Rate-A-Date (Because You Said So!) in Open Diary 2001-2018 (Pre-Prosebox)

Okay. Okay. Okay. First dates, regardless of how you get them, get Rate-A-Dates. I got it! Here’s my official report:

Name: Aaron

Age: 42 (I only know this because I did a little research). I don’t know if he knows how old I am. I do know that he thought I was closer to Lovely’s age (30) before we met. Fine with me.

Relationship Status: According to Lovely, he’s never been married. We barely touched on previous relationships…and the “ever been married?” card was never tossed onto the table, which I find interesting in a good way. That’s usually one of the first questions that gets asked on my dates. I like that we didn’t delve into each other’s past relationships and why neither of us had ever been married before.

Occupation: Real Estate Attorney

Length of date: 6 hours

We met: He picked me up at my place and waited in the little lobby for me to come downstairs.

I wore: Black wide-waistband flare leg pants with black tonal sequined mesh tank over black stretch tank. Sparkle! (I did cheat with the very padded bra…false advertising? Maybe. But damn, did my boobs look nice!), black boots with cool white topstitching.

He wore: Black cashmere zip front placket fine gauge sweater, black worsted pants. I forgot to look at his shoes!

We did: Dinner at the café in the modern art museum. But first we took a quick tour of the main gallery. He was quizzing me a little bit about my tastes. I got kind of intimidated, which makes me mad to think back about it now. No reason to be. Whatever. We went to the café and he told me to open the gifts. The first item was a magazine about the city. It featured articles about local chefs, and Aaron seemed to know all of them personally. There was an article about eating slowly and really enjoying your food, and Aaron and I decided that we would do just that. Then he asked me what kind of music I like, and I told him that here (in this town), I was really starting to enjoy exploring local Jazz. And what do you know? The next gift was a CD with local Jazz artists on it! The third and final gift was a really cool T-shirt from a resort in the Andes mountains. Really nice. He’s such a thoughtful gift-giver. I ordered a martini before dinner, and jokingly told him to not let me have another no matter how much I beg (but was secretly very serious about that). Dinner was nice. I ate too much and probably drank too much wine. After dinner we were going to go to a place where we could salsa dance, but it was closed for some reason. We ended up at a famous jazz club which was very cool, but I was getting tired and drunk and was turning into a dork (fuck!). He recognized this and told me that he’d take me home. We took the “scenic” route and stumbled upon a drag race! I told him to get in the line and see how fast we could get his car to go, but no. We went the other way. He drove me past his office because it was on the way home. He pointed out his corner office and I told him that I’d show him my giant cubicle (which my co-workers have deemed “the double-wide”) someday. Then it was home.

Convo: Okay. You guys know my MO by now. I nervously rambled a bit, but finally got myself to slow down and be a normal human being and ask him about his trip and his life and his house remodel, etc. Then I rambled a bit more and backed off again. I think I did okay until we got to the jazz club. I kind of wish we’d saved that for another night because it was loud and very smoky and I had had enough alcohol. I told myself over and over and over and over again not to get drunk on this date. Luckily, he hates smoke and was ready to go, so I didn’t have the opportunity to get really sloppy. Thank GOD! But I did manage to squeeze a few clinkers in there. I suppose that’s part of “being myself” though. So I’m not going to beat myself up over it any more. There.

Part of personality I liked: Quick wit. I always admire a person who is clever and funny and can talk about anything. Because I struggle with that.

Part of personality I disliked: Can be very intimidating and is a bit of a snob…although I will tell you that the discriminating factor is a bit of a turn-on. Only the best for him. I can tell that he would be impossible to buy a gift for if it came down to that.

Part of appearance I liked: In incredible shape. I mean, the man just cycled his way through the Andes. I’d look pretty damn good if I’d just done that too!

Part of appearance I disliked: Um. Yeah. He’s shorter than me. At this point it’s no big deal any more.

Highest Point: Keeping his interest. And when he called me gorgeous.

Lowest Point: The moment my dork side appeared.

How it ended: A brief couple of pecks (the second one slightly steamier than the first) in the lobby of my apartment. He asked me if I wanted him to call me, and I said that I’d really like it if he would.

Chances I’ll see him again: If he asks: 100%. Chances he’ll ask: based on recent history, I’d say about 45%. But based on the fact that we have some pretty amazing mutual friends and it would be cool to see where this might go: 80%.