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…