A DATE TO REMEMBER!

Dear Diary,

After reading numerous dating diary entries on this site, one would start to wonder….has dating in this modern age gone to S*%$?!?!? From horrible first dates, weird encounters, Facebook arguing, being put in the “grayed” zone and a date that turned into a trio, I can see women as well as men becoming cynical when it comes to dating one another today. And I know sometimes things can happen “out of left field” that can leave you speechless and unprepared when a date takes a bad turn, but please do not let it discourage your dating lifestyle. I can’t speak for everyone, but I know what I needed to do in order to have a healthy dating life. And here is my story….. After a few bad dating experiences I had in the past, I wanted to take a different approach when it came to dating for 2013. A friend of mine, convinced me to tryout a speed dating event. I heard of speed dating before but never consider doing it but, hey, it’s a new year and time to step outside my comfort zone and try new things, plus it might be fun. Well to make a long story short, I had the best “15” first dates any woman could ask for. I went into this speed dating event with no expectations and an open mind. Surprisingly, I met a lot of interesting people. Both the ladies and the guys were cool and chill. Everyone was just having a good time socializing and getting to know one another. And of course I had a few connections with a couple of the guys that lead to actual dates.

My most recent date was with a guy name Eric. We had an instant connection during the speed dating event and exchanged numbers. We communicated a few times on the phone to get to know one another, however, between are hectic schedules, finding time to go on a date wasn’t easy. Final, we both had a free opening to have a date, but the time and location was still in the air.I told him I would let him take the lead on picking a time and place. So, throughout the week, Eric was asking me what type of food I like and making sure I was still game for our date. The day of our date, I received an invitation text message to accompany him to Grace’s restaurant in Bowie, MD at 7:30PM. Talk about a sweet cute gesture.I met him at the restaurant and we had a good time. The conversation was genuine, the food was good and he didn’t do anything out the ordinary that would make me go hmmmmmm. He was a gentleman. At the end, he walked me to my car we hugged goodnight and made sure we texted each other once we both were home.

When I arrived home, I felt so at peace within myself. I went into this dating experience with no expectations and no pressure. I didn’t look at Eric as the next “boo” in my life but more as a potential friend that I am getting to know. Hence the key words, “getting to know.” A lot of people do not know how to “get to know” someone which leads to terrible dating disaster and bad relationships. Whether we become an item or not is far from my mind right now. I am just enjoying the journey of dating and getting to know someone without any pressure. I have a few more dates line up with other new guys and I can honestly say I am having a good time in my dating life and I hope it continues.

IF IT'S REALLY LOVE......

Dear Diary ,

My boy Shawn and I were hanging out one day and he told me he had someone he wanted me to meet.  “ Who?” I asked him. He said her name was Lisa and she was friends with his wife Sherry. She lives in upstate New York he said but she seems like your type and really cool people. What the hell, I thought, I would meet her just as a courtesy to my boy and his wife. So the following weekend I drove from DC to New York City to meet up with Shawn, Sherry, and Lisa who was driving down to the city from Rochester, New York. We decided to meet at a little jazz spot around Times Square. When Lisa walked in with Sherry I was struck by her height and natural beauty. She had very little makeup on and was flawless from head to toe. I smiled and gave her a warm embrace and we all sat down for the show. The evening turned out to be best blind date of my life. I was 31 at the time and Lisa was 26. She was very warm and had a great sense of humour. The conversation just flowed. By the end of the night we had exchanged numbers and were talking about meeting up the following weekend in Canada for a weekend getaway.

The following weekend I met Lisa in Canada as planned and we did a tour of Niagara Falls and then drove around the rest of the city taking in the sights. At the end of the weekend, I knew that Lisa was someone special. I would not find out how special until 28 days later!  When I returned to DC and Lisa returned to New York, we continued to talk to one another on the phone every day. At the end of the following month Lisa asked me if it was okay if she visited me in DC. I told her of course. On the last weekend of the month while Lisa and I were eating dinner that I had prepared for us at my house, she asked me to MARRY HER.

Yes, SHE ASKED me to MARRY HER! I was dumbfounded of course and thought she was joking, but when I looked in her eyes I could see that she was serious! I knew this woman was special and I didn’t want to lose her so I told her YES!!  After accepting the proposal we decided that we would each apply for jobs in each other’s cities and whoever got a job first, then that is where we would live. As it turned out, Lisa got a job offer first in DC, so we decided to make DC our home and that is the story of how I met my wife!

THREE'S COMPANY!

Dear Diary,

 

My girl Tina decided that she wanted to hook me up once again with the friend of a friend last week. I reluctantly went along with it, why not I thought to myself, I may meet a nice friend if nothing else. So last night, "Mr. New Friend" asked me if I wanted to meet him at this resturant Zengha Chloe for Happy Hour after work in D.C. I said Sure ,no problem. I told him that I got off work at 5:00 and could be there at 5:15 since I worked so close to Zengha. He said that he could just pick me up after work since he worked close to me as well. Thinking this was a nice gesture, I agreed.   After I got in the car, he said he had to make a stop. I'm thinking okay maybe he has to get gas or maybe even some gum at a convenience store.WRONG!

 

He proceeds to the Verizon Center and said he had to drop off Wizards tickets to his friend. I still don't think anything of it because the Verizon Center is very close to Zengha Chloe.  However, when we get to the Verizon Center, instead of getting out of the car, he sits there and calls his boy. His boy walks up to the car five minutes later and gets in the backseat. I say hi to the friend and am thinking that he is going to drop his boy off at the train. UMM NO , his friend proceeds to walk into Zengha Chloe with us! At this point, I'm pissed because why are three of us out on a first date together?? Who does this?? We order drinks and light appetizers and make painful, akward, small talk. At the end of the meal, "Mr. New Friend" proceeds to tell me that he doesn't feel like driving me back to my car at work because he has already paid for parking underneath the Verizon Center and him and his boy are staying to watch the Wizards game that night. Inside I am fuming, but I am holding it all together when he says that. He then offers for him and his boy to WALK me the few blocks to my car. When we get to my car he asks me for a ride BACK to the Verizon Center so he can catch the game.  I look at him like he's crazy, get in the car, and speed off. Needless to say I never saw or spoke to that loser again.