A dating update from the trenches...

The post below comes to us from one of the many girls who won a date with our eligible bachelors. We'll call her NotParis, since she came to my birthday party as Paris Hilton : )

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Warning: this is a very girly telling of my auction date, i.e. very detailed and emotional in its rendering. Some events may be distorted due to the estrogen that runs through my body, therefore making events more dramatic then they may have been.

So, the day before the date I got really nervous about meeting this guy, although I talked to him over the phone and exchanged a few emails. My friends also teased me unmercifully about this date. They would ask me questions and then laugh in a way that made me feel self conscious. So Saturday I wake up about 4am and can't go back to sleep. So I decide to clean my apartment and do laundry. So I go wash some clothes and the washer and the dryer don't work, although it took my money and I don't realize they don't work until I finished running a dryer cycle. So I feel this does not bode well for my day. He calls me while I am in the laundry room and I think the message is going to say that he has to cancel our outing, but no he just wants to move it to an earlier time. He finally manage to speak to each other and decide to meet at the dance studio, rather than the coffee shop before the class. I hurry to finish getting ready and out of the house. I had tried to time my route so I would get there on time, but alas metro doesn't keep to the schedule and I end up being late. We had planned on taking an African-Caribbean beginners dance class. So when I finally show up, I look at the class and every one dressed in sweats and leotards, and the both of us are a little over dressed for the class. I think the class was more intense than we had initially thought and the idea of wearing sweaty close for the rest of the date was not appealing. So we decide to change gears and find alternate plans, and that is when the craziness ensues. We decide to head over to a museum and begin trying to find the best metro route to get from 15th Street, NE to the Mall area in NW. So as we begin to walk a random stranger decides to give me advice on the men I date. He screams at me down the street about why am I with the guy I am with. I try to laugh it off and hope that Chuckles is not embarrassed. So we finally find a bus stop and just talk. So we talk and talk and talk until the bus comes. We get on the bus and continue our conversation. I am not really sure what we talked about, I know it was mix of philosophy, DC politics, life and corny jokes. I have to admit that I thought the corny jokes were funny (sometimes) and they made him seem likable. At some point I tell him how my hands were cold and I had forgotten my gloves and he offers up a pair of his own, which was sweet. So while we are waiting for another bus, we begin to talk about the philosophy of Heidegger and the inauthentic life. I don't know if we were talking too loud or someone was just ear hustling, but a random woman asks us if a person should be held responsible for things that they do not know. I look up and tell her "no", in hopes that this will pacify her. It doesn't. I look up and see the bus coming, but she is talking to Chuckles and I think she is trying to get him to admit to something, I am not sure what exactly. He being polite and trying to tell her that we were just talking about a particular philosopher's belief and that he did not feel like he could talk about her point unless he explained Heidegger and he did not have time for that right now. Myself just got on the bus and went to go find a place to sit and leave him to handle the woman who wanted to argue. We finally make it to the Mall and decide to go the Natural History museum. While in the museum, he keeps asking if I was hungry or wanted a snack. It took me minute to realize that he was hungry and was trying to lead me in the direction of food. He suggests the museum food, which I am totally against and am glad to see a long line in the food court. So we leave the museum to find a place to eat. We walk around downtown with no luck, every restaurant we come across is closed or not what we are looking for. I begin to feel bad because I know he is hungry and I am shooting down places for various reasons. We find ourselves in Chinatown and go to a Mexican restaurant. The wait is not bad and we get our table. Once again a random stranger feels it is okay to start talking to me and flirt with me. So this guy at another table asks for some of my food and keeps making comments towards me. I am trying my best to ignore this guy. I feel like if I was alone or with my girls, then he would not have a word to say to me. But as soon as I am out with a guy, he now feels it is okay. Chuckles on the other hand is giving me compliments and making me laugh, that last part might have been also influenced by the pitcher of sangria I had to myself. There is one compliment that he gave me that really went to my head and made me fell all flustered. When he goes to give me the compliment he tries to at the same time be smooth about it and it goes awry. When that happens, I think that made him seem so adorable to me. I have been out with guys who are the epitome of smooth and I have a horrible time because it becomes too ridiculous for me. But Chuckles made me feel comfortable and relaxed, along with the sangria. So we finished up lunch and headed for the metro. He goes to wait with me for my train and we talk about meeting up again in the future. I agree and get on the train. Then I go home and fall asleep. Overall, I think this was one of the best dates I have been on in while and I really enjoyed myself and Chuckles' company. Thanks the not girls for putting together this auction.