A Night Out

My date diary:

2:30pm
My date suggests via e-mail (I don’t do so well with the phone) that we go to a jazz club. Seeing as how my roommate and I had made plans to go see her boy play in his band later that night, I emailed him, “no, let’s just do dinner.” I also tried to convince him to go to Baja Fresh, one of my all-time favorites, but he wanted to sit-down somewhere.

4:30pm
Getting nervous, and its time to leave work. I decide on my way home that I need to take a walk before I leave cause it will clear my mind and give me time to convince myself to be nice, talkative, sincere, and less reserved.

5:00pm
I arrive at my apartment, change, and go for a walk around a large block, to the park and back.

My mantra: “Just be nice. We can be friends. Don’t be so serious.”

5:50pm
After a good self-pep-talk, I arrive back at my apartment all sweaty and decide to take a quick shower before meeting this guy at the restaurant.

6:10pm
If I had a choice, I would wear my old jeans, favorite long-sleeved shirt, and hat. Knowing that my date is from Texas and will probably wear a button-up shirt, I decide to go in jeans, an old polo, and a brown jacket.

6:20pm
Finally out the door. Headed to Mission Valley for dinner. I’m supposed to be there at 6:30pm.

6:29pm
Driving around the parking lot. The people who designed parking lots in San Diego were idiots!

6:30pm
Still driving…

6:32pm
Still driving…

6:33pm
Aha! A spot! But its not in front of the restaurant. I don’t really care, so I get out and walk over.

6:35pm
Only 5 minutes late. And my date is already there. He says hi and greets me with a hug longer than I expected. The waitress leads us over to a table. I start to pull out the chair and sit, but my date doesn’t like the table because it is in front of the server station…. So he asks the hostess if we can move. She says yes, and we moved. To a quieter corner table.

6:43pm
We start having a conversation about stuff. Topics of conversation included my Spring Break, his travel plans, rehearsal schedule (he’s a singer) and my orchestral involvement.

6:50pm
We order drinks (non-alcoholic of course!) and look over the menu.

6:55pm
The waitress comes back with our drinks and we order. I got chicken tacos. My favorite!

6:57pm
Conversation continues. Topics include: His spiritual gifts and personality (he’s an extrovert…this is making more sense to me now…I wonder if he understands the fact that I’m more introverted…), and my personality and spiritual gifts (I’m a creative communicator!)

7:10pm – 7:35pm
Food arrives. He prays. We eat and continue to talk about: My opportunities to be more creative at work, his interest in arts, my interest in water, how I almost killed myself once in a Catamaran.

7:36pm
Waitress asks if we want dessert. We decline and she leaves the bill. We continue to talk, only I’m wondering why we aren’t leaving yet.

7:40pm
My date, “Oh yeah, before I forget, here’s a CD I think you might like.”
I take the CD and look it over, “What is it?”
My date, “It’s latin jazz… there’s some songs in Spanish, Portuguese, and French I think too. I don’t know if its your style, but its mellow.”
Me, “Okay, I’ll give it a listen.”

7:40pm
My date, “I’ll pick this up,” referring to the bill.
Me, “are you sure, I’ve got money.”
My date, “Well, its up to you.”

Awkward! I ended up letting him pick up the bill.

We chat a little longer.

7:45pm
I look at my watch and say, “I need to get going.” And he says, “okay.” So he makes a gesture for me to walk ahead and we walk outside behind these kids who were singing a potentially made-up, very repetitive song about birthday balloons, which they were carrying out the door.

7:47pm
I angle toward my car. Can’t find it. This never happens to me! And my date is a witness to my momentary memory lapse.

7:48pm
Figure out that I’m two aisles farther than my car, and its parked further back than I thought it was.

7:50pm
Thanked my date for dinner, and gave him a hug.

7:51pm
Got in my car and drove away. So glad to be home. Yay!