Date 2: Grab those dancin' shoes!

A dancer, he says. I was a little dubious. I've cut a rug with many guys and few are really stellar on the dance floor. Most really just bounce around awkwardly. Not to say I'm a phenomenal dancer, by any means! I'm actually pretty bad at following a rhythm. If I have a good leader, however, I can fake it somewhat; wimpy leaders are a pet peeve of mine.

And so, he picked me up for a night of live music at the New Orleans Creole Restaurant in historic Pioneer Square. With glasses of wine in hand, we headed closer to the music. No one was dancing. Eventually, however, we made sure that changed. He pulled me up from my chair and held me tight, sensually swaying to the music. Once we got comfortable with each other's dancing style, he started breaking out the big guns: dizzying spins, dips, and other fancy footwork. Wow. He was good...REALLY good!

We'd work up a sweat, sit down to sip on our wine, chat with our crazy neighbors at the next table--an overly loquacious southern woman and her pirate-patched partner--and hop back up for more. With each song, we found ourselves closer and closer. With each dip, our noses inched nearer, warm breaths on each other's necks, until it seemed impossible not to kiss.... but, a kiss didn't happen!

At least not on the dance floor.

He drove me home and stopped in front of my house. We reached to hug goodbye and, like magnets, were drawn into each other's embrace, sealing it with a kiss. Nothing awkward, like first kisses tend to be--completely natural and genuine. The perfect end to an amazing night!

Date 1: Breakfast

I woke up wondering how many dates I'd been on in Seattle. Too many. I got dressed but hardly cared what I was wearing. I waited until the last possible moment to leave, turned the ignition, my car started...and then it stopped. Great. I texted Mr. 99% about the situation. He was already waiting at the restaurant. Fantastic. I thought about cancelling altogether...but at the last moment, my engine revved up and I figured, "what's one more."

I got to Beth's Cafe in Greenlake a good half hour late...oops! But, there he was, still waiting. We started chatting....and there wasn't any of that 1st date awkwardness! He didn't ask me those standard 1st date questions, thankfully! We talked, and flirted, and bantered, and joked, and...the waiter came by to kick us out. There was a wait for our table.

"Well," I told him, "I was just going to walk around the lake..."

And so he joined. He wowed me with his stories of salsa dancing in Cuba, mesmerized me with tales of ballooning across beautiful landscapes. Who does those things?! Certainly no one I had dated up to that point! I was even shocked to find out that he had done a dating challenge of his own!

He began glancing at his watch, not-so-covertly. He had somewhere to be. "Another date to get to?" I wondered.* We said our goodbyes. He enthusiastically remarked that he had a lot of fun and would like to meet again later in the week. I casually agreed.

We parted ways. And once he was out of earshot, I immediately called my best friend. And maybe my sister. Maybe someone else too. Uh oh. Finally, a first date I had enjoyed!! I told them all about it! They all remarked that it was the first time that I had actually sounded excited about someone. They were right.

I nonchalantly gossiped for the duration of the stroll. Around the final curve, I glanced behind me and some woman smiled, obviously eavesdropping. I began getting a little paranoid...did she know this unique guy who I couldn't stop talking about?! If he ended up hearing about my excitement, it might ruin my game! So much for keeping it casual! I hung up the phone and decided to get Mr. 99% out of my head for a while. It was time to wait. He wouldn't have expressed his excitement if he didn't mean it, right?!

*Note: Indeed, I found out later that he was heading to another date. In all, he had 3 that day. Sounds oddly familiar...like something I may have done before...

One last try...

So, I finished the blog. And I was still single. I thought about writing off dating altogether. But then life got boring….so that didn't last too long. I met guys here and there; all were nice enough. Fun to pass time with—museum visits, coffee, dinner dates—but nothing phenomenal. I was about to give up when I decided to try one last trick. On OkCupid, I searched for my “highest match.” When someone came up as 99%, I figured I might as well see what he was all about.

“Goodcab” was his code name. Cute pictures, an interesting profile (dances, owns a hot air balloon, travels, cooks), recently moved to Seattle, unique dealbreakers (girls over 5’5’’, not taking antidepressants)…

And so I wrote:

“Welcome to Seattle. You're still quite a newbie! I came across your profile when searching for people with whom I have a high "match percentage" and didn't know it was even possible to get 99%! Anyhow, you seem like an interesting guy and it sounds like we've been to similar parts of the world. Where in S. America? Cuba's on my bucket list.

The bad news? I'm only 5'4''...but did ok on the dance floor at salsa night yesterday. The plus side, though, is that I'm not on anti-depressants (and never have been). I tend to prescribe them a lot though. ”

A few days later, he responded:

“Wow 99 percent. I am always surprised when it says I am 42 percent enemy with people. :-). You seem awesome as well and would love to meet you. I like meeting people in person as well. What's your schedule this weekend? Feel free to give me a call. 555-555-1212.”

Mmmm…I like that! I’d gotten sick of exchanging endless emails and so, we set up a breakfast date for that weekend.