Infatuation

I don’t know how it happened. But somehow, I am deep in the throes of puppy love. I mean, total infatuation!!

It’s been a busy two weeks. The guy I was calling Henry in the last post (aka: Mr. Familiar Face) turned out to be a total loser/jackass. The Monday after my night with him, I got a text message from him saying that he had a great time with me, but didn’t think there was a “relationship connection, but I saw a lot else I liked! Thoughts?” Yeah, here’s a thought, how about I punch you in the face! But whatever, he’s my Twitter follower now. Yay to increasing those numbers! That experience, paired with having a really crappy job interview for a possible social media fashion gig really put me in bad spirits that week.

Then that Friday, I had gotten an email from Paul, aka: Mr. Mexican Cookies. He invited me to go to a Oktoberfest party. So I said yes, and we spent that whole Saturday together…drinking mostly. It was fun, and he is a good guy. Towards the end of the night, he invited me to a barbecue in Brooklyn, we went and I met some of his good friends and afterward, we somehow ended up at my place and he slept over. But I didn’t feel much of a spark and I think we’re better off as friends.

The next morning, I woke up with a terrible hangover, Paul sleeping next to me and very little memory of how we got there (we were both fully dressed), when I realized that I had to feel better quickly and get rid of Paul sooner than later because I had a date that night with a new guy that I had been conversing with. I told Paul that I was having an early dinner with my friends and that I had to get ready, and after he left, I put every hangover cure that I had ever tried to use. Though I had zero interest in meeting a guy for drinks at that point, and contemplated canceling, I decided to suck it up and went to meet “Jesse” at a bar in Williamsburg.

I got there a little early, and unfortunately, the bar he had chosen was closed. So I texted him that I would be waiting outside. He arrived soon after, and apologized for the mix-up. We found another bar (we were in Williamsburg, Brooklyn … you can’t turn a corner without hitting a bar!) and chatted over two pints of beer. He was cute, very tall, smart and is successfully pursuing his dream career, which was nice to hear. We had a great time talking, and before the date was over, he asked me if I would be interested in seeing him again, so I agreed to a second date. He had sparkly eyes, and I love that.

Second date we met at a bar near my office, after work, and we spent six and a half hours there talking and drinking beer. We realized that we had a LOT in common, and he shared some stories with me that he said he had never told anyone before.

I love when life delivers unexpected surprises…

Yesterday, in the midst of cleaning my apartment and writing my post about my Friday night date with “Dean”, I checked my email and had a message from this guy I was corresponding with on OKCupid before I left town. So I logged on to reply, and an instant message window popped up, with a familiar face in the photo. Now, I do not IM on that site and I have written in my profile “Please do not IM me because I will not respond.” Well, Mr. Familiar Face had IM’d me and written: “I know you don’t IM, but since we’ve known each other for YEARS, perhaps you could lift the moratorium this once?” And it turned out Mr. Familiar Face was this guy I had met on another dating site, about three years ago!

But… we had never actually met… just corresponded… on two separate occasions. The first was obviously the initial correspondence, and we almost met then, but somehow he got back together with his ex-girlfriend and I was kicked to the curb. But that was understandable. The second time was a few months later, after he had “amicably” broken it off with the ex. But this time it was the holiday season and I was traveling and by the time I got back, he had taken up with a different girl and was going to try things with her. That, I chalked up to bad timing. So what a surprise to get this message yesterday morning!

We flirted like mad via IM for about twenty minutes, and it was so much fun. I was so on my game: I was sharp, quick, funny, sexy – I was on fire! I love that feeling.

Too much, too soon

Before I left on my business trip, I got a flurry of emails from guys on all three of the online dating sites that I’m on. I wrote to a few of them and have a few dates lined up in the coming weeks. (Surprisingly, three of the four guys I was corresponding with were also out of town about the same time I was, so it was perfect timing!) One guy I went out with last night.

I’m going to call him “Dean”. Now, when Dean first wrote to me, he wrote me the message in French. (I studied French for 6 years in high school and college, so this is not unusual.) I responded half in French, half in English. (I’m rusty.) Anyway, his profile made it seem like he was a fun, interesting and very worldly kinda guy. Which I like very much. He was kind of cute in his photos, and very playful too. All positive things. But as we emailed and then texted, he started to get too familiar, like “How are you my angel?” And I started getting the “Uh oh” vibe. I do not like too familiar too soon. You don’t know me, I don’t know you – don’t call me “angel” before you even meet me. It’s a pet peeve, what can I say?

We both returned to the US from our respective trips earlier this week. We decided to meet up last night, and after agreeing to a Friday night first date (major date night!), he then sprung on me the fact that it was going to be a dinner date. Well…I don’t like dinner on the first date. Because then you’re stuck with the dude for an extended period of time if you don’t like him. But I was too jetlagged and lazy to think of a good excuse to get out of it, so I let it go, thinking, “it’s just dinner”…