A single, 30-something trying to figure it all out.

Saturday night out in Olympia

 

Day 17 of 365

Okay- first of all let me say this is not the best shot. It was taken with my phone, I tried adjusting the exposure time but like I said it was my phone. I was also 2.5 beers in. I got the little bit of orange ball on the left side! But that's all I got, and that's all you're getting.

Saturday, Jake & I went out with another couple & his brother for dinner - afterward we ended up at Eastside Club Tavern in Olympia. This was my first time at this bar and all I heard from Jake was "they have a lot of beer." I was quite impressed. The Eastside has forty beers on tap. They serve those tasty brews in chilled glasses. Need I say more?

*Check out this link to see my Yelp review on the Eastside in Olympia along with it's date-ability.

Isaac - case of the doldrums.

Ohh Isaac... he looked so good on paper. Very smart, great career, liked to cook & entertain, close to his family and seemed like a super nice guy that had never treated a women unkindly in his whole life. Unfortunately I think the last part was very true - I don't think he had treated a lot of women at all, kindly or not. Which honestly was not an issue for me at all. In a weird way I actually found it appealing. The nice, safe guy right?

Turned out his lack of dating experience was a hang up for one of us. On our first date he point blank asked me if I had dated "a lot". I explained my interpretation of what I would call an "average" dating history, which I tried to make as brief as possible. Don't talk about the ex's on a first date right?! (How about we don't bring them up either? jeesh.) Isaac then offered up his very logical thought process that had talked him out of dating in the past. He didn't know what he wanted out of life so how could he get into a relationship, he was in school, etc. A mini-flag was raised, but again, I didn't care at this point that he hadn't dated a lot. Our first meeting was pleasant enough so we agreed to meet up again.

Little things had irked me in the emails Isaac and I had exchanged. He was a big dork and I was finding he was a little too much on the sappy, corny, square-pants side of dorky for my liking. But he looked so good on paper, remember?! So for our second date we met at an amazing little spot on Mercer Island called the Roanoke Inn. Read my Yelp review here! The date, unfortunately, not so amazing...

We really struggled to find things to talk about and I even felt myself completely zoning out when he was talking a couple times. (wow that's the second Bowie song I heard, this place rocks! I have to come back here.) In one email exchange he had asked me about the house I used to own and the work I did on it. He said "hope you had help!" Well I wasn't about to go into the fact that I bought it with a boyfriend before we even met. So I said that I had a lot of help when working on the house. Truth.  On our second date he again brought up the house, "So you did that all on your own?" No, Isaac I bought the house and worked on it with my boyfriend!!  He looked disappointed. I don't know what to tell you kid. I've two long term relationships. I've barely dated outside of that. I am not a WHO-er.

Beyond that obvious awkwardness we really didn't have much to talk about. At all. There just wasn't that click and the conversation was not flowing. It was a tiny, little pathetic drip. When the waiter came over and asked if we wanted another drink out of reflex I said yes. (More beer here, something to get me through this!) When I looked over to Isaac to see if he was going to order I caught a look of sheer astonishment on his face. He was truly appalled that I had order another drink. This is a second drink people, only number two... He declined and made some joke under his breath about being pulled over and having to explain to a cop.

That was the last straw! I immediately kicked myself for being such a "alchi", that I am apparently!, ordering another round that would only prolong the torture that was this date. Not only was Isaac judging my dating history he was also judging my alcohol intake. This wasn't going to work. I chugged the beer, asked for the bill as soon as I caught the waiter's eye and we left the fine establishment that is Roanoke Inn.

As we were walking out he asked me where I parked. I pointed to my car up a slight hill, half a block away. Isaac said "All the way up there? I can walk you." SEE REALLY NICE GUY!?  *sigh* Alas, Isaac was just a little too ho-hum, doldrum for me. We parted ways and exchanged the "it was nice to meet you BUT.." emails.

Next round please! I'll have another!

Felix - back in the saddle again

Last week I went on my first date in two years. Well until I realized two years was only the time since my last relationship ended. It had actually been four years since I had last "dated".That being said since joining EHarmony I've been telling myself first date jitters aside I just need to go out and meet some guys. Practice makes perfect, You need to kiss a lot of frogs... etc, etc.

Felix looked okay on paper, he was a couple years younger than me, an "analyst" and talked about a close relationship with his family in his profile.

Felix asked me to pick the place and I found the Dog & Pony Ale House in Renton, which was a midpoint between both of our places. More importantly than being a convenient meeting spot they have a HUGE selection of beer. Read my YELP review here.

When we first sat down Felix suggested ordering a pitcher & said I should pick the beer. Honestly it threw me off a bit. He had already asked me to choose the location and now would give no input to even the type of beer he wanted to get. I know this sounds weird to criticize a guy being polite but I felt like he was passing into the "I have no opinion" zone. I mean this is a first date tell me about yourself! Beer tastes included.

I noticed Felix seemed a bit nervous, which put me more at ease. Maybe too much at ease? I made little attempts at jokes but got just a half-ass/confused smile in return. Even when he went into a way too technical explanation of his job at a particular juncture I chuckled a bit assuming he must understand that unless you work in the financial field what he was saying was Greek. Nada.

So we finished the pitcher, said our "it was nice to meet you's" and parted ways. I was HAPPY on the way home and cranked the radio. I had made it through my first date. I was back in the saddle.