My Worst and Best Dates Ever

Yay! Thanks for your questions. I'll be answering them all in due time. I'm starting with the question from The Dumbest Smart Girl You Know. My best and worst dates ev-eh.

I'm going to start with the worst because I always like hearing bad news first, good news last. Eee gads have I had some bad dates. Captain Awkward, of course, and a really terrible one from college I've already blogged about. Just about every date I went on in DC was rotten. I don't know why I had such bad luck in that town, but I kept meeting duds. Aside from the nice guy from this past summer and X, of course.

One guy I met at a bar (because I can't even take my own advice) told me a charming story about what he did after meeting me. We were at a bar on a Thursday so we both had work the next morning. I said goodnight around 11, but he apparently stayed at the bar til it closed all by himself. He lived three short blocks from the bar, but upon stumbling home drunk at 3 a.m. and discovering he left his keys at the bar, he decided to totter onto a hotel.

He didn't have enough money for a room so he staggered back out onto the street. And stole a plastic tarp that was covering a motorcycle and took it up to his roof where he used it as a blanket and slept all night. In a thunderstorm. Not just any thunderstorm, it was such a bad storm the Metro was closed the next day for flooding. And when I asked him why he didn't just go back to the bar, he said he was too drunk to think of that. Classy. This fine young suitor ended up getting a bit obsessed with me and called and texted several times after no communication from me. I finally texted him a plea to leave me alone. He didn't take that well, but after sending a few irate messages with no response, he gave up on having a text fight with himself. And headed back to the bottle, probably.

So that was a bad one. The really bad dates, though, were ones that ended in fights or tears. I've had too many of those to count. I don't know what always sent me back into the arms of those guys except maybe love. And a blind hope that things would change. I believe I learned my lesson, though, that any boy who acts like a jerk doesn't deserve more than a second chance. Three strikes, you're out. Now that I've been treated perfectly, I won't settle for less ever again. Thank you, X.

Best dates...I've had a few of those, thankfully. If I had to pick I'd say the best date was with The Firestarter in New York. I just got my first job, and we went out to celebrate. We went to dinner at our neighborhood Italian restaurant and then headed to my favorite spot in the city (it's a secret!). We ended the night with a bottle of champagne on the rooftop of my old building looking out at the most beautiful skyline on earth. I was so happy that night. Do you ever have moments where you are purely, perfectly happy and peaceful? I was happy with him, but I was happiest at myself for getting a good job in New York City. I was so proud of myself for making it on my own, finding my way. That was probably also the happiest day of my life. I really loved me in that moment.

I'd say that my second best date was this summer. I had a brief, but sweet little summer fling. It was good, though we didn't even make it a month. Oh but what a fun month! The date I'm talking about started at a Pearl Jam concert. It was his favorite band and the first time he'd ever seen them live. He was soooo excited, giddy like a little boy, and cute as can be. He sang all the songs into my ear the whole concert! I love seeing people truly happy, like watching someone talk about something they care a lot about or are passionate about, it's a special, rare side of them. I was glad he shared that special moment with me.

After the concert, it was impossible to catch a cab and the Metro was going to close any moment. I made a suggestion I thought for sure he wouldn't take me up on, but surprisingly, he did. I said, "I wish we could just walk," and after a couple of blocks, I realized we were. We walked all through the city that night, past the Monuments and up to the Capitol building. And I love the Capitol. I made him dance with me in front of it. I know, I know, I'm a cornball, but sometimes you've got to make your magic. He seemed like such a serious person, very responsible and I'm so all over the place, Miss Wacky Free Spirit - it was a funny match from the start. Our talk that night wasn't particularly deep or meaningful, but like our brief time together, it was light and fun. I love walking through cities at night. It's one of my all-time favorite things to do. It was a lovely evening.

I was trying to think of my best date with X, but I couldn't come up with just one. We always had such great talks and so much fun together, it didn't matter what we did. We didn't need the backdrop of a fabulous city like DC or New York. The few I did think of as some of my favorites were either a night in on the couch, or we both love to drink outside in warm sunshine and had a few great afternoon dates. One in particular was when I still lived in DC, and he was up for a visit. We spent Sunday morning reading the paper at Starbucks, walked the dog through the Eastern Market and then ended with an afternoon of margaritas at good ol' Banana Cafe. That was a perfect day.

The truth is, though, that my best dates are in my future, not my past. I haven't had a best date ever because I haven't met the best guy ever (for me, that is). You know what they say, the best is yet to come!