2/8/09 - Date Sixteen: Brunch

This was my very first brunch date ever. The prospect of meeting someone, in the morning, without the social lubricant of alcohol, was admittedly a little frightening. Ok, ok, you do have the options of the mimosa or the Bloody Mary but unless your date orders something, there's always the other fear that if you do and they don't, they'll judge you and think that you're some sort of evil, alcoholic morning drinker. Better to avoid the possibility of that assumption, as wrong as it might be. At this point in this journey though, I could make conversation with a potted plant for two hours if forced to so after having this small hiccup of fear, I composed and proceeded on to the restaurant.

Again, this guy just moved to my city so asked me to suggest a venue. I didn't know where he lived so I suggested somewhere near me as convenience is highly prized when I'm choosing a place to meet someone. I'd heard a lot of really good things about this particular bar in my neighborhood and their Sunday brunch offerings so thought this would be a perfect opportunity to try it. At least if the date sucked I could have a rockin' tofu scramble, right? Ok. The date didn't suck. It was actually fun. He was a decent conversationalist, smart and insightful. He talked a lot about his job ( high school teacher) and why he chose to do it, what he likes about it, and what his plans for the future are. We connected on many work related levels which was nice. We had a good, adult conversation.

Problem was that in the middle of it, I was feeling like this was a conversation I could also have easily had with someone at a work function. We were having a networking conversation. Death. Networking conversations sink the dating ship. My mind searched frantically for a way to slyly change topics without being rude or making him feel like I didn't care about his desire to teach the children. In the middle of this neural frenzy, a miracle happened. He looked at me and said, "So, what do you like to do for fun?" It was like he read my mind. Or perhaps he was having the same thoughts and hating the fact that we so easily fell into work talk. So, I told him that I really like to be outside when it's warm, paint, hang out with friends, cook. Your normal run-of-the-mill activities. He then reciprocated, telling me about his love of basketball and how he misses coaching.

I'll stop here and reveal why I chose to meet this particular fellow. Our emails were rather lackluster. Very short, not sweet. He seemed to me to be a very no nonsense, down to business type guy. Not a problem for me, just different than my general experience with other guys who want to email for weeks then finally get the balls to ask for the date. The thing that swung the pendulum in his favor and won him the date was the fact that he is tall. Period. And when I say tall, I mean 6'4". TALL. And I must confess, there's nothing like a nice, long, and lean fellow to make you feel dainty and lady like. It's a weakness for me. Like long hair and tattoos. And I do not reside in a place that is home to very many men who possess any of the above. So, when the opportunity presents itself to be in the presence of someone a foot taller than I, it is extremely difficult to pass that up. Superficial, yes. Silly, possibly. A basis on which to build a lasting, committed and mature relationship, obviously not. But, ladies, come on ... you know it's true.

So, after we finished eating, this tall drink of water and I rolled out of the restaurant into the mid afternoon sun and the unseasonably warm temps and began making out furiously right there on the sidewalk.

Kidding!!! Just needed to spice up what I fear is a very boring post. Sorry. This was the date. We walked to the corner, where he was to go his way, and I to go mine and we said goodbye. He looked at me and said we should get together again soon (kiss of death) and I smiled and said that that would be fun (never expected to see him again). I've found that the end of the date is the best way to gauge whether there will be a Date Two. Common sense, right? Most guys will hug, maybe go for the peck on the cheek, try for at least some physical contact. This guy stood there about two feet away and just smiled and walked away. Later that day however, I received an email, again very short and this time, sweet, telling me that he'd love to get together again. I responded in the positive and the rest of the story is yet to be written ... Mmm. I really do love me a tall man.