The Date You Only See on Movies

Ever since I left Milwaukee my experiences with picking up men have been much more progressive and slightly effortless.

I went on a date with my beautiful dancing dread man, Stones, who we met in Simple is the Key.

This meeting which turned into a date was very impromptu. I had an extra ticket for a wine and cheese event at Projects Gallery in Philly and he was the one available person for the night to join me.

We met there, had two glasses of wine, conversed, laughed, and looked at art for about an hour. It was nice and easy; something you just do with friends. The night was young so we decided to head to another location for one more glass of wine and conversation. The wine was definitely settling in a bit more for Stones; bringing down his inhibitions. He is the nervous type. Not knowing what to say or do around women and talking a ton to hopefully make him seem at ease. So the wine helped him to relax and just be himself. Luckily, I have had practice in these "situations" and am a bit of a wino, so I was still holding my ground.

We hit up Red Sky on Market St. The place was cute and probably turned into a nightclub later. The red wine was watery, which I should have figured being that the bartender couldn't even pronounce Merlot correctly. Quite amusing, but regardless we were there to chat and once again, let go of all inhibitions.

In the moment, I decided to take this opportunity to work on my seduction skills to get what I wanted since he was not being an aggressor. What is it that I wanted from him? Affection, attention, and aggression. I like a guy who takes control so I was going to make him take the reigns.

With half a glass down, Janet Jackson's "Don't Stop" pulsing in the background, and my knees enclosed around Stone's thigh he knew I was giving permission to test the waters. Stones leans into me and sings an original piece he wrote in my ear. So sweet.

He took my hand and led me to Penn's Landing where fireworks were going off and boats were pushing their way through the water. Yes, ladies and gentleman, this really did happen. LOL!

We walked to the concert area and took over the space with our own renditions of songs and dances. Teeheehee...performers. He twirled around me with his remixed Michael Jackson moves that went from popping and gliding to slow dancing hand in hand. I sat on the concert steps and listened to him sing another one of his songs. Then he walked over wrapped his arms around me and gave me sweet sweet caramel kisses as a cool breeze blew his dreads over my shoulders.

Did I mention before that I drool over dreads. Their naturalness and connection to the earth is just gorgeous.

This beautiful moment brought to you by Tiffany and Stones was interrupted by a security guard yelling "Closing Up!". We laughed at how unreal our meeting, date, whatever it is turned out and began walking toward the car. The walk was littered with kissing finger tips, laughter, and noses touching our chins and throats.

The sweetest part of the whole deal is that we knew good and well that we aren't going to see each other again. I head to Michigan in two weeks and he will be staying in Philly.

Another kiss goodbye and we walked our separate ways.

I woke up this morning with a little red line down the side of my throat from our night. Embarrassing, but in a sense, a nice memory from a walk to remember.

Go ahead and tear your heart out. This story is for real. Now if I can just somehow make dates like these develop and last...

The Date

Imagine that, I finally got what I wanted. Well, at least 70% of it.

I am in Atlanta visiting family for Carnival Weekend. Of course, I can't allow an opportunity for hunting pass me by. I call up an old friend from college who lives in the area. Jackie was an admissions counselor at my college while I was there. The year I graduated is the same year that he accepted a job in Atlanta, therefore circumstances made it alright for us to converse in public. He is 32, 5ft. 4inches, good looking, smart, motivated,and a gentleman. I never thought about pursuing him until we actually hung out.

Isn't it amazing how the ones who are really for us end up being people we know.

Jackie has a problem of being a bit of a flake. His tail will keep you waiting all day while he is running about doing who knows what. The only reason why I deal with it is because I don't have any other options and I want this one. For once I found a man that I actually LIKE and WANT. Uhhh so frustrating! I find my type and I can't really have him because we don't live in the same area.

Jackie gets me around midnight and we head to The Highlands to grab a drink. Granted, I was already pretty loose after having 4 shots of tequila with my family, but I was ready for some more fun. Carnival weekend, enough said.

I have on my "F Me Dress" and dancing heels just to be sure he realizes the importance of spending ALL of his time very wisely with me. The first bar is a Frat scene. Not my style, but I choke it down in order to work some magic. We have lovely conversation. I keep my eyes glued to him with one hand, ever-so-gently, brushing his thigh. I can tell he is nervous because he keeps on smiling and looking away. Plus he only touches his fingertips to my knees as if he is scared of crossing the line. Its really adorable.

