so I can take those back to Home Depot and get a refund.  At least I’ll recoup $30 (eye roll).

I got most of the fragile stuff packed yesterday, so now I’m down to just my dishes and a few things on my kitchen counters.  I got all my pots and pans packed up, which was great until about 3 hours after I sealed the box and wondered what I would make for dinner.  Ugh!  At least tonight I got smart and just picked up a nice prepared chicken breast and heated it up in the microwave… No pots or pans needed!  LOL, not that I cook that much on a regular basis anyway, but it’s like the Murphy’s Law of packing – “You will have an incredible need for an item once it’s packed away and under a large stack of boxes.”

The other wrench that got thrown in my plans is the fact that I no longer have driving help for the trip back to Florida.  My brother or nephew were originally going to help, but both managed to get new jobs, so now they can’t (darn them for being responsible and all).  That officially threw the U-Haul idea out the window and I’ve now scheduled for my PODS delivery a few days before I move.  I’ll still drive, but driving my car by myself will be much easier than trying to drive a truck by myself.  I can jam to my iPod and sing loudly with nobody as a witness to judge me.  It will be my word against everyone else’s that the likes of Abba’s Greatest Hits and just about every song put out by the cast of Glee were played over and over (and over) as I made my way across the southern United States.

So, that’s the moving scoop so far.  I’m sure that I’ll run into more funny stuff as I try to pack up my cube at work (since I’ll be working out of my house) and finalize all my packing at home.  I’m just hoping that I don’t break anything before I even start the move…

Batting 1000

So, another week has gone by and…

1.         M-Daddy (aka Honey Badger) and I are still texting like crazy…

2.       We’re still talking on the phone for hours on end…

3.       We’re completely smitten with each other… (pause, smile, *sigh*)

LOL… I don’t want to go all mushy on you, but I can’t help it. We both absolutely can’t wait for me to get there so we can turn our “virtual” relationship into a real one.

With all the texting we’ve been doing, we’re about to hit a very important milestone.  My phone counts the number of texts and we’re about to reach 1000.  That officially makes us giddy little teenagers since it took us less than three weeks to get there. :)  And, of course, as the days/weeks go by, the texts are getting flirtier and flirtier (tee hee).  I don’t think I’ve ever texted with someone so much, but it feels very natural – and it’s giving us a great way to get to know each other very well before we meet.  First dates are usually awkward, filled with small talk about the weather and home towns, but our first date will be completely comfortable, and we’ll be able to focus on enjoying the fact that we’re not 3000 miles away from each other anymore.  For all of you who are wondering, we’ve set very clear ground rules for that first date, you know, because it is a first date and all (no sex, but making out is totally acceptable… LOL) 

Speaking of crazy texting… my parents had a wonderful time when they came to visit (I use that segway because my mom is an expert texter).  We went to wine country, which they really enjoyed (although they didn’t drink much and I was the one driving – go figure).  We did a little sightseeing in San Francisco, which they also enjoyed.  But, most of all, my mom loved the endless opportunities to play Scrabble with me on my iPad.  As we were playing a game, my mother (let me clarify… my straight-laced, doe-eyed, good Catholic mother), proudly spelled out SEXT and said “it’s like a text.”  Holy crap!  How does she know that???  I immediately picked up my phone to text M-Daddy about that (because, of course, we were texting all through the game). He said that maybe she was fishing to see if I was sexting with my “boy toy,” but I was convinced that she probably didn’t even know what a sext was (she probably just heard the word on the news).  Later that night, I mentioned to her that I was impressed that she knew what a sext was, and this was her response…

“Yes, a sext is like a sexton, you know, at church.”

Oh. My. God.

OK, so I was right… my straight-laced, doe-eyed, good Catholic mother did NOT know what a sext was.  Naturally, for the next few days, every time she asked me a question, I answered her with “it’s just like a sext.”  I really hope she doesn’t find out what it actually is… she may start to ask questions about my endless texting marathons with M-Daddy (tee hee).

So, tomorrow marks the start of my last two weeks in San Francisco.  It’s going by fast – especially since I’ve still got packing to do and I’m absolutely crazy at work with two big projects that are due before I leave.  I guess flirty texts will have to hold me over until I actually get there and I’m able to give my sexy Honey Badger a big hug and kiss.  :)