Recently a friend of mine had a "first date"... my friend happens to be female and her date happens to be male... which in this day, I think this information is relevant and needs to be noted. The excitement and anticipation was so much fun.. I think it should be posted..
First, you see the guy, he's good looking.. I mean, REALLY good looking and you imagine maybe talking to him... this might go on for some time, but then, through what can only be classified as fate, you end up engaged in a conversation with him. During this conversation you are stumbling over pronouncing your own name because your mind is chanting.. "I can't believe it... I can't believe it..." your heart is in your throat and you can't seem to steady your breathing. You are forced to take a step backwards because you suddenly realize that you didn't plan for this and just maybe you didn't apply enough deodorant this morning... The conversation ends after a surreal five minutes, and lets say, for whatever reason, he got your number. You have successfully burned 350 calories as the instant jump in your heart rate is better than 30 minutes of aerobic exercise. Plus, all the running to get to a safe place to call someone and spill the good news... You don't really know the guy, but you start counting all the things you have in common.... We are both human, we both have a head, we wear shoes in public... and he's sooooo cute.... oh my, this could be the one!!!
Then comes the wait.... you wait, and wait and wait... you've started strapping your phone to your arm just so you don't miss the call. You and your friends talk for hours about when the call might come in... you attempt to analyze the information, taking into account what little you do know, while reserving some dignity just incase he's not that into you... you guess 5 days because that covers all possible scenarios... just incase he has a vacation planned he forgot to mention... but if he calls before that time... it means he really IS into you!!
After an appropriate amount of time, almost when you least expect it, the phone rings and you look at the caller ID... because at this point, you NEED the warning.. you see that it's him.. you do a quick voice check... la,la,la,la,laaaa.... then flop onto the bed and start
twirling your hair, wait till the third ring and then answer like you are totally preoccupied by something.... then you recite the words you have been waiting to say... ''oh, yeah... hi" The preplaned casual response that says... 'I forgot you were going to call but I'm really glad you did... '
The call lasts two hours and you hang up with a real live first date!!
The call ended at midnight so it's not like you can call your friend and go over all the details, and by now you know that you have more in common than just inhabiting the same planet. You now have real connection... something to talk about... you stay awake going over every word, you don't want to forget anything so you can give a correct play-by-play when you finally to get to talk to your BFF. Two whole days till the date... 44 hours, 36 minutes... there is so much to do...
You spend the next two days thinking about what to wear and calling everyone you know to subtly let then know that if they want to talk to you on Saturday night you won't be available because you have a date.... You go to work, but don't really remember getting from start to finish because your mind is so busy thinking about... him... You go through your closet and find something cute and casual, but your friends think that you should buy something new... it's not like you will ever have this first date again... and suddenly, nothing in your closet is good enough for this guy...oh no... only 27 hours 6 minutes left.... When you imagine the moment of his arrival your stomach turns over and you feel warm and tingly through your limbs... You forget to eat lunch and then can't figure out why you feel like you could sleep for a week...
The day of the big date finally arrives.. it's all you can think about.. 10 hours 22 minutes... (but only 8 hours 22 minutes till the grooming process begins) you have to get busy or you'll be late. Of course no shower this morning, so you find a hat and do your best to look presentable. You head out to find that perfect something to wear, meet up with your friends... tell them everything you know about the good looking guy you have a first date with... grab lunch and shop, shop, shop... you find 3 or 4 perfect tops... but which to choose?? You buy them all... and head home to get the house cleaned up. He might look inside when he picks you up and certainly we can't have clutter... you try on every outfit you have until you come up with just the right combination and then you wait....it's an hour before it's time to take a shower... you lay on the bed and look at the clock and mentally will it to hit that exact moment when it's acceptable to begin the process of getting ready... you want to look your best tonight... but as any woman knows, if you give yourself too much time, you could ruin it.... not enough and there is too much stress... yes, there is an exact amount of time to allow for primping. You slowly shave your legs to get every hair... why? You are wearing pants after all... no good reason, but a woman just feels prettier when her legs are smooth.. You get out of the shower and check your whole face for any rouge facial hairs or eyebrows and get them plucked immediately... you apply lotion and body spray and powder and all the things woman put on to give us that "smell".... all the while, of course, the butterflies in your stomach are making you question weather you can really go through with this date after all... you begin thinking about things like... what if he doesn't like me...? what if I don't like him...? what if he wants a kiss..? What if he wants kids and a big white wedding...? Oh, wait.... sometimes it's hard not get ahead of yourself... he's sooooo cute!!
26 minutes to go... you are ready. Dang.. Too early. What do you do for the longest 26 minutes of your life...? Check your hair, pick up carpet lint... check your makeup, light a candle... check your hair, open a book.... check the clock, check your breath, check your smell, sit down and pretend to read... check your phone to make sure you didn't miss a call from him canceling... feel panic... call your friend, feel better... check your make-up, look out the window, check the clock.... sit down and pretend to read some more.... wait, wait, wait... and then finally... The doorbell rings...
Aaaaahhhhhh the first date...
Ah I love it! I thought I'd share my first date story...
ReplyDeleteOur "first date" was so scary! I met Tom on a Tuesday night at Old Chicago...he pretended to not be interested in me. (He says he was just watching baseball, but I'm telling you, he kept checking me out!) Anyway, we talked for a couple hours that night and I thought he was amazing. So thanks to my liquid courage (5 glasses of wine) I asked him if he wanted to go out with a group of people the next night. He said yes!
So the next day I was so excited...it was the longest day ever. Wednesday was our night for a bunch of Franklin employees to go out and have a good time. We had our usual place, but I found out the ex was going to go that night. I didn't want to deal with any drama or make things awkward for this Tom guy, right? So luckily my roommates girlfriend worked at Old Chicago (where we met) and had Tom's number. So she sent him a text and we quickly changed locations.
So there I was...sitting at a table in Old Chicago with my roommate and his girlfriend. I felt so dumb, because I wouldn't have asked him if I knew it was only going to be the four of us. I'd been to Old Chicago 4 nights a week for the last year, but for some reason it seemed so new and frightening! I remember looking around the room and having that feeling that it was caving in on me.
The clock was ticking and still no Tom! I start freaking out and telling my roommate that I just wanted to leave, I was embarrassed that I had asked Tom to come out the next night. Did I seem desperate? I had just seen him the night before and I asked him to come out the next day, was that bad? A million things were going through my head of why I shouldn't be there and how I made a fool of myself. I felt so dumb that I had gotten extra ready that morning. All the while my roommate was just laughing at me.
So FINALLY, I spotted Tom walking through the door. Butterflies! He walked straight towards the bar and started talking to one of the waitresses. So at that point I wanted to DIE. So my roommate and his girlfriend said we could leave after they finished their drink...which took forever. I was trying not to look Tom's direction because I had obviously been totally shut down. And I was thinking, "the nerve of this jerk to stand me up, even though it wasn't a date, but to still show up at the establishment we were supposed to meet at!"
And then it happened...our eyes met...he smiled that adorable grin of his and walked over to our table. The rest of the night was history. We closed down the bar that night. My roommate had long gone home. The time went by so fast, but we talked about everything! Around 2:30 am we decided to go get some food and he held my hand which almost made me faint! He walked me to my car that night and we were together every night for the next two weeks! I moved into his house, met his family, and he said the L word in those first two weeks. It all happened so fast, but felt right!