Before we head to the next bar I go to the bathroom, because something below is definitely off kilter. *Sigh* Why did Monet come to town.

Allow me to introduce you to Monet. She is my period. I named her because she is always with me. Such a beautiful thing that brings tons of complications. Tonight she is annoying because her presence places physical limitations. Yes, I like to have the option of going there if necessary, and I don't want to have to worry about accidents on my "F Me Dress"!

We leave the bar and head to another up the street for one more drink. As we walk to this bar I hook my arm in his until he decides we should hold hands instead. Homeboy started getting bold.

The next bar offers wine so I get a glass while Jackie gets some other coke concoction. As we are waiting for the drinks he massages my back. I tell him he can press harder. Hahaha, I'm such a lil flirt. Anyway he steps into me and presses harder. I can tell he is enjoying all of this.

WE grab a table outside of this adorable bar and chat some more. Jackie is a poet and he tells me that he is a hopeless romantic, hence the reason why many of his poems are about women. Can a girl ask for more? I'm really feeling him and he is saying all of the right things. He is completely honest about his feelings towards me and his wants. My ass is now a hot mess because I want him, but I am not about to be "playing house", as WL#1 would say. "Playing House" is acting as if you are in a relationship, although you know after a certain amount of time you all have to go on with your lives.

I tell him this, and he just continues to say that I have him for today and whatever other time we may scrounge up this weekend. Yes, I agreed to "playing house" although I shouldn't have.

Then we kiss.

We decide to continue our night, so we hop in his car and head back to his place to talk some more since the bars in the area were closing.

When we arrived at his adorable apartment we didn't have the chance to talk much. In the middle of it all, I think to myself, if there was an opportunity for this to be something for real, there is no way I would have gone to his place. But, since I only had him for the night I was going to take what I could get.

After a few hours he takes me back to my weekend lodging. Now ladies - please, please, please - whether you are doing the walk of shame or just leaving a location with a man; never look busted. Straighten your dress, fix your makeup, and comb your hair. You should look the same way you came in. Keep it classy.

Shit, I looked damn good when I walked out to his car and up my family's driveway.

We decided to get together at least once more this weekend. Has this happened? I would say not. Once again, flaky. Usually, I would push a guy to the side with this sort of habit, but since he is someone I want, it is much harder. I do wonder if we left out the physical portions of the night would he have been more adamant about actually getting together again or would it be the same. Honestly, I think it would be the same. And actions like that do not go over well with me. I am not an Easy Bake Oven. Popping me in then shooting me out. Uh uh!

I will say, although things had no chance of progressing I had a great time. And in actuality kind of met my goal. I say kind of because we did not have dinner and I do not get to follow this up. But I do know that he appreciates me as I do him. Also this shows me that there is hope in finding the right guy for me after all.

Date...I Think, Maybe...

I went out with Tionne on Thursday. I didn't think it was a date because WL#1 and WL#2 were invited to come too; but they decided not to. So I went on my lonesome.

Talk about a good time.

Tionne took me to Quincy Jackson's Chicago Steppin' class. I started off with the beginners at 7pm. By the time 9pm rolled around I was dancing with the professionals and getting great tips from them. Its such a sexy dance.

Tionne was the perfect partner for the night. He helped instruct class, he danced with me, introduced me to people, then went his merry way so I could dance with others. The definition of a non-clinger.

Men take heed to this advice. Seriously. Non-clingy is the way to be. Tionne had a great balance. He also asked several times if I would like anything to drink throughout the night. A sign of non-stinginess and conscious of my being. Another check mark for him.

We left around 10:30pm and I was supposed to meet some friends to watch Lost and play craps. Things were going so well that I decided to just hang with him some more.

This is when it turned into a date.

We went to Balzac Wine Bar and sat and chatted for a good hour. It was really lovely. I learned a lot about him; we talked about relationships and traveling. It was comfortable and nice. And I didn't feel as if he expected anything from me. Really wonderful. At midnight he took me home and we hugged goodbye.

Like I said, I think this was a date by the end. Especially, after a few comments he made about doing dinner and dancing some more. Either way, labels aren't really necessary. I had a great time and nearly met my goal for this project. He offered for us to get something to eat several times, but I wasn't hungry. So no traditional dinner for two. But that's alright; we are hanging out again on Sunday. We'll see what happens then.